Rap 1

This is all part of a series of Rap Music. Started yesterday with the Hip Hop Jazz, but that's not where it started for me. My claim is not that these are the "best" rap songs, just my pick. And kind of in the order that I was exposed to the genre. And what I bought as I was listening to Rap. Remember pretty much none of this was available on radio or MTV at the time. You heard about a track and you went to Tower Records to try to find it mixed in with the disco records. For me its started with Birthday Party (not on this pick, but on the Birthday What's The Connection) and then Flash to The Beat. Soon after I discovered 12 inch singles of  White Lines, The Message and Hustlers Convention. Like most young men discovering this music my friends and I memorized the lyrics. At this time I had no idea how much was out there already and had been for years. Some of it I knew as you will see in future volumes of this. But as others were trying to do the lyrics of Sugarhill Gang, we concentrated on "Broken glass everywhere, People pissing on the stairs like they just don't care..." I was visiting New York several times a year around this time and I realized how NY it was. We loved it.

Rap 1

01 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Flash To The Beat

02 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Freedom

03 Grand Master Melle Mel & The Furious Five - The Truth

04 Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five - Hustlers Convention

05 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Scorpio

06 Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines

07 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Pump Me Up

08 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message

09 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Survival (Message II)

10 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - New York New York

11 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - It's Nasty (Genius Of Love)

12 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Step Off

13 Grand Master Melle Mel & The Furious Five - World War III

Hip Hop Jazz 1

I call it Hip Hop Jazz, but some call it Jazz Rap. I like mine better. Here are the tracks that got me started with the genre. My favorite picks. I did a small bit of editing to get the Breakfast at Denny's quote where it is, but other than that it's how each single came. I am ready to make a part 2, but I am missing a few tracks, so if you have some great suggestions that I missed here make sure you put them in the comments. Coming soon is also my pick of early rap. The stuff I actually listened to when it was first getting known and maybe I will post my pre-rap picks sometime. You have to realize that at the time these were coming out, it was not on main stream radio, barely on college radio. Not on MTV. And there were no streaming services. You had to buy the albums.

Hip Hop Jazz 1

01 Buckshot LeFonque - Some Cow Fonque (More Tea, Vicar)

02 US3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

03 Ronny Jordan - Bad Brother

04 Buckshot LeFonque - Breakfast@Denny's

05 Candy Dulfer - Sax-A-Go-Go

06 Jazz Warriors - Chameleon

07 Buckshot LeFonque - Here We Go Again

08 Buckshot LeFonque - Try These On

09 MC Solaar - Le Bien, Le Mal

10 Jazzmatazz - Loungin'

11 Outlaw - Kickin' Jazz

12 The Solsonics - Jazz In The Present Tense

13 Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

14 Stetsasonic - Talkin' All That Jazz

15 Gang Starr - Jazz Thing

RIYL Recommended If You Like Sad Sweet Dreamer

Another RIYL. This time if you like Sweet Sensation's Sad Sweet Dreamer these are my recommended picks. This is one of those bands that you wish they had something more. They kind of had another hit in Purely Coincidence, but it didn't sound like this hit. In fact it kind of sounded like the Sylvers. Just not the best of the Sylvers. But here on this track, they hit is just right. The 21 other tracks on this compilation all spike out from the one song. I'm not sure when I will post another one of these, but if you want to see more, leave a seed song in the comments and I may work on it if it excites me enough. BTW, the font I used in the covers is a cool one called Tom's New Roman. I wish he had more like it.

RIYL Recommended If You Like Sad Sweet Dreamer

01 Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally)

02 Vicki Lawrence - The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

03 Eddie Holman - Hey There Lonely Girl

04 The Four Tops - Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)

05 The Commodores - Sweet Love

06 Sweet Sensation - Sad Sweet Dreamer

07 Stylistics - You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)

08 Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died

09 Hot Chocolate - Every 1's a Winner

10 O'Jays - Use Ta Be My Girl

11 Brook Benton - Rainy Night In Georgia

12 Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose - Too Late To Turn Back Now

13 Dionne Warwick And The Spinners - Then Came You

14 The Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again

15 Tavares - It Only Takes a Minute

16 John Paul Young - Love Is in the Air

17 The Tymes - You Little Trustmaker

18 Looking Glass - Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)

19 The Chi-Lites - Oh Girl

20 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Who Loves You

21 Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her

22 Lobo - I'd Love You to Want Me

RIYL Recommended If You Like Sharing The Night Together

Another RIYL compilation. I pick the songs that I recommend if you like another song. This time the Baseline song is Dr. Hook Sharing The Night Together. Go back a couple of days and see another RIYL. Or search for RIYL and see the different ones I have posted. Easy to see if you want to check it out further. If you like the baseline song, or band, you will probably like the recommendations. No guarantees, but this isn't a toaster. I think you will like the other songs. Please leave your comments and tell me how I did. Or give me another baseline song to work on.

