Top Pick 1989

Last Thursday and Friday of the month and even though it's Christmas, it's also time for my pick of the top songs of the year and this year was 1989. The end of the 80's! BTW, Merry Christmas! As always these were the songs I was listening to (a lot) then. Some may have been on good albums, but my album pick is tomorrow. My taste was changing through the decade as I was exposed to different music (and meeting bands and seeing 1000's of shows). A couple of local bands on this list and many that weren't. At least one track from a movie soundtrack and one song that I had only on cassette (later it came out on CD.)

Top Pick 1989

01 Lard - The Power Of Lard

02 Cliff Martinez - Looks Like A Tablecloth

03 Nine Inch Nails - Down In It

04 The Jesus And Mary Chain - My Girl

05 Consolidated - Consolidated

06 The Jazz Butcher - Do The Bubonic Plague

07 Flesh For Lulu - Decline And Fall

08 Revolting Cocks - Let's Get Physical (Unreleased Version)

09 World Entertainment War - Marlboro Man Jr

10 Keith Leblanc - Taxcider

11 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Good Time Boys

12 Barry Adamson - Autodestruction

13 Ice-T - Freedom Of Speech

14 Die Warzau - I've Got To Make Sense

15 Front 242 - Welcome To Paradise V 1.0

16 Pankow - Kunst Und Wahnsinn

17 We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It - International Rescue

18 The Genetic Terrorists - TGT

19 Ledernacken - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

20 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (Acoustic)

Xmas Board

Merry Christmas — here’s your Xmas surf soundtrack pick. I know it's Christmas Eve day, but now you'll be ready. Growing up in sunny California, not being in snow (except for that one city block where they dumped the man-made stuff) until I was 18, surf music at Christmas was never an exception — it was just normal. This is guitar-led holiday surf music. My only regret was not finding Mele Kalikimaka in a proper surf version, but at the last minute I found a hidden track with a good bonus version. Ride your board, put on some Sex Wax, and enjoy the holiday.

Xmas Board

01 Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick

02 The Ventures - Sleigh Ride

03 Davie Allan & The Arrows - Here Comes Santa Claus

04 Slacktone - Bells Of St. Kahuna

05 The Trashmen - Dancin' With Santa

06 The Surfrajettes - Jingle Bells

07 Man Or Astro-Man - Frosty The Snowman

08 Blue Hawaiians - We Four Kings (Little Drummer Boy)

09 King Of Hawaii - Mele Kalikimaka

10 Tarraco Surfers - Feliz Navidad

11 The Surfaris - A Surfer's Christmas List

12 Los Straitjackets - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

13 Gary Ferguson - White Christmas

14 The Spotnicks - Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

15 The Mermen - Variations On Carol Of The Bells

16 The Tourmaliners - We Three Kings of Orient Are

17 The Surfrajettes - Snowball

18 The Aqua Velvets - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

19 Cheepskates - Last Minute Rush (Christmas Surf Instrumental)

20 The Ventures - Blue Christmas

21 The Wave Benders - Joy To The World (Surfin' Rock Version)

22 The Mustangs - Ice Flowers

23 Vel Mares - Jingle Bells

24 The Mermen - O Come, O Come Emmanuel

25 TheNewDope - Deck The Halls (Surfin' Christmas Version)

26 Gary Ferguson - Let It Snow

27 The Avalanches - Winter Wonderland

28 The Surf Guitar Sonitastics - O Christmas Tree

29 Meshugga Beach Party - Oh Hanukkah

John Leckie Productions

John Leckie worked with some amazing artists and became known for working with new artists and making some great albums. Like a lot of great producers he worked as  a mixer and engineer before being a producer. This pick is based around just some of his production work from part of his career. A few of my favorites. I divided it up into two periods. The punky arty section to the more guitar alt indy section. A couple of people figure in here twice Brix E Smith with the Fall and Adult Net and Andy Partrdige (and the rest) with XTC and Dukes Of Stratosphere.

