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Creedence Clearwater Revival
I was working out in the gym this afternoon when today's song came on the radio, and I swear every single New Year's resolutionist in the place stopped what they were doing for a second to listen and, seemed to smile to themselves or tap their feet or pucker their lips in a quiet sing-along whistle — as a whole catalog of Creedence Clearwater Revival's music reverberated through their memory. And this lead me to think—because it was a pretty diverse group of weightlifters—is there anyone who doesn't like CCR? While you're pondering that question I'm going to make a bold musical observation: I can't name a single other rock n' roll band that sounds like CCR. Seriously. Think about it. When is the last time you heard someone say: “You gotta hear this new song by so-and-so! They sound just like John Fogerty and CCR?” Or when is the last time you ever heard a band credit their influences to CCR's swampy guitar sound and Fogerty's hoarse wail? I'm guessing probably never. And we could spend a day discussing the last time a band packed a tune with timeless, poignant protest like this one.  (There, the gauntlet's been thrown down)  How likely is it for a band to have been so popular, release hit after hit, and never really have their sound recycled, reconstituted or rehashed? Maybe every aspiring musician just knows: that's as good as it gets…”

Today's Happy Medium Song of the Day is “Fortunate Son” by John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival.