Beneath the Backstreet Light: July 30th, 2017 Playlist

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I played several themed or connected blocks this week. I opened with a trio of New York punk (but not quite punk) artists - the Dictators, Blondie, and David Johansen. Then I tried an experiment that failed on several fronts. I was a teenager in the late seventies and early eighties, and much of the music I loved was, if not Top 40, popular radio tracks. My plan was to play several songs not usually heard by various bands. The primary failure was in my basic intent. There's no real reason to play bands you can hear on any rock station around the world on pretty much any given day. So, Boston and Styx will probably never show up again unless I can really argue it out with myself and make sense. As to Supertramp and ELO, well, definitely, but in a different context, most likely as part of a prog set. The second failure came when I couldn't play the Supertramp song ("Oh Darling" for you who care), and I stepped all over the end of the Styx song. Total crap performance on my part. 

The short folky set was drafted to surround Y'all's "Mamaw." They were a folk/country/gospel duo who lived and played in NYC back in the 90s whom I saw several times and contributed money to releasing one of their albums. Their songs make me incredibly happy when I play them, on their own, and as links to a past in NYC before 9/11 and insane gentrification and overbuilding.

Next came the Mod/Modern block. Paul Weller and others in the nineties were moved to create some great music with roots in the Mod and freakbeat sounds of sixties London. So, I several tracks from the Small Faces and similar bands followed by Weller and several similar artists. It was easily the tunes I've loved putting together and playing most of all so far at Music I Like. Those who know me know I ain't no dancer, and yet I found myself bopping along to these songs. 

Finally, before ending the show with a Broadway-style track from Alice Cooper's School's Out, I mixed things up with funny songs and very British songs. A mixed and enjoyable lot I have to say. 

Keep tune in every Sunday - 4-6pm at www.MakerParkRadio.nyc and let me know what you think.

Music I Like, vol 1, #5 - Beneath the Backstreet Light

1	New York, New York	Manitoba's Wild Kingdom	And You?	1990
2	Fan Mail	Blondie	Plastic Letters	1978
3	Frenchette	David Johansen	David Johansen	1978
4	Something About You	Boston	Boston	1976
5	Oh Darling	Supertramp	Breakfast in America	1979
6	Haven't We Been Here Before	Styx	Kilroy Was Here	1983
7	Since You've Been Gone	Rainbow	Down to Earth	1979
8	Rockaria!	ELO	A New World Record	1976
9	Brand New Cadillac	Vince Taylor	single	1959
10	Please Don't Touch	Johnny Kidd & the Pirates	single	1959
11	Mull of Kintyre	Wings	single	1977
12	Be Still	Los Lobos	The Neighborhood	1990
13	Mamaw	Y'all	The Next Big Thing	1994
14	Waiting for the Great  Leap Forward	Billy Bragg	Workers' Playtime	1988
15	All Her Favorite Fruit	Camper van Beethoven	Key Lime Pie	1989
16	Song of a Baker	Small Faces	Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake	1968
17	Coloured Rain	Traffic	Mr. Fantasy	1967
18	Butchers and Bakers	Les Fleur de Lys	single (as Chocolate Frog)	1968
19	Changingman	Paul Weller	Stanley Road	1995
20	Timeless Melody	The Las	The Las	1990
21	The Riverboat Song	Ocean Colour Scene	Moseley Shoals	1996
22	Mankind	Cast	All Change	1995
23	Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye	case	Phantom of the Paradise	1974
24	Rubber Bullets	10CC	10CC	1973
25	Vicky Verky	Squeeze	Argybargy	1980
26	See Emily Play	David Bowie	Pin Ups	1973
27	It Must Be Love	Madness	single	1981
28	Prince of the Punks	The Kinks	single	1977
29	Girl of My Dreams	Bram Tchaikovsky	Strange Man Changed Man	1979
30	Rat Patrol	Naked Raygun	Throb Throb	1985
31	Still There's Hope	Young Fresh Fellows	This One's for the Ladies	1989
32	Grande Finale	Alice Cooper	School's Out	1972

Righteous Stuff: July 2nd, 2017 Playlist

When I started assembling playlists several months ago, I knew I wanted something bold and exciting to kick off each show. However it came to me, I heard the opening strains of Yes' over-the-top rendition of Richie Havens' "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (CLICK for the original). They take Haven's propulsive acoustic song into mad, overdrive territory and mix it with Jerome Moross' theme from the Western, Big Country (which I incorrectly attributed to Elmer Bernstein last Sunday). The wild combination of rock, film score, and prog excess set the perfect tone for the rest of the set and my show overall.