John Leckie Productions

01 Ultravox! - Hiroshima Mon Amour

02 Magazine - Shot By Both Sides

03 The Fall - Totally Wired

04 Public Image Ltd - Poptones

05 Siouxsie & The Banshees - Spellbound

06 XTC - Senses Working Overtime

07 The Dukes Of Stratosphear - Vanishing Girl

08 Be Bop Deluxe - Ships In The Night

09 Bill Nelson - Do You Dream in Colour

10 Adult Net - Edie

11 The Lilac Time - All For Love And Love For All

12 The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums

13 Ride - Vapour Trail

14 The Verve - Slide Away

15 Radiohead - Just

16 Muse - Sunburn

17 The Posies - Golden Blunders

18 New Order - Krafty

19 Simple Minds - I Travel

Slow Poof 6

Slow Poof 6 goes a little deeper than yesterday's Poof. This pick leans more pop-ambient, with things stretching out and hanging longer, even when there’s a beat. Robin Guthrie shows up, and again, and Cocteau Twins energy is everywhere, and the space between notes matters as much as the notes themselves. Funny enough, the shortest song on these Slow Poof picks so far helped point the way — a reminder that drift isn’t about length, it’s about feel. Same Slow Poof, just a little farther out. Probably going to be the last one (at least for awhile).

Slow Poof 6

65 Biosphere - Poa Alpina

66 Cluster - Hollywood

67 Cocteau Twins + Harold Budd - Memory Gongs

68 Michael Brook - Ultramarine

69 Ulrich Schnauss - On My Own (Robin Guthrie Version)

70 Colourbox Featuring Lorita Grahame - Baby I Love You So (12' Version)

71 Curiosity Killed The Cat - Misfit (12 inch)

72 Massive Attack - One Love

73 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

74 Harold Budd & Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois - The Pearl

75 Tangerine Dream - Love On A Real Train (Rerecorded)

76 The Blue Nile - From a Late Night Train

77 Klaus Schulze - Floating

Slow Poof 5

This Slow Poof pick surprised me a little. I wasn’t expecting Kraftwerk to fit here at all, but The Model works in a calm, pop-ambient way, like it slows down without actually being slowed. That led straight to Yello, especially the Orb remix of You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess, where the track stops being a song and just drifts. From there the rest of the pick fell into place. Another Slow Poof — pop ambient, slow motion, and not in a hurry.

Slow Poof 5

54 Kraftwerk - The Model

55 Yello - You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess (Orb Extended Remix)

56 Vangelis - Blade Runner Blues (Extended Version)

57 New Order - Elegia (Full Version)

58 Japan - Nightporter

59 David Sylvian - Orpheus

60 Bryan Ferry - Windswept

61 Sade - Paradise

62 Grace Jones - Walking In The Rain

63 Belouis Some - Imagination (12 inch)

64 Virginia Astley - Morning, A Summer Long Since Passed

Bayou Boogie 4

We skipped a couple of days, but still have another Bayou Boogie pick for you. More zydeco, but also more New Orleans, some oldies that just fit, and I know I said no jazz in this series, but Louis just fits. I love the Pharrel cover. I finally got to use Katie Henry. And what do you think of Dumpstaphunk? All these fit together and with the previous volumes, but definitely a little different this time. But not the cover - same one just a different number.

Bayou Boogie 4

55 Huey "Piano" Smith - Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu

56 Ernie K-Doe - Mother-In-Law

57 Irma Thomas - Breakaway

58 Clarence "Frogman" Henry - Ain't Got No Home

59 The Radiators - Like Dreamin'

60 Katie Henry - Bayou Boogie

61 Tab Benoit - Night Train

62 Zachary Richard - Crawfish

63 Anders Osborne - Lafayette

64 Marc Broussard - Home

65 Galactic featuring Irma Thomas - Heart of Steel

66 Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen - Mo Hipper

67 Dumpstaphunk - Dumpstamental

68 Rockin' Dopsie, Jr & The Zydeco Twisters - I Can't Lose With The Stuff I Use

69 C.J. Chenier - Check Out The Zydeco

70 Sean Ardoin & Creole United - Zydeco Happy

71 Terrance Simien - Dance Everyday

72 Cowboy Mouth - Jenny Says

73 Better Than Ezra - King of New Orleans

74 Louis Armstrong - When The Saints Go Marching In

The Ventures Our Own Assets

I really think this could pick have been one of the 250 or so albums that the Ventures actually put out. It's got the look. It's got the songs. It's got the right 60's surf vibe. Even the title is just right. These are all songs played by the Ventures, but also written by the Ventures. I love that the band name sounds businesslike and the title sounds businesslike, but tongue is firmly in cheek. So several of their hits are not here, because they were covers, but all these originals sound amazing. They really are assets. Take a trip through a portion of their history, from their classic logo to the hot model on the cover and their groundbreaking music.

