The Greatest Non Hits

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We pay our respects to the Piano Man. Despite the fact that neither Tim nor I are into Billy Joel, we do admire his story and ascent into Music Royalty. We also are intrigued with where his career is at when he makes this album. We get somewhat into his past with Elizabeth, Jon Smalls, his managers, etc... and how he survives it all with style, grace and courage. He survives band break ups, family abandonment, and hard circumstances living day to day working in the pubs to put food on the table for his mom and his family. It culminates into success years later and Glass Houses shows that the Piano Man can Rock. Maybe the best of em but Rock with some good ones. To be fair, his non hits are among the best of the non hits of all the albums to this point. 

We hope you enjoy!!

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You may remember such hits like "Take the Long Way Home", "The Logical Song", and others from their Grammy award winning 1979 album Breakfast in America. This album was recorded in September of 1974 and contained hits like "Bloody Well Right" and "Dreamer".  We think it's even more important than the Grammy winner because it saves their career, which was floundering leading up to its release. When you hear the Harmonica intro on “School”, you can't help but notice its influence on the intro to "Take the Long Way Home".  We highlight numerous other examples of how Crime of the Century influences later artists, as well as how they are influenced by some other bands produced by Ken Scott. 

Of course, there are some hilarious moments, like during “Hide in Your Shell" and "Rudy". 


Enjoy!!

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Yes, it's the first album with "Sultans of Swing". We felt this 1978 debut was a good transition from JJ Cale's Troubadour ('76), and before that Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard ('74).  The music is remarkable, beautiful and clever. So much that,  given their Scottish Heritage, we had to weave in a lot of Groundskeeper Willie soundbytes just to even things out. 
Seriously, though, awesome tunes that don't drop off after Sultans of Swing. Enjoy!

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This guy is a legend. He wrote Cocaine, After midnight, and a few others performed by famous 70's artists not named Eric Clapton.  If you've never heard this album,  you should. You can hear a little Clapton, Zeppelin, Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Buffet, Dire Straits, the list goes on. His musical depth is vast, and he plays with horn sections, harps, all kinds of crazy instruments, and talented musicians playing along. We have fun, and learn a lot along the way. We hope you enjoy!!

PS., We learn more about Tim's plants, and a recent vacation that involved bikes, hotels, cabs, hostels and something else kind of sketch. 

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What could be more fun than hanging out with Eric Clapton in Miami Beach, circa 1974? This is one of his best solo efforts of all time. It's the Album that has his "I Shot the Sheriff" remake that we all know. We didn't know how creative he was at bending notes and using the slide guitar before hearing some of the deep tracks. We also have moments where we hear "Stairway to Heaven" slightly off key and repurposed in one of his lesser known songs, which we were not expecting to the point of shock (in a great way). Beyond that, we gain comedic speed as the show progresses, and de-crescendo into our top three non hits. 
Happy Listening!

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Dusty Hill, bass player and Vocals for ZZTop is no longer with us, which is why we should pay tribute and give this gem of an album our full attention. They're THE quintessential Texas Rock/Blues band. After listening to this album, we almost had to re evaluate life priorities.  Here's an example: You're in a time machine and you can go to one place in Texas in 1975 for 20 minutes. Where would you go? See Earl Campbell play at the Astrodome? Go to a mid-70's rodeo? We'd go see ZZ Top and their Fandango tour and the literal atmosphere of the circus, animals and everything. Who wouldn't want to see that? We get into some pretty hilarious and off the rails banter. Listeners,  "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" starring Dolly Parton was loosely based off of the brothel that inspired the song "LaGrange".  Chris says the word "whorehouse" a bunch of times to Tim's "Horror". 

Enjoy!!

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We think the music in this episode is for two groups: The Die Hard Bob Dylan Fan and anyone going through a bad breakup or a divorce. For the rest, we tell an interesting human story. At 19, he leaves his hometown and moves to New York to be a songwriter. Nobody knows him when he first arrives and, after knocking on doors,  he has a record deal six months later. Fast forward 15 albums (out of 40) later, we come to "Blood on the Tracks", a collection of songs about love and loss that still resonates in the hearts of fans, and provides comfort to millions of souls mending a broken heart. We hope you'll listen and enjoy.

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Sultry, sabers, seals, and so longs.....Chris and Tim get into the nuts and bolts of this OPUS of Mastery! 

Elton, Bernie Taupin (lyricist) and his band  rip roar into the ether of stardom and are received by fans on both sides of the pond. Rock, blues, reggae, orchestral pop ....and more... the flowing sound and dynamic performance blend and mold genres for years to come. Please drop everything and listen to the show-stopping quality in almost every jam, every minute. If you haven’t thought much of Elton, or do not know his music this will change your whole opinion and make him a favorite of yours....or maybe not...the choice is yours. 

For comic relief, Tim drops a gross swimsuit visual and catches Chris off-guard. Also, we play sound-clips of both seals and Don Knots barking, making for a hilarious  episode that's fun, but not for the whole family.

Enjoy!!

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There isn't a bad song on this album and probably the toughest for us to name our top three non hits. Ian Anderson, the front-man, lead singer and Flute player for Jethro Tull, demonstrates his diverse talents and his endless supply of energy into Tulls biggest album, and one of Rocks best albums of all time, no joke. There are so many songs on this album that deserved way more mainstream airplay than they received. The themes of religion, corruption, the Renaissance period and lust played out over masterful musicianship by all of the members, especially Anderson. 

Beyond that, the shoutouts, the gags, the sound bytes are hilarious, and we hope you enjoy!!

Find us on both Twitter and Instagram @greatestnonhits or email us: [email protected]

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Chris and Tim introduce "Murph", the Spicoli of Chris's high school back in day. Murph reminds children from the 80's about how this album was a staple on MTV. We're also reminded by how clever the lyrics were written and how they can be interpreted as love songs, rallying cries for unity, pleas to stop war among factions/nations/religions, and so on. On other songs, like"40", we hear pro-Christian messages. 

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