Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

He really is that stupid.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

When I was faster i was always behind.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

No one could have predicted…

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Music / Open Thread: Rolling Stone’s Ten Best Seger Songs

Open Thread: Rolling Stone’s Ten Best Seger Songs

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Slide show here, with useful details. (How can you hate on a rock star who’s nice to old ladies?)

Why, yes, I am a blue-collar Generation Jones cliche. Never been much of an ampitheatre tour-goer, but I did make sure to see Mr. Seger live, in Detroit, during what was then rumored to be his “last” tour. Once is plenty, when it’s done right…

What’s on the agenda for the end of the weekend?

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  1. 1.

    Todd

    “Didja hear that Bob Seger is dying of throat cancer?” – late 70s rumor at my high school

  3. 3.

    The Dangerman

    “Like A Rock” not Top 10? Shame on them.

    Maybe they don’t like GM (or whoever used it in the ads).

  4. 4.

    PIGL

    How could you come up with as many as 10?

    Night Moves, Against the Wind, and the Chevy add’s all I got. And I was there.

  5. 5.

    raven

    Sheeeeeet. Nothing from Mongrel. Leanin on My Dream, Mongrel, Evil Edna, Highway Child, River Deep Mountain High.

    I wasn’t born lookin’ back, I can’t tell white from black
    Kesey next to me now darling, straighter than a railroad track
    I’ve been so high, my mind was dry

    I rent it out to farmers on the midnight ride That ain’t all
    I ain’t even got me a congressman I can call
    I seen ’em dumpin’ garbage, in my rivers and lakes
    All right
    I seen ’em send up John Sinclair, you know Two joints is all it takes

    Then suddenly I was in a tree
    And dogs were barking up at me can’t you see
    I’m so damn apethetic, I can’t believe I’m free

    As the senator he signs the bills you know

    And he’s telling us which way we have to go

    Think it’s time we got together and declared When you see them coming and you get so scared

    Rain is falling down, but you know I’m feeling fine
    I think I’ll watch the tv set, let America steal my mind
    But you know I’m cool, Momma had a rule
    She didn’t raise no fool to be true to someone else
    I’m gonna be myself I’m runnin’ down that highway child

    Highway child Highway child

  6. 6.

    gbear

    Having played in a bar band, if I never hear ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ again, it will be too soon. I’d knock ‘Against The Wind’ off that list too. It was popular, but hardly stellar. Points off for The Eagles singing a fade out chorus that’s about a minute too long. That list is weak sauce.

  9. 9.

    raven

    I was addin’ the score when there’s a knock on the door
    was a letter addressed to me
    It read “greetings from the president, united states”
    I fell down on my knees

    The next day I was on the picket line
    and Lord you should have heard me scream
    “you know you’re leanin’ on my dream”
    “hey man you’re leanin’ on my dream”

  10. 10.

    Anne Laurie

    @The Dangerman: It was commentors’ choices, and you’re right, I think a lot of people burnt out on “Like A Rock” because of the incessant tv ads.

  13. 13.

    Just Good Sense

    I’m in that generation, too, but I hate, hate, hate that name. I once heard the inter-Boomer/Gen-X cohort called Cuspers, which sounds a whole lot less stupid to me (referring to the Wikipedia Gen Jones description).

  14. 14.

    The Dangerman

    @Anne Laurie:

    …I think a lot of people burnt out on “Like A Rock” because of the incessant tv ads.

    Too bad; it’s neck and neck with Turn The Page for his best work.

    Also, second the thought on OTRAR (ruined forever by Tom Cruise).

  15. 15.

    gbear

    Has anyone posted this yet? CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker thanks his staff for a job well done this week:

    What a week. As events unfolded in Boston, and then in Texas, and as they continue to unfold at this very moment in both places, CNN has been there for our audience in every possible way – on television, online and on our mobile platforms. As Wolf would say, that was true for our audiences here in the United States and around the world. For journalists like each of us, these are the times that define what we do and why we do it. All of you, across every division of CNN Worldwide, have done exceptional work. And when we made a mistake, we moved quickly to acknowledge it and correct it. It was important to see CNN, CNN.com, HLN and CNNI all shine this week, often with different stories and different approaches that make each of their roles clear. It is a week that began with a whole new genre of programming for CNN, with the successful premiere of Parts Unknown. Now, as the week comes to a close, I wanted to express my deep gratitude and admiration. You have worked tirelessly, around the clock, to share these stories. And our audiences have responded, making it clear that they rely on us in ever increasing ways. In front of the cameras and behind the scenes, you have shown the world what makes us CNN.

