Over two calendar years and 52 mixes of 1,088 songs these are my favorites in ascending order:
11. Helplessly Hoping (live) Richie Havens
Richie Havens once sang at my church fair, during a time in the 80s when his brand of hippie idealism must have been completely out of favor. Taking this gig must have been somewhat of a come-down for a man who headlined Woodstock, but you would never have known that by his demeanor. The crowd of suburban Catholic families seemed indifferent and I was too young to know anything about him, but I could sense a dignity and sincerity to him. I thought of this as I heard his lovely live version of Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Helplessly Hoping", and it only came to mean to more to me this past year or so. The period of time these songs soundtracked was most profoundly effected by losing the monkey of the duo whose nicknames inspired this blog. Seeing him, despite his body slowly failing him, stay strong and vibrant to his last day still inspires me. But it also reminds me how I came to see him as indestructible, that he would never die and never leave us. There is a line Havens repeats here, inflecting different tones in each chorus, moving from tenderness to resolve: "we are three together/we are for each other" that perfectly captures our little family unit. Now and forever.
10. Bookfiend MF Doom ft. Clams Casino
I've long been a fan of MF Doom and all of his various aliases. His lyrics are often inscrutable, but words do not need to make literal sense to me for them to make actual sense to me. This is a remix of a track called "Bookhead" and the moody Clams Casino production merits a title change even if the words are exactly the same. This stuck with me for a long time, capturing a spacey melancholy that followed me from the day I lost the monkey so suddenly. The sense of mystery death invokes, and that this track conjures was a feeling I went back to over and over again.
9. Like To Get To Know You Spanky and Our Gang
Sometimes when I make these mixes, it's not a song accidentally finding me but a song I seek out. I had vague memories of this song from my teenage years, driving in my car with the radio on, taking a break from the rock stations and stopping on the "oldies" station. This was one of those songs I liked and decided to look up one day. I remembered it being an odd blend of wistful and haunting. It's sweet and slightly goofy and a little bit sad underneath it all.
8. Never Too Much Luther Vandross
I was never much a fan of Luther Vandross, as his ascendancy marks a line for me in "soul" music from the more interesting productions of the 70s to the slicker and more sterile sounds of 80s r&b. But this single, his first, is from a time in the early 80s where an r&b song still had plenty of funk and disco in its system. The guitar on this is also essential. I love the sentiment as well, thinking of the monkey and the fox, how a thousand kisses and a million days are never too much.
7. Can You Rock It Like This Run-D.M.C.
The second consecutive 80s track from a non-rock genre that uses guitar in a way that amplifies the intended feeling. In this case, it's a swagger that is at times hilarious. Telling the world that women like you so much that your face is a "thousand lipstick flavors", but also admitting maybe you're looking for a "casual life/ something normal nuttin formal three kids and a wife" are just a few of the lines that in aggregate feel almost like a stand-up comedy routine set to guitar and a beat. In my house, I was the Jam Master Jay to the swaggeringly hilarious monkey and the fox.
6. In Between Days The Cure
Another track from the mid-80s, this made my last mix of the year's batch and I was surprised I hadn't used it before. The Cure soundtracked my teens as much as Run-D.M.C. did. Like so many songs I love, I don't know exactly what it means but I know how it makes me feel.
5. Glad Tidings Merry Clayton
Anyone who follows this blog knows how much I love a well-done cover song, and this version of a minor Van Morrison song sounds very major when Merry Clayton messes with it. If the original is a Van Morrison r&b experiment, Merry Clayton's version is the proof.
4. Softer, Softest (live MTV version) Hole
The original is a song I mostly ignored on their album Live Through This, packed with so many other great songs. But the live version is something else: vicious, defiant and triumphant. The sound of someone who learned to survive.
3. Born To Run Frankie Goes To Hollywood
My top 3 songs of the year were pretty clear to me. The original Bruce Springsteen version of "born To Run" is of course perfect but this version is something better than perfect. It drops the sax from the original and instead doubles up the bass, making it feel like a thrilling ride. He can sing better than Bruce, and his voice goes from a croon to a sneer and back to something desperate and never anything but real. That opening "Ha!" is my favorite second to any song on here, a big middle finger to a very tough year.
2. Luchini - This Is It Camp Lo
This was the celebratory anthem of the year for me, in a year that didn't feel like I had much to celebrate. Being alive. Being with the monkey and the fox. The horns, the chorus, everything.
1. Mother's Last Word To Her Son Washington Phillips
This beautiful song from the mysterious Washington Phillips is my favorite song of the year. It's his voice, those words and that sound: he created an instrument that is sometimes referred to as a "manzarene". It sounds, with the echoes of harp, like something from heaven which makes sense for this particular song. All during the monkey's life, people would refer to me as his "daddy" but in reality I was his mother. This song can alternately bring tears to my eyes or a happy swelling in my heart. And I will forever think of the monkey who is up in heaven, laughing at us. Knowing we miss him and will never forget him.
Helplessly Hoping (live) Richie Havens
Bookfiend MF Doom ft. Clams Casino
Like To Get To Know You Spanky & Our Gang
Never Too Much Luther Vandross
Can You Rock It Like This Run-D.M.C.
