New Beat

New Beat crawled out of the late 80s at a tempo that dared you to dance to it anyway. There is always a sense with this music that the drop is coming, just not yet. Maybe later. The acid squelches and industrial edges in this pick lean into that tension, the kind that never fully resolves. It shares DNA with house, but the relationship is complicated in ways that are hard to explain without just playing the record. But here it is part of my house cleaning.

New Beat

01 Code 61 - Drop The Deal

02 Amnesia - Hysteria

03 Dirty Harry - D-Bop

04 Rhythm Device - Acid Rock

05 Explorers Of The Nile - We Are All Egyptians

06 L&O - Even Now

07 Acts Of Madmen - The Dream

08 Confetti's - Sound of C...

09 Taste of Sugar - Hmm Hmm

10 Tribe 22 - Aciiiiiiied (12' Version)

11 Lords Of Acid - I Sit On Acid

12 Tragic Error - Tanzen

13 Langsam - Straks (Two Years Behind)

14 A Split Second - Flesh (The Original Mix)

15 Erotic Dissidents - Move Your Ass & Feel the Beat

16 The Concrete Beat - I Want You!

Workout Class Physique

Another one from the workout class files. These were made years ago for a friend who ran a fitness center. She was not worried about offending anyone. Brutally honest, ran a tight class, and apparently fine with whatever this pick turned into. It starts like a normal workout and slowly goes sideways. By the time Dean Martin shows up you have completely lost the plot. The energy is right though. Hard to argue with the tempo when your heart rate is already up. Check out the other workout class picks if you need more. 

Workout Class Physique

01 Touch And Go - Would You...

02 The B-52's - Work That Skirt

03 Wreckx-N-Effect - Rump Shaker

04 Ministry - Work For Love (Sex Slave Edit)

05 Divinyls - I Touch Myself

06 KC And The Sunshine Band - (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty

07 AC-DC - Touch Too Much

08 Kylie Minogue Vs New Order - Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head

09 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah!)

10 Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch

11 Peaches And Herb - Shake Your Groove Thing

12 MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This

13 Tubes - Don't Touch Me There

14 Hugh Cornwell - Touch Touch

15 Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right

16 Fabulous Poodles - Bionic Man

17 Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It

18 Mariah Carey - Touch My Body

19 Nina Sky featuring Jabba - Move Ya Body

20 Dean Martin - Hey Good Looking

mzG

The title is three letters because that is how these get named, as usual. Hit the keyboard, see what comes up. Leftover tracks needed a home and enough of them piled up to justify a post. At least one track was a suggestion by one of you for another post. Finally got on here. The Three Letter Mixtape series always gets a spiral of some sort on the cover, that part is easy. What I actually spent time on this week was trying to find a decent spirograph video, failing, trying to make one with AI, and failing again. Completely unrelated. My pick for a set that came together cleaner than the artwork research did.

mzG

01 Marshall Jefferson - Ride The Rhythm (Remix)

02 Kraftwerk - The Mix Medley (Razormaid Mix)

03 Sole Patrol - Step On It

04 DJ Funk - Work That Body

05 Debbie Gibson - Electric Youth (Deep House Mix)

06 DJ Polinate - Ready, Fire, Aim

07 Paula Abdul - Cold Hearted (House Mix)

08 2 Men a Drum Machine & a Trumpet - Tired of Getting Pushed Around (Mayhem Rhythm Remix)

09 Jaxine - Jack Me Free (Less Summer Mix)

10 Pink Coffee - Another Brick in the Wall

11 Coldcut with Yazz & the Plastic Population - Doctorin' the House

12 House Engineers - Hit the House

13 Rhythim Is Rhythim - It Is What It Is

Whoesque

Everyone knows the textbook formula for chasing that classic Mod violence. Crank the amplifiers until the tubes melt, swing your arm like a windmill, and let the rhythm section play like they are trying to break through a brick wall. But if you are looking to dig past the mid-sixties blueprint and find something that actually mirrors the massive, synth-driven, heavy-bellied swagger of a track like Who Are You, you are going to be looking for a very long time. Nobody else really possesses the structural engineering required to balance that kind of high-concept arena theatricality with raw, street-level dirt without the whole thing collapsing into a pretentious mess. This particular pick does not bother trying to clone the impossible, choosing instead to tear through the entire genetic family tree of bands who took those chaotic British cues and ran them straight into the red. It is a loud, incredibly arrogant sequence of tracks that holds its ground perfectly, even if it leaves you hunting for a ghost that nobody else could ever actually capture. If you want to trace how these thematic sonic experiments usually turn out when people try to borrow a legendary blueprint, you can check out the previous Zeppelinesque entry to see the path, but don't expect anyone on this list to suddenly pull a synthesizer out of their back pocket.

