What's The Connection? Tax Day Repost

Repost: This is the day that's most hated by pretty much everyone, except for IRS agents and Tax Preparers. If you voted me in to be King, I would get rid of the federal income tax and abolish the IRS. There. Everyone feels better. It's fair to everyone. No one pays. Then we could charge for use. The states could still do what they want, tax or not. But this is not about politics. This is about music. Here are some songs about taxes in this What's The Connection? Let me know how you feel about these songs in the comments below. I don't care what you think about taxes themselves. But if we have to pay taxes, please do yourself a favor and read the book Tax Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright. Happy Tax Day! If you want to change your tax, change your facts. BTW, If you need a good bookkeeper here's a plug for my wife who is excellent.

Tax Connection

01 Don Henley - Workin' It

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

03 Guns N' Roses - I.R.S.

04 Relient K - Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)

05 Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday

06 Tower of Power - Taxed To The Max

07 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes

08 Jimi Hendrix - Tax Free

09 B.O.B (Aka Bobby Ray) featuring Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You

10 Steve Howe - Success Story

11 Cheap Trick - Taxman, Mr. Thief

12 Ruder Than You - Tax Man

13 Blue Blot - IRS Blues

14 Toy Dolls - Lester Fiddled The Tax Man

15 Jethro Tull - Lap of Luxury

16 The Human Beinz - April 15th

17 Ultravox! - Life At Rainbow's End (For All The Tax Exiles On Main Street)

18 Kinks - Sunny Afternoon

19 Beatles - Taxman

20 The Who - Success Story

What's The Connection? Cherokee

There are a lot of ways to land on Cherokee, and this one covers more ground than most. It opens stretched all the way out, then snaps back into something more familiar and keeps shifting from there, bouncing between styles that don’t usually line up but manage to hold together anyway. The Indian connection is easy, but the approaches are all over the place, sometimes straight, sometimes barely related at all. Even Cher makes sense once you get there, which is kind of the whole point.

What's The Connection? Cherokee

01 Billy Ray Cyrus - Trail Of Tears

02 Gordon Lightfoot - Cherokee Bend

03 Jimi Hendrix - Cherokee Jam

04 Chet Baker - Cherokee

05 Manowar - Spirit Horse Of The Cherokee

06 Jerry Harrison - Cherokee Chief

07 Merle Haggard - Cherokee Maiden

08 Robbie Robertson - Cherokee Morning Song

09 Europe - Cherokee

10 Canned Heat - Cherokee Dance

11 kd Lang - Sweet Little Cherokee

12 Steve Howe & Martin Taylor - Cherokee Ridge

13 Paul Revere & the Raiders - Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)

14 Hot Club Of Cowtown - Cherokee Shuffle

15 Beau Brummels - Cherokee Girl

16 Michael Martin Murphey - Cherokee Fiddle

17 Joni Mitchell - Cherokee Louise

18 Onie Wheeler - White Lightning Cherokee

19 John Denver - Trail Of Tears

20 Moon Mullican - Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena)

21 Cher - Half Breed

What's The Connection? Get Up 2

Same idea, just with a little less discipline this time. It starts in a groove you recognize, then gradually pulls in sounds that don’t usually sit next to each other but manage to make sense anyway. The Connection is still obvious, but the ways artists get there are all over the place, from tight funk to looser swings and a few moments that feel like they might fall apart if you look at them too closely. Some tracks push, some resist, and a few seem to be negotiating the whole Get Up thing in real time, which is exactly what keeps it interesting.

What's The Connection? Get Up 2

20 Brass Construction - Get Up To Get Down

21 The Esquires - Get On Up

22 James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing

23 Suzy Q - Get On Up And Do It Again

24 Parliament - P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)

25 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Get Up Stand Up

26 Tata Vega - Get it Up for Love

27 Jodeci - Get Up On It (Instant Flava Mix)

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

29 Desmond Dekker - Get Up Edina

30 The Cramps - Let's Get Fcked Up

31 Ministry - Git Up Get Out 'N Vote

32 Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl) (12' Remix)

33 Ringo Starr - Gotta Get Up To Get Down

34 Yes - I Get Up I Get Down (Remix)

35 Anna Kendrick - Get Back Up Again

36 TobyMac - Get Back Up

37 Yoso - Time To Get Up

qBk

Every so often I end up with songs that did not make it into other picks, not because they were not good enough but because they just did not fit what I was building at the time. Rather than let them disappear I started throwing them into the three letter series, and the name is exactly what it looks like. I just randomly hit keys. This pick has no real theme and I am not going to pretend it does. What it has is twelve songs I genuinely like that needed a home. They should not go together and yet somehow they sort of do. Have a listen and see if you agree. That is what this is.

