TRACKLIST CD 1
1. SEARCHERS: "Switchboard Susan"
2. JAMES WHITE & BLACKS: "Contort Yourself"
3. TRIO: "Da Da Da" (short version)
4. RED ROCKERS: "China"
5. TRIO: "Da Da Da" (long version)
6. ROACHFORD: "Cuddly Toy"
7. ROACHFORD: "Nobody But You"
8. RANKING ROGER: "So Excited"
9. 2 MEN, A DRUM MACHINE & A TRUMPET: "Make It Funky"
10. BALANCING ACT: "Can You Get To That?"
11. WIRE: "Silk Skin Paws"
12. WIRE: "Kidney Bingos"
13. THE FALL: "Telephone Dub"
14. DEL AMITRI: "Kiss This Thing Goodbye"
15. MORRISSEY: "East West"
16. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: "Higher Ground"
17. FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS: "Tired of Getting Pushed Around"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS: "Johnny Takes A Trip"
2. DEEE-LITE: "Power of Love"
3. DEEE-LITE: "Groove Is In The Heart"
4. JOE COCKER: "When the Night Comes"
5. BONNIE RAITT: "Have A Heart"
6. M.C. HAMMER: "U Can't Touch This"
7. TECHNOTRONIC: ""Pump Up The Jam"
8. THE ALARM: "Sold Me Down the River"
9. MORRISSEY: "Girl Least Likely To"
10. BANDERAS: "This Is Your Life"
11. BANDERAS: "May This Be Your Last Sorrow"
12. DEPECHE MODE: "Enjoy the Silence"
13. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Weakness"
14. NEW FAST AUTOMATIC DAFFODILS: "Partial"
15. BOO RADLEYS: "Skyscraper"
16. BOO RADLEYS: "Song for Up"
September 2001/November 2004
This was one of the first CDs I planned, once I obtained a PC with a CD burner. "Hey," I thought, "You know how you have so many CDs with just one or two songs on them that you like, and the rest is just filler? Why not record those one or two songs to a CD set, then you can get rid of the original CDs, and free up valuable shelf space?"
So, I planned it out, recorded some songs to the PC, and then got rid of the CDs. And the songs just sat there for three years, until I finally got around to burning them. By that time, I'd changed my mind about getting rid of some of the CDs, I had more songs than would fit on two discs, and the cover was out of date. But it was already printed up, and I just figured, screw it, get the thing done before my hard drive crashed. I still have a handful of songs on the PC awaiting burning for the next time I do this, which will probably be 2015 or thereabouts.
(I could have said all the preceding in one sentence, but I had to fill out this space somehow ...)
Music trivia: Rusted Root and Lotion are on the cover, but they're awaiting the second volume. The songs by Morrissey, the Fall, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, etc., are B-sides from CD singles, which I didn't see any reason to keep around. A number of others are the best songs on various compilations.
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. EAGLES: "Already Gone"
2. PURE PRARIE LEAGUE: "Amie"
3. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "Sweet Home Alabama"
4. ALLMAN BROTHERS: "Ramblin Man"
5. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: "The Midnight Special"
6. ROLLING STONES: "All Down The Line"
7. JOE WALSH: "Life's Been Good"
8. FOGHAT: "Slow Ride"
9. GLEN CAMPBELL: "Wichita Lineman"
10. MOLLY HATCHET: "Flirtin' With Disaster"
11. BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE: "Hey You"
12. NEIL YOUNG: "Heart of Gold"
13. DOOBIE BROTHERS: "China Grove"
14. EAGLES: "Take It Easy"
15. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "Tuesday's Gone"
16. ZZ TOP: "La Grange"
17. THE BYRDS: "Wasn't Born To Follow"
18. THE BAND: "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. ALLMAN BROTHERS: "Midnight Rider"
2. LINDA RONSTADT: "When Will I Be Loved"
3. OUTLAWS: "There Goes Another Love Song"
4. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "Saturday Night Special"
5. EAGLES: "One Of These Nights"
6. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: "Down on The Corner"
7. ROLLING STONES: "Loving Cup"
8. NEIL YOUNG: "Southern Man"
9. AMAZING RHYTHM ACES: "Third Rate Romance"
10. DOOBIE BROTHERS: "Rocking Down The Highway"
11. BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE: "Rolling Down the Highway"
12. B.W. STEVENSON: "My Maria"
13. GOLDEN EARRING: "Radar Love"
14. MONKEES: "The Door Into Summer"
15. EAGLES: "Peaceful Easy Feeling"
16. EDGAR WINTER GROUP: "Free Ride"
17. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "Free Bird"
TRACKLIST CD 3
1. ERIC CLAPTON: "Motherless Children"
2. EAGLES: "Desperado"
3. BOB DYLAN: "Lay Lady Lay"
4. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "Gimme Three Steps"
5. ZZ TOP: "Tush"
6. GLEN CAMPBELL: "Gentle On My Mind"
7. MARSHALL TUCKER BAND: "Heard It In A Love Song"
8. ALLMAN BROTHERS: "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"
9. NEIL YOUNG: "Old Man"
10. ROLLING STONES: "Torn and Frayed"
11. DOOBIE BROTHERS: "Listen To The Music"
12. THE BAND: "The Weight"
13. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "That Smell"
14. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: "Born on the Bayou"
15. EAGLES: "Witchy Woman"
16. BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE: "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"
17. OUTLAWS: "Green Grass and High Tides"
TRACKLIST CD 4
1. ERIC WEISBERG: "Dueling Banjos"
2. EAGLES: "Seven Bridges Road"
3. BROWNSVILLE STATION: "Smoking In The Boys' Room"
4. DOOBIE BROTHERS: "Black Water"
5. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: "Proud Mary"