  16. 16.

    JCT

    Evil Edna for the win.

    Sitting outside having a beer while grading comprehensive exams and listening to Imperial Bedroom.

    The better my mood, the better the scores….

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    @Fred Fnord: I’d argue that Bob Seger is absolutely part of the folk music tradition, it’s just that us folk now have access to better technology. Catchy, hummable narratives about lovers, desperados, and the daily toil (‘Turn the Page’ is no different in spirit than ‘Servant’s Holiday’ or ‘Grey Funnel Line’).

  18. 18.

    Gravenstone

    We had a morning DJ on the big AM station back home by name of Bob Sievers. He told the tale of a call he got the morning after a local Bob Seger concert. Seemed the caller was the mother of a young woman who’d attended the concert and not come home that night. She asked why that “nice Mr. Sievers would keep her daughter out all night?” Ah, the innocence of midwestern life in the late ’70s.

  19. 19.

    TR

    Ugh. Bob Seger. What an overrated piece of shit.

    Oh, hey, it’s that Chevy ad with “Like a Rock” for the thirtieth fucking time tonight.

    And hey, what about “Old Time Rock and Roll”? Today’s music ain’t got the same soul? Look in the fucking mirror, you eunuch with a beard.

  20. 20.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Is there actually anyone cares what Rolling Stone thinks about music? This is an operation that thinks nine of the top ten albums in rock history were released between 1966 and 1973; the tenth is from The Clash. Not a single one of them by a female artist, either.

    Their prejudices have biases.

  22. 22.

    Eric U.

    I was wondering if the list was blank. He is one of those artists that I understand why people like him, but I can’t generate any enthusiasm for his music. And the fact that so much of it has been overplayed isn’t helping.

  23. 23.

    wonkie

    I’m in the don’t-care-for-him camp., That’s why I’m amazed Fire lake didn’t make the list–it’s the only Bob Seger song I like. The rest strike me as sentimental.

  25. 25.

    Schlemizel

    Saw him in concert twice, both were well worth the money. The first time we got nose bleed seats & could hardly see the stage through the smokey haze ;).

    The wife & I tried to talk a girl into letting us give her a ride home. Her boyfriend was very abusive, telling her she was crap & he was just going to leave her there. When he walked away while she was crying we turned and told her she shouldn’t put up with it & we would give her a ride home. She said it would be OK & went after him. I feel bad we didn’t try harder

  26. 26.

    Honus

    I kept waiting for Sunspot Baby and Katmandu to turn up on the list. At least they got Ramblin Gamblin Man. The rest is just filler.

  27. 27.

    Svensker

    The thing that’s funny about watching his videos — his music is always about nostalgia, times are tough, things are raw, he’s got that yearning in his voice, and he just looks so fucking HAPPY. 100 watt smile. What a surprise. Cutie.

  29. 29.

    The Dangerman

    @TR:

    You meant that as a compliment, right?

    I did; Seger may not be the best artist ever or even anyplace near the top, but, as far as his songs go, the two I mentioned are my favorites of his work. Maybe I’ve done too much late night driving in my days (late nights, much caffeine, little sleep, this could all explain much).

  30. 30.

    Brian R.

    The ten best Bob Seger songs?

    What’s next? The ten best Seals and Croft albums? The ten best Bay City Rollers concerts?

    We’ve officially hit the bottom of the barrel and tunneled through into the earth beneath, which is apparently the bottom of a pig sty.

  31. 31.

    Hill Dweller

    The twitter machine is telling me Dzhokhar had an M-4 carbine with him in that boat. Where did he get it?

  32. 32.

    Honus

    Seger was also famous for giving his side men a piece of the action. He claimed it made everybody play just a little better.

