What's The Connection? Hold On

Continuing the What's the Connection series of Hold songs, these are all Hold On songs. No repeats from the first Hold WTC. Even though there were eight Hold On songs in the first one, just a couple of days ago. And even though those were good songs, here are 20 more. But to get the best playlist add the first eight to these for the definitive Hold On compilation. You can't go wrong with Yes, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Genesis, Lou Reed, the Commodores and the Cars on one playlist. It's just going to be good. Let me know which ones I might have missed and put them in the comments.

What's The Connection? Hold On

01 John Lennon - Hold On

02 Genesis - Hold On My Heart

03 Freddie Mercury and Jo Dare - Hold On

04 En Vogue - Hold On

05 Drake featuring Majid Jordan - Hold On, We're Going Home

06 Lou Reed - Hold On

07 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Hold On

08 Neil Young - Hold On To Your Love

09 Yes - Hold On

10 Cars - You Can't Hold On Too Long

11 Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On

12 Eddie Money - Baby Hold On

13 Commodores - Hold On

14 Coldcut featuring Lisa Stansfield - People Hold On

15 Rush - We Hold On

16 The Xx - On Hold

17 Santana - Hold On

18 Morrissey - Hold On To Your Friends

19 John Denver - Hold On To Me

20 Kansas - Hold On

What's The Connection? Hold Me

I told you yesterday that I had more hold songs. This connection is all Hold Me songs. I had the Thompson Twins yesterday and that's not repeated here so add that to make it more complete today. You will notice that you can hold me or you can't hold me today. You have several that will Hold Tight and a few that will Hold Me Now. Funny none that will Hold Me Later. Not sure why that is. A couple of Beatles tunes. And also a few that have a Hold On Me, ok more than a couple (five), but they are all good songs. Maybe more Holding songs tomorrow.

What's The Connection? Hold Me

01 U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

02 Savage Garden - Hold Me

03 Fall Out Boy - Hold Me Tight Or Don't

04 Nina Hagen - Hold Me (Extended Version)

05 Scorpions - Hold Me Tight

06 Marvin Gaye - Hold Me Oh My Darling

07 Kiss - Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We're Apart)

08 Elastica - Hold Me Now

09 Beatles - You Really Got A Hold On Me

10 The Rumors - Hold Me Now

11 XTC - Hold Me My Daddy

12 Fleetwood Mac - Hold Me

13 John Wetton - Hold Me Now

14 Brad Paisley - Hold Me In Your Arms (And Let Me Fall)

15 Jeff Beck & The Big Town Playboys - Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me

16 AC-DC - You Ain't Got A Hold On Me

17 Beatles - Hold Me Tight

18 Shania Twain - Got A Hold On Me

19 Prince - Hold Me

20 Etta James - Something's Got a Hold on Me

21 Cheap Trick - Love's Got A Hold On Me

What's The Connection? Hold 1

So many songs with Hold in the title. In fact I could easily do Holding, and Holder as well as Hold connections. This is a combo of my favorites across the board, But I have follow ups coming, so look out for them (and help out by suggesting some for future volumes.) A couple I have to point out on this one. Sparks. That's my ring tone on my phone (when it isn't muted, which isn't often). A few that I really was impressed with when I first heard them: Alabama Shakes, Junior Brown (saw him live in Austin TX - really amazing shows) Tirumph live is also pretty darn good. Seen them a few times. Beastie Boys really kind of sucked at the beginning, but by the time of this album, they were a great show. Still kind of assholes, but a good show and great album. And if you didn't hear Baha Men on a cruise ship when this came out, you weren't on a cruise ship.

What's The Connection? Hold 1

01 Argent - Hold Your Head Up

02 Alabama Shakes - Hold On

03 DeBarge - Who's Holding Donna Now

04 Beastie Boys - Hold It Now, Hit It

05 Toto - Hold The Line

06 Big Daddy - Hold On

07 Sam & Dave - Hold On! I'm Comin'

08 Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now

09 The Miracles - You've Really Got A Hold On Me

10 Triumph - Hold On

11 Heatwave - Hold On To The One

12 Baha Men - Hold Ya Head

13 .38 Special - Hold On Loosely

14 The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand

15 Junior Brown - Holding Pattern

16 Electric Light Orchestra - Hold On Tight

17 Sparks - Your Call's Very Important to Us. Please Hold.

What's The Connection? Help 1

When you need the help, this connection will be there for you. So many other variations on this, so expect more to come as we go along. A couple of helpless songs, one helper song and the rest are just help. These are definitely my favorites as I came up with  them right away. Beatles, Nina Hagen, Brian Eno, Earth Wind & Fire are consistently in my top ten artists so no surprise they show up here. Let me know who you think I should include in my next one. There's probably enough to do a full album of just the one Beatles tune that I had Joe Cocker cover in this one.

What's The Connection? Help 1

01 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Helpless

02 Nina Hagen - Help Me

03 Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling In Love

04 B. J. Thomas - I Just Can't Help Believing

05 Joni Mitchell - Help Me

06 Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends

07 Amy Winehouse - Help Yourself

08 Michael Jackson - I Can't Help It

09 Earth Wind & Fire - Help Somebody

10 Billy Swan - I Can Help

11 Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It

12 Beatles - Help!

13 The Frost - Help Me Baby

14 Rolling Stones - Mother's Little Helper

15 Bananarama - I Can't Help It

16 Journey - Girl Can’t Help It

17 Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

18 Electric Light Orchestra - Helpless

19 Beach Boys - Help Me Rhonda

20 Joe Walsh - Help Me Thru The Night

21 Brian Eno & David Byrne - Help Me Somebody

22 Buzzcocks - You Know You Can't Help It

Pharrell Pick

Probably too early to make this pick, but he is prolific. Pharrell surely has plenty to choose from. This is my pick (so far). He's written some good stuff, he's guested on some good stuff, he's been doing some good stuff on his own. From N.E.R.D. to the Neptunes to his huge hit that was everywhere this is Pharrell Williams at his hit making best. That's all. No need for anything else about him. I may do another one sometime in the future of just songs written by him.

