NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE KINKS . . . . . National Health . . . . . Low Budget
MONTY PYTHON . . . . . Spam . . . . . Another Monty Python Record (Expanded Edition w/ Bonus Tracks)
JARVIS COCKER . . . . . Fat Children . . . . . Jarvis
RICHARD THOMPSON . . . . . Fast Food . . . . . Mirror Blue
THOSE DARLINS . . . . . The Whole Damn Thing . . . . . Those Darlins
LOUIS ARMSTONG . . . . . Struttin’ With Some Barbecue . . . . . Louis Armstrong - Greatest Hits
BILLY JOEL . . . . . Root Beer Rag . . . . . Streetlife Serenade
NRBQ . . . . . Girl Scout Cookies . . . . . Message for the Mess Age
LARRY GROCE . . . . . Junk Food Junkie . . . . . Junk Food Junkie

JAMES MADDOCK . . . . . When The Sun’s Out . . . . . Sunrise On Avenue C
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . Be True . . . . . Tracks (4CD)
EELS . . . . . What’s A Fella Gotta Do . . . . . Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
NEKO CASE . . . . . This Tornado Loves You . . . . . Middle Cyclone
VISQUEEN . . . . . Ward . . . . . Message To Garcia
THE RASPBERRIES . . . . . I Wanna Be With You . . . . . Capitol Collectors Series
THE BEATLES . . . . . Please Please Me . . . . . Please Please Me (Remastered)
LANGHORNE SLIM . . . . . Say Yes . . . . . Be Set Free
THE ORANGE PEELS . . . . . You’re So Clever . . . . . So Far

THE POSTMARKS . . . . . Gone . . . . . Memoirs at the End of the World (Dig)
NOUVELLE VAGUE . . . . . Friday Night Saturday Morning . . . . . Nouvelle Vague
FUN BOY THREE . . . . . Our Lips Are Sealed . . . . . Waiting
ZEEP . . . . . Ghost Town (Isso Não Da) . . . . . People & Things
HENRY MANCINI . . . . . It Had To Be Tonight . . . . . The Pink Panther
BOB DYLAN . . . . . This Dream Of You . . . . . Together Through Life
JOE HENRY . . . . . Suit On A Frame . . . . . Blood from Stars

DAVID BYRNE . . . . . Home . . . . . Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
YO LA TENGO . . . . . By Two’s . . . . . Popular Songs
THE VELVET UNDEGROUND . . . . . Pale Blue Eyes . . . . . The Velvet Underground
TINDERSTICKS . . . . . The Hungry Saw . . . . . The Hungry Saw
PATTI SMITH . . . . . Redondo Beach (Demo) . . . . . Land (1975-2002)
TAKEN BY TREES . . . . . To Love Someone . . . . . East of Eden
JULIAN PLENTI . . . . . H . . . . . Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper

The day after the president's televised speech on health care I read this article on the food industry and the contributions it makes to the unhealthy status of many Americans. The writer believes that for all the back and forth about ways to reduce the cost of health care while at the same time making it better, the most important portions of any legislation are three changes that everyone seems to agree must be there—health insurers must "take everyone at the same rates, provide a standard level of coverage and keep people on their rolls regardless of their health." Why is that so important? Well, the short answer is that hundreds of billions of dollars are spent every year on treatments for chronic diseases that have been linked to the foods most of us eat. To see how those three provisions connect to better health care, you need to read the article. As for the opening set of this program, after an appropriate tune from the Kinks we heard a selection of food-related tracks that ranged from the silliness of Monty Python to the exuberance of Louis Armstrong and on to admissions of addiction by Larry Groce.

About 10 years ago an English band called Wood put out an engaging first disc and then promptly disappeared (a second album had been recorded and was all set to go until their record company dropped it and them). James Maddock was the main guy in Wood, and after moving to New York and working through the kind of personal issues that can derail a music career he's back with a new solo disc. One of its standout tracks opened this section, and its romantic anthemic appeal immediately brought to mind Bruce Springsteen. One from Eels latest voiced a frustration that Neko Case seemed to be feeling as well, and then we heard from the rocking new Visqueen disc (with Neko lending some background vocals, as Visqueen's main singer/songwriter Rachel Flotard did for the past couple Neko Case albums). An old favorite from the Raspberries led to the remastered Beatles from their very first LP, which was followed by Langhorne Slim from the brand new disc with a hooky tune that has a similarly beseeching tone to the Orange Peels song that finished up.

Zeep is a band that I've just come across; on their new disc they cover an old Specials tune, and this set grew in both directions after I first heard it. The new Postmarks album has quickly become a 2009 favorite, and the tune that opened up brought to mind Nouvelle Vague's cover of another Specials track. Fun Boy Three came along after the Specials splintered apart, and we heard their version of a tune that lead singer Terry Hall co-wrote with the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlen while they were enjoying some intimate times during a Specials/Go-Go's tour in 1980. The accordian on the Zeep track conjured up a slice of Henry Mancini's soundtrack for the original Pink Panther movie starring the amazing Peter Sellers, and from we heard Los Lobos' David Hidalgo setting an evocative mood with that instrument on one from Bob Dylan's latest before Joe Henry from his new disc closed it out.

David Byrne produced the Fun Boy Three record, and here we heard him with Brian Eno from last year's disc with a tune that seemed to flow nicely into a moody piece with a dreamlike quality from the excellent new Yo La Tengo record. The Velvet Underground offered a painfully vivid song about an affair, and the same adjectives can be applied to the Tindersticks tune that followed. From there we heard songs from Patti Smith and Taken By Trees that each seemed to be about relationships that end in a permanent loss, and Julian Plenti brought down the curtain with an instrumental that certainly seemed to suit the mood.

Here's another one from Louis Armstrong