6. KANSAS: "Carry On My Wayward Son"
7. CHARLIE DANIELS BAND: "Devil Went Down to Georgia"
8. ROSSINGTON COLLINS BAND: "Don't Misunderstand Me"
9. ALLMAN BROTHERS: "Whipping Post"
10. FOGHAT: "Driving Wheel"
11. SOUTHER HILLMAN FUREY BAND: "Fallin' In Love"
12. GLEN CAMPBELL: "Galveston"
13. BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE: "Let it Ride"
14. POCO: "Crazy Love"
15. ALLMAN BROTHERS: "Melissa"
16. JERRY JEFF WALKER: "Mr. Bojangles"
17. MONKEES: "What Am I Doing Hanging Around?"
18. LYNYRD SKYNYRD: "You Got That Right"
19. BOB DYLAN: "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
17. ROLLING STONES: "Sweet Virginia"
July 2003
In summer of 2003 I was heading to Texas to attend the yearly family reunion in Nacogdoches, in a remote section of the central east part of the state. I knew I'd be on the road a lot, because I was flying into Houston first, to visit various friends there, then going up north to Dallas, back to Houston, then northeast to Nacogdoches, then back to Houston again. Texas is a big state, I'd be in the car for hundreds of miles oh highway, and I didn't trust the radio in Texas to give me more than country music, top 40 hits, or rightwing talk.
And what I really wanted to hear was was southern rock, the kind I grew up with, back in Tennessee. Little would be more pleasantly nostalgic than listening to bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers or the Eagles while I was driving through Texas terrain that, in my memory, I always assocated the time period in which those songs originated.
So, before I left, I made up this four-CD set, with pretty much everything I wanted to hear from this genre, that I had on hand. A few songs are precursors to southern rock -- the Byrds, the Monkees -- and there's even a little Britishness, in the form of the most countryish of Rolling Stones songs. (If you think those songs don't belong on a compilation of Southern rock, then you're missing the forest for the trees ... and you haven't heard those songs, either.)
That's me (oddly blond) and my brother on the cover, aged around 2 and 4.
Music trivia: Some of these songs are more classic rock than southern rock, like Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Doobie Brothers, but it's my nostalgic CD set and I'll include who I want to.
With friends Sean, Rik and George, in Houston
Playing a card game at the family reunion in Nacogdoches
The chicken-fried steaks were almost as big as the plate
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. PRIMAL SCREAM: "Loaded"
2. STONE ROSES: "She Bangs The Drums"
3. NEW F.A.D.S.: "Big"
4. CHARLATANS: "The Only One I Know"
5. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Move"
6. THE HIGH: "Bombay Mix"
7. MOCK TURTLES: "Can You Dig It?"
8. THE FARM: "Groovy Train"
9. 808 STATE: "Pacific 202"
10. SOUP DRAGONS: "I'm Free"
11. STONE ROSES: "Made Of Stone"
12. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Commercial Rain"
13. FLOWERED UP: "Phobia"
14. THE KLF: "What Time Is Love? "
15. HAPPY MONDAYS: "Wrote For Luck"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. THE FARM: "Stepping Stone"
2. CHARLATANS: "Happen To Die"
3. HAPPY MONDAYS: "Step On"
4. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Find Out Why"
5. STONE ROSES: "Sally Cinnamon"
6. THE DYLANS: "Planet Love"
7. THE HIGH: "Take Your Time"
8. MORRISSEY: "Billy Budd"
9. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Joe "
10. INTASTELLA: "People"
11. STONE ROSES: "One Love"
12. NORTHSIDE: "My Rising Star"
13. NEW F.A.D.S.: "Bong"
14. SPIREA X: "Spirea Rising"
15. PRIMAL SCREAM: "Come Together"
16. ELECTRONIC: "Get The Message"
TRACKLIST CD 3
1. SOHO: "Hippychick"
2. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Butterfly"
3. PRIMAL SCREAM: "Higher Than The Sun"
4. BLUR: "I Know"
5. CHARLATANS: "Indian Rope"
6. STONE ROSES: "Bye Bye Badman"
7. MILLTOWN BROS.: "Which Way Should I Jump"
8. THE HOLLOW MEN: "Pantera Rosa"
9. NORTHSIDE: "Take Five"
10. STEREO MCS: "Connected"
11. A GUY CALLED GERALD: "Voodoo Ray"
12. STONE ROSES: "Fools Gold"