Pharrell Pick

01 Ludacris Featuring Pharrell - Money Maker

02 Mystikal - Shake Ya Ass

03 Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams - Lose Yourself To Dance

04 Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean - Feels

05 Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson - Beautiful

06 The Neptunes featuring Jay-Z - Frontin

07 Pharrell Williams featuring Kanye West - Number One

08 Pharrell - Hunter

09 Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky

10 Pharrell featuring Miley Cyrus - Come Get It Bae

11 Robin Thicke featuring TI & Pharrell - Blurred Lines

12 Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell - Drop It Like It's Hot

13 Swedish House Mafia featuring Pharrell Williams - One (Your Name)

14 Madonna - Give It 2 Me

15 N.E.R.D. - She Wants To Move (DFA Remix)

16 Pharrell - Happy

What's The Connection? Renters

This connection is about renters. Technically it's only kind of a WTC, since only some of the tracks have rent in the title, but they all are mostly about rent and renters. Including songs about landlords, apartments, shelter. I didn't include all of the landlord songs and there definitely are a few that would fit. I'm thiking Joss Stone, The Police, Terry Hall, Gladys Knight etc. Instead I put in some classics like Snog and DNCE and Silver Jews. One of my favorite rent songs has to be from Gwen Guthrie.

What's The Connection? Renters

01 Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime

02 Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

03 Barenaked Ladies - The Old Apartment

04 Gwen Guthrie - Ain't Nothing Going On But The Rent

05 Petshop Boys - Rent

06 Lyres - She Pays The Rent

07 Tom Petty - The Apartment Song

08 Wild Child Butler - Rent Money Gone Again

09 John Lee Hooker - House Rent Boogie

10 Roger Miller - King Of The Road

11 Faron Young - Apartment #9

12 Tammy Wynette - Apartment Number 9

13 Buffalo Springfield - The Rent Is Always Due

14 Sarah Harmer - Basement Apartment

15 Silver Jews - How To Rent A Room

16 Snog - Real Estate Man

17 Faith No More - Let's Lynch The Landlord

18 DNCE - Pay My Rent

19 Laurel Aitken - Landlords And Tennants

Max Martin Pick 2

This pick is continued from yesterday. All Max Martin written, produced etc songs. The biggest export of Sweden is now hits. I said yesterday that I would talk about Cheiron Studios, but that was kind of not true. It was a Stockholm sutdio run by Dennis Popz. He started all this, Hired Max Martin, gave him his name. But after he died Martin started another studio, but with a similar kind of vibe. Maratone. That's where most of these hits came from. But it started with Max getting hired and learning his chops at Cheiron.  So here's the next part of songs by Max Martin.

Max Martin Pick 2

20 Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me

21 Celine Dion - That's The Way It Is

22 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do

23 Nick Jonas - Under You

24 Jennifer Lopez - First Love

25 Robyn - Do You Know (What It Takes)

26 Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don't Care

27 Christina Aguilera - Your Body

28 Lady Gaga - Stupid Love

29 The Weeknd, Ariana Grande - Save Your Tears (Remix)

30 Justin Bieber - Beauty And A Beat

31 Shakira - Dare (La La La)

32 Coldplay & Selena Gomez - Let Somebody Go

33 The Veronicas - 4Ever

34 Westlife - When You're Looking Like That

35 Avril Lavigne - What The Hell

36 Marion Raven - Break You

37 Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover)

Max Martin Pick 1

It used to be that you would ask what was the biggest export from Sweden and the answer would be Abba. It may no longer be true. It could be the answer is big hits on the charts or perhaps award winning songs. And much of that new answer is the target of the next two picks. The name is Max Martin. A Swedish producer, songwriter, engineer and hitmaker. Once you see the list of his clients and the songs he's written and produced. No matter what you think of the charts, he's on them. We'll talk a little about Cheiron Studios tomorrow, but this is the meat.

Max Martin Pick 1

01 NSync - It's Gonna Be Me

02 Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

03 Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

04 Maroon 5 - One More Night

05 Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way

06 Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea - Problem

07 Coldplay & BTS - My Universe

08 The Weeknd - I Can't Feel My Face

09 Selena Gomez - Hands To Myself

10 Bryan Adams - Cloud Number Nine (Chicane Mix)

11 Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling!

12 Demi Lovato - Cool For The Summer

13 Usher Featuring Pitbull - DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love

14 Bon Jovi - It's My Life

15 Cyndi Lauper - Into The Nightlife

16 P!nk - So What

17 Jessie J - Domino

18 Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

19 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You

Alec R Costandino Pick

This French guy is not that well known, unless you know disco. Probably best known for being the first to make disco concept albums and his version of Romeo & Juliet. He has worked under multiple names and with multiple names. This pick is just the tip of the iceberg. He co-wrote Cerrone's Love In C Minor and he's the guy behind bands such as Love And Kisses, Sphinx and Sumeria among many others. He wrote the title track (and more) for the movie Thank God It's Friday - a great disco movie. Here are a few of my favorite picks.

