13 Wonderful Will Songs: The Next Generation - Vol. 10

Featuring songs by Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, the Muffs, Sonic Youth, Hanson, Men at Work, the Brothers Johnson, and more

That’s right, it’s time for another installment of 13 Wonderful Will Songs: The Next Generation, a series of playlists which are, in fact, in no way distinguishable from the original incarnation of 13 Wonderful Will Songs playlists. So don’t feel as though you need to have listened to those in order to appreciate these, because that’s not the case at all.

Hit “play,” and here’s hoping you enjoy what you hear!

1. Tears for Fears, “Start of the Breakdown”

Even though this is the closing track of Tears for Fears’ debut album and works beautifully in the context in which it’s placed, I’ve always thought that - given its title - it also works well as a song to kick off a mix. I did so a long time ago on either a mix tape or a mix disc (and it’s been long enough ago that I can’t remember which format it was), so I might as well utilize it the same way here. Plus, I started constructing this mix right after the results of the election, so…it felt appropriate.

2. Depeche Mode, “Ghosts Again”

As much as I love Depeche Mode - and I’ve basically loved them since the first time I heard “People Are People” on the radio when it was originally released as a single, just to give you some historical context - I’ve occasionally found their later albums to be a bit hit-or-miss. I really enjoyed their 2023 album Memento Mori, however, and I’d argue that the reason is that they brought a bit of new songwriting blood into the mix for the LP, namely a guy who’s been on the UK music scene even longer than DM have been: Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs. This track, which served as the album’s first single, is one of those Butler co-writes, and for my money, it’s the best single the band has released in the better part of 20 years.

3. The Muffs, “Sad Tomorrow”

This wasn’t the Muffs’ first album - it was actually their second - but it was the first one I ever owned, and I still remember that I procured it through the Columbia House CD Club…because I am old. Anyway, I love the album, and even though it’s been five years since we lost lead singer Kim Shattuck, the loss still lingers. R.I.P., Kim.

4. The Lungz, “Fanatic”

I don’t know a lot about this Swedish band, aside from the fact that I believe I got a promo of their album from Zip Records and therefore probably reviewed it for Amplifier Magazine…or possibly Bullz-Eye. Hard to say, as it’s definitely been awhile, whoever I reviewed it for. Anyway, this was their first single, and it was apparently a pretty big hit in their native Sweden, but either that success was a one-off with their debut album, At Last…, or any subsequent albums simply aren’t on Spotify, because that’s the only one that’s currently out there.

5. Sonic Youth, “Kool Thing”

The first song I ever heard by Sonic Youth was actually their cover of the Beatles’ “Within You Without You,” from the NME compilation Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father, but this was the first album I ever owned by the band. I wouldn’t say that the album made me a lifelong fan of the band’s output, but man oh man, do I love Goo.

6. Hanson, “Optimistic” (LIVE)

Obligatory cover song! If you’ve ever wanted to hear Hanson cover Radiohead - and not a predictable Radiohead song, but something from goddamned Kid A, of all albums - then here’s your chance. I’ve loved these guys since “Mmmbop,” and they continue to impress me on a regular basis even now.

7. Men at Work, “The Longest Night” (LIVE)

This Greg Ham-penned tune is one that Men at Work had apparently been including in their sets since their ‘80s heyday, but it never managed to make it onto an album until 1998, when they released a live album (Brazil) and tacked a newly-recorded studio version of the song onto the end of the record. For whatever reason, Brazil is now out of print, but a 1983 live version can now be found on the expanded reissue of their second album, Cargo, as well as on the 1987 best-of collection, The Works. If you’d like to hear the studio version, however, I’ve included that version below. I really wish it was on Spotify, because although it’s a great song either way, the studio version is definitely the version I prefer.

8. Bee Gees, “Technicolor Dreams”

For many, the career of the Bee Gees started and ended with their disco era, but I was such a fan of “Tragedy” as a kid that I continued to pay attention to the brothers Gibb and was therefore fully jazzed when I first heard their American comeback single, “One.” (I specify “American comeback single” because they’d already had a comeback just about everywhere else in the world a few years earlier with “You Win Again.”) From there, I received the Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set and basked in the group’s early material as well, and having fully become a diehard fan by that point, I stuck with them and followed their releases all the way through to what would prove to be their final studio album, This Is Where I Came In. This is such a goofy little British dancehall song, and I love it so much.

9. Sugarcult, “Bouncing Off the Walls”

I don’t remember how these guys came into my life, but I know that their debut album Start Static is one of my favorite pop-punk albums of the 2000s and still holds up damned well more than two decades after its release.

10. Something Happens, “Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello (Petrol)”

I remember seeing this video on MTV - either during 120 Minutes or immediately thereafter, because it definitely ended up on a videotape on which I recorded episodes of 120 Minutes - and then being decidedly surprised when I heard their next album, which went in a decidedly less poppy direction. That said, this song and “Parachute,” however, are still among the catchiest pop songs released in the ‘90s.

11. The Brothers Johnson, “Strawberry Letter 23”

I’ll be honest: I’d never heard this song until Quentin Tarantino utilized it to great effect on his soundtrack for Jackie Brown, but it’s been in my regular R&B rotation ever since. Say what you will about Tarantino, but the man knows how to put together a great soundtrack…

12. Willie Nelson, “Gravedigger”

Okay, y’all are getting a second cover song this time around, although I must admit that I’d never heard Dave Matthews’ version until well after I heard Willie’s interpretation of the song. I will say, though, that I liked Matthews’ version enough to actually listen to his Some Devil album, which - given that I’ve never really been a major Matthew fans - should speak volumes.

13. The Spongetones, “Always Carry On”

I still remember when my buddy Chris Commander recommended these guys to me, saying, “You can’t even believe how much this sounds like the Beatles,” and he was not wrong. To be fair, just about all of Jamie Hoover’s work is unabashedly Beatle-esque, but this album is where he really lets his Fab Four flag fly.