qBk

01 Transglobal Underground - Temple Head (Burundi Mix)

02 Ozomatli - Cut Chemist Suite

03 Cage The Elephant - Shake Me Down

04 Not Bnot Avraham - Rai (instrumental)

05 Black Ivory - Mainline

06 Material & Nona Hendryx - Bustin'out

07 North End - Kind of Life (Kind of Love) (12 inch Vocal)

08 Santana - Oye Como Va (Remix)

09 Maximum Joy - Stretch

10 Emilie-Claire Barlow - These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

11 Shriekback - Nemesis (Extended Mix)

12 Michael Bennett - I Regret It All

Rock Relics 3

This pick closes out this chapter of the series and I will be honest, putting it together felt a little like saying goodbye to an old friend. Not because the music is going anywhere but because narrowing it down is genuinely hard when every song on the list deserves to be there. There is one track in particular that I think stands above everything else here and if you know it you already know which one I mean. There will probably be a Volume 4 at some point, just not right away. I need to live with these three for a while first. This pick has range, it has weight, and it has that thing that all the best Rock Relics volumes have where it sounds better end to end than it has any right to.

Rock Relics 3

37 Led Zeppelin - Rock And Roll

38 ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses

39 Steely Dan - Bodhisattva

40 Eagles - Heartache Tonight

41 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain

42 Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women

43 Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

44 Bob Seger - Old Time Rock & Roll

45 Stealers Wheel - Stuck In the Middle with You

46 Grand Funk - The Locomotion

47 Brownsville Station - Smokin' In The Boys Room

48 Kiss - I Was Made For Lovin' You (Original 12'' Single)

49 Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog

50 Shocking Blue - Venus

51 Van Halen - Dance The Night Away

52 Van Morrison - Domino

53 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

54 Doobie Brothers - China Grove

55 The Knack - My Sharona

56 Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town

Rock Relics 2

I had a fire engine red 1964 Mustang once. Purists would say I ruined it as a classic and they are probably right. I stuffed the largest engine I could fit under the hood, which made it look like it could outrun anything on the road. It could not. But the sound system was something else entirely. Separates, subwoofers in the trunk, sound paneling throughout the whole car. Inside that thing this music was a physical experience. Outside the car you could barely hear it because of all the dampening I put in the panels. So it just sat there looking menacing and fast, quietly shaking itself apart from the inside. This pick is the soundtrack to that car. The kind of rock that was built for exactly that situation, big, loud, unapologetic, and best experienced at a volume that makes the rearview mirror vibrate. That is what Rock Relics is. My old Mustang in playlist form.

Rock Relics 2

19 Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary

20 Toto - Hold The Line

21 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama

22 Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion

23 Foghat - Slow Ride

24 Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down

25 AC-DC - Highway To Hell

26 Grateful Dead - Truckin'

27 Ram Jam - Black Betty

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

29 Free - All Right Now

30 Cars - Just What I Needed

31 Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)

32 Three Dog Night - Joy to the World

33 Eddie Money - Two Tickets To Paradise

34 Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

35 Van Halen - You Really Got Me

36 Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me

Rock Relics 1

This pick is where the series begins and honestly it might be my favorite of the three just because of what it represents. These are the songs that were everywhere when I was growing up. On the radio, at a party, blasting out of somebody's car in a parking lot at the wrong volume for the neighborhood. You did not choose to love this music, it just happened to you whether you were ready or not. I have been collecting and playing music my whole life and I still cannot fully explain why certain songs just lodge themselves permanently into your brain, but every track on this volume did exactly that to me at some point. That is what Rock Relics is really about. Not nostalgia exactly, more like evidence that some music just refuses to age no matter how many times you have heard it.

Rock Relics 1

01 Elvis Presley - Always On My Mind

02 Guess Who - American Woman

03 Aerosmith with Run DMC - Walk This Way

04 Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time

05 Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

06 Boston - More Than a Feeling

07 Rolling Stones - Miss You (12 Special Disco Version)

08 Foreigner - Hot Blooded

09 Grand Funk - Some Kind of Wonderful

10 AC-DC - You Shook Me All Night Long (Ultimix Remix)

11 T. Rex - Bang a Gong (Get It On)

12 Alice Cooper - School's Out

13 Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

14 Heart - Barracuda

15 Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper

16 Elton John - Crocodile Rock

17 Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love

18 Kinks - Lola

What's The Connection? Groovy 1

This Groovy connection runs from sunshine pop to punk to dub to Texas boogie, and the word shows up in every single title whether it earned it or not. Some of these tracks ARE in the groove and many might be groovy, too. Some of them are just using the word the way everyone did for about a decade, like a verbal tic nobody could shake. I always wished I was groovy. I drove a VW bus for a while, which should have qualified me, but I'm not sure I ever really pulled it off. The racing Bug definitely didn't count. What does count is how totally groovy the cover is!

