THE HARDER THEY COME // JIMMY CLIFF

TALKIN' BOUT' MY BABY // DON & THE GOODTIMES

AIN'T MISBEHAVING // LEON REDBONE

DISORIENTATED // SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT // THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

You probably never thought two cellos & a violin could be so cool. Luckily Jeff Lynne's magic touch turns just about everything to gold. The just about might be The Traveling Wilburys, the "supergroup" (George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, & Jeff Lynne) that really just turned out more like spinning gold into shit. But hey, lets just blame the 80's. 

As for the ELO, they released a string albums between '71 and '86, most of of which are worth getting over your general terror of orchestrated rock 'n' roll for. 

OTHER DELIGHTS // HERB ALPERT

GIMME A PEAK // THE CRAMPS

I'M NOT YOURS FOR BETTER, BUT FOR WORSE // BLOSSOM DEARIE

NUDGE, NUDGE. WINK, WINK. // HARRY ROY

SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM // GRACE JONES

NOT OF THIS EARTH // SUN RA

PSYCHEDELISCH // CAN

MORE THAN A ONE HIT WONDER // PROCOL HARUM

THE TEXAS TROUBADOUR // ERNEST TUBB

MELTING POT // BOOKER T AND THE MG'S

TRY TO MAKE IT REAL // LES MCCAAN & EDDIE HARRIS

WALK LIKE A MAN, SING LIKE A GIRL // THE FOUR SEASONS

OH HELL! // RICHARD HELL

MONEY IN THE POCKET // JOE ZAWINUL

HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK // IAN DURY

SIX PIECES OF SILVER // HORACE SILVER

  Six Pieces of Silver (1956) is jazz pianist Horace Silver's third solo album, and a stellar one.  A live performance of the track Senor Blues can be seen here.

LEARNING TO LOVE STEVIE NICKS // FLEETWOOD MAC

For most of my life i've adamantly held the opinion that Fleetwood Mac was a better band before Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham infiltrated it. Where I got that notion?, who knows.  Maybe learning to love Stevie Nicks is just another part of growing up. 

some recommended viewing - Tusk Documentary

IRENE // CARIBOU

At first glance music and mathematics might seem to make strange bedfellows, but Dan Snaith of Caribou has married them perfectly.  Not too many world renowned musicians have a Ph.D in math. His music is both calculated and seamless, an effervescent cloud of layered samples and new material. If Girl Talk makes a sandwich out of recycled music, caribou makes a milkshake.

WE JUST CANT SEEM TO HELP OURSELVES // OUR SECOND EPISODE

WE ARE THE ROBOTS // KRAFTWERK

Kraftwerk is perhaps an acquired taste, but once you've acquired it, its hard to get enough. The legendary german four piece is often credited with having fathered electronic music as we now know it.  Formed in 1970, the band still in essence exists today, but grows more and more removed. Nowadays live perfomances and even press interview are preformed by robot doubles of the band.

SHE'S GOT TO HAVE IT // DEEP THROAT

Shortly after Deep Throat's release in 1972, the U.S. government banned it & seized all of the master tapes.  All of the original recordings artists are still unknown.  Here to save the day again is Light in the Attic Records which has recently released a digital remaster of the entire original soundtrack for the film, including some real seventies gems. 

ELECTRONIC BLISS // HOT CHIP

Hot Chip formed in 2000 & have since then released four albums, all four are beautifully hypnotic. I recommend you give them a listen (and electronic music shouldn't just be relegated to the clubs... I like to listen to hot chip when I'm knitting)

THE SYNTHESIST // BRIAN ENO

If I were to rate all musicians on a scale of one to ten (ten being the best) Brian Eno would get an eleven.  When I think of him I picture a little fairy godmother of music, flitting all about & turning everything he touches to gold.  First as the keyboard player with the fabulous Roxy Music in the early seventies, and shortly thereafter sliding into a solo career, churning out masterpiece after masterpiece. Art rock gave way to his Ambient creations, and all the while he is collaborating & producing the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne, Harmonia, Cluster, U2, Devo, John Cale, Robert Fripp, Laurie Anderson, Depeche Mode, Paul simon, Grace Jones, Philip Glass, Massive Attack.  The list just goes on & on & on & on & on & on & on & on.......

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU // SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS

SHE THINKS SING SING IS A LULLABY // RUDY VALLEE

Crooner of silver screen in the 20's and 30's, Rudy Vallee is known for his roles in Hollywood musicals & romantic comedies, including some gems like Palm Beach Story and Gold Diggers in Paris. 

LEADER OF THE PACK // THE SHANGRI-LAS

Oh! sweet, sweet pop music.  I love bands that have four times as many "best of" compilations as they had studio albums to begin with. This four piece of bad girls from Queens, released only two studio albums, & a handful of singles in the mid-sixties. Their mainstay is songs of high school love and loss, with 16 year old lead singer Mary Weis belting the teenage melodrama.  Catch some live footage here.

WHO SWEPT THIS BAND UNDER THE RUG ? // SUBURBAN LAWNS

Sure their career was short. Short and Sweet.   Formed in Long Beach California in 1978, the Suburban Lawns released only one, self titled album & an EP, Baby, and my hats off to anyone who can find an original copy.  Driving beats & totally insane vocals by Su Tissue, you’ve gotta love that crisp, west coast new wave.  

I'D DIE HAPPY IF I COULD DANCE LIKE THIS // JAAN PEHECHAAN HO

THE PIANO HAS BEEN DRINKING // TOM WAITS

I first stumbled upon Tom Waits by way of the films of Jim Jarmusch (Down by Law, & Coffee and Cigarettes)  His early sound had that nice dingy cocktail lounge vibe, but  to me his sweet spot was in the mid-eighties, with must have albums like Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombones.  With his distinct voice, like heavy machinery that woke up one morning and decided to be the next Bing Crosby, Waits drapes back alley poetry over a strolling and rickety  jazz wreckage.  

            

OUR COMING OUT PARTY // THE BIRTH OF THE ETCETERA RADIO HOUR

Us fledgling radio debutantes are finally ready to flick the goo off our feathers, stretch our wings and fly, & we're gonna come out kickin' and screamin'.  Here's a sneak peek of the FIRST EVER EPISODE of the Etcetera Radio Hour