October 25, 2023

219 Wherefore and Howevers

When I started making mix tapes in the 1990s, terrestrial radio was a presence in my life: I listened to rock radio. I heard hit singles on the radio, so, when compiling playlists, I took many great songs for granted. That's always been true, but it became an issue in the early 2020s. I went through a period where my playlists leaned too hard into new artists and songs I was unfamiliar with. The music I selected in that era is all good, but it needs leavening with songs I have memories of, songs I can sing along to. This phase led me to a corrective period I'm calling my 250th Anniversary Series, where I deliberately began including golden favorites from great bands that had never appeared on a playlist.

  1. Hell N Back, Bakar
  2. Wait, Sarah McLachlan
  3. All Night Long, Peter Murphy
  4. bad idea right? Olivia Rodrigo
  5. Giddy Up, Jenny Lewis
  6. Hully Gully, Beach Boys
  7. You Turn Me On I'm A Radio, Joni Mitchell with Neil Young & The Stray Gators [from the Roses Early sessions]
  8. Waitress In The Sky [Ed Stasium mix], The Replacements
  9. Deathly, Aimee Mann
  10. My Wife, The Who
  11. Pass You By, Gillian Welch
  12. Rand McNally, Death Cab for Cutie
  13. You're Gonna Miss Me, 13th Floor Elevators
  14. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? The Beatles
  15. I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like a Man), Daryl Hall & John Oates
  16. Lost In The Evening [The Pushkin Sessions], Fancy Trash
  17. Here's The Thing, Courtney Barnett
  18. $20, boygenius
  19. If I Take You Home Tonight, Diana Krall
  20. Interesting Drug, Morrissey
  21. CUFF IT, Beyoncé
  22. Chaise Longue, Wet Leg
  23. Impossible, Lyla Foy