What is up, mixtapers? Welcome to my weekly mixtape,
the show that takes the classic mixtape approach
to building a modern playlist. I'm your host,
Brian Colburn. Since the start of season two,
I've been using an online randomizer that is
filled with all of your suggestions for episode
ideas. I've been spinning that and letting that
answer determine where I will go for the remainder
of the episode. But for this week, I had a...
topic earmarked and I need to run with it. It's
one that's very special and important to me because
without this topic, there would be no Brian Colburn.
There would be no my weekly mixtape. My love
of music wouldn't be there. And this playlist
is dedicated to the person who truly helped shape
my love of music. And that is my father. who
we sadly lost earlier this year to pancreatic
cancer. But knowing him and knowing the person
he was, he would not want me to be sitting here
for an hour recording this episode with a somber
tone. He would want me to be rocking out and
celebrating all the great memories and times
that we had in my first 47 years on this earth.
So what I want to do for him this week. is put
together a playlist based on Friday night music
nights. Now, for those of you that have not heard
me talk about this on the show before, Friday
night music nights was the night of the week
where my dad would get home from work and instead
of sitting down on the couch and putting on Jeopardy
and Wheel of Fortune or some war movies, which,
you know, as a kid, I really wasn't a fan of,
he would take the dust cover off the turntable.
open up the record cabinet and start pulling
out records. And as the night went on, it would
get louder and louder and louder. And I was allowed
to stay up much later than any other night of
the week. It was my favorite night of the week
because I was allowed to dance around the living
room like a maniac. As long as I didn't make
the record skip, you had to be very careful about
that, but sing. my lungs out and just enjoy every
moment of it. And some of my favorite childhood
memories come from those Friday night music nights.
Now, normally these randomized episodes that
I've been doing all thanks to you, the fellow
mixtapers have been 10 songs, but I feel like
there's no way I could do a 10 song playlist
for my father and for Friday night music nights,
any sort of justice, because just looking at
the playlist here on my phone, there's. well
over 400 songs. So to whittle that down is just,
it's an impossible task. And to be frank with
you guys, not even worth trying to whittle down
to 10. So in his honor tonight, I will be doing
20 songs, which I still feel is a major disservice,
but I don't want this episode to be 16 hours
long because I could easily do it. That's how
many songs there are in his playlist. And I can
talk about each and every one of them at length.
But I do want to say before I start diving into
these songs, I thank each and every one of you
listeners and mixtapers for sending in these
amazing topics and upcoming show ideas. You've
heard the last month of shows when I've been
randomly picking these topics and turning them
into playlists. Please keep them coming. Send
me in your playlist ideas, myweeklymixtape at
gmail .com. You can also hit me up on all the
social media haunts at my weekly mixtape. If
you want to take it a step further, you can join
the mixtaper community over at patreon .com forward
slash my weekly mixtape. It's free to join, but
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to support the show a little extra, there's no
requirement to do so. And I am extremely grateful
for any love and support you show the program.
And then finally, you can find the entire backlog
of My Weekly Mixtape episodes, as well as all
the playlists I've put together, well over 150
in all, at myweeklymixtape .com. Now, no matter
where you're listening, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
YouTube, I would appreciate it if you hit the
subscribe button, leave a five -star review,
and share My Weekly Mixtape with the music fans
in your life. Now, without further ado, let's
dive into a playlist I'm calling Passing Down
the Playlist, How My Father Shaped My Love of
Music Through 20 Songs. I think the first one
is going to be no shock to anyone who's listened
to this podcast, so I'm not even going to go
into some long story to try to build up any suspense
or anticipation. It's the car's good times roll.
The opening track on their self -titled album,
my favorite album of all time. I have spun this
album more times than any other album in my life.
And this is the one that kicked it off. This
song kicked off more Friday night music nights
for my parents than I can imagine. Maybe in the
mid 80s, it started to change because when Hello
Again came out. The opening track on Heartbeat
City, that started getting a lot of love too.
And a lot of times when my dad would make mixtapes
to bring in the car with him or when we'd go
on road trips, he'd start side A with Good Times
Roll and side B with Hello Again because it's
the second side of the tape and he's saying hello
again. I think that's pretty self -explanatory
there. The Cars are one of those bands that are
truly ingrained in my musical DNA. And there's
no better way to kick things off than with their
contribution for the night. I am going to tell
you right now, there will be no doubling up of
artists tonight. I am going to have a hard time
whittling these songs down to just 20. So sometimes
I'm going to have to make tough decisions, meaning
an artist is going to get represented, but I'm
going to sit here and mull over which track gets
represented in the discussion. Now with the cars,
there are so many amazing songs I could pull
from, but. Favorite album of all time opening
track. This one kind of is a no brainer for me.
Good times roll to kick things off. And I think
to follow that up, we're going to go with another
album opening track because believe it or not,
sometimes, and I think this is where my love
of album opening tracks comes from. When my dad
would pull out albums, sometimes he would just
drop the needle on side a and side a track one
became like a thing. You got to wait those. However
many seconds for the song to start, the anticipation
would build up and the song would kick in depending
on the album. It really set the stage for what
to expect. And with vinyl, you couldn't just
skip to the next one. You had to kind of find
the groove and the needle if you wanted to start
a track too. So usually album openers got a lot
of love on Friday night music nights, including
this next one. And it's yet another song that
I don't think really needs an introduction. Because
as a child, at this point, I was seven, eight
years old. And if I heard the words, dearly beloved,
we're gathered here today to get through this
thing called life. I knew I was about to go frigging
crazy. And Prince and the Revolution, Let's Go
Crazy, the Purple Rain soundtrack. This was my
jam. This was one of my picks of the night. Because
what my dad basically did is he became the DJ
of the night. He would pick a song. Then he would
ask me to pick a song. Then he would ask mom
to pick a song. Then he would choose a song.
We kind of round robin it. Sometimes I would
get a little too into let's play. Let's go crazy
again and again and again. So he might take the
liberty of swaying me in different directions.
And I was only seven at the time. So my wheelhouse
wasn't as expansive as it was now. But this was
kind of the way where my love of mixtaping came
in, where other people would choose songs. And
we'd kind of feed off of each other. And I did
this with my parents growing up. And I don't
think there's really much you need to say about
Let's Go Crazy. The song is an absolute masterpiece.