Alec R Costandino Pick

01 Alec R. Costandinos - Romeo & Juliet Acts I-II

02 Alec R. Costandinos - Romeo & Juliet Acts III-IV-V

03 Alec R Costandinos - Grooves

04 Alec R. Costandinos - Americana

05 Sumeria - Cosmic traveller (12 Maxi)

06 Love And Kisses - I've Found Love (Now That I've Found You)

07 Cerrone - Love In C Minor

08 Love And Kisses - Thank God It's Friday

09 Sphinx (Alec R. Costandinos) - Simon Peter

10 Sphinx (Alec R.Costandinos) - Judas Iscariot

The Time Pick

Anyone that is a Prince fan knows the Time. Much of it has big ties to Prince and obviously Morris Day. But the Time are not just a playtoy for Prince. They were good on their own. This pick is the best of the Time. As the Time, as Morris Day solo and also a track from Original 7Ven. Don't have that much more to say about this comp, but to say that they had some great danceable funk. This is mostly in order of the release, but also playable order within that. I've never seen a best of, so this will do until the real thing comes along.

The Time Pick

01 The Time - Cool

02 The Time - Get It Up

03 The Time - 777-9311

04 The Time - The Walk

05 The Time - Ice Cream Castles

06 The Time - Jungle Love

07 The Time - The Bird

08 Morris Day - The Oak Tree

09 Morris Day - Fishnet

10 The Time - Jerk Out

11 The Time - Chocolate

12 The Time - Shake!

13 Original 7Ven - #Trendin

Rinder & Lewis Pick

If you don't know who Rinder & Lewis are, you are not alone. They are probably more well known as disco stars Tuxedo Junction or El Coco. They did some things as Rinder & Lewis and lots of disco under a variety of aliases. Some studio musicians and we make up the bulk of the following tracks. Remember this pick is the heart of disco. Writers, musicians, producers. The nameless faceless guys behind it. Listen to these songs and I bet you recognize at least one or two from the disco dancefloor (or maybe, now, an elevator or so.)

Rinder & Lewis Pick

01 Le Pamplemousse - Gimmee What You Go

02 Le Pamplemousse - Le Spank

03 Discognosis - Good Time Man (Peter Amato Remix)

04 El Coco - Let's Get It Together

05 In Search Of Orchestra - Phenomena Theme

06 Rinder & Lewis - Willie And The Hand Jive

07 Rinder & Lewis - Lust

08 El Coco - Cocomotion (single version)

09 Tuxedo Junction - Chattanooga Choo Choo

10 Tuxedo Junction - Night In Tunisia

11 Cheetah - Too Hot To Be Cool

12 Saint Tropez - Belle De Jour

What's The Connection? Workin' 1

This connection is about working. I included jobs, hours everything about work in the USA. That means not all of them have work in the title, but they are all about having to work. In the Coal Mine, In the Car Wash or in the office, it's all work. A couple where people are tired of working (for good, or just until the next day and are stopping for a drink at the bar to recharge) and at least one about finding work. One of my favorites is the Rush song from early pre-Neil Peart Rush. It shows where they were going and is the best early Rush you will find.

What's The Connection? Workin' 1

01 Huey Lewis and the News - Workin' For A Livin'

02 Loverboy - Working For The Weekend

03 Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money

04 Dolly Parton - 9 To 5

05 Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It

06 Junior Brown - Ain't Gonna Work Today

07 Dwight Yoakam - Let's Work Together

08 Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons

09 John Conlee - Working Man

10 Rose Royce - Car Wash

11 Jim Croce - Working At The Car Wash Blues

12 Lee Dorsey - Working In The Coal Mine

13 Michael Jackson - Working Day And Night

14 Prince - Let's Work

15 The Silhouettes - Get A Job

16 The Vogues - Five O'Clock World

17 Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary

18 Rush - Working Man

19 Weird Al Yankovic - Dog Eat Dog

20 James Brown - Living In America

21 Grandmaster Melle Mel - We Don't Work For Free

What's The Connection? Wonderful 1

All wonderful songs in this connection. Word in the title. Starting with Johnny Mathis whose song is so wonderful he says it twice. I purposely did not include Eric Clapton (maybe for volume number two) or Louis Armstrong (although I included Bryan Ferry, I had forgotten about Grand Funk until I started making the compilation, but I had remembered the Ohio Players and Isaac Hayes and for sure had to include them, But Revolting Cocks is why I made this list in the first place. I did not include Devo Beautiful People even though the lyrics include Wonderful People, Wonderful Place, Wonderful Life all through it. The cover art is me on the beach in Mexico in the 80's. It was wonderful, but that's the only connection.

