When people ask me what kind of music I like, I say I like good music. I tell them about Sturgeon's Law, and how I like the 10% that isn't crud.
In deciding how to reply to your excellent collection, "One Good Return," I decided to create this compendium of music -- taken from many genres -- that is, in my opinion, "all good."
{Cover art found by Charlotte.}
| It's All Good - DISC 1 |
| novelty |
| 1. Windows '95 Startup Sound / Brian Eno Rumor has it he did this on a Mac. |
| 2. The Preacher & the Bear / Andy Griffith The first record I ever bought with my own money was by Andy Griffith, and he's stayed a favorite of mine. |
| 3. Mad Dogs and Englishmen / Noel Coward This is a personal favorite of Tom Lehrer's. |
| 4. F.U.N. Song / Sponge Bob & Plankton The influence of Orson Wells will be with us always. |
| 5. White and Nerdy / "Weird Al" Yankovic My new anthem. |
| rap / hip-hop |
| 6. It Was a Good Day / Ice Cube Another point of view. |
| 7. Buffalo Gals / Malcolm McLaren Couldn't get this out of my head after I heard it on Soul Train. |
| 8. Weapon of Choice / Fat Boy Slim The video with Christopher Walken is good too -- it's on YouTube. |
| 9. Famous and Dandy (Like Amos and Andy) / The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy I remember when this song was the flavor of the month on MTV. |
| pop |
| 10. Jam / Michael Jackson The best thing he ever did, if'n you ask me. |
| 11. The Playboy Mansion / U2 Sly lyrics. (Note tie-in with last song.) |
| 12. Gone / U2 Another rock anthem! Yay! |
| 13. 29 Palms / Robert Plant This was really big on high desert radio for a while. |
| 14. Hey Jealousy / Gin Blossoms Drunken idiots need love too. |
| 15. 1985 / Bowling for Soup I was feeling old before you were born, kid. |
| 16. Feel Good Inc. / Gorillaz These guys just might be the Next Big Thing. |
| 17. Dani California / Red Hot Chili Peppers I heard some Seattle DJ trashing the Peppers, and I though, "Aw..." (Then again, I lived in the L.A. basin fot 12 years, and it changed me.) |
| huh? |
| 18. Don't Nobody Move / Tony Powers God bless "Night Flight" and the weird stuff they played. |
| 19. Destinations of the Sun / Mason Williams Still kicking. |
| It's All Good - DISC 2 |
| techno |
| 1. Aero Dynamik / Kraftwerk This live version from the MTV Europe Video Awards 2003 knocked my socks off -- I played it over and over for a while. (Again, see YouTube for the vid.) |
| 2. Little Fluffy Clouds / The Orb I was crushing on this (actually 3 remixes) in 1993. |
| 3. Sigourney Weaver Y El Lobo / Balboa Classic Nortec. (If you don't know what that is, ask Wikipedia.) |
| 4. Nixon's Spirit / Paul Oakenfold Up and coming techno guy samples William Burroughs. |
| new wave |
| 5. Love's Shadow / The Fashion Hard to find single from obscure '80s group that haunted me. |
| 6. Nowhere Girl / B-Movie See number 5. |
| 7. Saved By Zero / The Fixx See number 5. |
| 8. Shoot That Poison Arrow / ABC See number 5. |
| 9. Alone Again Or / The Damned The lead singer from "Depeche Mode" said these guys inspired him to become a musician. |
| 10. Bedbugs and Ballyhoo / Echo and the Bunnymen One of the great unsung bands. |
| 11. Waiting For the Great Leap Forward / Billy Bragg Socialism as fashion statement. |
| alternative |
| 12. It'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out / Concrete Blonde This song still haunts me. I think it inspired the lead singer to move to 29 Palms. |
| 13. Jim Morrison's Grave / Steve Taylor I saw this only once on MTV. Turns out he's a Christian rocker. (Video YouTube etc.) |
| 14. Funkopolis / Die Warsaw Six months after I taped this on 120 Minutes I was going through old VHS tapes looking for it. |
| 15. Eye of Fatima, Pt. 1 / Camper Van Beethoven Dixie went to high school with their lead singer. |
| 16. Dig for Fire / Pixies Righteous guitar work for an alternative band. |
| 17. Crooked Teeth / Death Cab for Cutie Any band named after a Bonzo Dog band song that was in the video Magical Mystery Tour can't be all bad. |
| 18. Que` Onda Guero / Beck Dixie and Charlotte like this one. |
| It's All Good - DISC 3 |
| goth |
| 1. Cities In Dust / Siouxsie and the Banshees We trot this one out every Halloween. |
| 2. The Killing Moon / Echo and the Bunnymen This would be the Ultimate Goth Group if it weren't for the name... |
| 3. Du Hast / Rammstein Those Germans can out-Goth anybody. |
| folky |
| 4. Fast Freight / The Kingston Trio A crowd pleaser. |
| 5. Sleeping Satellite (acoustic) / Tasmin Archer Lyrics about the moon race. |
| 6. Silent All These Years / Tori Amos The new Joni Mitchell? No. |
| 7. Kiko and the Lavender Moon / Los Lobos See disk 2 number 14. |
| country |
| 8. You Never Even Called Me By My Name / David Allan Cole The ultimate Country & Western song. |
| 9. It Only Hurts When I Cry / Dwight Yokum L.A. not Nashville. |
| 10. Nothin' Better To Do / LeAnn Rimes Blues-inspired country. |
| bluegrass |
| 11. Orion's Sky / Green Mountain Grass My nephew, Laura's boy Jesse, sings this. |
| 12. Flop Eared Mule / Bonnie Russell and the Russell Family I fell in love with hammered dulcimer at Calico Ghost Town. |
| 13. Monument / Gene Parsons Bob Solotar used to play this. Found it on vinyl on eBay. |
| jazz |
| 14. Daphne / Django Reinhardt Sublime. |
| 15. Out of Nowhere / Coleman Hawkins and His All Star Jam Band See number 14. |
| surf |
| 16. Miserlou / Dick Dale and the Del-Tones Ultra-smooth surf guitar, from a CD I bought at Starbuck's. |
| 17. Apache / Jorgen Ingmann See number 16. |
| 18. Pipeline / The Chantays See number 16. |
| classic rock |
| 19. The Door Into Summer / The Monkees I think these guys are at least as good as the B-52s, who also couldn't play their instruments at the beginning. |
| 20. Everything That Touches You / The Association While any freshman philosophy major could spot the ontological fallacy in the statement "Everything is love," it sure sounds good. |
| 21. Something In the Air / Thunderclap Newman Another rock anthem! Yay! |
| 22. The End / The Beatles Those are some mighty good musicians there, Chauncey. |
| 23. Life Song / Mason Williams A final Alan-ism. |