NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
WILCO . . . . . Wilco (The Song) . . . . . Wilco (The Album)
THE PROFESSIONALS . . . . . Join The Professionals . . . . . I Didn't See It Coming
ART BRUT . . . . . Formed A Band . . . . . Bang Bang Rock & Roll
THE KINKS . . . . . Top Of The Pops . . . . . Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One
THE RASPBERRIES . . . . . Hit Record . . . . . Capitol Collectors Series
THE RAMONES . . . . . Do You Remember Rock ’N’ Roll Radio? . . . . . End of the Century
IAN HUNTER . . . . . Cleveland Rocks . . . . . You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic
RANDY NEWMAN . . . . . Burn On . . . . . Sail Away

THE IKE REILLY ASSASSINATION . . . . . 8 More Days To The Fourth Of July . . . . . We Belong to the Staggering Evening
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Rip This Joing . . . . . Exile on Main St.
LITTLE RICHARD . . . . . Jenny Jenny . . . . . Very Best Of Little Richard
EELS . . . . . What’s A Fella Gotta Do? . . . . . Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
JANIS JOPLIN . . . . . Move Over . . . . . Pearl
THE BLACK KEYS . . . . . So He Won’t Hurt . . . . . Attack and Release
BETTY LAVETTE . . . . . Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby . . . . .
JIMMY SMITH . . . . . Sometimes I’m Happy . . . . . Mercury Records Jazz Story
BOB DYLAN . . . . . I Feel A Change Coming On . . . . . Together Through Life

THE LEMONHEADS . . . . . Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye . . . . . Varshons
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Everything I Can’t See . . . . . 5:55
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . New York City Serenade . . . . . The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
HEADLESS HEROES . . . . . Nobody’s Baby Now . . . . . The Silence of Love
MARIANNE FAITHFULL . . . . . I’ll Keep It With Mine . . . . . Broken English/Strange Weather

THE YARDBIRDS . . . . . Happenings Ten Years Time Ago . . . . . Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 1964-1968
THE PLIMSOULS . . . . . A Million Miles Away . . . . . Everywhere at Once
THE GEORGE USHER GROUP . . . . . A Crowded Mind . . . . . Days of Plenty
ALL SMILES . . . . . I Was Never The One . . . . . I Was Never the One
MARTIN NEWELL . . . . . Cinnamon Blonde . . . . . A Summer Tamarind
BIG STAR . . . . . September Gurls . . . . . #1 Record/Radio City
THE MURMAIDS . . . . . Popsicles And Icicles . . . . . The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 2
JARVIS COCKER . . . . . Slush . . . . . Further Complications
TALKING HEADS . . . . . This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) . . . . . Speaking in Tongues

Wilco (the band) from the new disc Wilco (The Album) opened this program with "Wilco (The Song)", which opens their disc as well. Offering reassurances to Wilco fans that the group will always be there for them if they need a shoulder to lean on, it brought to mind an old tune from the Professionals. That band from the early '80s included Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and they seemed to be inviting their fans to become part of the new (at the time) enterprise with this early track. Cook and Jones joined Paul Simonon of the Clash in a version of the Professionals that performed the song in a film called Ladies and Gentleman, the Fabulous Stains; they were called the Looters, were fronted by the actor Ray Winstone and I actually prefer that version to the one we heard. However, although the film, which stars a teenage Diane Lane, was released on DVD last year, the soundtrack wasn't made available. The only way to hear the Looters version of this tune is to rent the film, which is basically mediocre but has its moments, especially when the band is perfoming. After the Professionals we heard Art Brut amazed that they are, in fact, a functioning group, and then it was the Kinks with an intimate look at what it's like when your record starts to climb the charts. The Raspberries hopeful that their time will come led to the Ramones with a musical question on a track that features a radio DJ on the front and back end, which made for a perfect segue into Alan Freed at the top of the Ian Hunter tune that followed. And while Cleveland certainly rocks, it also recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River catching on fire, which helped jumpstart the environmental awareness that is now a part of everyday life here on planet Earth (Forty years ago the EPA hadn't yet been created.). So we marked that anniversary with a Randy Newman song written a few years after the river went up in flames, which was clearly the inspiration for the tune.

The next section began with an Ike Reilly Assassination tune that highlights a day on the calendar that passed during this program's run, and the rollicking sound on that one conjured up an old Rolling Stones track that certainly has roots in the even older Little Richard song that followed. Richard's pleas were echoed by Eels on a track from their latest disc, and the beat on that one recalled an old Janis Joplin favorite. From there we heard some blues from the Black Keys feeding into Bettye LaVette covering Jimmy Reed, which brought on Jimmy Smith putting his Hammond B-3 through its paces and Bob Dylan with what has clearly become my favorite from his new disc.

An interesting choice of song from the Lemonheads kicked off this set; that was Liv Tyler trading off vocals with Evan Dando, which brought to mind Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, so then we heard their daughter Charlotte from her last disc. The piano on that one fed nicely into a favorite from Bruce Springsteen's early days, and the romantic moodiness of that track was reflected in the Headless Heroes tune that followed before Marianne Faithfull covering Bob Dylan brought things to a suitably melancholy conclusion.

The finale began with tracks from the Yardbirds and the Plimsouls, two bands linked by the fact that both appeared in movies (Blow-Up and Valley Girl) that did a more than reasonable job of reflecting the pop culture of the moment. From there it was on to the George Usher Group with a tune that came to mind after I first heard the new All Smiles track that followed. There was a little bit of Martin Newell in that All Smiles song as well, and then it was Big Star's guitar pop gem into an old one-hit wonder from late 1963 by the Murmaids. That one's title led to Jarvis Cocker describing the state of his cold heart after meeting the right girl, and then we heard Talking Heads finding that sweet spot to bring down the curtain.

Here are the Professionals in Looters disguise