What's The Connection? Wonderful 1

01 Johnny Mathis - Wonderful! Wonderful!

02 Gene Kelly & Georges Guetary - 's Wonderful

03 Earth Wind & Fire - Be Ever Wonderful

04 Adam Ant - Wonderful

05 Bryan Ferry - (What A) Wonderful World

06 Everclear - Wonderful

07 Damage - Wonderful Tonight

08 Isaac Hayes - Wonderful

09 The Beach Boys - Wonderful

10 Lene Lovich - Wonderful One

11 Ohio Players - Wonderful

12 Van Morrison - Wonderful Remark

13 Marvin Gaye - You're A Wonderful One

14 Jimmy Cliff - Wonderful World, Beautiful People

15 Tower Of Power - You're So Wonderful, So Marvelous

16 The Majors - A Wonderful Dream

17 Grand Funk - Some Kind Of Wonderful

18 Revolting Cocks - Something Wonderful

19 Fishbone - It's A Wonderful Life (Gonna Have A Good Time)

20 Fatboy Slim - Wonderful Night

21 Lords Of Acid - The Most Wonderful Girl

22 Buzzcocks - Some Kinda Wonderful

What's The Connection? Sexy 1

We had some Sex yesterday and today it's more Sexy as the connection. Songs with Sexy in the title. I do have one mashup in this compilation and that's the first track Bruno Mars goes so well with the Hot Chocolate Sexy song, that I used it. When I play live, it is actually recieved better than Hot Chocolate by itsels for most crowds. At least for now. In the USA, I would guess many people do not know the Bow Wow Wow song, but I love it and I am guessing outside of the lower half of of the USA and below most people also do not know Los Tucanes De Tijuana, but they also have a great sound, not just with this track, but a lot of their catalog is pretty darn good. Lots of room for a Sexy 2, so leave some suggestions in the comments.

What's The Connection? Sexy 1

01 Bruno Mars Vs Hot Chocolate - Just The Way You Are Sexy Thing

02 Stray Cats - (She's) Sexy + 17

03 Ne-Yo - Sexy Love

04 Glenn Frey - Sexy Girl

05 Dr. Hook - Sexy Eyes

06 Prince - Sexy M.F. (Clean Version)

07 Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy

08 Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (Extended Club Mix)

09 Bow Wow Wow - Sexy Eiffel Towers

10 Kenny Chesney - She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

11 Justin Timberlake - SexyBack (Linus Loves Remix)

12 Queen - Sexy Club Mix

13 David Guetta featuring Akon - Sexy Chick

14 LMFAO - Sexy And You Know It

15 Arianna featuring Pitbull - Sexy People (The Fiat Song) (Ultimix By Mark Roberts)

16 Los Tucanes De Tijuana - La Chica Sexy

17 Beatles - Sexy Sadie

18 The Time - Sexy Socialites

What's The Connection? Sex

Let's talk about sex in this connection. Although there is no Salt N Pepa on this. It used to be a cassette compilation of all songs with Sex in the title, but bands I was listening to at the time. As you listen to the tracks you will probably be able to figure out about the time that I made this cassette. It later became a CD and then now a downloadable playlist. Either way it always is controversial to talk about sex even though most of these songs are not sexy by any means. I have to say that one of my favorites on this comp is the track from Multi Coloured Shades. I had the 12 inch of this song, but it took me twenty years to get the LP it came from. Pretty good, btw. And I didn't even buy it. I got it as a gift from one of the guys who built my pool. I was talking about the track and he was going to a record swap here in Texas. He just brought it back for me as a total surprise (thanks Cameron). And not related, but those guys (Klapprodt Pools) did an amazing job on our pool. Everyone loves it. Nothing to do with sex.

What's The Connection? Sex

01 Sparks - All You Ever Think About Is Sex 

02 SVT - Price Of Sex

03 Gun Club - Sex Beat

04 Multi Coloured Shades - Teen Sex Transfusion

05 Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Sex Bomb Boogie

06 Erasure - Sexuality

07 Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

08 Shriekback - Sexthinkone

09 Cabaret Voltaire - Sex, Money, Freaks

10 The Flying Lizards - Sex Machine

11 Eurythmics - Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

12 Psychic TV - Tape Sex

13 Bow Wow Wow - Sexy Eiffel Towers

14 Pat Benatar - Sex As A Weapon

15 Flipper - Sex Bomb

16 Digital Sex - Sex In The Spring

17 Devo - Sexi Luv

18 Alex Chilton - No Sex

19 Gleaming Spires - Are You Ready For The Sex Girls

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

21 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Sex Rap

22 Bow Wow Wow - Uomo Sex al Apache

23 Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf

24 Oingo Boingo - Wild Sex (In The Working Class)

What's The Connection? Science

Okay here's a nice connection of Science songs. Not as many as you think there may be. The first three on the list are obvious, but Freezepop was the one that got me to make this connection. And that's not their best song by all means. And of course any time that I can use a song from Rocky Horror Picture Show, I'm going to use it if I can. Just worked out great in this case. A couple of Scientist songs, but most of it is just about Science. Tell me which ones I'm misssing except for Yes, which I wasn't going to use as it was way too long at over twenty minutes. BTW, I had fun making the cover!

What's The Connection? Science

01 Laurie Anderson - Big Science

02 Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science

03 Oingo Boingo - Weird Science

04 Freezepop - Science Genius Girl (hi phi edit)

05 XTC - Science Friction

06 Yellow Magic Orchestra - Citizens Of Science

07 The Dandy Warhols - I Am A Scientist

08 They Might Be Giants - For Science

10 Bill Nelson - Secret Agent At Science Park

11 Jethro Tull - March The Mad Scientist

12 Mighty Spoiler - Mad Scientist (What Scientist Say)

13 System Of A Down - Science

14 Epoxies - Science Of You

15 Dead Kennedys - Well Paid Scientist

16 Dead Silence - Mad Scientist's Ball

17 Dot Allison - We're Only Science

18 Soft Cell - Science Fiction Stories

19 Rocky Horror Picture Show - Science Fiction-Double Feature

What's The Connection? So What

Pretty much all of this connection is songs with So What in the title. The one exception is what started me on this compilation in the first place. That's Soft Cell. They had a 12" called What and one called ...So on the other side. Perfect for this WTC. The What song was a cover of a song sung by Groucho Marx's daughter and then covered by Judy Street. That version became a Northern soul classic and was later also covered by Soft Cell. I've had that in my mind since I first heard the song. It didn't hurt that Ministry had a great song that fit right in (title-wise). As did all these others I included. So I started and ended with the Soft Cell and finished with everything inbetween.

