Over the past few months, I came to see this blog as a metaphoric treadmill. No matter how fast I ran, no matter the distance the pedometer claimed I traveled, forward motion proved illusionary. I’m not speaking in terms of hits, clicks, shares and likes; by those measures, indeed, it’s doing well—the best ever, in fact. But as the year progressed, a sameness crept into my reviews. (If one could copyright structure, I’d sue myself and win.) Thus, I’ve decided to implement a few changes in 2024 in hopes of shaking off the malaise.
First: more Essentials. I celebrated past classics just four times in 2023, which meant that the bulk of the year was devoted to new releases. That’s all well and good—I only spotlight that which I like and love, after all—but lost treasures from long-ago deserve attention, too. The cool thing, I think, is that doubling or even tripling the number without decreasing my First Impressions is attainable.
Second: Songs du Jour are Songs No More. My attempt at an old-fashioned Record Roundup failed in spectacular fashion, accruing over its eight entries less hits than most reviews achieve in a few days. That’s not to say I’m abandoning single releases altogether, just that—as I did with Bella White’s cover of Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend”—I’ll occasionally devote an entire post to one, and only one, song.
Third: Revive the dormant Fogelberg Files, which has been gathering dust since last January. When I launched the series in 2021, I assumed I’d finish by mid-2023 given that his catalog consists of 19 albums (20 if you count his mid-career Greatest Hits). I’m now earmarking early 2025 for the big finale—an essay about whether the singer-songwriter should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Fourth: Music-related book reviews. I have two cool music tomes on hand that I plan to spotlight once I finish reading them. Others will follow.
Last: There’s much craziness in the world. There always is. Utopia, sad to say, will never be anything other than the Thomas More novel or, for those who skipped lit class, the Todd Rundgren band. I sometimes consider commenting on said craziness and how our failure as a people to learn from history has led to it, but usually pull back for the same reason I abandoned Twitter (now X). After Elon Musk tweaked its algorithm, a slew of political nut jobs—none of whom I followed—overwhelmed my newsfeed, with their din drowning out the music zen I sought. So I resolve in the coming election year not to allow that fog of noise to distract from The Old Grey Cat’s mission. Spotlighting artists, albums and songs with minimal politicking, in other words, will continue as per my norm.
(That said, if a political candidate at any level or political party wishes to be featured in these pages, reach out via the email address found in my About section. The Old Grey Cat’s much-ballyhooed endorsement is sure to shift many votes!)
Happy New Year, everyone!
The Old Grey Cat 
And for you as well! Don’t feel too much the slave to interaction…I can’t tell how much of my blog’s hits are from data-miners, but Entirely too many are thus (suddenly several hundred posts have two or three hits)…but what’s fun to write is fun, and you have been much more assiduous at your work here than I have been at mine…my slice through 1959 jazz recording was one of the more annoying posts to put together (with a dying computer, my own fault there) and in the holiday weeks has gotten few hits in comparison…but it was mostly joy.
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Interesting to read your thoughts! Always a good time of year to reflect and think about what you want to write. And hey the treadmill is a still a fun and rewarding workout – even if you’re in one place you’re still exercising those muscles all the same 🙂
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