Prince is one of the best to ever do it. The
guitar solo at the end of this song showed he
is, apologies if you're not a wrestling fan,
but if you're a Seth Rollins fan, you'll know
he is a, and I have to add a ahem here, revolutionary.
He is a visionary. And he is one of the greatest
to ever do it. And for seven -year -old Brian,
jumping up and down on the couch, the song was
kind of giving me my directions. Let's go crazy.
Let's get nuts. And that's exactly what I did.
So following up the Cars, Good Times Roll, Let's
Go Crazy by Prince. And now at this point of
the night, my dad would turn it over to my mom.
And one of my mom's favorites growing up, it's
still one of my mom's favorites, she still loves
listening to Pat Benatar, is, I guess it should
come as no surprise here, it's another album
opener, this time from her Precious Time album,
Promises in the Dark. Now, my mom kind of teetered
because she could have also went with Shadows
of the Night from Get Nervous, and either one
I would never argue with because these are my
two favorite Pat Benatar songs. So this is one
of those situations where I had to almost flip
a coin. However, one thing about Friday Night
Music nights that usually came into play, not
a lot of ballads got played. And the opening
to Promises in the Dark is probably the closest
thing to a ballad you're going to hear on this
playlist tonight. However, Promises in the Dark
is anything but a ballad. But the opening...
just shows the dynamics of the song where it
opens with this slow, beautiful melody and it
just turns into an absolute rocker. And coming
out of the end of Prince's Let's Go Crazy, I
think you kind of need a slight palate cleanser
before you keep rocking out again. And I feel
like the intro to Promises in the Dark does that.
Because if you jump right into Shadows of the
Night, I don't know if the mixtape can handle
that much energy. I don't know. And I like to
have some frigging dynamics moving through these
songs here. So we're going to go with Promises
in the Dark. But make no mistake, Shadows of
the Night is an absolute banger. And when it
comes to videos, Shadows of the Night is my favorite
Pat Benatar video. Yes, I know most people want
to talk about the dance in Love is a Battlefield.
But no, no. It's fighter jets all the way. But
anyway, Promises in the Dark. I had a chance
to see Pat Benatar with my parents on several
occasions. And she always puts on an amazing
show. Her husband, Neil Giraldo, is just a beast
on guitar. Fun fact about Neil, on top of all
the endless stuff he's done with Pat Benatar,
he is also the lead guitarist and bassist on
Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl. So fun random
fact, as I do a little tangent here, as I'm scrolling
through this list, trying to come up with track
four of the night. And I really kind of want
to dive away from... Album openers? Because I
could pretty much do an album opening 20 -song
list of Friday Night Music and still make it
work, but I don't want to be too obvious here.
So I'm going to move away from the album openers
in the cleanup spot, although the album opener
on this album, Eliminator, could be a perfect
fit here. Give Me All Your Lovin', ZZ Top, absolute
banger of a tune and perfect way to kick off
the album. However... As a seven -year -old dancing
around, when I heard the opening to Sharp Dressed
Man, I'd walk into my dad's office and grab his
sunglasses and his jacket and throw it on. And
I would strut around that living room like I
was the coolest thing on planet Earth. And they
sure as hell made me feel that way. So Sharp
Dressed Man is very much a quote -unquote cliched
ZZ Top hit. But for me, there's just such a fun
memory of... feeling like I was on top of the
world listening to that song. And every time
it comes on now, I kind of want to lower the
sunglasses because every girl's crazy about a
sharp -dressed man. I got to see them with my
folks, my wife, and my kids when ZZ Top toured
with John Fogerty. And hearing that song, even
though we were at the amphitheater, I had my
sunglasses sitting on top of my forehead, I turned
and looked at my dad and... Just lowered them
onto my head for a second and just kind of gave
a little nod. I mean, yeah, this was the one
that had to make the playlist tonight. But following
it up, yeah, we're going back to album opener.
Sorry, it's going to happen. It's another band
I got the chance to see live with my father twice.
We enjoyed seeing the tour so much with my mom
the first time. It came around a second time
through the area. And my mom had plans that evening.
So my father and I decided that we would go by
ourselves. And we got to see both at the Bergen
Pack in Englewood, New Jersey, as well as the
State Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Huey
Lewis in the news on one of their last tours
when they were playing sports in its entirety.
And sports is one of those albums that I felt
like almost became a cliche when you went record
hunting. because it sold 30 gazillion copies.
So anytime you go to a record store or go crate
digging, you are pretty much guaranteed to find
a copy of it. And it's, as far as I'm concerned,
a perfect album. As much as I love Picture This
and 4, Sports was the album that really sent
Huey Lewis through the stratosphere and the heart
of rock and roll. That opening with the heartbeat,
I used to sit there and pound on my chest when
the song would kick off. And again, it kind of...
Gives you that lull at the end of Sharp Dressed
Man to kind of build up and kick back right into
the party again. So yeah, Huey Lewis in the news.
I was blessed and honored in season one to have
Bill Gibson from Huey Lewis in the news on the
show to build the ultimate Huey Lewis in the
news playlist. I highly recommend if you're a
Huey Lewis fan, go back and check that episode
out. That was a bucket list show for me because
I got to talk about. my Friday night music nights,
and the love I have of these songs with one of
the gentlemen responsible for them. And chances
are, it's probably the only time I'm ever going
to talk about the news on my weekly mixtape.
And by news, I mean Huey Lewis and the, not the
stuff that we are bombarded with on social media
and all of our news apps all day long. But all
that being said, Bill Gibson was an absolute
bucket list. pinched myself i must be dreaming
episode for me one of the highlights of my weekly
mixtapes run and a no -brainer for one of the
songs that helped shape my love of music now
i will say this huey lewis in the news one of
those bands i could have went with countless
songs just the memory of seeing them live twice
on the sports tour i think is what kind of gave
the nod to heart of rock and roll I could have
easily gone with an album cut like Tell Me a
Little Lie or The Only One off of Picture This.
I could have went with some of their plethora
of hits. Yeah, I know that's the movie reference
of Three Amigos. Sorry about that. But you've
got Do You Believe in Love? You've got The Power
of Love, another movie reference, Back to the
Future. You've got Jacob's Ladder and Hip to
be Square with a third movie reference if you
want to bring up American Psycho. But rising
to the top for tonight's specific playlist, it's
the heart of rock and roll from sports. And with
that, every now and then my dad would like to
pivot the songs. Maybe this sounds familiar to
you if you've listened to an episode before.