What's The Connection? So What

01 Soft Cell - ...So (Edit)

02 Beastie Boys - So What'cha Want

03 Herb Alpert - So What's New

04 Kilburn + The High Roads - Patience (So What)

05 Metallica - So What

06 Pegboard Nerds - So What

07 The Fall - So What About It

08 P!nk - So What

09 Paper Lace - So What If I Am

10 Ministry - So What

11 Jeff Beck - So What

12 George Benson - So What

13 Don Deal - So What

14 Ron Carter featuring Kenny Barron - So What

15 Miles Davis - So What

16 The Cure - So What

17 Soft Cell - What

What's The Connection? Dirt

Songs with Dirt in the title is today's Connection. Soon I will add some Dirty songs. I really like the Lou Reed song and wanted to figure out how I could make a WTC with that song. This is what happened. I kept all the Dirty songs off and came up with this. Lots of Dirty songs and less just about dirt, but enough. I hope you like them and leave comments about other dirt songs. Great for use at real estate seminars, although they mostly like House or home songs. And if it is Realtors, them probably commission songs... LOL

What's The Connection? Dirt

01 Neil Young & Promise Of The Real - Diggin' In The Dirt

02 Lou Reed - Dirt

03 Jon Pardi - Dirt On My Boots

04 Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag

05 Don Henley - If Dirt Were Dollars

06 Black Flag - Down In The Dirt

07 Iggy Pop - Dirt

08 Revolting Cocks - Dirt

09 Florida Georgia Line - Dirt

10 Maroon 5 - Doin' Dirt

11 Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem

12 kd Lang & The Reclines - Pay Dirt

13 Devo - Love Is Stonger Than Dirt

14 Red Hot Chili Peppers - I Like Dirt

15 Elvis Costello - Tramp the Dirt Down

16 John Lennon - Old Dirt Road

17 Depeche Mode - Dirt (Single Version)

18 Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt

What's The Connection? Guns 3

I saved a few really good ones for this volume three of my guns connection. I told you that I had been looking at this when I was working with the Isley Brothers pick. So of course I had to post them. But only the Gun part of the song. For the whole thing go back a few days and see the other part. Shriekback is another of my favorite Gunning songs. Parliament had to be in here, surprising that it wasn't in volume one or two already. I love the Beatles cover by World Party, too. Lots of fun stuff to celebrate the 2nd amendment with. For more go back a few days.

What's The Connection? Guns 3

41 Depeche Mode - Barrel Of A Gun

42 Jerry Harrison - Man With A Gun

43 Dub Syndicate - Gun Too Hot

44 Lynyrd Skynyrd - God And Guns

45 Jethro Tull - I'm Your Gun

46 Parliament - Bop Gun (Endangered Species)

47 Gil Scott Heron - Gun

48 Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Shotgun Blues

49 Kiss - Under The Gun

50 The Jesus And Mary Chain - Blues From A Gun

51 Shriekback - Gunning For The Buddah

52 The Golden Palominos - Gun

53 Jason & the Scorchers - Bible And Gun

54 Isley Brothers - Go For Your Guns

55 World Party - Happiness Is A Warm Gun

56 Nancy Sinatra - Machine Gun Kelly

57 Sisters Of Mercy - Under the Gun

What's The Connection? Hot 3

We're still in the middle of a heatwave. Nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things. Sure we're setting records in some places based on the last hundred years of data we're comparing it to, but over the life of our planet, we're actually still in a cold spot as far as climate goes. But let's not argue climate vs weather. We've already had a couple of other hot connections, but this connection is perhaps even hotter. Although Hot volume two was pretty hot.. We got Dub Step, Bollywood, Disco, Rock, Reggae, New Wave and Funk in this one, so as for variety this one is definitely hot. Let me know how you think it compares.

What's The Connection? Hot 3

38 Bassnectar - Hot Right Now (Bassnectar remix)

39 Cheap Trick - Hot Love

40 Funkadelic - Red Hot Mama

41 Bally Sagoo - Hot Kuri (Dirty Edit)

42 Kiss - Hotter Than Hell

43 Billy Idol - Hot in the City

44 Kid Rock - So Hott

45 Anubian Lights - Hot Sand

46 THP Orchestra - Two Hot For Love

47 Blue Oyster Cult - Hot Rails To Hell

48 UFO - Hot `N' Ready

49 Loverboy - Too Hot

50 AC-DC - Get It Hot

51 T. Rex - Hot Love

52 Benjamin Orr - Too Hot To Stop

53 Simple Minds - White Hot Day

54 Pato Banton - Bubbling Hot

Isley Brothers Pick 2

To me it is hard to understand how anyone could not love the Isley Brothers. This volume two of my Isley's Pick is such great material. I am always surprised when people do not know that Jimi Hendrix played with the Isley's. He actually lived with them for a short time. Either way I can hear his influence on a lot of their music. We used to have guitar discussions (arguments) in our house. Friends who did not know anything but one genre of music would argue how great the guitars were in this band or another, but only know the one genre and get competely surprised that a soul funk band had as good as or better guitar parts as the genre they knew. We'd do comparisons from the albums. And then we'd go see the bands live. The Isley's had great guitar (along with great love ballads). Same with bands like Funkadelic and even Earth, Wind & Fire.

