Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me tonight as guest curator is Ben Montgomery,
host of the Records Revisited podcast. Ben, thank
you so much for joining me, man. What's going
on, Brian? Long time no see. I know, it's been
way too long. We haven't podcasted in, God, it
feels like well over a year, and that's just
a crying shame. Well, you've been a little busy.
building this new podcast up and you know we're
always busy with ours so i get i get it i'm glad
that our paths have crossed again amen to that
and now i get to ask you the first time guest
question okay what does the word mixtape mean
to you uh it means the 1980s and early 90s that's
what it means I think we perfected the art of
mixtapes. I had a lot of different mixtapes back
in the day, and I'm sure there's a few still
out there from people that I made tapes for.
I will say this. I had several mixtapes that
actually were broadcast in the Middle East and
also in the Persian Gulf. So one of my friends
served in the Navy and we would make him these
mixtapes where Wayne and I were DJs, for instance.
And it was the call letters were K -R -A -P.
It was crap radio. And we would throw on stuff
that he, of course, would not be able to get
in the Persian Gulf. And he would have opportunities
to play DJ. for the boat. And so sometimes he
would just grab our mixtapes, throw it in. And
so we were broadcast over, over the, the naval
ships there in the Persian Gulf. So yeah, there
we go. I was going to say, that's definitely
one of the more interesting tales I've heard
with mixtapes on the show. So that is amazing.
Tonight. Our topic is spellbinding songs. I had
written something on social media and you replied
and you said, by the way, If you're going to
do this for an episode, I want in. And here we
are a short time later recording this. If someone
were to ask you what a spellbinding song is to
you, how would you describe that? These are the
songs that when you are driving home from work
and you drive into your driveway and one of these
songs is on, you don't get out of your car until
it's completely done. That's the definition of
a spellbinding song for me. The other, since
I don't commute to work, I work from home now.
It is now replaced by if I'm working and I have
these songs going on in the background and one
of these songs comes on, there's not a whole
lot of work that's happening. during that song
because i will either be singing along to it
or i will be just soaking it all in so that is
the definition of a spellbinding song for me
i agree with both those scenarios for me it's
one of those songs where if you're driving in
the car with the family and the song comes on
okay inevitably at some point you get a tap on
the shoulder with the words are you even listening
to me from somebody in the car, right? Because
you just get lost in the fact that the song is
playing and the whole world just stops and you're
just lost in the music. Yeah. It takes you over.
Totally agree with that. Yep. Well, now that
we've defined it, let's get down to business.
As I mentioned at the top of the show, Ben and
I will be curating the ultimate spellbinding
mixtape. And we're going to use the old cassette
deck approach that Ben used at KRAP. Ben, as
my special guest, will begin side A with his
first song choice. And then I'll add a song that
I feel best follows up that choice. We'll then
flip -flop choosing songs until we've mapped
out 10 tracks for side A. We'll then give our
mixtape a proverbial flip and we'll map out side
B. Only this time, I'll kick things off with
Ben choosing second. Our overall goal for the
episode is to craft the best spellbinding mixtape
possible through only 20 songs. At the end of
the show, you can take our conversation to the
next level by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen via the
embedded playlist. And if you like what you're
hearing on the show, you can help me out by either
telling a friend, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. And a few of the Patreon mixtapers
chimed in with songs they would use to kick off
things for tonight. And I want to give a quick
shout out to a few of those. Cactus Pete chimed
in saying, not sure if this fits because it's
more a part of a song, but Van Halen's Dreams,
the second guitar solo, then where Sammy hits
the high note, and in the end, you know the part
I'm talking about. I'm not going to try to hit
that note right now. To the end of the synth
on the song, that whole part gives me goosebumps
every time. If this song comes on, I can't turn
it off until it's done. Now, if you're a fan
of Van Halen and you want to hear more gushing
about that, check out episode 46, The Ultimate
Van Halen Playlist, which features Cactus Pete,
along with friend of the show, Eric Senich of
the Van Halen News Desk. Other chime -ins, Chad
LaMassa chimed in saying, the first bully song
I ever heard was Feel the Same. I was mesmerized
and instantly fell in love with her. She quickly
became one of my favorites. She's great. Seeker
chimed in saying the opening few bars of Remedy
by the Black Crows always gives me chills and
the whole song lifts my heart. It has regularly
been the opening track of my old mixtapes, CDs,
or playlists. David Owens chimed in saying the
Eagles Hotel California saying the song sucks
you in from the moment you hear the opening guitar
riff. And Philip Bergman chimed in saying, the
first time I heard a thousand stars by Kathy
Young and the Innocents come on the oldie station
in my car, I just stared at the radio, possibly
not even blinking, just listening to it. I wouldn't
leave the parking lot until the song was done.