RIYL Recommended If You Like Sharing The Night Together

01 The Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See

02 Atlanta Rhythm Section - So Into You

03 Toto - Georgy Porgy

04 Guess Who - These Eyes

05 Spinners - It's A Shame

06 Doobie Brothers - Listen To The Music

07 Little River Band - Lonesome Loser

08 The Turtles - Happy Together

09 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

10 Starbuck - Moonlight Feels Right

11 Firefall - You Are The Woman

12 Three Dog Night - One

13 Gerry Rafferty - Right Down The Line

14 America - Ventura Highway

15 Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle

16 Steely Dan - Reeling In The Years

17 Grass Roots - Midnight Confessions

18 England Dan Seals And John Ford Coley - It's Sad To Belong

19 Seals & Crofts - Diamond Girl

20 Orleans - Still The One

21 Ambrosia - Holdin' On To Yesterday

22 Dr Hook - Sharing The Night Together

REPOST: What Is The Connection? Paul

Repost for my Birthday: Since my name is the same, I like this connection. All songs with Paul in the title. Mostly. I also have one Pablo and one Paula although the latter is a song with Paul all through the lyrics. Several versions of Pablo Picasso, but I went with the more original version. Hard to dislike the song, however, no matter who does it. John Cale, David Bowie all did good versions, but I like the one from the Repo Man soundtrack by Burning Sensations quite a bit. Probably because I like the movie so much. I think if I was going to pick the very, very best Paul song for me, it would have to be Nina Hagen "I Love Paul" it's just the right sentiment. I did not include Johny Hit And Run Paulene by X, even though I like the song, because it just didn't quite make the criteria for me. Good song though.

What's The Connection? Paul

01 Vince Gill - Billy Paul

02 Little Richard - Poor Boy Paul

03 Beastie Boys - Paul Revere

04 Doobie Brothers - Slippery St. Paul

05 Third Eye Blind - Dao Of St. Paul

06 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - A Box For Black Paul

07 Willie Nelson - Me And Paul

08 MC Lyte - Lil Paul

09 Annette Funicello - Tall Paul

10 Johnny Cash - One Of These Days I'm Gonna Sit Down And Talk To Paul

11 Paul and Paula - Hey Paula

12 Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso

13 Johnny Cash - Paul Revere

14 Nina Hagen - I Love Paul

15 Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - Big Paul

16 NOFX - Eddie, Bruce And Paul

17 Nazz - Hang On Paul

18 Scissor Sisters - Paul McCartney

19 The Avett Brothers - Paul Newman Vs. The Demons

Recommended If You Like Get Closer

I do like these picks. Recommended If You Like or RIYL. It is a fun sort of compilation, but easy for you to skip. If you don't like the main song or the main band, you probably won't like the rest of the songs. It is designed to give you songs that sound similar in feel to the main comparison song/band, whatever. In this case it is Seals & Crofts Get Closer. When I first heard Seals & Crofts I thought it was pleasant enough music, but at the time I was listening to the Isley Brothers and, I'm sorry, they are better. I grew to like Seals & Crofts and this song got me to listen to more stuff like it. Not the same kind of stuff like our last RIYL a few days ago. I hope you like this one. Leave a comment about any choices I might have missed or a RIYL that you would like to hear.

Recommended If You Like Get Closer

01 Seals & Crofts - Get Closer

02 England Dan & John Ford Coley - Nights Are Forever Without You

03 Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway

04 Jefferson Starship - Runaway

05 Randy Vanwarmer - Just When I Needed You Most

06 Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds - Don't Pull Your Love

07 Doobie Brothers - You Belong to Me

08 Firefall - Strange Way

09 Stephen Bishop - On And On

10 Kenny Loggins - This Is It

11 Ambrosia - You're the Only Woman

12 Chicago - Just You 'N' Me

13 Carly Simon - You Belong To Me

14 Walter Egan - Magnet And Steel

15 Bread - Lost Without Your Love

16 Pablo Cruise - Love Will Find A Way

17 Christopher Cross - Never Be The Same

18 Rita Coolidge - We're All Alone

19 Bob Seger - We've Got Tonight

20 Climax Blues Band - I Love You

21 Gino Vannelli - I Just Wanna Stop

22 Paul Davis - I Go Crazy

Fill It Up To The Rim

Most of these songs were on the Paper Moon soundtrack. I had a friend and we saw the movie Paper Moon together and loved the soundtrack. At the time we couldn't afford buying it, so we listened to the album at the library. We made a copy of the soundtrack but realized we had room an the cassette for more songs and added songs that seemed to fit in from our perspective. Eventually I had to own all the songs and I redid the cassette as a CD and now as a pick on this compilation. Any big fan will realize that the timeline of the movie doesn't correspond to the timeline of the soundtrack. I say that makes it inaccurate, but who cares? It still has that feel. At least one  of the songs does have an earlier versions by another artist, and you can see that in the replacement of My Mary: Milton Brown instead of Jimmie Davis. It was called Fill It Up To The Rim because we thought it was great coffee drinking music. And the tag line is from the old Folgers coffee ad. BTW this comp was also at Butterboy! I fixed the cover.

Fill It Up To The Rim

01 Paul Whiteman with Peggy Healy - It’s Only A Paper Moon

02 Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra - About A Quarter To Nine

03 Leo Reisman with Larry Stewart - (It'll Have To Do) Until The Real Thing Comes Along

04 Dick Powell - Flirtation Walk

05 Bing Crosby - Just One More Chance

06 Jimmie Grier and His Orchestra - One Hour With You

07 Victor Young and the Boswell Sisters - I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five And Ten Cent Store)

08 Ben Selvin with Charles Kaley - Blue Skies

09 Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters - Pistol Packin' Mama

10 Benny Goodman - Don't Be That Way

11 Jimmie Grier and His Orchestra - Object of My Affection

12 Hoagy Carmichael - Georgia

13 Paul Whiteman - A Picture of Me Without You

14 Blue Sky Boys - On The Banks Of The Ohio

15 Milton Brown - My Mary

16 Tommy Dorsey - After You've Gone

17 Enric Madriguera - Let’s Have Another Cup O’ Coffee

18 Johnny Hamp with Frank Luther - Sunny Side Up

19 Ted Weems - Piccolo Pete

20 Bing Crosby & The Anderson Sisters - Don't Fence Me In

Zeppelinesque 1

We've had bands that sound like the Beatles (Beatlesque), bands that sound like the Rolling Stones (Stonesque) and now bands that sound like Led Zeppelin (Zeppelinesque). There are more songs that are very Zeppelin sounding. The most obvious one that I didn't include was Heart Barracuda (which to me sounds like Achilles Last Stand). I am still finishing volume two, so if you have suggestions of other bands with tracks that sound like Led Zeppelin, leave them in the comments. This pick or connection is a fun one, like each of the "esque" comps are. I love finding songs or bands that sound like another band, but aren't just doing covers.

