I have a cowbell question: it is, in fact, prominent in Prince's "New Position," yes? Or is it some other instrument that has the protective cowbell coloration?

JZ! Thank you for the pockets link! My position is that pockets are always good, but people are sometimes stupid and don't deserve the pockets they are lucky enough to have.

Holy Shit! Tommy Keene is playing in Robert Pollard's band on the current tour. [link] I knew they were working on a project together, and I knew that Tommy opened for GBV on the last tour, but this is still really exciting!

t edit and drummer Jon Wurster was in Superchunk.

My mix, she is uploaded!

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1. The first song you'd put on a mix tape for somebody you were attracted to

The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
I remember reading that Jim Barber (music A&R/Producer guy), succeeded in winning Courtney Love's heart by making a mix tape for her that started with this song. And if it worked on Courtney Love, I figure it would work on anyone. Except that they're no longer involved. And she's insane.

(as an aside, I knew Jim in the mid-80's when he was at Harvard and I was at MIT, and it FREAKED ME THE SHIT OUT when I discovered they were involved)

2. A song that makes you think of BTVS that was never used on the show

Old Time Relijun - Vampire Victim
I went for the obvious here.

3. Cross-genre cover song (such as a soul musician covering a country song)

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - The Rite of Spring
A classical classic performed by... something that's not. This early line-up of BotM (which included a couple members of Mission of Burma) had keyboards and percussion (just like Stravinsky!), but also guitar.

4. Quotes another song, either in the music or words - bonus points if by the same artist

Proud Scum - Suicide 2
This NZ punk classic quotes from their earlier "hit" titled... you guessed it... "Suicide." In the earlier song, their (former) lead singer Johnny Atrocity threatens to jump off Grafton Bridge in Aukland. In this follow up, the rest of the band gives him some encouragement. The story goes that Johnny, who had moved to England, first heard this song while listening to John Peel.

5. Makes you want to get high, drunk, or, if it's your druthers, dizzy & giddy from spinning around in circles

Yo La Tengo - Drug Test
It's hard to tell if this song encourages or discourages drug use. In either case, it describes it really well in a very concise way. I suppose I could have also used this for #21, but there was another song I wanted more for that category.

6. Features a great bridge and 15. An upbeat song about a sad thing.

Heavenly - Hearts and Crosses
A song that seems all happy-go-lucky... until the bridge!

7. A song released the year you turned 21 and 14. A song by a band that you could have, but didn't, write about for Lost in The Grooves.

Pushtwangers - Naked in my Car
From a vinyl only EP that came out in 1985. This Swedish band put out a couple of LPs after this one, but nothing came close to the power-pop boy-centric cuteness of the songs on this debut. I do appreciate the irony of placing this song immediately after the Heavenly one.

8. A song dedicated to your nemesis (or who you imagine your nemesis to be)

The Monks - I Hate You
"You know I hate you baby... but call me?" Because all the good nemesis relationships are really messy.

9. A song about committing a crime

Big Black - Kerosene
From Steve Albini's liner notes: "In small towns, there are few forms of amusement. Two prominant easy ones are sex and arson. When the more simple exercises lose their bang, new combinations develop."

10. A song from a tribute or charity album and 13. A song that does not feature a guitar or a piano as the main instrument

The Lothars - The Call Up
I couldn't resist including a theremin song for #13, and this is being included in on a CD that's both a tribute (to "Sandinista") and a benefit (for Amnesty International and The Joe Strummer Memorial Forest). This hasn't been released yet, so you lucky folks get a sneak preview (ooh! ahh!).

11. A song with a year in the title

V; - 1926
V; (yes, there was a semicolon in their name) was a Boston band from the early 80's. This song was covered a year or two ago by Thalia Zelek.

12. A song about traveling

Damien Youth - Travelling.
One more trip on the Obvious Train. By the way, this isn't a band; the guy's name is Damien Youth.

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16. Midnight driving in the rain music and 24. A song that haunts you

Freakwater - Scratches on the Door
Here's an upbeat tune to play every year at Christmas! It's based on a true story. I guess I like to be haunted while driving in the rain at midnight?

17. More cowbell: A song containing that essential instrument

Big Star - Kangaroo
Be patient. You'll hear the cowbell in good time. Strangest. Use of cowbell. Ever.

18. A song that reminds you of your first love

Modern English - I Melt With You
I'm going with the idea that it's not love unless the girl likes you back. In that case, my first "love" was a girl I knew at college. We once went to a club in Hampton Beach, NH to see Modern English play. Like everyone else in the world, the only song we knew was this one.

19. A song that references some kind of technology and 22. A song that relates to science

The Pulsars - Technology
Could I be more obvious? I think not!