What's The Connection? Groovy 1

01 The Love Generation - Groovy Summertime

02 P.P. Arnold - (If You Think You're) Groovy

03 Classic Example - That's Groovy

04 Harpers Bizarre - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

05 Young Fresh Fellows - Where is Groovy Town

06 Winston Groovy - Please Don't Make Me Cry

07 Pillbugs - Neo Mega Quasi Ultra Super Groovy

08 Militant - Hot & Groovy

09 Nancy Sinatra - Your Groovy Self

10 The Farm - Groovy Train

11 Jakie Mitoo - Groovy Spirit

12 Fabulous Caprices - Groovy World

13 Paraffin Jack Flash Ltd. - Blue 'n' Groovy

14 Harmony Grass - What a Groovy Day

15 New Colony Six - Treat Her Groovy

16 Capt. Groovy and his Bubblegum Army - Capt. Groovy and his Bubblegum Army

17 Larry Harlow - That Groovy Shingaling

18 Lollipop Fantasy - It's A Groovy World

19 Ray Johnson - Kinda Groovy

20 Mad Professor With The Robotiks & Lee Scratch Perry - Groovy Dub

21 Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind Of Love

22 The Clash - Groovy Times

23 The Mike Flowers Pops - A Groovy Place

24 ZZ Top - Groovy Little Hippie Pad

What's The Connection? Groove 2

Sixteen more, and the word still isn't tired. This batch runs the full map — rock, funk, reggae, zydeco, soul, and a little something from the bayou — and every single one of them has groove right there in the title where you can see it. Some of these are obvious. Some of them you might not have heard in years, or maybe ever. That's kind of the point. The Salsoul Orchestra will tell you it doesn't have to be funky to be a groove, and honestly, this whole volume proves it. There will be a third connection, eventually. The word has more left in it than I think.

What's The Connection? Groove 2

17 Ace Frehley - New York Groove

18 Talking Heads - Double Groove (Unfinished Outtake)

19 Rodney Franklin - The Groove

20 Skyy - Groove Me

21 Tower Of Power - So I Got to Groove

22 Teena Marie - Behind The Groove

23 Heatwave - The Groove Line

24 Lil Brian And The Zydeco Travelers - It's A Zydeco Groove

25 Paul Carrack - I Live By The Groove

26 Prince - Get Yo Groove On

27 Tiki Tokkers - Global Groove (Hana Hou)

28 Salsoul Orchestra - It Don't Have To Be Funky (To Be A Groove)

29 Bunny Wailer - Rock N Groove

30 Chocolate Milk - Groove City

31 Lee Scratch Perry - (I Got The) Groove

32 System - Don't Disturb This Groove

What's The Connection? Groove 1

Not "groovy." Not "groovin'." Not even "grooves." Just groove — singular, present tense, like it's happening right now, because it is. They aren't all funky. Not all of them are even dancefloor. But every single one of them has that thing — that locked-in, can't-explain-it feeling that makes you close your eyes and nod your head whether you're in a club or your kitchen. That's the groove (at least the word) and it doesn't care what genre you filed it under. I had to start somewhere, and groove felt like the right word to open with. There's a reason it became its own language — musicians talk about being in it, losing it, finding it again. There will be more of these connections, the word is big enough to go a few rounds. But this is where it starts. 

What's The Connection? Groove 1

01 Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart

02 King Floyd - Groove Me

03 Heatwave - Gangsters Of The Groove

04 Madonna - Into The Groove

05 The Tardy Disco-nesians - Grandpa Got The Groove

06 One Way - Mr. Groove

07 MC Hammer - Addams Groove

08 T-Connection - Groove to Get Down

09 Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove

10 Peaches & Herb - Shake Your Groove Thing

11 Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang

12 Maceo Parker - Maceo's Groove

13 Archie Bell & the Drells - Let's Groove

14 Led Zeppelin - We're Gonna Groove

15 Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove

16 Isley Brothers - Groove With You

Gee Whiz, You're Neat, Repeat

This one I just finished. The first two had been archived somewhere in my brain for years and this one felt like it had been waiting in line. Same idea, same no-real-genre situation. Some of this leans retro, some of it is newer artists doing what the old artists did, and some of it is just stuff that fits the mood. This pick brings the whole series to 105 tracks, which probably says more about me than I'd like to admit. I always think of it as doo-wop even though only part of it actually is. Gee Whiz, here we are anyway.

