From 2005-2013 and 2014-2020, I punctuated each year with an ever increasingly complex Best of List. In 2021, I returned to weekly missives with FTCH. I’m humbled by my faithful readers who have stuck with me week after week. The previous two weeks I have made lists of my favorite movie and television shows. The final summary of my 2024 experience is much like me – all over the proverbial board. These are all the things I measured that just don’t fit in the previous categories. Grab a snack, get comfortable, because this is a long one.
BEST OF THE REST 2024
2024 BY THE NUMBERS
- 4,717,891 steps taken this year (10,087 more than 2023, 121,054 less than 2022) My goal was not to let working from home make me more sedentary, so this was a conscious effort to walk more this past year. Next goal is to get back to five million steps.
- 365 days walking over 5 miles per day in 2024. Unfortunately, there were 366 days in 2024. Missed the one day by literally 5 steps.
- 8 days not walking over 5 miles per day since 1/1/15
- 52 days with over 7 hours of sleep (5 days less than 2023). This is the area I need the most focus in 2025.
- 112 beers drank that were new to me this year. Thank you multiple trips out-of-state and brewery-friendly friends.
- 44 books read. (9th year in a row of meeting my 25 book/year goal) (14,452 pages read in the completed books – 3,000 pages more than last year)
- 366 movies watched in 2024
- 50 films released in 1974 watched this year
- 15 tabs open in my Chrome Browser currently. (Lowest figure of the year)
- 0 times with the hiccups
- 0 times using a stapler
- 0 concerts attended. A sad streak that I intend to break in 2025.
- 5 Minor League Baseball games attended
- 1 Football Championship for my Michigan Wolverines
- 13 states visited (no new Capitol buildings)
- 60 unique candy bars ate for my 2024 Project
- 13 Fridays with Tacos from Fuzzy’s Taco Shop. There are three other shops on the Friday rotation.
- 1 Bourbon Street Steak from Applebee’s.
- 40,387 minutes listened to Spotify (200 more minutes than 2023)
- 397 albums released in 1974 listened to in 2024
- 68 combined entries in my Director Projects (Kurosawa started in 2024 / Eastwood started in 2022 / Ford started in 2021)
- 40 movies seen in theaters (my best number since 1993)
BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2024
After almost a decade of not reaching my yearly goal of 25 books per year – I’m on a run of eight straight years of beating the goal. This year’s 44 books read were a weird combination of a Frank Herbert project, more Hiaasen books, a long run of Black Hammer graphic novels this summer, and an obsession with collections of Marvel comics from the ’60s. Picking a list of favorites is hard only because of comparing apples to oranges.
2023 Best Book I Read – Stephen King – Holly (2023)
Buy You Like It Darker by Stephen King hardcover1. Stephen King – You Like It Darker (2024): I’m not trying to be anyone that I’m not. Are my tastes all over the board? Absolutely. I’m not going to put a title up here just because it’s well reviewed or makes me look more high brow. These 12 stories are highlighted by “Rattlesnakes.” Each book might be his last, and I savored this as the only new title of his in 2024. It’s my ultimate comfort read when a new one comes out.
2. Frank Herbert – Dune (Dune #1) (1965): I finished this at the very start of the year. I would go on to read the first four of Herbert’s series. Although I enjoyed the last one, none of the sequels lived up to the balance of philosophy and action in this original. It took me at least four starts to finally finish this and I’m glad I worked through this science-fiction classic. It’s funny to read my initial reactions to this novel and then realize that it’s the least Messianic of the first four books. In combination with the recent two films, this franchise played a big part in my 2024.
3. David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest (1996): This is a recent finish, and I’m still gathering my thoughts for a review in an upcoming FTCH. It also finishes a sub-project of four long books that I wanted to finish. I started at the beginning of 2023, thinking I could power through in a year. That project took me until just a couple of weeks ago. I started with Moby Dick (1851), went to The Pickwick Papers (1837), and then took until this year to finish War and Peace (1867). This was the last of the sub-project, and it took most of this year. I liked it quite a bit. I’m still not sure how to describe it, and I might not even recommend it to people that I don’t know well. It’s definitely good to have it in my literary vocabulary now.
4. Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace (1867): I have wanted to say I’ve finished this book for decades. It isn’t the kind that I’d recommend to others. It wasn’t an easy read, mostly because of the huge number of characters (all of them with Russian names). It helped me understand what was happening in the Russian series of films based upon the book, and I think if I ever think I have time to read it again, I would get much more out of it. It’s still an important work in the history of literature, and I’m glad to have it in my read column.
5. T. Kingfisher – What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) (2022): It’s a sequel to Poe’s “The Fall Of The House Of Usher.” A gift from a good friend, it was on my bookstand for too long before picking it up to finish this year. It’s barely longer than a novella and a quick read. I worried that it wasn’t going anywhere for the first 40 pages. The last hundred pages kick in with a suitably spooky story. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there’s a second book in this series.
6. Ray Bradbury – The Martian Chronicles (1950): The “book” is a little more than a collection of short stories that are retro-fitted to be a continual story. The technique is only about 75% successful. There are parts that are good by themselves but don’t fit the Martian theme. Bradbury’s writing is as accessible as any writer of his era. I love his vision of the small-town America and what was happening behind the scenes. He was very prescient for what would become more prevalent in our society in the ’60s.
7. Carl Hiaasen – Squeeze Me (Skink #8) (2020): Hiaasen is a comfort read for me. I love these Skink novels. This is his take on the Trump era, but he retains his ecological takes on what has gone wrong in Florida. There are some out and out laughs here, and it only suffers from being a little predictable in sports as regards Mastodon (Trump).
8. Jeff Lemire – Black Hammer: Age of Doom (2017): I finally committed to this comic book series in 2024. This particular storyline brought an end to what was Phase 1 of the story about the Farm. It opened up the world of stories that would make up Phase 2. I have been a Jeff Lemire fan for a long time, and this take that doesn’t differ significantly from Astro City really captured my attention.
9. James Cain – The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934): Last year, I dove into the Continental Op stories by Dashiell Hammett. This year, I sampled the noir work of James Cain. I enjoyed this more than enough to put some of his other titles on my list. Expect more James Cain on future lists.
10. Peter Benchley – Jaws (1974): I read this in anticipation of my 1975 anniversary viewings of the film version. I was disappointed in most of the Second Act on the Orca. As the weeks have passed since my reading, I have come to appreciate the themes of the government overreach that reflected the public sentiment in 1974.
WORST PROJECT PROGRESS OF 2024
I start a new set of projects every year, but I rarely technically end a project. For every project that you see play out on Instagram or Facebook, there are at least a couple that either die on the vine or just don’t get off the ground. Some are abandoned for good and others are waiting in the wings to really get their due. Some are just waiting for the right moment to pick back up again. Here are a few of the ones that I’m not willing to bury just yet.
1. PUNK PROJECT: Started in 2021, this was by far the worst year for making progress. Not for lack of research and reading, but just didn’t get in the groove. I only made it through September 1978 and into October 1978. Just shameful.
2. 1974 MOVIES: While I was cranking through just about every 1974 album that was released, I fell behind quickly in the 1974 Movies side of the project. I knocked out 50 films from 1974, but I had hoped to get closer to a hundred in a year where I watched 366 films.
3. THE SCOOBY-DOO PROJECT: In 2019, I turned what was a quick effort to watch some of my DVDs into a full blow re-watch of all of the different Scooby projects. I have made steady pace up until this year when I only watched most of Season One of What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2002). It’s a great series, and I can’t believe I didn’t get further last year.
Buy What’s New Scooby-Doo? The Complere 1st Season DVD4. THE GILMORE GIRLS PROJECT: I picked this show a year ago to be one that I would try to knock out in the background this year. Welp, that didn’t go so well. It’s not that I don’t like the show so far, but I’m just halfway through Season One of Seven and about 140 hours left for the next year.