Zeppelinesque 1

01 Zebra - Wait Until The Summer's Gone

02 Greta Van Fleet - Safari Song

03 Rival Sons - Pressure and Time

04 Dirty Honey - Rolling 7S

05 The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines

06 Whitesnake - Still of the Night

07 The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldier

08 Earthless - Black Heaven

09 Great White - Save Your Love

10 Bonham - Wait For You

11 Them Crooked Vultures - Scumbag Blues

12 Wolfmother - Midnight Train

13 Fastway - Hurtin' Me

14 Kingdom Come - Get It On

15 Soundgarden - Pretty Noose

16 Black Label Society - The Only Words

17 Jack White - Blunderbuss

18 Muse - Supremacy

What's The Connection? Motor

All songs about Motors. Motor ways, Motoring, anything to do with motors (except not motorcycles). I put Motorcycles in a different Connection. I went this direction because of Nick Mason's pick a few weeks back. He had a solo song about not being able to start his motor and it reminded me of  a few other motor songs. I put the ones I remembered off the top of my head and added them right away. Motorhead had to be there of course, But so did the Toy Dolls, EWF, Zappa and the Sugarcubes. Magazine always hit me as such a cool band. When Devoto left the Buzzcocks it was a sign of more great stuff to come. He has a another song that is about driving that is also cool, but under the name Luxuria. It's really good, too, but no motor in the title. I had a few extra motor songs without even trying, so that will end up as the start of volume two of this, but that's later when I feel like getting more. Leave a comment with your choices and it will motorvate me to start on it sooner. Harr, harr.

What's The Connection? Motor

01 Hawkwind - Motorhead

02 Metallica - Motorbreath

03 Neil Young International Harvesters - Motor City

04 Paul McCartney - Motor Of Love

05 Frank Zappa - Put a Little Motor in 'Em

06 Motörhead - Motorhead

07 Chuck Higgins - Motor Head Baby

08 Parliament - The Motor-Booty Affair

09 John Lee Hooker - The Motor City Is Burning

10 The Sugarcubes - Motor Crash

11 Roman Holliday - Motor Mania

12 Steinski & The Mass Media - The Motorcade Sped On

13 Herbie Hancock - Motor Mouth

14 Earth, Wind & Fire - Motor

15 Ted Nugent - Motor City Madhouse

16 Nick Mason - Can't Get My Motor To Start

17 Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway

18 Magazine - Motorcade

19 Toy Dolls - Modern Schools Of Motoring

20 Warren Hawkins - Motorway Food

21 Teddybears Sthlm - Global Motor Seizure

22 Jethro Tull - Motoreyes

23 Hanoi Rocks - Motorvatin'

RIYL Sister Golden Hair

This pick is from one of my favorite kind of comps. Recommended If You Like or RIYL. It is a fun sort of compilation, but easy for you to skip. If you don't like the main song or the main band, you probably won't like the rest of the songs. It is designed to give you songs that sound similar in feel to the main comparison song/band, whatever. In this case it is America Sister Golden Hair. It reminds me of several other songs, Probably all of that band's out put for sure, But the rule on this one is that I cannot repeat a band. Lots of songs on here that I like and that sound like the base song in one way or another. I have a few of these that spun off this one, so sorry about that. Either you've hit a bonanza over the next couple of days or you are going to come back in a few days.

RIYL Sister Golden Hair

01 Cat Stevens - Peace Train

02 Michael Martin Murphy - Wildfire

03 Doobie Brothers - Black Water

04 Pure Prairie League - Amie

05 Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze

06 Little River Band - Reminiscing

07 Orleans - Dance With Me

08 Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

09 Chicago - Saturday In The Park

10 George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

11 Firefall - Just Remember I Love You

12 Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You

13 Lindsey Buckingham - Trouble

14 Three Dog Night - Shambala

15 Nilsson - Without You

16 Dan Fogelberg - Longer

17 King Harvest - Dancing In The Moonlight

18 America - Sister Golden Hair

19 Eagles - Take It Easy

20 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Our House

21 Counting Crows - Mr. Jones

22 Sammy Johns - Chevy Van

Robert Smith's 80's Pick 2

Continuing the 80's Pick from Robert Smith. It was bothering me that I couldn't remember where I found this list, so I checked and it was from an interview on Sirius, but published in Farout magazine. They had it in alphabetical order, but I changed it to BPM order. It makes more sense to me. One of the tracks I was most happy about was the Yoko Ono song. One of my favorites and listening to it just makes sense for Smith to pick it. The one artists that I am surprised did not make it on his list is The Fall. I would have guessed that it would be on there. In fact I am glad I didn't bet, because I would have bet pretty much anything that Mark E Smith (and probably with Brix) would have made the list. You probably have your songs that you would have guessed been on his list but didn't make it. What did you see missing?