Whoesque

01 The Attack - Any More Than I Do

02 Cheap Trick - He's A Whore

03 Spacehog - In The Meantime

04 Buzzcocks - Harmony in My Head

05 Thunderclap Newman - Something in the Air

06 The Pretty Things - Don't Bring Me Down

07 Small Faces - Tin Soldier

08 The Birds - You're On My Mind

09 Raspberries - I Don't Know What I Want

10 The Sorrows - Take a Heart

11 Les Fleur De Lys - Mud In Your Eye

12 Mott The Hoople - Violence

13 The Poets - That's The Way It's Got To Be

14 The Creation - Making Time

15 Alarm - Sixty Eight Guns

16 The Action - I'll Keep Holding On (Original 1966 7 Mono Single Version)

17 Eyes - When The Night Falls

18 The Move - Brontosaurus

19 The Jam - Standards

20 Faces - Pool Hall Richard

21 Nazz - Open My Eyes

22 The Clash - 1977

Them's Fighting Words 7 (Southern Rock Pick)

Do I really expect you to believe I sat on this project for ages just to drop another volume right on top of the last one? Pull the other one, it's got bells on. Still, if I am determined to keep milking this cow, this seventh pick manages to avoid turning into a total train wreck. Stacking legendary, worn-out road warriors against newer acts should make for a jarring mess, but the tracking holds its ground remarkably well. I am shocked the whole thing doesn't choke on its own fumes, but it moves along fine right up to the final needle drop. If you want to see where this sudden burst of energy started, you can go dig up the previous Them's Fighting Words posts, but let's see how long this unexpected sprint actually lasts before I disappear again.

Them's Fighting Words 7

104 Bean Pickers Union - Warrior

105 Elvin Bishop - Travelin' Shoes

106 Marshall Tucker Band - See You One More Time

107 Gregg Allman Band - Thorn And A Wild Rose

108 Atlanta Rhythm Section - Georgia Rhythm

109 Outlaws - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky

110 Hank Williams, Jr. - All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight

111 Dickey Betts - Duane's Tune

112 Alabama Shakes - Hold On

113 The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

114 Drive-By Truckers - Goddamn Lonely Love

115 Little Feat - Willin'

116 Henry Paul Band - Grey Ghost

117 Confederate Railroad - Trashy Women

118 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone

119 Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky

Them's Fighting Words 6 (Southern Rock Pick)

There is only so much mileage you can squeeze out of denim and dual-lead guitars before the formula starts to decay, but these tracks refuse to roll over quietly. Instead of trailing off into a tepid victory lap, this mid-series pick hits like a rowdy, beer-soaked barroom brawl that stays remarkably light on its feet. The pacing relies entirely on sheer momentum, letting legendary, worn-in grooves trade punches with younger, heavy-bellied rock outfits without dropping the ball. I am honestly surprised it didn't collapse under its own weight, but the whole thing holds together perfectly through the final chord. You can dig right into the earlier chapters of Them's Fighting Words to see exactly how we got here, so don't go stripping the gears just yet because there is still a whole lot more coming down the pike.

Them's Fighting Words 6 

88 Clutch - Electric Worry

89 Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell

90 Molly Hatchet - Fall of the Peacemakers

91 ZZ Top - La Grange

92 Charlie Daniels - Uneasy Rider

93 38 Special - Rockin' Into The Night

94 Georgia Satellites - Battleship Chains

95 Stillwater - Mind Bender

96 The Winters Brothers Band - Sang Her Love Songs

97 Atlanta Rhythm Section - Champagne Jam

98 Mountain - Mississippi Queen

99 The Georgia Thunderbolts - Looking For An Old Friend

100 Cry Of Love - Peace Pipe

101 The Black Crowes - Hard To Handle

102 Allman Brothers Band - Jessica

103 Blackfoot - Rattlesnake Rock 'N' Roller

Surf Beat 5

I was starting to think this concept had fully run its course, but this batch proves there is still some gas left in the tank. Forcing classic, reverb-drenched twang to sit right alongside abrasive, snotty punk rock should result in total structural failure, but instead, it creates a weirdly infectious friction. This particular pick functions like a high-speed collision where the aggressive energy of the underground perfectly mirrors the frantic velocity of the tides. It is a loud, messy collision of subcultures that somehow feels completely intentional by the time the final note cuts out. If you want to dive deeper into this chaotic surf dynamic, the full archive is waiting, though this might just be the absolute final ride unless you guys have some suggestions to keep it going.