5. TACO JOINTS PROJECT: Started and abandoned in 2020 during the Pandemic, I had debated a complete restart. Instead, I documented three new places this year. I should make more
BEST CANDY BARS OF 2024
This was a year to take a break from different projects that caused me to have to travel to fulfill. I’m not going to lie that I’m a big fan of the candy bar over the years too. This was only a slight excuse to do more research on the candy-bar history while I was compiling my favorites. The project was very active into the spring, but I lost some of the momentum when it became more difficult to find unique entries. I certainly had enough of a sample to make a good Best Of list.
1. TWIX BAR: Cookies, caramel, and chocolate. That’s a terrific trilogy. There aren’t enough bars out there that have cookies in them. They have a perfect serving size and the crunch is the most satisfying. They keep throwing new flavors at us that aren’t improvements upon this original.
2. SNICKERS BAR: “You are not you when you are hungry” is one of the best candy-bar advertising campaigns of the century. It’s popular for a reason. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this bar. It does “satisfy” as advertised. It’s rarely the bar that I seek out, but if I end up with one, I’m never disappointed. The offshoot flavors are often nice as a one-off, but they only serve to remind you that the original is a classic.
3. HEATH BAR: I’m in the minority of people who find this to be a top-five bar. I prefer this over Skor mostly on the texture and a little on the less sweet toffee. I will go to my grave claiming this to be the best ice cream mix-in ingredient in the candy-bar world (second only to Oreo overall).
4. 100 GRAND: Crispy rice, caramel, and chocolate make for some great texture in each bite. I find this to be a great serving size for road trips too. Take away the caramel and you’d have just a Crunch bar. Add caramel and it’s one of my favorites.
5. REESE’S TAKE 5: On the package, this bar sounds like just too much. The first four are great together – chocolate, peanuts, peanut butter, and caramel. Adding the fifth, pretzels, gives this bar the crunch that puts it over the top as a special bar. On any given day, I could argue for this being the best one out there.
Buy Full Size Chocolate Bar Variety Box, 18 Count6. KIT KAT: The wafer is good, but it’s just not the cookie of a Twix. This was my favorite candy bar for much of my teens and twenties. It lends itself to different flavor combinations every quarter, but none seem to make much of an impact. I do appreciate that it’s the easiest to share candy bar.
7. CHOCOLATEY PAY DAY: The only entry on this list from this decade. The 2020 entry did what so few new bars have been able to do; it improved upon the original. You get the same cluster of roasted nuts that you get in the original with the same tasty caramel. This version does the rest of us fans a favor and wraps it in fine chocolate.
8. WHATCHAMACALLIT: This Hershey’s product is one of the few here not older than me. Debuting in 1978, this is one of those bars that people don’t initially identify as one of their favorites until you offer them one. The crispy rice and caramel combination makes this a superior bar.
9. SKOR: This bar is the second best of the toffee entries in the candy aisle. It has more of the sweet molasses taste compared to the Heath bar. The packaging and flat shape make this the most serious-looking of the bars on the shelves.
10. NESTLE CRUNCH / KRACKEL: There is little to get excited about for chocolate and crispy rice. It’s a good combination, I like it, and it won’t win many awards. I still need to figure out if there really is a version in Japan called The Crunky.
BEST SNACKS OF 2024
I have always loved snacks. They have served as influence on my different projects. I love beverages, candy, cookies, and other salty goodies. These have become a fixture in my weekly FTCH blog. The more you snack, the more you go down the rabbit hole of snack culture. A few of the memorable ones this year.
2022 Snack of the Year: Oreo Brookie-O.
2023 Snack of the Year: Little Debbie Cherry Cordials Ice Cream
1. UTZ MIKE’S HOT HONEY POTATO CHIPS: Hot Honey was one of the most popular food flavor trends of the year. I was here for it with this potato chips. Utz is a quality brand and they managed to find just the right mix of heat-to-flavor ratio. These belong in your pantry.