The Ventures Our Own Assets

01 The Ventures - Driving Guitars

02 The Ventures - The Switch

03 The Ventures - The Twomp

04 The Ventures - Scratch

05 The Ventures - No Trespassing

06 The Ventures - The McCoy

07 The Ventures - Party In Laguna

08 The Ventures - Cruncher

09 The Ventures - Journey To The Stars

10 The Ventures - Spudnik

11 The Ventures - He Never Came Back

12 The Ventures - Exploration in Terror

13 The Ventures - Solar Race

14 The Ventures - The Intruder

15 The Ventures - Changing Tides

16 The Ventures - The 2000 Pound Bee Pts 1&2

17 The Ventures - Fuzzy And Wild

18 The Ventures - Wild Trip

19 The Ventures - The Heavies

20 The Ventures - Psychedelic Venture

21 The Ventures - Pedal Pusher

22 The Ventures - The Creeper

23 The Ventures - Go Go Slow

24 The Ventures - Ginza Lights

25 The Ventures - Love Goddess of Venus

26 The Ventures - Bombay Duck

27 The Ventures - Hokkaido skies

28 The Ventures - Reflections In A Palace Lake

29 The Ventures - Tokyo Nights

30 The Ventures - The Ninth Wave

31 The Ventures - Kyoto doll

V-Like (Ventures-like)

I was listening to some surf music and got a recommendation to watch a documentary on The Ventures. I like most surf music anyway and the Ventures were always cool, so I did. They were the first Surf record I ever had, then came the Surfaris. The documentary was good, so I started listening to them and wondered. How many bands have been influenced by them? A Lot. And then started thinking of songs that sounded like the Ventures, but were not covers of songs they did. That's what this pick is. It's all songs that sound like The Ventures, but aren't. I limited it to one song per artist and limited it to the Ventures sound of mostly the Bob Bogle, Don Wilson, Nokie Edwards period, but I was loose on that. They changed over the years, but that core sound is still there today.

V-Like (Ventures-like)

01 Aqua Velvets - Surf Nouveau

02 Blue Stingrays - Monsoon

03 The Belairs - Mr. Moto

04 The Gamblers - Moon Dawg!

05 Eddie And The Showmen - Squad Car

06 Jim Messina & His Jesters - The Jester

07 The Challengers - K39

08 The Lively Ones - High Tide

09 The Surfites - Thou Shalt Drag

10 Panasonics - Mr. Pan Ventures Out

11 Surf Kings - Morpheus

12 Jon & The Nightriders - Thunder Over Rincon

13 Volcanos - Bikini Sunset

14 The Tornadoes - Charge Of The Tornadoes

15 The Original Surfaris - Bombora

16 The Sentinals - Latin'ia

17 The Atlantics - The Crusher

18 The Eliminators - Dawn Patrol

19 Los Straitjackets - Surf Rider

20 Laika & The Cosmonauts - Global Village

21 The Tomorrowmen - Requiem For A Tomorrowman

22 The Barbwires - Coffin Ride

23 The Bambi Molesters - Chaotica

24 The Space Cossacks - Planet of the Apes

25 The Surf Coasters - Misirlou '94

26 The Treble Spankers - Red Hot Navigator

27 The Madeira - Ricochet

Bayou Boogie 3

Go back less than a week and see part 2 of the Bayou Boogie series and the zydeco picks I have up here. I am liking this one. It builds quite nicely and then cools down and then heats up and leaves you sweaty and ready to drink a hurricane or a frozen daquiri on the street, ready to show some body parts to earn some beads. Lots of accordion and brass and even some cajun guitar. It is inspiring me to maybe make one more of these. What do you think?