I just had to listen. Awesome picks. Ben, just
like you were saying, you're in the car. You
can't get out of it. We've got the Patreon mixtapers
musical food for thought in the atmosphere. So
I'm going to press the record button on our mixtape
and turn the floor over to you. What song did
you choose to kick off side A? So if you're a
listener of my podcast, you know that we talk
about opening album tracks. And I have just one
criteria for. opening tracks it needs to punch
me in the face you need to set the groundwork
for what i'm going to hear for the rest of the
album one of the greatest albums of all time
is who's next by the who and bob o'reilly kicks
it off and from the moment that you hear that
synthesizer coming in it's just it's magical
i will say this when i heard this when i was
i don't know 11 or 12 on the classic rock station
this was like a game changer for me and i will
say this yes for the longest time i thought it
was teenage wasteland because i did i did record
this off of kisw in seattle onto a mixtape until
i found out years later that it was actually
baba o'reilly but this fits the criteria of punch
me in the face this is how you start a mixtape
of the spellbounding proportions. Well, if I
was ever to do a My Weekly Mixtape episode on
mistaken song titles, this would easily be a
side A track one as well. Because more times
than not, I've heard people call this the incorrect
title over the actual correct title. It actually
shocks me when people come up and say Bob O 'Reilly.
Correct. Now, having talked about this song before
on Playlist Wars and TuneStyles, I know that
it appears in Time Magazine's all -time 100 songs
list and Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest
songs of all time. It was also featured by the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500
songs that shaped rock and roll deservedly so.
This track is the epitome of what rock and roll
is. You know, I'm a big fan of cover songs. And
when a punk band like the Dropkick Murphys covers
the song like they did on the vinyl version of
2007's The Meanest of Times. And then you've
got Pearl Jam, who has countless live versions
of this song. Right. I was just going to bring
up Pearl Jam because I did get a chance. One
of the times that I've seen Pearl Jam live, they
did play Bob O 'Reilly in the encore. And it's
epic. It was pretty badass. Unbelievable way
to kick off the evening. Now, since you're in
the classic rock mode here. Let's hear it. The
opening riff of Baba O 'Reilly grabs your attention.
But what's cool about following Baba O 'Reilly
up is the fact that you can kind of take it in
any direction because of the way the song ends.
It keeps speeding up and speeding up and speeding
up, and then it just stops. So I think as soon
as the stop hits at the end of Baba O 'Reilly.
The beautiful acoustic guitar from 1969's Led
Zeppelin II, Ramble On, starts. Good. Believe
it or not, this was never a single in the US,
which blows my mind because it's not only my
favorite song on Led Zeppelin II, it very well
may be my favorite Led Zeppelin song of all time.
Wow. Okay. The way the track weaves from this.
folk inspired ballad to this bluesy hard rocker
so seamlessly it's absolute perfection and then
as a bass player and i know you're one as well
how can you not love the magic that john paul
jones is bringing to this song it's a musical
adventure that he's taking you on if you just
try to tune the rest of the song out you just
listen to his bass it's mesmerizing So if you
were to do a playlist or mixtape of most underrated
and underappreciated musicians of all time, I
think John Paul Jones would be on that list.
100%. He is the secret ingredient for that band.