Isley Brothers Pick 2

16 Isley Brothers - Groove With You

17 Isley Brothers - Work To Do

18 Isley Brothers - Brown Eyed Girl

19 Isley Brothers with Jimi Hendrix - Move Over And Let Me Dance.mp3

20 Isley Brothers - Keep On Doin'

21 Isley Brothers - Freedom

22 Isley Brothers - What It Comes Down To

23 Isley Brothers - Nobody But Me

24 Isley Brothers - Twist And Shout

25 Isley Brothers - Inside You (Part 1 & II)

26 Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

27 Isley Brothers - Make Me Say It Again Girl (Parts 1 & 2)

28 Isley Brothers - Tell Me It's Just A Rumor Baby

29 Isley Brothers - Brother, Brother

30 Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze

Isley Brothers Pick 1

I guess that this pick is more of a greatest hits than anything else. There are Isley Brothers best of's available, but I didn't like them. There always was something missing (to me). So I made this two volume set of my pick of the best Isley Brothers. It may not include all of everyone else's best picks, but it does include mine. I made this some time ago, but was reminded of it becuase of the Guns connection yesterday. One of my favorite Isley Brothers is the combo of Livin' In The Life/Go For Your Guns. To me they must be connected always. They have so many songs with Part 1 and Part 2 and those two songs should be a two parter. They go together on the album and in my mind. Not the highest charting Isley Brothers song, but one of my very favorites. Great to dance to.

Isley Brothers Pick 1

01 Isley Brothers - Livin' In The Life

02 Isley Brothers - Go For Your Guns

03 Isley Brothers - Live It Up (Part 1 & 2)

04 Isley Brothers - Take Me To The Next Phase

05 Isley Brothers - Fight The Power (Part 1 & 2)

06 Isley Brothers - The Pride

07 Isley Brothers - That Lady (Part 1 & 2)

08 Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing

09 Isley Brothers - Move Over And Let Me Dance

10 Isley Brothers - Shout (Part 1 & 2)

11 Isley Brothers - Testify (Part 1 & 2)

12 Isley Brothers - The Blacker The Berrie

13 Isley Brothers - Harvest For The World

14 Isley Brothers - For The Love Of You (Part 1 & 2)

15 Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets

What's The Connection? Guns 2

Got my new NRA magazine in the mail and decided it was time to do the next volume of my Guns connections. I have several ready to go. Unlike real guns, they aren't in a safe, just my hard drive. My family weren't huge gun advocates growing up. We were not alllowed to have toy guns in the house. But I had all brothers and lots of boys in the neighborhood. We played army in the front yard, then Combat and if a kid didn't have a gun, they made one. Eventually every kid had a gun. Mostly toys. Later, I would go shooting in the hills with real guns, mostly shot guns, but some high powered rifles and every now and again, a pistol. I grew up in California. Nowadays, I think you would get sent to prison, unfairly, if you were shooting guns in the canyons and probably just for having one in the car. When I was becoming an adult I actually read the constitution and realized that I should own guns. In fact since the world was going crazy, it was my duty to own them. I do. Try to get them from me. Good luck.

What's The Connection? Guns 2

19 Eek-A-Mouse - Gun Shot A Cry

20 Queens Of The Stone Age - Six Shooter

21 Tennessee Ernie Ford - The Shot Gun Boogie

22 John Cale - Gun

23 Young Fresh Fellows - The Family Gun

24 Johnny Cash - Don't Take Your Guns To Town

25 Steely Dan - With A Gun

26 Dorothy Shay - You Can't Get A Man With A Gun

27 Heatwave - The Big Guns

28 ZZ Top - Gun Love

29 Jr Walker & The All Stars - Shotgun

30 CJ & Co - Devil's Gun

31 Lightnin' Hopkins - Shotgun Blues

32 Robert Cray Band - Smoking Gun

33 Lou Reed - The Gun

34 Nashville Pussy - Wrong Side of a Gun

35 The Breeders - Happiness Is A Warm Gun

36 Beat Farmers - Gun Sale At The Church

37 Devo - I Luv Ur Gun

38 Mission Of Burma - That's When I Reach For My Revolver

39 The Clash - Tommy Gun

40 The Cornell Hurd Band - This Gun Don't Care Who Shoots It

What's The Connection? Knights

I had a really long song I wanted to use for this connection by Glass Hammer (Knight Of The North), but I decided against adding it since I had a few others I wanted to use. I wished I could use the Moody Blues, but their song is Nights and not Knights. I thought about putting in a song about a Shrubbery, but decided against it. Not too many good ones anyway. And really who else would get the joke? I had to put in Awolnation. A friend turned me on to the band and I liked their stuff. But the Cameo track is what got me started. Not their best song by any means, but I still like it (and most of their other stuff as well), so it had to start this off. Several Prog tracks have Knight in the title. I guess that is a subject that most pop stars do not use all too much.

What's The Connection? Knights

01 Awolnation - Knights Of Shame

02 Steve Howe - Knights Of Carmelite

03 Giorgio Moroder - Knights In White Satin

04 Genesis - Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

05 Jerry & The Catalinas - The Arabian Knight

06 Peter Banks - Knights-The Falcon-The Bear

07 Robyn Hitchcock - Ye Sleeping Knights Of Jesus

08 Plasticland - Gloria Night (Knight)

09 F.O.O.L - Knight

10 Rod McKuen - Saturday Night In Knightsbridge

11 Cameo - Knights By Nights

12 Muse - Knights Of Cydonia

13 Rick Wakeman - Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight

14 Monty Python - Knights Of The Round Table

What's The Connection? Kicks

This connection is all about kicks. Originally I thought that meant things you really like to do. First time I even entertained the thought, it was because of Paul Revere and the Raiders. But I realized that it might not just mean that anymore when I read the lyrics and heard the song by Foster The People. So, I am including all meanings and just put songs with Kick in the title. Except for Portugal the Man whose song mentions Kick enough to justify putting it in here. I normally don't put the same exact song in order next to each other, so I moved the Ventures with Nancy Sinatra to the end.. I hope you don't mind. The rest are in bpm order. And the best kicks ever have to be those in Shaolin Soccer.