Every now and then I just love to randomly pivot
in the middle of a mixtape for no reason whatsoever.
Well, now you know where I get it. But I know
kind of the stuff you're hearing right now is
like an early 80s musical smorgasbord. But that
wasn't where he always lived musically, so he
did enjoy mixing things up a bit. So it wasn't
uncommon for him to dip into the 60s and 70s
as we were listening to these albums. But there
always had to be a rhyme or reason to it. Even
if it was a pivot, it had to make some kind of
musical sense. Because at the end of the day...
Spoiler alert, a lot of these Friday night music
nights were basically just him recording mixtapes
to use on the weekends when we go to car shows
or go on road trips or go out for vacation or
different events. So there was a method to this
musical madness. So let's go down that road for
a little bit. And one of the songs he liked to
dip back into a lot is one of those songs that
I like to call the dashboard keyboard song. It's
one of those songs that when you're driving,
your left hand is on the steering wheel and your
right hand is reaching out and attempting to
play keyboards on the dashboard, whether you
are a keyboard player or not. And this one is
one of those ones that I would consider myself
a very prolific dashboard keyboard player. I've
never attempted to. Take those dashboard keyboard
skills and move them to an actual keyboard. And
I'm afraid of what that would sound like. But
in my mind, when Johnny River's Rockin' Pneumonia
and the Boogie Woogie Flu came on, I was up there
with Jerry Lee Lewis in terms of piano skills.
This is from his L .A. reggae album, although
my parents didn't own that. They owned Johnny
River's Greatest Hits. I want to say that was
done through K -Tel. But don't hold me to that.
I'm 99 .9 % sure. This is one of those albums,
though, that this was not a full album listen
in my house. It was Rockin' Ammonia and the Boogie
Woogie Flu and then moving on to the next album.
So in time, I actually listened through the album
all the way through and enjoy a ton of the stuff
on it. However, the one song that immediately
brings me to Friday Night Music Nights and one
of the songs that shaped. Where I Am Musically
was Rock and the Monia and the Boogie Woogie
Flu. Now, fast forward to the late 80s, the Less
Than Zero soundtrack, and Aerosmith doing their
slowed down version. This was one of those moments
where I was able to kind of pull my dad aside
and be like, hey, check this out. Listen to this
version. And got to bond with a band that, even
though Aerosmith was a band that my dad was very,
very, very familiar with. This was Aerosmith
mid 80s where I felt like I was discovering Aerosmith
and trying to be hip to what was new in music
and sharing it with my parents. And this was
one that I was able to share with my father.
And anytime I could do that and he dug it was
a huge W for me. And I always felt like a million
bucks when I was able to share a song with him
that he enjoyed because it was like my way of
saying thank you. for all the songs that he shared
with me that I still love to this day. Kind of
like a musical love language, so to speak. But
enough about Aerosmith for now. We're talking
about Johnny Rivers, which his version of Rockin'
Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu is a cover
in and of itself because Huey Piano Smith did
the original, but I'm not going to dive down
that rabbit hole. But yes, Johnny Rivers does
bring us out of the 80s a little bit and gives
us a little room to branch out. And that's exactly
what I'm going to do here with another keyboard
driven anthem. Now, I'm going to say anthem,
but I'm not sure this will be an anthem on everyone's
specific musical playlists. But let me explain.
While this song was indeed a number one hit.
I don't know if maybe the sands of time have
maybe washed it off of people's minds because
this is one that when I mention it to people,
it almost is a, oh yeah, that type moment. And
if anything, it would top a list of underrated
songs of all time, in my opinion. But this song
holds a special place in my heart for multiple
reasons. One is obviously the Friday night music
night connection. And the second is this is the
first song that I ever talked up on radio back
in college when I was interning with another
DJ at my college radio station. Her show focused
on garage rock of the 60s and 70s. And I got
to learn a lot about that era of music through
her. And I'm extremely appreciative of that.
But more importantly, the first time that I sat
down in front of a microphone. Turn my mic on
and talked up a song live on the air. It was
96 Tears by Question Mark and the Mysterians.
It's garage rock at its finest. To me, they were
a pioneering band in what would become garage
rock and punk rock. Yes, I know this is the 60s,
but there are the origins of what you would hear
in the later 70s sound of punk rock coming out
in. question mark, and the Mysterians. And there
was something about this song that was just so
infectious, so raw, and so real. And it has made
a lot of greatest songs of all time lists, but
it's not one of those songs that a lot of people
really talk about as being influential. And to
me, it is by a long shot. Now, my parents didn't
own a question mark in the Mysterians album,
but they did own another one of those K -Tel
compilations, although this one was not by K
-Tel. I want to say it was a Warner release,
but it was called Wild Thing, and it was chock
full of songs from that era featuring stuff like,
obviously, Trog's Wild Thing, Swinging Medallions,
Double Shot of My Baby's Love, Louie Louie by
the Kingsmen. I Fought the Law by Bobby Fuller
IV, Nobody But Me by the Human Beans. There was
just a lot of that would -become -punk sound
shining through on this album. My dad played
this one a lot, and that's why a lot of that
stuff resonates with me, and I feel like it's
the reason why I love punk rock so much. Hell,
one of my first children's albums, while it was
mostly covers of 80s stuff, was Chipmunk Punk.
So even as a young child, I was inspired by the
word punk. There was something about the punk
rock vibe and the atmosphere and the attitude
that really resonated with me. And this song
is one of those ones that is a highlight of that
sound. So there's no way I can talk about the
songs that shaped who I am musically without
including 96 Tears. But now that I've introduced
some of that proto -punk vibe that I'm excited
to be able to talk about, I want to bring us
closer back to the 80s, but stay in the late
70s with a song that thankfully this band was
one of the last bands my father got to see inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024,
that being Farner. And I'm going to go with the
opening track, big shock there, off their Double
Vision album, that being Hot -Blooded. One of
those reasons why for many, many years, people
were pounding their fists on the table, wondering
why Farner wasn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. They are an incredible rock band. Lou Graham's
vocals on this track are just off the charts.