Robert Smith's 80's Pick 2

16 David Bowie - Let's Dance

17 Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

18 ABC - The Look Of Love

19 Suzanne Vega - Small Blue Thing

20 Cristina - Things Fall Apart

21 Mel & Kim - Respectable

22 Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

23 Chaka Khan - I Feel For You

24 New Order - Everything's Gone Green

25 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

26 The Psychedelic Furs - Heaven

27 Madness - The Return of the Los Palmas 7

28 Soft Cell - Tainted Love

29 Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene

30 DAF - Sex Unter Wasser

BTW: Here is a m3u playlist of both volumes. Forgot to include it in the zip

Robert Smith's 80's Pick 1

Volume one of this 80's pick. I can't remember which journalist asked Robert Smith from the Cure to pick his favorite songs from the 80's, but I remember looking at the list thinking it was pretty good. If you're going to ask someone from the 80's to make their list Smith is probably a darn good choice. Afterall he would probably be on many people's list. So it makes sense to see what he liked during that time he dominated the alternative charts. And he does not disappoint. I would not have guessed a few of these, but the rest make a lot of sense based on his catalog. Which ones are you surprised he chose?

Robert Smith's 80's Pick 1

01 Fun Boy Three with Bananarama - It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)

02 My Bloody Valentine - Lose My Breath

03 The Sugarcubes - Birthday

04 Human League - Human

05 Siouxsie And The Banshees - Dear Prudence

06 Prince - Starfish And Coffee

07 The Pretenders - Don't Get Me Wrong

08 Associates - Tell Me Easter's On Friday

09 Tom Waits - In The Neighbourhood

10 Cocteau Twins - Persephone

11 Joy Division - The Eternal

12 Kate Bush - Cloudbusting

13 Pixies - Gigantic

14 The Jesus And Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking

15 Peter Gabriel - Red Rain

What Is The Connection? Rich 2

A continuation of yesterday's Rich Connection. This time all Millionaire songs in the comp. Well, there is one Billionaire song and one of the songs comes from a Zillionaire album (ABC). Different takes on being or becoming a millionaire. Even some songs about wishing or hoping or planning on becoming a millionaire. It took me a while to understand what business philosopher Jim Rohn meant when he said that you want to "...become a millionaire, but not for the money. You want to become the person it takes to earn a million dollars." Many people who just win the lottery end up broker in a few years than before they won the money, because they never became millionaires in their minds. They didn't become the person who can earn a million dollars (or deserve the million dollars.) Because once you are that person, you can always make another million even if you lost everything. Me? I'd buy a dress, but not a green dress...

What Is The Connection? Rich 2

23 ZZ Top - Hey Mr. Millionaire

24 Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars - Billionaire (Promo Only Clean Edit Pop Radio Edit)

25 Black Stone Cherry - White Trash Millionaire

26 Queen - The Millionaire Waltz

27 War - Millionaire

28 Bing Crosby - I Found A Million Dollar Baby

29 Thompson Twins - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

30 Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - Ordinary Millionaire

31 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Millionaires Against Hunger (Unreleased)

32 Pretenders - Millionaires

33 ABC - How To Be A Millionaire

34 AC-DC - Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)

35 Chris Stapleton - Millionaire

36 Combustible Edison - The Millionaire's Holiday

37 Queens Of The Stone Age - You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire

38 Barenaked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars

What's The Connection? Rich 1

These are all songs about being Rich. You got part 1 of the Money Connection on Tax day, but here are some about keeping more of the money and being Rich, a big spender having money. A slightly different view will be part of Rich 2 (tomorrow). So this is not just being rich, but also what you need to become rich or to dream about being rich. Not to mention what you get when you are rich. There is one money song, but I'm sure you will forgive me about that. And sorry, rich does not always mean dollars or any other fiat money. In fact it probably means something else entirely in real life. But we pictured it in dollars for you.

What's The Connection? Rich 1

01 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Rich Girl

02 Kendrick Lamar featuring James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley - How Much a Dollar Cost

03 Celine Dion - Rain, Tax (It's Inevitable)

04 The Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday

05 The Louvin Brothers - Cash On The Barrel Head

06 Beatles - Baby You're a Rich Man

07 Gwen Stefani with Eve - Rich Girl

08 10cc - The Wall Street Shuffle

09 Don Henley - If Dirt Were Dollars

10 Kraak & Smaak - Money in the Bag

11 Tony Bennett & Count Basie - Are You Havin' Any Fun

12 Peggy Lee - Big Spender

13 Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman & His Orchestra - We're in the Money (The Gold Diggers Song)

14 Calloway - I Wanna Be Rich

15 Manfred Mann - I Wanna Be Rich

16 Shalamar - Take That To The Bank (Remix)

17 Aerosmith - Eat The Rich

18 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne - Rolls Royce Weather Every Day

19 Chicago - I'd Rather Be Rich

20 Radiohead - Dollars & Cents

21 Klark Kent - Ritch in a Ditch

22 Monty Python - Money Song

New Classic Rock

A few days ago I posted a list of songs that were not being played on Classic Rock radio stations. Today I am posting a pick of songs that I think should make up a new Classic Rock radio format. All newer rock songs. Who knows if they will stand up to the test of time, but I hope they will. Only one track that is on the other pick and that is Great Van Fleet. They just sound like they fit on both. And frankly even though most of the other list is not necessarily newer rock songs, these are somewhat newer bands. Listen to this compilation and then suggest your choices for this New Classic Rock format in the comments. Maybe someday a music director will incorporate them. I wish I could format a radio station. If not this format, I have a few others. BTW, this cover would make a good logo for the new station.