What's The Connection? Kicks

01 Scorpions - Kicks After Six

02 Kings Of Leon - Four Kicks

03 Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart

04 Lou Reed - Kicks

05 The Ramones - Kicks To Try

06 The Boomtown Rats - Kicks

07 Savoy Brown - Just For Kicks

08 Cars - Lust for Kicks

09 Crazy Penis - Kicks

10 Nat King Cole And His Trio - Get Your Kicks On Route 66

11 Zipps - Kicks And Chicks

12 Nazz - Kicks

13 Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks

14 Paul Revere And The Raiders - Kicks

15 The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

16 Quiet Riot - Get Your Kicks

17 Wishbone Ash - Kicks On The Street

18 Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still

19 The Ventures with Nancy Sinatra - Kicks

George Young Pick

Kind of fun to pick this compilation of George Young. Some know of him as half of Vanda & Young (songwriters and producers). Some know him from The Easybeats and Friday On My Mind. Others know of him as the older brother of Angus and Malcom (AC-DC). Fewer know of him in Flash And The Pan (my favorite is Hey St. Peter, but that isn't even their biggest hit.) Waiting For A Train was their biggest hit, but I bet you know Walking In The Rain because Grace Jones took that one up the charts. Either way George is in the Hall of Fame as part of Vanda & Young and probably for The Easybeats. He wrote or co-wrote some great songs and was partially responsible for AC-DC. Listening to some of these classic songs and you will hear his greatness. From the first 11 minute single to hit the charts (in Australia) to everything the Easybeats did. It's good to know he was busy until he died at 70.

George Young Pick

01 The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind

02 AC-DC - There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'

03 Grace Jones - Walking In The Rain

04 Flash And The Pan - Hey St. Peter

05 INXS - Good Times

06 The Easybeats - Sorry

07 Angel City - Out Of The Blue

08 The Easybeats - Good Times

09 Ted Mulry - Falling In Love Again

10 The Easybeats - Heaven And Hell

11 Flash And The Pan - Midnight Man

12 Rose Tattoo - Bad Boy For Love

13 Stevie Wright - Evie (Parts 1, 2 & 3)

14 Marcus Hook Roll Band - Quick Reaction

15 Flash And The Pan - Media Man

16 John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air

17 Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train

18 Flash And The Pan - Down Among The Dead Men

19 Flash And The Pan - Walking In The Rain

Fake Bands 1

All through out TV and movie land we've had fake bands appear. Some real bands have appeared as other band names. Some have included real musicians and some just as real studio musicians. I've liked many of them. Some were in movies and even cartoons "about" these bands. Look at the Archies, the Monkees, The Partridge Family, Josie and the Pussycats as examples of that. Others were started as one-off bands that played or were referred to as a side plot or background. I'm always interested when they have real songs that are pretty darn good and especially interested when they end up with real sales outside of the TV or movie medium. Spinal Tap a fake comedy documentary ended up touring as a real band! That's crazy! Anyway I made this pick of some of my favorite fake bands. When I finish part two, I promise that The Blues Brothers are on it, I will post it up as well. In the comments guess the source of each artist.

Fake Bands 1

01 Steel Dragon - Livin' The Life

02 Eddie & The Cruisers - On the Dark Side

03 Sex Bob-omb - We Are Sex Bob-omb

04 The Soggy Bottom Boys - I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow

05 Dethklock - Awaken

06 Josie and the Pussycats - 3 Small Words

07 Dewey Cox - Walk Hard

08 Mitch & Mickey - A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow

09 N.W.H (Niggaz With Hats) - Fuck the Security Guards

10 Stillwater - Love Comes and Goes

11 DuJour - Backdoor lover

12 The Folksmen - Old Joe's Place

13 Spinal Tap - Big Bottom

14 The Commitments - Mustang Sally

15 The Rutles - With A Girl Like You

16 The Archies - Sugar, Sugar

17 Power Tool - Two Heads Are Better Than One

18 Pop! - Pop! Goes My Heart

19 Jackie Q - Ring 'Round

20 The Wonders - That Thing You Do!

21 Munchausen By Proxy - Yes Man

22 The Partridge Family - Come On Get Happy

23 Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld - Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld

24 Drive Shaft - You All Everybody

25 Infant Sorrow - Inside Of You

26 Hedwig & the Angry Inch - Angry Inch

27 The Monkees - I'm A Believer

Flic Your Bic 8

This has been an ongoing series of mine. Anthemic rock. This pick is number 8 in the series. Basically rock songs that I'd pull a phone out to show my zippo app. Almost at a hundred songs with this one. I'm sure that each of us has a band and some songs that feel like anthems to them. These are mine continued. See Flic Your Bic for more of mine. A couple of new bands in the list and several repeat bands. Allman Brothers make my list as does John Cale for the first time. And with great songs I might add. This list is indicative of the bands I really like, have a lot of albums of and would see live. Obviously, some no longer are available to see live, so I will have to imagine.