I know that everybody loves Bonham. I know everybody
loves Plant and Page. But man, I'm a John guy.
I love that dude. What he brings to the band,
he is the secret ingredient to that mix. Could
not agree more. And since I mentioned cover songs
with Baba, there is one cover of Ramble On that
I'll throw in here. Uh -oh. Believe it or not,
it's Train. They have two versions of the song.
They put out an entire cover of Led Zeppelin
2 called Train Does Led Zeppelin 2. Not an exciting
name. And they don't take any liberties. They
just play it as it was written. Now, even though
Pat Monahan does a ridiculous Robert Plant, there's
a version that was on the 20th. anniversary edition
of drops of Jupiter, as well as on a CD single
in the nineties. And it's an acoustic version
and they really bring their own flair to the
song. And if you're a fan of cover songs, I think
you'll be shocked. If the only train you're familiar
with is, Hey soul sister and play that song.
I think you're going to be blown away by what
Pat Monahan brings to Zeppelin. So anyway, coming
out of Bob O 'Reilly ramble on. Love it. You
can't go wrong with Zeppelin. I was just listening
to Houses of the Holy earlier today. So I get
it. Yeah, it's good stuff. Well, now we're back
to you to follow that up for track three. Yeah,
let's go. Since we're doing some rock to get
started on this, why don't we go? to how about
can't hardly wait from the replacements oh okay
this is one of my all -time go -to songs you
know and you talk about the opening guitar riffs
the opening guitar riff for can't hardly wait
immediately sucks me in and pleased to meet me
was a game changer album for me came out in 87
That was an interesting year for music. I have
said this multiple times that I think that 87
might be the best year of music ever. Don't at
me about that. But this was a game changer album
for me. And yeah, I just love this song so much.
What a great pick. It features Alex Chilton from
the Box Tops and Big Star on guitar. So it's
not just a clever coincidence that there's the
single. The song. No. Alex Chilton. He plays
on Can't Hardly Wait. Probably my favorite song
from The Replacements. And it might be for one
line of lyric. When I think of iconic lyrics,
Jesus rides beside me. Never buys any smokes.
Unbelievable, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Might
be my all -time favorite Paul Westerberg lyric
right there. I just love that line. And there's
so many great Paul Westerberg lyrics to choose
from as well. So, yeah. One of the greatest songwriters
of our generation that not enough people probably
know about. I would say I would put him on the
same underrated list as you put John Paul Jones.
If you're a 90s movie fan, the name of the song
might ring a bell with you for good reason. That's
true. Because there's the movie Can't Hardly
Wait, which was... Based on the song title and
the song is featured in the closing credits.
So. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Well, we've had three
upbeat songs so far. You're going to switch it
up? I think I'm going to switch it up a little
bit. I'm going to bring the tempo down and I'm
going to go with what I feel is probably one
of the most beautiful pop rock songs ever written.
And I'm going to go off of. 1970s moon dance
and i'm going to go with van morrison's into
the mystic this song was originally titled into
the misty but after he wrote the song he said
the ethereal feeling that the song put out made
him change the name to mystic i'm so glad he
did i don't know if i would take the song as
seriously if he called it into the misty but
moon dance as a whole in my opinion is Probably
Van Morrison's finest hour. I mean, he's got
a lot of it between Astro Week. I mean, his whole
70s output is amazing, but Moondance just is
a step above all of it. And for the song itself,
lyrically, it's stunning in the fact that it's
so well written lyrically, as well as so well
performed. Just as for an example, the section
of I want to rock your gypsy soul, just like
in the days of old. And magnificently we will
fold into the mystic. Like I get goosebumps just
saying the lyrics. When Van sings it, it just
completely takes me over. And like Bob O 'Reilly,
this song made Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest
songs of all time. They do get it right sometimes.
