Each year around the holidays, I do a mixtape for family and friends, as a way of saying, "You must hear this. Now." This year, the CD burner on the iMac shit the bed, so we're entering the eco-friendly fully digital realm. Download at will. And let me know what you think in the comments.
Playlist:
1. Haunted — Shane McGowan & The Popes
2. Real Good Looking Boy — The Who
3. Leader of the Pack — The Shangri Las
4. If I Were a Carpenter — Johnny Cash w/June Carter Cash
5. Foundations — Kate Nash
6. Another Nail in My Heart — Squeeze
7. Will It Go Round in Circles — Billy Preston
8. Say Hey — Michael Franti & Spearhead
9. It Mek — Desmond Dekker & The Aces
10. Steve's Hammer — Steve Earle
11. I Am the Light of This World — Blind Gary Davis
12. Special Friend — Larry Davis
13. Hemingway — Blue Clocks Green
14. The Crawl — Spirit of the West
15. When Will I Be Loved — John Fogerty & Bruce Springsteen
16. The Road to Rock 'N' Roll — Joe Strummer
17. Cover of the Rolling Stone — Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
18. Saucy Johnny — Maggi, Pierce, & EJ
19. Hurt — Johnny Cash
20. Santa Ana — Bruce Springsteen
21. Up to Me — Bob Dylan
22. Haunted — The Pogues
Download zip file
+ track 22 (added late)
Liner Notes:
1/22. Haunted: An A-one Pogues song. A duet, written for the Sid & Nancy soundtrack. I won that LP by answering a trivia question correctly during a college radio station giveaway. It's a middling punk/pop soundtrack, and a so-so movie, but it gave me this song, which provided pitch perfect melancholy to my early 20s. Shane MacGowan would later re-record it with Sinead O'Connor. His version is raw, and not without its toothless charm, but the Elvis Costello-produced Pogues version with Cait O'Riordan is indeed haunting and beautiful, and ever my favorite. Here's both; you be the judge
3. Leader of the Pack: This tune was on a K-Tel–style compilation we had around the house when I was young. I ate it up. I was probably only 12 or 13, and this was right in the wheelhouse of my burgeoning fantasy world of heroism and melancholy.
11. I Am the Light of This World: In March, this song was played to great effect at the funeral for the son of a friend and former boss. Andy was 24 and had been teaching in Laos when he died. To put it much too simply, he was a good kid and the world will be a lesser place without him. After the funeral, I sought out my Blind Gary Davis CD and heard this old song in a new way that will forever be the way I hear it. For you, in heaven, Andy. Godspeed.
12. Special Friend: The Replacements led me to Alex Chilton, which led me to his work as a producer, which led me to this little gem.
13. Hemingway: Again, college. My senior year this time. One Saturday afternoon, painting in the art studio and listening to the station broadcasting from the other side of campus. It was what was called a progressive station, in those salad days before progressive stopped meaning anything to anyone. In any case, it was right there and then that I heard what might well be the catchiest tune ever written. It's not by anyone you've ever heard of, nor has it ever been featured in a John Hughes film, nor a hipster car commercial. But here it is — a perfect pop song.
16. The Road to Rock 'N' Roll: See TWM post on Joe Strummer.
18. Saucy Johnny: Very funny tune by friends Maggi, Pierce, & EJ.
19. Hurt: See TWM post on hurt.
21. Up to Me: See TWM post on song memories. One of my top five favorite songs of all time.
Comments