NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE RUTLES . . . . . Let’s Be Natural . . . . . The Rutles
OASIS . . . . . I’m Outta Time . . . . . Dig Out Your Soul
SEAN LENNON . . . . . Parachute . . . . . Friendly Fire (CD+DVD)
HONEYDOGS . . . . . Stonewall . . . . . Here's Luck
BECK . . . . . Nobody’s Fault But My Own . . . . . Mutations
ALL SMILES . . . . . All Tomorrow’s Parties . . . . . All You Are Is A Human Sir
THE BEATLES . . . . . You Never Give Me Your Money . . . . . Abbey Road (Remastered)

JOY DIVISION . . . . . Love Will Tear Us Apart . . . . . Love Will Tear Us Apart
THE HELIO SEQUENCE . . . . . Keep Your Eyes Ahead . . . . . Keep Your Eyes Ahead
NEW ROMAN TIMES . . . . . Smoke In Your Disguise . . . . . On The Sleeve
BLACK WHALES . . . . . Running In Place . . . . . Origins
VAMPIRE WEEKEND . . . . . Walcott . . . . . Vampire Weekend
SPARKS . . . . . This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us . . . . . Kimono My House
ST. VINCENT . . . . . Actor Out Of Work . . . . . Actor
PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION . . . . . Baby I’m A Star . . . . . Music from the Motion Picture "Purple Rain"
PATRICK WOLF . . . . . The Magic Position . . . . . The Bachelor

SPOON . . . . . Got Nuffin . . . . . Got Nuffin
THE FLAMIN’ GROOVIES . . . . . Shake Some Action . . . . .
ELVIS COSTELLO . . . . . (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes . . . . . My Aim Is True
EELS . . . . . My Timing Is Off . . . . . Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
THE PERNICE BROTHERS . . . . . Discover A Lovelier You . . . . . Discover a Lovelier You
THE SANDALS . . . . . Theme From “ Endless Summer” . . . . . The Perfect Day: The Music from 40 Years of Surfing Magazine
THE WIPEOUTERS . . . . . Nubbie Boardsmen . . . . . P' Twaaang!!!
THE TRASHMEN . . . . . Surfin’ Bird . . . . . Grandson of Frat Rock!, Vol. 3
THE B-52’S . . . . . Rock Lobster . . . . . Time Capsule

WILCO . . . . . Bull Black Nova . . . . . Wilco (The Album)
DAR WILLIAMS . . . . . Highway Patrolman . . . . . Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
DAVID BROMBERG . . . . . Dehlia . . . . . David Bromberg
BLIND WILLIE MCTELL . . . . . Three Women Blues . . . . . Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1927-1931)
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND . . . . . Statesboro Blues . . . . . The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East

Allen Klein passed away on July 4th; he was a business manager who had a major impact on the business of rock & roll, although more for what he told his clients than what he actually did for them. His pitch was that he could extract more money from record companies by scouring the books and renegotiating contracts, and he managed to convince some major artists—Bobby Darin and Sam Cooke early on, then most prominently the Rolling Stones and eventually the biggest prize of all, the Beatles—to use his services. To his credit, he made it possible for naive musicians who knew nothing of the record business to eventually be ripped off less by the major companies. What all of them eventually discovered, however, was that Klein always placed his interests above those of his clients, even as he did manage to secure them more favorable returns on their work. His style was to bully everyone he wasn't trying to sign to a contract, which inevitably left him with few friends and plenty of enemies. When I read of his death, I immediately thought of the perfect satirization of Klein in the Rutles film, where John Belushi as Ron Decline (flanked by his henchmen, Tom Davis & Senator Al Franken) left employees quaking under their desks after he entered the Rutle Corps headquarters for the first time. And then, of course, there was the tune Paul McCartney wrote after leaving the meeting where he was the only Beatle to not sign the management contract with Klein, which really was the final straw that broke that camel's back. In between we heard one from Oasis that mixes in a John Lennon interview snippet, Sean Lennon working within territory originally staked out by his dad's band, Honeydogs with a nod to the Walrus, Beck looking back through the haze to those days as well and All Smiles exhibiting a fondness for Fab Four-like harmonies.

This set began with Joy Division's alternate take of what proved to be their final single while Ian Curtis was still alive. Apparently the other three band members had asked him to sing the song like Frank Sinatra, and although the result is not as despondent as the true A side, the tune still retains its irresistable sense of momentum. Everything that followed here keyed off of that, with the Helio Sequence galloping into new music from New Roman Times and Black Whales, both of which are new to me. Vampire Weekend put the emphasis on piano with one that recalls an old favorite from Sparks; then we had St. Vincent cranking up the synths and building to a place where Prince & the Revolution took over before Patrick Wolf closed it out with some thoughts on what makes that certain someone so appealing.

Spoon recently put out a three-song single and here we began with the A-side, which has nice prominent drums bashing out a big beat and a bit of guitar that reminded me of an old Flamin' Groovies track. Following that was Elvis Costello with my favorite from his 1977 debut, and that led to one from the new disc by Eels with a great pop feel. A trio of instrumentals was next, starting with the Pernice Brothers offering some more pop melodicism into the Sandals with their track from the primordial surfing movie The Endless Summer, which led to the Wipeouters skewed yet affectionate take on the "surfing sound." From there it was the Trashmen with their 1964 hit, and then the B-52's with the original 7-inch version of the song that caught everybody's ear in 1978.

The final section began with one from Wilco's latest that apparently has Jeff Tweedy inhabiting someone who's just murdered his girlfriend. It conjured up an old Bruce Springsteen track, but here we heard Dar Williams version from a Springsteen tribute disc that goes back several years. David Bromberg followed with a traditional number that has been described as "the saddest song ever written"; in it he mentions a Blind Willie McTell version that he'd heard, so that's who was up next before the Allman Brothers Band covering one of McTell's best-known songs closed this one out.

Here are two bits featuring Ron Decline from the Rutles film