2. OREO MINT CHIP: Oreo had a stellar year in the snacking world. I was ready to put Coke-flavored Oreos on this list, and I wasn’t disappointed with the Sour Patch Kids Oreos. Every few months, they seemed to double down on chocolate-on-chocolate flavors. This Mint Chip fits somewhere in the middle, but it’s the one I would buy on the regular if it was around. They captured the distinct flavor of the Mint Chip ice cream in a waffle cone. I’m excited for what they have in store for me in 2025.
3. FUNYUNS: MARUCHAN – HOT & SPICY CHICKEN RAMEN: The Funyuns folks are sneaky. They just sit there at the end of the chip aisle with their Funyuns flavor until once a year they spring a new flavor on you. Last year was the excellent Spicy Queso. This year they didn’t drop the only Ramen-flavored snack, but they did drop the best Ramen-flavored snack. Fried onions and salty chicken noodle flavors make a pretty special mix.
4. MTN DEW GAME FUEL: CITRUS BLACKBERRY: It wasn’t an impressive year for Mountain Dew releases. This late entry into the Game Fuel line was the lifesaver that they needed. I’m guilty of saying too often that Mtn Dew does best when it sticks to the darker colors. This combination fits the bill with a strong berry flavor and just a hint of citrus. I’ll try them all, I’m not saying I won’t, but it’s flavors like this that keep me coming back.
5. BLUE BELL: A&W ROOT BEER FLOAT: It’s hard to pick a favorite new release from Blue Bell. I thought the Christmas Cookie would make this list. It’s so specifically seasonal that I wanted to go with something that is good for six months of the year instead of three. They hit a triple with the Dr. Pepper Float in 2023. This is the home run that we didn’t know we needed. The title is the flavor and the flavor is right there in the title. It makes me almost excited for the summer weather to be here again.
6. RUFFLES KOREAN STYLE: SWEET AND SPICY CHILI: The Korean BBQ flavor was big in the salty snack world. These chips worked best because of the crunch of the Ruffle chip. A little more heat than you might want, but these were great with summer sandwiches.
MOST MISSED OF 2024
1. BOB NEWHART (1929-2024): The man created two of my most favorite sitcoms. He also revolutionized the stand-up genre with his phone call routines. He also just seemed like a man I would love to spend the afternoon with over a beer.
Buy Bob Newhart Complete Albums 1960-62 CD2. DONALD SUTHERLAND (1935-2024): His movies of the ’70s read like a list of my favorite films of the decade. He was still going strong as a character actor late in life in films like The Hunger Games (2012) and Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022).
3. RICKEY HENDERSON (1958-2024): There are a handful of baseball players that I bonded with from the start of their career, well into my adulthood. Rickey was rarely on teams that I cheered for and sometimes on teams I actively cheered against. What couldn’t be denied was that he was as exciting as it got. You paid attention every time he got on base.
4. MORGAN SPURLOCK (1970-2024): He had a rough last four years to his career/life. He never denied his “Me Too” issues and disappeared from projects that he had in progress at the time. If you can separate the man and the work, his documentary work, especially the television product was always thought provoking. He had a cocktail next to me at a San Diego Comic-Con a decade ago, although he doesn’t mention it on his Wikipedia page. Our conversation consisted of “I really enjoy your work.” (me) – “Thanks, man.” (him).
5. QUINCY JONES (1933-2024): I could just use a randomizer for the Top Five on this list. Each of them are at the top of their field. Quincy was a master. His best moments aren’t as a musician, but as a producer. His ear for what would sound good on vinyl was without compare. His albums and albums he produced are among the favorites in my collection.
6. WILLE MAYS (1931-2024): He was before my time, but I can appreciate his greatness. Thanks to old footage and plenty of stories from older players, I understand his importance. What other player hits 660 home runs and is known by most for a catch he made?
7. JAMES EARL JONES (1931-2024): He isn’t terrible in the movies. It’s obvious that he’s here for his voice. Darth Vader and Mufasa and CNN are all career defining. He’s a hard one to guess when you are naming EGOT winners.