Flic Your Bic 8

86 Doors - L.A. Woman

87 Jimi Hendrix - Fire

88 John Cale - Gun

89 Lou Reed - Heroin

90 Scorpions - I'm Goin' Mad

91 Allman Brothers Band - Whipping Post

92 Led Zeppelin - In The Evening

93 Yes - Starship Trooper a. Life Seeker b. Disillusion c. Wurm

94 Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

95 Neil Young - Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)

96 Ted Nugent - Stranglehold

Jackson Family Pick

Well, I'm in this section, so might as well get this one posted. The Family Jackson Pick is all the biggest hits of the Jackson family. So I include the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons, but also a Michael, Janet, Jermaine, La Toya, Rebbie, Randy, Tito, Marlon and Jackie. With so many, I am bound to have forgotten someone, but I hope not. I gave most of the solo spots two tracks, one each for Jacksons and Jackson 5 (since it sort of is the same group) and also for Jackie and Marlon. The last two didn't have really any big hits. Eventually, I will do a Janet Pick (maybe a Jermaine), but the rest I don't think I could make one with enough that I like. This will have to do.

Jackson Family Pick

01 Tito Jackson with Kenny Neal, Marlon Jackson & Bobby Rush - Love One Another

02 Randy Jackson - How Can I Be Sure

03 Janet Jackson - That's The Way Love Goes

04 Jackson 5 - I Want You Back

05 Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious 

06 Rebbie Jackson - Fly Away

07 Jermaine Jackson - Do What You Do

08 Jackie Jackson - Stay

09 Jacksons - Blame It On The Boogie

10 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

11 Rebbie Jackson - Centipede

12 Janet Jackson - Together Again

13 La Toya Jackson - Sexual Feeling

14 Paula Abdul & Randy Jackson - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Oakenfold Radio Edit)

15 La Toya Jackson - Just Wanna Dance

16 Michael Jackson - Beat It

17 Tito Jackson featuring Big Daddy Kane - Get It Baby

18 Marlon Jackson - Don't Go

Heatwave Extra Warm Pick

If you have looked at any other part of this blog site, you know that I have a special place in my heart for disco. And Heatwave. I've posted a family pick of Rod Temperton, who wrote many of the Heatwave hits as well as all of the hits on his pick. I have also picked a comp of Heatwave Ballads which is pretty darn good. This pick is not the hits, well, some are. These are the B-Sides of singles, the extra tracks of Heatwave. A few are 12" versions or remixes of hits, but much of these are fairly rare tracks that didn't make it onto an album in any version. One of my favorites is Birthday. I like ot play it when there is a birthday of course, but it's just got some great vocal work on it that allows you to listen all year through. And no it is not the typical Happy Birthday song. But it's good, even though it is actually one of the few non-Rod Temperton tracks. One day I will post my Best Of Pick for this band, but for now, it'll have to b-sides.

Heatwave Extra Warm Pick

01 Heatwave - I Surrender

02 Heatwave - Feel Like Making Love

03 Heatwave - Mind Blowing Decisions [Chatterbox Mix]

04 Heatwave - Sweet Delight

05 Heatwave - Posin' 'Til Closin' (UK 12 Remix)

06 Heatwave - Keep Tomorrow For Me

07 Heatwave - Cover Discover

08 Heatwave - Gangsters of the Groove [Gangsta Mix]

09 Heatwave - Find Someone Like You

10 Heatwave - Birthday

11 Heatwave - Wack That Axe

12 Heatwave - Time Out

13 Heatwave - Slip Your Disc To This

14 Heatwave - Special Offer

15 Heatwave - Always and Forever [Always and for Courtney Mix]

16 Heatwave - Mind Blowing Decisions (12 Version)

Earth Wind & Fire On The Side Pick

One of my top ten favorite bands is Earth Wind & Fire. So many reasons (see what I did there?) to love that band. I already did a pick of Don Myrick as an EWF family pick and it was good. This is more of the EWF band members guesting on other artists' tracks. And there are plenty. There is only one double between the Don Myrick Pick and this one and that's the Ramsey Lewis track. It is such a great track and the first that I knew of with EWF as main supporting actors. But the rest are all different. I included a couple of Maurice White solo tracks and a couple of Philip Bailey tracks since they included a few other members of Earth Wind & Fire as well as those guys themselves. See if you can hear them on each track. How noticeable are they on each? BTW, I especially like the cover I made, with the symbols for Earth Wind & Fire, the actual representations of each all behind the band shot. I think it can easily fit next to some of their other album covers and look legitimate. It might need a bit of kerning on their name, but otherwise....

Earth Wind & Fire On The Side Pick

01 El Debarge - Special

02 Stevie Wonder - Part-Time Lover

03 Stanley Clarke & George Duke - Mothership Connection (Star Child)

04 Ramsey Lewis - Sun Goddess

05 Brian Culbertson - Let's Stay In Tonight

06 Lee Ritenour - If I'm Dreaming (Don't Wake Me)

07 Stanley Turrentine - Tamarac

08 Barbra Streisand - Time Machine

09 Maurice White - Stand By Me

10 Neil Diamond - Stand Up For Love

11 The Tubes - Tip Of My Tongue

12 Philip Bailey with Phil Collins - Easy Lover

13 Weather Report - And Then

14 Jennifer Holliday - I Am Love

15 Philip Bailey & Little Richard - Twins

16 Deodato - Tahiti Hut

17 Fourplay with Chaka Khan, Nathan East, & Philip Bailey - Between The Sheets

18 Maurice White - I Need You