Weekly Mix # 53

We start our second year of mixes with an album that leads off with Boston and ends with Detroit. There are songs from as early as 1968 and as recent as 2006. Some of the songs a re rather creepy but I think you can manage. buy the songs and listen to them!

1. Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys

If your town has a rocking theme song it's cool but when it has several it's really awesome! People who love Boston really love it; it's territorial and heart felt.

2. Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo

This is kind of a weird song but totally cool. It's an 80s gem that could only exist in that decade.

3. California Uber Alles by Dead Kennedys

This song is relevant again because Jerry Brown is Governor of California again.

4. Power by Ice T

Before he was a main character on Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Ice T was a gangster rapper who had been known as a pimp and hustler in Los Angeles. That's entertainment!

5. Revolution by The Beatles

The boys from Liverpool rocked out a little on this one

6. Gun VS. Knife by Dan Sartain

Sounds kinda like old rock n roll but is not. Welcome Mr. Sartain

7. Molly's Chambers by Kings of Leon

Low-fi southern bull, radio filler

8. Blah Blah by Lady Sovereign

This rapper chick was part of some sort of British hip-hop movement that didn't make any waves this side of the Atlantic. She's got good flow though.

9. Got the Life by Korn

This is what Metal had become by the late 90s, funky and influenced by hip-hop, something that white music critics hated because they didn't grow up with rap and they thought music should have stopped when Kurt Cobain died.

10.Aphrodisiac by Bow Wow Wow

They did have another song besides I Want Candy. This one's just as cute and dirty.

11.Miss Freelove '69 by Hoodoo Gurus

If you remember this song you are awesome! If you've never heard of it you're like most people.

12.Bojangles by Pitbull

This is what Miami rap sounds like, not bad.

13.Typical Girls by The Slits

A German girl who wanted to be Jamaican fronted this group.

14.007 (Shanty Town) by Desmond Dekker

mellow island weather that probably means something I don't understand

15.Whoreshoppin' (Shit Goddam) by Eagles of Death Metal

More mediocre, joke rock from this band that will never be heard from again

16.Natural's Not In It by Gang of Four

80s people love this band so much, I guess this is one of the reasons. This tune showed up on the Marie Antoinette soundtrack.

17.Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

This album was supposed to be their great mega hit that brought them to everybody who was too freaked out by their gothiness. It was compared to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody so often it was an obvious PR move.

18.Harvest (Within You) by Clinic

Love these creepy guys! This song is hypnotic and droning.

19.God's Gonna Cut you Down y Johnny Cash

You have heard this song in endless car commercials and adds fro America. people like the chain gang labor sound in the beginning I guess.

20.Anything goes by Guns N' Roses

Getting back to the real rock! This song is an Axl Rose ditty that he brought to G n' R with him.

21.Those Shoes by Eagles

This song should be on, Hotel California but isn't. It's a creepy song about a girl who whores around

22.Underneath The Bunker by R.E.M.

what the hell is this short song about? I don't know.

23.Detroit Rock City by Kiss

Do you like to rock n' Roll? Well Alright!

Weekly Mix Tape #52

 What have we here? another mix, we've now completed a year's worth! BOOOSH! This bad boy is all over the map but has some nice links. If you can figure them out then you get a cookie!

1. Living in America by The Sounds

Definitely not a James brown cover. I wish I discovered this band back in the early part of the 00s rather than several years past.

2. Drive by R.E.M.

How do you follow up the biggest album of your career? You release a slow, creepy ballad with strings. This song came out when R.E.M. still mattered.

3. The Passenger by Iggy Pop

I liked the Siouxie Sioux cover more but Iggy's still the king.

4. Good Thing by Fine Young Cannibals

This band got so big in 89 and then broke up. This was a cool Mo Town tribute that resulted in their best tune.

5. Ever Fallen In Love by Nouvelle Vague

The little lounge act covers the Buzzcocks

6. Beetlebum by Blur

Was this song about addiction or making fun of Oasis? I still don't know

7. Help! by The Beatles

The beginning of this song is great and then it wusses down but whatever.

8. Champagne Supernova by Oasis

 More Beatles sounds by bands who made it big in the 90s! This song was huge for Oasis, creatig a third ht from What's the Story Morning Glory.

