This program opened with a tune that materialized after I read of June Havoc's passing at age 97; she was the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, whose memoirs provided the basis for the Broadway show Gypsy, considered by some to be the greatest musical of all time. So we heard Faith Dane, Chotzi Foley and Maria Karnilova as three strippers offering some advice to Louise just at the moment she's metamorphosing into Gypsy Rose Lee. Tom Waits followed with a salute to the ladies who, among other things, made him harder than Chinese algebra, and then we heard the Bonzo Dog Band with the tune that they played in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour while a stripper did her thing alongside them. The romantic tragedy at the heart of that track brought on Findlay Brown with one that looks back to '60s romantic ballads for inspiration, and then it was Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs with one from the new disc that has plenty of twangy guitar, which fed quite naturally into the Doors from a long time ago. Finally, the Cramps taking a sad Rick Nelson hit even lower were followed by Rick operating in a much more casually confident place.

A set all about the ups and downs of romance began with a trio of Kinks tunes, with one by the band sandwiched between covers from Yo La Tengo and the Pretenders. One more cover brought the Postmarks doing a Ramones tune, and the classic '60s teen tragedy feel of that one fed quite nicely into a new one from the School, who like to merge a number of pop influences from that decade into their music. That's why it was for more than similarities in song titles that Dusty Springfield was up next, and then the flow continued with one from the new She & Him disc that's actually an NRBQ tune, which is why we heard one of my favorites from that band to follow. Finishing it off was Wilco with the bouncy take of a track that actually appears in two versions on the disc, followed by Neko Case's very satisfying cover of an old Harry Nilsson tune.

There is a new double-disc set that's full of New Order songs as done by contemporary bands that has a number of nice takes, including the one we heard to kick off this section by Flight. After a suitable follow from Vitesse, it was on to Air from their most recent disc with a tune that features some guitar that is probably as close as that duo will come to ever recording surf music—so we heard a trio of surf-influenced tracks (some more than others) by the B-52s, the Wipeouters and the Soft Pack. The Buzzcocks brought us back to more of a Pop-Punk place, and while we remained in that general vicinity the distortion level continued to grow as we wound our way through Girls, Star and the Jesus and Mary Chain at the finish.

New tunes from Quadron and the Black Keys each conjured up an old Motown track, so they were interspersed to begin this final section. The Black Keys track ends in a place that recalled the Beatles B-side (to Get Back) that features Billy Preston on organ, and the anguish of that one was countered by the empathetic reassurance of Gil Scott-Heron from his excellent new disc. To close out the show we heard Bettye LaVette with her take on a tune recorded by many others, including Charlie Parker, which is how we ended up with Joe Henry.

Here's the complete playist.

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
FAITH DANE, CHOTZI FOLEY, MARIA KARNILOVA . . . . . You Gotta Have A Gimmick . . . . . Gypsy - A Musical Fable (1959 Original Broadway Cast)
TOM WAITS . . . . . Pasties And A G-String . . . . . Small Change
THE BONZO DOG BAND . . . . . Death Cab For Cutie . . . . . Cornology [3CD Set]
FINDLAY BROWN . . . . . If I Could Do It Again . . . . . Love Will Find You
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY & THE BROKEOFFS . . . . . Forget It . . . . . Medicine County
THE DOORS . . . . . The Spy . . . . . Morrison Hotel
THE CRAMPS . . . . . Lonesome Town . . . . . Off the Bone
RICK NELSON . . . . . Travelin’ Man . . . . . Rick Nelson - Greatest Hits

YO LA TENGO . . . . . Fancy . . . . . This Is Where I Belong: The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks
THE KINKS . . . . . Waterloo Sunset . . . . . Something Else by the Kinks
THE PRETENDERS . . . . . Stop Your Sobbing . . . . . Pretenders: Live In London
THE POSTMARKS . . . . . 7-11 . . . . . Memoirs at the End of the World (Dig)
THE SCHOOL . . . . . Hoping and Praying . . . . . Loveless Unbeliever
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD . . . . . Wishing And Hoping . . . . . The Very Best of Dusty Springfield
SHE & HIM . . . . . Riding In My Car . . . . . Volume Two
NRBQ . . . . . Rain At The Drive-In . . . . . Grooves in Orbit
WILCO . . . . . Outta Mind (Outta Sight) . . . . . Being There
NEKO CASE . . . . . Don’t Forget Me . . . . . Middle Cyclone

FLIGHT . . . . . Your Silent Face . . . . . Ceremony - A New Order Tribute
VITESSE . . . . . Out Under Stars . . . . . You Win Again Gravity
AIR . . . . . Be A Bee . . . . . Love 2
THE B-52S . . . . . Private Idaho . . . . . Wild Planet
THE WIPEOUTERS . . . . . Rocket-ful Of Power . . . . . P' Twaaang!!!
THE SOFT PACK . . . . . More Or Less . . . . . The Soft Pack
BUZZCOCKS . . . . . What Do I Get? . . . . . Operators Manual
GIRLS . . . . . Morning Light . . . . . Album
STAR . . . . . Champion Of Love . . . . . Devastator
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN . . . . . Never Understood . . . . . Psychocandy

JIMMY RUFFIN . . . . . What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted . . . . . Motown: The Classic Years
QUADRON . . . . . Slippin’ . . . . . Quadron
SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES . . . . . Tears Of A Clown . . . . . Motown: The Classic Years
THE BLACK KEYS . . . . . Tighten Up . . . . . Brothers
THE BEATLES . . . . . Don’t Let Me Down . . . . . Past Masters (Remastered)
GIL SCOTT-HERON . . . . . I’ll Take Care Of You . . . . . I'm New Here
BETTYE LAVETTE . . . . . ’Round Midnight . . . . . Change Is Gonna Come Sessions
JOE HENRY . . . . . Parker’s Mood . . . . . Civilians

Here's another one from NRBQ