13. THE HIGH: "Somewhere Soon"
14. HAPPY MONDAYS: "Mad Cyril"
15. WORLD OF TWIST: "Sons Of The Stage"
TRACKLIST CD 4
1. THE DYLANS: "Lemon Afternoon"
2. STONE ROSES: "I Wanna Be Adored"
3. WICKED THINGS: "Goodbye To Her"
4. JAMES: "Sound"
5. THE BELOVED: "Hello"
6. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "Directing Traffic"
7. HAPPY MONDAYS: "Kinky Afro"
8. CHARLATANS: "Opportunity"
9. 808 STATE: "Spanish Heart"
10. PARIS ANGELS: "Don't Fake Mine"
11. SOUP DRAGONS: "Mother Universe"
12. MOCK TURTLES: "Lay Me Down"
13. INSPIRAL CARPETS: "This Is How It Feels"
14. A CERTAIN RATIO: "Mickey Way"
15. STONE ROSES: "Sugar Spun Sister"
16. PRIMAL SCREAM: "Movin' On Up"
17. NEW ORDER: "Fine Time"
November 2003
In the late '80s I was obsessed with British music and culture. Several times I traveled to London to visit friends, with my suitcase of clothes inside an empty suitcase, which I could then fill with all the CDs, books, games, magazines (The Face) and clothing I could afford. (I especially liked the sturdy cotton button-down shirts from Cole's on Oxford Street.)
So, when this musical genre of "Madchester" came into being, I was behind it 100%, as were my favorite British music newspapers NME and Melody Maker. It didn't hurt that the Manchester sound appealed to me with its '60s-style jangly guitars and retro organs, a dance beat derived from acid house music, and a sense that this was a home-grown British musical movement, made by British bands for British listeners.
So, it barely made any dent on the U.S. market and was finished by 1991.
Key albums of the Manchester sound:
CD trivia: The spine notes that this is "Vol. 1," so I must have been planning a second volume at the time, plus the cryptic phrase "#9 IN STEVE"S SECRET POP HISTORY." The back cover explains that the CD includes "songs by the major bands of the scene, plus some dance and 'non-baggy' Manchester bands, to provide context."
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. THE SEA URCHINS: "A Morning Odyssey"
2. THE SEA URCHINS: "Solace"
3. THE SEA URCHINS: "Please Rain Fall"
4. THE SEA URCHINS: "Pristine Christine"
5. THE SEA URCHINS: "Cling Film"
6. THE SEA URCHINS: "Summershine"
7. THE ORCHIDS: "Walter"
8. THE ORCHIDS: "Something For The Longing"
9. THE ORCHIDS: "It's Only Obvious"
10. THE ORCHIDS: "Blue Light"
11. THE ORCHIDS: "Farewell Dear Bonnie"
12. THE ORCHIDS: "Peaches"
13. THE ORCHIDS: "Pelican Blonde"
14. THE ORCHIDS: "Tropical Fishbowl"
15. THE ORCHIDS: "Underneath the Window"
16. THE ORCHIDS: "Yawn"
17. HEAVENLY: "I Fell In Love Last Night"
18. HEAVENLY: "So Little Deserve"
19. HEAVENLY: "Wrap My Arms Around Him"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. THE FIELD MICE: "Let's Kiss and Make Up"
2. THE FIELD MICE: "Couldn't Feel Safer"
3. THE FIELD MICE: "Sensitive"
4. THE FIELD MICE: "And Before the First Kiss"
5. THE FIELD MICE: "Coach Station Reunion"
6. THE FIELD MICE: "An Earlier Autumn"
7. THE FIELD MICE: "Emma's House"
8. THE FIELD MICE: "September's Not So Far Away"
9. THE FIELD MICE: "Canada"
10. THE FIELD MICE: "Quicksilver"
11. THE FIELD MICE: "Clearer"
12. THE FIELD MICE: "Holland Street"
13. THE FIELD MICE: "Landmark"
14. THE FIELD MICE: "If You Need Someone"
15. THE FIELD MICE: "Between Hello and Goodbye"
16. THE FIELD MICE: "Missing the Moon"
17. THE FIELD MICE: "So Said Kay"
June 2004
Back in the late '80s and early '90s, I'd often trek down from Connecticut to Delaware and Washington, D.C., to visit my friends Keating and Chris. One of the pastimes we most enjoyed was tracking down CD stores that sold interesting, obscure releases. We'd each buy a bunch of CDs, eat some hot Thai food while we were out, and then head back to their places to listen to the CDs and compare notes.
Since I was buying a lot of CDs around this time, I wasn't able to give everything a proper listening-to. I'd often listen to something, decide "ehh, that wasn't bad," and throw it onto the pile to be filed away on my CD shelves. (If it was "ehh, I don't like that too much," then it'd go on the "to be sold" pile.)
