119: ROCK You Can Believe In

Use of my iPod's "Shuffle Songs" tool continues to heavily influence my song selection: letting pure chance pick out great unknown songs from my favorite bands is paying dividends!

1. "Dropped" Phantom Planet: A great kick-off song. I find a lot of new songs and new artists these days from the soundtracks of TV shows. For example, NBC's action-comedy Chuck includes a lot of alt-rock music on the soundtrack. But where do I go when I want to hear more from the band whose song was featured in that chase sequence? Most popular shows have fansites which list songs from each episode. I love the Internet!
2. "Sarayushka" Andy West, Henry Kaiser, & Michael Maksymenko: This is a faithful cover of the ZZ Top song "La Grange", sung in Russian. The LP is called Crazy Backwards Alphabet. In college, I was the host of a radio show Gyroscope on WERS-FM Boston, which featured world music, plus all sorts of avant garde jazz, and whatever else the college DJs felt like. Having no world music background, I specialized in covers of classic rock: The Gipsy Kings covering "Hotel California" in Spanish, Tito Puente covering "Day Tripper", A polka rendition of "People Are Strange", a bluegrass cover of "Brain Damage", and this nugget.
3. "Wild Rock Music!" is a mashup: Madonna singing "Music" over Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild". Mashed up by smash@mash-ups.co.uk
4. "27 Jennifers": Mike Doughty is the former lead singer of Soul Coughing. The singles off his solo CDs (this song is from Golden Delicious) are decidedly more "poppy" and less "out there" than Soul Coughing (which I appreciate!)
5. "Should've Been In Love" from Wilco's debut album A.M.
6. "Sweet Soul Dream" World Party: All my favorite contemporary bands in high school were heavily Beatles-influenced, including World Party. I found this track thanks to my iPod's "Shuffle Songs" setting.
7. "Nobody's Child", The Traveling Wilburys donated this maudlin track to Nobody's Child, a CD to benefit Romanian orphans.
8. "Debra" An exceedingly silly "white soul" classic from Beck.
9. "Smile On" Deee-Lite
10. "Proto-Pretty", The Wondermints were a one-hit wonder. I found this song on the Power Pop collection Poptopia.
11. "My Bird Performs", XTC: I did not like the XTC album Nonsuch at first, but it's grown on me.
12. "Great DJ", The Ting Tings: I heard this song featured on the podcast of a good friend of mine. Check out Radio Free Jersey.
13. "Something Beautiful": Back in the late 1990s, I was a big fan of Tracy Bonham's first two albums, The Burdens of Being Upright and Down Here, but I had lost track of her over the last decade. I went on iTunes and bought a few more recent tracks of hers, including this gem.
14. "The Twist", Frightened Rabbit: This song (also featured on the TV show Chuck) needs a better arrangement, but it's catchy nonetheless.
15. "Dance Me to the End of Love": All I know about Madeline Peyroux is that she sounds just like Billie Holliday.
16. "Dark Side of Night": Foxboro Hot Tubs are a "secret" side project of Green Day. They're going for a mid-1960s garage rock sound here.
17. "Borrowing Time", Aimee Mann
18. "You Don't Know Me", Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor: There aren't many artists whose CDs I will buy automatically when they come out. Aimee Mann and Ben Folds are on the list. This Ben Folds song, a duet with Regina Spektor, is insanely catchy. The album, Way To Normal, is hit-or-miss, but the several gems make up for some underbaked dross. I think I mixed too many metaphors there!
19. "Chelsea Dagger", The Fratellis: Also known as "the song from that Amstel Light commercial."
20. "The 20th Century Is Over", Ellis Paul: My wife and her parents are huge Ellis Paul fans. I think he's great too, but I am still getting to know his stuff, including this dark, non-folky track from his album Sweet Mistakes.
21. "Fake Empire" The National: This song was featured on at least one Obama campaign video, including the one played in Chicago soon before Barack stepped onstage on Election Night. My friend Julie heard it and identified it for us. Obama's campaign slogan CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN was the inspiration for this mix's title.

