Tag: review

1980s Starry Awards

I haven’t been around much lately because, well… life. Also, much like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, I have spent my time working through the musical jungle of the 1980s—900 albums, give or take a few synthesizers. Ay Caramba!

In my infinite wisdom (or questionable judgment), I have decided to rank my Top 80 Songs of the 80s—a truly Herculean, thankless endeavor. And since I’m still wading through the final albums of 1989 I figured, why not make things even more ridiculous? Thus, I present my own makeshift version of the Grammy Awards, which I have oh-so-cleverly named… The Starrys. (Insert collective groan here.)

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Notable Death Watch: James Corcoran

Joseph Edward Corcoran was an American convicted mass murderer executed on December 18, 2024, for a 1997 quadruple murder in Indiana. Corcoran’s story is a whirlwind of family dysfunction.

I’m starting to think I might have a built-in flaw when it comes to searching for photographs. In this media-saturated world we live in, you’d assume it’d be easy to find high-resolution, unaltered images of “notable” individuals. But nope—apparently not. Case in point:

What is it about Joseph’s body configuration that causes his clothing to fall/shift to his right side? I added up the number 992454 on his fake-ass looking placard…I’ll give you 33 guesses what it totals, but you’ll only need one.

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Starr Tracks: Top Albums of 1971 Ranked (Part 1 of 2)

I am very excited to welcome our old friend Kevin Starr back to the blog. My taste in music is pedestrian, right Karen and Richard? Keven is a student of rock and roll. He’s got more, much more to offer. Have fun!

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Welcome to Starr Tracks! I’m Kevin Starr, your fearless (and totally amateur) guide on a mission to rank the top-selling music year by year, starting in 1971 and going… well, until I run out of steam.

“Who is Kevin Starr?” you ask. Well, I’m not a musician, nor a professional critic. I’m 62 and have spent decades listening to music and forming highly debatable opinions.

Thanks to modern technology, we now have access to the kind of epic record collection we could only dream about back in the day. In the ’70s, before the internet was even a twinkle in anyone’s eye, listening to music required buying a big, unwieldy contraption called an LP (short for long player). These discs spun at a mesmerizing 33 1/3 RPM and played sound using a tiny needle, or “stylus”—which was basically like playing music with a sewing machine, if you think about it.

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