I always envisioned my show having an "educational" component. There's just so much rock and pop music that's slipped away or been forgotten over the years. As meaningful as any song is to a person, as emotionally affecting it is, it's a pretty ephemeral product. Every year there's a thousand (or more) new ones drowning out the older ones. I want people to hear some of the music that's been burned into my heart and soul over my life. I want people who haven't heard Steve Marriott sing "All Or Nothing" feel the same frisson I did the first time I played it. 

Each show set (so far!) starts and ends with an eclectic mix of things I dig. Sandwiched in between are collections of songs grouped by genre or something that makes sense to me in the moment. For the first show I put together a batch of Detroit bands and then some Mod classics. Down the road I've got early metal, original punk, and New Wave of British Heavy Metal tracks. 

I'm extremely happy with the first installment of Music I Like. Even limiting myself to music from before 1984 (a parameter I've since discarded), I played a great mix of heavy, psychedelic, punk, and even a little prog. I had an absolute blast doing the first show with only a modicum of errors (left a mic open, flubbed a cue, and a touch of feedback), and am itching to get back in the booth this coming Sunday.

Music I Like, vol 1, #1 - Righteous Stuff

01. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed - Yes - Time and a Word - 1970 
02. The Girl I Knew Somewhere - The Monkees - single - 1967
03. Softly Softly - The Equals - Supreme -1968
04. Take My Heart - The Romancers - single - 1966
05. Speak Now of Forever Hold Your Peace - Terry Reid - Terry Reid - 1969
06. It's All Too Much - The Beatles - Yellow Submarine - 1969
07. Baby Please Don't Go - Amboy Dukes - Amboy Dukes - 1967
08. 2+2=? - Bob Seger System - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - 1968
09. Caught in a Dream - Alice Cooper - Love It To Death - 1971
10. House of the Rising Sun - Frijid Pink - Frijid Pink  - 1970
11. Skunk (Sonically Speaking) - MC5 - High Time - 1971
12. Fun House - The Stooges - Fun House - 1970
13. So Sad About Us - The Who - A Quick One - 1966
14. Have Some More Tea - The Smoke - single -1967
15. All Or Nothing - Small Faces - From the Beginning - 1966
16. Leaving Here - The Birds - single - 1965
17. Making Time - The Creation - We Are Paintermen - 1967
18. Motorhead - Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time - 1975
19. One of These Days - Pink Floyd - Meddle - 1971
20. Archangel Thunderbird - Amon Duul - Yeti - 1970
21. Bloodstains - Agent Orange - Living in Darkness - 1981
22. Police Truck - Dead Kennedys - single - 1980
23. Down on the Bay - The Move - single - 1971
24. Stay With Me - The Dictators - Bloodbrothers - 1978
25. Louie Louie - The Sonics - Boom - 1966
26. Rock and Roll Queen - Mott the Hoople - Mott the Hoople - 1969
27. Give It To Me - J. Geils Band - Blooodshot 1973
28. Mirror Star - Fabulous Poodles - Unsuitable - 1978
29. Have You Seen the Stars Tonight? - Paul Kantner & J.A. - Blows Against the Empire - 1970
30. There Isn't Anything Else - Wreckless Eric - Wreckless Eric - 1978

Bonus Tracks - when the next DJ didn't show up on time I had to cannibalize another setlist for some quick backup music.

31. Metal Guru - T.Rex - The Slider - 1972
32. Midsummer's Night Scene - John's Children - single - 1967
33. Skinhead Moonstomp - Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp - 1970
34. Sweet Lady Genevive - The Kinks - Preservation Act 1 - 1973
35. Wendy - The Beach Boys - All Summer Long - 1964
36. Big Noise from Waimea - The Ebb Tides - Lost Legends of Surf Guitar  - 2003
37. Action - The Sweet - single - 1975