Obviously, Mick Jones' guitar work is on another
planet. This is a true classic. rock song. And
I don't mean classic rock in the term of classic
rock, the genre. I mean, it is a classic and
it is a rock song. I hope that makes sense. This
is one of those ones that as a kid, when that
guitar riff started, I got up and started stomping
around the living room. It's one of those ones
that just, well, apologies for this pun, but
it gets your blood boiling, gets you up, gets
you excited. And as a kid, this is one that I
just loved the riff. I was a huge ACDC fan as
a kid. I loved hard rock. And from my parents'
era, Farner was hard rock, at least on this track.
And this is one that I don't think ever skipped
a Friday night music night. And to this day,
every time it comes on, it gets turned on extra
loud. I know a lot of people resonate with Jukebox
Hero, and I've got nothing but love for that
song. Foreigner 4 is an absolute masterpiece,
but when it comes to all -time Foreigner tracks,
Hot Blooded is the one for me. Unbelievable track
that needs to be included in this discussion
tonight. Now, following that up, though, I think
I'm going to go a little deeper here. And I'm
going to go with a song that, if you're listening
to the music playlist on Spotify, you're not
going to be able to hear it because... It is
one of those instances where you need to own
the physical media. So physical media for the
win. You can get it on CD. It's an import, but
you can get it on CD. Vinyl is the version that
most people have here in the US. No, I'm not
talking about Buckingham Knicks because that
finally got its long overdue release in the US
on vinyl and CD. Thank you for that. puts my
import version now officially out of commission.
But using that Buckingham Knicks as a jumping
off point, it's a band that I feel like is rooted
in the same musical style as Buckingham Knicks
and the Fleetwood Mac albums from that era. And
I'm going to go with the Tarney Spencer band,
No Time to Lose. While the album came out in
1979, I don't remember that point because I was
only a toddler. However, in 1981, when MTV was
on a heavy rotation in our house, I remember
this music video playing a lot in my early childhood
years, which truly speaks to the power and influence
that MTV had at that time because this was a
two -year -old song. This song actually hit the
Billboard Hot 100 back in 1979. And through the
music video's exposure on MTV, re -entered the
Billboard Hot 100 charts and charted even higher.
It wasn't a top 40 hit. It only hit number 74,
which means this is not one of those songs that
might even be a household name. You might be
saying, Tarni Spencer what? Yeah, this is not
a household band name, but it's one that in my
house was a household name. The album it came
from is called Run For Your Life. If you haven't
heard this album, I highly suggest looking it
up. You're not going to find it on iTunes. You're
not going to find it on Spotify, Apple Music.
It's out there on YouTube, but you can go on
Discogs and find a vinyl version or a CD version
from overseas. Highly suggest giving this album
a listen, especially if you're into that Buckingham
Nicks Fleetwood Mac sound. This song has such...
a gallop in the chorus. It just puts a smile
on my face. Fantastic vocal harmonies, something
that my father really resonated with, and I think
that's why I resonate with it as well. He played
a lot of songs that leaned in on multi -part
vocal harmonies, and this is definitely one that
does that. So if you don't know No Time to Lose
by the Tarni Spencer Band, make it a part of
your day to head over to the episode page. at
myweeklymixtape .com. I'll be sure to even embed
the video version there so you could see the
video that I saw on Constant Rotation as a youngin'.
But with that, we are nine songs into side A
of the songs that shaped my musical world. And
with that, I'm gonna close up with a cover song.
You know I love my covers. And that's something
I got from my father because one of the albums
he loved to play when I was growing up a lot
was David Johansson's Live It Up or Live It Up,
depending on how you want to pronounce it, as
it was, you know, a live album. And that album,
another album opener, sorry, was an animals medley.
And that consisted of we got to get out of this
place. Don't bring me down. And it's my life.
Now, I talked about the kind of proto -punk that
Question Mark and the Mysterians brought with
96 Tears. This was David Johansson of the New
York Dolls doing his solo thing before he went
to Buster Poindexter. This is raw. This is heavy.
This is that punk rock spirit taking that sound
of the animals and amping it up a little bit.
David Johansson's voice is just perfect for what
Eric Burden did with the animals. It was my introduction
to the animals. I didn't even realize that these
three songs weren't one song until much later
when CDs came into play and my dad went out and
bought the best of the animals. And I'm like,
oh, those aren't one song? Like, you know, you
don't know these things as a kid. There was no
internet to look it up. You know, I didn't realize.
I just assumed we got to get out of this place,
segued right into Don't Bring Me Down and segued
right into It's My Life. That was just the way
it was done. So I fell in love with all three
songs and then The Animals as a band because
of this. The reason I'm closing out Side A with
this song is because this one was very important
to my father and I didn't learn about it until
much later in life. When I was in college, I
had a very long commute from New Jersey down
to North Carolina where I went to school and
sometimes my father would drive down with me
and then take a flight home. And we would have
a lot of conversations, listen to a lot of music
and just talk for 10 straight hours. And we were
listening to that animals greatest hits album.
And we got to get out of this place was playing.
And he said, you know, we listened to this song
a lot when you were a kid growing up. I said,
yeah. I said, he goes, there's a reason I love
this song. And I'm curious, do you know what
that is? And I said, because it's awesome. And
he goes, yeah, of course. But this was. for him
and the people he served with in Vietnam, one
of the songs that helped them get through the
tough days. This was the song that hyped them
up, that got them hopeful for a future where
they can return home. And this was their anthem.
And I didn't know that for the first 17 years
of my life. And when I look back at it now and
I listen to this song again, And I scroll through
old photo albums of my father from Vietnam and
I hear this song playing. I could just see why
it meant so much to them and the power and the
impact that it had on those serving. The song
is rightfully inducted into the Grammy Hall of
Fame. And at my father's services, I talked with
a lot of the people he served with that showed
up. And I brought this song up and they all said,
yeah, this is one that really meant a lot to
all of us. And with that, this song will now
always hold an even more special place in my
heart beyond the Friday night music nights. Because
thinking about my childhood now, when we were
rocking out to that song, not only was he enjoying
the music, he was expressing his gratefulness.
That he was able to sing that song outside of
a war zone and back at home with his family and
his child. And it weighs so heavily on me now
when I think about that. And it's profound. And
it's a perfect way to close out this first side.
