Strictly Bops III: Currently

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Conway Twitty"

Howdy. I have freshly graduated from college which means I have two announcements to make. They are unrelated to graduating, but I never turn down a happy coincidence. FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT: Yesterday, May 24th, was the One Year Anniversary of 1 AM Media. I am very excited about this and will update you further on my next moves later. SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be hard launching 1 AM Media now that I have a year’s worth of pieces to read. This means I will hopefully bring in more readers. If more readers start poking around, I will be making a One Year Anniversary post that will replace my original pinned welcome piece. Anyways, I’m thinking out loud at this point, but if you’ve been around for a while, thank you so much for reading. It genuinely means the world to me.

It’s been a while since my last music-related post, so I felt that I was due. However, my first playlist from Strictly Bops I, songs that transcend all mortal realms, was a bit of a lighting-in-a-bottle situation. It has 228 followers, while 1 AM Media has about 80 subscribers. Sometimes you just get lucky. It has been a major struggle to create a new, concise playlist with a specific theme. So I gave up for a while, until today. Today I proudly present Strictly Bops III. Strictly Bops III is just a small collection of what I have been listening to lately. I will be explaining my choices, and perhaps telling a few stories in order to give context to my song decisions. It will be separated by genre, then artist, then song. I hope you enjoy it, and here’s the playlist if you want to listen along.

CREED:

One Last Breath and Higher

Let’s address the elephant in the room. I think I’m finally ready to admit that I like Creed. Maybe I’ve aged. Maybe I just have bad taste, but it’s time we all just say it, Creed is good. Despite what you think of Scott Stapp, he has an unbelievable voice. Now, this wasn’t always how I felt. If you’re not familiar with Creed, I am going to put this into perspective. Creed is in the same realm as Nickelback. They came out around the same time, have a similar sound, and catch the same amount of hate. I like Creed far more than I like Nickelback, and I have a theory as to why.

When the Woodstock 99 documentary came out on Netflix this year, I was entranced. It was such an intimate look at such a specific moment in time. Grunge was dead and Nu Metal was popping off. It blows my mind that bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were household names with massive followings. I’m not saying these aren’t good bands. Limp Bizkit kind of sucks, and Korn isn’t really my thing, even though I understand the hype. After the documentary, my friends and I began listening to these bands ironically. We would put the songs on and make jokes, despite secretly enjoying them. With Creed, I took it too far. I listened to them so much as a joke that I ultimately began genuinely enjoying their music. I guess my message is: don’t listen to music as a joke because you will end up loving it in the long run, and being an unironic Creed fan is something I have to live with every day.

P.S. This video of Creed at the 2001 Thanksgiving Halftime Show in Dallas, Texas, is ELECTRIC and a MUST-WATCH.

P.S.S. Frontrunner for worst album art of all time.

Yikes

COUNTRY:

Yeah yeah yeah, Country sucks, whatever, give it a rest. I understand the slander when it comes to overproduced, poppy, modern country. However, there are catalogues of amazing, sincere country, both old and new.

Alone and Forsaken by Hank Williams Sr.

I heard this song in The Last of Us. It’s really good and fits the context of the show perfectly.

All songs by Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe, and Willie Nelson

If you’ve read Strictly Bops II: Outlaw Shit (admittedly my worst writing), then you know I love outlaw country. My love has only increased since then. They are all such amazing songwriters. I see a direct correlation between outlaw country and classic rock. The ‘70s are just a sweet spot for me in terms of music.

Hello Darlin by Conway Twitty

Two Family Guy references in one post are never a good sign. However, this song is amazing and Conway Twitty is an incredible singer.

Doggone Cowboy by Marty Robbins

You may know Marty Robbins from his viral hit Big Iron (which was covered perfectly by Colter Wall in 2020). It is weird to say viral hit considering the song came out in 1959. However, Doggone Cowboy is a song that perfectly describes my fantasy of living on a ranch in the Old West.

All My Exes Live in Texas by George Strait

Just a very fun song. If you know it, and it comes on, you’re singing ten times out of ten.

Pitchin’ Fits by Drayton Farley

Our first country selection from this millennium. Pitchin’ Fits is complete with an addicting chord progression as well as a solid chorus. I’m no music expert (which is ironic, considering this entire post is about my music taste). It’s just good.

Follow You To Virgie and Charleston Girl by Tyler Childers

Tyler Childers is easily in my top 3 country artists of today. He is an extremely talented songwriter with a raw, hypnotizing singing voice. He is the face of Appalachian Country. These two songs are well known, but they aren’t his most popular.

Amie by Pure Prairie League

I don’t even go out of my way to listen to this song. It comes on shuffle, and I hardly ever turn it off. The intro guitar riff gets me every time. Amie also reminds me of Freaks and Geeks, an exceptional TV show.

CLASSIC ROCK:

Young Lust and Not Now John by Pink Floyd

If you know me, you know I love Pink Floyd. The album art to Wish You Were Here is tattooed on my leg. For real. These are just a couple songs that I found in a deeper dive of their music. My friend Luke put me on to Not Now John. Credit where credit is due.

MAC DEMARCO:

Songs from One Wayne G

This year, Mac Demarco released a 199 song album titled One Wayne G. As far as I know, it is a collection of songs he created in the past few years that never made the cut on his previous albums. I quite enjoyed the songs in the playlist. They reminded me of my freshman year before I was sent home for “two weeks” when I was listening to Mac Demarco heavily.

SONGS THAT ARE FROM MOVIES OR MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I’M IN A MOVIE

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult

I got a fever, and the only prescription is thinking of something to say about this song without mentioning SNL.

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper was also in the movie X (2022), and I thought it was the best use of the song that I have ever seen. It reignited my love for this song.

Time Is On My Side by Irma Thomas

In my opinion, way better than The Rolling Stones’ version. For a class, we were told to change the music for any scene in The Godfather. I chose this song to play after Michael Corleone kills Sollozo in the Italian restaurant. If we submitted it, I personally would have given myself an A.

Hold On, I’m Comin’ by Sam and Dave, Evil Woman by ELO, and Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers

After I finished my classes for the week on Friday afternoon, I used to listen to these songs as I walked home. They made me feel important. It was a main character moment, if you will. Like Jake Gyllenhaal in Demolition.

Plastic Jesus by Tia Blake

I could have sworn I heard Plastic Jesus in a movie. After a Google search, all I could find was Cool Hand Luke, which I have unfortunately never seen. Regardless, great classic folk song.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock

Such a fun, whimsical little tune. Featured on the soundtrack for The Coen Brothers’ 2000 film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Blue Velvet by Bobby Vinton

When I finished Twin Peaks, I was looking for more David Lynch content. I ended up watching Lynch’s film of the same name. My appreciation for this song is tied in with my appreciation for the movie. It can be a tough watch, but if you like David Lynch, I recommend it.

Well, there you have it. These are some songs I have been listening to lately. I hope you found a song or two that you like. Maybe you didn’t. It’s your life so you can listen to whatever you want.

Have a good one.

Happy One Year Anniversary to 1 AM Media.

Thank you for everything.

-CJ