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

What's The Connection? Cheyenne

Cheyenne always sounded more like a place than a people to me. Maybe that's because I grew up with the television show before I knew much about the history behind the name. That turns out to be fitting, because this Connection wanders back and forth between the people, the places named after them, and whatever else borrowed the name along the way. If you want to Jump On It instead, the Apache are only a click away. This one is plainly different.

What's The Connection? Cheyenne

01 Hanoi Rocks - Cheyenne

02 The Ken Darby Singers with Orchestra - Cheyenne

03 Ennio Morricone - Farewell To Cheyenne

04 Bo Diddley - Cheyenne

05 John Stewart - Cheyenne

06 Jason Derulo - Cheyenne

07 Joe Nichols - Old Cheyenne

08 George Strait - I Can Still Make Cheyenne

09 The Hold Steady - Cheyenne Sunrise (2018 - Remaster)

10 Kansas - Cheyenne Anthem

11 John Denver - Shipmates And Cheyenne

12 Garth Brooks - The Beaches Of Cheyenne

13 Fishbone - Cheyenne Star Forever Moore

14 Guided By Voices - Cheyenne

15 Bill Monroe - Cheyenne

16 Micky & The Motorcars - Rock Springs To Cheyenne

17 Bobby Darin - Shipmates In Cheyenne

18 Roy Orbison - Cheyenne

19 The Ataris - The Cheyenne Line

20 The Fuzztones - Cheyenne Rider

21 Pistol Annies - Cheyenne

What's The Connection? Apache

Apache always makes me think of Taza. He was my first dog as a kid. His dad was a show dog named Cochise (look him up), so somebody decided to keep the theme going. Taza was extremely well trained, although he never had much of a show business career. My brother and I spent plenty of nights sleeping in his spot with him anyway. I got the dog because my doctor said I was allergic to dogs and my pop called nonsense on that. His solution was simple. Put me around dogs all the time and I'd get over it. Back then we also thought seat belts weren't really needed. We lived. Decades later I still have boxers, and I am still allergic. Pop wasn't completely right, but he wasn't completely wrong either. Somewhere in there is the Connection. We weren't brave, just thought differently.

What's The Connection? Apache

01 Mike Oldfield - Cochise

02 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Apache Rose Peacock

03 Ted Nugent - Geronimo And Me

04 Modern Talking - Geronimo's Cadillac

05 Gianni Oddi - Geronimo

06 Sugarhill Gang - Apache (Jump On It)

07 Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (Grand Master Flash Remix)

08 Johnny Cash - Apache Tears

09 Nancy Sinatra - Geronimo

10 Michael Martin Murphey - Geronimo's Cadillac

11 Elton John - Indian Sunset

12 Los Straitjackets - Lonely Apache

13 The Shadows - Geronimo (Stereo)

14 Sheppard - Geronimo

15 Les Elgart & His Orchestra - Geronimo

16 Bow Wow Wow - Uomo Sex al Apache

17 Bobby Valentin - Geronimo

18 Audioslave - Cochise

Friday Connection Repost

Repost of a What's The Connection? for a Friday. Not as many great Friday songs, although I'm sure I am missing something (let me know in the comments). And I was totally lazy for the cover, appropriating a creative commons image and barely touching it. Click on it anyway. A few of these tracks are just so great and any compilation with both the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone can't be bad. And those aren't the best tracks by those guys...

WTC? Friday

01 Funkadelic - Friday Night, August 14th

02 Nancy Sinatra - Friday's Child

03 The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind

04 Rascal Flatts - Friday

05 Red Hot Chili Peppers - If You Have To Ask (Friday Night)

06 Doves - Friday's Dust

07 Rebecca Black - Friday

08 Bell & James - Livin' It Up (Friday Night)

09 Eric Paslay - Friday Night

10 Fishbone - DUI Friday

11 The Professionals - Friday Night Square

12 Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

13 Love And Kisses - Thank God It's Friday

14 Genesis - Get 'Em Out By Friday

15 Steely Dan - Black Friday

16 kd Lang - Friday Dance Promenade

17 The Cure - Friday I'm In Love

18 Yello - Friday Smile

19 The Specials - Friday Night, Saturday Morning

20 The Replacements - Love You Till Friday

21 Atomic Rooster - Friday The 13th

What's The Connection? Fade 1

I knew what the cover was going to look like before I found most of the songs. If the word is "fade," you're almost obligated to start blending colors together until everything looks like an old paint commercial. There was a period when ombré was everywhere. Walls, clothing, hair (porbably mine at one time), probably a few dogs if you looked hard enough. The trend eventually faded away, but apparently it was still lurking somewhere in the back of my mind when I put this Connection together. Or maybe I only noticed that afterward and invented the story to explain it.

