NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
HOPE SANDOVAL & THE WARM INVENTIONS . . . . . Blanchard . . . . . Through the Devil Softly
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE . . . . . Today . . . . . Surrealistic Pillow
HEADLESS HEROES . . . . . True Love Will Find You In The End . . . . . The Silence of Love
TIM BUCKLEY . . . . . Strange Feeling . . . . . Happy Sad
NICOLAI DUNGER . . . . . Where Harmony Is Heard . . . . . Soul Rush

THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Route 66 . . . . . December's Children (And Everybody's)
TEDDY BEARS . . . . . Punkrocker . . . . . Punkrocker Featuring Iggy Pop (Album Version)
GENERATION X . . . . . Wild Youth . . . . . Perfect Hits 1975-1981
GUIDED BY VOICES . . . . . Glad Girls . . . . . Isolation Drills
VISQUEEN . . . . . Forgive Me . . . . . Message To Garcia
MOJAVE 3 . . . . . Breaking The Ice . . . . . Puzzles Like You
ART BRUT . . . . . Emily Kane . . . . . Bang Bang Rock & Roll
BUZZCOCKS . . . . . Ever Fallen In Love? . . . . . Operators Manual
BRENDAN BENSON . . . . . I’m Easy . . . . . Lapalco
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Nothing To Hide . . . . . Popular Songs

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS . . . . . Roots, Rock Reggae . . . . . Rastaman Vibration
TOMMY T. . . . . . The Call . . . . . Prester John Sessions
CAIRO . . . . . I Like Bluebeat . . . . . 100% British Ska
JUSTIN HINDS & THE DOMINOES . . . . . Carry, Go, Bring, Come . . . . . Island 40, Vol. 1: 1959-1964 -- Ska's the Limit
THE BEATLES . . . . . I Call Your Name . . . . . Past Masters (Remastered)
SUPERGRASS . . . . . When I Needed You . . . . . Diamond Hoo Ha
A BAND OF BEES . . . . . Wash In The Rain . . . . . Free the Bees
A.C. NEWMAN . . . . . The Heartbreak Rides . . . . . Get Guilty
BECK . . . . . Think I’m In Love . . . . . The Information

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Heaven Can Wait . . . . . Irm
WHITE WHALE . . . . . The Admiral . . . . . WWI
THE KINKS . . . . . Where Have All The Good Times Gone . . . . . Greatest Hits
CRACKER . . . . . Where Have Those Days Gone . . . . . Greenland
PAUL WESTERBERG . . . . . Gimmie Little Joy . . . . . PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys (Amazon.com Exclusive)
THE HOLD STEADY . . . . . Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window . . . . . I'm Not There
JOSH RITTER . . . . . Next To The Last Romantic . . . . . The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
TOM WAITS . . . . . I’ll Shoot The Moon . . . . . Glitter and Doom Live
LITTLE JOY . . . . . Brand New Start . . . . . Little Joy
NEKO CASE . . . . . This Tornado Loves You . . . . . Middle Cyclone

This program began with a tune from the recent Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions disc that has a certain late '60s feel to it, which is why it worked well with the Jefferson Airplane track that followed. Headless Heroes' cover of a Daniel Johnston tune taps into the same vibe, and then it was back to that same late '60s time period for the mesmerizing Tim Buckley before Sweden's Nicolai Dunger embracing his inner Van Morrison finished up.

I recently read that the Route 66 Preservation Foundation has erected a sign at the Santa Monica pier in Los Angeles indicating the end of the trail for that historic highway. Although Route 66 didn't really end at that spot when it was alive (it was decomissioned in 1985), the thinking is that the pier offers more opportunties to raise funds from tourists stopping by. In other words, why let the facts get in the way of merchandising opportunities. Be that is it may, the article did provide the jumping off point for this set with the Rolling Stones captured live in March 1965, several months before "Satisfaction" finally broke them big in America. From there we heard Teddybears with guest vocalist Iggy Pop singing about the music genre that includes Generation X as part of its original wave. Guided By Voices put the emphasis on the guitars while introducing a bit of Pop into the mix, and then it was Visqueen following the same formula into Mojave 3, where the Pop aspect became more pronounced. Art Brut was next with one of my favorite tunes of the decade, which fed nicely into some prime Buzzcocks, who were followed by Brendan Benson borrowing more than a bit from that Manchester group and Yo La Tengo maintaining the energy to close it out.

The new album from Ethiopian bassist Tommy T. has a number of excellent reggae tracks, and we heard one coming out of the Bob Marley & the Wailers tune that opened this section. The Cairo song is actually a 30-year-old 7-inch that I've treasured since it first came out, and its title refers to another name for Ska that was used in England during the '60s. Justin Hinds & the Dominoes provided an example, and then we heard the Beatles with a track whose middle eight John Lennon once described as the band's attempt at Bluebeat. That tune also sent us off in a different direction, as Supergrass followed up on the theme of rejection and loss, as did A Band of Bees and A.C. Newman. Turning it around at the last minute was Beck, which led to . . .

. . . the latest project with which he's involved—Charlotte Gainsbourg's upcoming album, set to be released in the U.S. early next year. They produced the disc together, wrote songs together and on the track that opened this final set Beck joins her on vocals. The mood set by that tune seemed to work well with the White Whale song that followed, and that one features vocals that are very reminiscent of Ray Davies and the Kinks. Next up was Cracker looking for similar answers, and then Paul Westerberg searching for a bit of optimism brought on the Hold Steady covering an old Bob Dylan tune with a possible solution. Josh Ritter's tall tale about a guy with an insatiable thirst for women led to Tom Waits in a romantic mood feeding into Little Joy celebrating a second chance at love, which brought us finally to Neko Case needing meteorological metaphors to explain how strong her love is.

Here's another one from Tim Buckley