🎧Episode 143: Michael Franks After Dark, Tom Johnston at the Movies & Engelbert Goes Arena Rock

<p>Episode 143 gets smooth, cinematic, and increasingly questionable as Curtis brings some late-night jazz-pop atmosphere, Jonathan continues digging through movie soundtracks, and the category round moves from grown-up soul to an aging crooner reaching for arena-rock relevance.</p><p>Curtis opens with <strong>Michael Franks</strong>, bringing his trademark blend of jazz, soft rock, understated grooves, and impossibly laid-back vocals. It’s sophisticated, nocturnal music that sounds like it should come with dim lighting and a drink menu. Jonathan keeps his movie-song streak going with<strong> Tom Johnston</strong>, finding another overlooked soundtrack cut that brings some unmistakable Doobie Brothers-adjacent muscle to the big screen.</p><p>For the category songs, Curtis brings <strong>Put The Kids To Bed</strong> with <strong>Average White Ban</strong>d—slow, soulful, and subtle enough that the category name pretty much explains what happens next. Jonathan then introduces <strong>Desperate For Relevance</strong>, as <strong>Engelbert Humperdinck</strong> takes on a huge Journey anthem in an attempt to bring a little arena-rock drama into the world of traditional pop.</p><p>Michael Franks after dark, a soundtrack deep cut, AWB setting the mood, and Engelbert reaching for the cheap seats—Episode 143 goes from sophisticated to wonderfully unnecessary in record time.</p><p><br></p><p>Curtis Gross is a self-employed video editor.</p><p>Jonathan Workman is an adult learning consultant based in Wichita, KS.</p><p>---</p><p>Make sure you are subscribed to Why Is This So Hard For You. Type Why Is This So Hard For You in your podcast provider, hit that subscription button, and leave us a five-star review. This will make it easier for other podcast listeners to find the podcast.</p><p>---</p><p>The intro music is the first 30 seconds of the Ornette Coleman tune &quot;Song X&quot; fed into AI software that attempts to output the song to a solo piano transcription. The outro music is the first 30 seconds of Sonny Rollins&#39; version of the tune &quot;St. Thomas&quot; fed into the same software.</p>