| 2004: The Year In Review |
| Here�s our year in a nutshell: We had a baby. That's pretty much the news. Oh sure, we did a few other things this year. But most of them had to do with the imminent arrival of the baby, to be honest. (Possible exception: a short jaunt up to Montreal, our last as a couple for a while). Sophie Jean Coker arrived on June 27, all 8 pounds and 11 ounces of her. She's everything we imagined a baby would be and more, just as curious and hungry a little girl as there ever was. She's the spitting image of her dad. Rachel very reluctantly returned to work at the newspaper in late September. Eric has been home with Sophie during the day and Rachel's with her at night. We don't see each other much, but it's nice knowing she's with a parent all day long. And we already have a fabulous baby sitter. We're quite simply different people than we were before we met Sophie, as are our parents. Who would have guessed Rachel's mom, who grew up Catholic, would one day be called Bubbe? |
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| Welcome! This is a capsule version of our 2004 Year in Review. We hope you enjoy the highlights. -- Rachel and Eric Coker |
| Rachel's top albums: 1. Keane: Hopes and Fears 2. The Corrs: Borrowed Heaven 3. U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 4. R.E.M.: Around the Sun 5. Mark Knopfler: Shangri La 6. Lucy Kaplansky: The Red Thread 7. Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters 8. Richard Shindell: Vuelta 9. Alison Krauss and Union Station: Lonely Runs Both Ways 10. Bruce Hornsby: Halcyon Days |
| Eric's top albums: 1. Keane: Hopes and Fears 2. Ron Sexsmith: Retriever 3. Fastball: Keep Your Wig On 4. Bruce Hornsby: Halcyon Days 5. U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 6. Bob Schneider: I'm Good Now 7. Drive-By Truckers: The Dirty South 8. The Finn Brothers: Everyone is Here 9. John Fogerty: Deja Vu All Over Again 10. Hanson: Underneath |
| THE YEAR IN MUSIC |
| Sometimes the best songs are the ones that aren't played enough
BY ERIC COKER AND RACHEL COKER Press & Sun-Bulletin Did someone say Entertainment Authority? The real authority on entertainment this year has been the Magic City Music Hall in Johnson City, which has brought more quality acts to this area in the last six months than the Tier saw in the previous five years. Did someone say Pimp My Ride? Television viewers did, though many of them were muttering it under their breath after finding MTV wasn't playing videos yet again. Did someone say Usher? Yeah, a lot of radio disc jockeys did, as they introduced some of 2004's most overrated songs. But there was much more to the year's music. Here are a few things you (and those DJs) may have missed: Album of the Year Eric: With Hopes and Fears, the trio Keane took Britain by storm. They deserve the same kind of success in America. The fact that the group lacks a guitarist would seem like a gimmick, but Keane counters with more hooks on one album than most acts have in their careers. It's not only the best album of the year; it's the best debut album of the past decade. Rachel: I've had The Corrs' Borrowed Heaven in heavy rotation since June. I still don't understand why Summer Sunshine wasn't a huge hit for the Irish sibling pop act. I love to listen to it in the car. It can make me smile on the most dreary Monday morning. Best Songs Rachel: The Killers' Somebody Told Me reminds me of the very best Duran Duran. But since nothing out there sounds like that these days, the song really stands out. And speaking of the '80s, Bowling for Soup's 1985 is fantastic. Every line is so clever, just like their Girl All the Bad Guys Want from a few years back. I will admit that the video chock-full of references to the decade made me love the song even more. Eric: The Killers are great, a Las Vegas band that made it big in Britain first. Here are five tunes that leaped out of the radio: U2's Vertigo (see celeb.sitings below), Gary Allan's Songs About Rain, Jimmy Eat World's Pain, Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying (which should win the Grammy for Song of the Year) and Maroon 5's This Love. Song You Liked Before Radio Killed It Rachel: Tim McGraw? TIM McGRAW? Yikes! You really are getting old if that song does it for you. I do adore Maroon 5's Songs About Jane, and wish I had had the foresight to pick it for my best album of 2003. But the singles have been beaten into the ground by radio and VH1. I don't mind if I don't hear She Will Be Loved for five years or so. Los Lonely Boys' Heaven is another candidate for that special vault. Eric: From a songwriting standpoint, 100 Years by Five for Fighting (aka John Ondrasik) is brilliant, on par with his 2001 hit Superman. From a radio standpoint, the continued airplay for 100 Years represents a lack of imagination and the need for an updated play list. Give something new a chance, soft rock stations! Song That Should've Been a Bigger Hit Eric: Snicker if you must, but George Michael's Amazing was worthy of being a smash. The upbeat comeback single was better than the uneven album, Patience, but it doesn't matter. Thanks to past indiscretions, George couldn't get a song on the radio now if he performed with Eminem, Beyonce and 50 Cent. Rachel: Take Your Mama by the Scissor Sisters, another American band that made it big in Britain first, is truly infectious. In fact, I love that whole Prince-meets-Elton John album. I'm not sure their Saturday Night Live appearance last week will give them the bump they deserve. Top Video Eric: Two words: SOLID GOLD. Thanks to Sum 41's We're All to Blame, the early '80s lip-syncing variety show reached a new generation. Who didn't love the Solid Gold Dancers? Badly Drawn Boy's Year of the Rat was an animated delight. Its "the world needs a hug" theme seemed appropriate for 2004. Rachel: I'm not the world's biggest Alanis Morissette fan. But her video for Eight Easy Steps is creative and fun. The time-traveling gets taken a bit too far at the end, but it's one of those videos I can't help but watch when it comes on. Joss Stone's video for You Had Me isn't nearly as inventive, but I'll give it credit for introducing me to a good song that I wouldn't have heard otherwise. Guilty Pleasures Rachel: I confess: Occasionally, when I'm alone in the car, I crank up Martina McBride's This One's for the Girls. There's no explanation. And please don't tell me I'm on my way to being a country music fan. I'm almost 30 and I can't take it. Eric: That's embarrassing. But if it makes you feel better, I'll admit that I still love Since U Been Gone, even after I found out Kelly Clarkson sings it. And nothing defines guilty pleasure like the spoken-word stylings of William Shatner's Has Been. Worst Moments Rachel: Ashlee Simpson's pitiful "performance" on SNL earned its place on this list. If you're going to lip-sync, at least have a competent person pressing the buttons for you. A better dance routine also would be in order. Eric: I would like to travel 30 years into the future and see if anyone is singing along to dreck such as Lean Back, Goodies or some of the other hip-hop songs topping the charts these days. This is the low point for Top 40 music. Other Stuff We Liked Eric: So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star by Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter, the best inside-the-music-business book ever written. Bruce Hornsby's Halcyon Days. Comebacks from John Fogerty and Loretta Lynn. U2's performance on Saturday Night Live. The liner notes for the Beastie Boys' To the 5 Boroughs. Rachel: Lucy Kaplansky's The Red Thread, which is exactly the kind of album that should be getting a Best Contemporary Folk nomination at the Grammies. R.E.M.'s Around the Sun and Mark Knopfler's Shangri La. Alison Krauss and Union Station's Lonely Goes Both Ways, a new album I'm just starting to play too often. 2005 Wish List Eric: Here's hoping Stevie Wonder lays off the saccharine and returns to form with his new album. A little Stevie could go a long way to curing the ills of the music industry. Rachel: My wish is that children's music doesn't take over our CD player now that we're parents. Having kids is no excuse for listening to bad music. That means you, Wiggles! Eric Coker is assistant news editor and Rachel Coker is deputy metro editor at the Press & Sun-Bulletin. |