It's All Connected

There's an old parlor game called something along the lines of : Seven Degrees of Francis Bacon. The game is really more of a connect-the-dots exercise than the study in inductive reasoning suggested by the name- in it, one person gives another person the name of a celebrity. That person then has to mentally link the celeb with Sir Francis Bacon using seven or fewer 'connections' to do so.
For example, you might say: Brian Dennehy. Then I would have to find a relationship between Mr. Dennehy and Sir Francis in seven or fewer steps.

This one is easy:

1: Dennehy played a Montague in the 1990's movie version of Romeo and Juliet.
2: R & J was based on a play of the same name, written by some guy named Shakespeare.
3: Shakespeare's plays were written by Sir Francis Bacon.*

Ta-Da!

This week's 1980's playlist is full of strange and not-so-strange connections. Some I will explain, others I won't.


Opal- She's a Diamond
This band features Kendra Smith, who also played with the Dream Syndicate. I forgot to play the DS. First song in and I've already fucked it up. Oh well.

Rickie Lee Jones- Jukebox Fury
This is good.

Cyndi Lauper- She Bop
Rumor has it that this song is about female masturbation, but everyone knows women don't do that. I have no idea what this song is really about- glaucoma, maybe? She mentions going blind.

Dukes of Stratosphere- Vanishing Girl
Do you miss me as much as I miss you? I hope not. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, including you.

Danielle Dax- Flashback
Wipe that frown!

Thomas Dolby- One of Our Submarines
Missing...missing...missing...

Bernie Krause- Jungle Shoes
Cool funky synth-based instrumental with animal noises mixed in. For Ruby.

Romeo Void- Flashflood
This is for Whim. The first line of the song mentions a puddle on an apartment floor.

Devo- Jerkin' Back and Forth
I can totally relate to the lyrics of this horny instrumental. By 'horny', I refer to the catchy horn section featured on it. Back and Forth is three words? Fuck. Who knew?

Joe Jackson- Fifty Dollar Love Affair
Actually, it was six hundred dollars. I have the collection notice to prove it. Thanks.

Elvis Costello- Every Day I Write The Book
Dedicated to my very first Vanishing Girl.

Oingo Boingo- Fill the Void
For VG #2. Patterns hurt.

Pat Benatar- I Need a Lover
Consider this statement:Virginia is for lovers, therefore all Virginians are lovers. Sir Francis Bacon would label that statement as extremely weak inductive reasoning.
(Notes: John Cougar Melonhead wrote this song for Benatar. Pat Benatar is from Richmond, Va. And it's from 1979, not the 80's. Oh well...)


Frank Zappa- G-Spot Tornado
Another instrumental with great lyrics. Can anyone tell me what this song has in common with the next one? (Hint:It involves laziness on the part of yours truly)

Screaming Tribesmen- In His Shoes
Well?

The Bangles- Let It Go
I am dedicating songs to people who have forgotten that I exist. I must be nuts.

X- Come Back To Me
One cannot return to where one has never been. Were you ever really here?

Lou Reed- My Friend George
My friend George came into the studio and hung out with me for a while, soaking up the air-conditioning. Hey George! What's the word?

Mother Gong- Mirror
One of the more obscure offshoots of pioneering European psychedelic band Gong. Gong have their own planet and it is populated with Pot Head Pixies (PHP) who drive around in Teapot Taxis. It's not surprising that I am a huge fan of Gong.

Steve Hillage - Waiting
Steve, of course, was the best guitar player Gong ever had. This solo album is part of a two- record set called Day and Night. One album is white and has open eyes on the cover. The other is black and features closed eyes. Steve is a flake but he's an amazing musician.

Stranglers- Skin Deep
Remember when she got up and walked out with the Other Guy? That happened to me too.

The Kinks- Better Things
Here's wishing...

King Crimson- Frame by Frame
I used to think that this title was a film reference. Now that paranoia has taken over my life, I think it means Frame as in setting someone else up to take the blame, e.g., why is there red dye all over my album collection?

Tuxedomoon- What Use?
Favorite lyric: "What's the use in feeling betrayed?" Indeed.

Tom Tom Club -It's a Foxy World
Equal pay for equal work. The Eighties are over and things are still uneven. I suspect they always will be, but at least we can try. Music helps.

Talking Heads-Seen and not Heard
The Talking Heads contain members of the Tom Tom Club. King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew plays on this album, 1980's Remain In Light. I explained it all in great detail to a caller. I love my callers and they actually love me back- that almost never happens in 'real life'...sigh.

Tom Verlaine- Present Arrived
I know you got that. You're welcome.

XTC- Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her
He who hesitates is lost...good things come to he who waits. I hate it when platitudes conflict.

Golden Palominos- The Push and the Shove
I'm still steamed over how I got fired. Why did it have to be like that?

