Train 45

Recently I've gotten into the Rock Solid podcast, and it's motivated me to list my own songs that I would use if I were doing such a podcast.  The most recent episode I listened to was their dedication to the Smile Train charity, using songs with "smile" or "train" in the title, called "Smile Train" .

Here's my own Smile Train list:

1. Uncertain Smile - The The

One of the best songs ever written, point blank.

2. I Can't Stop Smiling - Velocity Girl

I do love Velocity Girl, and this is most definitely one of their catchiest!

3. That Certain Smile - Midge Ure

Love this whole album, but Midge Ure! I think it's a cover even but I can't remember who covered it.

4. Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees

I've been a Monkees fan since the late '80s and every time I drive through Clarksville, MD I have to sing this song :)

5. Jumping Someone Else's Train - The Cure

One of The Cure's greatest hits, bar none.

6. Reptile Smile - Th Faith Healers

This is one of those late '80s British bands that we Americans didn't hear much of, but this has been a favorite of mine for many years!

7. Grin - The Wonder Stuff

A bit of a diversion from the "smile" theme, but I hope it fits and The Wonder Stuff is one of my favorite bands!

8. Fear of Trains - Magnetic Fields

From the Magnetic Field's classic The Charm of the Highway Strip, one of their best songs!

9. Sara Smile - Hall and Oates

I have been a Hall and Oates fan my entire life.  This is not necessarily one of my favorites of theirs, but when I saw their Biography and heard the story of how close to Sara (Daryl Hall's girlfriend's sister) they were and how she died of cancer very young, it jumped in my estimation.

10. Train in Vain - The Clash

I love The Clash even more these days and this one is great, even the Annie Lennox cover is pretty good!

Look out for my lists as I listen to more episodes (I've got a lot to get caught up) and make more lists :)

Genius!!!

I just found this on Boing Boing and since we're all on a Ramones kick lately, it really fits! OMG, they are amazing! I love Stop the Rock:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FinRaucous

Some of their covers are better than others, but you can't go wrong with any of their Ukulele covers. And you know "If it ain't Scottish, it's crap!" - SNL. :)

Vampire songs

My friend Chris recommended some vampire/paranormal romances and I got into the show True Blood as a result, so after her acclaimed Vampire song playlist, I decided to create my own, and also a Swap-bot swap. My swap is closed, but the resulting Werewolf themed CD swap is still open ...

1. Vampires by Bumblebeez81
2. A Vampire's Proposal by Shudder to Think
3. Vampire by Sebadoh
4. Up to my Neck in You by Mark Kozelek
5. Talent is a Vampire by Bongwater
6. Riboflavin by 45 Grave
7. Neck by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians
8. Love Like Blood by Killing Joke
9. Looking for Blood by the Donnas
10. Ghost vs. Vampire by Quasi
11. Freaks and Vampires by Glitter Mini 9
12. Bloody Bride by Elvis Hitler
13. Blood Makes Noise by Suzanne Vega
14. The Blood by The Cure
15. Bite Me by Electric Six
16. Bite Back by Negativland
17. Bite by Guided by Voices
18. Bela Lugosi's Dead by Godhead
19. Baby Vampire Made Me by Helium

and now on to my own Were(wolf) playlist...

Thank You For the Music

I don't do Facebook, but I like Karen's meme so I figured why not.

Think of 15 albums, CDs and/or LPs that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 15 others, including moi. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you’re it!

1. The Knack - Get The Knack
2. Blondie - Parallel Lines
3. Matthew Sweet - Inside
4. The Three O'Clock - Ever After
5. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche '85
6. Adam Ant - Friend or Foe
7. Berlin - Pleasure Victim
8. The Cars - Shake It Up
9. Hall and Oates - Private Eyes
10. Bloodhound Gang - One Fierce Beer Coaster
11. Big Audio Dynamite - This is Big Audio Dynamite
12. Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque
13. Propaganda - A Secret Wish
14. The Wonder Stuff - The Eight Legged Groove Machine
15. The Ophelias - The Big O
16. Foreigner - Foreigner
17. Pop Will Eat Itself - Go Box Frenzy
18. The Posies - Dear 23
19. Sebadoh - Bubble and Scrape
20. The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It

Okay, here's how I cheated - I had to go to 20 and I cut out a few! Basically these were the 20 albums that have affected my life the most. I know every song on the album by heart, I listen to it to this day, and probably have an LP, cassette, CD and MP3 version of each of them. These were my introduction to the rest of the band's catalog, and my favorite bands to this day are The Ophelias (you should hear their cover of The Kinks' "Wicked Annabella" - so far only on LP as far as I know), Sebadoh, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Posies and The Wonder Stuff.