New Classic Rock

01 The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

02 The Sword - Freya

03 Rival Sons - Pressure and Time

04 Screaming Females - Ripe

05 Hexvessel - When I'm Dead

06 Windhand - Orchard

07 Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - I'll Cut You Down

08 The Raconteurs - Steady, As She Goes

09 Elder - Gemini

10 Greta Van Fleet - Highway Tune

11 Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love

12 Bigelf - Money, It's Pure Evil

13 The Winery Dogs - Elevate

14 Blood Ceremony - The Great God Pan

15 Fuzz - What's In My Head

16 Wolfmother - Joker & The Thief

17 The Struts - Could Have Been Me

18 Airbourne - Runnin' Wild

What's The Connection? Money 1

So, for Tax day I have a few songs about Money. This connection has some of the best picks of money, cash, dollars, dinero and how to make it in business. It is not the end all be all, but covers the basics. I included two sound effects. One of a cash register and one of opportunity knocking to cover the basics. The next volume has a more of the easy money songs. Eventually I will post it and my Rich connection. For now you get this.

What's The Connection? Money 1

01 Efx - Cash Register

02 Barenaked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars

04 Vitamin C - Money

05 The O'Jays - Money

06 Abba - Money, Money, Money

07 Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

08 Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)

09 Liza Minelli - Money, Money

10 Dean Martin - Money Is A Problem

11 Jo Stafford - If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time

12 Duane Allman - No Money Down

13 Elmore James - Shake Your Money Maker

14 The Flying Lizards - Money (That's What I Want)

15 Beatles - Money

16 Dire Straits - Money For Nothing

17 Pink Floyd - Money

18 Bachman Turner Overdrive - Takin' Care Of Business

19 Steve Miller - Take The Money And Run

20 AC-DC - Money Talks

21 Righeira - No Tengo Dinero (12 Version)

22 Efx - Knocking On Door

Not On Classic Rock Radio

I'm always surprised that these songs are not played on Classic Rock radio. They should be. Every one of these deserves airplay and probably gets some on non-traditional radio. But not Classic Rock radio. Thankfully there are some rock radio stations that do not follow exactly the format. Begun in the 1980's in some fashion or another, it officially marks it's start in 1986. Made to appeal to mostly males of tried and true rock songs (mostly from the 60's to 70's) it has changed little up to the present. A lot of these songs on this pick, would easily fit on any AOR station and could easily be fit in between a Classic Rock station, but they aren't. A couple of these songs you will think do get played, but checking old Classic Rock playlists, they just haven't been. Now you can play them yourself.

Not On Classic Rock Radio

01 Montrose - Bad Motor Scooter

02 Uriah Heep - All My Life

03 Procol Harum - Power Failure

04 Budgie - Breadfan

05 Cactus - One Way... Or Another

06 The Remains - I Can't Get Away From You

07 It's a Beautiful Day - White Bird

08 Greta Van Fleet - Highway Tune

09 Joe Walsh - In The City

10 Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation

11 Ashton Gardner & Dyke - Can You Get It

12 The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today

13 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lodi

14 Wishbone Ash - Jailbait

15 Moby Grape - Soul Stew

16 Hush - Gotta Get Back To You

17 Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll

18 Moxy - Midnight Flight

Not Hits

I was as surprised as anyone to find that none of these songs in this pick were a billboard top forty hit. They are all songs that most everyone knows and has heard a million times. I had to check a couple to make sure, because I would have bet anything they were a hit. But I am glad I didn't be because none were a hit. At least one was a hit in a different version. At least one was used in a movie and it was popular, but didn't crack the top forty charts. They all should have been a hit, but they weren't. No one knows why. As a DJ, I am often surprised that the best song of an album doesn't get picked to even be a single. It's a mystery.

Not Hits 

01 Billy Idol - Rebel Yell

02 Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want

03 Alphaville - Big In Japan

04 REM - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

05 Dolly Parton - Jolene

06 The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go

07 Stacey Q - Don't Make A Fool Of Yourself

08 Dead or Alive - Come Home (With Me Baby)

09 Cher - Strong Enough

10 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

11 Missing Persons - Words

12 John Fogerty - Centerfield

13 Mötley Crüe - Home Sweet Home

14 Modern English - I Melt With You

15 Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

16 Fleetwood Mac - Landslide

17 The B-52's - Rock Lobster

18 Squeeze - Tempted

19 Planet P Project - Why Me

20 Pearl Jam - Jeremy

21 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy

22 David Bowie - Changes

23 Abba - Super Trouper

24 Bruce Springsteen - Badlands

25 AC-DC - Highway To Hell

26 Van Morrison - Moondance

27 The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men

28 Elton John - Tiny Dancer

29 Beatles - All My Loving

30 Black Sabbath - Iron Man

31 The Call - Everywhere I Go

Mutt Lange Production Pick

A little different than yesterday's pick. These are all Mutt Lange productions. Some he produced the whole album and others just a song, but all his work in the producers chair. A few he also wrote or cowrote, but the production is the key here. Notice that there are no doubles with the songs here and yesterday. He has quite a bit to choose from. Mutt Lange is probably known for his work with Shania Twain and AC-DC and Bryan Adams, but you will see quite a bit of other stuff in here too. I hadn't realized that XTC and Boomtown Rats were on this list until I started looking. I knew about the Cars and Foreigner and the rockers in here, but I was surprised about Lady Gaga until I listened to the song again. I couldn't find any Thomas Dolby songs written or produced by Lange, but it was cool to see Dolby appear on a few of these productions.

