SINGLES GOING STEADY: "THE E-STREET SHUFFLE" BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Bruce Springsteen and the original—though unnamed—E-Street Band

Oh dear.  Listen up.  If you're ever in a car with me and I ask you to put this song on, please just ignore me. Sure, I'll be disappointed and I'll beg you to reconsider.  I'll try all sorts of ways to manipulate you into changing your mind.  I'll be a babbling little baby.  Let me go through it, reader.  Your life—and all our lives—are more important than me indulging in the opening track from Bruce Springsteen's 2nd Album, The Wild, The Innocent And The E-Street Shuffle.

Now if I happen to be driving, chances are we're all screwed! I will put this song on and no one will know happen next—especially me.  I will dance.  I will not stop at red lights.  I will not yield to any pedestrians.  I will exceed the speed limit, in a dangerous and reckless way.  

You see, this song does magical things for me.  And hopefully it will do magical things for you.  Indispensible.

Everybody form a line and do "The E-Street Shuffle!"

"The E-Street Shuffle"

SINGLES GOING STEADY: "DON'T LOOK BACK" BY THE REMAINS AKA BARRY & THE REMAINS

This Billy Vera Composition, which was performed by The Remains, can famously be found on the classicNuggets psychedelic compilation. (SNAG this if you see it)!

The Remains AKA Barry & The Remains

Ah, gee-wiz! You would think that a band that opened for The Beatles during the Fab Four's final tour would be slightlyfamous.  But, no.  It's been almost 50 years and The Remains remain in obscurity.  Bandleader Barry Tashian formed The Remains at Boston University with Keyboardist Billy Brigg and several other students in 1964.  Two years and one relic LP later, it was all over.  No hit singles.  No hit record.  

Tashian went on to meet future Country Rock pioneer Gram Parsons, assisted him in forming The International Submarine Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers.  He can be heard on many of Parsons' solo recordings.  Today, he and his wife Holly are Country/Folk fixtures in Nashville, TN.  
 

Barry & The Remains lone LP contains several should-have-been hits including "Don't Look Back" written by the small-time hit maker, big-time music historian/liner note writer Billy Vera.  It's a Stonesy Garage classic, with a great hook and a simple—but effective—high harmony.  "Don't Look Back" is also one of many near-hit selections, which appears on the legendary 1972 Nuggets compilation—one of Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

"Don't Look Back" by Barry & The Remains

SINGLES GOING STEADY: "WEAR ME DOWN" BY TREBLE CHARGER

Treble Charger

Canada's Treble Charger specializes in a brand of power pop/punk similar to that of more popular bands like Sum 41, Good Charlotte, and—at times—Teenage Fanclub.  It's not my favorite kind of music, but when I hear a song that should have been a hit, I have to give the artist credit and recognition—no matter what section you'd find their CD in.  The should-have-been hit we're discussing today is "Wear Me Down."  It's a polished, hook-filled, minor masterpiece.  It's the kind of song that is so infectious, you're able to sing along to the chorus after only hearing it once.  The verse and bridge are nearly just as singable.  My conclusion is that "Wear Me Down" should have hit the Top 40 or been the main song in a hit teenage sex comedy like American Pie.  To all the dedicated Sirius XM Alt Nation supporters, I present to you your lost anthem.  

"Wear Me Down" by Treble Charger