VIRTUAL MIX TAPE: "13 Wonderful Will Songs, Vol. 7"

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. Kaiser Chiefs, “Record Collection” (2019 - Duck)

This band really made a splash with "I Predict a Riot,” but for all their subsequent success in the UK, they haven’t continued to make much of an impact here. When I first played this song for my wife, she fell in love with it. Perhaps you will as well.

2. Swirl 360, “Ask Anybody” (1998 - Ask Anybody)

In the late 1990s, Mercury/Polygram was desperately trying to Swirl 360 and turn them into the next big thing. First they put them on the soundtrack to Jack Frost with “Hey Now Now,” with the same song also ending up on the soundtrack to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, after which their song “Candy in the Sun” landed on the soundtrack to Never Been Kissed. Neither track ended up making much of a difference in terms of long-term success, unfortunately. Maybe they should’ve gone with this one instead.

3. The Three O’Clock, “Jetfighter” (1983 - Sixteen Tambourines)

The so-called “Paisley Underground” was a west coast musical movement in the early ‘80s that was pretty much over by the time I discovered it. Come to think of it, so were the Three O’Clock, who’d already released their final album, Vermillion, by the time I dived into their back catalog. Oddly enough, their debut—this very album—was the last one from their discography that I managed to pick up, but I love them all, and this song is definitely a career highlight.

4. Damone, “Frustrated Unnoticed” (2002 - From the Attic)

This is my go-to song whenever I’m angry and pissed off about my career. I have hurt my hands by pounding them on the steering wheel when listening in my car. It never fails to lift my spirits, if only for a few minutes.

5. The Candy Skins, “Submarine Song” (1991 - Space I’m In)

You have to throw at least a little bit of pity toward the poor British bands who started releasing albums right around the time the grunge movement was kicking off, since it made it a lot harder on them to deliver the sort of pop music they favored and forced them to kick things up a notch if they wanted any shot at airplay. Fortunately, the Candy Skins—or Candyskins, depending on which album you’re talking about—were always pretty good at rocking out, as this song from their debut shows.

6. Lush, “Hypocrite” (1994 - Split)

Although I enjoyed the more ethereal sounds that Lush was releasing during the first album or two of their career, with “For Love” being a particular favorite, hearing them switch things up in favor of rocking out was a real thrill and, if I’m to be honest, it’s what made me a much bigger fan.

7. The Mighty Lemon Drops, “Inside Out” (1988 - World Without End)

This was one of those formative 120 Minutes videos that introduced me to a band at the same time that it made me a fan for life, and while there are some lesser-known tracks by the band that I could’ve included instead, I’m sticking with this all-time favorite.

8. Nik Kershaw, “Billy” (1998 - 15 Minutes)

After getting airplay in America in the ‘80s with such songs as “Wouldn’t It Be Good” and “The Riddle,” Nik Kershaw kind of faded away on these shores, flying under the radar until the late ‘90s, when he was able to get his 15 Minutes LP released by Pyramid Records. This wasn’t released as the album’s lone single—that honor belonged to “Somebody Loves You,” a fine track in its own right—but it’s one that I really related to.

9. Robbie Williams, “No Regrets” (1998 - I’ve Been Expecting You)

Alas, poor Robbie has never gotten the sort of love in America that he’s gotten just about everywhere else in the world, but being a card-carrying Anglophile, I’ve been a fan since first discovering The Ego Has Landed, a US-released collection of tunes from his first two UK albums, and this song was a big reason why. To my way of thinking, any individual who can secure both Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys to sing backing vocals on a track is an individual whose work I need to know.

10. Lazlo Bane, “Take the Long Way Home” (2007 - Guilty Pleasures)

Obligatory cover time! You may know Lazlo Bane for having recorded the theme song for Scrubs (“Superman”), but I first discovered them when they did a cover of Men at Work’s “Overkill” that brilliantly brought in Colin Hay to sing the final verse and absolutely destroy. Yes, there’s another Scrubs connection there, too, but enough about Bill Lawrence’s beloved sitcom, let’s get back to Lazlo Bane. The lyrics to Supertramp’s “Take the Long Way Home” have always been a little tragic, but this slowed-down version of the song really brings out the sadness in them.

11. The Beloved, “Don’t You Worry” (1990 - Happiness)

I believe I discovered this group when 120 Minutes played the video for “Hello.” Or maybe it just got played at some point when I happened to have the VCR recording MTV. Either way, I definitely had it on a VHS tape for awhile, and I loved it, which in turn led me to pick up the whole thing. I still have a soft spot for “Hello,” but this is the song that I love most.

12. Suzanne Vega featuring Joe Jackson, “Left of Center” (1986 - Pretty in Pink: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

If I’d been paying any attention to anything other than top-40 music in 1986, then this soundtrack almost certainly would’ve been my entry point into the Smiths, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen. As it happens, however, it really only served at the time to introduce me to OMD. It was several years later before I actually picked up a copy of the soundtrack for myself, by which point I think the only artists it really introduced me to were Jesse Johnson and the Danny Hutton Hitters. But I digress: this is arguably my favorite Suzanne Vega song of all time, and I can’t thank Pretty in Pink enough for introducing it to the world.

13. The Cure, “Doing the Unstuck” (1992 - Wish)

Everyone knows this album because it’s the one that gave the world “Friday I’m in Love,” and if I’m to be honest, I spent a year or two thinking of it solely in those terms as well. When the band released their two live albums from this tour, however, I started falling more in love with some of the album tracks from this LP, and that’s what led me to decide that this track was—and still is—one of my all-time favorite Cure songs. I mean, honestly, how often do you get to hear Robert Smith sing the words, “Let’s get happy”? That’s truly something to be cherished.