Wm. Harris
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wmharris.bsky.social
Wm. Harris
@wmharris.bsky.social
89 followers 180 following 280 posts
Math professor and music blogger.
Read all about it at https://musicofmylife.net
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wmharris.bsky.social
My 1000th post: a bit of news.

musicofmylife.net/2025/11/18/d...
Don’t Be Afraid To Let Them Show
In the early spring of 2000, Martha and I learned we were going to be parents. We’d been trying for some time, ultimately turning to a fertility specialist. Over the ensuing months, there were the …
musicofmylife.net
November 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
The last installment of hits from '85: the ones that definitely still rock my world.
musicofmylife.net/2025/10/31/l...
Let Me Steal This Moment From You Now
For my 1984 list, there were only two American acts in the top 10–I’ve upped it to three this go-round. Without further ado… 10. The Hooters, “And We Danced” (#21, Oct…
musicofmylife.net
October 31, 2025 at 2:02 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
More hits from 40 years ago that I still dig, one of which is no doubt some folks' least favorite song of the year.
musicofmylife.net/2025/10/28/i...
I Can’t Stand This Indecision
In addition to the three guys I noted in the last post who have three songs on this list, there are fifteen acts with a pair of tunes. Ten have already appeared at least once; the other five debut …
musicofmylife.net
October 28, 2025 at 1:02 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Twenty additional tunes that are fab to these ears forty years on...
musicofmylife.net/2025/10/25/i...
It’s A Do Or Die Situation
Yesterday afternoon Martha and I drove to Lexington for a bit of shopping. It was a beautiful day–clear sky, high in the low 60s. Our route to the shoe store didn’t take me by Transy, t…
musicofmylife.net
October 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Twenty-five more groovy tunes that peppered the charts 40 years ago. Don't know about you but I'm digging on the incongruity between title of the post and the video thumbnail.

