NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . Everyone Says Hi . . . . . Heathen
ALL SMILES . . . . . The Brightest Beyond . . . . . The Brightest Beyond
ERIC LICHTER . . . . . Wildly Polite . . . . . Palm Wine Sunday Blue
THE BEACH BOYS . . . . . Feel Flows . . . . . Sunflower/Surf's Up
GRIZZLY BEAR . . . . . About Face . . . . . Veckatimest

BLACK WHALES . . . . . Roll With The Punches . . . . . Origins
IT HUGS BACK . . . . . Work Day . . . . . Inside Your Guitar
ORANGE PEELS . . . . . Mystery Lawn . . . . . So Far
THE WHO . . . . . I Can’t Explain . . . . . Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
JOEY RAMONE . . . . . Maria Bartiromo . . . . . Don't Worry About Me
ART BRUT . . . . . Emily Kane . . . . . Bang Bang Rock & Roll
THE MEKONS . . . . . Where Were You? . . . . . No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion
THE KINKS . . . . . All Day And All Of The Night . . . . . Kinks-Size/Kinkdom
THE CAESARS . . . . . Strawberry Weed . . . . . Strawberry Weed
NEIL DIAMOND . . . . . Cherry Cherry . . . . . In My Lifetime (3CD)

SONIC YOUTH . . . . . Antenna . . . . . The Eternal
BECK . . . . . Chemtrails . . . . . Modern Guilt
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Sing This All Together . . . . . Their Satanic Majesties Request
TRAFFIC . . . . . You Can All Join In . . . . . Traffic
THE BEATLES . . . . . All Together Now . . . . . Yellow Submarine (Remastered)
FEIST . . . . . 1234 . . . . . The Reminder
WILCO . . . . . You And I . . . . . Wilco (The Album)
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD . . . . . Wishing And Hoping . . . . . . . . . . The Very Best of Dusty Springfield
UB40 & CHRISSIE HYNDE . . . . . Breakfast In Bed . . . . . UB40
DISCOVERY . . . . . Slang Tang . . . . . LP
WAYNE SMITH . . . . . Under Me Sleng Teng . . . . . Original Riddims

STUART MURDOCH . . . . . Hiding ’Neath My Umbrella . . . . . God Help The Girl
DIONNE WARWICK . . . . . You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) . . . . . The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits
THE SHARP THINGS . . . . . What’s The New Girl Wonder . . . . . A Moveable Feast
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES . . . . . Talk To Me . . . . . The Best of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS . . . . . She’s A Fool . . . . . Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
POLLY SCATTERGOOD . . . . . Please Don’t Touch . . . . . Polly Scattergood
THE KING OF FRANCE . . . . . Beautiful Horses . . . . . The King of France
HARRY NILSSON . . . . . Me And My Arrow . . . . . Harry Nilsson - Greatest Hits
NEKO CASE . . . . . Don’t Forget Me . . . . . Middle Cyclone

This opener was one of those instances where the tracks ended up sounding better in reverse order from how it was originally constructed. I'm still enjoying Grizzly Bear's latest disc, and I liked the tune that finished this set coming out of the Beach Boys track that preceded it as opposed to the other way around. A favorite from Eric Lichter's debut solo disc made for a nice segue into the Beach Boys, and the track's delicate opening offered a seemless transition from All Smiles, whose tune otherwise had a melodic flow built on layered guitars, which presented a likeable juxtaposition from the more stately David Bowie tune at the top.

The next section began with Black Whales and It Hugs Back, two bands I've come across this year who both make some excellent guitar pop. The Orange Peels another group that has a great feel for that sound, and of course the Who in their early days were one of the originals. Although Pete Townshend wasn't sure what he was feeling, Joey Ramone had no trouble articulating his infatuation with Maria Bartiromo, which was followed by Art Brut with one of my favorite songs of this decade. An early favorite with some thundering guitar from the Mekons added a bit of accusatory insecurity to the mix, and then the Kinks took it to the level of obsession. A fruiy taste was the determining factor for the Caesars, which conjured up an old favorite from Neil Diamond that would seem to be linked in the produce department through its title, but clearly isn't (though that didn't stop me from playing it).

Quite a path was traveled in this set, as we began with some driving rock-pop from Sonic Youth's latest disc; the psychedelic touches on that one led to Beck with the his latest dive into that late '60s sound, which brought on the Rolling Stones with a classic from that era. Traffic was next with another from that time that shared an inclusive ethos, and then it was the Beatles offering a similar vibe while also supplying what I've also thought should be required listening in preschools everywhere. The same could be said of the Feist tune that followed, and from there we heard her joining Jeff Tweedy on one from Wilco's latest that seems to be a realistic look at how relationships work. Dusty Springfield had some relationship advice of her own (courtesy of Burt Bacharach and Hal David), and then we heard UB40 joined by Chrissie Hynde on a tune originally done by Dusty. A new one from Discovery seems to have found inspiration in both that UB40 cover and the seminal Wayne Smith track that finished up.

One from the latest Stuart Murdoch project brought to mind an old Dionne Warwick tune; I realize for some it's treading close to MOR territory, but on another level it's a perfect pop song (again courtesy of Bacharach and David). From there it was the Sharp Things with an uptempo favorite from their last release followed by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes doing up a Bruce Springsteen number. That record was produced by Steve Van Zandt, who performed the same function for the Cocktail Slippers on their recent disc. Their excellent cover of a Lesley Gore tune fed nicely into Polly Scattergood's handclap-fueled track, and the fragility that seems central to her songwriting seemed to work well with the King of France tuned that followed. That one has a rhythm reminiscent of a song from an old animated TV special based on a story written by Harry Nilsson that featured his music, which led us to Neko Case's lovely cover of a Nilsson tune to close this one out.
Here's another one from Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (and friends)