Bayou Boogie 3

34 The Neville Brothers - Fire On The Bayou

35 Dr. John - Qualified

36 Jerry Reed - Amos Moses

37 Meters - Hey Pocky A-Way

38 Rebirth Brass Band - I Feel Like Funkin' It Up (Extended Mix)

39 The Soul Rebels - 504

40 Dirty Dozen Brass Band - My Feet Can't Fail Me Now

41 Rockin' Dopsie, Jr & The Zydeco Twisters - Ooh Poo Pa Doo

42 Clifton Chenier - Bon Ton Roulet

43 Lee Dorsey - Working In The Coalmine

44 Dale Hawkins - Susie-Q

45 Robert Parker - Barefootin'

46 Professor Longhair - Big Chief (Pt. 1)

47 Buckwheat Zydeco - Make A Change

48 Chubby Carrier - Who Stole The Hot Sauce

49 Doug Kershaw - Diggy Liggy Lo

50 Big Sam's Funky Nation - New Funk

51 Lost Bayou Ramblers - Cote Gelee Two Step

52 Pine Leaf Boys - Zydeco Gris-Gris

53 Allen Toussaint - Southern Nights

54 Kermit Ruffins - Drop Me Off in New Orleans

Bad Bayou Gris-Gris

This is a pick that is kind of not part of a series but all kind of related songs that all start with Bad Bayou. Check out the other two. You'll see there is a resemblance, but not really the same series. It's all because of True Blood. I blame Sookie. This time No Chris Isaac, No Jace Everett, but still swampy, still voodoo-ish. It's gothic Southern Louisiana New Orleans Gris-Gris. I almost called it Gree-Gree, because I always want to pronounce it Grease-Grease or Grist-Grist and it would remind me the right way to say it. But instead I decided to ignore it and not mention how dumb I am in real life. Before you say anything about The Jesus And Mary Chain being on here instead of the original version. I made conscious decision to add them. It made the most amount of sense to me. It's got more of a vampire feel to me. The original is a great song but too happy sounding amongst the fire, brimstone, blood and death, even with the snakes and all that.

Bad Bayou Gris-Gris

01 Dr. John - Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya

02 Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning

03 RL Burnside - Snake Drive

04 Link Wray - Fire and Brimstone

05 The Jesus And Mary Chain - Who Do You Love

06 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Little Demon

07 Th' Legendary Shack Shakers - Swampblood

08 The Black Keys - Sinister Kid

09 Deadboy & The Elephantmen - Stop, I'm Already Dead

10 Leon Russell - Out In The Woods

11 Tony Joe White - Steamy Windows

12 J.J. Cale - Mama Don't

13 Anders Osborne - Louisiana Rain

14 The Dead South - In Hell I'll Be In Good Company

15 The Band Of Heathens - Gris Gris Satchel

16 Redbone - Wovoka

17 Delaney & Bonnie - Lonesome And A Long Way From Home

18 Blues Saraceno - Evil Ways (Justice Mix)

19 Black Pumas - Black Moon Rising

20 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Tombstone Shadow

Semaglutide 3

A few months back I said I might have one more of these picks in me, and apparently the GLP-1 of rock still hasn’t worn off. I called it Semaglutide. But call it buttrock, post-grunge, dad-rock, or whatever label the internet slaps on guitar bands with big feelings and bigger choruses—this stuff just keeps pulling me back in. So here’s volume three: more guilty-pleasure anthems, more polished crunch, more songs you forgot you knew by heart. It’s still the Wegovy of rock—appetite-suppressing for some, oddly satisfying for others—and once again it all somehow works. Go figure.

Semaglutide 3

42 30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill (Bury Me)

43 Alter Bridge - Metalingus

44 Velvet Revolver - Slither

45 Linkin Park - Numb

46 Lit - My Own Worst Enemy

47 Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

48 Sum 41 - Fat Lip

49 Bullet For My Valentine - Tears Don't Fall

50 Evanescence - Bring Me To Life

51 Five Finger Death Punch - Bad Company

52 Skillet - Monster

53 Godsmack - I Stand Alone

54 Papa Roach - Last Resort

55 Rev Theory - Hell Yeah

56 Pop Evil - Footsteps

57 Smile Empty Soul - Bottom Of A Bottle

58 Saliva - I Walk Alone

59 Slipknot - Duality

60 VonRay - Inside Out

Bayou Boogie 2

Part two of this series my Bayou Boogie pick. I do think this would make a great bar night in Texas. It's not all Zydeco, but a good portion is. A little New Orleans funk and boogie, a little brass here and there, some signs of jazz and rock, but only if it is danceable and energetic. Tell me how I did in the comments below. Enough hits? Enough deeper cuts? Is it all danceable for you? Same pirates cover and the numbering continues from last week's volume one.

Bayou Boogie 2

18 Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas - Your Mama Don't Know

19 Boozoo Chavis - Paper In My Shoe

20 Clifton Chenier - Bogalusa Boogie

21 Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers - Just One Kiss

22 Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band - My Girl Josephine

23 Wayne Toups - Please Explain

24 Zydeco Force - Madeline

25 Galactic - Hey Na Na

26 The Iguanas - Boom Boom Boom

27 Givers - Up Up Up

28 Dr. John - Iko Iko

29 Wild Magnolias - Handa Wanda

30 Buckwheat Zydeco - Hot Tamale Baby

31 Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual Healing (Club Re-Edit)

32 Rebirth Brass Band - Do Whatcha Wanna

33 Trombone Shorty - Hurricane Season

What's The Connection? Phone Numbers

This connection is slightly different than many of my WTC's. It's mostly the titles, but they aren't the same word. They all are songs about phone numbers. Many of them were real numbers (at least at the time of their release. A couple are still real phone numbers. The last five tracks do not have a phone number in the title, but feature a phone number in the lyrics. A couple don't seem like they do, but they have one (or they are close enough). AC-DC is one of those. Doesn't seem like a phone number, but he does say to call. The Glenn Miller was and still is a real number. We got 911 and a suicide hotline actually in here. There were some songs I didn't use that had 800 numbers in them, but these are my favorites. I didn't use Call or Phone in the title, but plenty of those, too. Look for them on the site.

