Affirmative, Captain

Few bands have reinvented themselves so successfully as the Yes, the architects of some of the most complex (some say most bombastic) British Progressive Rock from the 1970s. Not even Pink Floyd could match them for obscure, mystical lyrics or the eclectic mashing of baroque, hard rock, and cosmic noodling. But by the 80s, with disco, funk and New Wave having taken over, Yes changed their tune with the critically-acclaimed album 90125, and followed that up with a similar offering with Big Generator. Though they remained solidly progressive, they added catchy melodies and more consistent rhythms.

But Yes rose to fame on the strength of 1972’s Fragile, and this week’s wog includes three songs from that spectacular album as well as the epic Siberian Khatru from their mind-blowing album Close to the Edge. Sometimes the beat gets lost in the musical epiphanies, but for the most part these songs provide enough rhythm for a wog through a river running right over your head. Dive in at Podwogging.com.

Get It Together And Wog, Man.

Farm out, right arm, out of space! Here’s a trip back to the days when everyone was sick of the Pigs and the Oppressive War and just wanted to hang out and get back to the land and make the scene. Some say the ill-starred Altamont Concert was the death knell of the hippies, but the desire to pursue a simpler life according to youthful ideals continued well into the 70s…even to today, in fact. So this week’s wog features songs steeped in that ethos, by such groups as Canned Heat, the Youngbloods, the Rascals, and the inimitable Thunderclap Newman. And hey, say hi to your old lady, okay? From Podwogging.com.

LA Harmonic Convergence

The Mamas and the Papas were one of the first groups to drag 60s folk music kicking and screaming into pop stardom. Their hummable (and woggable) melodies bopped along with great harmonies, and while their sound dated rather quickly, they’re still an enjoyable listen if you’re burned out on metal or rap. This week’s wog is rather lightweight and only 33 minutes, but if you want to relax you could do worse. Find the list at Podwogging.com.

This week I’ll be taking a break from wogging and the next post will be in two weeks.

A Little Help From My Friends

I now have hundreds of wogging playlists in iTunes, and creating new ones is sometimes a challenge. To the rescue comes a growing trend in computerized music listening: functions that suggest which songs might go together to make a synchronistic playlist. iTunes itself has the Genius function, which compares the songs in one’s computer to its database of other users’ computers, which is what I used to create this week’s wog: SynchroniciWog #1. It uses a Genius-created list based on the song Things She Said, by Toy Matinee. I have other SynchroniciWogs that also use websites such as Pandora and last.fm that employ their own proprietary methods of suggesting songs that match each other in tone, musical composition, or user preferences. Things She Said is a great pop song from the 80s, but not all songs on the list are from the 80s, such as Nature’s Way by Spirit. Bottom line, my cyber friends helped me put together a Very Vigorous 38-minute wogging list, which can be seen along with hundreds of other lists at Podwogging.com.