VIRTUAL MIX TAPE: "13 Wonderful Will Songs, Vol. 8"

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. Harry Nilsson, “Gotta Get Up” (1971 - Nilsson Schmilssson)

He’s been both a famous figure and a cult hero, but if you like Harry Nilsson at all, then you must’ve been as thrilled as I was to have this song secure some new fans as a result of being featured very frequently in season one of Natasha Lyonne’s Netflix series Russian Doll. (Yes, that’s where you heard it.) It’s a desperately catchy piece of piano pop that quickly serves to remind you how talented our man Harry was. Oh, and a quick closing note that connects this song to the next one: if you dig Nilsson, you may want to check out Nelson Sings Nilsson, an album of Harry Nilsson covers recorded by Sean Nelson, late of Harvey Danger. It also kicks off with this song, and it’s a great collection that was clearly recorded with much love and adoration for the original tunes.

2. Harvey Danger, “Only Cream and Bastards Rise” (2005 - Little by Little)

As someone who’s spent my life as a music fan with an ear toward making sure to do my part to keep bands from becoming one-hit wonders, I remember being very excited to discover that I really dug Harvey Danger’s Little by Little album and thinking, “This song could be the next ‘Flagpole Sitta’ for these guys!” Yeah, I was wrong. I have a history of that, unfortunately. But I still love this song and the album from which it hails.

3. Marina and the Diamonds, “How to Be a Heartbreaker” (2012 - Electra Heart)

I’ll be damned if I can remember how I first discovered Marina and the Diamonds, but I think maybe it was my friend Claire in the UK who steered me toward them…or if she didn’t steer me toward them personally, I feel like maybe I at least stumbled upon them by falling into a YouTube rabbit hole after I listened to something she recommended. Either way, I’d liked their song “Oh, No!” already, but this song just knocked me for a fucking loop, and it still does. That tempo change at around the 2/3 point of the song where Marina takes a moment to explain why she’s a heartbreaker… That’s the real heartbreaking moment.

4. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Waiting for Tonight” (2015 - Nobody’s Children)

This is kind of a weird one, since it didn’t actually get released on a proper album until 2015, but even then, that album—Nobody’s Children—wasn’t really a proper album, since it was actually just the disc of rarities from the 1995 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ box set Playback finally getting an independent release of its own. The song in question was actually recorded back in 1988 during some sessions done with The Bangles, and I still have zero clue as to why it never got an official release, because it’s a radio-friendly pop/rock track of the highest order.

5. Toy Matinee, “The Ballad of Jenny Ledge” (1990 - Toy Matinee)

This is another one of those albums that’s predominantly beloved by rock journalists, record store clerks, and purveyors of cut-out bins, but to those categories I’ll add one more: musicians. Kevin Gilbert is one of those guys whose fans are about as obsessive as they come, and there are a lot of folks out there who are still mourning his passing 25+ years later because they know how talented he was and can’t help wondering what might’ve been. I wouldn’t say I’m as obsessed as all that, but I will say that I absolutely adore this album and really wish there’d been a proper follow-up. (God bless Richard Page, but when compared to Toy Matinee, the album by 3rd Matinee just doesn’t cut it.) In closing, please note that the video does not offer the full-length version of the song, but I thought it was worth including if only because I didn’t even know there was a video.

6. k.d. lang, “The Consequences of Falling” (2000 - Invincible Summer)

It’s been many moons since you could hear the name “k.d. lang” and have any idea what to expect from her music, but those who were around when she first started probably still think of her in terms of being a country artist. Fair enough, but that’s definitely not the sound that’s happening here. Invincible Summer is full of shimmering pop music and some of the most glorious production ever to surround her songs.

7. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, “The Runner” (1986 - Criminal Tango)

I’m relatively sure that this song didn’t come into existence with a specific intent of being part of the soundtrack to the Olympic Games, but as you can see from the video below, it definitely ended up that way. The synth work on this track captured my attention from the first time I ever heard it, and it still sticks with me to this day. Maybe it comes across as a little dated, but you couldn’t prove it be me. I still love it.

8. Electronic, “Twisted Tenderness” (1999 - Twisted Tenderness)

This alt-rock supergroup, if you will, began life as a collaboration between Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Bernard Sumner of New Order, and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys fame, but since Tennant was really more of a guest star, Electronic continued life predominantly as a Marr/Sumner joint. By the time of their third album, they’d left Warner Brothers behind and landed on EMI/Parlophone in the UK, but it took another year before Twisted Tenderness found its way to Koch Records in the US. Sadly, the album as a whole isn’t available on Spotify as of this writing, but the title track is, and—what luck!—that’s actually my favorite track from the album anyway.

9. The Teardrop Explodes, “Count to Ten and Run for Cover” (1990 - Everybody Wants to Shag)

My discovery of The Teardrop Explodes came after they were no longer a going concern—I only knew who they were after reading up on Julian Cope in the wake of falling love with “World Shut Your Mouth”—but not long after that discovery, a rarities collection emerged from the band, and it led me to this horn-driven track that blew my mind.

10. Mott the Hoople, “Roll Away the Stone” (1976 - Greatest Hits)

There are a couple of different versions of this track floating around, but I haven’t bothered to see whether it’s a single version vs. an album version or what. All I know is that the version I prefer is the one that’s found on the band’s best-of collection, so that’s the one I went with. The chorus is glam rock perfection.

11. Tori Amos, “Father Lucifer” (1996 - Boys for Pele)

I’ve always been a sucker for redheads, so just based on the cover photo on her debut album, I was always destined to give Tori Amos at least a cursory listen, but I really loved what I heard, so I’ve continued to follow her career. This is definitely my favorite song from Boys from Pele, on which she never lets you forget that she’s a top-shelf pianist. Also, be sure to check out the live video that’s embedded below, which finds her taking this track and tying it into a bit from Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” in amazing fashion.

12. Liza Minnelli, “Rent” (1989 - Results)

Obligatory cover time! Today’s inclusion was chosen because it’s her birthday! I was just starting to really dive headlong into my love of the Pet Shop Boys when Liza (with a “Z”) released her collaboration with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, and while it didn’t make me want to go out and delve into her back catalog, it certainly served to make me a casual Liza fan. Indeed, when I had the opportunity to see her in Newport News several years back, I took advantage of it, and she was wonderful. (She also did her version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind,” which was the hit single from this LP.)

13. Thomas Dolby, “I Love You Goodbye” (1992 - Astronauts & Heretics)

I still find it so weird that this is actually the opening track to an album when it’s clearly a perfect closing track. Then again, I also find it weird that this album wasn’t a bigger hit, but I guess the mainstream audiences—or mainstream radio programmers—couldn’t get past “She Blinded Me With Science,” which this song sounds nothing like. In fact, this whole album is full of delightful pop music that should’ve found a much larger listenership.