118: I Hear The Bells

1. Aye Davanita - Pearl Jam. I found this brief instrumental from Vitalogy thanks to the Shuffle Songs feature on my iPod.
2. Watch The Sunrise - Big Star. Ditto.
3. Viva La Vida - Coldplay. Another iPod commercial song!
4. Use It (live) - The New Pornographers perform one of my favorite songs of theirs (an iTunes exclusive.)
5. You Can Call Me Late - Paul Simon. I went to a wedding this summer where the awesome wedding band played "You Can Call Me Al" followed by "Late in the Evening." A few months later, as I deejayed a birthday party for a friend, I cross-faded these two songs together, right at the bass solo in "Al." The birthday girl had danced at the wedding, so I hoped she would get a kick out of dancing to these two songs again. It worked!
6. Hanging Upside Down - David Byrne. Another iPod shuffle discovery.
7. Too Much of Nothing - Peter, Paul and Mary. Ditto.
8. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him.
9. Celebrity Sanctum - Dogs Die in Hot Cars. Another iPod shuffle discovery. DDIHC are also known as "That Band That Sounds Exactly Like XTC. Seriously, It's Uncanny."
10. Good Times - Hoodoo Gurus, featuring The Bangles on backup vocals. The Bangles have also contributed backing vocals to a Tom Petty song, "Waiting For Tonight."
11. I Hear The Bells - Mike Doughty.
12. Stars & Planets - Liz Phair.
13. Shine - Tracy Bonham was a alt-rock star for one season in the Alanis Morrisette Era, with her song "Mother Mother". I have two of her CDs, and I am glad to hear she's still making music.
14. High & Dry - Jamie Cullum
15. I Feel It All - Feist
16. I Still Want You - The Del Fuegos. I found the Del Fuegos' LP Boston, Mass. at a hipster's yard sale in Arlington last summer. The Del Fuegos were one of those early 1980s rock bands who got signed to a major label, put out one LP, and were never heard from again. Every local music scene has that band which "shoulda been a contender", but never caught anyone's attention at the national level. The Del Fuegos have become a footnote to lead singer Dan Zanes' successful second careeer as a children's music star.
17. Scare Easy - Mudcrutch. This boring Tom Petty song is from his reunion-ized early 1970s band Mudcrutch.
18. F.N.T. - Semisonic. I read the rock memoir from the drummer of Semisonic. Titled "So You Want to be A Rock & Roll Star", it might as well have been called "Diary of a One-Hit Wonder." I like their music: their hit "Closing Time" might be my least-favorite song of theirs. After reading about the endless touring and promotional interviews for their singles, I felt obliged to buy a few of these songs from iTunes!
19. Sweet Sweet Baby (I'm Falling) - Lone Justice
20. Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen.

Sharon's Birthday Dance Party

Here's a playlist I assembled in preparation for a four-hour birthday dance party for my friends Sharon and Marc. Of course, there's no way to play 100 songs in four hours, so many of these songs didn't get played that night, but this was my roadmap for the night's voyage.

Instrumental Background Music: these ten instrumentals were set aside for the first hour when the guests were arriving.

1. Groove Holmes • Beastie Boys
2. Mick's Up • Style Council
3. Cantaloupe Island
4. Guero Canelo • Calexico
5. The Staunton Lick • Lemon Jelly
6. Untitled Instrumental • Bo Diddley
7. Flying • The Beatles
8. Homage to Patagonia • Lemon Jelly
9. S'il vous Plait • Fantastic Plastic Machine
10. Rodney Yates • David Holmes

Swing & Soul: It's important to play some golden oldies at the outset, to give the older early birds (parents, grandparents) something easy to dance to before they split.

11. A String of Pearls • Glenn Miller
12. Flip, Flop, and Fly • Big Joe Turner
13. Jump, Jive, and Wail • Louis Prima
14. Rock Around The Clock • Bill Haley & His Comets
15. Mustang Sally • Wilson Pickett
16. Lonely Teardrops • Jackie Wilson
17. Tequila • The Champs
18. Diner • Martin Sexton
19. Little Bitty Pretty One • Clyde McPhatter
20. Let's Stay Together • Al Green
21. Mr. Big Stuff • Jean Knight
22. Ruby Baby • The Drifters
23. Sweet Soul Music • Arthur Conley
24. Tears Dry on Their Own • Amy Winehouse
25. Birthday • The Beatles
26. Let's Get This Party Started • Black-Eyed Peas
27. Mr. Blue Sky • ELO
28. History Repeating • The Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey
29. My Sharona • The Knack
30. You Dropped a Bomb On Me • The Gap Band
31. Best of My Love • Emotions
32. I'm Coming Out • Diana Ross
33. What I Like About You • The Romantics
34. September • Earth, Wind, and Fire
35. Atomic Dog • George Clinton
36. If You Don't Know Me By Now • Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
37. Take a Chance On Me • ABBA
38. Like A Virgin [ext dance mix] • Madonna
39. Faith • George Michael