Gee Whiz, You're Neat, Repeat

78 Fabulous Poodles - When the Summer's Thru

79 The Capris - Morse Code Of Love

80 Liquorice John Death - High School Confidential

81 Curtis Lee - Gee How I Wish You Were Here

82 The Royal Jesters - Take Me For A Little While

83 Yvonne Caroll & The Roulettes - Gee What A Guy

84 Paris Sisters - I Love How You Love Me

85 Jakki O - Ooo...Aaah

86 Don & Juan - What's Your Name

87 The Ink Spots - If I Didn't Care

88 Dicky Doo And The Don'ts - Click-Clack

89 Capris - There's A Moon Out Tonight

90 The Ditty Bops - Sister Kate

91 Ariana Grande - Tattooed Heart

92 She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here

93 Mayer Hawthorne - When I Said Goodbye

94 Tracey Ullman - They Don't Know

95 Cyndi Lauper - He's So Unusual

96 Lil' Rob - Barely Getting By

97 Ray Barretto - A Deeper Shade Of Soul

98 The Five Satins - In the Still of the Night

99 Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight

100 Frank Zappa - You Didn't Try to Call Me

101 The Marcels - Blue Moon

102 Starlighters - Zoom

103 Question Mark And The Mysterians - Can't Get Enough Of You Baby

104 Ruben And The Jets - If I Could Only Be Your Love Again

105 Meghan Trainor - Dear Future Husband

Gee Whiz, You're Neat Too

I knew I was going to make a second volume almost immediately after finishing the first one. Then I thought about it for a while. By a while I mean years. This pick picks up where the first one left off, which is to say it doesn't really have a genre either. There's more variety this time. A little further forward in a few spots. Some of this was stuff I'd been sitting on, some of it showed up while I was looking for something else entirely. That's usually how it goes. Gee Whiz, where does the time go.

Gee Whiz, You're Neat Too

40 Billy Stewart - Sitting In The Park

41 Big Daddy - I Want Your Sex

42 Ruben And The Jets - Dedicated To The One I Love

43 The Platters - (You've Got) The Magic Touch

44 The Monotones - Book Of Love

45 Four Seasons - December 1963 (Oh What A Night)

46 Johnny Staton & The Feathers - Charlene

47 Candye Kane - Forgive Me

48 The Zombies - Goin' Out Of My Head

49 Fats Domino - I'm Walkin'

50 The Skyliners - Since I Don't Have You

51 Big Daddy - Like A Virgin

52 Skip And Flip - Cherry Pie

53 Clovers - Love Potion Number Nine

54 Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry

55 Big Sandy - Have Love Will Travel

56 The Chords - Sh-Boom

57 Chordettes - Lollipop

58 Big Daddy - Ice Ice Baby

59 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall In Love

60 Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me

61 Little Caesar & The Romans - Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You)

62 Ritchie Valens - Donna

63 Anthony & The Sophomores - Play Those Oldies, Mr. Dee-Jay

64 The Stray Cats - I Won't Stand In Your Way

65 10cc - Donna

66 The Earls - Remember Then

67 Ginny Arnell - Dumb Head

68 Paul Anka - Put Your Head On My Shoulder

69 The Dubs - Could This Be Magic

70 Boyz II Men - In The Still Of The Nite (I'll Remember)

71 Ruben And The Jets - Charlena

72 Big Daddy - Stayin' Alive

73 Sam Cooke - Wonderful World

74 Frank Zappa - Deseri

75 Dicky Doo & The Don'ts - Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu

76 The Drifters - This Magic Moment

77 Coasters - Searchin'

Gee Whiz, You're Neat

It all started with a Rhino Records LP I got from Big Daddy. If you don't know Big Daddy, the short version is: they took current hits and recorded them as if they were made in the 50s. It was genius and hilarious and I played that record to death. And then I thought, well, what if I just put the real thing next to it? Old and new in one pick. Most people call this kind of music doo-wop, and some of it is. But some of it is rock and roll, and some of it is early soul, and some of it is just whatever teenagers were listening to when their parents weren't home. I still don't know what to call it. Gee Whiz, I just know it sounds right together.