One of the drawbacks of not giving enough of a listen to your CDs is that you might find, years later, that there were bands or labels you just plain loved, and didn't realize at the time. In my case, it was bands on the Sarah label, based in Bristol, England. Ten years after the label went bust, I got around to re-listening to the CDs I had, and discovered I greatly appreciated the label's twee, poignant approach, especially work by the Field Mice, whose entire oeuvre has come back into print. So, I made myself a compilation of favorite songs by bands on the label.
CD trivia: The CD title is one of my favorite Bulwer-Lytton "bad opening sentence" contest entries.
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. A CERTAIN RATIO: "Mickey Way"
2. ADORABLE: "Sunshine Smile"
3. ASH: "Uncle Pat"
4. AU PAIRS: "It's Obvious"
5. BEATMASTERS: "Ska Train"
6. HEIDI BERRY: "Firefly"
7. BETA BAND: "Dry The Rain"
8. THE BIBLE: "Graceland"
9. BIFF BANG POW: "Someone Stole My Wheels"
10. BIFF BANG POW: "There Must Be A Better Life"
11. BLEACH: "Shotgun"
12. BLUE AEROPLANES: "Jacket Hangs"
13. THE BLUEBELLS: "Cath"
14. THE BLUE NILE: "The Downtown Lights"
15. THE BLUE ORCHIDS: "Work"
16. THE BLUETONES: "Bluetonic"
17. THE BONGOS: "In The Congo"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. THE BOO RADLEYS: "Wake Up Boo"
2. THE BOO RADLEYS: "Barney and Me"
3. BRIAN JONESTOWN EXPERIENCE: "Prozac Vs. Heroin"
4. BRIDEWELL TAXIS: "Too Long"
5. CAST: "Alright"
6. CARTER THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE: "Surfin' USM"
7. THE CHANT: "Wild Blue Yonder"
8. THE CHILLS: "Heavenly Pop Hit"
9. THE CHRISTIANS: "Forgotten Town"
10. THE CLEAN: "Tally Ho"
11. THE CLEAN: "Thumbs Off"
12. JULIAN COPE: "World Shut Your Mouth"
13. THE CREEPERS: "Liquorice Flavour"
14. THE CRANES: "Clear"
15. LLOYD COLE: "Brand New Friend"
16. COWBOY JUNKIES: "Sweet Jane"
17. CURVE: "Ten Little Girls"
18. THE CURE: "Untitled"
November 2004
This CD was part of an experiment to make a "greatest hits" of the more obscure or second-string CDs of my music collection. I must not have felt it was worthwhile, as I only made this one volume. The cover shows that I was still enamored with the various filters available in whatever graphics program I was using at the time.
Music trivia: One of my favorite songs, Heidi Berry's "Firefly," is off a CD of hers that was damaged in a roof leak we had at the end of 2004. I'm very glad that I made this CD, as otherwise I'd have to go track down a clean copy (and I think the CD might be out of print).
The majority of these songs date from 1985 to 1991, from the period of my heaviest music consumption. Before that time, I was still in collegiate New Wave mode -- and who really needs a greatest hits compilation filled with Talking Heads, the Pretenders, the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Police, etc. All of that music is just so familiar. After that time, the rise of grunge dampened my enthusiasm for current music slightly.
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Soon"
2. LUSH: "Sweetness and Light"
3. SWERVEDRIVER: "Son of Mustang Ford"
4. BLEACH: "Shotgun"
5. CATHERINE WHEEL: "Black Metallic"
6. CURVE: "Ten Little Girls"
7. MOOSE: "Jack"
8. HEART THROBS: "Dreamtime"
9. RIDE: "Leave Them All Behind"
10. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Only Shallow"
11. LUSH: "Scarlet"
12. CHAPTERHOUSE: "Pearl"
13. SLOWDIVE: "Slowdive"
14. TEENAGE FANCLUB: "Everything Flows"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. EUGENIUS: "Flame On"
2. LUSH: "Nothing Natural"
3. ADORABLE: "Sunshine Smile"
4. BOO RADLEYS: "Spaniard"
5. RIDE: "Vapour Trail"
6. PALE SAINTS: "Baby Maker"
7. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Honey Power"
8. REVOLVER: "Red All Over"
9. SLOWDIVE: "Morningrise"
10. SPIRITUALIZED: "Run"
11. SWERVEDRIVER: "Out"
12. CURVE: "Coast is Clear"
13. VERVE: "On Your Own"
14. CHAPTERHOUSE: "Falling Down"
15. TELESCOPES: "Spaceships"
16. LOOP: "Arclite"
17. TH' FAITH HEALERS: "Hippy Hole"
18. THE BOO RADLEYS: "Wake Up Boo"
TRACKLIST CD 3
1. SWERVEDRIVER: "Duel"
2. SLOWDIVE: "Alison"
3. BOO RADLEYS: "Barney and Me"
4. LUSH: "For Love"
5. CURVE: "Fait Accompli"
6. RIDE: "Dreams Burn Down"