  33. 33.

    burnspbesq

    If “Waiting for Columbus” had never been made, “Live Bullet” would be the best live album of all time.

    Remember how localized rock radio used to be? I grew up listening to WNEW-FM and WLIR (and WQBK while I was away at school), and I never heard Bob Seger (or REO Speedwagon for that matter) until I got to Cleveland on my first cross-country drive.

  34. 34.

    Schlemizel

    @Brian R.:

    Aside from being way too harsh on ol Bob I think you need to adjust your meter for the work. I don’t think he would ever tell you he is the greatest rock-n-roller of all time. What he is is a guy with a voice that can do certain songs and has hit some themes that strike a segment of the population as ‘true’. Plenty of worse artists out there who are pretentious, he is not one of those

  37. 37.

    Honus

    @TR: I like Seger, I don’t have any allusions about him being some kind of great artist, he just plays good working class bar music. Sort of like Bruce Springsteen with no pretensions.
    And FYI, regarding Like a Rock, for years, Seger was adamant about never allowing any of his songs to be used for commercials. He only let GM use that song after people appealed to him on the basis that it might put some guys back to work in Detroit during what was a bad recession. I don’t recall any other Seger music used in commercials.

  39. 39.

    Jager

    @raven:

    I was at a Jerry Lee Lewis show at a club in Boston years ago and JLL was playing ‘What made Milwaukee Famous” and some kid yelled rooooccck and rooooooll. JLL stopped singing and said, “son, you wouldn’t know rock and roll if somebody shoved it up your ass.” he then picked up where he left off. A fine moment.

  40. 40.

    Ed in NJ

    I had the fortune to catch Seger in Atlantic City a couple of years ago. Hadn’t seen him since I was a teenager back in the ’70s. I was amazed by how great the show was.

    For top songs, you’re always going to get the biggest hits because of the nature of who votes, but there are so many great songs: You’ll Accomp’ny Me, The Famous Final Scene, Horizontal Bop, The Fire Down Below, Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight, Sunspot Baby. I could go on and on.

    Back in the ’70s, Seger was right up there with Springsteen and Billy Joel, and probably Jackson Browne as the quintessential singer-songwriters of the day. For some reason, probably because he stayed in Detroit and didn’t tour incessantly once he got huge, he never sustained the adoration or appreciation the others did. That’s a shame.

  41. 41.

    James Gary

    @GregB: Bill Ayers.

    That aside: Why, yes, I am a white-collar Generation X cliche, and I’ve NEVER understood Seger’s appeal. Even as a teenager in middle-class suburban America, his music struck me as unbearably precious. (Some redneck in a diner whispered disparaging comments about your long hair, Bob? Boo-f*cking-hoo. If you can’t handle being a well-paid rock star, get a haircut and go punch a clock.)

  43. 43.

    Death Panel Truck

    What’s this “Generation Jones” shit? First I’m a late baby boomer (’63), now I’m a “Jones”? Why do people allow dumbass social scientists to pigeonhole them? I’m not a boomer, I’m not a “Jones” (WTF?), I’m me, goddamnit.

    Oh, and I always hated Bob Seger. Everyone in my high school listened to him, and Journey, and REO Speedwagon, and Styx, and Boston, etc. Sterile, soulless, lifeless corporate rock. If it weren’t for groups like the Clash and AC/DC, I’d have gone fucking nuts.

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    @Death Panel Truck:

    Oh, and I always hated Bob Seger. Everyone in my high school listened to him, and Journey, and REO Speedwagon, and Styx, and Boston, etc.

    You forgot Kansas.

  46. 46.

    Honus

    @burnspbesq: As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with you Burns. Of course, I might have to put “Rockin’the Fillmore” in there, too.

    I was lucky, I grew up in the upper Ohio Valley, right in Seger’s wheel house, and listened to him since junior high. All the local bands played Ramblin Gamblin Man, Funk 49, Proud Mary and Little Bit O Soul.

  48. 48.

