This mix from a few years back starts, like a few others do, with some opening remarks from Lou Rawls. "Dead End Street" describes a Chicago childhood that shares only the harsh weather with mine.
Then, the frantic "Grunt" by The J.B.'s followed by The Notorious B.I.G.'s lament for a simpler, gun-free childhood, "Things Done Changed."
Morrissey's sweeping "Every Day Is Like Sunday" is here as well as a nice live acoustic cover by Colin Meloy. What I don't have is the lame version of this song which is wildly misappropriated for an NFL tv commercial.
"Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away", according to Stevie Wonder and he would know, for sure. His hopeful plea sounds especially sweet today, of all days. It's followed by a nice, unreleased take of another profound songs "Every Grain Of Sand", by Bob Dylan. Love the dog barking in the background.
Also on here: "Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy" by the Monroe Brothers off the wonderful Harry Smith box set, a cover of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain" by The Rolling Stones, the funky "Vera Cruz" by Mazel, Snoop Dogg's mellow "Let's Get Blown", the awesomely silly "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney & Wings, and "No" by the enduring De La Soul.
It's hard to exaggerate what a big star Bobby Brown was for a year or so at the end of the 80s. He made the fade haircut so ubiquitous, hell, he kicked off a whole music genre--"new jack swing". I've always liked "Don't Be Cruel."
Speaking of musical genres, "northern soul" refers to a style of usually uptempo 60s soul that sounds a Little like Motown but from smaller, more obscure labels. Cleveland Robinson's "Love Is A Trap" is a perfect example. A lot of these smaller label records were dumped in northern England, where a dj culture developed to showcasing these rare records at dance parties, years after they were recorded. Then, many years later, people like Robinson, who would otherwise be forgotten by history find out that a whole cult of fans devoted to their work live across the ocean.
"Back On The Chain Gang" by The Pretenders, was written by Chrissie Hynde soon after her guitarist died of an overdoes. Ray Davies of the Kinks, here with the lovely "Heart Of Gold", was her boyfriend at the time and father of her baby--she wrote "The Adultress" about being referenced in his previous wife's divorce papers.
"Candy Says" by The Velvet Underground is my pick for the prettiest song Lou Reed ever wrote. It fascinates me that someone of such legendary, and very real, prickliness could write a song of almost unbearable empathy and beauty. The mysteries of human nature...
Finally, 2 amazing versions of the old standard "just A Gigolo". When I saw the David Lee Roth video as a kid, I assumed he wrote the song,, as it seems tailor-made for his persona. It's outrageous and hilarious and the arrangement and performance are magnificent. I found myself playing it again full blast with a big smile on my face.
The hushed, 4am-sounding version by Marlene Dietrich is an emotional opposite of the David Lee Roth take. I have another version of her doing "Just A Gigolo" with some subtle background humming and strings, but this take is simply devastating. When she sings the lines like "youth will pass away" and "life goes on without me" it's hard not to get a little lump in your throat.