Which kicked off with, no shock to anybody, the
car's good times roll. Followed up by Prince's
Let's Go Crazy. Pat Benatar's Promises in the
Dark, ZZ Top's Sharp Dress Man, Huey Lewis in
the News, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Johnny
Rivers' Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie
Flu, Question Mark and the Mysterians' 96 Tears,
Foreigners' Hot -Blooded, the Tarney Spencer
Band's No Time to Lose, and David Johansson's
Animals Medley, We Gotta Get Out of This Place,
Don't Bring Me Down, and It's My Life. If you
want to hear all the songs I've discussed in
this playlist, head over to the episode page
where all of these songs are embedded at myweeklymixtape
.com. And now we're flipping the proverbial mixtape
over and starting side B of this playlist dedicated
to songs that shaped my love of music, dedicated
to my father. We are going to start with a side
opening track. not an album opening track. However,
this one comes with a little bit of a funny story,
at least an embarrassing story on my part, but
I'm willing to be vulnerable for all the My Weekly
Mixtape listeners and open up about some of my
not -finest moments. And I'll start this by saying
it wasn't until I got my first CD copy of Hart's
Bebe Le Strange that I realized that Even It
Up wasn't the album opener. This was the song
that started Side B on the vinyl record. However,
it was the song my father always played on Friday
night music nights. So for the first at least
decade of my life, I thought Even It Up was the
Bebe Lestrange album opening track. And when
I got the CD and I put it in, for the first few
seconds, I'm like, what the hell is wrong with
this CD? And then I flipped over that jewel case
to read through that track listing. Oh. And even
then, with it right in front of my face, I thought,
maybe they screwed up the track listing on this
CD. So yeah, even it up by heart, kicking off
Side B. A little bit of an embarrassing moment
on my part, but not one that I'm too ashamed
about because... Even It Up is such a killer
song, and synergistically now, I get to start
side B of this playlist slash mixtape with it,
where it's in its rightful spot. I could have
went with any heart song, honestly. One of the
last concerts my father and I got to go see together
was Ann Wilson's solo. Unfortunately, she did
not do Even It Up. She did a lot of cover songs
and a few heart songs sprinkled in, but... It
was still Ann Wilson, and she is still one of,
if not the greatest female rock singer of all
time, in my humble opinion. She has to be in
the conversation. She has done so much for women
in rock music that I think it's hard to not justify
her to be in a top spot, whether it's not the
top one, because I've had arguments with people
where they'll chime in with Aretha Franklin,
and I know that's soul and R &B, but... Yeah,
Aretha Franklin rocks as well. And she could
certainly be in the top of the mountain when
it comes to rock music and female vocalists.
But Ann Wilson is right there as well. Her voice
just does something to this day that, man, I
don't know. Every time I hear a cover of it,
I'm like, that's good. That's really good. Because
I've heard Lizzy Hale, who I think carries a
torch for modern hard rock female singers. And
I heard her do a hard cover. And I said, that's
good. But it's not Ann Wilson good. And I love
Lizzy. And I'm in zero disrespect. I love her
voice. But it's not Ann Wilson. When I saw Carrie
Underwood do Alone on American Idol and everyone
was losing their mind, I'm like, that's good.
That's really good. But it's not Ann Wilson.
And Even It Up is one of those songs that, yes,
it's not the first song you think of when you
think about hearts classics. But in my mind.
It is a classic heart tune. There are some underrated
heart hits, and Even It Up is at the top of those
charts for me. A lot of people go to Magic Man,
Crazy On You, Alone, Barracuda. The list goes
on and on and on. So I feel like songs such as
Even It Up, Heartless, even something as big
as a top 20 hit like Straight On, they just kind
of get lost in this. immense catalog of fantastic
music from Heart. So kicking off Side B, even
it up from Heart. If you haven't heard that album,
go back and listen to it. If you have the vinyl
of Baby La Strange, you have to start it on Side
B to get the full Brian Colburn effect with that
one. And to follow that up, I think I'm going
to go with a track two on a Side B of an album
that we used to listen to all the time. And once
again, Similar to Heart's Baby Lestrange, I thought
for the first several years of my life that Beat
It kicked off Michael Jackson's Thriller. Now,
that's not the song we're going with, although
I very easily could. Beat It was a huge part
of Friday Night Music Nights. But once again,
I'm going to embarrass myself, my childhood self,
for your listening pleasure. And you can either
laugh with me or at me. I'm good either way.
But the song that followed up, beat it on Thriller,
was Billie Jean. And I was young when this song
came out. And my parents never let me forget
this one. One of the Friday night music nights
when I got to my music pick, I asked if they
can put on a pair of jeans is not my lover. My
father never let me forget that until his last
day. He always referred to it as a pair of jeans.
That being said, being a bass player, my love
of the bass guitar, in some significant way,
shape, or form, came from this song. That opening
bass line had such a groove and such a swagger
that I didn't even know what the definition of
those words were as a kid, but I knew I was feeling
it. And it made me realize that a song can revolve
around the bass guitar, which made me love the
instrument. And the song just rocks. I know a
lot of people talk about Beat It being the big
rock song on the album, Eddie Van Halen with
the uncredited guitar solo, but everything about
Thriller rocks as an album, and Billie Jean is
definitely one of those tracks. And then there's
that music video. Once again, MTV playing a huge
role in some of the songs that shaped my love
of music because that video just blew my mind.
I mean, everything that was released from the
Thriller album was incredible. The Beated video,
Weird Al, Eat It. I mean, you have to acknowledge
it there. Billie Jean, and then let's not get
into Thriller because I'll probably have nightmares
if I bring that video up now. I mean, that, I
don't know if you, were a child of the 80s and
you stayed up and watched Thriller the night
it premiered. I don't know how many children
slept that night. Like that video is just something
else. An absolute masterpiece of epic proportions.
Let's face it. It's a movie quality music video
that to this day, every Halloween, I make sure
the kids watch it so I could scar them for life
the way I was. It's just one of those things.
The dance routine is so iconic. But we're not
talking about Thriller. I'm sidetracking here.
I apologize. Even in Billie Jean, you got the
moonwalk. And I'll admit, as a kid, I did my
best attempt at a moonwalk. I wouldn't say it
was very good, but my parents gave me an A for
effort. And for now, that's good enough for me.
So following up Hearts Even It Up, which was
the first track on side B of Bebe La Strange,
is the second track on side B of Michael Jackson's
Thriller, and the second track on side B of this
mixtape. Billie Jean. Now, I wish I could say
I was going to be creative enough to continue
down this side B track number path, but I'm not.