Gee Whiz, You're Neat

01 Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz

02 The Crows - Gee

03 Big Daddy - Super Freak

04 Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream

05 The Penguins - Earth Angel

06 Dion & The Belmonts - A Teenager In Love

07 Big Daddy - Just What I Needed

08 The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You

09 Big Daddy - Eye Of The Tiger

10 The Diamonds - Little Darlin'

11 Big Daddy - I Write The Songs

12 Chuck Berry - Almost Grown

13 Rap Reiplinger - Acafella Jive

14 The Platters - Only You (And You Alone)

15 Fats Domino - Ain't That A Shame

16 The Essex - Easier Said Than Done

17 Del Shannon - Runaway

18 Big Daddy - Bette Davis Eyes

19 Mark Dinning - Teen Angel

20 Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Candy Girl

21 The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace

22 Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless

23 Bill Haley & The Comets - Rock Around The Clock

24 Big Daddy - Ebony And Ivory

25 Danny And The Juniors - At The Hop

26 Big Daddy - The Rose

27 The Cadillacs - Speedo

28 Little Richard - Send Me Some Lovin'

29 Everly Brothers - ('Til) I Kissed You

30 Big Daddy - Whip It

31 The Diamonds - The Stroll

32 Dion And The Belmonts - I Wonder Why

33 Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl

34 Big Daddy - Hit Me With Your Best Shot

35 Big Daddy - You Don't Bring Me Flowers

36 Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Dawn (Go Away)

37 Big Daddy - Hotel California

38 Buddy Holly - Maybe, Baby

39 Jewel Akens - The Birds And The Bees

Funky Disco (Leopard) 6

Here we go with another round of that sweet spot where funk gets extra bouncy and disco gets extra nasty, and Volume 6 keeps the groove rolling with more 70s/early 80s heat — heavy on the bass lines, tight horns, and those irresistible dancefloor slaps, so Pick your favorites and crank it up because this one’s built for the party that refuses to quit. Funky Disco keeps growing. Got a track that belongs in the next one? Drop it in the comments — especially if it’s got that raw, sweaty, get-down energy we love.

Funky Disco 6

80 Commodores - Funky Situation

81 Skyy - First Time Around

82 The Tardy Disco-nesias - Grandpa Got The Groove

83 Parliament - Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)

84 Fred Wesley - Blow Your Head

85 Cameo - Keep It Hot

86 Ohio Players - Skin Tight

87 The Fatback Band - Backstrokin'

88 Mass Production - Welcome To Our World (Of Merry Music)

89 The Bar-Kays - Too Hot To Stop (Pt. 1)

90 Slave - The Party Song

91 Graham Central Station - The Jam

92 T-Connection - At Midnight

April Fools 4

Happy April Fools! Some birthdays you just never forget. My cousin's falls on April 1st, which means every year her birthday message doubles as a prank threat. She's a good sport about it. That's also why the April Fools series exists — a once-a-year excuse to dig deep into jokers, jokes, and jokey energy across genres, eras, and languages. Volume whatever-this-is keeps that tradition going with 24 tracks spanning reggae dub, hip-hop, psych rock, new wave, French ye-ye, German schlager, and a few left turns even I didn't see coming. The Pick this round is Faith No More's reading of "I Started A Joke" — a cover that somehow out-saddens the Bee Gees original, which is saying something. As always, the joke's on you if you sleep on this one.

April Fools 4

64 Scientist - Joker Dub

65 Billy Myles - The Joker (That's What They Call Me)

66 Duran Duran - 911 Is A Joke

67 MCM And The Monster - Serious Joke

68 Eric B & Rakim - I Ain't No Joke

69 Sharon Van Etten - Joke Or A Lie

70 Garden Odyssey - The Joker

71 The Laurie Johnson Orchestra - Joker

72 Brian Jonestown Massacre - When Jokers Attack

73 Nina Hagen - Life Is A Joke

74 Conny Froboess - Jolly Joker  (Holl)

75 Robbie Williams & The Orb - I Started a Joke (I Started An Orb Mix)

76 The Ventures - Joker's Wild

77 Cherrie Vangelder-Smith - Jokers

78 Henriette Coulouvrat - Can't You Take A Joke Ha Ha Hi Hi!

79 Druids - Girl Can't Take a Joke

80 The Milestones - The Joker

81 kd Lang - The Joker

82 Faith No More - I Started A Joke

83 Lee Scratch Perry - The Joker

84 REM - The Worst Joke Ever

85 Wolfmother - Joker & The Thief

86 Queens Of The Stone Age - Running Joke

87 Pet Shop Boys - I Started A Joke