Surf Beat 5

120 Los Straitjackets - Nocturnal Twist

121 The Surfaris - Scatter Shield

122 Slacktone - Bells Of St. Kahuna

123 Agent Orange - Miserlou

124 Moms I'd Like to Surf - Major Surf

125 The Adolescents - Amoeba

126 Aqualads - Surf! Surf! Surf!

127 Circle Jerks - Wild In The Streets

128 The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement

129 Ribsy - Collapse

130 The Razorblades - Grease Your Hair and Get Tattooed

131 The Atlantics - Flight Of The Surf Guitar

132 Big Boys - Which Way To Go

133 The Electric Firebirds - Let's Make It

134 Swami John Reis & The Blind Shake - Brown Room

135 King Curtis & the Noble Men - Beach Party

136 The Waikikis - Hawaii Tattoo

137 The Bitch Boys - The Final Ride

138 Bob Collins & Fabulous Five - If I Didn't Have A Dime

139 The Archies - Sugar, Sugar

140 Bert Weedon - 40 Miles of Bad Road

141 The Faction - California Dreamin'

142 Mister Neutron - Comanchero

143 Wounds - China Doll

144 Dick Dale - Nitro

145 Mailbooz - My Baby Came Back On the Last Wave Today

146 The Tarantulas - A Fistful Of Dollars (Overture)

147 The Surfrajettes - Word Salad

148 Frankie and the Pool Boys - Cat Fight

149 Insect Surfers - Mojave

Son Of A...Pick 2

I expected this one to fight me a bit more, but it settled into a surprisingly comfortable groove. When you stack tracks that lean heavily on a shared attitude, you usually brace yourself for a sonic headache, but the pacing here keeps the energy from completely collapsing in on itself. The pick anchors the whole mess, letting the older instrumental grooves and the aggressive, modern thumping bounce off each other without feeling like total whiplash. I honestly didn't think these styles could share the same space so smoothly, but they do. If you missed the first round of this bitch, it might be time to catch up.

Son Of A...Pick 2

21 Bowling For Soup - The Bitch Song

22 Nero - Bitch I'm Gone

23 The Ventures - Son Of A Preacher Man

24 Nashville Pussy - The Bitch Just Kicked Me Out

25 Sylvie Vartan & Axelle Red - Son Of A Preacher Man

26 Red Aunts - Little Drummer Bitch

27 Gaelic Storm - Son Of A Poacher

28 Prince - Billy Jack Bitch

29 Bloodhound Gang - American Bitches

30 Rodney Carrington - Big Mouth, No Arm, Son of a Bitch

31 Room Eleven - Bitch

32 Bobby Shmurda - Bobby Bitch

33 The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

34 Stranglers - Bitching

35 Mark Mothersbaugh - Queen Bitch

36 Benga - Smack Your Bitch Up (Official Video)

37 Progidy, Noisia, Kill the Noise, Tiesto, Aoki - Tornado My Bitch Up (Rudebrat Mashup)

38 Guns N' Roses - Back off Bitch

39 Cartman - Kyle's Mom's A Bitch

What's The Connection? Slippery

Slippery is one of those words that sounds exactly like what it means. You know the feeling - you step somewhere you should not have, or you put your faith in someone who turned out to be exactly what the word implies, and there you are on the floor wondering how you got there. Happens to the best of us, sometimes on the same day. The Connection shares one track with a slipping post from a while back, same song, same version, showing up again like it owns the place. Watch your step.

What's The Connection? Slippery

01 Ambitious Lovers - Slippery

02 Kidz In The Hall, Masta Ace - Slippery Shoes

03 Staple Singers - Slippery People (Club Version)

04 Lauren Watkins with John Morgan - Slippery Slope

05 Funk Society - Slippery Slope

06 Tiptoes - Born Slippery

07 Talking Heads - Slippery People (12'' version)

08 Surprise Chef - Slippery Dip

09 Chicago Afrobeat Project - Slippery People

10 Karl Bryan & The Crystalites - Slippery

11 Ultrasonic Grand Prix featuring Little Barrie & Shawn Lee - Slippery When Chet

12 Commodores - Slippery When Wet

13 Doobie Brothers - Slippery St. Paul

14 Guthrie Govan - Wonderful Slippery Thing

15 Pink Floyd - Slippery Guitar

16 Stavely Makepeace - Slippery Rock 70's

17 Phabo featuring Destin Conrad - Slippery

18 Migos featuring Gucci Mane - Slippery

19 Angie Stone - Slippery Shoes

20 Mood II Swing - The Slippery Track

Slide Guitar 2

There is something about a slide that makes everything feel like it happened a long time ago, even when it didn't. This pick covers a lot of ground - Delta gospel grime, desert highways, devotional drone, slow cinematic burn - and the slide guitar set holds together better than that list probably suggests. Also part of the instruments series, if that means anything to you. What is your favorite Slide Guitar song?

Slide Guitar 2

18 Mississippi Fred McDowell - You Got To Move

19 Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Like A Rock

20 Zac Brown Band - All Alright

21 Pink Floyd - High Hopes

22 Rory Gallagher - Want Ad Blues (AKA Wanted Blues)

23 George Thorogood And The Destroyers - Bad To The Bone

24 Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up Or Let Me Go

25 Derek Trucks Band - Sahib Teri Bandi-Maki Madni

26 Sonny Landreth - Congo Square

27 Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas

28 Richard Marx - Don't Mean Nothing

29 George Harrison - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)

30 Led Zeppelin - In My Time Of Dying

31 Chris Rea - Road To Hell

Ambient House

I followed Brian Eno down the ambient rabbit hole back when Music For Airports came out, then kept following it through the EG and Obscure catalogs for years. When house producers started going that direction it felt like two things I already loved finding each other. When Ricki started talking about clouds I was done. That is probably why I ended up caring about this whole pick series and the rest of the house stuff at all.

