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You Might Have Missed…

Billy Joel - Everybody Loves You Now - Cold Spring Harbor (1971)

    Being a Long Island boy, I’m biased heavily toward Billy Joel. No matter what music you normally like, if you’re a Long Islander, you likely have at least one Billy Joel song and know all the words to one of his songs for an in-traffic sing-a-long. But it’s not just Long Island, though. Show me one person that doesn’t like the sound of Billy Joel, and I’ll show you a half-million that love his music, or at least that won’t turn it off it comes on.
 Billy Joel’s first album was appropriately named after the Long Island town of Cold Spring Harbor. His trademark combination of jazz, ragtime, classical and rock music is present all through the album, but most of all in the LI name-dropping track “Everybody Loves You Now.” You can’t help but move to his music and sing along if you know the tune. In his early years, and still today, Billy Joel has songwriting capabilities to rival Paul McCartney in his prime.

You Might Have Missed…

Styx - She Cares - Paradise Theater (1981)

    Styx, particularly the Paradise Theater album, is what got me into rock music. f you just look around the internet, Styx tends to take a lot of crap from people for one reason or the other, were the ones who essentially created the sound of the 80s. Their catchy melodic hooks, soaring guitar riffs, beautiful keyboard work, and of course powerful harmonies are what set them apart from so many bands.

    She Cares is the seventh track off of Styx’s fourth consecutive triple platinum album, “Paradise Theater.” The song was written by guitarist Tommy Shaw as a filler in their sweeping concept album. You won’t find any other reviews about this song, nor will you ever hear Styx play it live in concert, but She Cares is one the band’s best, and my favorite. Simple lyrics, balanced out by the guitars and keyboard. The twin solos of guitar and saxophone. And the harmonies. Perhaps people mock Styx so much simply because they can’t be matched.