Kendrick Lamar has been having a pretty great year, topped off with a wild half-time show at the 59th annual Super Bowl. I won't be writing about his stage show or his now borderline iconic song "Not Like Us", what I will talk about is his latest album, or at least the title of his latest album, GNX.
Named after the late 1980s series of muscle cars produced by Buick, the GNX was a variation of the massively powerful Buick Grand National. The GN offered 200 horsepower (1984–85), 230 horsepower (1986) and 240 horsepower (1987), with each model featuring 300 lb-ft of torque. The 1987 Buick GNX added an upgraded turbo and intercooler, improved engine heads and exhaust, and a more robust suspension system.
Lamar is an insanely talented musician and songwriter, and now it can be said he has bitchin' taste in cars.
This, of course, is just the latest in a long, very long list of songs that match music with cars. I've chosen first what many consider to be the very birth of Rock and Roll, "Delta 88" by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats. This could have been an entire theme week, with songs like Little GTO by Ronny & the Daytonas, Red Barchetta by Rush, 409 by the Beach Boys, “Hey Little Cobra” by The Rip Chords, “Chevy Van” by Sammy Johns, “Little Red Corvette” by Prince, I mean the hits just keep on coming.
However, for my 2nd track, I went a bit more obscure and decided to share '92 Subaru by Fountains of Wayne. FoW get such a short shift because everyone thinks of them as a "one hit wonder" band, said hit being Stacy's Mom. But they are so much more than that, so much more talented than that, their discography so much more diverse, unique and interesting than that.
Please, use today's post as a springboard to get to know that band. I mean, they guy that wrote the smash movie hit "That Thing You Do" has to know something about pure pop heaven, right?