9. Permanent Vacation by Aerosmith

Getting clean for rockers usually results in a crappy product but for Aerosmith it was a rebirth in to millions and millions of dollars.

10.Dudly by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Kind of sounds like a lullaby

11. Bucket by Kings of Leon

This is the same band that blew up on their next album. Whoever produced them next was really ambitious. Anyway this song is little more than a put down song.

12.Wishing Well by Terence Trent D'arby

This song gave whistlers a lot of excitement. D'Arby was supposed to be the next great R&B performer but it was said his ego got in the way.

13.Tusk by Clinic

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who likes this band or has even heard of them. This songs rocks more than most of their music.

14.Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega & DNA

So a DJ took an a capella song and added beats and a few synth hits; it's great.

15.Reptilia by The Strokes

This is a disappointing follow up to the Strokes first Album but it was still alright.

16.I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News) by Eagles of Death metal

If nothing else it's funny

17.This train Don't stop There Anymore by Elton John

If you told me that I would be a fan of an Elton John song that came out after 1983 I would be skeptical but this song is like something that was dropped by the side of the yellow brick road.

The video is pretty cool too. Justin Timberlake makes a convincing Elton and it speaks volumes to his entertainment savvy

18.Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan

Is this my favorite Dylan song? I guess so.

19.Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson

 Ladies and gentlemen I give you the birth of the blues and a blues legend.

20.Judas Rising by Judas Priest

I am constantly stunned that song came out in 1976; it is so ferocious and huge it could go head to head with anything put out today.

21. Pigs In Zen by Jane's Addiction

What is this song about?  No clue but it has a great part at the end that hip rocker kids used to use as their answering machine's outgoing message.

Smell The Nationalism

It is in the air, a scent that America needs to rebound. It is similar to the craziness that swirled in the early 80s when Reagan suddenly became the greatest American ever! Now he's revered as a G.O.P. deity because the last two Republican presidents were weaselly, corrupt and overtly obsessed with middle eastern oil. When Clinton dies he will get the Reagan treatment by the Dems becoming the new JFK.
If you watch TV you will see more pro American business advertising. This 4th of July is going to be nuts. I don't think it's coincidence that one of this year's big summer movies is Captain America. (how is this not being released on July Fourth?) We are going to be bombarded with USA, so get on board or get out!

Weekly Mix Tape pt 50

Forged in 2006 this mix was all over the map. There are good time oldies and the biggest song around at the time. enjoy I think I started to attempt to put more emphases on current material in this mix but I don't totally recall.

1. Knights of Cydonia by Muse
The beginning of this song reminds me of the Pixies last album but then Muse get back to their Radiohead/Queen comfort Zone.
2. Reptile by The Church
In High School this song had a place on my favorites list even more than The Church's bigger hit Under The Milkyway
3. Moving In Stereo by The Cars
You may remember this song from commercials and Fast Times at Ridgemont High
4. Fascination Street by The Cure
This is a sonic attack by broodingest band in the world. This was off The Cure's American, Commercial breakthrough album Disintegration which is an epically depressing piece of work.
5. Illuminated by The 360's
Boston's very own grunge band
6. Song With A Mission The Sounds
Catchy and synthy, the eighties never died in Viking country.
7. Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
 Tough  L.A. girls . . . L.A. Girls trying to be tough. Without them we never would have Joan Jett or Lita Ford; go watch the movie it's worth it.
8. Celebrity Skin by Hole
Hole's follow up to Live Through This was Celebrity Skin, Courtney Love didn't write the songs for either of those albums.
9. Crazy by Gnarles Barkley
They wone tons of grammy's for this as it was a huge, huge song for this band. You might categorize them as one hit wonders but both DJ Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green have done other successful things. Even The Racanteurs played this song live.
10.Replacement Man by Dan Sartain
Welcome Mr. Sartain and his rockabilly guitar to the Mix land.
11.Too Drunk to Fuck by Dead Kennedys
Infamous and hilarious
12.Big Pimpin' by Jay-Z & UGK
Please pay your respects to Jahovah
13.Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
I don't like this song but I wanted something pop oriented and current here.
14.Spin The Black Circle by Pearl Jam
With Pearl Jam's return that year I got excited for older songs of theirs; this one's from Vitology.
15.Victrola by Veruca Salt
From the girls who gave you The Seether
16.Public Warning by Lady Sovereign
The biggest midget in the game, she gor some flack for putting on a pour live shows but this track is cool; this is her first appearance.
17.Young Turks by Rod Stewart
Disco tempted everyone, even the Scottish.
18.Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones
This was once my favorite tones song
19.Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
The band's biggest hit? Maybe that was Manic Monday
20.Everybody Wants You by Damone
A band who cover's Billy Squire is brave
21.Don't Change by INXS
This was the song that INXS ended their concerts with

