Cocktail Hour 2

Part two of this pick. Cocktail hour is what I call it but it's appropriate for dinner or any other time you want some good music that you don't need to dance to. You can put it on for quiet moments like that or whatever. Go to sleep with this on in the background. That's nice, too. If you didn't get part one of this playlist go back a few days and find it.

Cocktail Hour 2

23 Jamie Cullum - What A Difference A Day Made

24 Sting - Englishman In New York

25 Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good

26 Laura Mvula - Green Garden

27 Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

28 George Michael - Brother Can You Spare A Dime

29 Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me

30 Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet

31 Natalie Cole - This Will Be

32 Robbie Williams - Beyond The Sea

33 Van Morrison - Moondance

34 Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer

35 John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

36 Rumer - Slow

37 Michael Buble - Moondance

38 Sade - By Your Side

39 Rebecca Ferguson - Nothing's Real But Love

40 Hozier - Take Me to Church

41 Ella Mai - Boo'd Up

Newfangled Again 6

We're in the home stretch on this pick series. Newfangled Again could be ongoing, but eventually I stopped and went on to other picks. Remember I said it comes in waves. Old is new and new is old. It's just the way life works. Every now and again we see something really new sounding and even that just seems new. My experience talking, which just means I'm old. For a while there some of these songs in this entire series were considered to be punk, I'd say not really. Some were considered new wave, again I'd say not really, but perhaps closer. Indie or power pop might be considered as a classification, but nah. It could be all of the above or it just could be rock. You decide. My decision still stands, It's:

Newfangled Again 6

110 Kinky - I Say Hey

111 Angels And Airwaves - The Adventure

112 Cute Is What We Aim For - The Curse Of Crowds

113 Dogs Die In Hot Cars - I Love You 'Cause I Have To

114 Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot

115 Silversun Pickups - Well Thought Out Twinkles

116 Hawthorne Heights - Saying Sorry

117 Bloc Party - Helicopter

118 TV On The Radio - Province

119 The Killers - When You Were Young

120 Hoodoo Gurus - I Want You Back

121 The Dears - Whites Only Party

122 The Smiths - This Charming Man

123 The Zutons - You Will You Won't

124 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down

125 Hellogoodbye - Here In Your Arms

126 Iggy and The Stooges - Search and Destroy

127 Ok Go - A Million Ways

128 Plan B - Let It Go

129 Rocco Deluca - Gift

130 Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away

131 The Feeling - Fill My Little World

Bad Bayou Voodoo Pick

Earlier, I posted some Zydeco music (Zydeco 1 and Zydeco 2) which you should pick up, but even though this pick is NOT zydeco, it comes from sort of the same place. But this was not inspired by those zydeco picks. I hate to admit it, but I have read all the books and watched the True Blood series. And I liked them. As I hang my head in shame, I can tell you that the books were better and worse at the same time. I liked the changes in the show and hated them at the same time. But they did a good job. Especially with the music. The Jace Everett opener "Bad Things" was a brilliant choice and THAT was the inspiration for this playlist. So of course there's Chris Isaak (two even) because they just fit. And all of it from Chickasaw Mudd Puppies to ZZ Top would fit in with the feeling. Have some wine, listen to the tracks and then binge.

Bad Bayou Voodoo

01 Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

02 CC Adcock - Y'All'd Think She'd Be Good 2 Me

03 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Born on the Bayou

04 Roy Orbison - Mean Woman Blues

05 Jace Everett - Bad Things

06 Chris Isaak - Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing

07 Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie

08 Dr John - Right Place, Wrong Time

09 Redbone - The Witch Queen of New Orleans

10 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Swamp Music

11 ZZ Top - My Head's In Mississippi

12 Mudcrutch - Lover Of The Bayou

13 Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby

14 Chickasaw Mudd Puppies - Skinny

15 The Cramps - Voodoo Idol

16 Deadbolt - Psychic Voodoo Doll

17 Elvis Presley - Baby Let's Play House

18 Little Esther - I'm a Bad Bad Girl

19 Bryan Ferry - I Put a Spell on You

20 Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign

21 Warren Storm - Lord, I Need Somebody Bad Tonight

22 The Neville Brothers - Hey Pocky Way

Newfangled Again 5

It keeps on coming. Hopefully you are enjoying the series of my Newfangled Again pick, because here you are again. The track numbers keep increasing and we have more new wave pop disguised as rock and punk. Whatever it is, it is older and newer tracks that I felt would mesh well together. There are a couple of less old (or not quite new) tracks on this one when I out it together, but it all works out in the end. Leave a comment about what you think of the series so far. try not to be curmudgeonly (like the guy on the cover). Notice that the cover backgrounds changed slightly after volume 4.

