“Heroin” – The Velvet Underground & Nico. From the “banana album”, which scared the shit out of me when I first heard it as a teenager (long after the band’s heyday). It still scares me. But I love the sound. I love the sound so much. Have you read Patti Smith’s tribute to Lou Reed in The New Yorker?
“Armed Forces Medley” – The Vocal Majority. This awesome Texas men’s chorus I’ve recently gotten into. But to have this medley come after “Heroin” makes me want to sing “God Bless America.”
“Police Me” – Tori Amos. She lets out her freaky side here, which I prefer to her introverted side.
“Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” – Buddy Holly. So much fun. I listen to this song and always think of Carl Perkins and Elvis messing around singing this song at Sun Records and cracking up at the lyrics.
“Ragtime” – Randy Newman. Ragtime has such an ache at the bottom of it. Newman really taps into that ache.
“The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde” – Merle Haggard. What a voice. Total crooner. Killer banjo too.
“Honky Tonkin'” – Hank Williams. That catch in his voice caused girls to melt in the aisles. It’s serious country, with that fiddle and swoopy guitar, but there’s something else churning underneath it. A sexuality and a PERSONALITY that carried over, still carries over.
“Run Run Rudolph” – Kelly Clarkson, from her Christmas album which came out last week. I’m already in love with it. This track in particular. It’s ridiculous and rocking.
“Telstar” – The Tornadoes. Hahaha. What? I love when tracks come up I have no memory of buying. Why do I have this? So funny. The song is an endless loop. Help me. I’m trapped in it.
“Black Boxes” – Sarah Donner. I just love her songs. And her voice!
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – the Glee cast. I know it’s sacrilegious, I suppose, but I like it. Nothing can compare to the ferocity of the original.
“Tonight’s All Right for Love” (takes 14 and 15) – Elvis, from G.I. Blues. The final version is pretty killer, and Elvis is in fine fine form. Almost operatic in those final moments. And swingin’. It took a while to get there though. This outtake starts with Elvis, in the studio, trying to say something to Charlie Hodge (I’m assuming), and his stutter completely overwhelms him. “Hey, hey – uh-Charlie – I, I se- I see – I I I …” The versions here you can tell they’re still feeling their way towards the version it would eventually be. It’s not quite gelled yet. And Elvis loses it in the final moments, the song gets away from him, the Jordanaires surge on without him, and you hear him exclaim, “Shee-it.”
“The Hammer” – from Matilda the Musical. I haven’t even seen the damn thing but I am in love with the music and the performances.
“Stratford-on-Guy” – Liz Phair, from Exile in Guyville, the album which, when it came out, I listened to with almost a hot flush of embarrassment, thinking to myself, “How did she know all this? How did she know my life?” Wrote about that here.
“Wonderboy” – Tenacious D. This is a live performance. (I have just learned that you can “record” Youtube links into mp3s and I went on a BINGE.) I talk about Jack Black here.
“I Don’t Wanna Go Home” – Pat McCurdy, live. The crowd singing along, all of the lyrics, of course. Going to one of his shows is like joining a cult for a night. I was a part of that cult. As a matter of fact, I was in cahoots with the leader.
“Turn Me On” – Nina Simone. So damn sexy.
“I’ve Been Deceived” – Charlie Feathers, recorded at Sun Records. This has a real hard country sound.
“Mystery Train” – Elvis Presley. One of the best tracks in his entire career, if not the best.
“Underture” – The Who. 10 minutes of building excitement.
“Here We Go Again” – Ray Charles. Slow and sexy, perfect for a hot and heavy makeout session, as so much of his stuff is.
“Be-Bop-a-Lula” – Gene Vincent. Sexy as hell.
“Blues in D” – Kate & Anna McGarrigle. The best songwriters you’ve never heard of. If you know their stuff, then you are one of the lucky elect. If you can, seek out Lian Lunson’s beautiful concert film Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You (review here) – it may still be in theaters in various places.
“Not Myself Tonight” – Christina Aguilera. Excellent for working out.
“Sylvia” – Eurythmics. Such an ominous song, so full of dread.
“Good Rockin’ Tonight” – Elvis Presley. Recorded at Sun Records. Peter Guralnick is eloquent about what this song sounded like to his young ears. It’s subversive, almost anti-social. And yet the lyrics also reassure: “I won’t do you no harm.” The entire cultural revolution is in this song. Sung by a virgin Christian teenager in a pink suit. Makes no sense, makes perfect sense. It’s the American way.
“Let It Rain” – Ok Go. I’m in love with their stuff. It was the treadmill video that first brought them attention, but once you join the Ok Go club, you find all this cool music. No re-inventing the wheel here (except for maybe in their music videos which are crazy innovative), just damn good pop songs.
“A New Door” – Lenny Kravitz. Soulful. I love him. (He was wonderful in The Butler, too.)
“Rolling Stone” – Robbie Williams. A friend of mine just discovered him and I bombarded her with encouragement, excitement, and way too much information. He’s such a superstar in Europe and relatively unknown here. Well, not for lack of trying. I write about him a lot. I am a Robbie Williams evangelist.
“Overture” – from the Broadway production of Big River. This musical is an O’Malley favorite.
“Like Dreamers Do” – The Beatles. Early Lennon-McCartney song. Dramatic. What is that beat. Calypso? Weird, is what it is. I’m pretty sure that this is only included on the Anthology, nowhere else. But I am sure Beatles experts can correct me if I’m wrong!
“She Stood Up” – Pat McCurdy. A powerful song about domestic violence. He doesn’t do it too much live, but it’s one of his most well-loved song.
“Three Corn Patches” – Elvis. He sounds tired. He was tired.
“Higher Ground” – the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ killer version of Stevie Wonder’s song. Of course this reminds me of my favorite scene in the brilliant film Center Stage.
“Movies of Myself” – Rufus Wainwright. Speaking of Kate McGarrigle … I saw him perform at Town Hall on Valentine’s Day, 2002. His fame was just hitting. He was wonderful live. Hilarious. Drinking red wine from a glass on top of his piano.
“Homecoming” – Green Day. My pal Odie Henderson loved the Broadway Idiot movie.
“Herald the Day” – Des’ree. I should check in on her, see what the hell she’s up to. This album is great, but it came out a whole lifetime ago.
“True Love Travels on a Gravel Road” – Elvis Presley at his ultimate best, his shining prime. Manly, adult, flowing in and out of the mix of genres … he’s never just one thing. There’s always that mix. He sings the hell out of this song.
“In the Lap of the Gods” – Queen, live at Wembley Stadium. Exhilarating. Their concerts had to be out of control. How I wish I had seen them. Freddie Mercury is a maestro with that throng.
“You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” – The Beatles. My cousin Liam sent me a giant file of all the Beatles tracks in Mono. I still haven’t gone through all of it, there’s just so much. Here’s a 1970 B-side. Rough, screaming, crazy drums, it’s nuts. I love it.
“Soho Nights” – the fun Puppini Sisters. I have Perez Hilton to thank (strangely enough) for even knowing who these gals are.
“Delilah” – Tom Jones. YES.
“Wish You Well” – Katie Herzig. So fucking sad. I would listen to this when working on the last scene in my script. It helped me to keep the stakes in mind. Cousin Mike sent me her album. He has excellent taste in music.