Covers Scavenger Hunt 2

Here is the playlist from my 2nd covers scavenger hunt swap on Swap-Bot.

1. A cover of a ’50s song: Da Do Ron Ron by The Donnas (The Crystals)
2. A cover of a ‘90s song: …Baby one more time by Bowling for Soup (Britney Spears)
3. A cover that is very similar to the original: Dueling banjos by Hayseed Dixie (Earl Scruggs)
4. A cover that is very different from the original: America the beautiful by Dictators
5. A cover of a country/folk song: He stopped loving her today by Johnny Cash (George Jones)
6. A cover of a song from a musical (TV or theater): Pinball Wizard by Pickin’ On Series (The Who)
7. A cover starting with the letter P: Pebbles by Half Foot Outside (Shudder to Think)
8. A cover of a song by a girl group: Mickey by B*Witched (Toni Basil)
9. A cover of a song by a boy band: I want it that way by Dynamite Boy (Backstreet Boys)
10. A cover of a punk song: I just want to have something to do by Dictators (Ramones)
11. A cover of a Frank Sinatra song: This guy’s in love with you by Fastball (Frank Sinatra)
12. A cover recorded in the 60s: Satisfaction by Billy Strange (The Rolling Stones)
13. A cover of a Van Halen song: Hot for teacher by Ween (Van Halen)
14. A cover done in heavy metal style: Love removal machine by Great White (The Cult)
15. A cover that reminds you of Valentine’s Day or Easter: Happy loving couples by Guttermouth (Joe Jackson)
16. A cover about a break up: Give me back my man by Chicks on Speed (The B-52s)
17. Your most recent favorite cover: Virus by Sigue Sigue Sputnik (KMFDM)
18. A cover of your favorite band: It’s So Hard to Fall in Love by Superchunk (Sebadoh)
19. A cover by your favorite band (also, a cover about nighttime): Pink Moon by Sebadoh (Nick Drake)
20. A cover sung by kids: Freedom of Choice by Dev2.0 (Devo)
21. A cover with the word “love” in the title: Love like blood by Icehouse (Killing Joke)
22. A cover related to sex, drugs or rock and roll: Wasn’t that a party by Oak Ridge Boys (Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley)
23. a cover with a drink in the title: Kisses sweeter than wine by Bongwater (Pete Seeger)
24. a cover of a funny song, or a funny version of a “normal” song: Beaver patrol by Pop Will Eat Itself (The Wilde Knights)
25. a cover with a dessert in the title: I want candy by Aaron Carter (The Strangeloves)
26. a cover about your profession: Dreams of the everyday housewife by K.D. Lang (Glen Campbell)
27. a cover with a country name in the title: Mexican radio by Polvo (Wall of Voodoo)
28. a cover with a country name in the title: A new England by Too Much Joy (Kirsty MacColl)
29. a cover with a season in the title: Bummer in the summer by Smack Dab (Love)
30. a cover of or by a male singer: Cinnamon girl by Type O Negative (Neil Young)
31. a cover of or by a female singer: Solitaire by Sheryl Crow (The Carpenters)

Extras (My Current Favorites):

32. Anyway you want it by Rise Against (Journey)
33. Big mouth strikes again by Placebo (The Smiths)
34. Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Cornbread Red (Green Day)
35. Cobrastyle by Robyn (Teddy Bears)
36. Hey Ya! By Lorene Drive (Outcast)
37. I Know What Boys Like by Tracey Ullman (The Waitresses)
38. The Metro by Alkaline Trio (Berlin)
39. Never Talking to You Again by Elf Power (Husker Du)
40. Strychnine by The Fall (The Sonics)
41. My Sharona by Polysics (The Knack

Ahhhh!

I've found some more amazing covers! Just yesterday, I discovered:

Bowling for Soup's cover of Matthew Sweet's "Sick of Myself". I don't know that I've ever seen another Matthew Sweet cover, and I'm so excited!

I can't believe I never knew about Lou Barlow's cover of Ratt's "Round and Round". I'm a big Ratt fan, and a huge Sebadoh fan!

I can't stop listening to these two!

