What's The Connection? Summer (repost)

This is a repost with new links from four years ago with a whole new blurb: Summer always seems a little shorter than I remember. Maybe that's because we try to pack so much into it before the days start getting shorter again. Beach trips, backyard cookouts, vacations, long evenings that somehow disappear too quickly, and all the songs that end up becoming part of those memories. It doesn't really matter what year they came from. Every summer eventually finds its own soundtrack. This Connection stays with one season from beginning to end, wandering through breezy afternoons, hot city streets, romance, nostalgia, and just enough sunshine to make you forget how hot it actually is. Whether you're heading for the beach, the lake, the backyard, or just the air conditioning, these songs should fit somewhere along the way. I hope your summer lasts a little longer than it usually seems to.

What's The Connection? Summer

01 Kool & the Gang - Summer Madness

02 Bangles - Bitchen Summer

03 Bananarama - Cruel Summer

04 The B-52's - Summer Of Love

05 Lil' Brian and the Zydeco Travelers - Summer Girl

06 Dino - Summergirls

07 War - Summer

08 Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer

09 Mungo Jerry - In The Summer Time

10 The Motels - Suddenly Last Summer

11 Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze

12 Stevie Wonder - Summer Soft

13 Chad and Jeremy - A Summer Song

14 The Danleers - One Summer Night

15 Jamies - Summertime, Summertime

16 Sly and the Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summertime

17 Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City

18 Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues

19 Shonen Knife - Summertime Boogie

20 Surfin' Lungs - Who Stole The Summer

21 Stray Cats - Lonely Summer Nights

America 250

America celebrates Independence Day every year, but turning 250 only happens once. Watching this year's World Cup has made the occasion feel even more special. Along with the matches, it has been fun seeing visitors from around the world discovering everyday American life for the first time. Sometimes it takes someone seeing your home with fresh eyes to remind you how many little things you have quietly taken for granted all along. That seems like a pretty good reason to celebrate. This Connection follows a few of the ideas that have shaped the country along the way: liberty, freedom, home, music, and a Saturday night or two. It even begins with the birthday song I have sung to friends and family for years whenever their special day comes around. After all, 250 candles deserve something a little different. I have a feeling some of those visitors are going home with a different picture of America than the one they arrived with. This year's 4th of July seemed like the right time to celebrate that.

America 250

01 Sheriff John - Birthday Cake Polka

02 Jennifer Rocket - Stand Up Baby

03 Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom

04 Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band

05 George Thorogood & The Destroyers - American Made

06 Lee Greenwood - God Bless The USA

07 David Bowie - Young Americans

08 Earth, Wind & Fire - Freedom

09 Sister Sledge - All American Girls

10 Alan Jackson - Home

11 Elvis Presley - An American Trilogy

12 Common Ground - This Is America

13 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama

14 Journey - Liberty

15 Garth Brooks - American Honky-Tonk Bar Association

16 Kim Wilde - Kids In America

17 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl

18 Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - Liberty

19 John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads

20 Junior Brown - Freedom Machine

21 Beach Boys - Back Home

22 Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night

Americanos

One of my favorite parts of this year's World Cup has been watching visitors from around the world experience everyday America. Not the landmarks or the postcards, but the things most of us stopped noticing years ago. Sometimes it's a restaurant, sometimes it's the size of a grocery store, sometimes it's unlimited drink refills or discovering ranch dressing for the first time, and sometimes it's a place that somehow turned a gas station into a destination all by itself. Seeing those reactions has been a nice reminder that culture isn't just found in museums. A lot of it happens in the ordinary places we pass every day. This pick is really about perspective. Tomorrow's 4th of July seems like the perfect time to celebrate that. I have a feeling some of those visitors are going home with a different picture of America than the one they arrived with.

Americanos

01 Holly Johnson - Americanos

02 Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup - We No Speak Americano

03 10cc - Americana Panorama

04 Lady GaGa - Americano

05 David Bowie - I'm Afraid Of Americans

06 Halsey - New Americana

07 Lou Bega - You Wanna Be Americano

08 Laibach - Americana

09 The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Americano

10 Leningrad Cowboys - Americano

11 Alec R. Costandinos - Americana

12 Eight To The Bar - Young Americans

13 Soup Dragons - Americana Sweetmeat

14 Stanley Clarke - Campo Americano

15 Moe Bandy - Americana

16 Mana - Somos Más Americanos

17 Ray Davies - Americana

Happy Anniversary! (repost)

Repost: This connection or pick of anniversary songs is because today is my anniversary. Been married quite a while (since '07 if you want to know). I actually celebrate it twice a year six months apart because we had a church wedding six months after our actual wedding. Makes it kind of fun. Now these songs, however, are not all celebratory, but they do all have Anniversary in the title. Just don't play them for you other half and expect it to be all nice-nice. Some are. Some are not. I keep hoping there will be a better, newer anniversary song to celebrate, than the Little River Band, which isn't really about their anniversary, but celebrating that his significant other is happy with someone else. But it sounds happy! Oh well! Duran Duran is more in line with the sentiment, but it's not their best song.

