NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
SPOON . . . . . Got Nuffin . . . . . Transference
CHICAGO . . . . . 25 Or 6 To 4 . . . . . Chicago II (Repackaged)
JULIAN PLENTI . . . . . Unwind . . . . . Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper
THE JANUARIES . . . . . Love Has Flown . . . . . The Januaries
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS . . . . . I Don’t Know What To Say . . . . . Realism
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND . . . . . Femme Fatale . . . . . The Velvet Underground & Nico
THE PERNICE BROTHERS . . . . . Subject Drop . . . . . Discover a Lovelier You
TEENAGE FANCLUB . . . . . Don’t Look Back . . . . . Grand Prix

JIMI HENDRIX . . . . . Valleys Of Neptune . . . . . Valleys Of Neptune
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Voyage . . . . . Irm
JONI MITCHELL . . . . . The Jungle Line . . . . . The Hissing of Summer Lawns
JOHN KONGOS . . . . . He’s Gonna Step On You Again . . . . . John Kongos
TALKING HEADS . . . . . This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) . . . . . Speaking in Tongues
BRIAN ENO . . . . . Just Another Day . . . . . Another Day on Earth
BOOKER T. . . . . . Space City . . . . . Potato Hole

THE MODERN LOVERS . . . . . Dignified and Old . . . . . The Modern Lovers
THE SOFT PACK . . . . . More Or Less . . . . . The Soft Pack
THE STROKES . . . . . Last Night . . . . . Is This It
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS . . . . . American Girl . . . . . Anthology: Through the Years
THE BYRDS . . . . . Why . . . . . The Byrds
JOHN DOE & KATHLEEN EDWARDS . . . . . The Golden State . . . . . Country Club
THE OLD 97’S . . . . . King Of All The World . . . . . Satellite Rides
FARRAH . . . . . Terry . . . . . Moustache
SUPERGRASS . . . . . Rush Hour Soul . . . . . Life on Other Planets
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . Hang On To Yourself . . . . . The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust

MARVIN GAYE . . . . . I Heard It Through The Grapevine . . . . . Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye
TINDERSTICKS . . . . . Yesterday’s Tomorrows . . . . . The Hungry Saw
SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS . . . . . It Hurts To Be Alone . . . . . Causes 2
BRUCE SPRINGSGTEEN . . . . . The Fever . . . . . 18 Tracks
GIL SCOTT-HERON . . . . . I’ll Take Care Of You . . . . . I'm New Here
JOE HENRY . . . . . Love Is Enough . . . . . Civilians
BETTYE LAVETTE . . . . . ’Round Midnight . . . . . Change Is Gonna Come Sessions
THELONIOUS MONK . . . . . Reflections . . . . . The Columbia Years: '62-'68

We opened with one from Spoon's new disc that was first released as a single last summer; when I heard it then the first thing that came to mind was an old hit from Chicago, but I resisted playing them back-to-back until now, simply because the Chicago track was beaten into the ground from overplaying many decades ago. However, I went with it because I also liked the transition from that horn-filled tune to the Julian Plenti tune with prominent trumpet that followed. The Januaries track also features that instrument in a song about the end of a romance, which led to the Magnetic Fields searching for just the right words to prevent that from happening. The quieter feel of that one was echoed in the Velvet Underground classic that warns of involvement with the wrong girl, and then the Pernice Brothers traveling down a well-worn path of romantic anguish added some jangling guitars to the mix, which were echoed in the Teenage Fanclub tune that finished up.

Next month will see the release of a new Jimi Hendrix album consisting of a dozen previously unreleased studio recordings; most are versions of previously released tunes or covers of other material, but there is also the title track of this collection, which is a Hendrx original being put out for the first time, and that's what kicked off this section. From there we heard a new Charlotte Gainsbourg tune with a rhythmic feel that conjured up an old Joni Mitchell song, which was followed by a John Kongos track in a segue that was first created on freeform FM radio back in the mid-'70s. Talking Heads kept the rhythms percolating, and that brought on one from Brian Eno's last solo disc (which preceded his 2008 collaboration with David Byrne) that fed nicely into a soulful instrumental from Booker T.'s most recent release.

This set started with the early-'70s Modern Lovers helping to lay the foundation for a lot of the late-'70s energy and back-to-basics ethos that followed; from there we heard some post-punk sounds courtesy of the Soft Pack from their new disc and the Strokes off of their first one. That always conjures up an early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tune full of chiming guitar, which led to the Byrds, who of course were one of the originators of that sound. Next, things turned a bit more raucous with John Doe and Kathleen Edwards followed by an early one from the Old 97's. Then it was a slice of Power Pop from Farrah feeding nicely into Supergrass with a track that always reminds me of Ziggy-era David Bowie, which is where we ended up.

A classic from Marvin Gaye led off this final section; from there we heard a sad one from Tindersticks evoking that '60s soul sound into Sharon Jones & the Dap-KIngs with a heartbreaking ballad that leans more to the Stax side of the soul story. Bruce Springsteen jonesing for a girl led to a new track from Gil Scott-Heron; his first album in decades is a solid piece of work, and we heard his painfully sincere take on a tune originally done by Bobby "Blue" Bland. After that Joe Henry hoping for the best was followed by Bettye LaVette offering a signature version of a tune on which Thelonious Monk shares a songwriting credit, and he provided a beautiful piece to bring this program to a thoughtfully soothing close.

Here's another one from Thelonious Monk