20. A song with a chorus that compels you to sing along or that you cannot not dance to and 25. A song that you would sing to yourself if you were ever in a dire situation and needed it to keep going

The Bags - Frilly Underwear
I originally was going through the album on which this song appears in search of cowbell. Surprisingly, given the sound of the Bags, I didn't find any. However, I really wanted to include them, and these categories gave me an adequate excuse.

21. A song that starts with a bassline

Mission of Burma - Peking Spring
I was worried Hayden would also pick this one!

23. A song you sing (or would sing) to your pet and/or child

The Banana Splits - The Beautiful Calliopa
This is the first song I can remember running around the house singing. It was on a 45 I got by sending in cereal boxtops.

26. A song by a band with an awful name

The New Pornographers and Neko
The first time I ever heard this band was on a Vancouver, BC compilation in which they were credited with this extended name (they quickly dropped the "and Neko"). Now, years later, I've gotten somewhat used to the name, but at the time I thought it was horrible.

27. A song that even when you know it's time to LEAVE the BAR someone can put on the jukebox to make you stay

All of them - Seriously
I know this is a cheat, but I think any one of these songs would make me want to stick around!

As soon as I saw the alternate instrument category, I knew the Lothars would make an appearance.

Modern English - I Melt With You

Like everyone else in the world, the only song we knew was this one.

Heh, one of my all-time favorites. I remember that my brother bought their next album based on liking that song, and was mightily disappointed.

I'm looking forward to hearing your mix! Mine is finally winging its way to the gmail account a week late. I blame society.

Fun lists, everyone. I look forward to downloading them using the nice fast connection at work, to which I plan to (FINALLY!!) return on Monday. Assuming I can get a doctor's note by then. I was told in no uncertain terms not to darken their door without that note. Thanks for giving me so much advance notice! Even that would have been fine minus the pissy attitude from the woman in HR... but you guys don't need to hear me whine. Short version: I still think she was out of line, but so what? Gotta let it go. I've already ceded way more space in whatever part of the brain controls aggravation than she merited. (I rewatched this interview to remind me that how I was dealing with the situation was really the problem. If you're at all interested in Buddhism you should watch it. Check out the others, too. Most of them having nothing to do with Buddhism, that's just the one I watched the other day.) Anyway, music...

Corwood, about the "song you'd sing to yourself in a dire situation" you wrote, "This is an interesting category that I could not rise to. I cut my original inadequate choices for time. The songs I chose: why not?" (Your choices were Hüsker Dü – “Celebrated Summer” and RT – “God Loves A Drunk”.) Here's a suggestion: reuse "A Heart Needs a Home". It's already filling a buncha categories, and it's apropos here. Maybe you wouldn't sing it in a dire situation, but it is appropriate because it's one of RT's many spiritual songs in the guise of a love song from that period. "A better life, they say/If I’d never met you," is a comment on his becoming Muslim, not his marrying Linda, "you" being Allah.

I'd also like to point out that RT's "Layla" is not the Eric Clapton song. Clapton's song is famously based on his longing for George Harrison's wife, but the name Layla comes from the Middle Eastern tale of Layla and Majnun, the former the object of the latter's all-consuming love. Apparently it's especially popular in its Persian form, and more specifically in the versions by Sufi poets. RT is a Sufi, and I seem to remember either reading that he had translated some Persian songs or that he introduced a song at a show by saying he translated it. So there's about as much doubt that he was familiar with the tale as he was with EC's song. But even though his "Layla" is written in the form of a myth (whether a retelling of something out of RT's head), none of the versions of Layla & Majnun I found online, in the twenty minutes or so I spent looking -- heavy-duty research! -- seemed like the RT version. Which is a long-winded way of saying they're two different Laylas.

And speaking of "Layla," I've been on a Duane Allman kick lately and found this page about him. Interesting tidbit before I bore you anymore go to bed: he was left-handed but he played right-handed, which could account in part for his sound. I love the guy & will say more about what I've been listening to lately, but it's bedtime. Bon nuit, tout.

Joe! Congrats on returning to work! The liner notes to the RT Box claim that both "Layla"s are from the same myth, but they seem to have completely different foci, so your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps I'll ask The Man about it if I can ever get an interview with him.

Also, I'm sending two of the RT tracks through YouSendIt because they're too long for regular mail. I'm happy to re-send if any interested parties miss the download deadline from YSI.

17. More cowbell: A song containing that essential instrument

Big Star - Holocaust

Jon, my itunes is identifying this track as Big Star - kangaroo. Is it just wrong?

Whoops! You're right Perkins. My bad. I went back and edited.