?>{"id":1077,"date":"2013-03-27T07:12:01","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T14:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.late2theparty.com\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2014-08-05T12:46:56","modified_gmt":"2014-08-05T19:46:56","slug":"hot-106-12-china-grove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.late2theparty.com\/?p=1077","title":{"rendered":"Hot 106 #12: China Grove"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hot 106 is a hit list (like a mob hit) of 106 \u201cclassic rock\u201d songs that deserve to be banned from radio airplay forever, due to being overplayed or just plain played out. In an effort to be fair, and to showcase great, lesser-known “deep cuts”,\u00a0Kent<\/a>\u00a0and Jen have tasked themselves with finding replacements for these banished tunes. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Gettin’ whacked today in a Yacht Rock showdown: “China Grove” by The Doobie Brothers.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Kent: “Clear As The Driven Snow”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There is nothing really wrong with “China Grove”, and it really is more indicative of The Doobie Brothers’ music offerings to the world of classic rock than my replacement.<\/p>\n

But the dirty little secret of The Doobie Brothers, forever curb stomped by the salt-and-pepper smooth rockin’ of Michael McDonald, is that their earlier albums offer music that sounds more like Crosby, Stills, and Nash than Yacht Rock<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and that’s the musical history a Classic-Rock-Radio revisionist should bestow upon the brothers Doobie.<\/p>\n

“Closer Every Day<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” or “White Sun<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” are some of my favorites, but you needn’t even leave the same album that “China Grove” appears on, The Captain and Me<\/em>, to find a suitable replacement: my pick is “Clear As The Driven Snow”. It has great harmonies and multiple facets, has an\u00a0acoustic\u00a0focus punctuated by driving bass and sinister guitar licks, and keeps McDonald on the farm.<\/p>\n

Nothing against “China Grove”, really, but if I had heard more of Doobie tunes like “Clear As The Driven Snow” and less of the offerings given out on the radio, I would have been a fan sooner.<\/p>\n