What's The Connection? Fade 1

01 Queens Of The Stone Age - In The Fade

02 The Del Fuegos - Fade To Blue

03 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Fade

04 Mark Stewart - As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade

05 Treble Charger - Fade

06 Ultravox! - Cross Fade

07 Tom Petty - Don't Fade on Me

08 Visage - Fade To Grey (12'' Version)

09 Cabaret Voltaire - Fade Crisis

10 Metallica - Fade To Black

11 Solu Music feat. Kimblee - Fade

12 Sleater Kinney - Fade

13 Tears For Fears - Memories Fade

14 Floraline - Fade

15 Lee Perry and The Upsetters - Beware Fade

16 Mazzy Star - Fade Into You

17 The Warning - Red Hands Never Fade

18 Bill Laswell - Fade

Jermaine Jackson Pick

Jermaine always feels like the Jackson brother with the most complicated story. He was the one who stayed at Motown when the rest of the family left, largely because of his connection to Berry Gordy through marriage. He was also one of the few Jacksons who regularly played bass in the group's early years. Looking over this pick, I realized it is not really built around solo hits at all. The Jacksons selections all put Jermaine in the spotlight, many of the guest appearances exist because of his voice, and there is even a wonderfully unlikely DEVO connection tucked into the middle of the set. It ends up tracing his path through the family story, from bassist and brother to solo artist and eventually Jackson again. It is another interesting branch of the Jacksons family tree.

Jermaine Jackson Pick

01 Whitney Houston with Jermaine Jackson - If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful

02 Jermaine Jackson - Don't Take It Personal

03 Jermaine Jackson - You're Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me (Single Version)

04 Jermaine Jackson - Dynamite (7' Version)

05 Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious

06 Jermaine Jackson with Michael Jackson - Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good To Be True)

07 Jacksons - Torture

08 Pia Zadora & Jermaine Jackson - When The Rain Begins To Fall

09 Jackson 5 - I Found That Girl

10 Jermaine Jackson - Word To The Badd!!

11 Jermaine Jackson - I Think It's Love

12 Switch featuring Jermaine Jackson - Tahiti Hut

13 Jermaine Jackson - Daddy's Home

14 Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson - Take Good Care Of My Heart

15 Jermaine Jackson - Erucu

16 Jermaine Jackson - Let Me Tickle Your Fancy

17 Jermaine Jackson - Do What You Do

18 Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me (Single Version)

19 Jermaine Jackson & Miki Howard - Make It Easy On Love

Janet Jackson Guests

Yesterday reminded me how many different Janets there are. Today I ask what happens when you add somebody else to the mix. Sometimes she takes over the record. Sometimes she slips into the background and lets the guest shine. Sometimes it's hard to tell whose song it really is. For a pick, this one jumps between R&B, hip hop, dance, reggae, and a few combinations that probably should not work as well as they do. It also turns into a surprisingly good tour through a few decades of collaborators. Did you catch yesterday's bonus B side? There seem to be a lot of Jacksons around here lately. Also, I was just wondering today why do I own seven different sets of headphones?

Janet Jackson Guests

01 Janet Jackson featuring Missy Elliott - Go Deep (Timbaland Full Mix)

02 Janet Jackson with Missy Elliot - The 1

03 Janet Jackson featuring Daddy Yankee - Made For Now

04 Janet Jackson with Nelly - Call On Me

05 Chingy featuring Janet Jackson - Don't Worry

06 Beenie Man featuring Janet Jackson - Feel It Boy

07 Busta Rhymes featuring Janet Jackson - What's It Gonna Be

08 Janet Jackson featuring Kanye West - My Baby

09 Janet Jackson featuring Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell - Got 'Til It's Gone

10 Janet Jackson featuring Blackstreet - I Get Lonely

11 Janet Jackson with Cliff Richard - Two To The Power Of Love

12 Janet Jackson featuring Missy Elliott & P Diddy - Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You) (P Diddy Remix)

13 Janet Jackson with Missy Elliot - BURNITUP!

14 Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson - Scream Louder (Flyte Tyme Remix)

15 Janet Jackson featuring Khia - So Excited

16 Janet Jackson with Luther Vandross - The Best Things In Life Are Free_pn

17 Cardi B featuring Janet Jackson - Principal

18 Shaggy featuring Janet Jackson - Luv Me Luv Me

19 Herb Alpert with Janet Jackson - Diamonds