In Between Days The Cure
Glad Tidings Merry Clayton
Softer, Softest (live on MTV) Hole
Born To Run Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Luchini - This Is It Camp Lo
Mother's Last Word To Her Son Washington Phillips
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
The Best of 2014
Once upon a time, I made these playlists, timed to fill the standard 80 minute running time for a CD, every Thursday. Then for each year, I started to tally my favorite top 10% of the 52 playlists. The aggregate number of songs each year was always a little under 1,100 so then I would pick my top 110 or so.
I took time off from doing them, and when I resumed the last couple calendar years I've been knocking out a playlist about once every two weeks.
So now, a "year's" worth of playlists, 52 to be exact, takes about 2 years. So for the first time in almost exactly two years, I have 52 playlists completed since my last "best of". Of those 1,088 songs here are my favorite 109 of them:
I've always loved New Order's "Age Of Consent" but this lovely, spacey version by The Golden Filter was new to me. I dug deep into covers of Bauhaus' "All I Ever Wanted Was Everything" this year but the old Bauhaus original was my favorite. Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" seems pretty anthemic right now. Frank Ocean's mixtape epic "American Wedding" marries evocative new lyrics to The Eagles' "Hotel California", pissing off Don Henley much to my amusement. Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying To Close To The Ground" hovered near my top 11 and high in my heart during the time of losing my little monkey. William Onyeabor's "Anything You Sow" is like a space-age gospel hymn. Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" is the profane girl's group heartbreak ballad this era needs. The full album version of "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste Of Honey reminds me so much of my childhood. Grady & Hazel Cole's "Brother, Be Ready For That Day" sounds like the warning from a simpler time that we should have heeded by now. "Buttercup" is a tasty as it sounds, a Jackson 5 song produced by Stevie Wonder from a never-released album when he was at the peak of his powers. "California Girls" by The Beach Boys finally made a mix in this period and feels as fresh as hearing it the first time did.
"Call Ticketron" features the usually fierce and excellent lyrics of Run The Jewels with an insane sample of vintage automated phone voices. The version of Neil Young's "Campaigner" here is a newly-unearthed longer take with extra lyrics, his nod of sympathy for a disgraceful lying President is hard to imagine as current. I would think after over a dozen years of mixes, numbering over 12,000 song, I would have picked clean the bones of The Rolling Stones canon but the spacey and smitten "Child Of The Moon" knocked me out as a new favorite. Leon Thomas' "China Doll" feels like it should be the opening of a weird and fascinating movie. Nikki Minaj's "Chun-Li" is equally fierce and funny. I fell in love with a handful of versions of Jackie DeShannon's "Come And Stay With Me" but her version, recorded after some of the others, was my favorite. Joseph Arthur's tender and hushed version of Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby" does great justice to the original, which until now seemed untouchable. I'm a big fan of the underground Brooklyn rapper KA, and love the vaguely Eastern production flourishes on "Conflicted". Busy Bee's "Converse", 30 or so years after it was recorded, is just as compelling a soundtrack for the shoe brand as any could be. Heart's "Crazy On You", like the feeling it describes, elegantly switches mood gears. Don Covay, perhaps my favorite soul singer ever, cut me in half with his "Daddy Loves Baby" during the period I lost my little monkey. Kanye West's "Devil In A New Dress" with Rick Ross has the kind of production I wish I heard more from him these days.
"Diamond Sea" is the first of a few Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs on here, but a cover of Sonic Youth, proving them again to be great interpreters. Bushwick Bill's "Dollars And Sense" proves his wit and wisdom once again. I enjoyed a handful of versions of Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied" this year but none more than his old guitarist Nils Lofgren's piano-led version, surprisingly well-sung. Bessie Banks' rare disco stomper "Don't You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet To Come" is only a vinyl rip from an album lost to history, but it's well worth hearing. Big L's eerie "The Enemy" boasts great production and makes one wonder what he might have done if he'd lived past 24. I liked many versions of Paul McCartney's "Every Night" but none more than Odetta's, which shows a surprising sensual side to her outstanding voice. Similarly, I had to sift through many versions of Arthur Lee singing "Everybody's Gotta Live", with and without his band Love, before picking this late acoustic version. "Eyes Of The World" is a classic from The Grateful Dead catalog that I'd overlooked until recently. "Feelin' Alright" by The Jungle Brothers lives up to its title perfectly. The George Benson ballad "Greatest Love Of All" is best known for Whitney Houston's rendition but I love this incredibly gentle version by Richie Havens right before he died. Not sure how I made over 500 mixes before including the original Beatles version of "Hey Jude", so I was pretty sure it had to be on this year's "best of". There is no country artist I love more than Merle Haggard, so I was knocked out to find something as powerful as "I Am What I Am" from so late in his career.