7. MOOSE: "Last Night I Fell"
8. SPRITUALIZED: "Medication"
9. PALE SAINTS: "Porpoise"
10. REVOLVER: "Don't Ever Leave"
11. VERVE: "She's A Superstar"
12. TELESCOPES: "Flying"
13. SWERVEDRIVER: "Never Lose That Feeling"
14. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Feed Me"
15. RIDE: "Howard Hughes"
16. LUSH: "Stray"
17. HOUSE OF LOVE: "Happy"
TRACKLIST CD 4
1. BOO RADLEYS: "Kaleidoscope"
2. RIDE: "How Does It Feel To Feel"
3. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "When You Sleep"
4. TELESCOPES: "Everso"
5. CHAPTERHOUSE: "We Are The Beautiful"
6. KITCHENS OF DISTINCTION: "3rd Time We Opened The Capsule"
7. LUSH: "Thoughtforms"
8. MOOSE: "Boy"
9. PALE SAINTS: "Fine Friend"
10. REVOLVER: "Molasses"
11. CATHERINE WHEEL: "Shallow"
12. BOO RADLEYS: "Lazarus"
13. TH' FAITH HEALERS: "Jesus Freak"
14. CURVE: "Horror Head"
15. SLOWDIVE: "Avalyn II"
16. SOMETHING PRETTY BEAUTIFUL: "Freak Outburst"
17. SWERVEDRIVER: "Sunset"
August 2005
After the Manchester scene started to die down, I fell into Shoegazing -- which was only natural, as they were similar scenes, close together in their time periods, and even with a little overlap in the bands. Some of the Shoegazing bands could have been placed in the Manchester camp, had they, in fact, come from Manchester.
I wasn't sure what to put on the cover of these CD sets, so I found some band photos, heavily doctored them, and added a quote about the music, so that anyone who came across the CD would know what it was I was referring to.
Music trivia: The first CD starts off with "Shoegazing's Greatest Hits." As usual, I included bands that debatably were not in the genre, like Eugenius, to provide context and contrast. And some frikkin' melody.
Key releases of the Shoegazing scene:
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. LUSH: "Deluxe"
2. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Blown A Wish"
3. RIDE: "Chrome Waves"
4. BOO RADLEYS: "Does This Hurt"
5. CATHERINE WHEEL: "I Want To Touch You"
6. PALE SAINTS: "Half Life"
7. REVOLVER: "Heaven Sent An Angel"
8. SLOWDIVE: "When The Sun Hits"
9. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Don't Ask Why"
10. TH' FAITH HEALERS: "Don't Jones Me"
11. CURVE: "Already Yours"
12. BOO RADLEYS: "Everybird"
13. RIDE: "I Don't Know Where"
14. VERVE: "Blue"
15. SWERVEDRIVER: "Kill The Superheroes"
16. TEENAGE FANCLUB: "A Catholic Education"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Sometimes"
2. SWERVEDRIVER: "Laze It Up"
3. CATHERINE WHEEL: "Salt"
4. MOOSE: "Ballad of Adam and Eve"
5. CURVE: "Die Like A Dog"
6. OCEAN COLOUR SCENE: "Talk On"
7. PALE SAINTS: "Sight Of You"
8. SLOWDIVE: "Waves"
9. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Strawberry Wine"
10. BOO RADLEYS: "Let Me Be Your Faith"
11. SPIRITUALIZED: "Let It Flow"
12. RIDE: "Here and Now"
13. TELESCOPES: "High On Fire"
14. LUSH: "Etheriel"
15. VERVE: "Man Called Sun"
16. EUGENIUS: "Wow"
TRACKLIST CD 3
1. CHAPTERHOUSE: "Precious One"
2. SLOWDIVE: "Catch The Breeze"
3. BOO RADLEYS: "Lazy Day"
4. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Loomer"
5. LUSH: "Hypocrite"
6. TEENAGE FANCLUB: "Star Sign"
7. CATHERINE WHEEL: "She's My Friend"
8. MOOSE: "LIttle Bird"
9. PALE SAINTS: "Throwing Back"
10. RIDE: "Kaleidoscope"
11. SPIRITUALIZED: "Why Don't You Smile"
12. VERVE: "Slide Away"
13. SWERVEDRIVER: "Afterglow"
14. SLOWDIVE: "Shine"
15. TELESCOPES: "You Set My Soul"
16. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "Instrumental"
17. LUSH: "Lovelife"
18. BOO RADLEYS: "It's Lulu"
19. CURVE: "Doppelganger"
TRACKLIST CD 4
1. SWERVEDRIVER: "Sandblasted"
2. CHAPTERHOUSE: "Satin Safe"
3. RIDE: "OX4"
4. CURVE: "Frozen"
5. TH' FAITH HEALERS: "Reptile Smile"
6. CURVE: "Missing Link"
7. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "What You Want"
8. TEENAGE FANCLUB: "Is This Music"
9. LUSH: "Single Girl"
10. CATHERINE WHEEL: "Texture"
11. REVOLVER: "Venice"
12. MOOSE: "Suzanne"
13. SLOWDIVE: "Ballad of Sister Sue"
14. BOO RADLEYS: "Wish I Was Skinny"
15. SWERVEDRIVER: "Ravedown"
16. MY BLOODY VALENTINE: "To Here Knows When"
August 2005
This second Shoegazing set is more of the same, with similar covers, and songs by most of the same bands.
