Thursday Playlist

Posting this a little early as I have a busy Friday morning.

“Sabotage” – Beastie Boys
Thirty years and one week ago the Beasties released Ill Communication. I’ve always been a Paul’s Boutique guy, but there are plenty of people who think IC was their best album. And, of course, this song was the basis for one of the greatest videos ever made.

“No Surrender” – Bruce Springsteen
I know I just shared the video for “Dancing in the Dark” two weeks ago, but we needed an official acknowledgement of the 40th anniversary of the release of Born in the USA. I’m looking forward to reading Steven Hyden’s new book about the album sometime soon. This song is a reminder that even with seven Top 10 singles, there were still great songs that never made the radio.

“Accelerate” – Molly Payton

“Valens – Spider Lake Version” – Graveyard Club
This landed in my Discovery Weekly playlist a few weeks back. The original song is four years old. I can’t find a thing about what makes this edit the “Spider Lake Version” or why it came out this spring. Sometimes it’s better just to enjoy the music and not worry about the details behind it.

“No More Romance” – Kate Clover
I will never not love punky, power pop music like this.

“Green Lady” – Merchandise
A terrific track from 2014 I heard for the first time in a long time this week.

“Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!” – The Beatles
I’m off to KC for the weekend. Barbecue, baseball, and buddies. And I get to finally check out the new airport!

“When Doves Cry” – Prince & The Revolution
Dig if you will, a picture…Two weeks ago we had “Dancing in the Dark.” This week is one of the songs that kept Bruce from topping the chart. In a summer filled with legendary songs, this was THE song of the summer. It sounded unlike anything I had ever heard before. I often slept with my radio on back then and remember waking up the middle of the night to it and being freaked out by that closing synthesizer flourish. I also remember being super pissed off when I listened to Casey’s year-end countdown and “Say, Say, Say” was number one. It was years later I learned that the countdown show was based on a December 1 – November 30 timeline, giving “Say, Say, Say” a boost from its late 1983 run. “When Doves Cry” was, in fact, Billboard’s official top song of 1984 based on the true calendar year. This is the world I grew up in. And you wonder why I have stupid music rules. I also forgot how bonkers the non-movie scene parts of this vid were.