I'm glad that you picked a Van Morrison tune
because one song that didn't make my list was
I'll Be Your Lover Too. OK. And that's from his
his band in the street choir album. I mean, I
can't remember if you and I have talked about
this, but during the 90s, I was all in on Van
Morrison before I really knew kind of what an
asshole he is. So while everybody was listening
to a lot of the early 90s stuff. I was digging
through the Van Morrison catalog. I bought Tupelo
Honey. That was a game changer for me. Another
masterpiece. That album is just fantastic. So
here's what's funny. Everybody talks about how
great Moondance is. That may have been the fourth
or the fifth Van Morrison album that I bought.
Really? Yeah. So I bought Enlightenment, which
was from early 90s. I bought that album next.
I bought Astral Weeks because everybody told
me how great it was. They're not wrong. Honestly,
I feel like it's a little overrated, though.
Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. Like, I will take St. Dominic's
preview over that album any day. That's interesting.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, anyways, if you ever do
a Van Morrison mixtape, invite me back. We'll
go deep. Well, what are you going to follow up
Into the Mystic with? How can you follow up into
the mystic? How about, how about we go with another
game changer for me? Let's go. Alison from Elvis
Costello. Yes. Okay. I mean, you can't go wrong
with early Elvis Costello. He's hit or miss for
me since the eighties. Most of his albums will
have like four or five absolute gems. And then
the rest are there. Okay. kind of how i feel
about neil young albums probably how i feel also
about van morrison albums since the mid 90s as
well but this song you just have to sing along
to this it's so good my co -host wayne he says
that elvis costello is the greatest living songwriter
and i'm not sure if i totally disagree with him
on that so there you go allison And if there
was ever a case to be made for why. Right there.
This is one of the ones. My aim is true. A line
from the song being the title of the album. Shocking
that this song never charted for him as it's
easily one of his most beloved. I know it charted
for Linda Ronstadt. And when she covers your
song, does it really need any more stamp of approval
than that? No, no. Well, put a pin on that because
we're going to talk about Linda here. Spoiler
alert. All right. All right. Well, following
up Elvis Costello, I think I'm going to stick
with the alternative aspect that he brings to
music, but bring it up a couple of decades. And
I think the song that I posted about that kind
of spawned this episode idea is where I want
to go next. And I'm going to go off of one of
my. favorite albums of the 90s and maybe one
of my favorite albums of all time counting crows
august and everything after and i know where
you're going i bet you do but while the whole
album is perfect as far as i'm concerned there's
one song that resonates with me more than any
other song on the album and that is sullivan
street the song progression -wise, chord progression
-wise, actually gives me nuances of a ballad
form of Baba O 'Reilly. Okay. I don't hear the
song, but it gives me the vibe of that three
-chord progression, only definitely done in much
more Adam Duritz style. And Maria McKee's background
vocals on that song are just hauntingly undeniable.
Well, you know all the songs are about Maria,
right? Yes. But the big question is, she the
Maria? She may be one of the Marias. I was going
to say, how meta would that be to have her sing
on a song that's about the Maria? Right, right,
right. Exactly. But, I mean, Adam came out and
said on Song Facts, I'm going to read a quote
about this one. My last girlfriend, for the first
month and a half that we were going out, her
mother was living with her, and her mother's
very Catholic. We couldn't spend the night together,
so I was constantly making these drives in the
middle of the night. Very surreal, four in the
morning, falling asleep. I really believed in
the relationship, but when I was writing this
song, the lyrics came out, pretty soon I won't
come around. It wasn't what I wanted. I didn't
want it to end, but there it was. It's about
the inevitability of leaving. And I think he
summed that up perfectly in that tune. Is that
quote from the live recording they did? That
was from an interview posted on Song Facts. Was
it? About the track, yeah. Yeah, because if you
go to that live album that they did for August
and everything after, he also talks about this
relationship that he knew was... Not going to
go the distance. Yeah. Along with the CD, there's
a Blu -ray of that entire concert. Highly recommend
if you have not seen that yet to get a copy and
give it a watch. It's amazing. Highly recommend
it. Yeah. Good stuff. All right. You're up next.
All right. How do you follow Sullivan Street?
