#0103 – Run ’93

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Fall of 1993. I was beginning my second year at my third university, living at home, working for minimum wage at a used CD shop, driving my beat-to-hell 1984 black Ford Thunderbird. No girlfriend, my buddy Adam’s old driver’s license so I had a fake ID and I was living the high life.
This is what I was listening to on some AM station in Milwaukee back then. Maybe it was WLZR-AM?
  1. Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Iron Lion Zion” – 06:12
  2. Belly – “Feed the Tree” – 03:19
  3. Smashing Pumpkins – “Disarm” – 02:56
  4. Pearl Jam – “Rearviewmirror” – 04:34
  5. The Cranberries – “Dreams” – 04:23
  6. Radiohead – “Stop Whispering” – 05:07
  7. Pet Shop Boys – “Can You Forgive Her?” – 03:44
  8. Prince – “17 Days” – 05:14
  9. Big Country – “The One I Love” – 04:55
  10. Jellyfish – “The Ghost At Number One” – 03:25
  11. The Breeders – “Cannonball” – 03:23
  12. Dinosaur Jr. – “Start Choppin” – 05:20
  13. Tears for Fears – “Break It Down Again” – 04:11
  14. Ub40 – “Higher Ground” – 03:43
  15. Stereo MC’s – “Connected” – 04:28
  16. A Tribe Called Quest – “Electric Relaxation” – 03:11
  17. American Music Club – “Over and Done” – 03:01
  18. U2 – “The First Time” – 03:22
  19. Crowded House – “Pineapple Head” – 03:27

#0101 – IRON DJ: 1997 (by @kburpee)

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,From Karen Burpee (@kburpee)…

The year was 1997. Pop, as always, was in. Grunge/alt-rock was no longer alternative, and starting to give way to dance music, and Ska was just taking hold in Eastern Canada…

I give you 96 83 minutes of 1997. Although I seriously considered creating an All-CanCon(*) playlist, but that would not be a true reflection of my listening habits that year. Bear in mind, this mix is a reflection of my last term of high school, the following summer and the start of my freshman year of university:

  1. The Verve – “Bitter Sweet Symphony” 06:20
  2. Chantal Kreviazuk – “God Made Me” 02:54
  3. Holly McNarland – “Numb” 03:48
  4. The Wallflowers – “One Headlight” 04:48
  5. Great Big Sea – “Run Runaway” 02:42
  6. Third Eye Blind – “Semi-Charmed Life” 04:19
  7. Chumbawamba – “Tubthumping” 04:33
  8. Cake – “The Distance” 02:32
  9. The Tragically Hip – “Ahead by a Century” 03:34
  10. Aqua – “Barbie Girl (Radio)” 00:02
  11. Sugar Ray – “Fly” 04:47
  12. Natalie Imbruglia – “Torn” 03:46
  13. Smash Mouth – “Walkin’ on the Sun” 03:17
  14. Wyclef Jean – “We Trying to Stay Alive” 02:26
  15. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “The Impression That I Get” 03:05
  16. White Town – “Your Woman” 04:10
  17. Our Lady Peace – “Clumsy” 03:36
  18. U2 – “Gone” 03:43
  19. The Cardigans – “Lovefool” 03:04
  20. The Verve Pipe – “The Freshmen” 04:20
  21. Smashing Pumpkins – “1979” 04:14
  22. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Hypnotize” 03:41
  23. Spirit Of The West – “Home for a Rest” 04:27

#0093 – Anthropological Series – Summers 1986-7

Music from my summers of 1986-7 while living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