8. KRIS KRISTOFFERSON (1936-2024): His voice left something to be desired. His acting was interesting but not noteworthy. His songwriting was among the best of his generation. His “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (1970) is an important change in the country-folk movement that would dominate much of the ’70s.
9. BILL WALTON (1952-2024) / PHIL LESH (1940-2024): Walton was an accomplished basketball player who always seemed to play for teams that I cheered against. The recent 30 For 30 documentary gave me a new appreciation for him as a man. He was the tallest, if not the most ardent, Deadhead. Phil Lesh was bassist for the Grateful Dead and exuded the peace and love vibe that the band carried from city to city.
10. JIMMY CARTER (1924-2024): The first President in my lifetime that I remember from start to finish. Also one of the best SNL parodies. Almost everyone my age has a terrible Carter impersonation.
HONORABLE MENTION: Not all of the missed of 2024 are of the human variety. We said goodbye to Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Witcher, the Vanilla Frosty, Chicken Chipotle Melt (Taco Bell), Tupperware, Red Lobster, and Party City.
I’ve been disappointed with the Oscars’ version of “most missed” over the past few years. TCM has far surpassed them with selection and presentation. This is made by people who understand why we love movies. This will serve to cover so many that I didn’t get a chance to list. The folks at TCM know I love choo-choo trains and this song by Birdtalker “Life’s a Trip.”
THINGS FROM 2024 THAT DIDN’T MAKE ANY OTHER LISTS
1. PEPPER / RIGBY / ELLIE (Pepper/Rigby #1 in 2023): As a work-from-home guy, Rigby and Pepper are my loyal coworkers during the workday. Earlier in the year, Ellie was feeling poorly and came home for what turned out to be her last weekend. She should have had a longer life, but she made a huge impact on our family. These pets are here when I wake up and walk with Rigby. They are here when we get late-night snacks at 9pm before bedtime. I can’t imagine my life without them.
2. WEDDING / ROAD TRIPS (#2 in 2023): The fourth family wedding in four years brought together the whole extended family again. This time we were in Ohio in the fall. I was able to Spring Break Road Trip to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan to see family and friends. Both trips were food for my soul.
3. TOTAL ECLIPSE: April 8, 2024. I was curious, but in truth I had no idea. I went to our local beach for the total eclipse, and in a matter of seconds from the totality, I was hooked. I would travel to see one again, even if it’s only for another four minutes like this one. Nature is undefeated with impressing humans.
4. TEXAS RANGERS (#5 in 2023): I followed up the 2023 World Series team with a commitment to watch more of their games in 2024. I enjoyed these guys so much that I watched all or part of probably 120 games this season. The team wasn’t competitive for most of the last quarter of the season, but I found a love that I had for daily baseball in my youth.
5. PHYSICAL MEDIA: It feels like an actual movement finally. Books, vinyl, CDs, VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray all feel like there is a renaissance in acquiring physical copies. I was probably a net negative in physical media for the year (trying to thin the book and CD weight), but I did acquire items in all but the VHS category this past year. My favorites include expanding my Criterion discs and the classic Marvel comic collections.
6. ARSENAL FOOTBALL (#7 in 2023): The squad is near the top of the table again this season. It’s been great to keep up with them and share the experience with my son, Christian. The year has been highlighted by watching a Champion’s League win with him at an Irish Bar in Minneapolis and then watching a draw against Man United at an Arsenal bar in Cleveland with him this past fall.
7. OLYMPICS: This seems to appear every couple of years. It’s not like I forget that I like watching the Olympics; it’s more that I forget how much time I’m willing to invest in watching it. This year, because of the fortunate time-zone arrangement, I was able to have it running in the background while I worked most afternoons. I still don’t understand fencing despite a few hours of watching, but I’m all in on water polo again in 2028.
8. WEATHER: I listen to music through most of my workdays. Each morning, I have on a live feed from Venice, Italy. By the time the sun sets in Italy, I have the background set to the Weather Channel. This year had some interesting moments including the earliest Cat. 5 Hurricane (Beryl) on July 1st that I thought would lead to a destructive Hurricane Season. We got our destructive storm but it was late in the season. This time of year I’m watching the path of blizzards but the radar tracking is less impressive.
