The upcoming Broken Social Scene disc has jumped to the top of my listening list, and the track we heard in this opener has already been made available as part of a double-sided digital single. There's a point about three-quarters of the way through the tune where the sound shifts to a place that brought to mind an old mid-'70s hit from Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, and then the song ends in a way that segued beautifully into a Holly Miranda tune from her recent debut disc. We then landed within the atmospheric beauty of an instrumental track by David Bowie off the middle of his three discs with Brian Eno from the late '70s, and that led to Siouxsie and the Banshees' first single from the same time period. The guitar on that one fed nicely into the Art Brut track that followed, and that was part of a final trio of tunes dedicated to all of the New Jersey Transit users who will soon see their fares rise by 25 percent. Yikes!

I'm still enjoying the new Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings album, and here we followed one from it with a Marvin Gaye song that served as the title tune to a '70s Blaxploitation flick. Unfortunately Marvin never made it to his golden years, but others were luckier, including Gil Scott-Heron, who has managed to survive some rough times and pull himself together to issue an excellent disc earlier this year. The heartfelt caring expressed in the track we heard worked well with Willy DeVille's cover of a Gerry Goffin/Carole King tune, which led to a couple more written by that duo—first by the Drifters and then from Carole King on her own. Then it was Jenny Lewis borrowing a bit of that Tapestry sound followed by an old favorite by Todd Rundgren with a drum beat that is echoed in the track from the upcoming New Pornographers disc that finished off this set.

The New Pornographers tune has some nice whistling sections, so we opened this next portion of the program with another recent whistling song that was stuck in everybody's heads a few years back. The rhythm of that Peter Bjorn and John track is similar to an old 1968 hit from Archie Bell & the Drells (from Houston, Texas), which shares a title with a song from the upcoming Black Keys disc. We went back to the '60s for some electric blues from the Jeff Beck Group followed by the late, great Albert King, and then it was on to some blues-based numbers of more recent vintage from Eels, Beck and Wilco. Finally, it was John Lennon accompanied by Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell from a 1968 Rolling Stones TV program that never aired and wasn't officially released until many decades had passed.

This final set showcased a group of tunes that touched in various ways on some psychological and philosophical aspects of our lives here on Planet Earth. All were inspired by the tune that closed out the program; it's from a new Mary Gauthier disc that will be available next month. The songs on this album are all based in her autobiography, which starts with her mother giving her up for adoption as a newborn baby. Needless to say, that event had a powerful effect on all that followed, and this new disc has her reflecting on much of what transpired to get her to where she is now. It's strong stuff, and worthy of repeated listenings to fully absorb the story she tells.

Here's the complete playist.

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
DR. BUZZARD’S ORIGINAL SAVANNAH BAND . . . . . Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon . . . . . The Very Best of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE . . . . . All To All . . . . . Forgiveness Rock Record
HOLLY MIRANDA . . . . . Canvas . . . . . Magician's Private Library
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . Moss Garden . . . . . Heroes
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES . . . . . Hong Kong Garden . . . . . Once Upon a Time: The Singles
ART BRUT . . . . . The Passenger . . . . . Art Brut vs. Satan
THE STEVE GIBBONS BAND . . . . . No Spitting On The Bus . . . . . Down in the Bunker
THE KINGSTON TRIO . . . . . M.T.A. . . . . . The Capitol Years

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS . . . . . Give It Back . . . . . I Learned The Hard Way
MARVIN GAYE . . . . . Trouble Man . . . . . Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye
GIL SCOTT-HERON . . . . . I’ll Take Care Of You . . . . . I'm New Here
WILLY DEVILLE . . . . . Spanish Harlem . . . . . Live in Berlin
THE DRIFTERS . . . . . Up On The Roof . . . . . The Very Best of The Drifters
CAROLE KING . . . . . (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman . . . . . Tapestry
JENNY LEWIS . . . . . Trying My Best To Love You . . . . . Acid Tongue
TODD RUNDGREN . . . . . I Saw The Light . . . . . Something/Anything?
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS . . . . . Crash Years . . . . . Together

PETER, BJORN AND JOHN . . . . . Young Folks . . . . . Writer's Block
ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS . . . . . Tighten Up . . . . . Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1968
THE BLACK KEYS . . . . . Tighten Up . . . . . Brothers
THE JEFF BECK GROUP . . . . . I Ain’t Superstitious . . . . . Truth
ALBERT KING . . . . . Born Under A Bad Sign . . . . . The Ultimate Collection
EELS . . . . . Gone Man . . . . . End Times
BECK . . . . . Soul Of A Man . . . . . Modern Guilt
WILCO . . . . . I’m The Man Who Loves You . . . . . Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
JOHN LENNON . . . . . Yer Blues . . . . . The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

RANDY NEWMAN . . . . . I Want Everyone To Like Me . . . . . Bad Love
MOSE ALLISON . . . . . The Way Of The World . . . . . Way of the World
M. WARD . . . . . Chinese Translation . . . . . Post-War
BOB DYLAN . . . . . Bob Dylan’s Dream . . . . . The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
JOE HENRY . . . . . Wave . . . . . Civilians
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . When You’re Alone . . . . . Tunnel of Love
NEKO CASE . . . . . Middle Cyclone . . . . . Middle Cyclone
MARY GAUTHIER . . . . . Another Day Borrowed . . . . . The Foundling
Here's another one from the Steve Gibbons Band

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