When KCOU DJs hosted specialty shows, such as "Retro 88," they were allowed to choose a featured artist to play throughout the show. XTC, who recorded a sufficient number of '80s gems, was my featured band on this day 22 years ago. Listeners' requests and XTC tracks accounted for a large portion of the show that day, and I thought it turned out well. My playlist:
1. Kids In America-Kim Wilde
(Setting the energy level where it should be on an '80s retro show...How many of you started to smile as you recalled this song?)
2. How Much More-The Go-Gos
3. Genius Of Love-Tom Tom Club
(Sports a riff that might not leave your mind for days, at a minimum.)
4. Forget Me Nots-Patrice Rushen
(Segues well with track 5.)
5. Bad Boy-Ray Parker, Jr.
6. Ten Feet Tall-XTC (#)
(Oddly, the version in which the lyrics are harder to understand is the catchier one.)
7. Funk Pop A Roll-XTC (#)
8. I Want Candy-Bow Wow Wow (*)
9. Bedbugs And Ballyhoo-Echo & The Bunnymen (*)
10. My Ever Changing Moods-The Style Council
11. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul-XTC (#)
12. Only Lonely-The Divinyls
13. Respectable Street-XTC (#) (*)
14. Dear God-XTC (#) (*)
15. Killer In The Home-Adam & The Ants (*)
16. Karma Chameleon-Culture Club (*)
17. I Got You-Split Enz
(One of the best tracks on the playlist, in my opinion; not just any band could pull off a chorus like "I don't know why sometimes I get frightened...," and make it this tuneful.)
18. Angel Say No-Tommy Tutone
19. Heatwave-Bronski Beat
20. Stray Cat Strut-The Stray Cats
21. Gangsters-The Specials (*)
(One of the stronger requested tracks; a fun rock/ska tune. Also recommended: "Rudy, A Message To You" and "Friday Night, Saturday Morning.")
22. The Everyday Story Of Smalltown-XTC (#)
23. Love On A Farmboy's Wages-XTC (#)
(Presents the lyrical dilemma of how to sustain a marriage when you only have so much money.)
24. I Confess-The English Beat (*)
25. Just What I Always Wanted-Mari Wilson (*)
26. Synchronicity II-The Police (*)
27. Happy Birthday-Altered Images (*)
28. Meccanik Dancing-XTC (#)
29. Radios In Motion-XTC (#)
30. The Mayor Of Simpleton-XTC (#)
(As I wrote in a previous post, the lyrics remind me of Sam Cooke's "(What A) Wonderful World." This is still my favorite XTC song, so I made sure to end the show with it. Looking back, I wish I'd played four of my other favorites by them--"King For A Day," which is a very close second favorite, "One Of The Millions," a great song about the perils of being a nonconformist, "Earn Enough For Us," whose subject matter is similar to "Love On A Farmboy's Wages," and "Season Cycle.")
(#) indicates a track by the featured band, XTC.
(*) indicates a listener's request.