Happy Anniversary!

01 Mission UK - Prelude Anniversary

02 Al Stewart - Anniversary

03 Tony! Toni! Tone! - Anniversary

04 The Pogues - Anniversary

05 Todd Rundgren - Happy Anniversary

06 Tom Jones - Anniversary Song

07 Shep And The Limelighters - Our Anniversary

08 Blur - Anniversary Waltz

09 Toy Dolls - The Anniversary Waltz

10 John Cale - On A Wedding Anniversary

11 Andy Williams - Anniversary Song

12 Suzanne Vega - Anniversary

13 Duran Duran - Anniversary

14 The Cure - Anniversary

15 Cowboy Junkies - Anniversary Song

16 Merle Haggard - Anniversary Blue Yodel

17 Al Jolson - Anniversary Song

18 Little River Band - Happy Anniversary

19 Giveon - Heartbreak Anniversary

20 Saint Etienne - Sadie's Anniversary

21 Jim Capaldi - Oh How We Danced (Anniversary Song)

22 Jimi Hendrix - 51st Anniversary [Mono]

23 Robert Plant - Anniversary

Pulsing Aura

Two wormholes opening on consecutive days seems a little excessive. Then again, I watched enough wormhole science fiction to believe they probably happen more often than we notice. I even named one of my boxers Ka D'Argo and a foster Aeryn Sun, so I guess I committed to that idea years ago. This pick turns the dial up from yesterday. Fire, rescue, battles, martyrs, robbers, rats, and a Mississippi Queen all come charging through, somehow staying in step despite coming from completely different musical worlds. At 140 BPM, I probably didn't have much choice.

Pulsing Aura

01 Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire

02 Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - Chitterlings Con Carne

03 5000 Volts featuring Tina Charles - I'm on Fire (Disco Purrfection Version)

04 Brainstorm - Lovin' Is Really My Game (12inch Extended)

05 Plimsouls - Zero Hour

06 Box Tops - The Letter

07 Earth, Wind & Fire - You

08 Echo & the Bunnymen - Rescue

09 Pretenders - Kid

10 Berlin - Sex (I'm A ...)

11 Bauhaus - Stigmata Martyr

12 The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap

13 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Battleship

14 Mongo Santamaria - We Got Latin Soul

15 Ohio Players - Jive Turkey

16 The Jam - Start!

17 The Clash - Bankrobber

18 Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation

19 Mountain - Mississippi Queen

Fantastical Parade

Another wormhole opened and this group wandered through together. They probably should not fit nearly as well as they do, but that is half the fun. I still build these around the music first, then sit back and see what else shows up. This pick turned into a Fantastical Parade of unusual voices, quirky personalities, and songs that seem happier traveling in odd company than on their own. The title is another clue to the game behind these mixes. I have a feeling plenty of people already have it in their pocket, even if they have not connected the dots yet. Has anyone figured it out? If you do, please let everyone else keep guessing. My friend ID is always available if you want to compare collections.

Fantastical Parade

01 Cake - Short Skirt, Long Jacket

02 Ric Ocasek - Bottom Dollar

03 Wall Of Voodoo - Tomorrow

04 Tom Tom Club - Don't Say No

05 The B-52's - Bad Influence

06 Talking Heads - Blind

07 ABC - The Look Of Love

08 After The Fire - Der Kommissar

09 Buggles - I Am A Camera (12 Mix)

10 Shriekback - Nerve

11 Heaven 17 - Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry

12 The Neon Judgement - Babys On Fire

13 The Psychedelic Furs - Angels Don't Cry (7` Remix)

14 Devo - Head Like a Hole

15 Spandau Ballet - Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)

16 Blow Monkeys - Superfly

17 Pet Shop Boys - West End-Sunglasses

What's The Connection? Message 2

Sometimes getting the message across takes longer than the message itself. I can spell something out repeatedly, provide examples, even hand over the instructions, and AI will still decide I probably meant something else. At least the spelling and grammar will be goodly. That felt oddly appropriate for this Connection. Messages are everywhere. Some are clear. Some get mangled beyond recognition before they arrive. This is the message to you: I love and hate AI. I just had to get that off my chest.

What's The Connection? Message 2

21 Cymande - The Message

22 Adam Faith - A Message To Martha

23 Temptations - Message From A Black Man

24 Love - A Message to Pretty

25 Demon Fuzz - Message To Mankind

26 Dandy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message To You

27 Kool & the Gang - Music Is the Message

28 Skyy - Sendin' A Message

29 Everly Brothers - Take a Message to Mary

30 Tony Allen - African Message

31 King Sunny Ade & His African Beats - 365 Is My Number-The Message

32 World Party - Put The Message In The Box

33 Ray Barretto - Ancestral Messages

34 Prince Far I and the Arabs - A Message

35 Esbjorn Svensson Trio - The Message