musicofmylife.net/2025/10/21/i...
I’m Relying On Your Common Decency
Time for the second quarter of my list of faves among 1985 Hot 100 hits. I acknowledge this is a creation springing from a couple nights’ thought and that the rankings could easily be somewha…
musicofmylife.net
October 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
My fave picture from Lexington this afternoon. I'm certain they're only trying to talk to each other above the noise.
Two people dressed up in frog outfits at the No Kings event in Lexington, KY on 10/18/25. It appears they might be kissing but it's much more likely they're simply talking to each other in a noisy space.
October 18, 2025 at 9:51 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Part 1 of a musical look back forty years and what I think of the hits of 1985 now.
musicofmylife.net/2025/10/18/a...
All Alone In A World That’s Changed
Around this time last year I looked back forty years to put together my top 100 pop hits of 1984; while I can’t imagine making such a list too many years beyond that one, I do have sufficient…
musicofmylife.net
October 18, 2025 at 12:04 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
One feels like there's hope for a day when the song one hears on the way to work (it's a short commute) is "Tangled Up in Blue."
October 15, 2025 at 12:28 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
The greatest musical discovery I made around this time of year 30 years ago wasn't on the MRT chart then but definitely should've been.
musicofmylife.net/2025/10/11/m...
Modern Rock Tracks, 10/7/95
One Friday afternoon toward the end of September 1995 found me on the road to Ft. Wayne, meeting up with friend Mark L for a weekend bridge tournament. A quick search at the American Contract Bridg…
musicofmylife.net
October 12, 2025 at 3:09 AM
wmharris.bsky.social
This past weekend Premiere played the first show from what evolved into an ongoing series of discussions, referred to within as "wide divergences of opinion."
musicofmylife.net/2025/09/30/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 9/22/79: Nick Lowe, “Cruel to Be Kind”
Once Mark Seaman and I agreed to “debate” the merits of AT40 lists from the 70s and 80s (now over four years ago), there was the matter of making my first selection for discussion. I el…
musicofmylife.net
October 1, 2025 at 1:57 AM
wmharris.bsky.social
How about something good that's happened as a result of scrolling through Facebook?
musicofmylife.net/2025/09/23/f...
Forgotten Albums: Camera Obscura, Let’s Get Out Of This Country
There are many days when I question the wisdom of continuing to visit Facebook on an ongoing basis. I post daily Wordle results in a couple of places and share links to these pieces when I get my a…
musicofmylife.net
September 23, 2025 at 10:59 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Start-of-the-school-year ain't what it used to be, so I'm thinking about some of the times when it was.
musicofmylife.net/2025/09/10/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 9/8/84: Madonna, “Lucky Star”
Long, long ago, the beginning of the college year was energizing, exciting, fun. The hint of change in weather, the new folks you’d meet–there was just something in the air that felt di…
musicofmylife.net
September 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Hard to fathom that the albums addressed within are on the cusp of becoming a half-century old.
musicofmylife.net/2025/08/31/s...
Stereo Review In Review: August 1976
This is the farthest back in time I have yet gone for one of these looks back. While I don’t recall anything from this issue, it’s likely it was still in the house when I began perusing Dad’s SR ma…
musicofmylife.net
September 1, 2025 at 1:47 AM
wmharris.bsky.social
Why, yes, there are changes a-plenty in the air...
musicofmylife.net/2025/08/20/i...
I Can’t Trace Time
Today is the first day of class at my institution. It’s a weird one for me, since, outside of sabbatical terms, it’s the first time I’m not going to be in the classroom on day one…
musicofmylife.net
August 20, 2025 at 3:24 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Seeing friends, losing friends, great joy, and great sadness.
musicofmylife.net/2025/08/13/r...
Reflections, Coming Through The Radio
This past Friday I traveled to Newberry, SC, to visit college friend Warren and his wife Debbie. A couple of months ago he invited me to go see 10,000 Maniacs, who would be playing at the Opera Hou…
musicofmylife.net
August 13, 2025 at 2:19 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
A fave concert and an appalling failure of memory lead in to a look back at alternative hits from the summer of '95.
musicofmylife.net/2025/08/07/m...
Modern Rock Tracks, 8/5/95
In July of ’95, I spent two weeks teaching the math portion of a science/math camp for high schoolers that my college had been running for about five years. I was involved with it (with one e…
musicofmylife.net
August 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Another helping of arcane AT40 trivia, but at least there's some fine early 80s funk accompanying it.
musicofmylife.net/2025/08/02/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 8/7/82: The Gap Band, “Early in the Morning”
I became an avid, ardent listener of American Top 40 in the late winter of 1976. Since it’s always been very much my nature to seek out patterns and try to formulate rules when encountering n…
musicofmylife.net
August 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
From the summer of Grease, six songs that looked longingly up the charts in hopes of more love:
musicofmylife.net/2025/07/26/s...
Songs Casey Never Played, 7/29/78
Several years ago I noted that I ran daily (and I do mean daily) for several months beginning in June of ’78 in an attempt to improve on my lackluster eighth grade performance on the school c…
musicofmylife.net
July 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Today is the blog's 8th birthday. This weekend's AT40 show from 1972 gave me an excuse to think back on the summer I was 8 years old. Turns out what I most remember are the neighborhood kids in the new world I'd just joined.
musicofmylife.net/2025/07/20/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 7/22/72: Argent, “Hold Your Head Up”
The summer I turned 8, we moved. After spending almost four years at a church in Stanford, a small town forty-five miles south of Lexington on U.S. 27, Dad accepted a pastorate in Walton, a small t…
musicofmylife.net
July 20, 2025 at 8:42 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Eights are wild on a two-post weekend marking eight years of blogging, starting with some thoughts about an AT40 from 37 years ago.
musicofmylife.net/2025/07/19/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 7/23/88: Jane Wiedlin, “Rush Hour”
This weekend marks the eighth anniversary of posting here at The Music of My Life. To denote the occasion, we’re taking a look at the two Premiere AT40s on offer; it’s fortunate I don&#…
musicofmylife.net
July 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
An exercise in 80s chart trivia: how often did all the songs in a week's Top 10 make it to the Top 5? Or even higher?
musicofmylife.net/2025/07/05/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 7/5/86: El DeBarge, “Who’s Johnny”
I’ve mentioned before that I do a lot of my 70s and 80s Billboard Hot 100 chart research via the Ultimate Music Database. I know it’s an imperfect resource–that’ll happen wi…
musicofmylife.net
July 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
wmharris.bsky.social
Thinking about the stuff from our early years that gets left behind.
musicofmylife.net/2025/06/30/b...
But Not So Little Boys
This may not be news to those who know me, but as far back as I can remember I’ve had an emotional reaction (that is, tears, oftentimes plentiful) to songs and stories about growing up and saying f…
musicofmylife.net
June 30, 2025 at 3:19 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Harriet Wheeler of the late & great Sundays. "Here's Where the Story Ends" is 100% an all-time fave tune. This is another banger from their debut album; always got a Smiths vibe from it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Gw...
My Finest Hour
YouTube video by The Sundays - Topic
www.youtube.com
June 26, 2025 at 11:27 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
Writing about current music for a change, but of course the thought was inspired by a couple of tunes from the 70s...
musicofmylife.net/2025/06/18/w...
Waiting For Wednesday
I’ve been on the road for longish stretches a few times recently, which in recent years has become a signal for me to tune into Channel 28 on the SiriusXM dial, The Spectrum (“where cla…
musicofmylife.net
June 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
wmharris.bsky.social
The last time Premiere featured the 6/12/76 #AT40 I wrote this ode to an growing obsession and a mystery that lasted for over a decade. Oh, and there's baseball, too.

musicofmylife.net/2019/06/08/a...
American Top 40 PastBlast, 6/12/76: Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, “Dance Wit Me”
My family attended Cincinnati Reds games regularly throughout the 70s, maybe four or five times a year for a while (we benefitted from the “Straight A Program,” where kids with good gra…
musicofmylife.net
June 15, 2025 at 11:20 AM