Replicant

The covers I search for most (and find most of, I guess):

1. These Boots are Made for Walkin' (Nancy Sinatra)
2. Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell)
3. Down in the Park (Gary Numan)
4. Baroque Hoedown (Perrey/Kingsley)
5. Classical Gas (Mason Williams)
6. (I'm Always Touched by your) Presence, Dear (Blondie)
7. Jolene (Dolly Parton)
8. Girl U Want (Devo)
9. Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town (Mel Tillis)
10. They Don't Know (Kirsty MacColl

My Forgotten Favorite

My favorite bands (not in order):

1. Sebadoh
2. Pop Will Eat Itself
3. The Posies
4. The Wonder Stuff
5. Bevis Frond
6. The Cars
7. Hall and Oates
8. Matthew Sweet
9. Shudder to Think
10. The Three O'Clock

My Favorite Things

My all-time favorite songs:

1. Soothing Cacidylic by Shim Jambs
2. Every Shining Time You Arrive by Sunny Day Real Estate
3. Alone Again Or by Love (although I prefer The Damned version)
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
5. Savory by Jawbox
6. Pretty Ballerina by The Left Banke
7. Down in the Park by Gary Numan
8. Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell (again, I prefer the Scud Mountain Boys version)
9. Fade Away and Radiate by Blondie
10. Moving in Stereo by The Cars

Covers Scavenger Hunt

The track list from my Covers Scavenger Hunt swap on Swap-Bot. I chose one song for each category, but the limit was actually 15 songs+. Here goes:

A cover with an animal in the title:

1/Shock the Monkey/Coal Chamber (Peter Gabriel)
2/100,000 Fireflies/Superchunk (Magnetic Fields)

A cover song about drinking:

3/Gin and Juice/Sissy Bar (Snoop Dogg)

A cover song from a movie: “Sky High”

4/I Melt With You/Bowling With Soup (Modern English)

A cover version of an '80s song:

5/Last Christmas/Jimmy Eat World (Wham!)

A cover song that you discovered before the original.

6/Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps/Cake (???)

A cover song that is in a different genre than the original song.

7/Drive Me Wild/Foo Fighters (Vanity 6)

A cover version of an '80s song.

8/Kokomo/Adam Green (The Beach Boys)

A cover song which has no singing/lyrics.

9/Wichita Lineman/ Friends of Dean Martinez (Glen Campbell)

A Beatles cover.

10/And Your Bird Can Sing/Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs (The Beatles)

A cover of a children's song.

11/K.I.D.S. Incorporated (theme)/Bloodhound Gang

A cover of a TV theme song:

12/The Simpsons Theme/Green Day

A cover that reminds you of Halloween or Thanksgiving:

13/Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground/Film Score 5 (White Stripes)

A cover song with a number in the title:

14/Two Princes/The Moldy Peaches (Spin Doctors)

15/5 O’clock World/Bowling for Soup (???)

An original version of one of the covers you already chose:

16/Drive Me Wild/Vanity 6

A different version of one of the covers you already chose:
A cover in a different language than the original:

17/Quizas, Quizas, Quizas/Trash Pour 4 (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps)

A cover where the song's gender is changed for the singer:

18/Boy U Want/Dev2.0 (Devo)

A cover song with a color in the title:

19/Back in Black/Living Colour (AC/DC)

A cover song from another era (80s version of a 60s song):

20/Surfin’ Bird/Ramones (The Trashmen)

A parody song.

21/Gump/Weird Al Yankovic (The Presidents of the USA)

A cover song about outer space.

22/Under the Milky Way/Grant-Lee Phillips (The Church)
23/Starman/Mates of State (David Bowie)

A bad cover song.

1/White Rabbit/Blue Man Group (Jefferson Airplane)
2/The Beautiful Ones/Mariah Carey w/Dru Hill (Prince)

A cover song where you like the cover but not the original.

3/Marijuana/Brujeria

A cover of a song sung by a female singer.

4/Beautiful Stranger/Jon Auer (Madonna)

A cover of a song sung by a musical group.

5/Float On/Ben Lee (Modest Mouse)

A cover of an instrumental song.

6/Classical Gas/Gallucci (Mason Williams)

A Rolling Stones cover.

7/Brown Sugar/The Grassmasters

A cover of a 70's song.

8/Tiny Dancer/Ben Folds (Elton John)

A cover with a name in the title.

9/Kim the Waitress/Material Issue (The Green Pyjamas)
10/Johnny and Mary/Placebo (Robert Palmer)

A cover with a one word title.

11/Obsession/Blue Eyed Christ (Animotion)

A cover that starts with the letter "S"

12/Sunshine Superman/Mel Torme (Donovan)
13/Save it for Later/Flashlight Brown (The English Beat)

A Michael Jackson cover.

14/P.Y.T./White Chocolate

A cover that tells a story.

15/Seed Song/Atom and his Package (Mountain Goats)
16/I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home/Countdown Singers

A cover about a food item.

17/Cinnamon Girl/Type O Negative (Neil Young)
18/Raspberry Beret/Derailers (Prince)
19/Incense and Peppermints/Adult Net (Strawberry Alarm Clock)