    James Gary

    @burnspbesq: @Death Panel Truck:

    To give the man his due, I probably wouldn’t have embraced the punk-rock mindset as aggressively as I did if it hadn’t been for Bob Seger. Journey/REO/Styx/Boston/Kansas were innocuous in terms of lyrical content, but there was something about Seger’s phony rock-star take on working-class life that just made me want to puke, even as a twelve-year-old.

  49. 49.

    gbear

    @James Gary:

    a well-paid rock star

    You don’t know shit about this, do you?

    Seger was pretty much the opposite of a well-paid rock star when he wrote ‘Turn The Page’.

  50. 50.

    danielx

    How it is that Let It Rock didn’t make the list…if you caught Seger on a good night with the Silver Bullets roaring behind him, there wasn’t much better for a live act back then.

    As to what’s on the agenda, the X daughter unit is having headaches…again. Off to see the nice people at Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine tomorrow…again.

    I’m really tired.

  51. 51.

    James Gary

    @Honus: Yeah, precious. (Re #40: I don’t really think an exchange between an aging Jerry Lee Lewis and some random heckler in nineteen-ninety-whenever-the-f*ck presents any kind of strong counterexample.)

  52. 52.

    Anne Laurie

    @danielx: Hope things go well (as well as can be expected?) tomorrow.

    You do kinda give perspective on the ‘woe is us, nailed to the mediaverse all week long!’ vibe…

  53. 53.

    MikeJ

    @gbear:

    CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker thanks his staff for a job well done this week:

    CNN is where I heard that Cambridge is four miles away from Boston. And that Watertown is four miles past that. So therefore Watertown is eight miles from Boston.

    A quick glance at a map will show one that both are separated from Boston only by the relatively narrow Charles river.

  54. 54.

    James Gary

    @gbear: He had a recording contract with a major label, which had enough faith in him to keep him on tour and (even if in a desultory manner) promote his records. He wasn’t working for an hourly wage in a dead-end job.

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    That definition of “Generation Jones” is far too broad. My view is if you’re born between about 62 and 65, you fall into a strange unnamed category where you identify with neither boomers nor gen X. There’s not a lot of us and when we find each other we get on the same wavelength very quickly.

  57. 57.

    different-church-lady

    BTW, it’s nice to finally be in a hotel where my BJ comments don’t simply disappear into the ether. This greater Bostonian was hankering to join the conversation last week.

    I gotta commend you guys — you said a whole lot less stupid things about what was going on back in my hometown than many other corners of the nominally-liberal internet.

  58. 58.

    mdblanche

    @gbear: I was eating out yesterday and the TV in the restaurant had “The Situation Room” on. I would say that CNN should pursue their true passion and become a graphics design company, but they really aren’t any better at that than they are as a news source.

  62. 62.

    YellowJournalism

    @gbear:
    Jesus. Classic case of disconnected from reality. I still do not understand how CNN could hire this man to head their network after the shambles he left NBC in. CNN was already going south, but he just made it worse. It’s like someone trying to put out a fire with lighter fluid.

    And just how in the Jodi Arias did HLN shine this week?

  66. 66.

    danielx

    @Anne Laurie:

    Thanks – really.

    It does give perspective; whenever I would take her in to Riley Children’s Hospital for neuro checkups, I’d see her healthy, happy and active. Then I’d look around and see people there with kids who had the damnedest problems – kids who were literally coneheads, kids whose mothers had fallen off motorcycles when they were pregnant, kids with brain cancer, kids with this, kids with that. People get just the weirdest shit wrong with them…

    Then I’d think something like: I have no problems. Those people over there, they have problems. I’m totally good and so is my daughter.

    That being said, I really, really don’t want to go through all this hospital dogshit again thirty days since.

  69. 69.

    Suffern ACE

    I’ll go with against the wind, because knowing the next line if one of the versus once helped me win a music quiz.

  71. 71.

    Linnaeus

    As one who grew up in metro Detroit among those who were Bob Seger’s audience, and hence heard his music pretty frequently, I don’t have particularly strong feelings about him. Some of his songs I like, others I don’t, and still others I may have once liked, but no longer do. I wouldn’t put him on any “greatest” lists, but I don’t think he’s as awful as some other commenters here do. He performs pretty basic roots/pub rock – nothing more, nothing less.

