putting the j in jjosh

Playlist and info can be found here.

Dan Raphael has been killing it recently with his Spotify playlists, it’s like he’s found a new lease on mix life! After the death of the mixtape and mix CD, it really remained to be seen whether playlists would be able to function in the same way. The jury is definitely still out, but this is a huge step in the right direction. Pre-Spotify, I made a youtube playlist for a friend, and sent him a QR code in a CD case to be able to access it. While this felt “clever”, I don’t really think it was practical, at least not in the way that Spotify is. And yet, making a random playlist for people doesn’t seem a guarantee in terms of connecting. More study is needed, but in the meantime, giving each playlist a specific set of rules, or creating it to evoke a certain time is a great great idea. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spinning through the Elementary School, Middle School and now two (!!) High School playlists. Bring on College!

At least some of the desire to make this report card was to participate in the back-and-forth like we used to, and finding myself with some spare time (rare commodity) as we left for 2 weeks in Brazil. Even so, these things always have a tendency to get put off, and so here we are, 3 weeks after that vacation is over, 3 years after my last blog post. Enough blather, let’s get to those letter grades.

1. Exhuming McCarthy – Remastered R.E.M.

I completely forgot about the typewriter at the start of this! It’s so good. I had dubbed this album from our local library (which must have had some cool cat ordering their CD’s and cassettes) and didn’t copy over the song titles. Because of Stipe’s famous mush-mouth (although much clearer on this album) I always assumed that this song was called “Too Many Car Thieves”.

Are those little horn stabs on there? I never really noticed them before. And that hammond organ! I definitely was listening to this before I had a sense of production, or how records were put together. It’s so good listening to it now. Oh, also “remastered”, maybe that’s why. Also surprising how “pop” it is, esp with regards to their previous stuff. But those drums also just keep driving, don’t they? Solid gold. A+

2. The One I Love – Remastered R.E.M.

This song was always pretty ho-hum to me. His vocal gymnastics on the chorus, and that low twangy guitar bit are still great, but it hasn’t aged well for me. There’s kind of not much to it, and while I can still put my mind back in the 80’s and feel how it was kind of amazing for this song to be a hit, it’s not something that I ever come back to. My brain is hitting “skip”, but it might be partly because I’ve just heard it so many times now. Ok, that chorus still has a lot of weird mystery to it (as always, Mills’ backup vox take it to the next level), it’s impressive. B+

3. A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours – The Smiths

This was also my first Smiths album, again dubbed from a CD at our local library. I always really loved “Death of a Disco Dancer”. Is that a xylophone? Amazing. And the backwards reverb on his vocals are great. Also that “urrrrrhhhh-rush and a push” vocal tic was something that was mirrored by the singer of my first post-college band (it’s similar to a Robert Smith-type thing too). It’s hard to pull off and make it sound cool.

But the only thing is, now with Morrissey in full-fledged “problematic fave” mode as re his more racist statements, it makes it harder to listen to. Plus, is “the land is ours” meant to be a reference to kicking out immigrants?? Moz famously said “England for the English,” so it’s possible. It seems crazy that he’s super right-wing! Then again, my buddy Jay Bois saw him with Interpol and was like “Don’t sweat it, Moz is always trying to be controversial and that’s all this is.” So maybe it’s all ok?

Song: A

Moz context: D?

4. I Can’t Put My Finger On It – The Housemartins

“Happy Hour Again” was huge in the UK when I lived there from 81 – 86, but it’s really the only Housemartins song I know well. Why haven’t I delved into their catalog??? This is great. Such cardigan rock! What does Fatboy Slim play on this, bass?

5. Need You Tonight – INXS

Oh hell yeah, I wore this cassette out in my Walkman. Again, the production is so so good, so stripped down, but every element is doing something. Those big cymbal crashes before the chorus are fantastic. His vocal delivery is so smoky and sexed up. I definitely remember hearing this and thinking damn this guy must get lots of girls how am I ever going to make out with a girl! This type of sensuality was super alien to the teenaged me. But it’s also so so cool. So cool. And it’s aged really well. That last line is perfect. A+

6. Why Can’t I Be You? – The Cure

Yes, another library dub for me. My musical taste was so determined by 99.1 WHFS and my local Annapolis library! I didn’t like the rest of this album as much as the “Just Like Heaven” single, but only because that song tripped my teenage wires in a major way, hitting all the moody love notes. Brooding, sad, but so in love. The rest of the album was still pretty good, and still full of those love/sex/weird vibes, but I just never quite clicked with it as much.

