Mix of the Month: August 2009

For many, August signifies a return to school. The songs below are a reminder that school isn't just about getting an education:

1. Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me
2. VanHalen - Hot for Teacher
3. Mötley Crüe - Smokin in the Boys Room
4. POD - Youth of a Nation
5. Pearl Jam - Jeremy
6. Good Charlotte - Little Things
7. Nada Surf - Popular
8. Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
9. Hall & Oates - Adult Education
10. George Michael - One More Try
11. Bowling for Soup - High School Never Ends
12. Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right
13. Ramones - Rock 'N Roll High School
14. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In the Wall (Part II)
    

Mix of the Month: July 2009

Much like Independence Day marks our freedom from British rule, Independent music marks Freedom from Sony, Atlantic, and other tyrannical record lablels. Interestingly enough, Independent music or "Indie" has now became a genre rather than a movement. Since it describes a certain sound, some Indie artists are actually signed. But hey, let's take a look at some of the hits.

1. Casars - Fun & Games
2. Dandy Warhols - We Used to Be Friends
3. Whitest Boy Alive - Above You
4. Belle & Sebastian - Blues Are Still Blue
5. Rent - Without You
6. Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
7. Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes
8. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Weight of the World
   
9. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
10. Hard-Fi - Cash Machine
11. The Bravery - An Honest Mistake
12. Nickel Creek - Helena
13. Band of Horses - The Funeral
14. The Decemberists - Oh Valencia
15. Bright Eyes - Landlocked Blues
    

Mix of the Month: June 2009

June 21st, the longest day of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere, officially kicks off the first day of summer. Here are some songs to prep you for the season:

1. Alice Cooper - School's Out
   
2. Bananarama - Cruel Summer
3. Beach Boys - I Get Around
   
4. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
5. The Rivierias - California Sun
6. Lovin Spoonful - Summer In the City
7. Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime
8. The Surfaris - Wipe Out
   
9. Bryan Adams - Summer of '69
10. The Hues Corporation - Rock the Boat
    
11. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime
12. War - Spill the Wine
13. Sheryl Crow - Soak Up the Sun
14. David Lee Roth - California Girls
15. I Love Cali - Roscoe
    
16. Grease - Summer Nights

Dishonorable Mention: LFO - Summer Girls

Mix of the Month: May

May seems to be a month for weddings, so any of you trying to prepare a playlist for an upcoming event, here ya go:

1. Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home
2. Bryan Adams - Heaven
3. Aerosmith - I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
4. Edwin McCain - I'll Be
5. Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting
6. Ryan Cabrera - True
7. Jack Johnson - Better Together
8. Bread - I Wanna Make It With You
9. Michael Jackson - Speechless
10. Alison Kraus - When You Say Nothing At All
11. Jim Croce - I Had To Say I Love You In a Song
12. Celine Dion - Because You Loved Me
13. Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
14. Westlife - I Want To Grow Old With You
15. KCi & Jojo - All My Life
16. Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden

Mix of the Month: April 2009

They say April showers bring May flowers, but right now it's snowing in Logan, so I wonder what that brings. This month's compilation honors precipitation, or rather the cessation of it.

1. The Doors - Riders on the Storm
2. B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
3. Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
   
4. CCR - Who'll Stop the Rain
5. Blind Melon - No Rain
6. I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins
7. Carpenters - Rainy Days and Mondays
   
8. Cascades - Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain
9. Prince - Purple Rain
10. The Weather Girls - It's Rainin Men*
    
11. Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again
12. Milli Vanilli - Blame It On the Rain
13. Guns 'N Roses - November Rain
14. Led Zeppelin - Fool In the Rain
15. Jo Dee Messina - Bring On the Rain
    
16. Jimmy Cliff - I Can See Clearly Now
17. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song

*Fun Fact: The Weather Girls' Martha Wash provided the vocals for C + C Music Factory's hit, Everybody Dance Now. In the music video, however, Wash is not featured. Instead a slimmer, more "marketable" singer is shown. Not only that, but the band failed to credit Wash for her contribution. Wash subsequently sued C + C Music Factory for royalties and won—and that is no April Fools joke!

Mix of the Month: February

Black history month caused me to reflect on some of the most influential songs by black artists over the decades.

1. Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight
2. James Brown - Living In America
3. Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack
4. Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World
5. Michael Jackson - Beat It
6. Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely
7. Scott Joplin - The Entertainer
   
8. Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
9. Bob Marley - Buffalo Soldier
10. Prince - Purple Rain
11. Jimi Hendrix - The Wind Cries Mary
12. Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On
13. Aretha Franklin - Chain of Fools
14. Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do With It
15. Nat King Cole - Route 66

Honorable Mention for entire albums: Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald
Dishonorable Mention: Rick James

Mix of the Month - December

The other 11 months of the year I look forward with anticipation to the day after Thanksgiving when I can break out the egg nog and Christmas media. However, there are a few tunes I could go all 12 months without hearing. So I present to you:

The Worst Christmas Mix Ever:

1. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
2. I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas
   
3. Nuttin for Christmas
4. Amy Grant - This Christmas
5. Dan Fogelberg - Same Old Lang Syne
6. NewSong - Christmas Shoes
7. David Bowie and Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth
8. Aaron Nevile - Silent Night
9. Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad
10. Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer
11. All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
12. John Denver & the Muppets - 12 Days of Christmas
13. Eartha Kit - Santa Baby
14. Beach Boys - Santa's Beard

What do you think? Did I miss anything?

Mix of the Month - November

Tonight at 2am we will set our clocks back one hour, effectively gaining one hour of sleep. What would you do if time froze? What do you do with the time you have? In honor of the changing season and daylight savings, here are 17 tracks to get you thinking.

1. The Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
2. Cher - Turn Back Time
3. The Cars - Let the Good Times Roll
   
4. Huey Lewis and the News - Back In Time
   
5. Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle
6. Pink Floyd - Time
7. Boston - Foreplay/Longtime
   
8. The Rolling Stones - Time Is On My Side
9. Coldplay - Clocks
10. Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands
11. The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!
12. Greenday - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
13. Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
14. Harry Chapman - Cat's In the Cradle
    
15. The Guess Who - No Time
16. Mike & the Mechanics - The Living Years
17. Chicago - Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

October Mix of the Month

It's that spooky time of the year again! Firefox users be sure to jazz up your interface with the Halloween theme. Here are some haunting hits to monster mash to

1. Atlanta Rythym Section - Spooky
2. Doug E. Fresh - Superstition
3. Whodini - Haunted House of Rock
4. Aqua - Halloween
5. Michael Jackson - Thriller
6. Ray Parker, Jr. - Ghostbusters
7. The Guess Who - Clap for the Wolfman
8. John Fogerty - Eye of the Zombie
9. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Nightmare On My Street
10. Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
11. Gene Simmons - Haunted House
12. The Eels - A Friendly Ghost
    
13. Bobby "Boris" Pickett - The Monster Mash
14. Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
15. Eagles - Witchy Woman
16. Weird Al Yankovic - Nature Trail To Hell
17. Screamin Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
    

Honorable Mention: Steve Miller - Abracadabra, Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party, Midnight Star - Freak-A-Zoid

Mix of the Month

For September and in honor of Labor Day I thought I'd create a compilation consisting of songs about work. Today, I had my final BBQ and kissed the summer goodbye. Remember ladies, no more wearing white! For everyone going back to school, good luck. And to the working man, enjoy this mix and keep on keepin on!

1. Bachman Turner Overdrive - Takin Care of Business
2. Loverboy - Workin for the weekend
3. Vouges - 5 o' Clock World
4. Styx - Blue Collar Man
5. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
6. Tennesse Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
7. Rush - Working Man
8. Beatles - Hard Days Night
9. Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
10. Steve Miller Band - Swingtown
11. Sam Cooke - Chain Gang
12. Offspring - Get a Job
13. Huey Lewis and the News - Workin for a Living
14. Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money
15. Roy Orbison - Working for the Man
16. John Lennon - Working Class Hero
17. Lee Dorsey - Working in the Coalmine
    

Monthly Mix

It's the first of the month and you know what that means. Welfare check! ...but seriously it's even more exciting than that. It's time for the first ever mix of the month!!! In honor of the Perseids Meteor shower occurring late the evening of Tuesday August 12th I present to you one of my old favorites: The Lucky Meteor Mix—seventeen surreal tracks to accompany one of natures captivating wonders. The compilation opens with the gentle sounds of crickets chirping, then takes your mind sailing subconsciously on a dreamy cloud. Croaking bullfrogs provide an appropriate outro. Without further ado, the list:

1. Pacer - Reunion
2. Annie Lennox - No More I Love You's
3. Radiohead - The National Anthem
4. The Moody Blues - Knights In White Satin
5. Alan Parsons Project - Games People Play
6. Moby - Extreme Ways
7. Poe - Hello
8. Gary Wright - Dreamweaver
9. Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside A Broken Phonebooth With Money In My Hand
10. Gary Jules - Mad World
11. Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
12. Duran Duran - Ordinary World
13. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
14. Erasure - Always
15. Moby ft. Sinead O' Connor - Harbour
16. Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
17. Incubus - Aqueous Transmission

I encourage you to listen to this mix while watching the meteor shower. Here are some viewing tips and a schedule of further showers.