  72. 72.

    Keith

    Did a cat-centric housecleaning Sunday. Got both litterboxes cleaned up, threw out old cardboard, dumped fresh catnip, and put a fresh set of bedding on the couch (yes, my couch has comforters & afghans for the kitties). Kitty #1 has a Furminator wedged between the cushions so he can scratch his cheeks, and the BJ rescue kitties are lounging on the deck.
    All is well.

  75. 75.

    Roy G.

    Yah, I can’t stand Old Time Rock and Roll either, but let’s not blame teh kidz that don’t know Seger except for the overexposed hits.

    Let’s see, beyond the hits: Feel Like a Number, Get Out of Denver, Come to Poppa, Fire Lake, Till It Shines, and above all, Her Strut.

    Bonus cred: Thin Lizzy covering Rosalie on Live and Dangerous.

  76. 76.

    FlipYrWhig

    I have to say, I wouldn’t have been able to name a Bob Seger song until this thread. And I was born in 1971. Sounds like he’s in that category with Steve Miller and George Thorogood, like, oh, right, that guy from that song about drinking and being a tough guy or something.

  79. 79.

    gbear

    I’m just going to add that my last favorite Bob Seger song was his cover of Rodney Crowell’s ‘Shame On The Moon’. I thought he did a great version of that song. Now I’m off to bed.

  82. 82.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Reader choice lists always suck. “Turn the Page” is old Bob whining about how tough it is to be a rock star. I’ll take “Get Our of Denver,” or “Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight.”

  87. 87.

    A Humble Lurker

    I’m not much for musical purity. If it sounds good, unto my mp3 player it goes. Everything has it’s moment where you’re like ‘yeah totally’ or when you’re like ‘this is bullshit’ so…*shrug*

    OT but my younger cousin clued me into why footwear trips the spam thing. Take away the ‘s’. There you go. For a similar reason, the part of your house that’s under your house and floods when it rains is banned from a lot of places because the word for male discharge is embedded in it. I find it weirdly hilarious that kids know these things.

  88. 88.

    Suzanne

    I’m not sure if I’m a “Millenial” or an “Xer”, so Bob Seger is my mom’s generation. But I think “Against the Wind” is lovely. Love the line “Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends”.

  89. 89.

    GregB

    I always liked Night Moves.

    Old Time Rock-N-Roll reminds me of every cheesy wedding I have ever been to.

  90. 90.

    RobertDSC-eMac 1.25

    Funny, the only way I knew of Seger is through Metallica’s cover of Turn The Page. I had a chance to hear the original a while back and thought Metallica did a better job.

  91. 91.

    5x5

    @Death Panel Truck:

    What’s this “Generation Jones” shit? First I’m a late baby boomer (’63), now I’m a “Jones”? Why do people allow dumbass social scientists to pigeonhole them? I’m not a boomer, I’m not a “Jones” (WTF?), I’m me, goddamnit.

    Feel like a number? You’re not a number. Damnit! You’re a man!*

    *(unless you’re a woman. Damnit!)

  92. 92.

    Gretchen

    I’m from Detroit. Seger played a sock hop I went to when I was in high school., I think at Catholic Central High School. I wish I’d known he was going to be a big deal later. And he still lives in the area. A friend’s sister works as a bartender there and says he’d just pop in for a beer like a regular guy.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, I am really pissed off that I had to get out of bed to come write this, because linking on the tablet is bullshit. I am exhausted, and I was settling down with the housecat and checking Balloon Juice before heading off to dreamland.

    I hold no brief for Bob Seger as an “artist,” but the first goddamn rule of rock ’n’ roll is great songs. There are plenty of one-hit groups whose one song is nonetheless a great song. No shame in that. We can talk about “careers,” “influences,” “importance,” yadda yadda yadda, but if you can crank out something like, say, “Dirty Water,” boom, you’ve earned your ticket to rock ’n’ roll heaven.

    Some of Seger’s stuff is overblown, but “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” is a great straight-ahead rocker with no pretensions at all. Glad that was on the list.

