Helloooooooo!

Didja miss me? If so, I’m sorry. I warned you last time I would have some news to share shortly, and I do — I’ve decided to trade career opponents from traditional music industry models to incumbent ticketing giants (*cough*), and thus have moved from Topspin to Eventbrite. As a result, I had to turn in my Topspin work computer, which had almost all of my new music on it, and have been traveling almost constantly without a laptop, and so have been listening to a lot of oldies. You’ll notice here. We’ll get back to more new stuff next week, but the summer seems like a good time for oldies anyway. Hope you like!

<3 / ∑>

1. Beach Boys - “California Girls”

I’ve been traveling a lot and this song has been running through my head constantly. Man is it ever true.

2. The Turtles - “She’d Rather Be With Me”

I’d make a case for The Turtles as the most under-appreciated band of their time. They never had a #1 hit, despite cranking out gems like this day-in and day-out. 

3. We Five - “You Were On My Mind”

Like many hits of its day, this is a cover (originally by Canadian country music icons Ian & Sylvia). However, San Francisco’s We Five do a bang-up job turning it into a pop gem. 

4. The Knickerbockers - “Lies”

Part of me wonders if this song only reached the Top 20 because they sounded nearly identical to The Beatles, but anyone who can pull off legitimate Beatles comparisons on their own original songwriting is A-OK in my book.

5. Best Coast - “When I’m With You”

I wasn’t a huge fan of Best Coast when they started to make noise on the LA scene, but I think this song and its accompanying video have turned me around a bit.

6. Scott McKenzie - “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)”

This song has been running through my head a lot as I think of making a commitment to making this a home. The town has lost some of it’s 60’s spirit for sure, but it’s still a truly remarkable and exciting place, unlike anywhere else in the US. For McKenzie, it was his only hit, and apart from this song he may have regretted saying no to joining his producer’s band, The Mamas & The Papas.

7. The Everly Brothers - “All I Have To Do Is Dream”

I’m so jealous our parents got to slow dance to this song. That’s all I can really say.

8. Dion & The Belmonts - “A Teenager In Love”

I’m also jealous they expressed their teenage angst like this instead of this.

9. Toro Y Moi - “Leave Everywhere”

Toro Y Moi continues to impress me. After starting (and dominating) in the me-too genre of chillwave, he has progressed to playing real instruments — first in a great YoursTruly video, now on this new single. 

10. Big Maybelle - “New Kind Of Mambo”

This is a pretty early track from Big Maybelle for OKeh Records. Her 1956 hit “Candy” made it to the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.

11. Alvin Robinson - “Down Home Girl”

Oh my good lord it doesn’t get much more soulful than this. It’s almost funk with the horns, but the delivery of such incredible lyrics is borderline epic.

12. Singin’ Sammy Ward - “Who’s The Fool”

I can’t find much about Singin’ Sammy Ward beyond the fact that he was an early singer on Motown Records. And my, what a fantastic blues singer at that.

13. Leslie Gore - “How Can I Be Sure”

I stumbled into this song and was so happy I did. For years (before Google) I had remembered the chorus from the Oldies station in Milwaukee, but could never find out what song it was. Turns out it was a hit when recorded by The Young Rascals, but I like this version better.

14. Sandy Selsie - “A Date With Loneliness” 

Sandy Selsie came from Ontario, and had a couple songs make it to Canadian and border-state radio in the 1960s, but there’s little documentation of it. Shame.

15. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - “Sink/Let It Sway”

A B & The Sea got to go to the listening party for this record in the studio up the street from me and I was so incredibly jealous. It comes out in August and rules.

16. The Turtles - “Elenore”

Two of my “little sisters” in college were named derivations of Enenore (Elinor and Eleanore), so this song has stuck with me. But perhaps more importantly, it’s the only Top 200 song ever to rhyme the word “Etcetera.” Most hilariously, it was written as a parody of their earlier hit “Happy Together.” Oh, and did I mention they were responsible for all the laws around sampling in rap when they sued De La Soul?

17. The Del Vikings - “Come Go With Me”

The Del Vikings were a rare successful racially-integrated doo-wop group in the 1950s. This track in particular is just flat out classic.

18. A B & The Sea - “Johnny”

This is what happens when you put insanely talented kids in a studio, feed them a little bit of alcohol, and say “go nuts, I’m recording.” This track was recorded at the very end of the Boys & Girls EP sessions, when there were a few more hours of studio time to use. As fate would have it, there’s no way the EP could be complete without it. It’s also the first time keyboardist David has been able to show off his chops.

19. Shirley Ann Lee - “There’s A Light”

This long (tragically) forgotten gospel singer was recently tracked down for a movie called Downriver Revival. Good lord.

20. David Ruffin - “Anything That You Ask For”

David Ruffin was one of the original five members of The Temptations, but his later works went largely unappreciated. This is an incredible track from an album called David that was never released (no idea why).

21. Fitz & The Tantrums - “Winds Of Change”

I can’t wait to share the new album (coming out sometime on Dangerbird Records), but this track off the original EP seemed appropriate given the other tracks on the mix and my recent career changes.