Okkervil River's "I Came Here To Say I'm Going Away" is a graceful English-language cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Jane Birkin collaboration "Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que je M'en Vais". I forgot about how dramatic "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats is. EPMD's "I'm Housin'" flips an Aretha Franklin sample to such great effect. Pusha T's "If You Know You Know" is the best thing Kanye West has produced in ages. There are a few versions of Gavin Bryars' spooky "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet", some clocking in at nearly an hour, but I like this version where Tom Waits stumbles in. Until recently I knew Young MC for "Bust A Move", but "Know How" is even better. Antony's version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" is as devastatingly beautiful as I would have guessed. Da Lench Mob's "Lord Have Mercy", like many great hip hop tracks, puts a Blackbyrds sample to good use. There are more than a few good songs with bird sound effects, but none greater than Lottie Kimbrough and Winston Holmes' "Lost Lover Blues". Dusty Springfield's version of the obscure soul track "Love Power" by The Sandpebbles is better than the original for the backing singers alone. The fox and I heard someone play Philip Glass' "Mad Rush" on a grand piano in a park on a cold winter day in New York and had to track it down.
The Afghan Whigs cover of Hole's "Miss World" joins their long list of inspired covers, finding a melancholic underbelly the fantastic original doesn't hint at. I got to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs play a rare hometown show last fall and their Fever To Tell album closer "Modern Romance" never sounded better. The only thing more surprising than discovering a new vintage Paul McCartney & Wings song was finding out "Mrs. Vandebilt" was an in-demand hip hop sample. Gary Bartz' funky "Music Is My Sanctuary" and Samuel Jonathan Johnson's languid "My Music" are both contenders for personal theme songs. Esther Phillips took a cheesy disco song called "Native New Yorker" made popular by Frankie Valli and made it cool because she is Esther Phillips. Steve Young's cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" has such a great spare arrangement and also great backing vocals behind his perfect performance. I was of course delighted to find the "long" version of a childhood favorite: Donna Summer's "On The Radio". Young M.A.'s "Ooouuu" might be the catchiest song on here. Public Image Ltd.'s "The Order Of Death" might be the spookiest. "Poor Song" is the "hidden track" on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2003 album Fever To Tell, released the same year these playlist began, and a perfect companion to "Modern Romance". "Presence Of The Lord" by Blind Faith is as good a lyric Eric Clapton ever wrote, with the added bonus of Stevie Winwood's vocals. "Pull Up The Roots" is another fantastic cover by The Morning Benders, this time of Talking Heads. "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" is Busta Rhymes at his best, with fantastic production.
Count Bass D's "Quite Buttery", with MF Doom, is by far the shortest song on here but still deserves a spot of my top 109 of the 1,088 across the 52 mixes. UGK's "Real Women" with Talib Kweli sounds both classic and modern at once. I was so thrilled to find out earlier this year that some new tracks were unearthed from Dr. Octagon's first classic album and "Red Eye" does not disappoint. Mos Def's "Revelations" is brief but makes one wish it was much longer. I love early takes of classic Fleetwood Mac songs, especially ones with bits of spoken-word Stevie Nicks like this version of "Rhiannon". I could not decide which version of Minnie Riperton's "Seeing You This Way"--the album version or the acoustic version with her producer Stevie Wonder coaching her--was better so I had to include both. I've become a huge fan of the 30s singing trio The Boswell Sisters and their "Shout, Sister, Shout!" captures all of their abundant talents. Can't remember exactly how I accidentally found the Boz Scaggs remix "Skagg" by Linus Loves but I am so glad that I did. I fell for a handful of versions of Bobby Charles' "Small Town Talk" but my favorite has to be Rick Danko's, which sounds like a great lost song by his group The Band. Until recently, I had forgotten how great the bassline is in Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". A Tribe Called Quest's "A Solid Wall Of Sound" with that inspired Elton John sample came very close to cracking my top 11. Sacrilege to say, especially as it's 80s Rod Stewart but I enjoy his version of The Persuaders' "Some Guys Have All The Luck" better than the original, or even the other fine covers included on this blog.
"Song For A Future Generation" makes me wonder how many other great old B-52s songs I am missing. Of the many versions of Laura Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic" I enjoyed this year, including her album version, nothing beat the solo piano demo here. Jackie DeShannon's version of the Gershwin standard "Summertime" might be, with apologies to Billy Stewart and John Coltrane for that matter, the best one ever. Donna Summer's "Sunset People" only seems more mysteriously incredible after all these years. I am so proud to have found the amazing rap obscurity "Tall, Dark And Handsome" by the group of the same name, as it is as wonderfully ridiculous as the title suggests. I found a lot of great covers of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" this year and The Headcoatees version here is my favorite. Buck Owens found untold depths in The Eagles' "Tequila Sunrise" just by singing it, and I never thought of him for his singing. I am always happy to find a new Nina Simone song to hold close to my heart and this year "That's All I Ask" did that trick. Linda Ronstadt's lovely version of Tom Petty's "The Waiting" again proves her peerless interpretation skills. I don't know why the "demo version 2" of The Pixies' "There Goes My Gun" is better than their others, but it is: crazier and more fun. Speaking of obscure demos, it was such a gift to find another pensive early Kinks song in "There's A New World Just Opening Up For Me".