It’s fun to re-hear this song now, what a weird Cure song! All those synth horns and the pop chord progressions. I read this great diary piece about the recording of Disintegration where Robert Smith was quoted as basically saying “all our songs sound completely different and then I do my Robert Smith singing thing and they become Cure songs.” Isn’t that super true?

Also hats off to the progression from the vocal-only ending of the previous INXS song, into the boom-boom-boom of this track’s open. And the late-80’s production make these sound like two sides of the same coin. Mix tape GOLD.

Song: B+

Transition: A+

7. What’s My Scene – Hoodoo Gurus

What was that one Hoodoo Gurus song that was big on 120 Minutes at one point? I really liked it, pretty sure I put it on the tape I made by recording songs from my 120 Minutes VHS tapes, using the music lab at JMU. Miss Freelove ’69! Hell yeah. 1991 classic. That’s the only Hoodoo Gurus song I ever knew, but this is really good. Makes me want to check out their back catalogue as well. Funny that both this song and Miss Freelove have shout-outs to “making’ love”. I wanna write a song about making love. B

8. Flesh Number One – Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Hmm, this song sounds kind familiar, was this a hit? Maybe a WHFS hit? It’s fine I guess. It took me a long time to come around on RH. I mean, I liked Balloon Man fine enough, but not until getting Soft Boys songs on Dan R mixes, and hearing them on Jack Watson’s radio show did I really get with the RH program. But that stuff is so good! I’ve been digging into it recently on Spotify, and reading the all music reviews and stuff. Can’t believe those early Soft Boys albums were recorded back in the early 70’s! So ahead of their time.

This song sounds a bit like a jangly pop attempt at a hit? I dunno, it’s just a little boring I guess. Pretty short, which is great. B

9. Over and Done With – The Proclaimers

I never get tired of how they say “wi’!” This song is somehow familiar even though I never had that album. I think my sister must have had the cassette and played the hell out of it. It’s amazing. So folksy, so Scottish, so charismatic. A

10. Dating Days – Violent Femmes

Weirdly the first VF records I heard were from a friend leaving a tape at my house with the “Blind Leading the Naked” and “Hallowed Ground” albums dubbed on it. So I never had that deep affinity for the first record that most folks had. I always loved this song, that twangy fuzzed acoustic bass, and the brushes on the snare drum. And the religious imagery (Jonah and Legion (!!) showing up in this song), they really were working within their own weird mythology, weren’t they? His nasal voice, but that anxiety and confidence paradoxically working together. Pretty epic. Not to mention that whole thing that they were discovered playing for the line at a Pretenders show??? Bananas.

The “Did you hear me / Clearly” rave-up ending is so good. Their songs are well structured for sure. This feels like hanging out with an awesome friend from back in the day. A+

11. Punk Rock Girl – The Dead Milkmen

I was in this band called The Palpatines (yes!) and the singer knew one of the guys from The Dead Milkman and he gave him our tape and for a while I was super stoked and kind of couldn’t believe it. But nothing came from it. These guys are great, although it kind of wears out its welcome. This one less than others, that “California Dreamin’ / then we started screamin’” bit is amazing. Also the Mojo Nixon line. What was his song, nothing but Elvis? And Michael J. Fox as the anti-Elvis? I wanna hear that agin. Again, the 2.5 minutes length saves it. What can I say, it’s a killer song! A-

12. Crash – The Primitives

I have a hazy memory that the singer for this band was super hot. This was on some compilation tape I had as a kid and I always loved it. Pop, but with that kind of murky vocal, and the male backing vox on the na-na-na’s is a great addition. Lots of little fun touches, the reverb breakdown on “shut-t-t-t-t-t-t…”, the hand-claps that show up for the pre-chorus bridge, the way the sections extend with little extra bits. Another 2.5 minute song! That’s such a good pop length. A

