Once Upon A Time 1

I had been wanting to do this pick for a long time. It's all about songs that tell a story. Now many, many songs tell a story, you might say, but these are really stories. And I guarantee that there will be a few songs that you do not like, and some that you think should've been in this series, but I didn't pick it. Sorry. In advance I will say it: Sorry. There just are too many and after all, these are my picks. If want to add some, add them in the comments section below. But remember a couple of things: This is just volume one of many. And two, I made add your suggestions on a later version. Obviously, the biggest story songs of all time have to include Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant Massacree, but I am hard pressed to keep any of these songs out of the first volume. But hard to beat that as the first of the stories.

Once Upon A Time 1

01 Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant Massacree

02 Don McLean - American Pie

03 Coven - One Tin Soldier The Legend Of Billy Jack

04 Vicki Lawrence - The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

05 Billy Joel - Piano Man

06 Dickey Lee - Patches

07 Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun

08 Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue

09 Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

10 Marty Robbins - El Paso

11 Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto

12 Beatles - She's Leaving Home

13 Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe

14 Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley P.T.A.

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

16 Harry Chapin - Cats In The Cradle

Baroque Pop 2

This is part two of the Baroque Pop pick. More Beatles. More Beach Boys. More Zombies. More Left Banke. More Turtles. More Love. And some newer bands as well. It didn't just end in the 60's. I told you I would tell you about the cover. Originally, I got a classical music cassette from an old girlfriend. She played violin.  And she also liked some very cool music. Made some cool cassettes for each other and this one was called Go For Baroque. All baroque music of course. And I thought of that cassette when I made this one. So part of the cover is a scan of that cassette. Part is all digital design of mine. But the idea of notes and the words over it were hers. I always did like it. Coloring scheme stayed the same. Some day I will track down all of the original classical music she used (I have all the songs, but not all of the same conductors) and redo that one and post it up here. But that isn't now. Now is time to comment and leave your favorite Baroque Pop songs for me below.

Baroque Pop 2

25 Stranglers - Golden brown

26 Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

27 Rolling Stones - Lady Jane

28 Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair-Canticle

29 Beatles - Yesterday

30 The Mamas And The Papas - Monday, Monday

31 Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale

32 The Left Banke - Pretty Ballerina

33 Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

34 Turtles - Happy Together

35 Beach Boys - Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)

36 Stone Poneys - Different Drum

37 Van Dyke Parks - Palm Desert

38 The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin

39 The Ronettes - Be My Baby

40 The Zombies - She's Not There

41 Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

42 Radiohead - Climbing Up The Walls

Baroque Pop 1

I am not sure what song inspired me to make this pick, but I have loved this genre since before I knew it was a genre. I just knew I liked these songs. So most of these two volumes is just my favorites mixed in with some of the best of the genre according to multiple lists all over the internet, a couple of books and a magazine article on Baroque Pop. I love all these artists, although I might not have picked these exact songs as my very favorites, they are great examples of the genre. Part two will be tomorrow and I will tell you about the cover.

Baroque Pop 1

01 Honeybus - I Can't Let Maggie Go

02 Beatles - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

03 Roy Orbison - Crying

04 Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning

05 Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

06 Glen Campbell - Guess I'm Dumb

07 Love - Orange Skies

08 Bee Gees - I Close My Eyes (Stereo)

09 Walker Brothers - Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

10 Beach Boys - God Only Knows

11 The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee

12 Harmony Grass - What A Groovy Day

13 The Association - Songs In The Wind

14 Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Mrs. Stately's Garden

15 Turtles - Elenore

16 Nancy Sinatra - Sand

17 Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By

18 Beatles - Eleanor Rigby

19 The Zombies - Care Of Cell 44

20 The Cyrkle - Please Don't Ever Leave Me

21 Harpers Bizarre - Leaving On A Jet Plane

22 Emitt Rhodes - Come Ride, Come Ride

23 The Orange Bicycle - Last Cloud Home

24 Love - Alone Again Or

What's The Connection? Church

Appropriate for a Sunday this connection is all songs with Church in the title. Been wanting to do this one for awhile. So many church songs. I already had done Amen, Angels, Jesus etc. So it was about time. The cover is a picture of my old church in the Bay Area. Miss the people there. Anyway Hozier had been playing at my house and it inspired me again to start this pick up. It wouldn't be WTC? if there wasn't some songs that you may not know. And yes, I really do listen to and own some Jo Stafford (with and without Gordon Macrae) and enjoy her work especially. I do think it is nice right next to Elvis Costello, too. So enjoy this in your car to or from church on any Sunday (or whenever your services are.)

