NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
AL GREEN . . . . . Love And Happiness . . . . . Greatest Hits
NICK LOWE . . . . . Hope For Us All . . . . . At My Age
NICOLE ATKINS . . . . . Cool Enough . . . . . Neptune City
THE ANIMALS . . . . . We Gotta Get Out Of This Place . . . . . Absolute Animals 1964-1968
NINA SIMONE . . . . . Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood . . . . . Anthology
JULIAN PLENTI . . . . . Fly As You Might . . . . . Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper
JARVIS COCKER . . . . . Slush . . . . . Further Complications

JOY DIVISION . . . . . Love Will Tear Us Apart . . . . . Love Will Tear Us Apart
LILYS . . . . . Perception Room . . . . . Precollection
THE TENANT . . . . . Visitors . . . . . Is Listening/Visitors
VITESSE . . . . . Another Way . . . . . You Win Again Gravity
BABY DAYLINER . . . . . Raid! . . . . . High Heart & Low Estate
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . Boys Keep Swinging . . . . . Lodger
ULTRA ORANGE & EMMANUELLE . . . . . Sing Sing . . . . . Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Le Chat du Café des Artistes . . . . . Irm

WILCO . . . . . Outtasite (Outta Mind) . . . . . Being There
THE GEORGE USHER GROUP . . . . . Crowded Mind . . . . . Days of Plenty
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Avalon Or Someone Very Similar . . . . . Popular Songs
ALL SMILES . . . . . Words Of Wisdom . . . . . Oh For The Getting and Not Letting Go
BRENDAN BENSON . . . . . Eventually . . . . . Lapalco
BIG STAR . . . . . Feel . . . . . #1 Record/Radio City
THE WHITE STRIPES . . . . . I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself . . . . . Elephant
THE BEATLES . . . . . Baby It’s You . . . . . Please Please Me (Remastered)
DIONNE WARWICK . . . . . Walk On By . . . . . The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits

LEMON JELLY . . . . . Spacewalk . . . . . Lost Horizons
AIR . . . . . Heaven’s Light . . . . . Love 2
THE BEE GEES . . . . . Massachusetts . . . . . The Ultimate Bee Gees (2 CD)
NEILSON HUBBARD . . . . . Wonderful Pain . . . . . Why Men Fail
THE CLIENTELE . . . . . Never Anyone But You . . . . . Bonfires on the Heath
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN . . . . . Another Sunny Day . . . . . The Life Pursuit
MARTIN NEWELL . . . . . She Rings The Changes . . . . . The Greatest Living Englishman

Willie MItchell passed away recently; he was a musician (trumpet) who had some recording success in the '60s, but it wasn't until he began producing Al Green's records in the early '70s that he became part of something eternal. Mitchell was the guy who told Green to be himself instead of trying to sound like Sam Cooke or Wilson Pickett, and when the result was coupled with the soulful sounds created by Mitchell and his house band at Hi Records, the final product proved irresistable. They had a series of hits through a good portion of the '70s until Green turned to gospel music and went to work as a minister. A reunion in the early years of this century for a couple of albums showed the magic was still there, and they put a nice cap on Willie Mitchell's career in music. The remainder of this opener continued with Nick Lowe quite clearly showing his appreciation of that distinctive Willie Mitchell sound, and then it was Nicole Atkins with a tune that has echoes of the one that preceded it, particularly in the vocals. The Animals followed with a 1965 track that also focused on the need to leave as quickly as possible, and then it was Nina Simone with the original of a song that the Animals scored with in '65 as well. From there we heard Julian Plenti exhibiting understanding and Jarvis Cocker observing the thawing of his heart to close out this section.

The music continued with the B-side version of the tune that appeared on the A side of Joy Division's first release following Ian Curtis's suicide in the Spring of 1980. That fed nicely into a Lilys tune that shared a similar rhythm and feel, as did the new track from the Tenant that followed. From there we veered more into synthesizer territory with Vitesse and Baby Dayliner, and then it was time for the bass guitar to shine in an old favorite from David Bowie. Finally, a couple of tunes with a French accent (literally), first from Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle and then by Charlotte Gainsbourg from her new disc, which was produced by Beck.

This set began with the fast take of a tune that appeared in two version on Wilco's second disc, and from there it was on to one with similar energy from the George Usher Group that came to mind when I first heard the Yo La Tengo track that followed. The same thing happened during my initial listen to All Smiles 2009 release, which is somewhat unusual and why we heard them back-to-back-to-back (although it took me months to finally get to it). From there it was Brendan Benson with one that creates a nice segue into the Big Star track that opened their first album way back in 1972, and then we concluded with a trio of tunes from the White Stripes, the Beatles and Dionne Warwick that were all written by the monumentally succesful songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

This program's final portion began with tracks from Lemon Jelly and Air that shared a connection both musically and through their titles. The Air tune also conjured up an early Bee Gees hit that shares a similar strings sound with the Neilson Hubbard track that followed, and the sentiment expressed in that one was shared by the Clientele on a tune from their most recent disc. To finish it off, we heard Belle and Sebastian looking back at early moments of a relationship that's gone sour, and Martin Newell attempting to explain why it so often works out that way.

Here's another one from the Animals