Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Cameron!


I made this mix a while back with my best friend in mind, and have been reserving it for her birthday as a special treat. I'm not sure if she has actually heard much of Bobbie Gentry's songs, but something about her has always screamed "CAMERON!" to me, so here it is: my favorite Bobbie Gentry tunes for my dear friend on her birthday... hope this helps to make it a special day!

DELTA SOUL

1 Mississippi Delta
2
Penduli Pendulum
3
Ode To Billy Joe
4
Reunion
5
Eleanor Rigby
6
Rainmaker
7
Niki Hoeky
8
Big Boss Man
9
Touch 'em With Love
10
Parchman Farm Blues
11
Fancy
12
Jessye' Lisabeth
13
Something In The Way He Moves
14
Papa Let Me Go To Town With You
15
Louisisana Man
16
Mornin' Glory
17
Your Number One Fan
18
Natural To Be Gone
19
Okolona River Bottom Band
20
Sweete Peony
21
Chickasaw County Child
22
Son of a Preacher Man
23
Peaceful
24
Billy The Kid
25
Show Off
26
Here, There and Everywhere
27
Tobacco Road
28
Bugs

Friday, August 7, 2009

Kiddie Pop Rock


The latest ZeRO mixathon centered on 2 themes: The "Autobiographical" mix and the "Alternating DJ" mix. There were lots of contributions in both categories. I posted a vintage autobio mix I created for my 41st birthday, a new one of my favorite 70s kid rock, and got in on a mixing three-way with kmbone and derhay [to be posted soon].

This is my new autobio mix, a look at my earliest musical influences, the stuff I discovered on my own, or with the help of friends, not the music my parents played. Since my parents weren't fans of rock 'n' roll, my early exposure was all from television. Luckily, I was born in the late 60s, so the music playing on cartoons and kids' programming in my childhood was funky and groovy stuff. From cartoon rock bands, to prefab entertainers, to TV celebrity musical guests, I soaked it all in, and sowed the seeds of my musical tastes to come.


1 All My Loving [I fondly remember watching the Chipmunks with my dad as a kid. I heard them sing the songs of the Beatles long before I heard the Beatles]- The Chipmunks

2 The Way-Outs (Theme) [Much of my early exposure to Rock 'n' Roll was through saturday morning cartoon shows of the 60s and 70s]- The Way-Outs (from The Flintstones)

3 Playground [cereal box flexi-discs and other product promotions also molded my musical taste]- The Funny Face Band (featuring Goofy Grape)

4 Sugar Sugar [The Archies and Josie & the Pussycats were among my favorite "bands" when I was around 6 years old]- The Archies

5 Josie & The Pussycats (Main Title)- Theme Song

6 Jonny Quest (Main Title) [Themes from cartoons like Jonny Quest and Speed Racer probably primed me for surf instrumentals]- Theme Song

7 Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah [I loved it when cartoons like The Flintstones or The Jetsons had musical "guest stars"]- Jet Screamer (featuring George Jetson on drums)

8 Laugh Laugh [who could forget the immortal Beau Brummelstones on the Flintstones?]-The Beau Brummelstones

9 A Victim of Gravity- [Schoolhouse Rock introduced me to Doo Wop, and taught me about gravity at the same time!]- The Tokens

10 Speed Racer- Theme Song

11 Monster March (from Godilla's Revenge) [I was mad about Godzilla as a tyke, maybe that's why I'm so fond of JRock now]- Kunio Miyauchi

12 The Tra La La Song [I was WILD about the Banana Splits, what a swinging bunch of funkadelic animals!] -The Banana Splits

13 Jingle Jangle- The Archies

14 Stop, Look and Listen- Josie and the Pussycats

15 Lancelot Link Theme [Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp! What a strange and wonderful show this was, and the music was pretty rockin' too!]- Lancelot Link And The Evolution Revolution