13. Good Thing – Fine Young Cannibals

Ok yes, sure, it’s going to be this or “She Drives Me Crazy”, but I love that song so so much that it’s actually taking a lot for me to get over this choice. I always thought this one had a bit more of a cliché piano, rollicking rock n roll thing going, where “Drives Me Crazy” sounded like it was beamed in from another planet. The boogie piano breakdown is hard to deal with, but at least it strips it down for the following verse. His voice is like velvet though, that’s for sure. B

14. Desire – U2

Ok, sure, going for the left-field choice ‘cuz we’re not sick of it, right? But ugh, that Bo Diddley thing with the handclaps. His voice is so so sincere, probably at the most sincere it’ll ever get. ‘Cuz after this we get ironic Bono with Achtung Baby (my favorite) and then when he goes back to being sincere (Beautiful Girl or whatever) it always sounds like he kind of doesn’t believe it. That sort of spoken word middle part is weak you guys. And the harmonica? C

15. Elaine – The Smithereens

What were the big Smithereens tracks? Those are the only ones I know. Oh yeah, A Girl Like You! That song was awesome. I think I saw them at an HFStival or opening for someone or something, and they were good? This is a good heart-on-the-sleeve track, his vocals sound excellent, esp with that little slap-back echo on it. They can write a song, that’s for sure. 2.5 minutes! Seems like the perfect pop song length. B

16. Suedehead – Morrissey

That first Moz album really felt like a Smiths album to me at the time, but I think that was before I quite realized how much Johnny Marr was adding. Still, I loved this song, so much bite! I saw him on the Your Arsenal tour in ’92 and thought it was super epic. Still, googling “Is Morrissey racist” brings up a ton of stuff, ugh. But then again, maybe on purpose! So complicated. A

17. She’s Got a New Spell – Billy Bragg

Ok sure, Billy Bragg is great. There was a time when a friend made me a mix tape that had a handful of his songs on it, and I was like, these are great! But it never made me get an album or anything. Even now, hearing it, I’m not really like “ I gotta get into his back catalogue on Spotify!” or anything, so, you know, ok. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great! I’m just like, ok. B

18. Ana Ng – They Might Be Giants

Oh man, TMBG was one of those bands that hit the teenaged me so so perfectly. Nerdy but cool, so creative, so musical. And this song was one where I felt like they just smashed it out of the park. How did they make those guitars sound like that? What are these lyrics about? Who is that woman on the spoken word bit? Such a mystery. Have you seen the TMBG documentary from a ways back? I remember it being pretty killer. Their first 4 albums or so are kind of perfect. This song is iconic and still spectacular. A+

19. Pop Song 89 – R.E.M.

Yep, another great track. I remember buying this cassette and it really colored a specific time in my life when I was working as a cook at a retirement community that wasn’t too far from my high school. It was a great job because I had been working as a cook in other normal restaurants, and I wouldn’t get out of my shift until like midnight, especially after having to clean all the floors, etc. (which I always had to do as low man on the totem pole). Since this was dinner at a senior center, I used to be able to leave around 10 which was the best.

The jangly riff is killer, Stipe’s vox have great production and harmony. The lyrics are kind of what brings it down for me, even though it’s such a strong album starter. And I guess having bubble-gum lyrics is part of the meta-reference to the “Pop Song” of the title? Maybe. Great track though. A-

20. Achin’ to Be – The Replacements

By now it’s not news that I don’t like The Replacements, no matter how much I try. And I keep trying! I keep thinking there must be something I’m missing. I do like the sloppiness, the rough-hewn pop aspects of it. I just don’t like the song! Interesting take from The Guardian on this er ‘Mats, “It was an outfit who weren’t meant to be a big, commercial rock band trying far too hard to be a big, commercial rock band.” Maybe if they were a top 40 band that I had as a guilty pleasure? I dunno, I’m giving up, it just doesn’t move me. C

21. Mayor Of Simpleton – XTC

Well, I knew the later XTC singles (this, “Dear God” in the UK, “Peter Pumpkinhead”) and had a handful of tracks from Dan mixtapes (“Love on a Farmboy’s Wages”) but really didn’t get into XTC properly until a few years back. Not sure why I waited so long, but WOW is their catalogue amazing. It also made me re-evaluate the singles that I had kind of written off as mor pop, and then I saw that recent XTC doc on Showtime (it’s great!) and when they got to this song (and the glossy video) I was like “Wait a minute, this song is great!” And it is. B+