We're going to pivot a little bit and go to a
side A song. It's not an album opener, so I'll
give each of you a moment to collectively get
over the shock you're feeling right now. And
we're going to move on to another artist that
was a big part of Friday Night Music Nights for
my family. This was definitely one that fell
under the mom selection category, although there
was nothing but love for this artist from both
my father and myself. So anything she chose by
him would work in this spot. And that would be
the one and only Billy Joel. Talked about him
many a times on my weekly mixtape and had the
honor of having Liberty DeVito, drummer for the
Billy Joel band, on the show to create the ultimate
Billy Joel playlist way back early in season
one. If you haven't heard that episode, I highly
recommend checking it out because Liberty tells
some incredible Billy Joel stories and you hear
some stuff about the hits as well as some of
the deeper cuts that you might not expect. So
if you're a big Billy Joel fan, you don't want
to miss that one. Now, I could have went with
pretty much anything from The Stranger Through
the Bridge as my song choice because those were
the albums that were collectively played in.
endless rotation in my house however i'm gonna
go with one because i found a video shortly after
my father passed and it was him and i at a friend's
house doing karaoke and it reminded me of friday
night music nights because we used to sing this
song together when i was a child and then we
did it as karaoke as adults and that would be
the call and answer of it's still rock and roll
to me from glass houses He would always sing
the first line and I would reply with the second
line. And we did that as adults. And it's something
that because this playlist is dedicated to him,
I feel like this is the song to use for this
playlist. But any Billy Joel song could fit in
this instance. This is definitely another one
of those Huey Lewis, Pat Benatar moments that
I could have went with an endless string of songs
and any one of them would work. So taking up
the number three slot is Billy Joel's It's Still
Rock and Roll to me. Next up is a song that I
would have chosen on a Friday night music night.
This one we had on 45. I know we've talked about
nothing but full length albums, but make no mistake,
there was also a box filled with 45s, and this
was one of the first ones I always picked out.
And that would be the J. Giles Band's Centerfold.
Now... Given my age at the time, thankfully the
lyrics went right over my head. I just loved
the song. I loved singing along with it. I loved
the na -na -na -na -na -na parts. I just loved
everything about the groove and the vibe and
energy of the song. So much so that when we were
in Hershey Park for the first time, they had
one of those sing -your -own -song karaoke booths.
And I have a recording of myself in, I want to
say, second grade, maybe third grade, singing
Centerfold by the Jay Giles Band. Now, you see,
I'm throwing all these embarrassing moments about
myself out at this part of the episode, because
if you're still listening now, we're friends
here. And I feel like I could tell you this stuff
without fear of getting shredded on all the My
Weekly Mixtape social accounts, which I'm actually
going to use this time to not give them out,
just in case you want to shred me. But yes. Second
or third grade, Brian, belting out J. Giles Band's
Centerfold. I did a pretty damn good job of it.
I'm not going to lie. And listening back to it,
now that the lyrics make sense. And no, I will
never play it on this show. I don't care how
much you guys offer. It ain't happening. Although
I do have a copy of me singing the Ghostbusters
theme in first grade, I want to say. Or maybe
it was second grade for Ghostbusters. Third grade
for Centerfold, regardless, elementary school.
We'll just leave it at that. And that one still
puts a smile on my face because I was singing
Ghostbusters as if I was trying to scare the
ghosts away. And Ghostbusters is another one
that easily could have made this playlist, but
spoiler alert, there's just not enough songs
to get to it tonight. But Jay Giles' band Centerfold,
Peter Wolfe, I mean, what an incredible artist.
Come As You Are is one of my favorite Peter Wolfe
songs from the 80s. Centerfold has that same
vibe. The Freeze Frame album is so much fun.
This was a party song. This was also something
that MTV subjected me to. And towards the end
of the video, when he hits that snare roll on
the snare drum and it's either paint or milk
or God knows what it is and maybe I don't want
to know, that image is ingrained in my mind.
I saw these... videos and heard these songs over
and over and over again so if they warp my mind
a little bit so be it but this is a great song
and i'll stand by it and it definitely shaped
my love for fun party rock music thank you jay
guile's band and i wasn't kidding when i said
at the beginning of this episode that there would
not be any ballads on this my dad did not go
for ballads very often. If anything, maybe the
closest thing to a ballad that he would have
thrown onto one of these mixtapes or Friday night
music nights was drive from the cars when heartbeat
city was in a constant rotation. And there was
a couple of others, maybe one or two. And there's
one that I know I'm going to talk about later
on, even though it's not going to make the mix.
So I'll put a pin in that for now. However, this
next one is definitely not a ballad and it's
definitely a divisive song. And for the first
time tonight, it was a song that we did not have
on vinyl LP. My father actually had the cassette
of this album. So that added a completely different
layer to Friday Night Music Night because he
would have to switch inputs on the player just
to pop his cassette in if Kilroy was here so
we can hear the opening to Mr. Roboto from Styx.
And once again, if you see how a lot of these
interviews I've done on this show kind of play
into what I'm talking about tonight, I had Lawrence
Gowan from Styx on the podcast, and we talked
all things Styx, even though he was not originally
on the Kilroy Was Here album. That was Dennis
DeYoung. We talk about how Mr. Roboto made its
way back into Styx's set list over the years.
And one of the last concerts my parents got to
go see together was Styx. When they called me
on the way home from the show, one of the first
things he said to me when I answered the phone
was, hey, Brian, guess what? We got to see Mr.
Roboto towards the end of the set. So, yes, Mr.
Roboto is going in this mix. I mean, as a kid
who grew up with the Transformers, Mr. Roboto,
I know it's a divisive stick song, but I love
this song. And as a kid, it was futuristic. I
watched Star Wars and was into Transformers.
This felt like a song that was geared towards
my mind at the time. I love this song. And listening
back musically, it's such a fun and dynamic listen.
Put headphones on and listen into the opening
to this song. Between the way the synthesizers
are incorporated into the opening and the panning
of the music back and forth, they really did
a fantastic job painting a visual picture through
the music. On Mr. Roboto. And yes, I understand
this is not the Styx that was in the 70s. And
there was all the problems that went on with
this tour and everything else. Hindsight is 20
-20. There's nothing wrong with Mr. Roboto. And
it has a place in this playlist tonight. And
I will defend it until the end of time. But after
that, we're going to go dig back into that box
of 45s. And this is one of those instances where
I knew a song so well by the 45 version, the
first time I heard the album cut, my mind was
blown. Because it was several minutes longer.