Howard Jones' "Things Could Only Get Better" soundtracked my youth but never sounded more needed than recently. "This Is The Way That I Am" by La Fez quietly became an anthem for me. What a soulful vocal John Lennon gives on The Beatles' "Ticket To Ride". Galaxie 500's "Tugboat" is a dreamy ride worth taking. "Two To The Head" with Kool G Rap, Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Ice Cube is one of those posse cuts they just don't make anymore, maybe because it'd be hard to find four guys all that good. "Us Placers" with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco is a more muted modern update on that formula. A Tribe Called Quest's "We The People..." hit a lot more hard than even they could have expected. Tony Joe White's soulful country version of Junior Walker's "What Does It Take To Win Your Love" is as great as the original and hovered just outside my top 11 of the year. Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" is a sweet earworm from my youth, and sounds better than ever to me. Stevie Wonder's live version of his "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" with Ella Fitzgerald was one of my favorites of the year for it's stage patter alone, some of which I have stolen when addressing the fox. I found George McRae's "You Can Have It All" through a Yo La Tengo cover many years ago, until finally hearing the even better original. Barry White's "You're The First, The Last, My Everything"is a radio staple in France to this day and soundtracked one romantic trip there a decade ago, so I was shocked it wasn't on one of my playlists until now. Sir Menelik's &XL with Grand Puba and the great Sadat X is a recent mellow favorite. Harry Nilsson tinkered with different versions of his autobiographical "1941" and I like his demo version best.
Age Of Consent The Golden Filter
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything Bauhaus
Alright Kendrick Lamar
American Wedding Frank Ocean
Angel Flying To Close To The Ground Willie Nelson
Anything You Sow William Onyeabor
Back To Black Amy Winehouse
Boogie Oogie Oogie A Taste Of Honey
Bookfiend MF Doom ft. Clams Casino
Born To Run Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Brother, Be Ready For That Day Grady & Hazel Cole
Buttercup The Jackson 5
California Girls The Beach Boys
Call Ticketron Run The Jewels
Campaigner Neil Young
Can You Rock It Like This Run-D.M.C.
Child Of The Moon The Rolling Stones
China Doll Leon Thomas
Chun-Li Nikki Minaj
Come And Stay With Me Jackie DeShannon
Coney Island Baby Joseph Arthur
Conflicted KA
Converse Busy Bee
Crazy On You Heart
Daddy Loves Baby Don Covay
Devil In A New Dress Kanye West ft. Rick Ross
Diamond Sea Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dollars And Sense Bushwick Bill
Don't Be Denied Nils Lofgren
Don't You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet to Come Bessie Banks
The Enemy Big L
Every Night Odetta
Everybody's Gotta Live Love
Eyes Of The World The Grateful Dead
Feelin' Alright The Jungle Brothers
Glad Tidings Merry Clayton
Greatest Love Of All Richie Havens
Helplessly Hoping (live) Richie Havens
Hey Jude The Beatles
I Am What I Am Merle Haggard
I Came Here To Say I'm Going Away Okkervil River
I Don't Like Mondays The Boomtown Rats
I'm Housin' EPMD
If You Know You Know Pusha T
In Between Days The Cure
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet Gavin Bryars ft. Tom Waits
Know How Young MC
Landslide Antony
Like To Get To Know You Spanky & Our Gang
Lord Have Mercy Da Lench Mob
Lost Lover Blues Lottie Kimbrough & Winston Holmes
Love Power Dusty Springfield
Luchini - This Is It Camp Lo
Mad Rush Philip Glass
Miss World The Afghan Whigs
Modern Romance Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Mother's Last Word To Her Son Washington Phillips
Mrs. Vanderbilt Paul McCartney & Wings
Music Is My Sanctuary Gary Bartz
My Music Samuel Jonathan Johnson
Native New Yorker Esther Phillips
Never Too Much Luther Vandross
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down Steve Young
On The Radio (long ver) Donna Summer
Ooouuu Young M.A.
The Order Of Death Public Image Ltd.
Poor Song Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Presence Of The Lord Blind Faith
Pull Up The Roots The Morning Benders
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See Busta Rhymes
Quite Buttery Count Bass D ft. Doom
Real Women UGK ft. Talib Kweli & Raheem Devaughn
Redeye Dr. Octagon
Revelations Mos Def
Rhiannon (early take) Fleetwood Mac
Seeing You This Way Minnie Ripterton
Seeing You This Way (acoustic ver) Minnie Riperton
Shout, Sister, Shout! The Boswell Sisters
Skagg Linus Loves
Small Town Talk Rick Danko
Smooth Criminal Michael Jackson
Softer, Softest (MTV live ver) Hole
Solid Wall Of Sound A Tribe Called Quest ft. Bust Rhymes & Elton John
Some Guys Have All The Luck Rod Stewart
Songs For A Future Generation B-52s
Stoned Soul Picnic (demo) Laura Nyro
Summertime Jackie DeShannon
Sunset People Donna Summer
Tall, Dark And Handsome Tall, Dark And Handsome
Teenage Kicks The Headcoatees
Tequila Sunrise Buck Owens
That's All I Ask Nina Simone
The Waiting Linda Ronstadt
There Goes My Gun (demo ver 2) The Pixies
There's A New World Opening Up Just For Me (demo) The Kinks
Things Can Only Get Better Howard Jones
This Is The Way That I Am La Fez
Ticket To Ride The Beatles
Tugboat Galaxy 500
Two To The Head Kool G Rap ft. Bushwick Bill, Scarface & Ice Cube
Us Placers Child Rebel Solider ft. Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Lupe Fiasco & Thom Yorke
We The People... A Tribe Called Quest
What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) Tony Joe White
While You See A Chance Stevie Winwood
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (live 77) Ella Fitzgerald & Stevie Wonder
You Can Have It All George McRae
You're The First, My Last, My Everything Barry White
7XL Sir Menelik ft. Grand Puba & Sadat X
1941 (demo) Harry Nilsson
I took time off from doing them, and when I resumed the last couple calendar years I've been knocking out a playlist about once every two weeks.