Mutt Lange Production Pick

18 Cars - Drive

19 Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day

20 Tina Turner - Why Must We Wait Until Tonight

21 Supercharge - Get Down Boogie

22 AC-DC - Back In Black

23 Maroon 5 - Misery

24 Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started

25 Backstreet Boys - If You Want It To Be Good Girl

26 Foreigner - Urgent

27 Billy Ocean - When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (Single Version)

28 Def Leppard - Photograph

29 Muse - Psycho

30 Lady Gaga - You And I

31 Shania Twain - Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under

32 Romeo's Daughter - Don't Break My Heart

33 XTC - This Is Pop (Single Version)

34 Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap

35 Graham Parker - Heat Treatment

36 Michael Bolton - Said I Loved You... But I Lied

Mutt Lange Songs Pick

These are all songs written by Mutt Lange. Probably best known for his production, he is also a writer of hit songs. Some were also on albums produced by Lange (we'll do that pick tomorrow), but the main criteria here is being written by Lange. No need to bring up his marital issues (being married to Shania Twain at one point and the swapping spouses with her) which is weird, but has nothing to do with his songwriting abilities. I do think he writes a pretty decent power ballad. Check it out for yourself. Which do you like best?

Mutt Lange Songs Pick

01 Michael Bolton - Can I Touch You ... There

02 Heart - Will You Be There (In The Morning)

03 Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me

04 Dionne Warwick - Without Your Love

05 Dobie Gray - All I Want Is Make Love To You

06 Huey Lewis And The News - Do You Believe In Love

07 Billy Ocean - Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car

08 Romeo's Daughter - Heaven In The Back Seat

09 Roman Holliday - One Foot Back In Your Door

10 Shania Twain - Man! I Feel like a Woman!

11 Supercharge - I Think I'm Gonna Fall (Full Length Disco Version)

12 Billy Ray Cyrus - Only God Could Stop Me Loving You

13 The Corrs - Breathless

14 Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

15 Britney Spears - Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know

16 Celine Dion - If Walls Could Talk

17 Nickelback - Someday

Emoji 1

This is just a pick of stuff I made for a friend. I had an idea of songs that I knew they liked and I made this compilation of other songs that I knew they didn't have and that I thought fit into the other songs I knew they liked. I wasn't that successful for them. They barely acknowledged this CD pick and did not seem to like it much. But I did. I liked it enough to make myself a copy and the transfer it here. Maybe you will like it. Let me know in the comments. BTW, their loss, I was going to make another volume if they did like it, hence volume 1. I had another one waiting in the wings,

Emoji 1

01 Throbbing Gristle - 8

02 Siouxsie & the Banshees - Supernatural Thing

03 Throbbing Gristle - Something Came Over Me

04 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Walking On Your Hands

05 Bauhaus - Third Uncle

06 The The - The The

07 Frank Tovey - Collapsing New People

08 Nina Hagen - I Love Pol

09 SPK - Mouth To Mouth

10 Mission UK - Wasteland

11 Tuxedomoon - Joeboy The Electric Ghost

12 Death In June - All Alone In Her Nirvana

13 Klaus Nomi - Total Eclipse

14 Specimen - Stand Up Stand Out

15 James White & The Blacks - Stained sheets

16 Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf

17 Alien Sex Fiend - Now I'm Feeling Zombiefied (Extended Version)

18 Magazine - Permafrost

19 The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make

Happy Easter

Easter is not like Christmas. There are some albums and songs, but not nearly as many as as others. And this holiday also usually is associated with very religious and also very non-religious images. For some it is Jesus on the cross, for others it is Easter dinner and egg hunts or lots of chocolates or flowers. And for some it is Rabbits and for others it is Rising from the dead. This pick is a mish mash of all of that. I have songs about rising and songs about rabbits. I don't have any about dinner, but I do about redemption. So it's a mixed bag. I hope you enjoy the compilation no matter what your feeling is of this holiday. Enjoy your family whether you believe or not. At one time it meant I was going to read some selections from the good book, now it is about my family.

Happy Easter

01 Herb Alpert - Rise

02 Frank Zappa - Watermelon in Easter Hay

03 Judy Garland & Fred Astaire - Easter Parade

04 Giorgio Moroder - Night Rabbit

05 Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

06 Florence + The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

07 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Redemption Song

08 Simple Minds - East at Easter

09 Parachute Club - Rise Up (Extended)

10 Brave Combo - I'm a Bunny Rabbit

11 Ray Anthony - The Bunny Hop

12 The Residents - Easter Woman

13 Gene Gray & The Stingrays - Surf Bunny

14 Marillion - Easter

15 Rosemary Clooney - Eggbert, The Easter Egg

16 Steve Hackett - Rise Again

17 Sparks - Pulling Rabbits out of a Hat

18 Dub Syndicate - Let The Spirit Rise

19 John Lydon - The Rabbit Song

20 Bob Crosby and the Bobcats - Peter Cottontail

Weird Tape Earlier

Once I had a radio show. A colleague (Pete) filled in for me while I was on vacation. This is what he played on my show. Pretty good. It's not really a Pol's Pick, but I am keeping it. I can't tell you anything about why he picked all these songs, other than they are cool and somehow totally fit together in some weird way. He had a talent for finding some really cool and obscure stuff. I had trouble recreating this, since I had to find all the songs again from the playlist. And some took awhile to track down. But I am all about trying to replicate it as close as possible. If you only joined this blog a few days ago, this is totally different. Get used to it. I'll go on tangents and then do the dipsy-do-flipperoo. BTW, I made a new cover for it since the original was just some squiggly handwriting. I like it better this way.

