11:55 p.m. - July 24, 2007
Gone To Minnesota! - So Here's Summer Mix 22
First things first � I�m going to Minneapolis tomorrow (or today, depending on when you are reading this) and I�ll get back on Saturday. I then leave for New Orleans for a conference on Monday, so I may or may not post something until next Wednesday, so this will have to do. I hope you can deal.
Secondly � I probably will shut down ye olde MySpace site after I get back and direct some people that I want to keep in touch with to my other email addresses. I also need to have lunch with Designerchica a couple of times and the Queen of Pabst as well before I leave town for good.
Third � I realize that I haven�t learned you some states in a while. In due time, grasshoppers � I�ve been a bit busy.
Fourth � I think I�ll be a bit more nocturnal in my postings, as when I start the new job and then start going on the road I won�t have time for shenanigans while I�m learning how to consult the proper way and then actually practicing my craft.
With all of that � you know what�s coming next, right? What do I do when I need to get something up but have nothing really to say?
I post a mix, of course.
This is the most recent summer mix that�s in my iPod. I�ve tested it out driving through the hills and hollers of this fine area, and it�s a beauty, eh? It�s mix #22, and I assume that one day I�ll post all of �em. It may be summer 2010, but I�ll get to them all.
BTW, this mix has been �SANITIZED FOR YOUR PROTECTION!� Not really, but I just remembered that old SNL commercial with Dan Ackroyd, and wondered what ever happened to those little paper thingys in hotels that claimed that.
1. C�mon C�mon � The Von Bondies. For a town with not a lot going for it now, Detroit still rocks and rolls (and souls and grooves and raps, too), and here�s another band that proves that statement true. This is from their 2004 album Pawn Shoppe Heart and I just added it as my MySpace song. I hope they�re still together.
2. Here I Go Again � Whitesnake. Sometimes, you just gotta go there. I mean, really, you just gotta go there. Because like a drifter I was born to walk alone, well, unless I�m with Liz and the girls. This still sounds good in the car when the chorus comes in. I mean, why wouldn�t it? And you can fast forward to that part and skip the wimpy keyboardy intro thing.
3. Share The Land � The Guess Who. Those old hippies were a pie-eyed optimistic lot back in the day, weren�t they? Just read the words, man. Heavy. They�re going to give away the land, and we�ll all share it. Actually, Burton, we�ll all have to pay rent to Trump.
4. Walking In Your Footsteps � The Police. You know, I forget how good some of the �unknown� tracks by the Police really are. I think Sting needed Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland to reign him in, much like McCartney needed Lennon to slap him around a bit. I love the sound of this song � it�s so un-Police like but it really couldn�t be anyone else.
5. Two Little Hitlers � Elvis Costello. From the fantastic Armed Forces album, which is one you slackers should own (so get on it, now!). The backing track of this, with a tremendous bass line (as usual), solid and inventive drumming, and a perfect organ and piano compliment, cooks. Elvis himself is a pretty good guitarist in that he knows his limitations and plays exactly what he can play in the context of the song.
6. Portable Men�s Society � Guided By Voices. Mag Earwhig! was the album where Robert Pollard ditched the lo-fi aesthetic for the most part with GBV, and the rest of the albums sounded clean and pristine. They still had charms (and still had a bazillion songs on them) but the songs had a sonic crunch that suited the material. Pollard could really rock when he wanted to, and this one does.
7. We Love Us � The Association. With a title like that, you could say that the song is about a couple that�s pretty self-absorbed. It also could induce a diabetic coma, with lines like �She makes me feel like sunshine when she says my name�. The ostensible drummer of the group (Ted Bluechel) wrote and sang this. (I say ostensible because I the group only played the backing tracks on a few of their releases but did play live as a unit as they were credited.) But it�s light and carefree and is the aural equivalent of cotton candy. I like the blue kind.
8. A Day Without Me � U2. Nobody knew, back in 1980, that U2 would become who they are. But there were signs, as even then Bono could really carry a songs message with his vocals and the band had an idea of how they wanted to sound. The lyrics needed a bit of help (�I started a landslide with my ego�) but they�d get there!
