There were 1,074 songs across my weekly mixes of 2008. Here are my favorite 107 of them.
Ronnie Dee was still a teenager when he recorded the rockabilly "Action Packed" and I love the snotty energy of it. The a cappella version of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's hit duet "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was the first song on my first mix of 08 and a very hopeful and thrilling way to start the year. More Motown: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" is such a beautiful and complex song. I love his lyrics as much as his singing. Another great songwriter is Randy Newman and his "The Beehive State" reminded me in this election year how ridiculous and funny politics can be. The "Bossarocker Remix" of The Doors' "Break On Through" splices in concert stage patter into a more uptempo take of their hit. My memory of it from 2008 was watching a hippie girl dance to it at my friends' wedding."Breaking The Girl" by Red Hot Chili Peppers reminds me of college and although I really didn't like the band (as everyone around me seemed to) I did enjoy hearing this in 2008, remembering the drama of their songs and how that was probably appropriate music for a bunch of college kids.
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones was my favorite song as a kid, maybe the first song I ever remember. Put a gun to my head and I will say it's the greatest rock song ever. 2008 saw the reissue of a few great Replacements albums, and from there I was thrilled to find the original acoustic take of "Can't Hardly Wait". Makes the lyrics seem more spooky and less triumphant. Roy Ayers' "Can't You See Me" reminds me of a dinner party we hosted where this seemed to play all night. Great dinner music, I think. I discovered the 50s hit "Chanson d'Amour (Song Of Love)" by Art And Dotty Todd when I read that Lou Reed admitted stealing the melody of this song for The Velvet Underground's "I Found A Reason". It's pretty. As is Pyeng Thredgill's cover of The Cure's "Close To Me", my favorite of all the covers of that song , or any of theirs, it was one that reminds me very much of 2008. "Day Dreaming" by Aretha Franklin actually sounds like a day dream and has always been one of my favorites by her. This is one that reminds me of a long trip in France. Neil Young's live cover of "A Day In the Life" by The Beatles is one of the best live covers ever, using the audience to sing along the wordless Lennon part, gives me goosebumps. The Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott collaboration "Daydreamin'" also reminds me of France, and while his lyrics can sound a little preachy it has an amazing production that feels almost hypnotic.
"Dear Prudence" by the Beatles is one of their sweeter and forgotten ballads that I've always loved. Bernard Herrman's "Diary Of A Taxi Driver" with Robert DeNiro's narration is of course from the great film Taxi Driver and probably appealed to a more moody side of me in 2008, to say the least. I have loved that movie since I was a kid, always wondering what it would be like to live in New York. Much more upbeat is Thelonious Mink's sprightly "Dinah (take 2)". Wee's "Do You Know" is from a forgotten 70s album that received new attention in 2008. I love the Sly Stone/Stevie Wonder feel to it. "Do You Think I Saw her" is a very rare Rolling Stones bootleg, a muddy-sounding track with steel guitar and slight country sounds. It's like hearing the Stones on the radio in Oklahoma or something, I really love it. Hopeton Lewis' reggae cover of Johnny Cash's "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" just has perfect playing and production. The Morning Benders' cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" was one of my very favorite songs of 08: spooky, haunting and just a little sad. Carl Carlton's "Everlasting Love" never fails to make me really, really happy. It's a cover of the Robert Knight song with just a little bit of disco thrown in. Liz Phair's "Explain It To Me" was never a song that I paid much attention to on her epic Exile In Guyville album but boy did it knock me out in 2008. "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West with Dwele was of course everywhere in 2008, but it reminds me most of really cheesy and crowded parties in the south of France, where between the bad techno this was a nice break. Speaking of the French, Serge Gainsbourg's duet with Brigitte Bardot on "Ford Mustang" was always charming to me.