Ambient House

01 The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds

02 Global Communication - 1431

03 Leftfield - Melt (Remastered)

04 The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea  (Original 12' Version)

05 Aphex Twin - Xtal

06 808 State - Pacific State

07 Spacetime Continuum With Terence McKenna - Archaic Revival

08 Orbital - Belfast

09 Ultramarine - Hymn

Tech House

There is a school of thought that says you should be ready before you fire, and aim before that. I spent years not subscribing to it, which is how this whole house cleaning thing happened. You fire, you see where it lands, and that is how aim gets refined. This pick is in the same spirit. It went in the folder, it got pulled back out, some things got moved, and now it is what it is. The tech robot on the cover looks like he's figuring it out too.

Tech House

01 Oxia - Domino

02 Camelphat & Elderbrook - Cola (Club Mix)

03 Mark Knight & Funkagenda - Man With The Red Face (Original Club Mix)

04 DJ Polinate - Ready, Fire, Aim

05 Patrick Topping - Forget (Original Mix)

06 Fisher - Losing It

07 Shiba San - Okay (Original Mix)

08 Dubfire - Roadkill (Original Club Mix)

09 Green Velvet - Bigger Than Prince (Hot Since 82 Remix)

10 M.A.N.D.Y. Vs. Booka Shade - Body Language (Original Mix)

11 Azari & III - Hungry For The Power (Jamie Jones Ridge Street Remix)

Dave Alvin family

Most people have no idea that I am originally from Los Angeles, California. Although I did not know Dave Alvin or his brother or any of these associated bands in this pick from encounters in that area, it's hard to not cheer for that whole scene. I had a couple of times when I got to meet Dave Alvin (none in Southern California.) I did get to drink moonshine with him and a couple of the guys from X in Austin. That was probably the most fun, The other times were interviews. Anyway, this is not all of his projects and side projects, but it's a good sampling. And it does get the bulk of his most popular songs, if not always the version that was the most well known. It gives you something to search for. I put this in my Rockabilly section at home, but it's that and Roots and Americana all at once.

Dave Alvin family

01 Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - California's Burning

02 Dave Alvin - King Of California

03 Dave Alvin & Peter Case - Monday Morning Blues

04 Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Downey To Lubbock

05 Dave Alvin - Harlan County Line

06 Canned Heat with Dave Alvin - Blind Owl

07 Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin - All By Myself

08 Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin - World's In A Bad Condition

09 The Third Mind - Journey In Satchidananda

10 The Blasters - Dark Night

11 Knitters - The Call Of The Wreckin Ball

12 The Blasters - I'm Shakin'

13 Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Marie Marie

14 X - 4th Of July

15 The Blasters - So Long Baby Goodbye

16 Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men - Out In California

17 Los Lobos featuring Dave Alvin - Somewhere In Time

18 The Pleasure Barons - Take A Letter Maria

19 The Blasters - American Music

What's The Connection? Holy 2

The word sounds different depending on who's singing it, and this volume has more range than it probably should. Rock, funk, art-pop, doom metal, and a Japanese all-female shred band all checked in, and the Connection holds up better than you'd expect from a word that's been claimed by everyone from the devout to the profane. The first holy one set a low bar, so this one had nowhere to go but up. It must be late or early, because I hate what I wrote here. Hopefully the music is better than what I came up with here.

What's The Connection? Holy 2

21 Bad Company - Holy Water

22 Scorpions - Unholy Alliance

23 David Axelrod - Holy Thursday

24 Dio - Holy Diver

25 Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper - His Holy Modal Majesty

26 Tom Tom Club - Holy Water

27 Amy Winehouse - Some Unholy War

28 Headswim - Holy Ghost

29 Kiss - Unholy

30 Madonna - Holy Water

31 Prince - The Holy River

32 Sam Smith & Kim Petras - Unholy

33 Death In June - Holy Water

34 Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi - Holy Water

35 Lovebites - Holy War

Almost Gosple 2

Gospel's a wide tent and this one parks right at the edge of it. Some of these artists would probably argue they don't belong here, but they do. There's enough choir, enough conviction, and enough of that feeling you can't quite name to hold it all together. I had fun with this pick. I was looking around for a specific feel and sound that is almost gospel. Well, some of it probably is. If I thought it might fit in a tent with Debra Winger and Steve Martin, it was probably okay. If you know, you know. Faith optional, good ears required. Happy Birthday Mom.

Almost Gosple 2

19 Michael Jackson - Will You Be There

20 U2 featuring New Voices of Freedom - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

21 Dottie Peoples & The Peoples Choice Chorale - He's An On Time God

22 Sounds Of Blackness - Hold On (Change Is Comin')

23 Fred Hammond - No Weapon

24 Hezekiah Walker - Grateful

25 Kirk Franklin - Brighter Day

26 Ai Factory Song - Many Men

27 Lamp House - Because I Got High 

28 Replayd Music - Words I Saved For You

29 BeBe & CeCe Winans - Addictive Love

30 Lauren Daigle - You Say

31 Tobymac - Feel It

32 Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis

33 Solomon Ray - Goodbye Temptation

34 Travis Greene - Intentional

What's The Connection? Flowers 1

The old house had rose bushes out front that people would lean over the fence and just take. Ask first and fine, but just grab them and three dogs get sent out. They sounded dangerous. But boxers are just wiggle butts in reality. Anyway, help yourself to these flowers. No fence, no dogs. My mother's birthday is tomorrow, and there is no real Connection between stolen roses and barking boxers and me, except she loved all three and I thought of her the moment I started typing.