9. CANDLES/SCENTS (#10 in 2023): Between Yankee Candle, Goose Creek, and WoodWick, if there is a way to smell a smell, I have it covered. It’s candles and burners and auto scents and wall plugins. It’s a simple thing, but changing the scent of my environment is something I look forward to each month. Current favorites: Yankee Candle Balsam Cedar (a year around fave), Goose Creek Teakwood, and WoodWick Sweet Tobacco.
10. 2024 ELECTION: No matter where you stand on politics, you’ll be hard pressed to recreate the crazy year that was our Presidential Election cycle. Sitting President drops out of the race after an embarrassing debate performance, Vice President takes over the race, opponent was the previous President, he is the victim of an attempted assassination, and that feels like it was all just in one month.
MOST PLAYED SONGS FROM SPOTIFY IN 2024
Music is ever present in my life. It’s on when I’m working, when I’m walking, and often when I’m reading. It’s always interesting to look back at the top songs from the year. Thankfully, Spotify keeps track of my listens so I don’t have to.
2022 Most Played Song – Prince – “1999” (1982)
2023 Most Played Song – Traffic – “Medicated Goo” (1968)
1. Rick Wakeman – “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1974): Rick was apparently on one of his many breaks from Yes. This adaptation of the Jules Verne novel was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. It won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Years ago, I would have hated this album-length tune. This year, I appreciated it as possibly one of the crowning glories of the Prog Rock genre. It made my top plays because during my busy August period, I just put it on repeat for about two weeks. I’m not the top fan of the Prog Rock genre, but I appreciate this effort.
Buy Rick Wakeman – Journey to the Center of the Earth CD2. Miles Davis – “Great Expectations” (1974): Off the double album, Big Fun, this song was the whole first side of the first album. It’s from a 1969 recording session of earlier albums. It features among others Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Ron Carter (bass). Like the #1 song, it’s funny that such a lengthy song made my most played, but I know this album played through a few times at least when it came up in the rotation.
3. Isaac Hayes – “Hung Up on My Baby” (1974): Your mind isn’t playing tricks on you when you hear this absolute banger from Isaac Hayes. Sampled almost to death, it was originally off the soundtrack to Tough Guys (1974). The Black Moses of Soul nailed this completely. It’s got something for everyone from funky bass, crunchy guitar, horny horns, and a heavy backbeat. It’s only surprising this hasn’t been in my most played more often.
4. Steely Dan – “Midnite Cruiser” (1972): This list is mostly populated with songs from 1974. This one stuck around as I had a bit of a Steely Dan year with their Pretzel Logic album showing up in 1974. This is sung by Jim Hodder (drummer), making it an unique entry into the list for another reason.
5. Elton John – “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (1974): One of his most beautiful vocal performances feels like a nice blend of Beach Boys and Beatles influences. When the song builds to that Phil Spector Wall of Sound type of finale, it could be a song off the Beatles Let It Be. This would later be a huge hit when Elton and George Michael did it as a duet. I had this original on heavy rotation this year.
6. John Lennon – “You Are Here” (1973): One of Lennon’s best, heartfelt love songs to Yoko. The Mind Games album was a big player for me over the past couple of years. I keep returning to this song.
7. Ohio Players – “It’s Your Night/Words of Love” (1974): It’s eight minutes of some pure funk off of the Skin Tight album.
8. Blue Magic – “Sideshow” (1974): This Philly-based group had a huge hit with this single off of their first album. Covered a number of times, this is still the best version.
9. Parliament – “Testify” (1974): A cover of their own Doo-Wop song from 1967 (as the Parliaments). This funky rock remake is more than just a cover, it’s an update that captures the differences in culture between 1967 and 1974. The keyboard arrangement by Bernie Worrell is tip top.
10. Olivia Newton-John – “God Only Knows” (1974): Olivia covers the Beach Boys and puts a little country twang into it. It doesn’t have the harmonies of the Beach Boys, but there’s a longing in her voice that made this very repeatable in 2024.