What's The Connection? Church

01 Fall Out Boy - Church

02 Dolly Parton - Church In The Wildwood

03 The Willows - Church Bells May Ring

04 Steve Vai - Building the Church

05 Brian Setzer Orchestra - Get Me To The Church On Time

06 Sinead O' Connor - Take Me To Church

07 Little Big Town - Little White Church

08 Elvis Costello - Church Underground

09 Jo Stafford & Gordon Macrae - The Little Old Church Near Leichester Square

10 Hozier - Take Me To Church

11 Drive-By Truckers - Late for Church

12 David Bowie - Sex and The Church

13 Tim Mcgraw - Neon Church

14 Culture Club - Church Of The Poison Mind

15 The Waterboys - Church Not Made With Hands

16 Xtc - Church Of Women

17 Jason Aldean - Church Pew Or Bar Stool

18 Christian Death - Church Of No Return

19 Lyle Lovett - Church

20 Maren Morris - My Church

More Smoke Again

This is another one of those CD picks I made for a buddy of mine. We went to so many concerts together. If you want to know about the More Smoke reference, look at the explanation on yesterday's post. Some of the bands that we saw, include David Bowie, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono (he went under protest, but we got to meet her and Sean), Jonathan Richman, Joe Pop-O-Pie, Roxy Music, Nina Hagen, Kraftwerk, Tones On Tail and hundreds more. Always a good show and always a great time. On the way we'd usually listen to the new album or whatever they were promoting and later, who knew. This was just a follow up pick to the last one. I can't remember who was coming soon then. Might have been Shonen Knife, or maybe Zappa Plays Zappa. or Lost Sounds. So long ago, I don't remember which one for sure.

More Smoke Again

01 Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso

02 Beck - Loser

03 Radiohead - Creep

04 The Humans - Get You Tonight

05 Fabulous Poodles - Mirror Star

06 The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet

07 The Strokes - Hard To Explain

08 David Bowie - Fly

09 Shonen Knife - Mosquitoes

10 Lost Sounds - Energy Drink & The Long Walk Home

11 The Faint - Agenda Suicide

12 Wall Of Voodoo - The Good The Bad & The Ugly-Hang 'Em High

13 Rosenkrantz, Almond, Nina Hagen - Total Eclipse

14 Pink Coffee - Another Brick In The Wall

15 Kraftwerk - Mega Mix

17 Thee Headcoatees - Come Into My Mouth

18 Dweezil Zappa - Dick Cinnamon's Office

More Smoke

My friend Phil and I would often go to concerts in the Bay Area. We have similar tastes in some music. We disagreed on a few things, but usually we were pretty much on the same wave length. Although he would rather listen to old Velvet Underground or Brian Eno rather than listen to new stuff if he had the choice, he was open to new music every now and again. When we drove to concerts, many times I would drive and since I had a CD player in my car, I would make a CD that had songs that I figured he would like if he heard them. Anyway one day I had tickets to see a band that he did not know (My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult). We had a drive from San Jose to the I-Beam in San Francisco and I put together this pick to play on the drive. A few bands he knew (but not these songs) and some he didn't know. I ended up naming it More Smoke, because the I-Beam show had so much smoke that you could barely see the band. I won't even talk about drunken-ness and Back Seat Betty's, but that happened.

More Smoke

01 Red Zone - News From The Red Zone

02 Frank Zappa - Variations On The Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression

04 The Sisters Of Mercy - Emma

05 Pop -O- Pies - Fascists Eat Donuts

06 Nina Hagen - Hare Krishna

09 Devo - Mongoloid

10 Yoko Ono - Why

11 Quiet Sun - Mummy Was An Asteroid, Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil

12 Wall Of Voodoo - Dance You Fuckers

13 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Kooler Than Jesus

14 Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Of

I've Been Waiting For Tomorrow All Of My Life 2

Okay, this is side two of this pick (an old cassette brought back to life) of stuff I was listening to feverishly around this time. Yes, another Frankie song (and better than the hit). A double, because they were so good. This song really got me to start looking at other ZTT albums. I already loved Art Of Noise, but had figured that sound to be only for them, but now realized that Trevor Horn had a lot to do with the sound. Two Madonna songs, Rockwell instead of Prince and, of course, Romeo Void who was too cool. I think originally Lucky Star was on side 1 with a shorter version of Relax, but when it moved to newer formats, I extended Frankie (because I could and it was great) and Madonna moved over.

I've Been Waiting For Tomorrow All Of My Life 2

09 Madonna - Lucky Star

10 Soft Cell - Torch (Extended Version)

11 Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

12 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes (Annihilation Mix)

13 Madonna - Borderline

14 Romeo Void (extended) - A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)

15 Fixx - Are We Ourselves

16 Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go