The idea behind the Anthropological Series is to capture what the DJ and those around her/him were listening to at the time, perhaps in a particular location or phase in life. RG had posted something about summer music on Facebook, and it reminded me that I had this mix in the works, so I put it together all formal-like. This mix includes some songs that I listened to during the summers of 1986 and 1987, when I lived on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. I worked at a local restaurant/bar/pool/marina complex there as a poolside cook, expediter, barback, dining room oyster shucker, and boat takeout delivery guy. Once a month or so all the restaurant, marina, and bar staff would have a cookout/kegger at night at the pool and play music and water volleyball.  I’d work 12-18 hour shifts Wed-Sat with a shorter Sunday, and hang out with bar staff Fridays and Saturdays after 2AM close. I drove my new used Subaru 4X4 hatchback to work, met lots of fun people, and wound up dating a fabulous lifeguard, much to my surprise. It was a great damn couple of summers! When I put this mix together I was surprised how strongly the music worm-holed me back to those days that I’d mostly put on the memory shelf.

Naturally, the music will not do that for you. However, the other thing is that, as much as we all love new music, old music is still good. Sometimes I forget this. Then I find an old cassette or LP that I forgot about and play it and I’m blown away all over again. However, I’ve also made this “anthropological,” so it’s not scrubbed for just the cool songs I heard then. It also includes a few that just remind me of the time period that symbolize stuff you’d hear at parties or on the radio, things like “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” or “Lean on Me.” So when I first made this mix it was just for me, but then I thought about the music on it, and figured at least one other person would like it, so am posting it.

Plus, with it being anthropological, I’m doing science a huge favor by capturing what a 19-year old was listening to in 1986. Musicologists living in their underground bunkers in 3056 will thank me. I don’t talk on it but threw in some movie and TV samples from the time.

  1. *On the Hunt – Lynyrd Skynyrd – There was a lot of Skynyrd around the Eastern Shore then, and I was listening a good bit to Nuthin’ Fancy and Skynyrd’s First and Last at the time as well. This reminds me of a dive bar called the Silver Dollar (I think), a place that, if you’d harnessed the misery there at the time, you could have powered a small town or maybe an amusement park.
  2. Planet of Women – ZZ Top – I know the old ZZ is the best and Fandango was one of my first cassettes, but I really dug Afterburner. I still love the whole release.  I had picked up the cassette for whatever reason and ended up playing it till it broke by the end of the summer of ’87.
  3. The Boy in the Bubble – Paul Simon – Of course the video for Call Me Al was hilarious, and I think I got this LP as one of my Columbia House 9 LPs for a penny thing. I ended up really liking this song.
  4. I Believe – REM – I was hooked on REM when I first heard Chronic Town, and didn’t slow down until Green. Back then they were underground alternative, and those early 5 or 6 releases were just insane.
  5. I Wanna Be a Cowboy – Boys Don’t Cry –  I first heard it at some party I went to. I picked it up on 45 an it’s just sort of stuck with me.
  6. **Light of Day – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – Don’t remember much from the movie, but hell, Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett, I mean, c’mon! I picked up this 45 back then and it’s not a bad little song.
  7. Nice Boys – Rose Tattoo – I bought this cassette used at college in North Carolina in spring of 1985, and played the hell out of it. It busted too.
  8. ***Secret Agent Man – Johnny Rivers – I barbacked at Redeye’s lounge when it was part of the restaurant, before it was a huge outside dock bar. The bar was packed three deep in this tiny room, where, nearly every weekend, the same band played. This was the only song I could remember that they played because I always thought the guitar part was the highlight of their set.
  9. Red Rain – Peter Gabriel – Another Columbia House selection that really had some great songs on it.
  10. Stand By Me – Ben E. King – Stephen King’s story The Body was summer reading in his book Different Seasons, and this story was made into Stand By Me, a film for which this original song was re-released in 1986, so it was on the radio a lot. One of the all-time greats.
  11. Welcome to the Boomtown – David & David – Anyone alive with ears in 1987 remembers this song, just because it was always on the radio and was pretty different from everything else you heard. One hit wonders, but not a bad tune.
  12. Like a Song… – U2 – Had heard it before but acquired the War cassette and listened to it much more during this time period, along with insanely good Wide Awake in America live EP.
  13. Lean on Me – Club Nouveau – This is one of those mid-80s songs that you just couldn’t escape as that dance mix craze was ramping up. Somehow, I can tolerate it and actually enjoy it.
  14. It’s Tricky – Run DMC – What can you say? Sure, we’ve all heard it, but it’s still a blockbuster.
  15. ****I’m Goin’ Down – Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA is a great album, and though I’d been hearing it for years, there were a few songs that I really liked, as they applied to my life in one way or another at the time. This is one of those.
  16. Learn How to Live – Billy Squire – I like Billy Squire dammit. Emotions in Motion is an excellent LP, and this is one of my favorites off that one that you don’t hear much.
  17. Don’t Care / Live Fast Die Young – Circle Jerks – I got turned on to the Circle Jerks and other punk in college, and this is one of the few punk cassettes I owned that I could listen to when away from college.
  18. Fire Still Burns – Twisted Sister – Ah, the death of early phase metal. The only band that stayed true through the 80s was Motorhead, and perhaps Maiden and Accept. The rest of my metal icons got lost along the way, and Twisted Sister was one of the brightest burnouts of all them. Come out and Play was a horrifically bad release. I bought it thinking it would be good, and it was just a huge let down. This was the only song of any merit on the whole thing. Metallica had been on my radar since Kill ‘Em All in ’84, and Accept’s Metal Heart had come out and was good along with Motorhead’s Orgasmatron, but really, for me, I was about to take a metal break for a few years.