I'm going to go. Since we're talking about hypnotic
songs, let's go Dancing Barefoot from Patti Smith.
I guess it would be actually Patti Smith Roop
because it comes off of the Wave album from 1979.
People may recognize it more because it was the
theme song for the miniseries Daisy Jones and
the Six that came out last year on Amazon Prime.
This song is just hypnotic. And since I'm also
unabashed 80s U2 fan, they have a really great
cover of it. It was B -side for When Love Comes
to Town. And they do a pretty awesome job at
that as well. I'm trying to remember who else
covered it. I think Jeanette Napolitano from
Concrete Blonde also covered this. I don't love
it as much as... Bono's version or the original
version. But this song, man, this one punches
me in the face. I just love it so much. And you
know my feeling about U2 from that infamous Playlist
Wars episode. I do. Rattle and Hum might be one
of my favorite U2 albums, believe it or not.
I love Desire when love comes to town. And that's
such a perfect B -side. Shocked me that it didn't
make the actual album because it would have fit.
perfectly on rattle and hum would have totally
fit yeah there were so many good b signs from
that era their version of unchained melody is
pretty great as well painted black they did a
good yeah they did a good cover of painted black
as well um i'm trying to remember all the all
the good ones anyways i'm not focused on youtube
right now so yeah patty smith again you mentioned
daisy jones in the six i think a lot of people
discovered At least a lot of younger people discovered
the brilliance of Patti Smith through that show.
And that's why I love when shows pull these older
songs and kind of pick them out of obscurity
and give them their moment, which is amazing.
And once again, a song featured on Rolling Stone's
list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. I
believe it's like in the 300s. But yeah, yeah,
it's there. So following that up, Patti Smith
is an interesting voice to follow up. I'm going
to lean into it and go to one of my cover songs
because I'm a big fan of cover songs. And when
you cover a band as iconic as the Rolling Stones,
you better bring something to it to make it special.
We just talked about U2's version of Paint It
Black, and that's good. It's good. It's definitely
good. However, the Sunday's cover of Wild Horses
from 1992's Blind is. One of my favorite voices
of all time is Harriet Wheeler. She has such
a unique, innocent voice. It's just so perfect.
And I'll just go ahead and say it. Wild Horses
by the Sundays is one of those covers that I
love more than the original. And don't get me
wrong. I love the Rolling Stones version. Yeah.
But the version from the Sundays is just on another
level. Four years later, the whole world realized
its brilliance when it was used in the movie
Fear with Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon.
I've never seen that. I mean, it's by no means
a masterpiece of cinema, but I remember in the
90s it had its moment in the sun and everybody
was talking about it. And once the movie was
out there, they started talking about the Sunday's
cover of Wild Horses within the movie. And then
everyone started seeking this song out. And I'm
going, where have you been? Yeah. So Wild Horses
following up Dancing Barefoot. Okay. Well, I
was contemplating using the Sunday's Here's Where
the Story Ends in the playlist, but we won't
do a repeat of artists, so I'll find something
else in its place. Since we're talking females
covering great songs, let's go with one of my
favorite singers of all time, Linda Ronstad.
