Come over to the dark side. We have music.

A deep dive into a few numbers you might have missed so far on your journey through life.

• 1: “Midnight Man” by The James Gang
• 2: “Starless” by the Unthanks
• 3: “Ach heile mich” by Cassiber
• 4: “Opening Theme” by Morte Macabre
• 5: “Gotta Go” by Bud Shank
• 6: “Night Life” by Ray Price
• 6a: “Repent Walpurgis” by Procol…

When our beloved musicians die, we feel bereft because we know we’ll never hear anything new from them. An archivist may discover some buried treasure, but that’s not the same…

Christmas is almost as popular a country-western subject as honky-tonkin’. Many of the classic artists have an entire album of holiday tunes. Here are some originals (and one traditional carol).

• Merle Haggard, “If We Make It Through December.” …

And a special Thank You to Pierce McIntyre for Plethora of Pop and the “Thanks / Giving Challenge.”

Musicians occasionally acknowledge their debt to various influences, but how often do they write a musical “Thank you”?

In the song “Have You Ever Bean Grean?” from their second album, Soft Machine…

In one of my most common recurring dreams, I’m shopping in a record store / thrift shop / or used stereo store. …

Part 1: A Canterbury Baker’s Dozen

There has been a wealth of insightful posts on Plethora of Pop from Paul Combs, Terry Barr, David Acaster, Pierce McIntyre, and most recently Anthony Overson on how the achievements of 70’s music have been ignored or misunderstood.

Although I started listening to music…

Halloween’s over and frigid winter overtakes golden autumn. Which for Riffers means only thing:

It’s time to start planning your Christmas playlist for Medium.

If you’re looking for something a little different to add to your eclectic holiday compilation of artists like Twisted Sister and Merle Haggard, may I suggest…