The Residents- Why Didn't I Think of That?
Ha!

Snakefinger- Smelly Tongues
Snake was my hero. He played guitar with the Residents. Curiously, I briefly played in a band with ex-Richmonder John Cook, who replaced Snake after Snake died. Snake passed away a few weeks after I met him at a Richmond show. Life is weird.

My radio shows are the shortest two hours of my week. I can't believe it's over already. Good thing I have another one tomorrow morning.


*this might not be true

Big Picture Playlist

Steeleye Span- Calling Song/Blacksmith
I got off to a great start by introducing this band as "Steely Dan". More coffee!

J.D. Steele Singers- How Shall I See You Through My Tears?
Speaking of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen produced this record. It's Oedipal Gospel.

Peter Tosh- I'm The Toughest
I dedicated this song to myself.

Blue Oyster Cult- Godzilla
"Folly of Man" is my new favorite phrase - this song points it out again and again.

Damien Dempsey- Marching Season
Hatred is on parade and Damo wants it to stop. Why won't anyone listen?

Bob Marley- Hold On To This Feeling
Years later, this feeling will bury it's fangs in your ankle while you sleep, causing you to wake in the dead of night, clammy with cold sweat. Perhaps I misinterpret this.

Lucinda Williams- I Think I Lost It
OK. This is what I was thinking of. This morning I asked Lucinda if I could be her roadie. I'm still waiting for a reply. I don't think she listens to my show.

Bob Dylan- Idiot Wind
Remember that mixtape I gave you in 1988? This song was the first song on that tape for a reason.

John Cale- Rise, Sam, Rimsky and Korakasov
Synethesia is sorta like seeing sounds as colors or something...some chick is rambling on about some old Russian dudes and I'm letting Bob Dylan play his harmonica solo in the background as the strings on the Cale piece swell in the key of Green. It's pretty trippy, even without drugs.

Can- Spoon
I like the way this looks.

Spoon- Everything Hits at Once
This one goes out to the deer I killed on July 4th. There should be a suicide prevention RoadKill Hotline for wildlife. It would've saved me $1200.

King Crimson- Three of a Perfect Pair
One is the loneliest number. Three is the jealous numeral.

Frank Zappa & Mothers- Concentration Moon
Way back in the Sixties, FZ was singing about the US Government rounding up innocent citizens and placing them in Camps. It's already been done once and the New Camps are being built as we speak:

the Army Corps of Engineers awarded Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root a $385 million contract to construct detention centers somewhere in the United States, to deal with "an emergency influx of immigrants into the US, or to support the rapid development of new programs," KBR said.

New programs?

Marianne Faithful- Brain Drain
Did Barry Raynolds win a medal for his production on Broken English? He should have.

Pretty Things - Blue Serge Blues
Bonus points to Phil May for not dying.

Soft Boys- Muriel's Hoof/Rout of the Clones
Muriel was a deer who lost the will to live. Her hoof went through my headlight. There is enough of her DNA on my car to clone her.

10 CC- Speed Kills
Yes it does. Ask Muriel.

Red Noise- Revolt Into Style
We are a giant blob of rebellious non-conformists with discretionary income.

Chris Spedding - Video Life/Radio Times
Did I mention how much I love the radio? I do, I do. Video...eh. Not so much.

The Who - Naked Eye
The stars are all connected to the brain...

Be Bop Deluxe- Sister Seagull
You're the reason I survive... dedicated to Volvo for making such survivable cars.

Tom Verlaine- A Future In Noise
Fuckin' guitarist getting all philosophical and shit...Reemco School of Numbness...I feel smarter just listening to it.

Belly- Geppetto
Rocks in threes.

Big Brother & Holding Co. - Joseph's Coat
Recorded after Janis Joplin died. Big Brother were an under-rated band, this album (Be a Brother) is actually pretty darn good.

Lou Reed -Kill Your Sons
Sometimes things seem...intense. But not enough to warrant electro-shock therapy. Before you check yourself in for a 'rest', listen closely to this song.

Snakefinger - 8 1/4
During an LSD-fueled jam session with avant-garde musicians The Residents, all the participants watched in disbelief as Phil Lithman's fingers became elongated , glowing snakes and wrapped themselves around his guitar, giving birth to his adopted moniker. Wikipedia has it slightly wrong- I heard the story from Snake himself. I got the impression he enjoyed telling it.

Nina Hagen- Superboy
Nina escaped from East Berlin back when that meant something.

Stranglers- Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front)
My Teenage Swedish Internet Girlfriend was born in the same month as my 1990 Volvo. This is for Em.

Paul Simon- Late In The Evening
Dude. It isn't even 9AM yet.

Gary Numan- You Are In My Vision
I can see you in my microphone. It's that synethesia thing.