And that album was Time Exposure. And that band?
The Little River Band. And the song? The Night
Owls. Now, my dad was not a big yacht rock person.
I don't even know back then if it was referred
to as yacht rock. He loved the Doobie Brothers,
but it definitely was not the Michael McDonald
era. It was the long train running, rocking down
the highway, China Grove era of the Doobie Brothers.
However, the Night Owls was a different beast
for the Little River Band, at least in terms
of my household. I am not talking about the band
as a whole here. This song had a swagger to it
that fit in with Friday Night Music nights. And
then there's those vocal harmonies. When those
vocal harmonies come in at the chorus, oh my
God, how can you not want to sing along with
it? I know it's not the Little River Band's biggest
hit. It did make their greatest hits. But as
far as I'm concerned, this song is the pinnacle
of the Little River Band. And it's also such
a huge part of what I love about harmonies in
music. But going back to that album version.
The first time I heard the album version, I actually
thought it skipped because they cut the intro
almost in half before the vocals start. And when
it started again, I'm like, what's going on here?
And I realized, oh, this is an actual thing here.
There are versions that you get on the 45, the
radio edits, and then there's the album version.
And this is the first time I realized that. So
just in my grand musical education, The Night
Owls is an important song. In my music knowledge.
Then I learned other lessons like I talked about
on the 80s hairband episodes, such as the two
live crews, Me So Horny, and what a radio version
and an album version can truly be like. But that's
certainly a song we did not listen to on Friday
Night Music Nights. So I digress back to the
playlist. We talked a lot about vocal harmonies
tonight. We talked a lot about rock and songs.
But one thing I haven't really talked about yet
was my dad's love for guitar. And there were
certain guitar solos that always got included
on Friday night music nights. The first one,
believe it or not, came off of an eight track.
That was a pain in the ass, let me just say.
Because to get to this song, sometimes you'd
have to hear other songs. Because you really
couldn't forward your way to the next track,
at least on the 8 -track player we had at the
time. However, when that artist is Jimi Hendrix,
if you have to listen to Can You See Me or Foxy
Lady before you can get to the musical cream
filling, if you will, the blues goodness of Red
House, I think we're okay. Yeah, that was track
4 on the 8 -track tape of Smash Hits. Red House
is the song that introduced me to the blues.
And my father always said, the blues doesn't
get better than this. And I've seen Joe Bonamassa.
I've seen Buddy Guy. I've seen B .B. King. And
all three are absolutely undeniable in terms
of sheer guitar talent. There is no arguing when
it comes to that. And to this day, when I hear
the guitar solo by Jimi Hendrix and Red House,
I still feel like that is the pinnacle of blues
music. Now, I know there's other blues purists
listening to this that might be getting angry
at that. But again, music is all subjective opinion.
It's how it hits it, how it resonates. And without
Red House, I would not love the blues. And seeing
my father playing air guitar to it every single
time he heard it, we could be in his van driving
and he would start playing air guitar. And I'm
still able to sit here and talk to you. Thankfully,
he was a good enough driver that he was able
to pull off the Jimi Hendrix air guitar and drive
and keep us in the lane at the same time. That
was a skill set. And I'm very proud of him for
that and grateful because I'm still here to be
able to talk about it. But when I talk about
guitar solos blowing my mind, Red House is one
of the first ones that ever did. And I'm going
to follow that up with the first guitar solo
that ever blew my mind. And embarrass myself
one last time on tonight's episode. I'm grateful
for this next song because it taught me patience
in music. Over the years, my father would always
play songs that were three, four minutes, you
know, when you're making a mixtape. But he would
also include the longer songs. Meatloaf's Paradise
by The Dashboard Light. Iron Butterfly's In a
Gata De Vida. The Doors, The End, or When the
Music's Over. Songs that were 8, 10, even 17
minutes long in terms of En Agata De Vida. But
one of the first ones that I ever remember falling
in love with was from Frampton Comes Alive. That
being, Do You Feel Like I Do? And as a child,
I'll embarrass myself once again, I honestly
thought Peter Frampton owned a talking guitar.
I'll wait for you to finish laughing. But as
a kid, sitting there in front of the speakers
listening to this, hearing the crowd cheer when
the guitar started talking, I would turn to my
folks and say, he has a talking guitar? My dad
said, well, it's magic. I didn't see any videos
of it. So I assumed Peter Frampton kind of waved
a magic wand and the frigging guitar stood up
and walked over to the microphone and started
singing. That was my... five, six, seven -year
-old imagination at play. And as a side note,
wouldn't it be great if as adults we can continue
to have the imagination we had as kids and not
get blasted for it the way society does now?
Because every time I hear this song, it always
makes me smile because in the back of my mind,
I'm still that five -year -old sitting in front
of the speaker with his legs crossed, staring
at the speaker, wondering how that guitar got
up off the stand and started talking to the audience.
and this is guitar work that blew my mind, and
it made me fall in love with the guitar, and
I'm so grateful for that. But we're coming to
the end here of Side B, and there's two songs
left, and I think like the first song on Side
A, now I'm not going to shock people, at least
for these last two. The first one I'm going to
choose is by my favorite artist of all time,
Tom Petty. Now, I've talked about on this show
before, that I was introduced to Tom Petty via
my father through the Chipmunk Punk album, because
there is a cover of Refugee by Alvin and the
Chipmunks. And every now and then I would say,
hey, Dak, we put on Alvin and the Chipmunks on
Friday Night Music Night. Sure, we'd put on Refugee.
And I remember one random Friday night, he said,
hey, Brian, did you know that another band does
Refugee besides Alvin and the Chipmunks? And
I said, I do not. And that's when he broke out
Damn the Torpedoes and played me Tom Petty for
the first time. Now, while that would normally
seem like that would be the ideal song to put
in this place, I actually have another one I'm
going to use. Because Friday Night Music Night
stretched well into the 80s. Although over time,
it became, with dual cassette players and CDs,
a lot less vinyl heavy. Even though we still
went to the old vinyl records, more cassettes
came into play, especially as I became part of
the cassette culture of the 80s and then CDs.