What's The Connection? Flowers 1

01 Fishbone - Black Flowers

02 Big Daddy - You Don't Bring Me Flowers

03 Chris Isaak - Black Flowers

04 Tom Petty - Wildflowers

05 Earth, Wind & Fire - Where Have All The Flowers Gone

06 Shriekback - Faded Flowers

07 Miley Cyrus - Flowers

08 Plasticland - Wallflowers

09 Chocolate Watch Band - Flowers

10 Budgie - Flowers In The Attic

11 The Cure - A Chain Of Flowers

12 Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers

13 Brad Paisley - Flowers

14 Knitters - Give Me My Flowers

15 Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers

16 Prince - Elephants & Flowers

17 The Move - Flowers In The Rain

18 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Feasting On The Flowers

19 Echo & The Bunnymen - Flowers

20 Drivin' N' Cryin' - Count The Flowers

What's The Connection? Operator

Good luck explaining the cover to anyone under forty. Human telephone operators are basically gone, and the kind who could work a room and talk a stranger into a drink are not far behind. Even operators in the picking up people in bars sense are not really a thing anymore, are they? The Connection we make nowadays is probably by text or swiping one direction or another. I am not out there, so I have no idea which direction. Maybe you can tell me. Nobody gets put on hold anymore? They're just ghosted?

What's The Connection? Operator

01 The The - Helpline Operator

02 Bryan Ferry - All Night Operator

03 The White Stripes - Hello Operator

04 Bleep - The Operator

05 Tony & Tyrone - Please Operator

06 Was (Not Was) - Hello Operator

07 Stan Ridgway - Operator Help Me

08 Sade - Smooth Operator

09 Grateful Dead - Operator

10 Mikey Dread - Operator's Choice

11 Buzzcocks - Operator's Manual

12 Talking Heads - Dream Operator

13 Midnight Star - Operator

14 Pete Shelley - Telephone Operator

15 Mary Wells - Operator

16 Jim Croce - Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)

17 Real McCoy - Operator

18 Manhattan Transfer - Operator

19 Buckethead - Stun Operator

20 Keith Hampshire - Big Time Operator

21 Zoot Money's Big Roll Band - Big Time Operator

Meat Loaf | Original Sin

Like yesterday this pick is imagining Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman actually made an album called Original Sin. In reality Steinman made it with a band he made that he called Pandora's Box. It was a decent album with a bunch of good songs. Several songs that Meat did later for his other albums. I left a couple of instrumentals and spoken word stuff that no one else did as Pandora's Box. There were a couple of covers, I put versions in that liked better. I remixed one of the covers. And Back To Hell. I put a couple of extra tracks in as a surprise and the ones I messed with in case you want the originals instead. You'll see. One extra track was the B-Side of a 12" (16 minutes long). Not for every day, but fun to listen to every now and then. I redid the cover. It's more in between styles of the original and what I imagine Meat Loaf would have used (Bat Out Of Hell influences).

Meat Loaf - Original Sin

01 Pandora's Box - The Invocation

02 Meat Loaf - Original Sin

03 Doors - Twentieth Century Fox (Original Sin Remix)

04 Love - My Little Red Book

04 Pandora's Box - Safe Sex

05 Meat Loaf - Good Girls Go To Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)

06 Meat Loaf - Back Into Hell-(Requiem Metal For) A Teenager In Love

07 Pandora's Box - I've Been Dreaming Up A Storm Lately

08 Meat Loaf & Marion Raven - It's All Coming Back To Me Now

09 Pandora's Box - The Opening Of The Box

10 Pandora's Box - The Want Ad

12 Meat Loaf - It Just Won't Quit

13 Pandora's Box - Pray Lewd

14 Meat Loaf - The Future Ain't What It Used To Be

Meat Loaf | Renegade Angel (Bad For Good)

In 1977 rock and roll was hit with a monster album by Meat Loaf (and Jim Steinman): Bat Out Of Hell. People wanted a followup album, but Meat Loaf was having issues (with his voice, his house, etc). Not important. But Steinman had an album pretty much written and was pressured to make the album. It took until 1981 to get released and he called it Bad For Good. It didn't do that badly, because people wanted it, but Steinman (and Rory Dodds and much of the same crew from Bat) wasn't Meat Loaf. Over the years after that album was released Meat recorded and released many of the songs on other albums. I always wondered what would the album sound like if they had released it together. This pick is as close as you will get. All the versions Meat did. Only two songs that he didn't quite do. One was The Storm (an instrumental) they did record an excerpt on Bat III. I put it here, but the Steinman album version is better, so it's here too. And the one song that never was redone: Dance In My Pants which kinda got panned and will remind you of another track in the first Bat. I put the Steinman version here. The Meat Loaf album was going to be called Renegade Angel, so that's what you get.