I picked up a Peanut Butter Wolf compilation of 80s ladies rappers called Ladies First, from which my favorite track was his remix of Wink D's "Get Busy". Brings me back to that era and it just rocks. The Zombies' cover of Little Anthony And The Imperials' "Goin' Out Of My Head" must be one of my favorite songs ever as I included their quieter BBC version in my 2009 "best of". American Gypsy's "Golden Ring" must be one of the cooler wedding songs I've ever heard. They don't write 'em like that anymore. Ray Charles' Hard Times (No One Know Better Than I) was a much needed tonic for me in 2008. No one does know better than he. Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" was one of my favorites of theirs for years and sort of an inside joke to me about dating younger women. Nas' "Hope (Da Man Remix) takes an interpolation of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" that's very affecting. One of the more unlikely hip hop covers is Cat Power's spare piano cover of The Hot Boys' "I Feel". But it's just as fierce in its own way. An even more fierce piano song is Randy Newman's "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do". 2008 had to be a hell of a year for me to dig this one up. Then again, it's the same year that The Holmes Brothers' cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" was so memorable and moving to me. On an even more level of complex emotion is the standard "I Wish You Love" and both Marlene Dietrich with The Burt Bacharach Orchestra and Sam Cooke shade the song with meanings I can't begin to describe. But they are both really beautiful.
I have always loved the unique voice of Shirley from Shirley & Lee and their song "I'm Gone" is a great showcase for it. Marlene Dietrich's version of the standard "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" is of course dramatic and melancholy, but her refusal to switch the gender makes it sound like she's singing about herself as opposed to a lover, which is fascinating to me. "If I Said" by The Darling Buds is such pretty noise, with the girlish singing over the crunchy guitars. Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me" is so joyous and perfect. "In Between Trains" is a mash up of The Clash's "Train In Vain" with The Cure's "In Between Days" and is actually at least as good as either of those songs. The live acoustic version of The Lemonheads' ""It's A Shame About Ray" by Julianna Hatfield and Evan Dando makes a good song great, the lyrics seem more elegiac with this sort of production. MF Grimm's "It's No Secret" is one of the more unlikely love songs ever, but I love his tough guy stance giving way to the bouncy production. "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)" by Van Morrison is on the happiest songs ever recorded. He seems to be singing in his own language. I never knew that chorus was him singing "I'm In Heaven", I just figured he was making really cool sounds or singing in French or something. "John, I'm Only Dancing" by David Bowie also reminds me of boozy dinner parties in France, we must have played this over and over again. It's happy, energetic music. Pavement's cover of Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" is just as dramatic as the original but somehow more accessible. I love the James Bond-like guitars in the beginning. "Late..(Edit De DJ Spin)" is a remix of Paul Simon's "Late In The Evening" that really brings the rhythm of that song to the forefront. "Love My Way" by The Psychedelic Furs might be my favorite song ever, so this very rare acoustic version is pretty high on my list. I miss the production but like this more stripped-down arrangement. Janet Jackson's records were huge when I was growing up, but only years later did I understand the genius of her production team of Jam & Lewis, especially evident on "Love Will Never Do (Without You)". I have always loved Tom Waits but it wasn't until 2008 that I really listened to "Lucky Day" from his album The Black Rider. Wow. Up there with any of his other weepers that also make your heart swell. I used to listen to The Eagles' greatest hits in high school after two-a-day football practices, in the tub, nursing my wounds. Funny how "Lyin' Eyes" in 2008 served a similar purpose. "M.I.A. Dead Or Alive" mashes up Bon Jovi's "Dead Or Alive" over M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" to brilliant effect. The eerie "Main Title" from the film Rosemary's Baby is Mia Farrow singing wordlessly in a childish voice over Krzysztof Komeda's spooky score. Another one I loved to have on the headphones as I walked around Manhattan. "Man In The Mirror" has alway been my favorite Michael Jackson song. Who knew when I threw it on a mix in 2008 that he would be gone so soon?