Weird Tape Earlier

01 Foetus - Wash It All Off

02 Was (Not Was) - The Party Broke Up

03 Landscape - Norman Bates

04 Animal Things - It's Dark In Here

05 Hunting Lodge - Hourglass

06 Witch Trials - Trapped In The Playground

07 Swamp Thing - Surgery On Himself

08 Alice Cooper - Dada

09 The Manhattan Transfer - Coo Coo U

10 King Missile - The Sandbox

11 Renaldo And The Loaf - Extracting The Re-Re (A Ritual Call To Prayer)

12 Fred Lane - French Toast Man

13 Pink Floyd - Bike

14 Freshly Wrapped Candies - Cherry Tomato

15 Trevor Wishart - Vox 1

16 The Haters - Journey Into Pain

17 Hélène Sage - Mystic Terrorism

18 Big City Orchestra - Chalon

19 Sick Room Serenade - Lonesome Tonight

20 Due Process - Lonesome Tonight

Sophisti-Pop 3

This is as far as I got in my Sophisti-Pop pick go back to volume 1 to get a link to a more comprehensive pick by "K" at Butterboy's website. I do have enough to make at least two more volumes of this and perhaps I will finish it one day, But I didn't want even more overlap with the other comp. Although I think there are several songs and a couple of artists that are not on the other comp. I think there will be a few people that will disagree with me on the choices I made. Are The Stranglers in any way Sophisti-Pop? I would argue that they only have a couple of songs that qualify, and they qualify more than some of the other choices some would make. Either way that's the beauty of this blog. It's my pick.

Sophisti-Pop 3

35 Johnny Hates Jazz - Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight

36 Everything But The Girl - Driving

37 Human League - Human

38 Level 42 - Love Games

39 Deacon Blue - Dignity

40 Black - Wonderful Life

41 Go West - The King Of Wishful Thinking

42 Climie Fisher - Love Changes (Everything)

43 Aztec Camera - Oblivious

44 Big Sound Authority - This House (Is Where Your Love Stands)

45 Spandau Ballet - With The Pride

46 Breathe - Hands To Heaven

47 Jazzateers - Sixteen Reasons

48 Brother Beyond - The Harder I Try

49 Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer

50 Carmel - Bad Day

51 Stranglers - European Female

52 The Blue Nile - Saturday Night

53 Double - The Captain Of Her Heart

Sophisti-Pop 2

This is the 2nd volume of my pick of Sophisti-Pop. Generally it's jazzy new wave. It usually has a sophisticated sound and to me reminds me of a cross between Steely Dan and Avalon Roxy Music. But it is a genre that only existed after it was mostly gone and done. Although there seems to be a comeback now decades after it was over. So many of the things that people call Sophisti-Pop could be considered other genres. It's all by feel. Look at yesterday's post to see why I am posting this now. And to get a link to a different more exhaustive take on this genre. Tomorrow is part three (the last of my series that I have finished.)

Sophisti-Pop 2

17 Style Council - The Paris Match

18 Spandau Ballet - True

19 Everything But The Girl - I Always Was Your Girl

20 The Christians - Ideal World

21 Blow Monkeys - Digging Your Scene (Long Version)

22 Johnny Hates Jazz - Turn Back The Clock

23 Scritti Politti - Perfect Way

24 Orange Juice - Rip It Up

25 Living In A Box - Living In A Box

26 George Michael - Kissing A Fool

27 Sade - Smooth Operator

28 Hue And Cry - Labour Of Love

29 China Crisis - Bigger The Punch I'm Feeling

30 Level 42 - Running In The Family

31 ABC - When Smokey Sings

32 Joe Jackson - You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)

33 Grace Jones - I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango) (12 inch version)

34 Bryan Ferry - Slave To Love

Sophisti-Pop 1

I made these volumes of this pick some time ago. It's been awhile. And then I saw on another website by Butterboy that his buddy K had made an even better version than I had. I had some duplicates with his version (that you can get here) And I did have some songs that K did not have, but most of the artists on my version were also on K's version. Just for kicks I am posting my version of Sophisti-Pop here. But go get K's version. It is more comprehensive. I do have Audrey Hepburn on my cover. Nothing says Sophistication more than Tiffany's. And nothing says Pop better than a bobble head cartoon.

Sophisti-Pop 1

01 Level 42 - Something About You

02 Matt Bianco - Half A Minute

03 Curiosity Killed The Cat - Down To Earth

04 Simply Red - Something Got Me Started

05 Swing Out Sister - Breakout

06 Basia - Cruising For Bruising

07 Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams

08 ABC - Poison Arrow

09 Prefab Sprout - Horsin' Around

10 Roxy Music - More Than This

11 The Christians - Harvest For The World

12 Carmel - Sally

13 The Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods (12 Version)

14 Living In A Box - Room In Your Heart

15 Everything But The Girl - Each And Every One

16 Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

White Cone

The last of the white, non-offensive, bland, guilty pleasures in this pick series. Seven was enough for now. Not much more to say, just look at the last six of these I posted and now this one and decide which are your favorite tracks and which ones are missing that fit into this series. Leave that in the comments. So many good songs in this series and it can be played anywhere for anyone. That's the beauty of this series. It really is pretty much non-offensive. I could make more, but what other white food is there that I would be able to use?