So now, a "year's" worth of playlists, 52 to be exact, takes about 2 years. So for the first time in almost exactly two years, I have 52 playlists completed since my last "best of". Of those 1,088 songs here are my favorite 109 of them:
I've always loved New Order's "Age Of Consent" but this lovely, spacey version by The Golden Filter was new to me. I dug deep into covers of Bauhaus' "All I Ever Wanted Was Everything" this year but the old Bauhaus original was my favorite. Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" seems pretty anthemic right now. Frank Ocean's mixtape epic "American Wedding" marries evocative new lyrics to The Eagles' "Hotel California", pissing off Don Henley much to my amusement. Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying To Close To The Ground" hovered near my top 11 and high in my heart during the time of losing my little monkey. William Onyeabor's "Anything You Sow" is like a space-age gospel hymn. Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" is the profane girl's group heartbreak ballad this era needs. The full album version of "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste Of Honey reminds me so much of my childhood. Grady & Hazel Cole's "Brother, Be Ready For That Day" sounds like the warning from a simpler time that we should have heeded by now. "Buttercup" is a tasty as it sounds, a Jackson 5 song produced by Stevie Wonder from a never-released album when he was at the peak of his powers. "California Girls" by The Beach Boys finally made a mix in this period and feels as fresh as hearing it the first time did.
"Call Ticketron" features the usually fierce and excellent lyrics of Run The Jewels with an insane sample of vintage automated phone voices. The version of Neil Young's "Campaigner" here is a newly-unearthed longer take with extra lyrics, his nod of sympathy for a disgraceful lying President is hard to imagine as current. I would think after over a dozen years of mixes, numbering over 12,000 song, I would have picked clean the bones of The Rolling Stones canon but the spacey and smitten "Child Of The Moon" knocked me out as a new favorite. Leon Thomas' "China Doll" feels like it should be the opening of a weird and fascinating movie. Nikki Minaj's "Chun-Li" is equally fierce and funny. I fell in love with a handful of versions of Jackie DeShannon's "Come And Stay With Me" but her version, recorded after some of the others, was my favorite. Joseph Arthur's tender and hushed version of Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby" does great justice to the original, which until now seemed untouchable. I'm a big fan of the underground Brooklyn rapper KA, and love the vaguely Eastern production flourishes on "Conflicted". Busy Bee's "Converse", 30 or so years after it was recorded, is just as compelling a soundtrack for the shoe brand as any could be. Heart's "Crazy On You", like the feeling it describes, elegantly switches mood gears. Don Covay, perhaps my favorite soul singer ever, cut me in half with his "Daddy Loves Baby" during the period I lost my little monkey. Kanye West's "Devil In A New Dress" with Rick Ross has the kind of production I wish I heard more from him these days.
"Diamond Sea" is the first of a few Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs on here, but a cover of Sonic Youth, proving them again to be great interpreters. Bushwick Bill's "Dollars And Sense" proves his wit and wisdom once again. I enjoyed a handful of versions of Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied" this year but none more than his old guitarist Nils Lofgren's piano-led version, surprisingly well-sung. Bessie Banks' rare disco stomper "Don't You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet To Come" is only a vinyl rip from an album lost to history, but it's well worth hearing. Big L's eerie "The Enemy" boasts great production and makes one wonder what he might have done if he'd lived past 24. I liked many versions of Paul McCartney's "Every Night" but none more than Odetta's, which shows a surprising sensual side to her outstanding voice. Similarly, I had to sift through many versions of Arthur Lee singing "Everybody's Gotta Live", with and without his band Love, before picking this late acoustic version. "Eyes Of The World" is a classic from The Grateful Dead catalog that I'd overlooked until recently. "Feelin' Alright" by The Jungle Brothers lives up to its title perfectly. The George Benson ballad "Greatest Love Of All" is best known for Whitney Houston's rendition but I love this incredibly gentle version by Richie Havens right before he died. Not sure how I made over 500 mixes before including the original Beatles version of "Hey Jude", so I was pretty sure it had to be on this year's "best of". There is no country artist I love more than Merle Haggard, so I was knocked out to find something as powerful as "I Am What I Am" from so late in his career.