How about we switch it up and make it a little
bit happier, I guess? Her cover of Little Feet's
Willen. Yeah. So you just talked about how Harriet
owns that song, Wild Horses. Linda owns so many
of the songs that she has covered. I was just
listening earlier today to Blue Bayou. That's
her song. Tumbling Dice. tumbling dice talking
about rolling stones two women owning the stones
oh absolutely and this will get some vitriol
i like linda's version of tumbling dice way more
than i like the rolling stones version mine's
not way more but it's definitely more way more
wow okay yeah and of course i'm a big zevon fan
so anytime that linda has covered any zevon songs
I won't say that I love her versions more. Like
she takes some liberties on the lyrics for like
poor, poor, pitiful me, which I want to hear
Zvon's original lyrics for that. But Linda's
the best. And I have a feeling, Brian, that because
of us making this mixtape, I'm probably going
to go on a Linda Ronstadt deep dive again. That's
not a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with that
decision. One of the best. voices of that generation
and maybe ever ever i mean she's incredible the
definitive version of will and hard stop there's
no arguing that one and and i love little feet
nothing against little feet but linda just takes
the song and says i'm sorry i'm not covering
this i'm taking it it's becoming mine yep it's
hers it's unbelievable movie buffs it was featured
in you know i don't know The Abyss, 1989, James
Cameron movie. Oh, I haven't seen that since
1989, so I have no idea. This was pre -Terminator
2, James Cameron. Yeah. That was still a big
movie, though. I definitely remember that being
big for that year. Yeah, it was. It was a good
movie. Well, there's no way I'm topping the last
three female voices we've put into this fold
here. Okay. So ending aside of songs that leave
you spellbound. Anybody that knows me already
knows what song I'm putting here. Oh, no. There's
no question what song will close my side A of
a spellbinding playlist. And it's my favorite
song of all time. Paul Williams as sung by Kermit
the Frog, Rainbow Connection from 1979's The
Muppet Movie soundtrack. This is one of the first
albums I ever owned. My father worked multiple
jobs when I was really young and my mom would
always sit with me on the floor in the living
room where we'd put on music and listen to albums.
And I always wanted to put this one on. And I,
one of my first actual memories of life is sitting
in her arm, listening to this song. This song
means more to me than I could ever explain. I
have two sealed copies of the Muppet movie album.
hiding and waiting for each of my daughters to
get married one day because they will be receiving
the album on their wedding day because that is
the song we are dancing to because it is the
song I danced with my mom to at my wedding. And
she made me promise. She's like, whatever you
do, I don't think I could handle Kermit. And
I said, I promise you, we won't start dancing
to Kermit. I think it was my exact words. And
we didn't. We started dancing to Kenny Loggins
version of the Rainbow Connection. However, I'm
an audio editor. Yes. So at the end of the first
verse, I cross faded the two songs. And as soon
as she heard the banjo, it was water. And everybody
in the room knew what was about to happen. And
I just love this song so much. It puts such a
smile on my face every time I hear it. I'm almost
welling up just talking about it. So it's just
such a timeless song. And Paul Williams is such
an amazing songwriter. So I feel like that fits
in with this side more than the voice of Kermit.
It's the brilliance of Paul Williams songwriting.
Yeah. And Paul, if you're listening, I'm pretty
sure Brian wants you on his podcast. I'd say
that's a pretty heavy given. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
Yeah. Well, there you have it, folks. Side A
of our ultimate spellbinding songs mixtape, which
kicked off with The Who's Baba O 'Reilly, Led
Zeppelin's Ramblin', The Replacements' Can't
Hardly Wait, Van Morrison's Into the Mystic,
Elvis Costello's Allison, Counting Crows' Sullivan
Street, Patti Smith Group's Dancing Barefoot,
Sunday's Wild Horses, Linda Ronstadt's Willin',
and Paul Williams' A .K .A. Or not AKA in this
one, but as sung by ASA, Kermit the Frog, Rainbow
Connection. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this
mix through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, Ben, before we flip things over to
Side B, why don't you let the listeners know
a little bit more about Records Revisited? Yeah,
Records Revisited podcast. Just go out and do
all the socials. Usually I'm responding to Brian's
bad takes on the socials and bad takes and vice
versa and vice versa. So, yeah, we've been doing
this for five years. I do this with my co -host
and lifelong friend, Wayne Fugate. So there you
go. I'm so terrible at promoting myself these
days. You've probably said the spiel so many
times. So many times. I'm just like, whatever.
Well, then let's just move right along. Another
Muppet reference there. Thank you. Yeah, good.
To side B, and I'm going to kick things off.
I ended side A with my favorite song of all time.
I'm going to start side B with my favorite artist
of all time. And this is something that you and
I have talked about many, many times across both
of our collective shows. Right. And I purposely
didn't have in my arsenal any of this guy's.
songs because i knew you were going to pick something
yeah there's just no way i was getting through
this episode without it okay tell us what your
pick all right well i think i should start by
saying who this artist is because there might
be some people out there that don't know and
that artist is tom petty and i'm going to go
off of the 2009 live anthology box set i normally
don't do live versions but When he recorded learning
to fly with Stevie Nicks in a acoustic ballad
version at the 2006 Bonnaroo music and arts festival,
it blew my frigging mind. The original is one
of my top 10 all time favorite petty songs, but
this live version stripping it down to its core
and. Just this beautiful Ben Montench piano throughout
the song. And then just a stunning solo. Stevie
Nicks harmonizing background vocals. You've got
this beautiful picking that Mike Campbell's doing
over Petty's acoustic guitar. The vocal harmonies.
It brings the song down to its core. And at its
core, it's just an amazing Petty song. And at
the end of the song, the whole crowd is just
singing the chorus over and over again. And Tom
is almost doing this preacher sermon over the
song. It's just such a beautiful moment. There's
actually a video that I'm going to embed at the
episode page at myweeklymixtape .com of the Bonnaroo
live feed performance. Bonnaroo has it up on
their YouTube site. A beautiful, amazing performance.
There are so many Tom Petty songs that leave
me speechless, but this one is just on another
level. Yeah, it's good. I mean, we could talk
for hours about different Petty songs. I was
about to say, if you look up between our collective
shows in the past, I think we have talked for
collective hours about Tom Petty. We have. We
have, definitely. Yeah. If I had to pick any...
tom songs that leave me spellbound uh crawling
back to you would be on that list wildflowers
i mean wildflowers is just splendid and has all
sorts of different uh songs that have left me
spellbound over the years room at the top is
another one of those songs that would make my
list I was teetering between this live version
of Learning to Fly and then throwing a curveball
and doing I Forgive It All from Mud Crutch 2.
Interesting. When he passed and I listened to
that album again, that song just, I was frozen.
It felt like a goodbye from him. It just pulled
my heart out. And every time I hear it now that
he's gone, it hits just so much harder. I just,
God, I hope there's more in the vaults because
I can never get enough petty. Yeah, me too. all
right well um my pick i'm gonna go back to the
80s so i'm gonna go tears for fears everybody
wants to rule the world all right i know it's
probably like a not a real out there type of
pick but this song just gives me the feels and
i've probably legit heard this song thousands
of times and i still it still gives me the feels.
So there you go. I don't have anything else wonderful
to say other than it just gives me the feels
like I'm, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking
about the two different times I've seen them
live and when they did this song. And it's just,
it's a song that just means a lot to me. Like
I remember the very first time that I heard this
song on MTV and I was just. mesmerize so there
you go cheers for fierce 1985 songs from the
big chair i've had this vinyl for many many years
i have a little bit of ptsd from this song though
oh and there's a very good reason you'll understand
coming from radio i worked a radio show for four
years so you've heard this also thousands of
times this was one of the bumper songs leading
into the show that i heard once an hour Four
hours a day for four years. Just the opening
guitar part. And I love the song, but the first
15 or 20 seconds, I'm waiting to hear a voiceover.
Well, hopefully Roland and Kurt have made some
money off of. lending that uh sam bite out that
was way above my pay grade but i am sure it happened
because there were consultants involved with
the show and they were looking for the 80s demographic
and when i played that song the first time they're
like this is perfect and i'm like awesome i love
this song two and a half years into it i'm like
why did i pick this because i love the song but
i have to literally fast forward over the first
20 seconds and get to the vocals yeah yeah sorry
No, it's not your fault. It's mine for picking
it originally. But following that up, I'm going
to jump 20 years, I think. And I'm going to go
with another thing where the opening guitar grabs
my attention. And this song also has a little
bit of a story for me. But this is an artist
that I think might be a little divisive with
listeners, because some people, as soon as you
say the name, they immediately go, oh. But hear
me out, John Mayer. I actually love. his music.