White Cone

01 Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin - Je T'aime Moi Non Plus

02 Styx - Babe

03 Billy Paul - Me and Mrs. Jones

04 Debbie Boone - You Light Up My Life

05 Roberta Flack - Feel Like Makin' Love

06 Seals & Crofts - Get Closer

07 Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Jackie Blue

08 Ace - How Long

09 The Manhattans - Kiss and Say Goodbye

10 Dr. Hook - Sharing the Night Together

11 Neil Sedaka - Laughter in the Rain

12 Starbuck - Moonlight Feels Right

13 Looking Glass - Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)

14 Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds - Don't Pull Your Love

15 Pablo Cruise - Whatcha Gonna Do-

16 Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy

17 The Blackbyrds - Walking In Rhythm

18 Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You

19 Blue Swede - Hooked On A Feeling

20 Cher - Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves

21 Pilot - Magic

22 Jigsaw - Sky High

White Sugar

This is the 6th pick in the White series. White meaning bland, non-offensive, guilty pleasures of mine, A couple of tracks in here are not related in any way that I know of, but to me are associated in my mind. Bobby Hebb and Classics IV both had a one word hit starting with an "s" and ending with a "y". Both had a similar feel when I heard them. But somehow with just those minor similarities, I always link them together. Both those tracks are on this pick. Another track that I just love is from Sweet Sensation. In fact I made a RIYL from this song that I will have to post some day. This British soul band had more songs, but none on the par with Sad Sweet Dreamer, which is sad. I really liked this band. Sometimes it works out that way.

White Sugar

01 Ambrosia - Biggest Part of Me

02 Steely Dan - Peg

03 Atlanta Rhythm Section - So In To You

04 America - Ventura Highway

05 Freddy Fender - Wasted Days And Wasted Nights

06 Stephen Stills - Love The One You're With

07 Orleans - Dance With Me

08 Firefall - Strange Way

09 Bertie Higgins - Key Largo

10 Sweet Sensation - Sad Sweet Dreamer

11 Bellamy Brothers - Let Your Love Flow

12 Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love

13 Bob Welch - Ebony Eyes

14 Classics IV - Stormy

15 Robbie Dupree - Steal Away

16 Ozark Mountain Daredevils - If You Wanna Get To Heaven

17 Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville

18 Christopher Cross - Ride Like the Wind

19 Bobby Hebb - Sunny

20 Three Dog Night - Shambala

21 Sanford-Townsend Band - Smoke From a Distant Fire

White Cheese

More of the white, bland, non-offensive, guilty pleasure picks of mine. Go see the other four (so far) white picks over the last several days except for yesterday. By now you know the drill and only a few more left. You've seen a few of these bands before on a previous pick. And a few one off's in here as well. Who remembers Kenny Nolan? Bread and America, okay they really belong and the Amazing Rhythm Aces and England Dan & John Ford Coley are not out of place. But I always associate 10cc with some pretty experimental art rock and yet here they are with one of the shmarmiest songs ever. And I love it! listened to this non-stop when it first came out. It spoke to me. I am almost ashamed to say that I listened to this more than Blondie. Later Blondie caught up.

White Cheese

01 Bread - Make It With You

02 Carpenters - (They Long To Be) Close To You

03 Ambrosia - How Much I Feel

04 The 5th Dimension - (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All

05 Carly Simon - You're So Vain

06 Air Supply - All Out of Love

07 Amazing Rhythm Aces - Third Rate Romance

08 Morris Albert - Feelings

09 Eric Carmen - All By Myself

10 England Dan & John Ford Coley - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight

11 Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow

12 America - Woman Tonight

13 Tavares - It Only Takes A Minute

14 Tony Orlando & Dawn - Knock Three Times

15 Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together

16 10cc - I'm Not In Love

17 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - My Eyes Adored You

18 Kenny Nolan - I Like Dreamin'

19 Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight

20 Cher - Dark Lady

21 Helen Reddy - Angie Baby

22 Paul Anka with Odia Coates - (You're) Having My Baby

April Fools 2

This holiday pick is sort of a What's The Connection? The Connection is being a fool. I have plenty of these songs to be able to post here every year for some time. This is the second involvement, so look up April Fools number 1. The last one was more about Jokers and this one Fools, But I bet you like it. I sure do. But I did leave out a few that will be another volume of this pick. There are some classic rock version on here and more to come as I decide to post them. Junior Brown is so cool. Playing the GuitSteel and killing it all the time, this track is just great.

April Fools 2

21 Beach Boys - Why Do Fools Fall In Love

22 Van Halen - Fools

23 Main Ingredient - Everybody Plays The Fool

24 Camper Van Beethoven - The Fool

25 Erasure - Ship Of Fools

26 Styx - Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)

27 Kenny Rogers With Dottie West - Every Time Two Fools Collide

28 Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools

29 Beatles - The Fool On The Hill

30 Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes

31 Michael Franks - A Fool's Errand

32 Depeche Mode - Fools

33 Led Zeppelin - Fool In The Rain

34 Rolling Stones - Fool To Cry

35 Joe Jackson - Fools in Love

36 Marc Almond - The King Of The Fools

37 George Michael - Kissing A Fool

38 Robert Gordon with Link Wray - The Fool

39 Junior Brown - Doin' What Comes Easy To A Fool

40 Sanford Clark with Al Casey - The Fool

41 Devo - Social Fools