What's The Connection? Phone Numbers

01 Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 (Jenny)

02 City Boy - 5-7-0-5

03 The Time - 777-9311

04 Squeeze - 853-5937

05 Glenn Miller - Pennsylvania 6-5000

06 The Marvelettes - Beechwood 4-5789

07 Wilson Pickett - 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)

08 Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer - 236-6132

09 Hawkshaw Hawkins - Lonesome 7-7203 

10 Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid - 1-800-273-8255

11 Duran Duran - 911 Is A Joke

12 The Partridge Family - Echo Valley 2-6809

13 The B-52's - 6060-842

14 Public Enemy - 911 Is A Joke

15 AC-DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Original Australian Release)

16 Soulja Boy Tell 'em featuring Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone

17 Alicia Keys - Diary

18 Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back

19 Sublime - Don't Push

What's The Connection? Creep

I probably should have waited until Halloween for this connection, but I was having fun with it and couldn't wait. I randomly searched for a AI generated picture of a guy who was a creep with weird hands and this popped up, so I put in a creepy background and there you have it. No idea who this model was in an AI generator, but it is perfect for this cover. All are songs with Creep in the title although I had to add the David Bowie song since that was the first one I thought of. Had a few more Radiohead covers, but this was enough.

What's The Connection? Creep

01 Radiohead - Creep

02 10cc - Clockwork Creep

03 Deadbolt - Creep Me

04 Eazy E - Creep 'N' Crawl

05 The Slickee Boys - Creep Skin

06 Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox featuring Haley Reinhart - Creep

07 Parliament - Medicated Creep

08 Deadmau5 - Creep

09 TLC - Creep

10 Midas Fall - Creep

11 Stone Temple Pilots - Creep

12 Pretenders - Creep (Live)

13 Revolting Cocks - Creep

14 Swamp Zombies - Creep

15 Huevos Rancheros - Super Creep

16 James Duhon - Graveyard Creep

17 The Shadows - The Creep

18 The Vampires - The Creep

19 The Papaya Kings - Zombie Creep

20 Toy Dolls - Richard Clayderman's A Creep

21 David Bowie - Scary Monsters (& Super Creeps)

Soul Sizzle Silver

This sixth pick of Soul Sizzle Silver glides through your tongue and decades of joy and rhythm, stitching together grooves that sparkle with both nostalgia and discovery. Each transition reveals an unexpected connection, letting familiar sounds shine in a new light while the dancefloor pulse never lets go. And as the set sways, shimmers, and snaps from song to song, Soul Sizzle Silver shows its signature style with sly, soulful, and seamless surprises. Not sure how much more alliteration I can add there? I was just going to call it gray, but this is so much better.

Soul Sizzle Silver

95 King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew

96 The Contours - Do You Love Me

97 The Marvelettes - Too Many Fish in the Sea

98 Carl Carlton - Everlasting Love

99 Earth, Wind & Fire - September

100 Syl Johnson - Take Me to the River

101 Luther Vandross - Never Too Much

102 Tony! Toni! Toné! - Feels Good

103 Zhané - Hey Mr. DJ

104 TLC - Creep

105 Blackstreet - Booti Call

106 Joe - All the Things Your Man Won't Do

107 Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

108 Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack

109 Soul II Soul - Back to Life

110 Robin S - Show Me Love

111 Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman

Soul Sizzle Onyx

Onyx is just a fancy way to say shiny black. This Soul Sizzle pick continues with the Disco, Electro Boogie, Funk, R&B and Soul tracks. I'm looking mostly for 60's, 70's, and 80's stuff, but whatever sneaks through that doesn't fit the mold is ok with me. Every time I listen to this track from James Brown all I can think of is Eddie Murphy. Two other tracks I will ask you about. Betty Wright, unless you look at the title, doesn't it sound like she saying something else? Is that just me? And Wilson Pickett's song makes me wonder how many songs have phone numbers in them? Off the top of my head allI can think of is Jenny, Jenny but there has to be more. Can you think of any?

