This list of songs is inspired by a list published by radio station, KEXP, from Seattle in 2010. For the most part, I will faithfully countdown from their list, from Song #500 to Song #1. So, when you see the song title listed as something like: “KEXP: Song #XXX”….it means that I am working off of the official KEXP list. If I post the song title as being: “KTOM: Song #xxx”….it means I have gone rogue and am inserting a song choice from my own personal list of tunes I really like. In either case, you are going to get to hear a great song and learn the story behind it. Finally, I am not a music critic nor a musician. I am a music fan and an armchair storyteller. Enough said! Let’s get on to today’s song.
KTOM: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.
Song #479: Everlong by The Foo Fighters.
Dave Grohl is absolutely everywhere these days! The lead singer of the rock group, Foo Fighters, is arguably the biggest name in Rock music today. His band has just released their 11th studio album called Medicine at Midnight. Over the course of their career, the Foo Fighters have won 11 Grammy Awards, released a whopping 56 singles (!) and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. In between Foo Fighter albums and shows, Dave Grohl has collaborated with a veritable Whos-Who of musicians including Lemmy from Motorhead, pop-crooner, Rik Astley, as well as, headlining an all-star version on “Times Like These” with many new, young UK singers.
Dave Grohl got into music as a drummer. He was drawn toward the punk scene near his childhood home on the outskirts of Washington. In the late 80s, he came to the attention of Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, who were looking for a new drummer for their band, Nirvana. Dave proved to be the final puzzle piece for Nirvana and was present for all of their greatest moments as a band. When singer Kurt Cobain took his own life, it affected Dave Grohl deeply. For awhile, he was sure that he would never play professionally again.
But, he is a prodigious talent and soon found his creative energies overtaking his melancholy state. Dave began working alone and managed to produce an entire album-worth of songs, with him playing all of the parts. He passed cassettes of his new songs around to his friends for fun. Soon, these songs came to the attention of a record label and Dave was urged to record them professionally. He did so under the moniker, “Foo Fighters” in order to hide his identity. *The term, “Foo Fighter” refers to US pilots who seek out UFOs whenever they are “spotted”. Dave began delegating roles to others; Pat Smear, “fourth member of Nirvana” came on board to play guitar. Taylor Hawkins left Alanis Morrisette’s band to play drums. Dave left the drum kit and moved to the front of the stage to be lead singer and guitarist. Other members joined the band and the official version of The Foo Fighters was born.
The song, “Everlong” has become the band’s most requested and most played song. It is often the song they use to close their concerts. “Everlong” was a Top Ten hit when it was released in 1997. The video for the song was nominated for multiple MTV Awards in 1998. A final noteworthy aspect of “Everlong” is that it was the song chosen by talk show host, David Letterman, as the song he wanted played on his final show. The Foo Fighters played live in his studio, as a retrospective of Letterman’s career played on screen. In 2014, Dave Grohl was inducted into The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame as drummer for Nirvana. This year, in 2021, The Foo Fighters look like good bets to be inducted as a group, too. This would make Dave Grohl a two-time inductee and help him join an exclusive club of multiple winners inducted for two different groups such as Jimmy Page (Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin), Ronnie Wood (The Small Faces/The Rolling Stones), David Crosby (The Byrds/Crosby, Stills and Nash), Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield/Crosby, Stills and Nash) and Sammy Strain (The O’Jays/Little Anthony and the Imperials).
So, for your listening and viewing pleasure, I present one of the hardest-working, most charismatic and most talented performers in Rock n’ Roll today, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters! Enjoy.
The link to the music video for Everlong by Foo Fighters can be found here. ***The lyrics version can be found here.
The link to David Letterman’s final show before retirement (featuring musical guests, Foo Fighters) can be found here.
Needless today, Foo Fighters have an awesome website. Feel free to check it out by clicking here.
Finally, thanks to KEXP for creating their list of the greatest songs of all-time and helping to inspire me to create my own posts. The link to their website can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2021 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
Tom MacInnes, Writer 