No One Told Me

But I will tell you. I was re-upping some old picks and re-listened to the Zombies Family Pick and that led me to Santana, some new Sweet and some less old Max Webster. I decided to fill it in with a bunch of classic rock and one (and a half?) disco songs (just for fun). The title, of course, from the Zombies song lyrics, although I used the Santana version here. Starz and Colosseum have the only older tracks that weren't hits, but they probably should have been, if they weren't on some sort of chart. Even though it's not the classic lineup (at all) the Sweet track is actually pretty good, as is most of the rest of the album.

No One Told Me

01 Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion

02 Golden Earring - Radar Love

03 Max Webster - Let Go The Line

04 Colosseum - The Kettle

05 Babys - Everytime I Think Of You

06 Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (Disco Mix Extended Edit)

07 Van Halen - Hot For Teacher

08 Deep Purple - Woman From Tokyo

09 Jefferson Starship - Ride the Tiger

10 Santana - She's Not There

11 Who - I Can See For Miles

12 Queen - Keep Yourself Alive

13 Starz - Cherry Baby

14 Electric Light Orchestra - Turn to Stone

15 Sweet - Fire In My Heart

16 Doobie Brothers - China Grove

17 Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf

18 AC-DC - Whole Lotta Rosie

Get No Respect

I thought of Rodney Dangerfield when I was making this pick of under-rated songs. Yes it's got lots of variety in genres, but almost all of them didn't top charts and maybe should have. Out of all these, which is your favorite? Do you think any don't belong? We could all come up with a list like this, I bet. There are a couple of tracks on here that could easily be substituted by other tracks in that artist's catalogue, and some that have much more popular tracks.

Get No Respect

01 Jimmy Campbell - Half Baked

02 Freddie King - Going Down

03 Leon Russell - Shoot Out On The Plantation

04 Fela Kuti - Water No Get Enemy

05 Hudson-Ford - Pick Up the Pieces

06 Parliament - Do That Stuff

07 Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get It Right

08 Terry Callier - You Goin' Miss Your Candyman

09 Bobby Charles - I Must Be In A Good Place Now

10 Can - Vitamin C

11 Dr. John - Such A Night

12 Idris Muhammad - Could Heaven Ever Be Like This

13 Buchanan Brothers - Son Of A Lovin' Man

14 Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do

15 Swamp Dogg - Synthetic World

16 Distractions - Time Goes By So Slow

17 Ann Peebles - Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness

18 Dion - Only You Know

What's The Connection? Shaker 1

Here's a connection that is sort of like the ones from a couple of days ago, but instead of shaking it, we're the shakers. Sometimes, here, it means your booty and sometimes the earth. Every now and again it's about people doing things, but mostly it's about something on your body moving, or earthquakes. Coming from California I don't have an irrational fear of earthquakes (instead I have an irrational fear of tornados or hail.) Hopefully not about any booty part shaking. I tend to like that. What shaker song do you like best?

What's The Connection? Shaker 1

01 Spirit - Earth Shaker

02 Lancasters - Earthshaker

03 Anubian Lights - MutaShaker (Thank You)

04 Spyro Gyra - Shaker Song

05 Yo La Tengo - Shaker

06 Yesterday And Today - Earthshaker

07 Oasis - Shakermaker (Remastered)

08 Triumph - Little Texas Shaker

09 Ying Yang Twins - Salt Shaker

10 Wreckx-N-Effect - Rump Shaker

11 Midnight Oil - Shakers and Movers

12 James Gallagher - Ford And Shaker

13 Time - Shaker Shake

14 Star Quad - Booty Shaker (DJ Red Greg Edit)

15 Cabaret Voltaire - Theme from Earthshaker

16 Foghat - Motel Shaker

17 Twilight Circus Dub Sound System - Floorshaker

18 The Clash - Movers And Shakers

19 Bill Nelson - Shaker

20 Dr. Feelgood - Sugar Shaker

Ése 2

The previous Ése pick (volume one of Ese is here) tells the story of how it came to be. Basically since this is National Taco day I figured I would finally post this second volume. It's got two of the same bands from volume one, but the rest are different. Still many more to add, I'm sure. Mostly this is Chicano based rock and roll although stuff like Phil Manzanera is much more Cuban based. Let's call it Latin based rock. A bunch of  Doug Sahm who was a big supporter and champion of this genre. A couple of California based bands who really rock including Dr. Loco and Mestizo Beat (one of the bands on volume one, too). Dude, I think you will like this continuation.