Soul Sizzle Onyx

79 Wilson Pickett - 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)

80 Eddie Floyd - Raise Your Hand

81 Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get

82 Betty Wright - Shoorah! Shoorah!

83 Joe Tex - I Gotcha

84 Mandrill - Fencewalk

85 Kool & The Gang - Funky Stuff

86 The Bar-Kays - Shake Your Rump To The Funk

87 Material - Let Me Have It All

88 Nona Hendryx - Transformation

89 Brass Construction - Movin'

90 Midnight Star - No Parking (On The Dance Floor) (Extended Version)

91 S.O.S. Band - Borrowed Love

92 Bohannon - Let's Start The Dance (Remix)

93 James Brown - Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved)

94 Ohio Players - Jive Turkey

Soul Sizzle Green

I'm pretty sure we're on number five of the Soul Sizzle picks. This one is Green. Go back a day or two to see the previous one. Still mixing it up. These are going to be 60's, 70's, 80's Soul, R&B, Disco, Funk of sorts. A couple of cool longer mixes, some big hits and a couple of smaller regional hits and deep cuts. Similar cover and still more to come.

Soul Sizzle Green

65 Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music

66 Skyy - Call Me

67 Slave - Just A Touch Of Love

68 Sylvers - Hot Line

69 Con Funk Shun - Ffun

70 Brick - Dazz (Mixx It)

71 Teena Marie - Square Biz

72 Lakeside - Raid

73 Graham Central Station - The Jam

74 Johnny Guitar Watson - A Real Mother For Ya

75 Labelle - Messin' With My Mind

76 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - Bad Luck (A Tom Moulton Mix)

77 Commodores - Brick House (12 inch Mix)

78 Tom Browne - Funkin' For Jamaica

Bayou Boogie 1

I have done a couple of Zydeco picks before. I like the music. Energetic, danceable and fun. Like New Orleans it's loose and has a good feel. That's still the point with this part of this new series Bayou Boogie. It's all the fault of me trying to come up with new nights in local bars and clubs. Stuff no one in this area is really doing. And that started because I did that whole vs series (Shag vs Northern vs Texas vs Belgium vs Lowrider). I liked the series and started the Brisket Beats thing (which I will start posting sometime) and it led me to the Zydeco which I had been doing for awhile anyway. Just getting you in to my mind set of the last few weeks of posts. Been totally busy working and doing this in the few moments in between. Anyway lots of ideas and lots of stuff coming out even considering. So tell me how this pick fits with the rest of what I've been posting and would you go to a bar that was playing this? And what would you be drinking in between dancing with your favorite partner? Would you like it if they had some dance lessons at the start of the night? BTW, I like the cover. I was trying to make it feel like the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, fireflies and all. Notice the disco ball crawdaddy on the sign.

Bayou Boogie 1

01 The Creole Zydeco Farmers - Creole Farmers Stomp

02 Boozoo Chavis - Dog Hill

03 Major Handy - Zydeco Feeling

04 Nathan And The Zydeco Cha Chas - Let's Go

05 Lil Brian & the Zydeco Travelers - Get Up On That Zydeco

06 Curley Taylor - Zydeco Trouble

07 Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws - Zydeco Swing Out

08 Geno Delafose - Hey, Geno!

09 Chris Ardoin And Double Clutch - What's In That Bayou

10 Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band - Capitaine Gumbo

11 Buckwheat Zydeco - Hard To Stop

12 Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys - Bayou Noir-Back Of Town Two-Step

13 Beausoleil - Zydeco Gris-Gris

14 Chubby Carrier - Zydeco Junkie

15 Danny Barker - Save the Bones for Henry Jones

16 Mel McDaniel - Louisiana Saturday Night

Soul Sizzle Purple

The fourth of this series (still by color and it's just coincidence that it starts and ends with Prince). This pick blends the same mix of groove, funk, soul, and dance-floor fire that defined the first three volumes, but with a deeper and more varied palette that makes it irresistable (to me anyway.) I think it's a little darker, a little sleeker, a little more electric but its fits in well. I have at least one more coming. But most likely more, since I am enjoying these. I am loving the covers which for some reason remind me of Soul Train, which I loved, but darker.

Soul Sizzle Purple

51 The Time - Cool

52 Joe Tex - You Said A Bad Word

53 Sister Sledge - He's the Greatest Dancer

54 Shalamar - A Night To Remember

55 Chic - I Want Your Love

56 The Whispers - Rock Steady

57 Ray Parker Jr. - The Other Woman

58 Spinners - One Of A Kind (Love Affair)

59 Sun - Sun Is Here

60 James Brown - Cold Sweat

61 Isley Brothers - Fight The Power (Pts. 1 & 2)

62 Rick James - Give It To Me Baby

63 Zapp - More Bounce To The Ounce (Part 1 & 2)

64 Prince - Controversy

Soul Sizzle Gold

I actually have no idea how many of these tracks in this pick reached gold on sales, but I am sure they did well and I wouldn't be surprised if they all surpassed Gold status. But that's not why this is the color of the pepper. It's just volume three of the series and I am randomly picking the colored covers.  Like the previous Soul Sizzles over the last coupleof days, it's soul, R&B, funk, disco etc. Old and older but designed to be played at a party or in your car or just home alone for you to dance to. I like the mix. If you do too, then you are lucky, more will be coming.

