There are plenty of disadvantages to working the overnight shift. One of the advantages of working all alone in the office is that no one is around if you want to do two things at once, and risk possibly not doing your paid job as well as your boss would like. That is the exact scenario I often found myself in at "Portland's Best Music!" 103.7 "Peak" FM. I would play Ace of Base and Seal in the master control studio, while recording cassettes of my personal music in the second production studio across the hall. I would simply 'chock' both doors open, and leave the monitor speakers on high enough to warn me when the Madonna record was running out. I'm not saying I never missed my cue, but there's no need for me to sit there listening to that same Hootie & The Blowfish record all the way through. This is one of the reasons why so many DJs have been replaced with computers in the last 15 years.
- "Been Caught Stealing" (12 inch remix) Jane's Addiction: My 1993-1994 internship at WFNX was my trial by fire into the world of alternative rock. I did odd jobs for Neal Robert in the afternoons, and he used to play this version of this song off the CD single.
- "Jumpin Jack Flash" The Rolling Stones
- "Runnin Down A Dream" Tom Petty, featuring Mike Campbell tearing off one of my all-time favorite guitar solos.
- "Animal" Pearl Jam: I can't overstate the impact Vs. had on the world in 1993. Pearl Jam were already one of the biggest bands on Earth when Vs. was released in September. The album set a record for copies sold in one week (unbroken for 5 years!) and it's gone 7x platinum since. This is for a band which didn't grant interviews and released no promotional videos. They succeeded on merit. We'll never see a physical album or CD fly off the shelves like that again. I would guess WFNX regularly played seven tracks off the record. "Animal" still sounds great in 2011. The snare drum sounds a little "1990s", but the rest of the recording and performance are full-tilt amozzing. I still have a vinyl LP copy !mint!sealed! if anyone wants to make me an offer? Serendipitously, Pearl Jam recorded and released the Orpheum Theater show I saw on the tour, April 12, 1994. Unfortunately, a single CD can't hold the entire concert, so their performance of "Animal" didn't make the cut.
- "Few and Far Between" 10,000 Maniacs: Man I love the arrangement on this song. The drums sound amazing, the horn section is terrific too.
- "Closer to Fine" Indigo Girls
- "If I Can't Change Your Mind" Sugar
- "Gee Angel" Sugar
- "Rockin Stroll" The Lemonheads
- "Sold Me Down The River" The Alarm
- "Stop!" Jane's Addiction
- "Cannonball" The Breeders
- "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" Lenny Kravitz
- "Divine Thing" Soup Dragons
- "Interstate Love Song" Stone Temple Pilots
- "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)" Van Morrison
- "Jump In Line (Shake Shake Senora)" Harry Belafonte: this is why I bought this soundtrack CD. I could not wait 15 years for iTunes to be invented.
- "Werewolves of London" Warren Zevon
- "No Surrender" Bruce Springsteen wanted this song as the leadoff single from Born In The U.S.A. Jon Landau convinced him that he needed to broaden his audience with "Dancing In The Dark" instead. It's a testament to the LP's depth that the album spawn SEVEN top 10 singles, and in the end, "No Surrender" wasn't ever a single.
- "After Midnight" (alternate mix) Eric Clapton, from the Crossroads box set.
- "Cult of Personality" Living Colour
- "Monkey On My Back" Aerosmith
- "Hazy Shade of Winter" The Bangles, sounding their best thanks to killer production quality from Rick Rubin.
- "Demolition Man" The Police
