Strong Songs

Do you hear a faint.... bustling? It's coming from your hedgerow. It's not just a spring clean for the May queen... it's a new episode of Strong Songs, straight from the Internet to your eardrums!

Yes, Strong Songs is back from the holidays and ready for a lush new year of thumps, pops, sizzles, and higgada-buggadas. On the first episode of 2020, Kirk goes deep into Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," a song that develops with unusual subtlety, from those quiet opening guitar arpeggios to that howling, rocking culmination.

Band/Artist: Led Zeppelin

Album: Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Composed by: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify

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ALSO DISCUSSED:

• "Black Dog" also from Led Zeppelin IV
• Clips from Wayne's World, 1992, and a Billboard magazine retrospective with director Penelope Spheeris
• "Taurus" by Spirit from Spirit, 1968
• "The Mandalorian" by Ludwig Göransson from The Mandalorian soundtrack, 2019
• "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen from A Night at the Opera, 1975
• "Grace" by Jeff Buckley from Grace, 1994
• A clip from Jeff Buckley Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition), 1993, which is a really incredible live compilation and you should listen to it

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OUTRO SOLOIST: Kirk Hamilton

Kirk is, well, the host of Strong Songs. He realized he'd never actually done an outro solo, so he figured he'd kick off year two by recording one. He's playing tenor sax, and there's actually a video of him recording the solo here: https://twitter.com/kirkhamilton/status/1214319584959877123

'GRAM BY 'GRAM

If you're interested in occasional music and Portland-related photos and videos, follow Kirk on Instagram @kirk_hamilton. https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/

NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST

Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://tinyletter.com/KirkHamilton

STRONG PLAYLISTS

You can find playlists containing every Strong Song as well as all of Kirk's weekly music picks from his other podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, on both Spotify and Apple Music.

SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!

The biggest of thank-yous to all of Strong Songs's Patreon patrons, especially all the new folks who signed up in December! If you want to support Kirk making the show, do so here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs

JANUARY 2020 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

AccessViolation
andrew walters
CALEB ROTACH
Chad Barnard
Dan Apczynski
Dave Florey
Glenn
Jared Norris
Mark Schechter
Merlin Mann
Ryan Torvik

JANUARY 2020 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Adam Georgandis
Alex Singer
Alexander Polson
Amanda Furlotti
Andre Bremer
Andrew Baker
Andrew Lee
Arjun Sharma
Bill Thornton
Brett Douville
Brian Amoebas
Brooke Wilford
Chas Lednicky
Chris Brown
Cyrus N. White
David Stroud
Earl Lozada
Eero Wahlstedt
Elliot Jay O'Neill
Emily Williams
FlSHBONES
Forrest Chang
Gavin Doig
Jacob Dye
Jaehoon Jeong
James Johnson
Jasmine Fellows
Jeffrey Olson
Jennifer Bush
Jeremy Dawson
John and Sharon Stenglein
Jon O’Keefe
joujou
Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua
Jules Bailey
Justin Liew
Justin McElroy
Kate Albury
Kevin Morrell
Kevin Pennyfeather
Mark Steen
Matt Gaskell
Max Schechter
Melanie Stivers
Michael Blackwell
Miriam Juskowicz
Mueller
Nate from Kalamazoo
Nicholas Schechter
Richard Toller
Robbie Ferrero
samuel gardner
Shane DeLeon
Shaun Wiese
SP
Tanner Morton
Tom Clewer
Tom Lauer