We are bracing for the remnants of Helene in Indiana this morning. It is already raining and windy. By this afternoon heavy rain and gusts over 50 MPH are expected. Should make high school football interesting. CHS picked a good week to not have a game scheduled.

“Pop Seeds” – The Jesus and Mary Chain
More completely enjoyable music from the Reid brothers.

“whirling sad” – Mo Dotti
LA shoegaze FTW.

“Sometimes, I Swear” – The Vaccines
File this one under Songs That Came Out A Year Ago That I Just Now Found. Hate when that happens.

“Somewhere” – Mates of State
Kori Gardner’s and Jason Hammel’s first new music in nine years. I don’t think they have lived in Lawrence, KS in a long time, but that’s where they started, so I’ll always claim them as LFK locals.

“Wildflowers” – Jim Nothing
Oh man, so much wonderfulness wrapped up in one song. Equal parts Eighties, indie jangle and classic Down Under pop vibes. Nothing is from New Zealand, so there has to be some Neil Finn DNA in there somewhere, too.

“The Great Divide” – Wussy
It’s been six years since we got new music from Wussy. During that gap guitarist John Erhardt died. They will make up for that absence by releasing a full-length album, Cincinnati, Ohio, and two EPs on the same day in November. This was a late addition to the album. Thank goodness they discovered this little piece of magic, which draws a lot from Erhardt’s death, floating in the studio air.

“Rain” – The Cult
You should have known something like this was coming given the forecast.

“Habits” – Gary Clark, Jr.
I debated whether to include this. It’s a terrific song, for sure. But at over nine minutes, I would imagine it sets some kind of record for length of song in these playlists. And there are several other really good songs on Clark’s new album. There’s something extra special about this one, though, that demanded I select it.

“I Feel For You” – Chaka Khan
Back to the timeless, mega hits of Eighty-Four! One of the most fun and unique songs of that fantastic year. It is also part of Prince’s takeover of the pop charts for a solid chunk of the decade. First written for Patrice Rushen (along with “I Wanna Be Your Lover”), she turned it down, so Prince recorded it for his self-titled, 1979 album. Chaka Khan got a hold of it a few years later, added rapping from early hip-hop icon Melle Mel, harmonica and sampled vocals from Stevie Wonder, and took it to #3. Melle Mel’s repetition of Chaka’s name at the beginning was not planned. Producer Arif Mardin accidentally hit a button while mixing the song that caused the stutter. He liked the way it sounded and kept it on the final mix. You can argue that was the element that made the track unforgettable.

Three songs kept it from reaching #1: Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” which was #1 for two weeks and #2 for another week, then Hall & Oates’ “Out of Touch” which was #1 in Chaka’s third week at #3. The other song? Prince’s “Purple Rain,” in one of its two weeks at #2. Because of the weird chart rules at the time, despite peaking in late 1984, “I Feel For You” was officially one of the five biggest songs of 1985. It cracked the Top 40 this week at #38.