22. Vanishing Girl – The Dukes Of Stratosphear

I first got this album in 1999 or so (?) when I first started reading allmusic.com reviews tagged with “psychedelic”. I wasn’t quite ready for it back then I don’t think. But in the intervening years, whenever a Dukes track came up on shuffle I would be like “Wow!” Amazing songs for a side project. Really nailing what its trying to do. A

23. Dirty Blvd. – Lou Reed

I got into Lou in two ways: a friend made me a tape with the Velvets “…and Nico” album on it, and then while I was working as a dishwasher at The Rustic Inn (my first job) WHFS played “Last Great American Whale” and I was pretty captivated. In High School I was definitely a writing nerd, and that song plays out like a short story. So I got New York from the library (yes!) and was hooked. This song is so so strong. Listening to these songs now, I’m blown away by different things every time, these days the bass playing consistently takes my breath away. “New York” and “…and Nico” started a love affair with one of my most important artists and it’s always great to hear these songs again. A+

24. Runnin’ Down A Dream – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Riff rock classic. Petty really is that good, isn’t he? Must have heard this a zillion times and yet it doesn’t wear out its welcome. A

25. Fight The Power – Public Enemy

Yeah, I mean come the f*** on, this is an unbelievable track, with unbelievable production and unbelievable voice work. Second-wave hip hop at its break-through finest. Still sounds amazing. A+

26. Love Shack – The B-52’s

Edit? I wonder what was edited? I went through a love/hate with this song because it was stuffed down our throats so much when it came out and smashed the charts. Recently I’ve come around and gotten into it again. Rarely has a song so sounded like a literal party happening, I can really see why it was such a hit. The breakdowns are great, the “tin roof!” part, so much fun. To this day when I see a classic American car with fins on the back I think “it’s as big as a whale / and it’s about to set sail!” A

27. …This Town… – Elvis Costello

Like a lot of folks growing up in the 80’s / 90’s, this was my first Elvis Costello, although a High School friend had lent me King of America and I just didn’t get it. But after dubbing this from the library (!) I played it in my car driving around town, a lot. Dan’s right that this one has worn well, and I don’t know if I could listen to “Veronica” any more. Those drums and synths are kind of 80’s, and then they give way to such…Elvis-ish-ness? I’m only knocking it slightly because the later discovery that EC could be so vital and powerful on those early records makes this suffer a bit in comparison. A-

28. You Keep It All In – The Beautiful South

Can we sample those intro flutes for some hip hop track? I always found TBS sort of…ok, I guess? And this song is pretty great. Her voice is sort of generic to me. Is this proto-cardigan rock? Or straight-ahead cardigan rock? The horns are good. And the Housemartins guy always sounds unique and great. B

29. Joey – Concrete Blonde

Oh man I couldn’t stand this song when it came out, and really can’t stand it now. So sort of saccharine and over-blown, and just when you think it can’t get any more mope-y, the song builds to a brand new level of down-ness. Can’t deal with it now, couldn’t deal with it then. D

30. Way Down Now – World Party

I was all ready to write this song off, and then I played a little bit of it to remind myself of it: instantly stuck in my head. It’s a powerful hook! What was this guy called, Karl something? I feel like they had a handful of MTV’s 120 Minutes-style “hits”, is that right? It’s pretty good, but doesn’t make me wanna get into the rest of their catalog or anything. I wonder if it was frustrating to be in this kind of band, with this level of success? Or maybe it was super satisfying? B-

31. Ball and Chain – Social Distortion

Definitely the first Social D song I ever heard and I thought it was pretty good I guess. From watching that doc on them (what’s that called, it’s SO GOOD) I realized that they had a bunch of other great tracks, with much more edge than the sort of pop level they ended up adding to their sound. What was that other track, it was so bad? Who knows. Anyway, this is solid. B

32. Merry Go Round – The Replacements

See Achin’ To Be, above. I guess what people love is that melancholy? Maybe it just simply bums me out too much. C

