For fans of a certain kind of radio show, this blog features yummy chunks of themed podly goodness and occasional disc-length mixes. Dancing is allowed.
As promised, here's the complete version of the Happy Hippie Radio mix CD; if you're interested and haven't downloaded all the parts, just download this one -- it has all the same music as the individual episodes, in the same order.
This was my third attempt at making a mix of the kind of music I remember from listening to KSAN-FM, San Francisco, circa 1971, so I pretty much knew how I wanted it to go. There were some difficult choices to make, obviously, in condensing the times down to roughly 79 minutes, and some things got cut. If you're wondering why there's no Grateful Dead here, for instance, well... the station didn't really play all that much -- and when they did, it was usually "Uncle John's Band" or "Casey Jones" or "New Speedway Boogie", none of which I ever want to hear again. Besides, according to legend, Jerry Garcia is present here as the pedal-steel guitar player on "One Toke Over The Line".
Several of the choices to represent certain bands could have been different: "Coming Your Way" probably should have been "Oh Well" or "Station Man", but the song I used was representative enough and was the one I most wanted to hear; "Mama Told Me Not to Come" should have been "Yellow Man", and "Apeman" should have been "Lola", based on how well I remember hearing those songs, but the numbers I used fit the mix better; the Traffic, Steve Miller and John Prine tracks could have all been any of at least 2 or 3 other songs apiece -- and probably will be when I do this again.
Ah well, it's been fun, especially the music. Stay tuned!
01 - The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider 02 - The Band - The Shape I'm In 03 - Moby Grape - Murder In My Heart For The Judge 04 - Humble Pie - 30 Days In The Hole 05 - Spirit - Animal Zoo 06 - The Kinks - Apeman 07 - John Simon - The Song of the Elves 08 - Santana - Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen 09 - Fleetwood Mac - Coming Your Way 10 - Ten Years After - I'd Love to Change the World 11 - Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air 12 - The Fraternity of Man - Don't Bogart Me 13 - Brewer and Shipley - One Toke Over The Line 14 - Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen - Seeds and Stems (Again) 15 - Randy Newman - Mama Told Me Not to Come 16 - Donovan - Season Of The Witch 17 - Traffic - Feelin' Alright? 18 - Steve Miller Band - Your Saving Grace 19 - Mike d'Abo - Handbags and Gladrags 20 - John Prine - Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore 21 - The Youngbloods - Hippie From Olema
Thanksgiving is over, let the screaming begin! This is my Christmas mix CD from 2002. Ah, those were the days... when I had no broadband, when album-length mixes were not so readily available, when I made my own Christmas CDs almost every year...
I suffered for this music; now it's your turn (as they say).
01 - Milton Kaye's Steam Calliope - Jingle Bells 02 - Bob Dalpe - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow 03 - The Eels - Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas 04 - The Dismemberment Plan - This Christmas 05 - Lou Rawls - Christmas Is 06 - The Vince Guaraldi Trio - The Christmas Song 07 - John Fahey - Hark, The Herald Angels Sing / O Come, All Ye Faithful 08 - Suddenly, Tammy! - Deck The Halls 09 - The Jingle Cats - White Christmas 10 - Porky Pig - Blue Christmas 11 - El Vez - Brown Christmas 12 - The Emotions - Black Christmas 13 - Louis Armstrong & Benny Carter - Christmas Night In Harlem 14 - Louis Prima - What Will Santa Claus Say When He Finds Everybody Swingin'? 15 - Lou Monte - The Italian Christmas Donkey 16 - The Barking Dogs - Jingle Bells 17 - My First Keyboard - Christmas Is Only Good If You Are A Girl (Boy) 18 - Fountains Of Wayne - I Want An Alien For Christmas 19 - The Rubber Band - Jinglebell Rock 20 - Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 21 - Catherine Irwin - Dirty Little Snowman 22 - The Flaming Lips - Christmas At The Zoo 23 - The Cocteau Twins - Winter Wonderland 24 - Astronaut Frank Borman - A Christmas Greeting From Space
Is there anything that goes better with the better half of a bottle of wine than the sound of a pedal-steel guitar? Well, actually, I learned to like that instrument from a dentist who served it with nitrous oxide, but that's another high entirely. Anyway, it's time to visit the countryside (of wine).
01. Wanda Jackson - Tears Will Be The Chaser For Your Wine 02. Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen - Wine Do Yer Stuff 03. Emmylou Harris - Two More Bottles Of Wine
Careful readers will notice that the title of this mix has changed; I was doing some general tag housekeeping and decided to go ahead and rename this mix to indicate some similar material that I want to include later (coming soon). Meanwhile, here's some tunes that fall under the "anomalous instrumentals" part of the heading. I don't think any of them did much more than fill up space on albums -- I've certainly never heard any of them performed live -- but I like all 3 a lot.
So, I was browsing eMusic for amusing songs about dogs, and what should I find but these guys, The Knuckle Heads, with 3 funny-as-hell songs about dealing with dogs (and their owners) in an urban setting. Just what the dogter ordered! I couldn't possibly choose just one for this mix, and leave the other two behind, so here are all three, to be scattered throughout or bunched together -- I'm really not sure which, right now.
This one took me by surprise; it seems we're out of time for our barefoot walk down the dirt road of hip radio at the end of the freak era in the San Francisco Bay Area (actually, I envision that road as existing somewhere in Marin, near the coast). Had to wrap things up in a hurry, leaving a few things behind. What do you say we do another, soon, eh? Meanwhile, look for the compiled Happy Hippie Radio, Volume 1 mix CD on this blog later this month. The other mixes continue...
PS: The version here of "Handbags and Gladrags" probably should have been Rod Stewart's, for the sake of accuracy, but I just couldn't face thinking about Rod every time I play this CD, so instead you have the original version.
18. Steve Miller Band - Your Saving Grace 19. Mike d'Abo - Handbags and Gladrags 20. John Prine - Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore 21. Youngbloods - Hippie From Olema
Heh heh. The story of my life, in 4 songs or less. I don't know how you feel about this subject, but I can't get enough of it. 'T'would be convenient, 'f't'were otherwise, t'wat?
Make no mistake, this is a man's blog; women most likely will call a cunt a cunt. I know, I know... ...wuss-boys.
Speaking of which, the first song was written by a man, despite the lady's voice, so that explains that. The second features Fred Schneider of The B52s on guest-vocal. The third is written and sung by Nick Cave, who was name-checked on the album from whence came the second song. And the fourth number is a revision of an old R&B tune performed by The Olympics, The Marathons and The Olsen Twins, and it seems, still chanted 'round the campfire by The Boy Scouts of America. (When I was a Boy Scout, we made up dirty lyrics to "Mellow Yellow".)
As promised, here's the complete version of the Happy Hippie Radio mix CD; if you're interested and haven't downloaded all the parts, just download this one -- it has all the same music as the individual episodes, in the same order.