    But what levitated me off the bed was the omission of Seger’s first hit, “2 + 2 = ?” That is a goddamn great song. And a great fucking antiwar song that still resonates today.

    Well, I knew a guy in high school
    Just an average friendly guy
    And he had himself a girlfriend
    And you made them say goodbye
    Now he’s buried in the mud
    Of a foreign jungle land
    And his girl just sits and cries
    She just doesn’t understand

    Change that line to “Now he’s buried in the mud of a foreign desert land,” get some A-lister or edgy upcomer to update the arrangement a bit and, bam, hitsville again. End of story.

  94. 94.

    JustRuss

    @eemom: Really? There’s a few Seger songs I like, but We’ve Got to Tonight can stand up against all comers for Most Boring Song Ever.

  98. 98.

    PanurgeATL

    @gbear:

    And beyond that, I think he wrote that song at a time when having long hair in the wrong place could literally get you beaten up. Funny how the punk crowd could forget that sort of thing so completely and so quickly. But then punk was always a reactionary movement at heart, anyway.

  99. 99.

    ? Martin

    The All the Presidents Men Revisited special is pretty good. If you know the whole ordeal pretty well, there’s not much new here, other than the reveal of deep throat’s identity. But it’s well presented, and a nice look back (from some interesting perspectives) – and nice insights on the film as well. Worth watching.

  100. 100.

    PanurgeATL

    @Death Panel Truck:

    “Sterility” is usually a matter of the production job. (If you had, say, Steve Albini or Butch Vig remix The Grand Illusion, you’d probably come out with a much different-sounding record.) This leads into the much-misunderstood “life” and “soul”, where a host of issues–production, songwriting, playing, motivation–get confused. Just because something’s “real”, that doesn’t mean you’re gonna like it. Just because something doesn’t give off all the signals for being “real”, that doesn’t mean it’s not.

    For my part, I put Seger in pretty much the same box with Springsteen (with John Mellencamp and Tom Petty catty-cornered from those two). Boston/Styx/Kansas/Foreigner/Journey/REO are in another, bigger box (certainly no smaller than today’s boxes in any event). Any box that can contain REO and Kansas is actually pretty big.

  101. 101.

    Tehanu

    @gbear:
    I was very good friends with a fairly well-known, but not really top big-time, touring band that played hundreds, maybe thousands of dates mostly in the Western states from about 1970 to 1999. Night after night on the road, a different venue 250 nights a year. They told me that “Turn the Page” — which they didn’t play in their show — was their own personal, private anthem, the best description of what it was really like out there. Their lead singer died of heart disease some years back and I tear up every time I hear that song, remembering what it meant to him.

  104. 104.

    moot23

    A bit off topic, but then again it is an open thread.

    With all the gun control stuff on the table, i’ve been hearing “guns don’t kill people. people kill people.” nonstop.

    Funny how you never hear “bombs don’t kill people. people kill people.” Not exactly a line tried post-Boston.

    Next time Krauthammer gets a hard for nuking Iran on a Sunday show, I’d like to see someone use that line.

  106. 106.

    Bruce S

    I actually thought “Against the Wind” was an Eagles song. Whatever… Both Seger and The Eagles are R&Rers whose albums I’d never buy but have a few good songs that were impossible to escape back when I listened to the radio. Can’t see hating on the guy.

  107. 107.

    bjacques

    I kind of liked Bob Seger in the mid-70s but hated him from 1978 on. Seger was on heavy rotation in the corporate formats that had taken over the last of Houston’s rock & roll stations (KRLY 94, KLOL) with their slap-happy late-night DJs who’d throw on a record side so they could go off for a dump and a joint (15 minutes of Kssshhh-kk…kssshhh-kk…kssshhh-kk). Anyway, getting anything new played was was like pulling teeth. “Rock the Casbah” only got on because of the trouble with Iran.

    So it was situational. I found Pacifica (KPFT) and college radio (KTRU) eventually. Being able to listen to whatever I want now, I don’t really hate Seger or any other 1970s MOR bands. They’re just background music to those days of my life.

  108. 108.