16 Rub Your Tummy [I still love themusic from early Sesame Street, some of it got downright funky, as Gordon demonstrates here] - Gordon from Sesame Street

17 Chicken Soup With Rice [I have to admit, I was never a big Carole King fan, but I loved her soundtrack for the animated Maurice Sendak film "Really Rosie"]- Carole King

18 I Really Love You Baby [Herman sets out to become a rock star]- Herman Munster

19 You Need Us [Ginger, Maryann and Mrs. Howell show their stuff and prep me for the girl group sound]- The Honey Bees

20 The Parent Trap [I loved this movie as a kid, and still love both the theme and Hayley Mill's duet with herself to this day]- Annette Funicello & Tommy Sands

21 Let's Get Together- Hayley Mills

22 Come On Get Happy [between The Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch, I got the whole Cowsills experience (though I didn't discover the Cowsills till I was in my 20s)- The Partridge Family

23 It's A Sunshine Day [The Silver Platters, the coordinated polyester jumpsuits...-The Brady Bunch

24 Last Train To Clarksville [my all-time favorite band when I was 7 and 19]- The Monkees

25 Batman Theme [I loved Batman, The Munsters and The Addams Family; these tracks were probably my gateway to crime jazz]- Nelson Riddle

26 The Munsters Theme- Milton Delugg

27 Uncle Fester's Blues- Vic Mizzy

28 Don't Bug Me/He's a Loser [More musical guest stars: The Mosquitos from Gilligan's Island. I loved this episode]- The Mosquitos

29 I Think I Love You- The Partridge Family

30 Candy (Sugar Shoppe)- The Brady Bunch

31 She- The Monkees

32 Doin' The Banana Split [I thank the Banana Splits for my taste in 70s funk and R&B]-The Banana Splits

33 I Want You Back [I became aware of The Jackson 5 and the Bay City Rollers through my childhood friend's records]- The Jackson 5

34 Saturday Night- Bay City Rollers

35 (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock [I loved Happy Days, and it's theme song got me interested in rock and roll from the 50s]- Bill Haley & His Comets

36 Da Doo Ron Ron [my sister and I watched the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries every week. My sister was obsessed with this song when it came out, it wasn't till years later that I discovered it was a cover song]- Shaun Cassidy

Thursday, July 30, 2009

More Songs for Sophia


My sister and niece recently returned to Edinburgh (I miss them terribly!), and before they went I made another mix for my niece. I included two songs from the movie My Neighbor Totoro (her favorite film), and the opening music from her favorite cartoon, Flip the Frog (our cover model). It's a fun kids mix, and she loved it immediately. Every time I hear it, I'll think of Sophia sleeping over at her "Auntie Beetle's" house.


1 Hey Let's Go- Sonya Isaacs

2 The Salad Song- Yamaha Music Foundation

3 Fruit Salad- The Wiggles

4 Gorilla Song- Sha-Na-Na

5 I Like Bananas- Hoosier Hotshots

6 The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)- The Banana Splits

7 Apples and Bananas- Raffi

8 Beans In My Ears- The Serendipity Singers

9 Ito Eats- Elvis Presley

10 Uh! Oh! Part 2- The Nutty Squirrels

11 Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows- Lesley Gore

12 The By Cracky Beat- The Lowney's Chocolates Singers

13 Movin' Right Along- Kermit the Frog & Fozzie Bear

14 Song of the Paleo Pirates- The Hipwaders

15 I Love Trash- Oscar the Grouch

16 The Aba Daba Honeymoon- The Three Stooges

17 The Hokey Pokey- Ray Anthony

18 Jeepers Creepers- Louis Armstrong

19 Mister Peepers Theme- Bernie Green

20 Pippi Longstocking- Inger Nillson

21 A Bushel And A Peck- Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely

22 Jollity Farm- The Bonzo Dog Band

23 Leave My Kitten Alone- Little Willie John

24 Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat- Phil Harris, Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft And Liz English

