Hottest ever. Except not.

Dr. John Robson comments on the claim of the hottest day ever based on computer manipulation of data going back only to 1979. That's not an oops, it's deliberate.

Friday Musical Interlude - Angel

Fleetwood Mac's Angel from the Tusk album in 1979.

Friday Musical Interlude: Gold

John Stewart & Stevie Nicks 1979 hit Gold.

Friday Musical Interlude - Sara

Fleetwood Mac's Sara from the 1979 album Tusk. The song was released in December of 1979.

Friday Musical Interlude - Storms

In 2003 Camper Van Beethoven made a song for song cover of the entire 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk.  This is a cover of the beautiful Stevie Nicks ballad Storms. Not nearly as good as the original, but a noble and relatively faithful effort.



For comparison purposes (and because I love the song), here's the original.

Friday Musical Interlude - Van Morrison live 1979

The full concert at the Capitol Theater in 1979.

Friday Musical Interlude - Led Zeppelin live at Knebworth, 1979

Led Zeppelin live in 1979.


Track List:
01.The Song Remains the Same (Page, Plant)
02.Celebration Day (Jones, Page, Plant)
03.Black Dog (Jones, Page, Plant).
04.Nobody's Fault but Mine (Page, Plant)
05.Over the Hills and Far Away (Page, Plant)
06.Misty Mountain Hop (Jones, Page, Plant)
07.Since I've Been Loving You (Jones, Page, Plant)
08.No Quarter (Jones, Page, Plant,)
09.Hot Dog (Page, Plant)
10.The Rain Song (Page, Plant)
11.White Summer/Black Mountain Side (Page)
12.Kashmir (Bonham, Page, Plant)
13.Trampled Under Foot (Jones Page, Plant)
14.Sick Again (Page, Plant)
15.Achilles Last Stand" (Page, Plant)
16.Guitar Solo (Page)
17.In the Evening (Jones, Page, Plant)
18.Stairway to Heaven (Page, Plant)
19.Rock and Roll (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant)
20.Whole Lotta Love (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
21.Communication Breakdown (Bonham, Jones, Page)

Friday Musical Interlude for Obama

Led Zeppelin's Nobody's Fault But Mine (performed live in 1979).  Take a hint Mr. President.

Friday Musical Interlude - The Ledge covered by The 88s

The 88s covering Fleetwood Mac's 1979 Tusk album non-single The Ledge fairly faithfully.  The 88s remind me of Vampire Weekend meets Mumford & Sons.

Great cover of a song that holds up well 35 years later.

Here's the original for comparison purposes.

Friday Musical Interlude - Journey

My very first Journey Friday Musical Interlude - Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' from late 1979, though it's probably fair to call this an 80s song.

Friday Musical Interlude - Cruel To Be Kind

Nick Lowe from 1979 with his single Cruel To Be Kind. A song that once in your head, is hard to get out of there.

The math of a jobless 'recovery'

The labor force participation rate in the United States has hit it's lowest level since 1979.  1979 was a bad year and since then there have been a few recessions as well.  Yet today we have word that things are a lot worse in the labor market than any time in the last 34 years.  So is this a jobless recovery?  Can we even call it a recovery?  Let's go back to basics to find the answer.