9. Bitter Pill � Soul Asylum. Well, since I AM moving to Minnesota, I thought I should mix a Minnesota band in there! This was cut before they were famous. They were famous, you know.
10. Plume � Smashing Pumpkins. Pisces Iscariot was probably the first real sign that Billy Corgan was writing too many songs for his own good. This was a collection of B-sides and rarities that was chock full of goodness that should have replaced some of the mopier, moodier cuts on their records. Then, Corgan over-reached and instead of making concise musical statements just went all-out, and lost the magic. And from what I�ve read about the new �Pumpkins� album, it�s still lost. Calling James Iha! But while this rocks, the lyric �My boredom has outshone the sun� is really, well, bad. Not Sammy Hagar clich� bad, but bad in a pretentious arty metaphor way, which is almost as bad.
11. One Thing Leads To Another � The Fixx. I love watching Classic Albums on VH-1 Classic, because they have the artists and / or producers at the control panel of a studio with the tapes of the album, and they isolate certain tracks so you can just hear the kick drum, or the rhythm guitar, or solo guitar, or whatever. I�d love to isolate this song that way � especially the guitar riff. It sounds so clean and classic.
12. (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures � The Rezillos. I had a tragedy happen recently. I had completed my project of assigning original albums to almost every song in my iTunes, but what happened is that I was also doing that at the same time I was moving files over to the �music drive� and some were copied BEFORE I changed the albums. When iTunes upgraded last time, it read the ID tags from the hard drive, and well, about 600 songs that were changed reverted back to the way they were. So now I gotta do it all over again. This is one of �em (I changed it already) and it�s actually how I noticed the issue. The song? It�s great. Trust me.
13. Safe As Milk � Captain Beefheart. �I may be hungry but I sure ain�t weird� may be one of the most blatant untruths in music history. Well, it�s have untrue, because many times the band WAS hungry, but the Captain was weird. This is the version from the officially released Strictly Personal so the ending has all kinds of psychedelic nonsense going on. However, the song was weird even in its raw state (but great) so Beefheart�s complaints about the mix really is kind of sour grapes, I think.
14. Tomorrow�s Gonna Be Another Day � The Monkees. I think almost every song sung by Mickey Dolenz on their first record sounded the same. That�s not a complaint � just an observation.
15. Please Me, Tease Me � 1910 Fruitgum Company. Um, teasing ain�t pleasing. Just sayin�. You know why I like this song? It�s the �doo-doos� that open each verse. They�re infectious.
16. Shipoopi � Buddy Hackett (From The Music Man. Ok, ladies. Remember your dating pattern back in the day. Did you kiss on the first date? HUSSY! Did you kiss on the second date? ANYTHING BUT FUSSY! Did you wait until the third time around? YOU�RE HIS SHIPOOPI! Whatever the HELL that is? But you gotta love this!
17. Where�s Captain Kirk � Athletico Spizz 80. It�s fast, it�s loud, and it may be obnoxious. Of cours, I love it.
18. You�ll Never See My Face Again � The Bee Gees. The Bee Gees were more than just disco people, or lightweight singles artists. This is a pretty solid song from one of their more respected albums (Odessa) that actually split up the brothers for a while after it was recorded. Now if some of this stuff were just on iTunes.
19. Destination Unknown � Missing Persons. I always thought this was a bigger hit than what it really turned out to be (it only hit #42 � they never had a Top 40 single), since it was on MTV ALL THE FREAKIN� TIME! The telling sign of this band was that the three best songs on their debut album were already on their debut EP. Um�that�s probably not a good sign for career longevity, is it?
20. Talking Woody, Bob, Bruce & Dan Blues � Dan Bern. This is a parody of the old �talking blues� that most people know from Dylan albums (unless they�re old folkies) and it�s about Dan Bern invading the house of Springsteen to emulate the old story about Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. It�s a stitch and a hoot!
21. First Wave Intact � Secret Machines. From the opening drum salvo, this song just kicks serious ass. The sound is big and loud and huge. Loves!
Well, I�ll miss all y�all. I may be able to check in from time to time at the Inn of Comfort, by the port of air. Toodle-oo!