Soul Sizzle Gold

33 Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances

34 The Bar-Kays - Soul Finger

35 Hugh Masekela - Grazing In The Grass

36 Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music

37 Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

38 Funkadelic - Can You Get to That

39 Bill Withers - Use Me

40 McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now

41 Evelyn Champagne King - Love Come Down

42 Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots

43 The Gap Band - Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)

44 Dazz Band - Let It Whip (Extended 7' Mix)

45 Midnight Star - Freak-A-Zoid

46 Cameo - Candy

47 The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg

48 Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage

49 Maze - Before I Let Go

50 Mtume - Juicy Fruit

Zwarte Piet

Growing up Dutch-Indo in California, December 5th was amazing! While everyone else was waiting for Santa, I was sweating it out for that chocolate letter 'P' and dodging the sack! I found out later in life that my Opa was Zwarte Piet. He would drive an hour to get to our house, knock on the door and throw stuff inside and hide around the corner while we picked up the goodies (and then he drove home.) This playlist is basically the soundtrack to that childhood adrenaline rush of the dogs barking and the whole craziness, but reimagined with enough rock and funk to match the chaos. Let’s be honest, Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet were basically buddies in an action movie. I did try to find a rockin' version of the last song in Indonesian (which my pop taught all us boys) but I failed. This pick does kick off with the panic of that first loud knock on the door, rides the energy of the horses stomping on the roof, and gets into the gritty "coal and soot" vibe of the chimney descent. It captures that rebellious feeling of hoping you weren't too naughty, the absolute chaos when the pepernoten started flying, and finally that sweet victory of unwrapping the goods before the visitors head back to Spain. It’s loud, it’s messy, and it’s pure Pakjesavond magic. 

Zwarte Piet

01 AC-DC - Back In Black

02 Henk & Henk (Het Goede Doel) - Sinterklaas (Wie Kent Hem Niet)

03 Samson & Gert - Daar Wordt Aan de Deur Geklopt

04 Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking

05 Drifters - Up on the Roof

06 Osmonds - Crazy Horses

07 Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes

08 Elvis Presley - Trouble

09 JD McPherson - Bad Kid

10 Beatles - Bad Boy

11 Inner Circle - Bad Boys

12 Chivv - Expose Zwarte Piet

13 Lee Dorsey - Working In The Coalmine

14 Rolling Stones - Paint It Black

15 Grateful Dead - Black Peter

16 Paul Weller - Bag Man

17 Brian Setzer Orchestra - (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag

18 The Archies - Sugar, Sugar

19 Six Feet Under - Chocolate Sugar

20 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy

21 MannelijkeMannen - Sinterklaas Kapoentje Death Metal

22 Three Dog Night - Never Been To Spain

23 Bløf met Counting Crows - Holiday In Spain (Spanje Als Besluit)

24 VOF De Kunst - De Witte Zwarte Pieten

25 The Kik & De Grote Pietenhuis Band - Sinterklaas Kapoentje

World Domination 2

Taking a break from the Soul Sizzle series I have a pick of what I call my world domination picks. I always thought this would make a great radio station. All danceable tracks from around the world. It is the one thing in common with these tracks. It's not the genres which are all around the world. I looked for songs with a dance beat. Frankly I have little idea what all the lyrics mean, so they could all be saying that I am a lazy fatboy or worse. Maybe you know one or two, but you probably don't know them all. But in a club (or in your house or car) it is hard to ignore the infectious rhythms. I am working on a few more so tell me your ideas for more of this.