So, how did I make these compilations you ask? Luckily, I have plenty of space here to explain the 2005-era procedure.
First, I make a list of bands that should be included. See what songs you have on hand. If crucial songs are missing, head to Amoeba Records and buy a few CDs. (As I've said before, I much prefer the physical CD to a downloaded .mp3 file.)
Second, start pulling the songs off the CDs and save them as .wav files. I usually name them with the band name, an underscore, and then the song name, as in RIDE_CHROMEWAVES, to make it easy to group songs by bands together.
Third, make folders for the various sides -- 1, 2, 3, 4. Start moving the songs into the those files, knowing that you don't want to have over-representation by any one band on any one side. So, for example, if I have four songs by the band Moose, and I'm making a 4-CD set, I drop one Moose song into each of the folders.
Fourth, after you've put about 14 to 16 songs in a folder, check the length to see if those songs will fit on a CD, or if you are short. (With Roxio's Easy Media Creator, it's easy to see what the accumulated time is. You want to aim for a hair under 72 minutes.) Adjust the songs to fill up the CDs, by moving shorter and longer songs around. If you have too many songs for the length of your CD set, decide what can be dropped.
Fifth, burn the CDs.
Sixth, create the CD covers. I don't like the default Roxio CD covers -- while they may be easy to make, and they include information about the CD contents automatically, they're boring. I'd rather be a little bit more creative and make something myself. For most of the CDs on this page, I used the best graphics program I had at the time -- Microsoft Word, believe it or not. I'd set up tables, change the backgrounds, add text boxes, make the borders invisible, etc. It was all kind of a chore, but I have easier ways to do this sort of thing now.
Finally, cut out the covers, snap everything into a jewel box, and enjoy my homemade CD compilation at home or in the car, or wherever CDs can be played.
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. R.E.M.: "Radio Free Europe"
2. dB's: "Black And White"
3. PYLON: "Crazy"
4. LOVE TRACTOR: "Neon Lights"
5. FEELIES: "It's Only Life"
6. BIG STAR: "September Gurls"
7. CHANT: "Wild Blue Yonder"
8. LET'S ACTIVE: "Every Dog Has Its Day"
9. R.E.M.: "Gardening At Night"
10. PLIMSOULS: "A Million Miles Away"
11. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Michael Rockefeller"
12. DON DIXON: "Swallowing Pride"
13. R.E.M.: "The One I Love"
14. LET'S ACTIVE: "Sweepstakes Winner"
15. OH-OK: "Elaine's Song"
16. dB's: "Bad Reputation"
17. SNEAKERS:"Decline & Fall"
18. R.E.M.: "Talk About The Passion"
19. THE BYRDS: "Wasn't Born To Follow"
20. B-52'S: "Love Shack"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. B-52'S: "Planet Claire"
2. dB's: "Amplifier"
3. OH-OK: "SuchNSuch"
4. R.E.M.: "7 Chinese Brothers"
5. DON DIXON: "Girls"
6. FEELIES: "Higher Ground"
7. DUMPTRUCK: "Alive"
8. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Fear of God"
9. LET'S ACTIVE: "Fell"
10. SHOES: "Too Late"
11. JUDYBATS: "She's Sad She Said"
12. R.E.M.: "Strange"
13. LOVE TRACTOR: "Buy Me A Million Dollars"
14. MARSHALL CRENSHAW: "Someday Someway"
15. FEELIES: "Crazy Rhythms"
16. PYLON: "Dub"
17. R.E.M.: "1,000,000"
18. dB's: "Living A Lie"
19. LET'S ACTIVE: "In Little Ways"
20. B-52S: "52 Girls"
21. R.E.M.: "Last Date"
TRACKLIST CD 3
1. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Pray For Rain"
2. PYLON: "Feast On My Heart"
3. B-52S: "Private Idaho"
4. dB's: "Happenstance"
5. VELVET UNDERGROUND: "What Goes On"
6. R.E.M.: "Begin the Begin"
7. DON DIXON: "Praying Mantis"
8. LET'S ACTIVE: "Mr. Fool"
9. DUMPTRUCK: "Repetition"
10. R.E.M.: "Pretty Persuasion"
11. GUNBUNNIES: "Put A Tail On Your Kite"
12. GOLDEN PALOMINOS: "Omaha"
13. LOVE TRACTOR: "60 Degrees Below"
14. OH-OK: "Person"
15. R.E.M.: "Cuyahoga"
16. LET'S ACTIVE: "Room With A View"
17. PYLON: "Weather Radio"
18. dB's: "Tearjerkin'"
19. R.E.M.: "Stumble"
20. CHANT: "Little Black Egg"
TRACKLIST CD 4
1. LOVE TRACTOR: "Cowboy Songs"
2. JUDYBATS: "Animal Farm"
3. R.E.M.: "Pilgrimage"
4. LET'S ACTIVE: "Blue Line"
5. B-52'S: "Rock Lobster"
6. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Pillow Talk"
