The songs I chose for my air shift on this day 27 years ago:
1. Both Sides Now-Heavens To Murgatroid
(The famous song you've likely heard in its Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins incarnations; this band speeds up the tempo considerably, gives the tune some punch, and it works.)
2. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star-Patti Smith Group
(Most listeners are more familiar with the faster version by The Byrds. It's interesting to hear the tune with a slower, heavier feel.)
3. Tainted Love-Room Full Of Walters
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4. Harbour Shark-The Wailing Souls
(Warm backing vocals enhance this should-be-better-known reggae tune.)
5. Blue Yes-Chucho Valdes
(A standout stride piano pyrotechnics track from the "Solo Piano" CD; I was reminded of Fats Waller as I listened. "Solo Piano" was the last CD I reviewed as KCOU's jazz director, and it's still one of the best releases I had the pleasure of adding to the station's library...)
6. Early Morning Blues-Nat King Cole
(...and it segued well with this percolating piano-anchored instrumental.)
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7. Line Song-Shrimp Boat
8. It's Not Unusual-New Duncan Imperials
(This lives up to the joy of the Tom Jones version...)
9. 12 Bar Blues-NRBQ
(...and once you've played it, your next song can only back off on the tempo so much. I could have segued this easily with "Rockin' At Midnight" by The Honeydrippers...)
10. Stack O' Lee-Mississippi John Hurt
(...but I'm glad I chose a more authentic blues tune instead.)
11. My Old Friend The Blues-The Proclaimers
(The vocals live up to the promise the guitar sets sensitively in the intro.)
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12. Long Time-Manifesto
13. Coconut Shack-One Groovy Coconut
14. Go Ahead-My Cousin Kenny
15. Pick Up The Pieces-BoDeans
(A great undercurrent of drums for a tune that's catchier than I remembered.)
16. Skipping School-Chris Mars
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17. Back In The Woods-Southern Culture On The Skids
18. You Cruel Thing-The Starkweathers
19. Wave That Flag-Brian Henneman
20. Four Days Of Rain-The Flying Burrito Brothers
(Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" wound sound right before this.)
21. Union Man-Neil Young
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22. The Lemon-Lime Forest-The Sun Sawed In 1/2
(Bouncy power pop from St. Louis; I segued this current-at-the-time tune...)
23. Hippity Hop-The Sun Sawed In 1/2
(...with one of my favorite early tunes of theirs.)
24. Happy Holidays-Small Town No Airport
(The feel of the song is compatible with "Hippity Hop.")
25. Red Drum-Susan Voelz
26. War-Chris Thomas
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27. Stumble-R.E.M.
(Well-structured, catchy, and underplayed today.)
28. Roll Away The Stone-Eggs
29. Stones Of A Wall-Marginal Man
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30. Thermal Treasure-Polvo
31. All Over You-Rick Derringer And The McCoys
32. Hold Me Down-Dillon Fence
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33. Frankenstein-Bazooka
(A cover of the Edgar Winter Group instrumental, with the saxophone, instead of the guitar, carrying the melody.)
34. Forever Amo'r-D'Zyre
35. Please Don't Run From Me-George Clinton
36. Gentle Wind-Roy Hargrove
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37. Weekend In L.A.-The Toasters
(When you open a set with a tune this brassy...)
38. All Fall Down-Missing Persons
(...you need to segue it with a relatively energetic tune. From the vocals to the synthesized backdrop, this is 1984.)
39. Hooray-El Magnifico
40. (Today Is) Blackie's Birthday-Urge Overkill
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41. Magnet And Steel-Walter Egan
(As you may have gleaned from the playlists I've posted, or even just this one, it was unusual to play a 1978 soft rock hit on KCOU. I was surprised to see that the station had Egan in its LP library, so I thought, "Why not?" I've forgotten who did the shift after mine that day, but I wonder if that DJ segued out of "Magnet And Steel" with an equally unexpected, compatible tune. Most likely, though, that DJ played a station ID breaker and segued it with some indie rock. And, why not?)
--- indicates a station break between songs.
