VIRTUAL MIX TAPE: "13 Wonderful Will Songs, Vol. 6"

Yes, that’s right, it’s time for another installment of songs that I love and that I hope you’ll love, too. And if you don’t, well, it ain’t like this thing is behind the paywall, so what’d you pay for it, anyway?

In conclusion, listen or don’t, but if you do, I hope you dig it…and if you really dig it, consider upgrading to a paid subscription!

1. E, “Hello Cruel World” (1992 - A Man Called E)

It’s a testament to his stick-to-itiveness as well as his prolific gift of songwriting that Mark Oliver Everett eventually found a certain degree of commercial success as the frontman for the band The Eels. Before that, however, he’d already charmed a lot of rock critics and record store employees in his initial guise as E. This album and its follow-up, 1993’s Broken Toy Shop, both found him some tremendous pop melodies, but his decision to go a little bit quirkier ultimately served him better. That said, this opening track from his debut LP won a lot of people over immediately, including yours truly.

2. Katydids, “Lights Out (Read My Lips)” (1990 - Katydids)

Founded by lead singer Susie Hug and guitarist Adam Seymour, this British band got some notice with their debut album because it was produced by Nick Lowe, but those notices never really transformed into significant sales figures, unfortunately. This track has always been my favorite song of the eleven ditties on their debut, perhaps because it’s positively jet-propelled by the combination of jangly guitar and pounding drums.

3. Hobex, “Onto Something” (1998 - Back in the 90s)

When Dillon Fence disintegrated in the wake of their brief stint on Atlantic Records, frontman Greg Humphreys didn’t let it get him down. Instead, he formed a new band, Hobex, which wasn’t afraid to get a little bit funky. It took me a few spins to really get into their first album, but this is the track that proved to be my way into the proceedings, probably because it’s the song that sounds the most like the music Humphreys had been doing in Dillon Fence. Eh, either way, it still got me in the door and inspired me to stick around, and that’s what matters most.

4. Owsley, “Coming Up Roses” (1999 - Owsley)

To this day, I’m still severely bummed out about the fact that we lost Will Owsley as early as we did, and the fact that it was a departure of his own choosing makes it even worse. What also bothers me is that he and I had a tremendous conversation about a year before his death, but my recorder completely fucked me over, leaving me with no trace of our chat. I still remember it fondly, however, and those memories are made even more vivid by listening to the music he left behind. I was lucky enough to see him perform live at the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach, and I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that it was a transcendent experience for the majority of us who were there. (I know it certainly was for my friends and myself.)

5. Poole, “Mary Shakes Her Hair” (1995 - Alaska Days)

I was introduced to this band by my friend Stephanie Cangin, who I met through the Trashcan Sinatras message group that I mentioned several playlists ago. In fact, it was this very song that made me a fan, inspiring me to buy this album as well as the two albums that followed. After their third release, Among Whom We Shine, I guess Poole broke up…? I honestly don’t know. But what I do know is that they left behind three albums chock full of jangly goodness, which is a fine legacy.

6. Doves, “Pounding” (2002 - The Last Broadcast)

Before taking a gander at their chart history, if you’d told me that Doves had secured three #1 albums on the UK Chart, I would’ve been extremely skeptical, if only because they’re one of those bands that’s gotten virtual no mainstream exposure in the US. If I’m being honest, I was almost as shocked to see that two of their albums had cracked the upper half of the Billboard 200. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that it’s so, but I just know so few people who are even familiar with the band, let alone own any of their albums. They’re an amazing band, and this is the song that sold me on just how amazing they were.

7. The Aluminum Group, “Chocolates” (1998 - Plano)

The AllMusic review of this album opens by saying, “At their best, the Aluminum Group craft gorgeously lush and airy chamber-pop on a par with the finest the genre has to offer.” Suffice it to say that this song, which opens Plano, definitely finds them at their best.

8. The Lucy Show, “New Message” (1986 - Mania)

A lot of my musical education in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s came as a result of the various compilations I picked up either as promotional items, in the used sections of CD stores, or in cut-out bins. The Big Time Syndrome was a cut-out bin special, but it was invaluable in terms of introducing me to new artists, among them Love and Rockets, Redd Kross, The Dream Syndicate, the Jazz Butcher (Conspiracy), Dumptruck, and these guys. In fact, if I had to pick the track that I fell for the hardest, it’s this one, if only because it’s arguably the most mainstream pop track on the album. I will never understand why it wasn’t huge.

9. Pernice Brothers, “Baby in Two” (2003 - Yours, Mine & Ours)

I was aware of Pernice Brothers from their very first album because I remember giving it a rave review, although it’s lost in the mists of time and memory as to where that review actually ran. Still, I loved it and have continued to follow their career ever since. I have a particular fondness for this song because it was included on a mix tape I made for Jenn in advance of our child being born. (“Let’s Have a Baby!”)

10. The Rollers, “No Doubt About It” (1981 - Ricochet)

As you can see from the album cover in the video below, this album was originally credited simply to The Rollers, but as the credit on the video reveals, it is indeed the band known as the Bay City Rollers. That’s partly because Les McKeown left the band, replaced by Duncan Faure, but also because the band was trying to move in a different, more rock / new wave direction. All I can say is that this should’ve been huge, and I’ve no clue why it wasn’t, except simply because people still thought of them as a group for teenyboppers. Clearly, however, they weren’t anymore…and to be frank, teenyboppers might’ve loved them, but the Bay City Rollers always had a ton of hooks in their quiver and deserved more respect than they received.

11. Sing Street, “Drive It Like You Stole It” (2016 - Sing Street: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

This song comes from one of the best movies of the last decade, and it’s one of the catchiest songs of that period as well. You can thank Gary Clark for that, and then you can sit in awe when you realize that he’s also the same guy who fronted the band Danny Wilson, i.e. the band responsible for the song “Mary’s Prayer.” The man’s insanely talented, and he keeps proving it on a regular basis. By the way, they’ve adapted this to a musical, in case you hadn’t heard, so keep an eye and an ear out for it!

12. Colin Hay, “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” (2000 - Going Somewhere)

Like any kid of the MTV generation, I grew up loving Men at Work, following them from Business As Usual to Cargo and, yes, even to Two Hearts. In turn, I was also there when Colin James Hay, as he was then being marketed, delivered his solo album, Looking for Jack, and I’ve stuck with him ever since, throughout all the commercial highs and lows. I’m so thrilled that he’s finally found a devoted fanbase as a result of his consistently great work. My wife and I went to see him doing a Storytellers-type show in Greenwich Village, and this is basically what we saw. It was, like Hay’s entire catalog, positively wonderful.

13. The Replacements, “The Last” (1990 - All Shook Down)

Say what you will about this album, feel free to declare that it’s not even a real Replacements album and that it’s really the first Paul Westerberg solo album, but don’t tell me that this isn’t a heartbreaking closing number, because—in the words of Ron Burgundy at the end of the KVWN News Team’s cover of “Afternoon Delight”—I will fight you.