Meat Loaf | Renegade Angel (Bad For Good)

01 Meat Loaf - Seize The Night (The Storm Excerpt)

02 Jim Steinman - The Storm

03 Meat Loaf - Bad For Good

04 Meat Loaf - Wasted Youth

05 Meat Loaf - Lost Boys and Golden Girls

06 Meat Loaf featuring Jim Steinman - Stark Raving Love

07 Meat Loaf - Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire)

08 Meat Loaf - Surf's Up

09 Jim Steinman with Karla DeVito - Dance In My Pants

10 Meat Loaf - Left In The Dark

11 Meat Loaf - Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through

Ait

I really can't believe I am having two of these within days of each other after not having any for a while, but here you go another mixtape pick that belongs in the three letter category for me. More rock and roll and all of it around 92 bpm. These edits fit well together and are in camelot key order (I almost typed odor.) Oops! A couple of these were big hits, but much of it are secondary should be hits. None stink. No way whatsoever to be able to explain the title. I have no reasons but there is some rhyme in here. BTW, track 18 is not named properly (it is those guys, that's right) But it is also G3. Saw a version of G3 in concert. They were great, but it was a different version. It's always Joe, but the guys with him change.

Ait

01 Jefferson Starship - Love Too Good

02 Triumph - Fight the Good Fight

03 Spinal Tap - Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight

04 Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box

05 Digger and the Pussycats - Coming to Get You

06 J Geils Band - Freeze-Frame

07 Black Sabbath - War Pigs

08 AC-DC - Back In Black

09 Beatles - I'm Down

10 Living Colour - Cult Of Personality

11 Sweet - The 6-Teens

12 Switchfoot - Out Of Control

13 The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind

14 The James Gang - Funk # 49

15 Kneel Dung & Psychotic Pony - Paid For By A King

16 Scorpions - Every Minute Every Day

17 Maroon 5 - How

18 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson - My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama

19 Pat Travers - I La La Love You

Bachman Family Pick

It's not any surprise band. I'm sure most people know of most of these tracks on this pick. It has not much to do with anything except that when I was teen, I joined the Columbia records club. They sent you a certain number of albums and then you had to buy a few more more over a period of the next year. One of my choices of the original 11 was BTO. I recognized a song and thought I would take a chance. After that I ended up getting the Guess Who. I ended up being a fan. These are some of the tracks that ended up in the family pick. You get the father, the son, the brother. They're from Canada: a place I've never been to. Almost, but didn't make it.

Bachman Family Pick

01 Guess Who - Laughing

02 Guess Who - American Woman

03 Guess Who - These Eyes

04 Guess Who - No Time

05 Guess Who - Undun

06 Brave Belt - Crazy Arms, Crazy Eyes

07 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Let It Ride

08 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Hey You

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

10 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Lookin' Out For No. 1

11 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Takin' Care Of Business

12 Bachman Turner Overdrive - Blue Collar

13 Bachman Turner Overdrive - Gimme Your Money Please

14 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Roll On Down The Highway

15 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Take It Like A Man

16 Ironhorse - Sweet Lui-Louise

17 Union - Mainstreet U.S.A.

18 Randy Bachman - Prairie Town

19 Bachman & Turner - Rollin' Along

20 Tal Bachman - She's So High

hio

It's been a while since I have posted a three letter mixtape. As you know, I take a song or few and figure out how they work together. These are mostly all rock and roll songs and it started with Stevie and Common Ground both at about 107 bpm and in the key of 9A (camelot style). So every song on this pick is either 8B or 9A or 9B. Which means they all are key mixable. I sorted all the tracks by key and ascending BPM. All that means is that they should sound pretty good if you play it all in a row. I've listened now a few times and sure enough it does. Like usual the three letter title is random. Eyes closed and hit the keyboard.

hio

01 Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died

02 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Down On The Corner

03 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Takin' Care Of Business

04 Haim - Rock N Roll Rules

05 Scorpions - The Zoo

06 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

07 Darkside - Guitar Voodoo

08 Aerosmith with Run DMC - Walk This Way

09 Def Leppard - Rock Of Ages

10 Common Ground - This Is America

11 Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

12 Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

13 Eagles - One Of These Nights

14 Tubes - She's A Beauty

15 The Byrds - Eight Miles High

16 Guess Who - Undun

17 Foreigner - Feels Like the First Time

18 Oasis - Roll With It

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

Crimson Blaze

Today is Dog Mom's day, so be sure to celebrate! It's also my brother's birthday. In unrelated news, the wormhole covers keep coming, and so do the wormhole mixtapes - even if nobody out there has cracked what the titles mean yet. This one leans hard into the early 80s, which wasn't really a plan so much as where the tracks kept landing. There's some cold wave, some post-punk, a little industrial edge, and then some mutant disco sneaks in and it doesn't even feel wrong. The pick here is the mood more than the genre. It's that slightly dangerous, slightly danceable feeling that a certain era did really well. And yes, Grandpa got his groove in there too.