Patsy Montana's "My Poncho Pony" is swinging, happy music. The Delegation's "Oh Honey" was a new discovery for me in 2008, something that slipped through the cracks of my vast repertoire of 70s soul and funk. Thank you, satellite radio. "One Two Three Baby" by Asha Bholse & Mahendra Kapoor is fun, exciting Bollywood music that I could listen to all day. Jackie DeShannon's cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is so sweetly sung, and it is one of my favorite of his songs. Joe Bataan's "Ordinary Guy" is a perfect song, great lyrics perfectly sung and great production. I love when it breaks down near the end and he commands to the band "salsa!" GZA's "Pencil" with RZA and Masta Killa has a killer beat to go with GZA's perfect storytelling and RZA's great delivery. Common's "The People" with Dwele is also superb, with some really sharp lines to go with great production. I don't know why, but The Dells' version of the corny standard "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" just bowls me over. These guys could always sing, but maybe it's the way one of them plays "the sun" and the way their voices sound so warm and hopeful. Buddy Holly's melancholic "Raining In My Heart" put a lump in my throat in 2008. He is the best, ever. I really like The Editors' low-key cover of "Road To Nowhere" by Talking Heads. Made me listen to the lyrics a lot more and realize what a great songwriter David Byrne is. Clipse's "Run This Shit" came from one of their infamous mixtapes and it just grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, just amazing. Del Shannon's "Runaway" is so dramatic and unique, it doesn't sound like anything else I've ever heard. The all vocal version of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" made the rounds on the internet in 2008, and proved once again what a genius David Lee Roth is. Speaking of geniuses, Ray Charles' version of Randy Newman's "Sail Away" was a new discovery for me in 2008 and he sings it obviously with a whole different thing than Newman ever could.
"Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down" by Sister Fleeta Mitchell and Rev, Willie Mae Eberhart features a cranky sister telling the band to "start!". I love how spare and real this sounds. "See The Cheetah" by The Big Game Hunters is a very rare 60s track by a band no one seems to know anything about, but it has its own amateurish charm and hypnotic power even. I was delighted when a friend found a way to pull an audio mp3 of Diane Keaton singing "Seems Like Old Times" in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall". Nothing amateur about that performance. "Shatter" is the second Liz Phair song on here from her debut album and another one I never paid much attention to until 2008. It fit my mood at the time. People often mistake Carl Carlton's "She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)" for a Stevie Wonder song, which is as good a recommendation as it could get. "Shoyoass" by the underrated The Coup is just as fun and joyful. Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" was a big discovery in 2008 for a lot of people, I really liked the spare sound and melody of this song. Louis Armstrong's "Some Of These Days" is later version of the song, complete with his singing, and is filled with such joy. Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" is such a towering song. The playing is perfect and rather than sounding weak or compliant she sounds so strong. Billy Stewart's scatting version of the standard "Summertime" is my favorite of all the great versions of this song.
Guns & Roses were another band that was very popular when I was growing up that I have big reservations about. No reservations about "Sweet Child O' Mine", after all these years it's pretty damn irresistible. The live BBC version of "Than You" by Led Zeppelin features some great vocal improvisations by Robert Plant at the end. A new Kinks box set in late 2008 revealed one of the few songs of theirs I didn't have, the quiet and wise "This I Know". Marianne Faithfull's "This Little Bird" has this ethereal quality that I love. "Throw Some D's" is a mash up of Rich Boy rapping over The Spinto Band and it's just great. The country strumming swells as the rapping brags about accessorizing one's car. Has to be heard. "True Affection" by The Blow is funny and a little sad and just clever. I heard what I thought was all the Donovan I wanted to hear in college, but I never heard "Turquoise" until I came home late night in 2008 and watched a music infomercial on public television. It's just gorgeous. Less romantic perhaps is "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones. But the marimbas make it perfect.
Kleerup's "Until We Bleed" with Lykke Li on vocals is so mysterious. Less mysterious but comforting is America's "Ventura Highway". The "rehearsal" take of "Wages Of Love" by Bob Marley & The Wailers shows just how great his back-up singers were. Johnny Cash's "Wanted Man (live)" was written by Bob Dylan but I can't imagine anyone but Cash singing it. It has a sly sense of humor to it as well as plenty of outlaw attitude. Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" samples Billy Joel's "The Stranger" to a melancholic effect. "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" by The Dramatics has production that lives up to the band name. Louis Armstrong's version of "When The Saints Go Marching In" is worth hearing for the opening invocation alone. I love the demo version of Cat Stevens' "Wild World". He doesn't have his usual backing singer and the playing and singing are more ragged and emotional. "Wu-Tang vs. Blondie" is DJ Muggs' mash up of Wu-Tang's "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'" with Blondie's "Rapture" and feels like a song that could belong to either group. Barry White's "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" is one of the most played songs on French radio, to this day. You can look it up