But one of the last albums on vinyl I remember
my father buying, he came home with the big vinyl
bag. And I'm like, what'd you get? And he goes,
you know, sometimes there's albums you just need
to have on vinyl. And I heard this song today
and I had to stop at the record store on the
way home and grab it. And this is definitely...
a must -have on vinyl album. And he pulled out
his copy of Full Moon Fever, which I still have
framed on my wall in my family room. And if I
remember, I will post a picture of that on this
episode page. And the song that he bought it
for is the song I'm going to follow up Peter
Frampton's Do You Feel Like I Do With. And that
is Tom Petty's Running Down a Dream. Now, I've
talked about on some of the oldies episodes that
my father was a huge classic car guy. He rebuilt
a 66 GTO and a 68 Camaro, both of which were
convertibles. And when he brought home that Full
Moon Fever album and played Running Down a Dream,
he said, is there any song that's more suited
to put the top down and go for a cruise to? So
there's your answer. And also the album blew
my mind because when he dropped the needle and
I heard Free Fallin' for the first time, I was
like, wow, this album opens with a ballad. That's
interesting. And Free Fallin' was one of those
few ballads that would get into play, just like
I mentioned earlier with The Car's Drive. There
weren't many, but when they came out, they were
impactful. But Tom Petty's Runnin' Down a Dream
was one of the last vinyl records I ever remember
my father buying. And then he switched to CDs
when CDs became all the rage and time moved on
through the decades. So I felt like that was
the perfect song to put in the penultimate track
on this 20 song Friday night music playlist.
The songs that made me fall in love with music.
But the last one is very special to me. It's
one of my favorite bands of all time. It's one
of my father's favorite bands of all time. It's
a band that we didn't get to see together until
2015, which I'm just trying to wrap my mind around
the fact that that's already a decade ago. And
I'm so glad we got that chance. And the cover
of this episode might be the photo from him and
I at this concert. My cousins were huge into
music too, and sometimes they would come over
on Friday night music night and bring some of
their albums. And when they did, it was usually
pretty much a stack of Cheap Trick, Def Leppard,
Journey, and ACDC. And closing out tonight is
the song that ACDC used to close out the concert
we saw together in 2015. Because seeing the look
on my father's face during the 21 -gun salute
in For Those About to Rock, We Salute You is
a look I will never, ever forget. This song is
everything I love about hard rock music. From
the opening line, stand up and be counted for
what you are about to receive, to the closing
guitar solo. Normally you see people trying to
leave concerts early, get to the car, get out
as quickly as possible. There was no way on God's
green earth we were missing the end of For Those
About to Rock, We Salute You. And as those cannons
were firing, my father actually made the salute,
like in the army, and then turned to me and said,
this is one of the greatest fucking things I've
ever seen in my life. So there's no better way
to close out this playlist about the songs that
made me fall in love with music than ACDC's For
Those About to Rock, We Salute You. And as this
episode is dedicated to my father, I salute him
in gratefulness and thankfulness for sharing
these 20 songs with me. And shaping my love of
music that I still have to this day. And will
carry with me. Every day. Until the day that.
My time comes. But with that being said. Side
B. Kicked off with Hearts. Even It Up. Followed
up by Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Or a pair
of jeans. Billie Joel's It's Still Rock and Roll
To Me. The Jay Giles Band's Centerfold. Stix,
Mr. Roboto, The Little River Band's The Night
Owls, Jimi Hendrix's Red House, Peter Frampton's
Do You Feel Like I Do, Tom Petty's Runnin' Down
a Dream, and ACDC for those about to rock, we
salute you. And just as a reminder, you can hear
all 20 of the songs I've talked about tonight
over on the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com.
For those of you who have made it this far into
the episode, I want to thank you. I know this
is not a traditional My Weekly Mixtape episode.
This is a topic that I am sure people are not
seeking out when they're looking for podcasts,
but this was a very important episode for me
to do, and this week was the week that I felt
like it needed to air. You could say that Thanksgiving
this year is going to be a little tough for my
family, and that is true. Because there is going
to be an empty seat at the table this year. However,
there's also a reason to give thanks and to be
grateful. Because for 47 years, my father made
such a huge impact on my life. Through many other
ways besides music. But this is a music podcast.
So I wanted to use this episode to celebrate
him through the songs. that helped shape who
I am as a person, as a musician, and as a podcaster.
So I am grateful and thankful for that. And I
am also grateful and thankful to each and every
one of you who listen to this show week in and
week out, who support the show, who are part
of the musical conversation on social media with
me. who send me messages and emails after episodes
with how you would have done things a little
differently. I read every one that comes in.
I try my best to respond. And if I don't, please
don't ever take offense. At the end of the day,
I'm still a father. I'm still a husband. I'm
still a family man. And this is not my full -time
gig. If it was, I would be responding to every
single email that came through. But this is a
labor of love for me and something I am extremely...
passionate about doing. Hell, I just talked for
over an hour about 20 songs that shaped my love
of music. So the fact that you're still listening
now, I am sincerely grateful. So there's a lot
of reason to give thanks this week. And if there
are songs out there that you listen to that your
parents, doesn't have to just be your father,
that your parents shared with you and you're
able to sit down with them at Thanksgiving, Thank
them for that. Thank them for the music. Thank
them for everything. I hope you all have a wonderful
holiday. Enjoy the time with the family. Cherish
it. Embrace it. And be sure to talk music at
it. Because it's certainly better than talking
politics and religion. And I will leave you with
that. If you have a topic for a future My Weekly
Mixtape episode that you would like to hear me
cover, send me an email, myweeklymixtape at gmail
.com. Hit me up on all the social media haunts
at myweeklymixtape or join the Mixtaper community
over at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
You could do so for free. And there's also several
tiers. If you want to contribute to the show,
it helps me. Keep the cost of running this show
week in and week out down. I'm extremely grateful
for that. And finally, you can hear all the songs
I talked about in tonight's episode, as well
as check out the full catalog of My Weekly Mixtape
episodes over at myweeklymixtape .com. My name
is Brian Colburn. This has been My Weekly Mixtape,
and I appreciate you taking the time to listen
to the 20 songs that shaped my love of music
thanks to my father. Now be sure to go check
out the tunes because obviously you know how
I feel about them. I hope you feel the same and
I will see you next week. Same time, same place.
Take care.