25 Alvin- The Monkees

26 Alligator, Hedgehog- Pete Seeger

27 Green- Kermit the Frog

28 Daddy Frog- Big Daddy & the Little Sisters

29 Flip The Frog's Song- Flip the Frog

30 Octopus's Garden- The Beatles

31 Twee-Twee-Tweet- Cab Calloway

32 When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob-bob-bobbin' Along- Whispering Jack Smith & Whistling Carson Robinson

33 Mockingbird- Peter, Paul & Mary

34 Not Yet Three- Jonathan Richman

35 Sometimes- Frances England

36 Totoro (English)- Lea Salonga

More Songs About Chocolate & Girls


I spent the early part of this summer immersed in Elvis soundtracks. When I heard the song "Crawfish" I really perked up. It's moody and dark and very inspiring. I decided to craft a mix around that track, but not necessarily create a moody, dark mix. I love how it came out, it's my favorite mix in a long time.


1 Disconnected (Acoustic)- Rancid

2 More Songs About Chocolate And Girls- The Undertones

3 Surprise Surprise- Lulu & The Luvvers

4 Can't Seem To Make You Mine- The Ramones

5 Drivin' Wheel- Robert Gordon

6 The Place I Love- The Jam

7 Cortinas- The Lambrettas

8 Floy Joy- Diana Ross & The Supremes

9 Change Your Mind- The Killers

10 Love Is A Gamble- Eartha Kitt

11 Crawfish- Elvis Presley

12 It's Cold Inside- Peter Case

13 Hypno Sex Ray- The Cramps

14 Ain't No Way- Elaine Summers

15 Rattled- Traveling Wilburys

16 The Plan- Richard Hell & The Voidoids

17 See Fernando- Jenny Lewis

18 She's Alright- The Real Kids

19 Failsafe- The New Pornographers

20 She Can't Get Any Sleep- The Incredible Moses Leroy

21 Personal- Eleni Mandell

22 Dry Lips- Lightspeed Champion

23 If I Could Talk I'd Tell You- The Lemonheads

24 Charley's Girl- Lou Reed

25 Boss- The Rumblers

26 Don't Push Me Around- Zeros

27 I Hope That You Can Remember- R. Stevie Moore

28 Headlights- Sean Lennon

My Carnival


This is one I'd been working on for a long time. I found it half finished, and decided it was time to complete it. I've tried to capture some of the best things about summer, carnivals, rides, junk food, it's all here to enhance your hot weather experience.


1 In The Summertime- Mungo Jerry

2 It's Carnival Time- Elvis Presley

3 My Carnival- Paul McCartney & Wings

4 A Swingin' Summer- Carol Connors

5 Summer Fun- The Barracudas

6 Carnival Song- Tim Buckley

7 Carnival of Souls- Combustible Edison

8 On a Carousel- The Hollies

9 Merry Go Round- The Brady Bunch

10 Ride a White Swan- T. Rex

11 Octopus- Syd Barrett

12 Return to the Haunted House- The Fleshtones

13 Roller Coaster By the Sea- Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

14 Little Egypt- The Coasters

15 Swim Little Mermaid- The Astronauts

16 Dog Faced Boy- Eels

17 Car Radio Jerome- Fred Lane

18 Girl From the Carnival- Cerebral Corps

19 Gypsy Woman- Rick Nelson

20 Fortune Teller- Mersey Beats

21 Balloon Man- Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

22 Hot Dog!- They Might Be Giants

23 Hamburger Hop- Johnny Hicks & His Troubadours

24 Things Go Better With Coke- Coca-Cola

25 Ice Cream City- Shonen Knife

26 The Peanut Vendor- Xavier Cugat

27 Buttered Popcorn- Diana Ross & The Supremes

28 The Popcorn Man- The Tunetwisters

29 Candy-Coated Popcorn, Peanuts and a Prize- Cracker Jack

30 Candy Floss- Wilco