Samples:

  1. *Evil Dead 2
  2. **Light of Day
  3. ***Jay Leno on David Letterman. This is when Letterman was new and good and everyone watched it. Leno was funny in the mid 80s, regardless of his status today.
  4. ****Raising Arizona
  5. Michelob Light Genesis commercial that was all over late night TV back then…

#0062 – File under: Know Bo

Confession:  Since around 1987 with the whole Bo Jackson/Bo Diddley campaign, I’ve been pretty fascinated with Bo Diddley.  When The Man passed away about two months back, I spent a good several weeks playing through a wide collection of material that he either wrote, played or helped inspire. 

Much like how Funk will probably forever be defined by the strong downbeat on the “1” as exemplified by everyone ripping off James Brown, the beat of a freight train rolling unstoppably through the heart of rock and blues will forever be tied to Bo Diddley.

In this mix, I’ll take you chronologically through music that the man himself wrote, played and inspired.  And… since this is taking place almost two months after his passing, it’s not even hip and trendy to do so, yet I do it anyway.

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This tribute includes…

  1. “Bo Diddley” – Art Neville & The Meters
  2. “I’m a Man” – Bo Diddley
  3. “Not Fade Away” – Buddy Holly
  4. “(Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame” – Elvis Presley
  5. “Cannonball” – Duane Eddy
  6. “Willie and the Hand Jive” – Shuggie Otis
  7. “I’m Crying” – The Animals
  8. “I Want Candy” – The Strangeloves
  9. “Magic Bus” – The Who
  10. “1969” – Iggy Pop & the Stooges
  11. “Pills” – New York Dolls
  12. “She’s the One” – Bruce Springsteen
  13. “Don’t Let Him Go” – REO Speedwagon
  14. “Who Do You Love” – George Thorogood
  15. “I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow
  16. “How Soon is Now?” – The Smiths
  17. “Mr. Brownstone” – Guns N’ Roses
  18. “Faith” – George Michael
  19. “Desire” – U2

#0007 – File under: Anniversary

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This week’s podcast is filled with songs I was listening to in the summer of 1994, which is the summer I met Suzy. This week is our 11th anniversary (everyone give her a shout out). So even though I doubt she’s listening, this episode is specifically for her. Artists include Jellyfish, The Boo Radleys, Cake, Stereo MCs, U2, Big Country, Crowded House, James, Belly, The Breeders, Rancid, Smashing Pumkins, The Cranberries, Mazzy Star and Climax Blues Band. Okay… Climax Blues Band isn’t from the summer of ’94, but it’s our wedding song, so deal 😛
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