Okkervil River's "I Came Here To Say I'm Going Away" is a graceful English-language cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Jane Birkin collaboration "Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que je M'en Vais". I forgot about how dramatic "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats is. EPMD's "I'm Housin'" flips an Aretha Franklin sample to such great effect. Pusha T's "If You Know You Know" is the best thing Kanye West has produced in ages. There are a few versions of Gavin Bryars' spooky "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet", some clocking in at nearly an hour, but I like this version where Tom Waits stumbles in. Until recently I knew Young MC for "Bust A Move", but "Know How" is even better. Antony's version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" is as devastatingly beautiful as I would have guessed. Da Lench Mob's "Lord Have Mercy", like many great hip hop tracks, puts a Blackbyrds sample to good use. There are more than a few good songs with bird sound effects, but none greater than Lottie Kimbrough and Winston Holmes' "Lost Lover Blues". Dusty Springfield's version of the obscure soul track "Love Power" by The Sandpebbles is better than the original for the backing singers alone. The fox and I heard someone play Philip Glass' "Mad Rush" on a grand piano in a park on a cold winter day in New York and had to track it down.
The Afghan Whigs cover of Hole's "Miss World" joins their long list of inspired covers, finding a melancholic underbelly the fantastic original doesn't hint at. I got to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs play a rare hometown show last fall and their Fever To Tell album closer "Modern Romance" never sounded better. The only thing more surprising than discovering a new vintage Paul McCartney & Wings song was finding out "Mrs. Vandebilt" was an in-demand hip hop sample. Gary Bartz' funky "Music Is My Sanctuary" and Samuel Jonathan Johnson's languid "My Music" are both contenders for personal theme songs. Esther Phillips took a cheesy disco song called "Native New Yorker" made popular by Frankie Valli and made it cool because she is Esther Phillips. Steve Young's cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" has such a great spare arrangement and also great backing vocals behind his perfect performance. I was of course delighted to find the "long" version of a childhood favorite: Donna Summer's "On The Radio". Young M.A.'s "Ooouuu" might be the catchiest song on here. Public Image Ltd.'s "The Order Of Death" might be the spookiest. "Poor Song" is the "hidden track" on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2003 album Fever To Tell, released the same year these playlist began, and a perfect companion to "Modern Romance". "Presence Of The Lord" by Blind Faith is as good a lyric Eric Clapton ever wrote, with the added bonus of Stevie Winwood's vocals. "Pull Up The Roots" is another fantastic cover by The Morning Benders, this time of Talking Heads. "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" is Busta Rhymes at his best, with fantastic production.
Count Bass D's "Quite Buttery", with MF Doom, is by far the shortest song on here but still deserves a spot of my top 109 of the 1,088 across the 52 mixes. UGK's "Real Women" with Talib Kweli sounds both classic and modern at once. I was so thrilled to find out earlier this year that some new tracks were unearthed from Dr. Octagon's first classic album and "Red Eye" does not disappoint. Mos Def's "Revelations" is brief but makes one wish it was much longer. I love early takes of classic Fleetwood Mac songs, especially ones with bits of spoken-word Stevie Nicks like this version of "Rhiannon". I could not decide which version of Minnie Riperton's "Seeing You This Way"--the album version or the acoustic version with her producer Stevie Wonder coaching her--was better so I had to include both. I've become a huge fan of the 30s singing trio The Boswell Sisters and their "Shout, Sister, Shout!" captures all of their abundant talents. Can't remember exactly how I accidentally found the Boz Scaggs remix "Skagg" by Linus Loves but I am so glad that I did. I fell for a handful of versions of Bobby Charles' "Small Town Talk" but my favorite has to be Rick Danko's, which sounds like a great lost song by his group The Band. Until recently, I had forgotten how great the bassline is in Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". A Tribe Called Quest's "A Solid Wall Of Sound" with that inspired Elton John sample came very close to cracking my top 11. Sacrilege to say, especially as it's 80s Rod Stewart but I enjoy his version of The Persuaders' "Some Guys Have All The Luck" better than the original, or even the other fine covers included on this blog.
"Song For A Future Generation" makes me wonder how many other great old B-52s songs I am missing. Of the many versions of Laura Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic" I enjoyed this year, including her album version, nothing beat the solo piano demo here. Jackie DeShannon's version of the Gershwin standard "Summertime" might be, with apologies to Billy Stewart and John Coltrane for that matter, the best one ever. Donna Summer's "Sunset People" only seems more mysteriously incredible after all these years. I am so proud to have found the amazing rap obscurity "Tall, Dark And Handsome" by the group of the same name, as it is as wonderfully ridiculous as the title suggests. I found a lot of great covers of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" this year and The Headcoatees version here is my favorite. Buck Owens found untold depths in The Eagles' "Tequila Sunrise" just by singing it, and I never thought of him for his singing. I am always happy to find a new Nina Simone song to hold close to my heart and this year "That's All I Ask" did that trick. Linda Ronstadt's lovely version of Tom Petty's "The Waiting" again proves her peerless interpretation skills. I don't know why the "demo version 2" of The Pixies' "There Goes My Gun" is better than their others, but it is: crazier and more fun. Speaking of obscure demos, it was such a gift to find another pensive early Kinks song in "There's A New World Just Opening Up For Me".