Crimson Blaze

01 Sole Patrol - Step On It

02 The Tardy Disconesians - Grandpa Got The Groove

03 Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam (Hithouse Mix)

04 Dominatrix - The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight

05 Mr Blackout Bean - Brewtal Awakening

06 Shriekback - My Spine (Is The Bass Line)

07 Voice Farm - Free Love

08 Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band - I'm An Indian, Too

09 Jaxine - Jack Me Free (Less Summer Mix)

10 The Cure - Hot Hot Hot!!!

11 Visage - Fade To Grey (12'' Version)

12 Depeche Mode - See You

13 Felix Da Housecat w-Miss Kittin - Silver Screen Shower Scene

14 Yello - The Race (Razormaid Remix)

15 ABC - Poison Arrow (US Jazz Mix)

Disco House

Some of this music I danced to when it was new and it hit just as hard then. There's a moment in every one of these tracks where the old disco source material punches through the production and reminds you why it never really went away. A pick that crosses decades and countries, some French, some not, all of it pointed at the same mirrorball. Somebody played Let's All Chant at a wedding in Belize once and I stood there thinking, is this disco? Is this House? Nobody knew. Nobody cared.

Disco House

01 Modjo - Chillin'

02 DJ Falcon - Honeymoon

03 Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Intro

04 Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (Extended Version)

05 Purple Disco Machine - Dished (Male Stripper Extended Mix)

06 The Supermen Lovers with Mani Hoffman - Starlight (Disco Edit)

07 Junior Jack - Thrill Me

08 Soldiers Of Twilight - Believe (Original Mix)

09 Armand Van Helden - My My My

10 Addy van der Zwan featuring The Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant (Original Mix)

11 Together - So Much Love To Give

Crossover House

Somebody stitched this pick together in a lab and threw the switch. These tracks have house DNA running through them. You can hear it. But they got loose, crossed over, and ended up on mainstream radio and MTV before the purists could stop them. A good house DJ could drop any of these without losing the room, but none of them really belong in a tidy category bin. Too pop for the deep heads, too groove-driven to dismiss. The villagers didn't know what to make of it. The dancefloor doesn't care. And these knockers are subwoofers.

Crossover House

01 Quando Quango - Love Tempo (Remix)

02 Inner City - Big Fun (Remix)

03 Adamski - Killer (extended version)

04 Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam (extended Version)

05 Eric Prydz - Call On Me

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

07 New Order - Blue Monday (Original 1983 12 Single Version)

08 MARRS - Pump Up the Volume (Original 1987 UK 12 Single Version)

09 Black Box - Ride On Time (extended version)

10 Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix)

11 Felix - Don't You Want Me (12'' Version)

12 Daft Punk - One More Time

Fun House

Put this one together because novelty and fun records are a no-brainer for me. Why is it that don't-play lists for DJs almost always have the same songs as must-play lists? Just depends on the person. I like to think that I'm the fun guy making the picks in the house and that's why it's no surprise that I love the don't-play as much as, if not better than the do-play. This is kinda both. The pick is one that proves the point. More than any of the others, this requires people telling other people what's fun to use and what's crap. So tell me some of yours. I'll look out.

Fun House

01 Mr Lee - Pump Up London

02 Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand

03 Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight)

04 Junior Jack - Stupidisco

05 Ron Carroll & Superfunk - Lucky Star

06 Sole Patrol - Step On It

07 Shakedown - At Night

08 Armand van Helden featuring Mita - Entra Mi Casa

09 Pat & Mick - Use It Up & Wear It Out (12'' Mix)

10 Room 5 - Make Luv 2005 (Milk & Sugar Club Mix)

11 S-Express - Theme from S-Express

12 Spiller - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)

13 Redfoo - Juicy Wiggle (Ralphi's Housed Dub)

14 Phats & Small - Turn Around

15 Cassius - Feeling For You

Ése 4

Yesterday I primed you for this pick, go back a day and get all the links for the earlier volumes. I always rail against Cinco De Mayo being a non-Mexican, Mexican holiday. It does exist, but it's not as big as it is in the United States. I am not going off today, today I will just join in and have a Modello Negra and some Pozole (one of my favorite soups). I can never make it quite right. My neighbor (Eva) from years back used to make the best Pozole ever! She tried to teach me. She lived across the street from us. Her kids played with mine and I just always got invited when she cooked Mexican food. Great family! Anyway more Dude Rock with a latin base.