So over the past few days the rest of the country has been pounded with snow fall that has seriously crippled many portions of the infrastructure and caused innumerable problems for the folks who had to deal with it. I fell bad for them, I understand their plight, I get it, I really do. The thing is I was born and raised in Boston where the winters were so cold and dry that my lip would crack open and when there was a snow storm it was comparable to the worst there has been in this country. I remember the wind knocking down street signs and cars disappearing into the white out. The aftermath was definitely a winter wonderland/nightmare as people lost power as well as mobility. In my neighborhood in the town of Summerville the kids built tunnels and a mountain of snow with the interior hollowed out which I was dropped into and laughed at as I begged to be pulled out of. I remember it being about ten feet deep but more than likely it was half that; either way the thought of being stuck in that pit made me cry like a  . . . well, like a five year old.

Later in life there was another huge blizzard in 1994 which I was foolhardy enough to head out into with a friend of mine; we thought it would be fun. Truth was that it actually was fun as we helped people move their cars and got Mexican food all on the way to a friend's place who thought that would be a good night for a party. Sometime around midnight a warm front moved in with a lightning bolt and it's thunder clap, the air warmed up and things began to melt; it was truly some of that strange New England weather that has been talked about to death.
Anyway, the truth is after that winter I made up my mind to make new start and now I just laugh and laugh and laugh at all the pour suckers stuck in the snow.

Weekly Mix tap 49

Let's here it for 2006! I recall it being a darn good year for some thijngs and crumby year for other things. This mix was birthed that year but there are only a few songs that represent it.

1. I Only Want You by Eagles of Death Metal

The almost rocked but there was something a little too silly about them.

2. Yankee Rose by David Lee Roth

This was it for Diamond Dave, after this song he went flaccid.

3. Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show

This one goes out to all you freaks! One of my favorite show tunes.

4. Rock n' Roll by The Sounds

Scandinavian pop rock

5. Da Ya Think I' Sexy? by Rod Stewart

See even Rod, "the bod" was self conscious

6. My Humps by Black Eyed Peas

Little children sang this song; that's how huge it was! So wrong . . .

7. If You Could Read My Mind by Gorden Lightfoot

This song reminds me of introspective moments with dude friends

8. I Put A Spell On You by Creedence Clearwater Revival

This is my favorite version of this song

9. Stir It Up by Bob Marley & The Wailers

I have nothing to say about ragae

10.Everybody's Talkin' by Harry Nilsson

Yup, this one's from Midnight Cowboy

11.I Get Along by The Libertines

I think this qualifies as a little ditty

12.Y Control by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

chicks love this song

13.I Still Want you by the Del Feugos

Troubled hearts by the Boston Harbor

14.Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved me by Grant Lee Phillips

So sad and it goes well after another sad song. GLF covered the Smiths in a more personal tone here.

15.Rain On The Scarecrow by John Mellencamp

Give it up for Farm Aid

16.Painkiller by Judas Priest

A rocker about a motorcycle!

17.Run To The Hills by Iron Maiden

If you know one iron Maiden song this is probably it. the English really sick it to the American settlers in this one. Let's welcome them to my world of mixes!

18.Assassin by Muse

Really channeling Queen in this one

19. All Apologies by Nirvana

What else can I say?

White, Out!

So the best band of the 00s is done. The White Stripes have officially called it quits!
In a decade of a lot of bullshit music the best band was a throw back to electric blues with hits like My Doorbell, Seven Nation Army, Fell In Love With A Girl and Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground. The duo made up of former husband and wife Jack and Meg White have left behind a cool that so many bands don't as they plod along trying to maintain their inertia but can't. This is easy though when you're jack white and have two other bands (Dead Weather, The Raconteurs) to keep you energized.
Anyway there will always be a place in my heart for this band and when they reunite in a few years i will be happy to splurge for the tickets.