World Domination 2

26 Bomba Estereo - Fuego

27 Major Lazer featuring Mo & DJ Snake - Lean On

28 Khaled - Didi

29 Panjabi Mc - Mundian To Bach Ke [Knight Rider Mix]

30 DJ Snake, Selena Gomez & Ozuna featuring Cardi B - Taki Taki

31 Magic System - Premiere Gaou

32 Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo

33 Mahala Rai Banda - Mahalageasca

34 Stromae - Alors On Danse (Dubdogz Remix)

35 Shakira - Ojos Asi

36 Bunji Garlin - Differentology (Ready For The Road) (Major Lazer Remix)

37 MC Fioti - Bum Bum Tam Tam

38 Kanda Bongo Man - Monie

39 Toofan - Gweta

40 Apache Indian - Boom Shakalak

41 Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)

42 Malkit Singh - Jind Mahi

43 Sly And Robbie - Boops (Here To Go)

44 X Press 2 featuring David Byrne - Lazy (Fatboy Slim Remix)

Soul Sizzle Teal

I started a series yesterday and this is volume two of this pick. I actually number it with colors, so this one is Teal. Similar flavor but a bit more of the funk to start it off and it gets a little dirtier, a little psychedelic and it's a bit more seventies soul. Fits in perfect after SS Red, so the numbering of the tracks continues. Mostly pretty well known songs, but an occaisional drip of a deeper track. Nothing outrageous. It will play well at your next get together, or in the car. Tell me what you like best about this one in the comments.

Soul Sizzle Teal

17 James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing

18 Sly & The Family Stone - I Want to Take You Higher

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

20 Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan - Tell Me Something Good

21 Meters - Cissy Strut

22 Ohio Players - Skin Tight

23 Parliament - Up for the Down Stroke

24 T-Connection - Groove to Get Down

25 Shalamar - Right In The Socket

26 Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can

27 Patrice Rushen - Haven't You Heard

28 O' Jays - Backstabbers

29 Eddie Kendricks - Girl You Need A Change of Mind

30 Otis Clay - Trying To Live My Life Without You

31 Etta James - Seven Day Fool

32 The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack

Soul Sizzle Red

I am numbering these by color. They are distinct from some other mixtapes I have, but complimentary. Try these picks for fun: Philly Steak, Stax Of Wax, Taking It Back. All fun. I have a few of these Soul Sizzles planned (and I already made the covers for several, so I better finish them up quick.) My rules were simple. It had to be songs I owned and liked. Danceable with no repeat artists within each volume and had to represent a groove history of black music and mostly be recognizable tracks although deep cuts would be fine. How did I do? Fun fact: the Cameo track was released at least four times. I usually use the version on the TGIF soundtrack, but today I used the version from their first album (very funky album! - Cardiac Arrest) which is what made me love that band even when they started going a little pop later in their years.

Soul Sizzle Red

01 Aretha Franklin - Think

02 Etta James - Tell Mama

03 Junior Walker and the All Stars - Shotgun

04 The Temptations - Get Ready

05 Jacksons - Shake Your Body Down To The Ground

06 Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours

07 Emotions - Best Of My Love

08 Earth, Wind & Fire - September

09 Cheryl Lynn - Got To Be Real

10 Chic - Everybody Dance (12" Single Mix)

11 Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover

12 The Whispers - And The Beat Goes On

13 T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do  (12'' version)

14 Lakeside - It's All The Way Live

15 Spinners - The Rubberband Man

16 Cameo - Find My Way

What's The Connection? True 3

Part three of this True connection (that just made me think of something completely unrelated - Andrea True Connection) is more rock oriented, although I did throw in a couple of outliers. Look at the last couple of days for the first two parts of this series. At least one more in the current pipeline. A couple of rockabilly here and some early rock as well as afew other rockier choices, even prog and surf are in here. It's all true. Notice the album cover. I was making it and I searched for abstract background that conveys truth. What came up was not so much what you see in the background now. I took what I found and applied a watercolor to it and then another artistic filter, so it's not very true at all.

What's The Connection? True 3

35 Beach Boys – And Your Dream Comes True

36 Buddy Holly – True Love Ways

37 Everly Brothers – True Love

38 Elvis Presley – True Love

39 George Harrison – True Love

40 Bing Crosby – True Love

41 Ashford & Simpson – Tried, Tested And Found True

42 Billy Barry – My Love Is True

43 Carl Perkins – Your True Love

44 Bill Haley – I’ll Be True

45 Casey Howie & The Seniors – True Fine Mama

46 Bobby Nelson – There Ain’t Nothin’ True About You

47 Babys – True Love True Confession

48 Byron Johnson – True Affection

49 Eagles – Is It True

50 Andy Scott's Sweet – Is It True

51 Agent Orange – Say It Isn't True

52 Blue Oyster Cult – Train True (Lennie's Song)

53 Jon Anderson – True Hands Of Fate

54 Bill Nelson – It’s All True

55 Circa – True Progress

56 Cyndi Grecco – Making Our Dreams Come True

57 Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams (Come True)

58 The Who – It’s Not True (Mono Version)