    Amir Khalid

    I’ve always appreciated the irony of Old Time RocknRoll: presenting what was once outlaw music as an old fogey’s comfort.

  109. 109.

    Thlayli

    @gbear:

    … my last favorite Bob Seger song was his cover of Rodney Crowell’s ‘Shame On The Moon’. I thought he did a great version of that song.

    From the Useless Trivia Department: “Shame on the Moon” was in the Top 10 at the same time as Kenny Rogers’ version of “We’ve Got Tonight”. Seger is the only artist ever to have simultaneous Top 10 hits with a song he wrote but didn’t perform and a song he performed but didn’t write.

  110. 110.

    raven

    @Steeplejack: Highway Child and Leanin on my Dream from Mongrel were both anit-war or lefty songs. Of course most people here would have to google John Sinclair.

  113. 113.

    Woodrowfan

    late boomer here (59). I liked him then, I like him now. Not great, but very good. Wrote some songs that I still like to listen to. “Night Moves” is one of my favorites, and “We’ve got Tonight” was a great make-out song. I’ll take Seger over pretentious “art” groups like Rush or Yes 100 times out of 100.

  114. 114.

    Rudi

    I wasn’t born lookin’ back, I
    can’t tell white from black
    Kesey next to me now darling,
    straighter than a railroad track
    I’ve been so high, my mind was dry
    I rent it out to farmers on the midnight ride
    That ain’t all
    I ain’t even got me a congressman I can call
    All right
    I seen ’em dumpin’ garbage, in my rivers and lakes
    I seen ’em send up John Sinclair, you know
    Two joints is all it takes
    Then suddenly I was in a tree
    And dogs were barking up at me
    can’t you see
    I’m so damn apethetic, I can’t believe I’m free
    As the senator he signs the bills you know
    And he’s telling us which way we have to go
    Think it’s time we got together and declared
    When you see them coming and you get so scared

    Rain is falling down, but you know I’m feeling fine
    I think I’ll watch the tv set,
    let America steal my mind
    But you know I’m cool, Momma had a rule
    She didn’t raise no fool to be true to someone else
    I’m runnin’ down that highway child
    I’m gonna be myself
    Highway child
    Highway child

  115. 115.

    Joey Giraud

    Hate that song. Rich and famous rock star whining about life on the road, like we should feel sorry for him.

    Imagine, rednecks in a late night diner shooting dirty looks at the long haired star. Such injustice.

  116. 116.

    "Fair and Balanced" Dave

    @Wally Ballou:

    Seger’s best stuff was made when nobody outside of SE Michigan knew who the hell he was

    Absolutely. I’ve only seen Seger in concert once and that was in 1976 at the Broome County Arena in Binghampton, NY.

    Seger was the second act on a bill headlined by Blue Oyster Cult who were touring in support of “Agents of Fortune” (this was right before “Don’t Fear The Reaper” became a big hit). The opening act was a glam-rock band called Angel who the audience absolutely hated. (All I remember about them was that they dressed in white and the keyboardist had an enormous Moog synthesizer that must have been about 6 feet high).

    Seger was total contrast. He came on stage dressed in blue jeans and a Michigan State Spartans jersey and kicked off playing a cover of “The Stealer” by Free. He had the audience rocking immediately and never let up. I knew “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” but that was about it. When his set was over, the audience clapped and stomped and (remember this was the 70’s) all fired up their Bic lighters. Seger and the band came back on and played “Katmandu” as their encore.

    The next day I went out and bought “Live Bullet”

    The only reason “Old Time Rock n’ Roll” is on the list is because of Tom Cruise dancing in his tighty-whities in “Risky Business”–IMO it pales in comparison to any song on “Night Moves”

  118. 118.

    Woodrowfan

    Oh Lord, I remember “Angel.” Their record company took out big ads in Circus and Rolling Stone to promote them,, but they were AWFUL.

  119. 119.

    Rex Everything

    Hell yeah, I love Seger. I love the fact that he apparently saw his whole life, his whole world, as an epic rock anthem. He was constantly writing his own soundtrack. And he delivered the goods.

    Plus, he used the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on his records. Those who know … don’t need to ask.

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