7. dB's: "I'm In Love"
8. R.E.M.: "Driver 8"
9. FEELIES: "The High Road"
10. OH-OK: "Playtime"
11. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Trail of Tears"
12. GOLDEN PALOMINOS: "Boy (Go)"
13. LET'S ACTIVE: "Make Up With Me"
14. PYLON: "Cool"
15. R.E.M.: "Gardening Of Sorts"
16. B-52'S: "Song For A Future Generation"
17. dB's: "Dynamite"
18. R.E.M.: "So. Central Rain"
19. SNEAKERS: "Story Of A Girl"
20. HINDU LOVE GODS: "Raspberry Beret"
TRACKLIST CD 5
1. PYLON: "Volume"
2. R.E.M.: "Perfect Circle"
3. dB's: "Espionage"
4. B-52S: "Strobe Light"
5. SNEAKERS: "What I Dig"
6. DON DIXON: "Skin Deep"
7. R.E.M.: "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"
8. DUMPTRUCK: "Walk Into Mirrors"
9. FEELIES: "The Undertow"
10. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Gilbert Takes The Wheel"
11. LET'S ACTIVE: "Easy Does"
12. R.E.M.: "Finest Worksong"
13. PLIMSOULS: "Play the Breaks"
14. OH-OK: "Lilting"
15. SHOES: "Tomorrow Night"
16. R.E.M.: "Green Grow The Rushes"
17. MATTHEW SWEET: "Girlfriend"
18. B-52S: "Summer of Love"
19. LET'S ACTIVE: "Every Word Means No"
20. THE BONGOS: "In The Congo"
21. dB's: "Big Brown Eyes"
22. R.E.M.: "Windout"
TRACKLIST CD 6
1. dB's: "We Were Happy There"
2. R.E.M.: "Superman"
3. REPLACEMENTS: "I Will Dare"
4. B-52'S: "Roam"
5. FEELIES: "When Company Comes"
6. R.E.M.: "Letter Never Sent"
7. RAIN PARADE: "What She's Done To Your Mind"
8. DON DIXON: "Talk to Me"
9. LET'S ACTIVE: "Waters Part"
10. R.E.M.: "Fall On Me"
11. LOVE TRACTOR: "Chilly Damn Willy"
12. PYLON: "No Clocks"
13. SNEAKERS: "Ruby"
14. R.E.M.: "Wolves Lower"
15. dB's: "Moving In Your Sleep"
16. BYRDS: "Eight Miles High"
17. LET'S ACTIVE: "Writing the Book Of Last Pages"
18. R.E.M.: "Fireplace"
19. OH-OK: "Random"
20. GUADALCANAL DIARY: "Watusi Rodeo"
21. R.E.M.: "Dream"
22. B-52'S: "Follow Your Bliss"
March 2007
Pretty much self-explanatory, isn't it?
From the back cover: "I lived in Athens, Ga., in the early '70s, and a decade later the hippie college town I remembered became home to a thriving rock music scene. The sound of this small southern city was typified by Michael Stipe's mumbled vocals and the jangle of Peter Buck's 12-string guitar, but it also an included an earnestness (despite the retro campiness of the B-52s) and a quirky, arty sensibility that I found hard to pin down, other than that I usually knew it when I heard it. It became one of my favorite rock sub-genres during my college years and early 20s. Although a few non-southern contemporaries (the Feelies, Plimsouls, etc.) are included on this CD set, as well as other Athens-related southern bands (Let's Active, etc.) and a few influential precursors (the Byrds, Big Star, Velvet Underground, etc.), I wasn't able to include a few of the lesser-known Athens bands (like the Swimming Pool Q's or Dreams So Real) because I don't have any of their music in my record collection. So this CD set is not a definitive history of what might not have been known as the 'Athens Sound' -- it's just MY history. It's what I remember."
On the back of the CD case I put my usual disclaimers -- all rights reserved by the artists and publishing companies, this CD set is not for sale, etc. That's in case someone finds this CD set and thinks it's some sort of commercial release. I mean, I'd be flattered, but it's not.
Key releases of the Athens scene:
A little more about the Athens music scene, from Wikipedia: "Music author Richie Unterberger describes the town as an unlikely center for musical development, as a 'sleepy [place where] it's difficult to imagine anyone working up a sweat, let alone playing rock music.' The success of Athens' local bands is apocryphally attributed to 'something in the water.' The contributions of Athens to rock, country music and bluegrass have earned it the nickname 'the Liverpool of the South', and the city is known as a birthplace for both modern alternative rock and New Wave music. Athens was home to the first and most famous college music scene in the country, beginning in the 1970s. The formation of local bands like B-52s, Ravenstone, Pylon, Widespread Panic, Indigo Girls, Love Tractor, The Georgia Satellites, and R.E.M. brought Athens rock to national attention by 1980."