Ése 4

56 Malo - Cafe

57 Mandrill - Mango Meat

58 Sapo - Can't Make It

59 Brownout - Con El Cuete

60 Seguida - Mambo Rock

61 Azteca - Can't Take The Funk Out Of Me

62 El Chicano - Brown-Eyed Girl

63 Macondo - Get It On Girl

64 Jungle Fire - Culebro

65 Ray Camacho & The Teardrops - Si Si Puede

66 Tierra - Sun God

67 Coke - Go Away

68 Santana - Give and Take

69 Ghetto Brothers - Girl From The Mountain

70 War - Me And Baby Brother

71 Chango - Chango

72 Massada - Arumbai

Ése 3

Well, to get ready for tomorrow, this is volume 3 of my latin dude pick Ése. It may have veered a little, but tomorrow I veer back. The idea is latin or chicano rock, songs a dude would like. You tell me do you think some dude (Chicano or not) would dig these songs? I think so. BTW, notice that I use the tilde over the "e" in some places and not the others, it's because it is a pain to alphabetize. No other reason. So, ese, enjoy the tracks.

Ése 3

38 Chicano Batman - Black Lipstick

39 Brownout - African Battle

40 Los Lonely Boys - Onda

41 Jungle Fire - Tropicoso

42 Ralph Robles - Come And Get It

43 Texas Tornados - Una Mas Cerveza

44 Azteca - Red Onions

45 Grupo Fantasma - Cumbia De Los Pajaritos

46 Boogaloo Assassins - No No No

47 Ozomatli - (Who Discovered) America

48 Luis Santi Y Su Conjunto - Los Feligreses

49 Mestizo Beat - Featherbed Lane

50 El Chicano - Viva Tirado

51 Thee Midniters - Chicano Power

52 Chango - Sacapa-Chango'

53 Sapo - Been Had

55 Joe Bataan - Subway Joe

House Foundation

Like Legos, none of this really matches and somehow it still locks together. Different sounds, different cities, different ideas of what this was supposed to be, but it all fits anyway. That’s this house pick, before anyone bothered sorting it out or deciding what went where. The pick holds as long as you leave it alone. Start pulling it apart and suddenly it’s everywhere, all over the floor, and I'm the idiot stepping on it barefoot. Reminds me of a song idea… I’ll have to make that next...

House Foundation

01 JM Silk - Music Is The Key (Original 12' House Key Mix)

02 Derrick May - Nude Photo

03 The Nightwriters - Let The Music Use You

04 Ralphi Rosario - You Used To Hold Me (Original Kenny's 12 Mix)

05 Mr. Lee - Get Busy

06 Cultural Vibe - Ma Foom Bey (Love Chant Version)

07 Raze - Jack The Groove (Hit Mix)

08 Juan Atkins - Night Drive (Thru-Babylon)

09 Jamie Principle - Baby Wants To Ride

10 Sterling Void - It's Alright (Original 12 House Mix)

11 Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life

12 Farley Jackmaster Funk - Jack'n The House

13 Cybotron - Clear

Crazy House

Is this crazy? Unlike Sheldon, my mom did not have me tested, but she probably should have. Turns out what I call a good time other people call crazy, and this house is full of it. The funny stuff, the rude stuff, the stuff that has no business being this danceable. Still part of the house cleaning, still my pick, still crazy after all these tracks. Luckily, I don't have Billy Joel standing outside my glass house right now.

Crazy House

01 Green Velvet - Flash (Original Mix)

02 Who Da Funk featuring Terra Deva - Sting Me Red (Clever) (Main Mix)

03 DJ Assault - Ass-N-Titties

04 A Homeboy, A Hippie & A Funki Dredd - Total Confusion (Heavenly Mix)

05 Armand Van Helden - Witch Doktor

06 The Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom Boom (UK Radio Edit)

07 20 Fingers featuring Gillette - Short Dick Man (Red Jerry Mix)

08 Pood Bhud Pflug - Duelling Techno

09 Screamin' Rachael - Fun With Bad Boys

10 Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat

11 Pat & Mick - Let's All Chant (Something For The Kids Mix)

12 The JAMs aka The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis

13 DJ Sneak - Fix My Sink (Original Club Mix)

14 Detroit Grand Pubahs - Sandwiches (Original 12 inch version)

Acid House

This is a redo of my acid house pick that I posted up here in 2023. Also part of my house cleaning efforts. You can see the old and the new at that link. So lots of overlap, but different order and I will have part 2 coming soon (for many of these). You can see that there is some new threads running through the covers. All different, but a connection. I took out a couple of songs that were good and actually got played at acid shows, but weren't really acid tracks. If it didn't have a prominent Roland 303, I got rid of it. Actually, I moved it to a better slot.

Acid House

01 808 State - Flow Coma (Afx Remix)

02 Bang The Party - Release Your Body (Mayday Mix)

03 Bam Bam - Where's Your Child

04 Baby Ford - Oochy Koochy

05 Phuture - Acid Trax

06 Code 3 - Code Of Acid

07 Abe Duque featuring Blake Baxter - Acid

08 Pierre's Pfantasy Club - Dream Girl (Wet Dream)

09 Wink - Higher State Of Consciousness

10 Charles B - Lack of Love

11 Armando - Land Of Confusion (Confusion Mix)

12 Psychic TV - Tune In (Turn On Thee Acid House)

13 Da Posse - In The Heat Of The Night (Acid Mix)

14 Humanoid - Stakker Humanoid