Newfangled Again 5

88 Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

89 The Feeling - Sewn

90 Soft Boys - I Got The Hots

91 Orson - No Tomorrow

92 REM - Radio Free Europe

93 Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead

94 The Automatic - You Shout You Shout You Shout You Shout

95 She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart

96 David Bowie - Panic In Detroit

97 The Strokes - You Only Live Once

98 Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon

99 Donnie Iris - Ah! Leah!

100 Bang! Bang! - Candystop

101 Barenaked Ladies - One Week

102 Citizen King - Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)

103 Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'em)

104 Less Than Jake - She's Gonna Break Soon

105 Razorlight - In The Morning

106 Echo & The Bunnymen - Do It Clean

107 Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

108 The Jam - The Modern World

109 The Rakes - 22 Grand Job

Blues Pick 2

This is part two of my convincing a rock and roll lover that he really likes the blues, too. Amazing how many people really like the blues after they get exposed to it. Used to have the largest free blues festival in my backyard (San Jose State University) and got to hear some amazing blues bands over the years. Even got to eat lunch with some of the greats, but I never would have if someone hadn't first introduced me to George Thorogood. Mixed in with ZZ Top and Triumph, I was hooked and started going to blues clubs and collecting some fun albums. So that's why this pick series came into being. Pass it on and get someone hooked.

Blues 2

01 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

02 Triumph - Suitcase Blues

03 Johnny -Guitar- Watson - Three Hours Past Midnight

04 Rolling Stones - Fancy Man Blues

05 Led Zeppelin - Dazed And Confused

06 Robert Johnson - Crossroads Blues

07 ZZ Top - Blue Jean Blues

08 Bessie Smith - Do Your Duty

09 Jimi Hendrix - Red House

10 The Kinks - Sittin' On My Sofa

11 The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Tuff Enuff

12 Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor

13 Otis Rush - I Can't Quit You Baby

14 Doors - Roadhouse Blues

15 John Lee Hooker - I'm Bad Like Jesse James

16 Junior Brown - Guit-Steel Blues

17 Junior Wells - Messin' With The Kid

18 Taj Mahal - Big Legged Mommas Are Back In Style

19 Van Halen - Ice Cream Man

20 Joe Walsh - All Night Laundry Mat Blues

Newfangled Again 4

The ongoing saga of the Newfangled Again pick continues with volume 4. By now you've got an idea of what the older and newer combinations of mostly new wave songs are sounding like, unless you happened upon this series right here, in which case, go find the others in the series. Anyway as an old punk rocker (again with a mohawk of sorts, I always wanted to be the grandpa with a mohawk), I picked these to show how everything changes and is still the same. These songs fit together just fine.

Newfangled Again 4

69 Snow Patrol - Run

70 Coldplay - Speed Of Sound

71 The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?

72 Television - Marquee Moon

73 Nerf Herder - Mr. Spock

74 Everclear - Volvo Soccer Driving Mom

75 Bowling For Soup - 1985

76 Buzzcocks - I Believe

77 Arctic Monkeys - Who The Fuck Are The Arctic Monkeys?

78 Supersuckers - Hey Ya!

79 Click 5 - Catch Your Wave

80 Cheap Trick - Surrender

81 American Hi-Fi - The Geeks Get The Girls

82 Cazals - Poor Innocent Boys

83 Joy Division - Transmission

84 Lit - My Own Worst Enemy

85 Lou Reed - I Wanna Be Black

86 The Strokes - Juicebox

87 Elvis Costello - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea

Blues 1

How do you introduce someone to the Blues if they say they only like Rock and Roll? Well first we know it's a lie, because rock is based on the blues, but you have to show a side. This pick is my answer. It's a two volume playlist of bluesy rock and some real blues. I had to put in some bands that were not considered blues and yet really play the blues at times. And I'm not talking fool around with the blues, c'mon, Led Zeppelin plays the blues disguising it as rock and roll. Jimi played a bunch, Eric Clapton etc. Obviously not a definitive blues collection, at all, but a nice entry.

Blues 1

01 John Lee Hooker - Crawlin' King Snake

02 Muddy Waters - I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man

03 Elmore James - Shake Your Money Maker

04 Howlin' Wolf - Back Door Man

05 John Mayall's Blues Breakers - Ramblin' On My Mind

06 Derek And The Dominos - Crossroads

07 Allman Brothers Band - Statesboro Blues

08 Big Mama Thronton - Hound Dog

09 Etta James - Spoonful

10 Koko Taylor - I Don't Care Who Knows

11 Frank Zappa - Road Ladies

12 Johnny Guitar Watson - Gangster Of Love

13 Led Zeppelin - I Can't Quit You Baby

14 Jimi Hendrix - Born Under A Bad Sign

15 Elvin Bishop - Come On In This House

16 Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Work Song

17 Rolling Stones - Mannish Boy

18 George Thorogood - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer