🎵 Music
Crucial Track 🎵 June 18, 2026
"I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Makes me happy. How about you?
Crucial Track 🎵 June 17, 2026
"Manifesto" by Roxy Music
So many - you just have to choose one. DONE.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 16, 2026
"Pictured Within (Live)" by Jon Lord
Jon Lord was always one of my favourites. My interest in Deep Purple emerged not from Taliesyn, Fireball or even 'In Rock', but rather their first live album 'In Concert'. He never managed to repeat that within Purple - but as a solo artist - that was Jon. I THINK I have them all - I certainly know them. But out of that library how do you choose a 'track'?
Hence the choice today - and again - NOT in studio from a live album with Steve Balsamo providing the vocals to one of his 'songs' ... extending it to over 10 minutes with Orchestra. Not sure. there is a single track that epitomises Jon's range - though Jazz and Rock doesn't appear in this recording.
Rock - well - you already know that side of him.
Jazz - well a little light fun introduction to Dave Brubeck's 🔗📼 Unsquare Dance
Crucial Track 🎵 June 15, 2026
"Friday I'm In Love" by The Cure
I like to try and not pick the obvious ones on the more famous bands - but how could you not pick this one when it comes to the Cure.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 14, 2026
"Boots on the Ground" by Massive Attack & Tom Waits
Hell yes. Only released a couple of months ago - played on rotation for a while there. It was posted in Crucial a couple of days ago - so electing to use my 'double down' card today.
🖇️ Posted on AlbumWhale back in April
For the life of me can't find the crucial entry again. All to say - go listen.
UPDATE: Literally One Minute Later: Wired Differently
Crucial Track 🎵 June 13, 2026
"Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson
Of course we all know the original - take a listen before listening to Mysty Mayhem's cover ...
📼🎵 May I introduce you to 🔗 Mysty Mayhem … you are going to love it. (Embed courtesy of TikTok - no account/login needed)
Crucial Track 🎵 June 12, 2026
"Come Together" by Spiritualized
The entire album takes me back to the exact point in time when Mark introduced me to Spiritualized. Thank you Mark.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 11, 2026
"Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 10, 2026
"Rhythm Of Life" by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Not a 'musical/show' kinda guy, and this came out before I was old enough to 'get it' - but for whatever reason since I first heard it - have always absolutely loved it.
The image comes from 🔗 The Rhythm of Life
View John Philpin's Crucial Tracks profile
Listen to my Apple Music playlist
📼🔗 A short video about The Rhythm of Life Art Installation in Yucca.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 9, 2026
"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by The Walker Brothers
Hard to choose which one of theirs to include in Crucial. Might have to add others in the future. Another 'liquid' voice.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 8, 2026
Crucial Track 🎵 June 7, 2026
"Everybody's Hustlin" by Heads, Hands and Feet
The Third Lee - Albert.
🔗🎵 Music of the Spheres - different ones.
Listening to Mother Earth as tectonic plates move past each other.
Art ➕ Science | Art and Science
.. they aren’t the same as I wrote the other day riffing on Roger
[@bradenslen](https://micro.blog/bradenslen)
I think the two sides issue is the problem - which goes beyond politics.
It is - as Roger had it - the problem of ‘Us and Them’.
The original piece was called ‘Us and Them’, but on Roger’s ‘Us➕Them’ tour - the name subtly changed …
Can’t find an exact quote - but the essence was that ‘➕’ transforms the concept from ‘binary opposition’ to ‘mathematical unity’.
Paraphrasing:
Instead of ‘us versus them’ it becomes ‘us plus them = one humanity’ … a call to action to ‘pool our love’ and recognise we’re all ‘ordinary men’ who should work together.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 6, 2026
"I'd Love to Change the World (1971)" by Ten Years After
Prompt: A song from college or early adulthood.
Today's offer happens to fit the prompt - so why not .. one of the other 'Lees'.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 5, 2026
"Andmoreagain" by Love
WEIRD - I wrote this most yesterday - and posted it - yet nowhere to be found. So here we go again.
Back in 'my day' there were three 'Lees' - Albert, Alvin and Arthur. This music is from Arthur, the image below is one of the others.
Pink Floyd has Nick’s ‘Saucerful’
Genesis has Steve’s ‘Genesis Revisited’
🔗📼🎵 Not Voyage 35 - and yet is.
It was announced a while back - but seems to beginning to take shape ….
Porcupine Tree now has Colin’s ‘Voyage 35’
Crucial Track 🎵 June 4, 2026
"The End" by The Doors
This just keeps playing in my ears.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 3, 2026
"Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith
An integral part of Spencer Davis and Traffic before this side project with 'the world's first Supergroup' .. and Stevie was barely 21 when he wrote this 🤯
There are some great covers out there - but seriously - did you know that this even existed? And no - it is not a 'great' cover (in both senses of the word) ... 'good' maybe - but not 'great'.
More of Stevie in the future.
Crucial Track 🎵 June 2, 2026
"Everybody's Talkin' (1971 Mix)" by Harry Nilsson
Interesting that his two biggest hits were other people's songs. #JustSayin