Howard Jones' "Things Could Only Get Better" soundtracked my youth but never sounded more needed than recently. "This Is The Way That I Am" by La Fez quietly became an anthem for me. What a soulful vocal John Lennon gives on The Beatles' "Ticket To Ride". Galaxie 500's "Tugboat" is a dreamy ride worth taking. "Two To The Head" with Kool G Rap, Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Ice Cube is one of those posse cuts they just don't make anymore, maybe because it'd be hard to find four guys all that good. "Us Placers" with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco is a more muted modern update on that formula. A Tribe Called Quest's "We The People..." hit a lot more hard than even they could have expected. Tony Joe White's soulful country version of Junior Walker's "What Does It Take To Win Your Love" is as great as the original and hovered just outside my top 11 of the year. Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" is a sweet earworm from my youth, and sounds better than ever to me. Stevie Wonder's live version of his "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" with Ella Fitzgerald was one of my favorites of the year for it's stage patter alone, some of which I have stolen when addressing the fox. I found George McRae's "You Can Have It All" through a Yo La Tengo cover many years ago, until finally hearing the even better original. Barry White's "You're The First, The Last, My Everything"is a radio staple in France to this day and soundtracked one romantic trip there a decade ago, so I was shocked it wasn't on one of my playlists until now. Sir Menelik's &XL with Grand Puba and the great Sadat X is a recent mellow favorite. Harry Nilsson tinkered with different versions of his autobiographical "1941" and I like his demo version best.
Age Of Consent The Golden Filter
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything Bauhaus
Alright Kendrick Lamar
American Wedding Frank Ocean
Angel Flying To Close To The Ground Willie Nelson
Anything You Sow William Onyeabor
Back To Black Amy Winehouse
Boogie Oogie Oogie A Taste Of Honey
Bookfiend MF Doom ft. Clams Casino
Born To Run Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Brother, Be Ready For That Day Grady & Hazel Cole
Buttercup The Jackson 5
California Girls The Beach Boys
Call Ticketron Run The Jewels
Campaigner Neil Young
Can You Rock It Like This Run-D.M.C.
Child Of The Moon The Rolling Stones
China Doll Leon Thomas
Chun-Li Nikki Minaj
Come And Stay With Me Jackie DeShannon
Coney Island Baby Joseph Arthur
Conflicted KA
Converse Busy Bee
Crazy On You Heart
Daddy Loves Baby Don Covay
Devil In A New Dress Kanye West ft. Rick Ross
Diamond Sea Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dollars And Sense Bushwick Bill
Don't Be Denied Nils Lofgren
Don't You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet to Come Bessie Banks
The Enemy Big L
Every Night Odetta
Everybody's Gotta Live Love
Eyes Of The World The Grateful Dead
Feelin' Alright The Jungle Brothers
Glad Tidings Merry Clayton
Greatest Love Of All Richie Havens
Helplessly Hoping (live) Richie Havens
Hey Jude The Beatles
I Am What I Am Merle Haggard
I Came Here To Say I'm Going Away Okkervil River
I Don't Like Mondays The Boomtown Rats
I'm Housin' EPMD
If You Know You Know Pusha T
In Between Days The Cure
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet Gavin Bryars ft. Tom Waits
Know How Young MC
Landslide Antony
Like To Get To Know You Spanky & Our Gang
Lord Have Mercy Da Lench Mob
Lost Lover Blues Lottie Kimbrough & Winston Holmes
Love Power Dusty Springfield
Luchini - This Is It Camp Lo
Mad Rush Philip Glass
Miss World The Afghan Whigs
Modern Romance Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Mother's Last Word To Her Son Washington Phillips
Mrs. Vanderbilt Paul McCartney & Wings
Music Is My Sanctuary Gary Bartz
My Music Samuel Jonathan Johnson
Native New Yorker Esther Phillips
Never Too Much Luther Vandross
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down Steve Young
On The Radio (long ver) Donna Summer
Ooouuu Young M.A.
The Order Of Death Public Image Ltd.
Poor Song Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Presence Of The Lord Blind Faith
Pull Up The Roots The Morning Benders
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See Busta Rhymes
Quite Buttery Count Bass D ft. Doom
Real Women UGK ft. Talib Kweli & Raheem Devaughn
Redeye Dr. Octagon
Revelations Mos Def
Rhiannon (early take) Fleetwood Mac
Seeing You This Way Minnie Ripterton
Seeing You This Way (acoustic ver) Minnie Riperton
Shout, Sister, Shout! The Boswell Sisters
Skagg Linus Loves
Small Town Talk Rick Danko
Smooth Criminal Michael Jackson
Softer, Softest (MTV live ver) Hole
Solid Wall Of Sound A Tribe Called Quest ft. Bust Rhymes & Elton John
Some Guys Have All The Luck Rod Stewart
Songs For A Future Generation B-52s
Stoned Soul Picnic (demo) Laura Nyro
Summertime Jackie DeShannon
Sunset People Donna Summer
Tall, Dark And Handsome Tall, Dark And Handsome
Teenage Kicks The Headcoatees
Tequila Sunrise Buck Owens
That's All I Ask Nina Simone
The Waiting Linda Ronstadt
There Goes My Gun (demo ver 2) The Pixies
There's A New World Opening Up Just For Me (demo) The Kinks
Things Can Only Get Better Howard Jones
This Is The Way That I Am La Fez
Ticket To Ride The Beatles
Tugboat Galaxy 500
Two To The Head Kool G Rap ft. Bushwick Bill, Scarface & Ice Cube
Us Placers Child Rebel Solider ft. Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Lupe Fiasco & Thom Yorke
We The People... A Tribe Called Quest
What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) Tony Joe White
While You See A Chance Stevie Winwood
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (live 77) Ella Fitzgerald & Stevie Wonder
You Can Have It All George McRae
You're The First, My Last, My Everything Barry White
7XL Sir Menelik ft. Grand Puba & Sadat X
1941 (demo) Harry Nilsson
Sunday, July 8, 2018
12-25-14: I Heard The Sound Of A Clown Who Cried In The Alley
"Heaven Help Us All" was written by Motown writer Ron Miller and first recorded as a 1970 single by Stevie Wonder . This mix features versions from shortly after by Joan Baez, Ray Charles and Marion Williams as well as the original.