33. The Last Day of Our Acquaintance – Sinead O’Connor

Yes yes 1000 times yes. This was the stand-out track to me fro this album as well. Pretty sure I borrowed this cassette from my HS girlfriend and really dug it. This song is so weird because that beginning plays at a really really low level so you crank it up, and then when she kicks it in, it’s blasting out of the speakers. All of which I remember from playing that cassette! Funny that this re-master does it as well, it must have been on purpose, right? Making people turn it up so they get blasted by the music when it kicks in. Love it. A+

34. Groove Is in the Heart – Deee-Lite

Another giant of a track. I have a very strong memory of going with my girlfriend, taking this tape and a boombox to go play tennis the Summer after graduating. We played it over and over and hit the ball around and I was super into her. She loved the line “my supper dish / my succotash wish” and that line always stands out to me as being particularly great.

Listening to it now, it’s amazing. Of all the tracks in this playlist, this may have aged the best. Bootsy! Q-tip! That hook! Every time you think you have this track’s number, it gives you something new. Somewhere online there’s an oral history of recording this song and I remember really digging it. This song is still kind of perfect. A+

35. I Touch Myself – Divinyls

I mean, I’m kind of coming around on this song I guess, another one that was a victim of being shoved down our throats from radio and MTV. I was into it the first time I heard it — so sexy, so provocative, so dirty, so GIRLS — and then it just kept getting played again and again and again and again, until, argh, no, stop playing it, I never want to hear it again. It’s kind of great that that particular thing rarely happens these days, isn’t it? I mean, sure I’ll hear Bruno Mars a lot at the deli, but it’s not like it was when this was being played. I don’t hate it any more, I guess. C+

36. Valerie Loves Me – Material Issue

This song makes me feel like I’m in The Breakfast Club. I don’t have any real memory of hearing it as a kid, but I guess I must have, because it instantly gives me the teenage chills. Weird! It’s good, those giant guitars coming in on the one line shouted chorus, and the sort of thin-ness before that. But again, I’m not gonna dive into the Material Issue back catalog, you know? B

37. The People’s Drug – John Wesley Harding

So People’s Drug was a local DC/MD thing? I think I just assumed it was everywhere. He’s so clever, and his voice is so distinctive. “The people’s guitar!” = awesome. I think if I had been listening to this guy in High School I would’ve fallen hard for him. He would fit right in with TMBG and other clever nerd rock I was listening to. B

38. Let Love Rule – Lenny Kravitz

I was such a sucker for this record, and even though I had listened to a lot of Hendrix (taped from the library, natch) I didn’t realize how much LK was ripping off until much much later. And even now that it’s obvious, I still kind of think his stuff is solid. Especially this record, before he blew up and became a bit of a legend in his own mind.

I saw him on this tour, playing Constitution Hall in DC, and he did this song last, letting the audience carry the “let…love…rule…” chorus over and over again as they finished the song. Everyone stopped playing and the audience kept singing it. And kept singing it. And then he appeared in the back of the venue! And came out walking among the crowd! We mobbed him. I touched his dreads. The energy was palpable, crackling. Hearing it now always sets me back to that moment. Wow, 5:42??? It’s too long, right? But still good. A-

39. Feelin’ – The La’s

Never heard this before. They had some hit right? What does google say? “There She Goes”! That’s right. I liked that one a lot. This one is so short and sweet. Strong. Melodic. Fun. B+

40. Long Haired Guys from England – Too Much Joy

So many of my friends in the mid to late 90’s loved this band, but I never really got into them that much. Never owned an album, never sought them out. But the tracks got played a lot at parties and stuff. I remember liking the “King of Beers” track, a friend might have put that on a mix tape for me. This song is fun, pretty good, but kind of wears out its welcome (unlike The Dead Milkmen track from earlier). Although rhyming “England” with “United Kingdom” is great. The song is fine. C+

41. So You Think You’re In Love – Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Why have I always disliked this song? Seems weirdly whiny maybe? Jangly, yes. Some minor chords that help I guess, but not much to it? Songs like this and some of his other “hits” definitely made me kind of write him off until Soft Boys songs started showing up on mix tapes. Good winding down to end the playlist though. C

42. Near Wild Heaven R.E.M.

Such an unusual choice from Out Of Time, but so welcome. This is a track I don’t remember that well, and I’m really enjoying getting into it now. Mike Mills lead? Gentle and lovely, really left field. A