Albums I listened to, when I lived in Athens (1970-1972):
TRACKLIST CD 1
1. "Sunny Girlfriend"
2. "Mama Nantucket"
3. "Some of Shelley's Blues"
4. "Angel Band"
5. "Calico Girlfriend"
6. "While I Cry"
7. "Papa Gene's Blues"
8. "Roll With The Flow"
9. "Joanne"
10. "Different Drum"
11. "Nine Times Blue"
12. "Tapioca Tundra"
13. "Harmony Constant"
14. "I Won't Be The Same Without Her"
15. "Bonaparte's Retreat"
16. "Listen To The Band"
17. "Carlisle Wheeling"
18. "Love is Only Sleeping"
19. "Here I Am"
20. "What Am I Doin' Hangin 'Round"
21. "Propinquity"
22. "The Girl I knew Somewhere"
23. "Cantata & Fugue in C&W"
24. "You Told Me"
TRACKLIST CD 2
1. "You Just May Be The One"
2. "Continuing"
3. "Circle Sky"
4. "Tapioca Tundra (instrumental)"
5. "Dedicated Friend"
6. "St. Matthew"
7. "Nevada Fighter"
8. "Don't Call On Me"
9. "Mary Mary"
10. "Don't Wait For Me"
11. "Winomah"
12. "Good Clean Fun"
13. "The Kind of Girl I Could Love"
14. "I Looked Away"
15. "Grand Ennui"
16. "Listen to the Band (solo version)"
17. "Nine Times Blue (instrumental)"
18. "Mama Rocker"
19. "Conversations"
20. "The Door Into Summer"
21. "Of You"
22. "Two Different Roads"
23. "Little Red Rider"
24. "Writing Wrongs"
25. "Sweet Young Thing"
June 2008
This Michael Nesmith greatest hits compilation will stand in for a number of similar CD sets I've made over the years -- the homemade greatest hits compilation.
Because, to be frank, sometimes label-made greatest hits compilations can suck, leaving off favorite songs and memorable album cuts in favor of singles that may not have the same quality. Or album cuts that may not have the same high quality. Or just songs that I plain don't like.
So that's what this really is, songs that are my favorites. And I make the CD to have them all in one place.
Mike Nesmith seemed a natural choice, since he was my favorite Monkee and I always enjoyed both his singing and songwriting with the band. I had a few of his first few solo albums as well that I had obtained as very cheap cut-outs, but I hadn't really listened to them until I made this compilation. So, making this best-of forced me to subject myself to listening to Mike Nesmith's surprisingly-enjoyable country rock, a genre that is generally not one of my favorites. So, win-win. (However, I think I mistakenly included a song that Nesmith wrote, but Micky Dolenz sang. But who really cares? This CD is just for me!)
Note that I did go the extra mile and included on the label which albums the various tracks are from.
Other bands for whom I've made my own greatest-hits CD sets include the you-could-have-guessed Beatles, Monkees, Replacements, Go-Betweens, Mekons, Velvet Underground, etc.
July 2009
Made this one to play during a Palm Springs vacation with a bunch of friends. I thought the bright, sunny pop sounds would go well with a bright, sunny vacation.
January 2020
Back in the mid- to late 1980s, my British friend Frank and I exchanged numerous cassettes of music we were currently listening to. He introduced me to any number of the British bands on this compilation, while I mostly introduced him to the Replacements .... as well as Husker Du, Soul Asylum, 10,000 Maniacs, the Feelies, the Nils, the Magnolias, etc. (Not sure if he still has any of those tapes I made for him.)
Anyway, I recently came across most of the tapes he made, but I have no easy way to listen to cassettes nowadays. Since at the time I bought CDs of almost all the bands I liked on Frank's tapes, it was easy enough to make a big mega-set of all the songs I remember liking, enclosed in an 8-DVD case.
Made an extra copy for Frank, which (as of this writing) I have yet to send to him, due to the coronavirus pandemic. So he doesn't even now about this set! I don't even know if he still likes these bands! Sorry for spoiling the surprise, Frank, if you're reading this!
ADDENDUM: Okay, sent it to him ... and it cost $46 to send this CD package across the ocean! Sheesh! If postage prices had been that high back in the '80s, we never would have shared cassette tapes in the first place!
May 2020
When I was at Virgin America, I sometimes worked at the ticket counter, checking people in, as music played over our sound system. And try as I might to get some diversity in, the consensus was almost always that my co-workers wanted to hear "current pop hits." I heard these songs so many times, and I sometimes hated them, they were so familiar and over-played. But now, four years after leaving the company, I realize I missed them somewhat. Plus, their upbeat dancey sound makes them good for when you want to clean house or do something active.