BEST ALBUMS OF 1974
The year of 1974 was controlled chaos compared to the first few years of the decade. Genres were changing and evolving quickly with early clues to what would become Disco and Punk. There were changes happening in Prog Rock, Reggae, and Hard Rock. Bob Dylan toured with the Band, the American Music Awards debuted, and 200,000 fans attended California Jam. In general, it wasn’t a great year for music compared to the ones that went before. The Best Albums category is not necessarily how they were viewed in 1974 but how they sound to me today.
Best Album of 1973 – Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
1. Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like a Wheel (November): The perfect mix of pop and country along with one of the strongest voices of the decade. The more she turns away from country, the strong her appeal, and she shows off her vocal skills on a variety of genres here. It’s a short and solid album that has been in my head since I started listening a few months ago. Start with “You’re No Good.”
2. Bob Marley – Natty Dread (October): He parted from Peter Tosh. He sent Bunny Wailer packing. On his first solo album, Bob Marley hit a home run. He took reggae to the next level by incorporating more jazz, soul, and a hint of the blues without losing the basic reggae sound. It’s surprising how “new” a fifty-year-old album can still sound. Start with “Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock).”
Buy Bob Marley – Natty Dread CD3. Van Morrison – Veedon Fleece (October): Back in Ireland for the first time in six years and recording his first album since his divorce, Van Morrison was in an interesting space. He’s back in a country that is beautiful but doesn’t feel like home any longer. He isn’t at home in America any longer. This search for identity created one of his best albums outside of Astral Weeks. Each song feels like a poem. Start with “Cul De Sac.”
4. David Bowie – Diamond Dogs (May): Bowie had done about all the Glam that there was to do in Glam Rock. Somehow he managed to take the genre into even more obtuse directions. This was meant to be a musical adaptation of Orwell’s 1984 and it ended up being a decadent view into the life of Bowie and his alter egos. Start with “Rebel Rebel.”
5. Stevie Wonder – Fulfillingness’ First Finale (July): It’s saying something that in his incredible run of albums from 1972-1976, this is a Top Five album of the year but probably the worst of his albums in that era. I feel like I’m short changing the Grammy-winning Album of the Year, but Stevie is competing against himself. Start with “Boogie On Reggae Woman.”
6. Funkadelic – Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (July): Eddie Hazel’s guitar is the star here. It’s not an album where I breakdown the lyrics. This is a guitar fantasy with some of their best jams. Start with “Red Hot Mamma.”
7. Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (February): Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are figuring it all out. Each album has been an improvement on the previous one. This is their best whole effort to date. There are great singles, but there also isn’t a bad song on the album. Start with “Any Major Dude Will Tell You.”
8. Parliament – Up for the Down Stroke (July): Funkadelic had already made a name for themselves. The more traditionally funky side of the group would become Parliament. This debut isn’t their best, but it sets the stage for some incredible albums to come. Start with “Up for the Down Stroke.”
9. Grateful Dead – From the Mars Hotel (June): When I became a fan, this album wasn’t initially mentioned as one that would be among my favorites. There are some great harmonies and very pleasant guitar work on this album. Start with “Unbroken Chain.”
10. Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night (October): Tom’s second album continues with the vibe that you are just hanging out with him in a dive bar in New York City talking about Jack Kerouac. Start with “(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night.”
This list might omit some of your (and my) favorites. I was amazed at the breadth of talent releasing albums in 1974. I acknowledge that this list leaves off some important albums by Queen, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young.
Thank you for your indulgence if you made it this far. My obsessions all stem from a desire to keep discovering and keep learning. The thirst for knowledge hopefully makes me a better man. The time I spend on these things is only rewarded by sharing opinions and observations with friends like you. So feel free to always chime up when I post things and make recommendations because my mind is always open.
“I can’t light no more of your darkness
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white
I’m growing tired and time stands still before me
Frozen here on the ladder of my life” – Bernie Taupin/Elton John
Stay hard.
sb
