Jim Steinman

Today's the remembrance day for Jim Steinman, he died in 2021. Unfortunately not bombastically or over the top like his songs, but of kidney failure after having been ill. Listening to his songs over the years, he had some amazing ones. I first heard Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell like probably most people, but he had songs before that. Lots of stuff I could have used, but chose not to. If you have to hear the other version (perhaps even the better version - ok for sure the better version) of Total Eclipse click there. And one day I will make my version of my favorite hours worth of Meat Loaf (well, I already have it made, but when will I post it?). I chose these to spread it out trying to give each artist a chance, but I still left out Brown, Lane, Hannah, Pandora's Box, Take That and even Steinman himself solo. Maybe I will post part two next year. Or maybe Meat Loaf doing the full albums he didn't do with Steinman (they sound great - the albums that could have been) For now you get this pick.

Jim Steinman

01 Celine Dion - It's All Coming Back To Me Now
02 Boyzone - No Matter What
03 Taylor Dayne - Original Sin
04 Barry Manilow - Read 'em And Weep
05 Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
06 Todd Rundgren - Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
07 Barbra Streisand - Left In The Dark
08 Westlife - Total Eclipse of the Heart (Sunset Strippers Verse Club Mix)
09 Air Supply - Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
10 Fire Inc. - Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young
11 Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion
12 Joss Stone - Holding Out For A Hero
13 Bonnie Tyler With Todd Rundgren - Loving You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It

No comments:

Earn It!

Not every band here is American. Priest is from Birmingham, AC/DC hauled in from Australia, and Bon Jovi is from New Jersey which some days feels like a separate country. Doesn't matter. This American rock pick is about the feeling, not the passport - the belief that where you start doesn't determine where you finish, and nobody gets to the top without earning it. Same one my mother had when she told me they became citizens so I could be president if I wanted to. Nobody said I had to. Just that nothing was stopping me. That's the whole point of the next 78 minutes.

Earn It!

01 Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger
02 Bon Jovi - It's My Life
03 Ted Nugent - I Still Believe
04 The Black Keys - Gold On The Ceiling
05 AC-DC - It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'roll)
06 Kid Rock - American Bad Ass
07 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down A Dream
08 Foreigner - Juke Box Hero
09 Common Ground - This Is America
10 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way?
11 Heart - Barracuda
12 Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild
13 John Fogerty - Centerfield
14 Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly
15 Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin'
16 John Mellencamp - R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.
17 Bruce Springsteen - Badlands
18 Boston - Peace of Mind
19 Rick Derringer - Real American
No comments:

Stadium Stature

The World Cup is coming to the US this year. A few of the games not too far from my house. I was thinking of seeing Holland playing (and losing) and how many times I had seen those games. In the forum in '74 on this big screen and satellite and then at a British Pub for '78 and on my own big screen in 2010. So I put together these Stadium Songs to prep for this year. Songs from years ago to this year. I hope you pass this on and play it over and over again. I know Nederland  doesn't have much of a chance, but neither does the USA, but I will cheer them both on anyway. For more Soccer songs click there (only a couple that overlap) so a bunch of other songs to play as well.  A few of the songs on this comp are not neccesarily only songs for futbol, but are appropriate in many stadiums. You probably know most of them.

Stadium Stature

01 Queen - We Will Rock You
02 Ricky Martin - La Copa De La Vida (Spanish)
03 Nelly Furtado - Forca
04 Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam
05 2 Unlimited - Get Ready for This
06 Pitbull featuring Jennifer Lopez & Claudia Leitte - We Are One (Ole Ola)
07 The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
08 The Goal Line Groovers - Same Game, Same Goal
09 Magic System featuring Ahmed Chawki - Magic In The Air
10 Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
11 Gala - Freed from Desire
12 Livin' Joy - Dreamer
13 Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie
14 Blur - Song 2
15 Sprong Hooligans - Oranje Back Again
16 House Of Pain - Jump Around
17 AC-DC - Thunderstruck
18 Metallica - Enter Sandman
19 Darude - Sandstorm
20 Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400
21 K'Naan - Wavin' Flag

BTW, bonus video of Sprong Hooligans: 

4 comments:

What's The Connection? Ways 3

It's been Ways too long since the last one. I must have filed an extension, apparently. Posted right after tax day, so hopefully your return was better than mine. Twenty-two more tracks running from sweet to nasty with a few stops that are hard to categorize politely, and the Connection holds up across all of them. There are more Ways to go and you should try them all.

What's The Connection? Ways 3

43 Victor Feldman's Generation Band - Let Me Count The Ways
44 Willie Dixon - 29 Ways
45 Impressions - We Go Back a Ways
46 Elvis Presley - Separate Ways
47 Television Personalities - Mysterious Ways
48 Tammy Wynette - The Ways To Love A Man
49 Grip Weeds - Give Me Some Of Your Ways
50 Herman's Hermits - This Door Swings Both Ways
51 Bob Dylan - Quit Your Lowdown Ways
52 Kenny O'Dell - My Honky Tonk Ways
53 King Biscuit Boy - Twenty Nine Ways
54 Gary Busey - True Love Ways
55 Steve Hackett - Let Me Count The Ways
56 Willie Bobo - Evil Ways
57 Long John Hunter - Nasty Ways
58 Blue Zoo - Love Moves In Strange Ways
59 Cabaret Voltaire - A Thousand Ways
60 Electric Chairs - So Many Ways
61 Saturday's Children - Your Loving Ways
62 Esquires - Sadie's Ways
63 Willie Kendrick - Change Your Ways
64 The Movement - Ways Of The World
No comments:

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
No comments:

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
No comments:

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
No comments:

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

No comments:

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

No comments:

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

No comments:

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

No comments:

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

No comments:

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

4 comments:

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
4 comments:

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

2 comments:

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'

No comments:

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
2 comments:

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

No comments:

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
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