The Weekly Mix, #2
Weekly Mix #2: Early Nineties Rock, Seventies Soul, And Dubious Messages
The purported message: “I love you as you are.” The real message: “You may not be rich, famous, or remotely attractive, but at least you’re faithful.”
Buy I Hope we Get To Love In Time.
I forgot that this song has the ability to slowly, subtly, depress you over time. Use it wisely and infrequently.
Buy Grave Dancer’s Union.
Every so often, I remember that I used to like Aerosmith. Whenever I bother to listen to their music, I am reminded that I actually still love them.
Buy Get A Grip.
Why doesn’t anybody make songs like this anymore?
Buy Slowhand.
This is as close as I think I can come to picking a favorite from Frank’s work.
Buy Sinatra Reprise – The Very Good Years.
How come seventies summer music seems summerier than any other decade’s summer music? Maybe it’s just because that’s when I grew up.
Buy The Warmth Of The Sun: Songs Inspired By The Beach Boys.
I had a craving for it. I don’t always have a craving for the hip stuff. Ok, I rarely do.
I read a lot of different music blogs myself, and when I get something from one that I fall in love with and it ends up on the mix here, I’ll add it to the downloadables and show you to its place of origin. This song I found at Home Of The Groove, which features New Orleans funk and R&B. This is a different sound for Fats, and it works. I’m only sad there isn’t more of it.
Speaking of New Orleans … yeah, I don’t know. I was just in the mood.
I’m not entirely sure. Is the message of this one that you shouldn’t go new places, try new things, or try to achieve your goals? Wow, how inspirational! I like it anyway, though. I do have to say that whenever I hear TLC now, I immediately think “Lisa Lopez died driving an SUV in her Paul Frank jammies.” And in Honduras, of all the random places.
Buy CrazySexyCool. Can you believe it’s 12 years old?
Yep, a remake of the Gerry Rafferty song. First things first, I found it at Copy, Right? a blog that’s all about cover songs. I really like this. It’s just enough like the original to scratch the itch of wanting to hear it, different enough to be worth doing in the first place, and fun to listen to on its own.
Buy Essential Interpretions, instead of the EP “My Hero.” They’re both only available through Amazon used, but Essential Interpretations is a lot less expensive.
An early seventies appeal for men to take more pride in raising their families, the lyrics come off a little like a soul music version of Promise Keepers, but if you can get past that, it’s yet another perfect Four Tops song. It is early seventies soul.
Buy Keepers Of The Castle: Their Best 1972-1978.
When I dragged out “Two Princes,” I got this one out too.
Motown, done with lots of sax and late-sixties languor.
Buy The Millennium Collection: The Best of Jr. Walker & the All Stars
From the Rain Man soundtrack. I used to have the cassette single.
I still miss the eighties. I know you’re shocked by the admission.
This one is a mashup; therefore, instead of a buy link, I will use the link to the blog where I got it. It’s very much worth your while to visit, as they often feature interesting mashups. The song is also very much worth your while to download. Throw John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” and G Love’s “Blues Music” in a pot and this is the stew you get.
Visit “Some Velvet Blog.”
I never paid much attention to her until this spring, when I first heard “Carey,” from her album Blue. Now I’m looking up everything I can find by her, and realized that I’ve always liked this one. It’s getting folded back into frequent rotation.
Buy Ladies Of The Canyon.
And that’s it.
All Eyes And Ears 
I like this one much better than last week’s!