There is something about the romance of rail travel that lends itself to musical expression. I could probably fill every Monday for the rest of the year with songs about trains. For now I will just present two of the best, both former number one hits which share the theme of trains serving as a connection to the ones we love.

MoonDay Music Matchup #3:

“Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & the Pips
vs.
“Last Train to Clarksville” by The Monkees

“Midnight Train to Georgia” was released as a single in August 1973 and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 27. In 1974 it won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus. The song later went on to be named #432 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 Songs of All Time.

The Monkees’ debut single, released in August 1966, “Last Train to Clarksville” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 5.

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Midnight Train To Georgia

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Last Train To Clarksville

If your music library is of any size at all, try searching it for the word “heart” and you should come up with a whole page full of results. Today’s MoonDay Music Matchup pairs off a couple of musical heavyweights, as might be expected where matters of the heart are concerned. Released only six years apart, both songs went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and both are ranked in the Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs of All Time. Proof positive that, as Huey Lewis says, “The heart of rock and roll is still beating.”

“Heart of Glass” comes from Blondie’s 1978 album “Parallel Lines”. Released as a single in January 1979, the song reached number one in both the U.S. and U.K. It later went on to be named #255 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 Songs of All Time.

From “Harvest”, the best-selling album of 1972, the single “Heart of Gold” went on to become Neil Young’s only #1 hit. Backup vocals on the track were provided by no less than James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. Rolling Stone ranked this song at #297 on their Top 500 Songs of All Time.

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Heart Of Glass

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Heart Of Gold

Good morning, and happy Moon-day to you! Today sees the premiere of another new feature, the Moon-Day Music Match-up, in which I present two songs that have been just asking to battle to the death for your affection and leave the outcome in your hands. Inspired by last week’s musical card trick, we will kick things off with a showdown reminiscent of the card game “War” we all all spent countless hours playing in our childhood.

“Queen of Hearts” comes from Juice Newton’s 1981 album “Juice”.
In September of that year it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold.

“Queen of Spades” is from the 1978 Styx album “Pieces of Eight”.
The album went triple-platinum and made it to #6 on the Billboard album chart.

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Queen of Hearts

buy the mp3 for .99 from Amazon: Queen of Spades