NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Route 66 . . . . . England's Newest Hitmakers
THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET . . . . . Mendocino . . . . . The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975
HANK WILLIAMS III . . . . . Atlantic City . . . . . Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
JOHN DOE & THE SADIES . . . . . Detroit City . . . . . Country Club
BOB DYLAN . . . . . If You Ever Go To Houston . . . . . Together Through Life
ELVIS COSTELLO . . . . . Sulphur & Sugarcane . . . . . Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

PATRICK WOLF . . . . . Hard Times . . . . . Bachelor (Battle One)
YOKO ONO . . . . . Yes, I’m A Witch . . . . . Yes, I'm a Witch
MAGIC WANDS . . . . . Kiss Me Dead . . . . . Magic, Love and Dreams EP
STAR . . . . . Liars In Love . . . . . Devastator
T. REX . . . . . Metal Guru . . . . . The Slider
SUPERGRASS . . . . . Rebel In You . . . . . Diamond Hoo Ha
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . TVC15 . . . . . Station to Station
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS . . . . . Helium Hearts . . . . . Dark Days/Light Years

BON IVER . . . . . Bracket, WI . . . . . Dark Was the Night
ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT . . . . . Right Next To You . . . . . Taller Children
ROBERT WYATT . . . . . Love . . . . . Uncut Presents: Instant Karma 2002; a Tribute to John Lennon
FRANK SINATRA . . . . . Nature Boy . . . . . Sinatra Rarities-Columbia Years
GRIZZLY BEAR . . . . . Fine For Now . . . . . Veckatimest
THE BLUES PROJECT . . . . . Steve’s Song . . . . . The Best of the Blues Project
ST. VINCENT . . . . . Black Rainbow . . . . . Actor
THE BEATLES . . . . . A Day In The Life . . . . . Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Remastered)

SONIC YOUTH . . . . . Antenna . . . . . Tom Verlaine
TOM VERLAINE . . . . . Breakin’ In My Heart . . . . . Tom Verlaine
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE . . . . . Love To Burn . . . . . Ragged Glory
JARVIS COCKER . . . . . Hold Still . . . . . Further Complications
THE FACES . . . . . Debris . . . . . A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse
HEADLESS HEROES . . . . . Just Like Honey . . . . . The Silence of Love

Inspiration for this opener came from the Elvis Costello track that finished it off, essentially a travelogue of ribald escapades concocted by Elvis and his co-writer T-Bone Burnett. So directly preceding it we had a trio of city destinations from Bob Dylan, John Doe and the Sadies and Hank Williams III. The Sir Douglas Quintet was in there with an ode to a place I finally had a chance to visit last year; it's a distinctive little town perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and is certainly a worthy inspiration for a song. At the top it was the Rolling Stones great swinging/rockin' version of the old tune about a road that doesn't really exist anymore, but in its day inspired not just one but two songs, as the opening of every Lucky Dog Radio program makes abundantly clear.

A change of pace here to the one from Patrick Wolf's new disc that sets the tone for the journey that follows led to the title tune from the Yoko Ono disc where she offered an eclectic range of musicians and producers an opportunity to rethink and remake a selected track of their own choosing. From there it was Magic Wands with a song that reminded me of an original Ono tune, which led to Star, a band from Chicago whose noisy, melodic tracks are very appealing. A bit of traditional hard rock glam from T. Rex followed, and then it was Supergrass with one ending in some "Oh Oh Oh Oh's" that segued quite nicely into the David Bowie tune that begins in a similar place before one from the latest Super Furry Animals disc finished it off.

Next up was the intimately eclectic folk sound of Bon Iver followed by one with a lush pop appeal from the new Elizabeth & the Catapult disc. A line from that tune quotes the Beatles "A Day In The Life"; here it was followed by a flickering version of a John lennon tune by Robert Wyatt. That led to an early Frank Sinatra track that has him accompanied by a group of choral singers whose spooky vocals flowed rather well into Grizzly Bear's intricately layered harmonies. Then we had a Blues Project tune by Steve Katz with a bit of a Baroque feel followed by a St. Vincent track that starts a quite lovely place but slowly builds to desperate climax, recalling none other than the aforementioned Beatles tune that closes out Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I'm finding the new Sonic Youth album to be particularly accessible, although I can't tell if it's my mood or the disc itself (probably a little of both); here we began with a track that brought to mind Tom Verlaine from his first solo disc after the original demise of Television, and then it was some more guitars with Neil Young & Crazy Horse offering one of their extended specialties. The mood grew more pensive with a Jarvis Cocker track that features some prominent bass guitar flowing into an sadly beautiful tune from the Faces before a Headless Heroes cover of a Jesus and Mary Chain favorite brought the curtain down.

Here's another one from Elvis Costello