Totally Eighties: Alternative & New Wave

40. Kiss Me On The Bus • The Replacements
41. This Charming Man • Smiths
42. Just Can't Get Enough • Depeche Mode
43. Bizarre Love Triangle • New Order
44. Tainted Love • Soft Cell
45. Don't You Want Me • Human League
46. The Safety Dance • Men Without Hats
47. Don't Bring Me Down • ELO
48. Borderline [new mix] • Madonna
49. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough • Michael Jackson
50. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go • Wham!
51. Love Shack • The B-52's

Hip Hop

52. Hey Ladies • The Beastie Boys
53. Bust A Move • Young MC
54. Me Myself and I • De La Soul
55. Fantastic Voyage • Coolio
56. Cantaloop • US3
57. Connected • Stereo MC's

Soul

58. Dashboard • Modest Mouse
59. Jackie Wilson Said • Van Morrison
60. The Underdog • Spoon
61. Everyday People • Sly & The Family Stone
62. Sly • The Cat Empire
63. Short Skirt, Long Jacket • Cake
64. Tenderness • General Public
65. Close To Me • The Cure
66. When The Stars Go Blue • Blake Lewis
67. Sexx Laws • Beck
68. Groove Is In The Heart • Deeee-Lite
69. Shotgun • Junior Walker & The All-Stars
70. Do You Love Me? • The Contours
71. Good Times • Chic
72. Come On Eileen • Dexy's Midnight Runners
73. Private Eyes • Hall & Oates
74. Soul Finger • The Bar-Kays
75. Night Fever • The Bee Gees
76. Waterloo • ABBA
77. Signed, Sealed, Delivered • Stevie Wonder
78. Hey Ya! • Outkast
79. Raspberry Beret • Prince & The Revolution
80. I Wanna Dance With Somebody • Whitney Houston
81. Machine Gun • Kool & The Gang
82. Superstition • Stevie Wonder
83. It Wouldnt Have Made Any Difference • Todd Rundgren
84. Ain't Too Proud To Beg • The Temptations
85. I Got Ants In My Pants • James Brown
86. Tears of A Clown • Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
87. Good Lovin' • The Rascals
88. You Can Call Me Al/Late In The Evening • Paul Simon
89. Suspicious Minds • Elvis Presley
90. Poison • Bel Biv Devoe
91. Creep • TLC

Last Call: The Party Wraps Up. Because I knew that I had over-scheduled the playlist, I set aside 10 songs for the end of the night. I went to this section when I discovered the "last gasp" of the party about to arrive.

92. Been Caught Stealing [12" remix] • Jane's Addiction
93. Love Rollercoaster • The Ohio Players
94. Rock Your Body • Justin Timberlake
95. Smile • Lily Allen
96. The Sweet Escape • Gwen Stefani
97. Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex • CSS
98. Get Ur Freak On • Missy Elliott
99. Dancing Queen • ABBA
100. Dancing With Myself • Billy Idol
101. Let's Go Crazy • Prince & The Revolution

117: Empress Zhangsun

I got the title and "artist" of this mix from a posting on the Brainiac blog at Boston.com. The game was to create a real-sounding artist and CD title from random Wikipedia entries, and real-looking cover art from random images on the Web.
ARTIST: Empress Zhangsun
TITLE: Effect of a Habit

1. Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
2. Music is My Hot, Hot Sex - CSS (from an iPod Touch commercial.)
3. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie
4. Hold Your Head Up - Argent (one of the true one-hit wonders. I don't think Argent ever had another Top 40 single.)
5. The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani (aka my ringtone)
6. Don't Bring Me Down (live) - A cover of the ELO song by The New Pornographers (an iTunes exclusive)
7. Sweet Emotion - Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke (a mellow cover of the Aerosmith song)
8. Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well - Mike Doughty
9. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) - Dave Edmunds covers a fun, late-1970s Bruce Springsteen song. Edmunds is one of the rare rockers of the singer-songwriter era to specialize in covering his contemporaries' material. I bought this LP at a yard sale exclusively for this song.
10. Everybody Went Low - John Hiatt
11. Reggae Merengue - Tommy McCook & The Supersonics (this instrumental was sampled by Lily Allen for her song "LDN")
12. Pick Up The Pieces - Average White Band (how are you supposed to find instrumentals like this when there's no lyrics? Also, DJs don't announce all their songs anymore. I may have gone online to check a station's online playlist to track down this frequent movie soundtrack staple.)
13. Gotta Get Back - Shelby Lynne
14. Please Read The Letter - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
15. Precious (live) The Pretenders, live at the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, December 1979. I bought the two-LP set in Central Square, Cambridge, last winter.
16. Thankful - Glenn Phillips (This song from the former Toad The Wet Sprocket singer was a free download from iTunes. I think I was given this promo download as a credit-card-style coupon at SXSW in 2007?
17. Blue - The Thorns
18. Gypsy March - Grand Ole Party (I saw the GOP at the free party for BUST Magazine, at SXSW 2008.)
19. Bodysnatchers - Radiohead
20. Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) - The Temptations

116: Soup Du Jour

I don't know why I haven't called a mix "Soup of the Day" before?

The Cover: A collage of snaps from our digital camera, including a view of New York City, me playing guitar at this very desk, our cat Max and his needlepoint doppleganger, and our infant friend Isaac.

The Tracks: Only six of the songs are from the 20th century:

1. Oh Well- Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon (a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song)
2. Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) - Lily Allen
3. Pressure Drop - Keith Richards and Toots & The Maytals (free? on iTunes)
4. Tenderness (Live at the Channel 1984) - I really like this modern soul song from General Public. Too much of the soul music of the Eighties has aged poorly, but this track still sounds good. I found this live recording on a cancer benefit record called LIVE! for LIFE, which we had in the library of my high school radio station, WBMT 88.3 FM. In those days, I had a negative bias against live recordings, but now I am totally into finding rare live records like this. I also like the idea that this was recorded in Boston, a mere 28 miles from where I was living my 12-year-old existence, playing air guitar along with "Footloose" and dreaming of seeing Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium.
5. Union, Jack - Big Audio Dynamite (I only heard this song once before: when I was interning for Neal Robert at WFNX in 1993, he played this track, whose drum track sounds like a sample from "Honky Tonk Women". Fast forward 14 years, and I buy a used vinyl copy of Megatop Phoenix at a record shop in Red Bank, NJ, for $2, and here we are...)
6. You Only Live Once - The Strokes (I think I found this song while listening to the Adult Alternative channel on my cable TV.)
7. Hollywood - Collective Soul (I heard this shameless Cars style-ripoff on WXRV and I knew it would make it onto a mix someday.)
8. If You're Into It - Flight of the Conchords
9. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson (I am only a little embarrassed when I include songs from iTunes commercials on my mixes.)
10. Dark Horse - The title track from the George Harrison LP best known for George's rough, laryngitis-damaged vocals.
11. Everywhere I Go - I really like the chorus of Shawn Mullins's almost-hit.
12. Fair - This piano arrangement on this recording-- from Ben Folds's 1990 solo demo tape-- sounds like "Virtual Insanity", which never ceases to amuse me.
13. Make It Easier - My high school radio station, WBMT 88.3 FM, was on the mailing list of only a few select record labels. Because we had nearly no budget for buying music, we ended up playing a lot of music from artists whose music we got for free. One of those labels who sent us free records was Epic, home of Living Coloür and Indigo Girls, along others. That's the long story of where I got to know Indigo Girls's music from the very beginning.
14. Ride - The Vines
15. Fell In Love with A Boy - Joss Stone
16. Long Limbed Girl - Nick Lowe (from his latest album "At My Age")
17. To Know Him Is To Love Him (Napster live session) - Amy Winehouse
18. Someone To Love - Fountains of Wayne
19. Yellow Ledbetter - A great Pearl Jam B-side from the Versus era. This song always reminds me of my old friend Meg (Goldstein) Chapman, who was the biggest PJ fan in the world back then.
20. September Gurls - From The Bangles second LP, Different Light, which I got for a penny from the RCA record club.
21. Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine (aka the closing credits song from The Matrix.)