"That'll Be The Day" is a 1957 single by Buddy Holly & The Crickets, inspired by John Wayne dialogue in The Searchers. This mix features covers by The Everly Brothers, Francoise Hardy and Linda Ronstadt as well as the Holly hit.
One other song repeats this week: Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" from his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, here with a cover by The Staple Singers.
"Cowgirls To Boys" by The Ripples is a gender-flipped version of The Intruders hit "Cowboys To Girls".
The rest: the insouciant "Knockin' On Mine" by Paul Wetserberg, Caddyshack film theme "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins, Czarface & Mf Doom with the trippy "Nautical Depths", a Tom Moulton remix of First Choice's "Smarty Pants", a cover of The Delfonics "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) by Jimmy & David Ruffin, the wry "Welcome To New York" by Johnny Hodges with Leon Thomas & Oliver Nelson, Puff Daddy's moody Young G's with Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G., the Pete Rock-produced "Black Superhero Car" with DZA and Rick Ross, Brenda Holloway's version of the Mary Wells single "When I'm Gone" and the 1985 single "In Between Days" by The Cure.
Knocking On Mine Paul Westerberg
I'm Alright Kenny Loggins
That'll Be The Day Buddy Holly
Heaven Help Us All Joan Baez
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Bob Dylan
Nautical Depth Czarface & MF Doom
Smarty Pants (Tom Moulton remix) First Choice
Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) Jimmy & David Ruffin
Heaven Help Us All Ray Charles
Welcome To New York Johnny Hodges with Leon Thomas and Oliver Nelson
Young G's Puff Daddy w/ Jay-Z & The Notorious B.I.G.
Cowgirls To Boys The Ripples
Black Superhero Car Smoke DZA & Pete Rock ft. Rick Ross
That'll Be The Day Francoise Hardy
Heaven Help Us All Marion Williams
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall The Staple Singers
When I'm Gone Brenda Holloway
That'll Be The Day Linda Ronstadt
Heaven Help Us All Stevie Wonder
In Between Days The Cure
"That'll Be The Day" is a 1957 single by Buddy Holly & The Crickets, inspired by John Wayne dialogue in The Searchers. This mix features covers by The Everly Brothers, Francoise Hardy and Linda Ronstadt as well as the Holly hit.
One other song repeats this week: Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" from his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, here with a cover by The Staple Singers.
"Cowgirls To Boys" by The Ripples is a gender-flipped version of The Intruders hit "Cowboys To Girls".
The rest: the insouciant "Knockin' On Mine" by Paul Wetserberg, Caddyshack film theme "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins, Czarface & Mf Doom with the trippy "Nautical Depths", a Tom Moulton remix of First Choice's "Smarty Pants", a cover of The Delfonics "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) by Jimmy & David Ruffin, the wry "Welcome To New York" by Johnny Hodges with Leon Thomas & Oliver Nelson, Puff Daddy's moody Young G's with Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G., the Pete Rock-produced "Black Superhero Car" with DZA and Rick Ross, Brenda Holloway's version of the Mary Wells single "When I'm Gone" and the 1985 single "In Between Days" by The Cure.
Knocking On Mine Paul Westerberg
I'm Alright Kenny Loggins
That'll Be The Day Buddy Holly
Heaven Help Us All Joan Baez
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Bob Dylan
Nautical Depth Czarface & MF Doom
Smarty Pants (Tom Moulton remix) First Choice
Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) Jimmy & David Ruffin
Heaven Help Us All Ray Charles
Welcome To New York Johnny Hodges with Leon Thomas and Oliver Nelson
Young G's Puff Daddy w/ Jay-Z & The Notorious B.I.G.
Cowgirls To Boys The Ripples
Black Superhero Car Smoke DZA & Pete Rock ft. Rick Ross
That'll Be The Day Francoise Hardy
Heaven Help Us All Marion Williams
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall The Staple Singers
When I'm Gone Brenda Holloway
That'll Be The Day Linda Ronstadt
Heaven Help Us All Stevie Wonder
In Between Days The Cure
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