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I’m a fan of American rock singer Bob Seger. He currently maintains a low profile. I would like to see more activity from him. In this article, I will be providing my wish list of seven topics I would like to see Bob Seger do. There is some overlap in the last three topics.
New Album
I hope Bob Seger will work on a new album, if he isn’t already involved in making one. I’ve been disappointed that he used piano less over the years and want his next album to bring back piano. The ideal new Bob Seger album for me would be an album like his 1978 album “Stranger in Town” with piano on every track. This album’s format should be a back to the 70s approach fusing the musical styles of his classic period with the deeper lyrical themes of his later work.
Bob had written epically long songs in the past which I’d like to see him do again. Examples of epic long Bob Seger songs include “Brave Strangers” (6:20), “Against the Wind” (5:34), “Like a Rock” (5:56), “The Ring” (5:35), “The Fire Inside” (5:56) and “Manhattan” (5:22). He included a good six and a half minute cover of Leonard Cohen’s Democracy on his last album, but as he didn’t write it I’m not counting it as an epic long Bob Seger song.
Interviews
Bob Seger has done few interviews over the last four years. It would be nice if Bob did more interviews. It’s enjoyable to read or listen to a new Bob Seger interview. Sometimes, you find an interesting story about one of his songs which you hadn’t heard before. It’s a dream of mine to interview Bob Seger for this blog. Bob, if you’re reading this, I’d love to interview you. You or someone associated with you can reach out to me. My email is on my Blogger profile page here.
Autobiography
Bob Seger has few books written about him. It would be great if he wrote an autobiography. I’d like it to not be celebrity focused like so many rock star biographies. Personal issues can be covered if Bob wants to, but it’d be better to not to be the focus. Topics that would be fun to read are the difficulty of touring in America before he became a rock star, how he wrote & recorded his popular songs, stories from the road, meeting musical heroes of his and more.
Album Guest Appearances
Bob rarely makes guest appearances on other people’s albums. I’d like to see him make appearances on other artists’ albums often. I don’t wish to see him singing merely backing vocals, but singing duets. It would also be good to see him record covers for tribute albums which are albums paying tribute to an artist, recording studio, style of music etc with every track being a cover song by a well-regarded artist.
Unreleased Songs
Bob is reported to have a vast amount of unreleased songs, so I would like to see him release some unreleased songs. When Bob Seger joined iTunes in 2011, he said that he would use iTunes to release unreleased material. Unfortunately, he still hasn’t done it. Last year, there were five playlist Bob Seger EPs released only on music streaming services. They consist of existing Bob Seger songs. I’d like to see EPs consisting of unreleased songs released on both iTunes and music streaming services. One unreleased song I want to hear is “Wonderland” from 2011 that relates to alternate universes. As a fan of both Bob Seger & sci-fi, that sounds like a sci-fi song which excites me.
Dolby Atmos
Music is now getting released in a format beyond stereo which is Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos is a form of spatial audio which is released mainly via streaming services. It can be listened via headphones or a full speaker setup giving a surround effect. Atmos adapts itself based on the speaker setup you’re listening to. It would be great to hear Bob Seger in Dolby Atmos. I can think of two Bob Seger songs sounding epic in Dolby Atmos with a full speaker setup. Firstly, “Hollywood Nights” with David Teegarden’s two drums on both back speakers and Bill Payne’s piano going across the front speakers. Secondly, “Beautiful Loser” could have its synth parts giving spatial effects across different speakers.
Reissued CDs
Most of Bob Seger’s early albums unfortunately haven’t been reissued on CD. I’d like to see CD reissues of his early material with the two albums I most want to hear being “Back in ‘72” (1973) and “Seven” (1974). Also, there is a great opportunity to release super deluxe editions of his popular albums. These super deluxe editions would include outtakes, demos and alternate takes from the album sessions. There would be a big booklet featuring lots of photos and information on the making of the album. It would also include a blu-ray audio disc containing a higher quality stereo mix as well as a Dolby Atmos mix of the album. There could be 45th anniversary super deluxe releases of “Stranger in Town” in 2023 & “Against the Wind” in 2025 and 50th anniversary super deluxe releases of “Beautiful Loser” in 2025 & “Night Moves” in 2026.
That is my wish list of what I’d like to see Bob Seger do. If you’re a Bob Seger fan, I’d be interested to hear what you’d like to see him do. Hopefully, Bob Seger will do something that will excite his fans soon.