Ése 2

18 Macondo - Almendra

19 Vargas Blues Band - Del Sur

20 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - Mal Bicho

21 Lafayette Afro-Rock Band - Darkest Light

22 Douglas Sahm - Chicano

23 Los Lonely Boys - Born On The Bayou

24 Ice - Too Little Room

25 Mestizo Beat - El Camino Del Caballo

26 Ray Barretto - A Deeper Shade Of Soul

27 Texas Tornados - Guacamole

28 Chango - Fire Over Water

29 Willie Bobo - Spanish Grease

30 Joe Bataan - Latin Strut

31 Sir Douglas Quintet - Mendocino

32 Los Mocosos - Soy Callejero

33 Phil Manzanera - Lowrider

34 Los Super Seven - Rio De Tenampa

35 Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeño Band - I Got You (I Feel Chigon)

36 Thee Midniters - Whittier Blvd.

37 Los Lobos - Don't Worry Baby

Excuse Me

In my head this pick title sounds like Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd saying it. You can hear it in your head. Nothing on here to suggest Saturday Night. It has more to do with Emitt Rhodes than anything else. A bunch of songs that needed another chance, so here it is. You can give it to them. Newer Doobies, 80's Olivia and 70's Taste Of Honey that I saw performing this song live on some disco special. Nico doing Jackson Browne is nice, as is Big Star with their song that did get another chance in the 80's with the Bangles.

Excuse Me

01 B.B. Blunder - Sticky Living!

02 Doobie Brothers - Learn To Let Go

03 Olivia Newton-John - Totally Hot

04 Camille Yarbrough - Take Yo' Praise

05 Nico - These Days

06 Big Star - September Gurls

07 Bobby Womack - There's One Thing That Beats Failing

08 Dictators - The Next Big Thing

09 Demis Roussos - I Dig You

10 Taste of Sugar - The Golden Shower (Extended)

11 Emitt Rhodes - Pardon Me

12 Witch - Introduction

13 A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie (12'' Version)

14 A Certain Ratio - Do the Du

15 Arthur Russell - I Couldn't Say It to Your Face

16 Giorgio Moroder - Chase

17 Jo Mama - Love'll Get You High

18 Valerie Carter - Ooh Child

19 Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - The Night

20 Thin Lizzy - Showdown

GPS's

This mixtape pick is mostly Garage, Psychedelic, Surf, Ska and Shag. Therefore the GP and the S's in the title. It's your guide (get it?) to some deep cuts mixed in with some tracks you might already know. A couple of Psychedelic tracks from the 80's paisley resurgence. See my Paisley Picks for a few more. A couple of bands I want to highlight here. I just like the Surfrajettes (too cool.) I keep thinking that everyone, by now, has heard Fishbone (one of my favorite ska bands). I definitely have seen them live more than most. So great! The Cramps, Agent Orange and Lounge Lizards are so different and yet so similarly amazing. Lots of other bands you may have heard, but playing some lesser known tracks of each. And a couple of bands, you may never have heard, but now you can search out some of their other stuff.

GPS's

01 The Thought - I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

02 Agent Orange - I Kill Spies

03 The Cramps - I'm Cramped

04 The Surfrajettes - Banzai Pipeline

05 Lounge Lizards - Bob The Bob

06 Prince Buster - Madness

07 Donna Loren - So, Do The Zonk

08 Perfect Thyroid - Hawaii 5-0

09 Anthony Mazeres et Kadjoo - Psychedelic Soul

10 Fugitives - Freeway

11 The Embers - Brenda

12 Brent J. Cooper - Sixty Seconds to What

13 David Axelrod - Urizen

14 The Fire Escape - Journeys End

15 Smoke - High In A Room

16 The Fuzztones - Strychnine

17 Jan & Dean - Hawaii (Stereo Mix)

18 Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Spontaneous Apple Creation

19 Fishbone -  (Modern Industry)

21 Electric Prunes - Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

22 Vampires - Clap Trap

23 The Toasters - Secret Agent Man

24 The Wildebeests - 12XU

25 Surf Sluts - Dragster

26 George Guzman - Banana Freak Out

27 Madness - Baggy Trousers

28 Atlantics - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

29 Billy J. Kramer And The Dakotas - Chinese Girl

What's The Connection? Shake It 1

This connection follows the Shake one from a bit ago. And there are a couple of doubles from that one on here, but also it has a few more Shake It songs that I wish I could have fit on here. You'll just have to add them separately (Cars, Luke Bryan, Pitbull). But this one is pretty good even without those few. Just make sure to do what it says and Shake It while you listen. Hands, booty or just a drink. Which of these things to shake are your favorites? What's missing?

What's The Connection? Shake It 1

01 Ringo Starr - Shake It Up

02 John Lee Hooker - Shake It Baby

03 Santana - Shake It

04 Limbomaniacs - Shake It

05 Blow Monkeys - Shake It Up

06 Florence And The Machine - Shake It Out

07 Clifton Chenier - Shake It, Don't Break It.

08 Groundhogs - Shake It

09 El Coco - Shake It Down

10 David Bowie - Shake It

11 Cheryl Lynn - Shake It Up Tonight

12 War - Shake It Down

13 Funkadelic - Can't Shake It Loose

14 Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder - Shake It Up

15 New Order - Shake It Up

16 Dolphin Boy - Shake It Loose

17 Mariah Carey - Shake It Off

18 Ryan Adams - Shake It Off

19 Taylor Swift - Shake It Off