I love him as a songwriter and I think he's a
ridiculously good guitar player. And one of the
albums that made me a fan was 2005's live album,
Try. Try. Yeah. With the John Mayer trio. I mean,
Jesus, you're dealing with Pino Palladino and
Steve frigging Jordan. Yeah. Like that trio is
just bonkers. It's insane. And they bring it
to the songs. And the song that I chose. was
from that album, but believe it or not, a year
later, a studio version was recorded for Continuum
and not included on the album. It was only included
as the B -side to the Waiting on the World to
Change single, which was the first thing I bought
when we were in North Carolina visiting friends.
My wife and I got the CD and we heard Waiting
for the World to Change, followed by Good Love
is on the Way. And when that song ended, I knew
the original from Try, but the first time I heard
the studio version, we were driving up Route
95 from North Carolina heading to New Jersey.
I think when I played the song, I think it was
when we got to double digits in a row. My wife
turned to me and she said, are we going for a
dozen? Is that your cutoff? I'm like, we're going
for a baker's dozen. And then we pulled it out,
went to something else. That recording is just
so amazing. And unfortunately it's not on streaming.
So I will use the version from try on the playlist,
but I'll probably embed the studio version on
the episode page as well, because it's just some
of John's best songwriting shocked. It didn't
make continuum because that would be my high
score in records visited speak. Yeah. We've done
an episode on try. Oh, and you also did an episode
on Continuum because that was the first ever
episode of Records Revisited that I heard. There
you go. There you go. All right. Yeah, we've
done a couple of mirror albums. He's not my favorite
guy in the world, but I'm with you. I think he's
a very underappreciated guitarist and a very
underappreciated songwriter as well. I'll tell
you right now, if Try was his first album and
not... Room for squares with your bodies of Wonderland.
People would have seen him a whole lot differently.
I think you're right. I think you're right. Yeah.
I don't know how to follow that. All right. Thanks
for tuning in, everyone. Let's just do this.
Since you went crazy with going from Linda Ronstad
to Kermit, let's go John Mayer to the Smiths.
That's a pivot. Yeah. So let's go. There is a
light that never goes out. That was a game changer
for me. When I first heard this on MTV in 87,
I guess it was 87, 86, 87. I want to say 86.
But it blew me away. And I had already known
the Smiths. I had had a copy of Meat is Murder.
So it wasn't like I had no idea who Johnny Marr
and Morrissey were. But this song just ramped
it up another notch for me. this is one of those
songs that when i got the album and brought it
home from tower records and i started playing
it on my record player and my co -host wayne
was living with my family for a portion of our
senior year in high school and he was like what
is this and both of us were just spellbound So
since we're talking about the definition of spellbinding,
this song is spellbinding for both of us. And
it's still a song that, again, going back to
the Tears for Fears thing, I've probably heard
a thousand times and I never get sick of it.
Never. I love it so much. As do a lot of people.
Once again, Rolling Stones, 500 greatest songs
of all time. Another choice from that. Yeah.
Maybe it's the bassist in me, but Andy Rourke's
bass playing on this track has always been the
driving factor to me. Andy Rourke's great. Yeah.
I feel like his bass line truly elevates the
song. And just saying that guts me that we lost
him in 2023. Just an amazing player. In my humble
opinion, you picked the pinnacle of the Smiths
and Morrissey. So I love the fact that you chose
this one. He just murders a great album. But
this song is, it's just, yeah. Yeah. Next level.
100%. And I think I'm going to bring us down
now a notch. Even more than Morrissey has brought
us down? I was going to say, lyrically, Morrissey
brought things down. Okay. I'm going to bring
us down musically, down to a piano. Okay. And
lyrically, it's going to start bringing us up.
Well, I'm going to bring you down then for the
next song. The song that I chose is one of the
most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard
in my entire life. Every time it comes on, I
get instant goosebumps, a lump in my throat,
and somebody starts cutting onions or something.
I don't know what's happening that there's always
onions being chopped when this song plays. But
from 2019's Daylight, I'm going to go with Grace
Potter and release. Okay. This song is so vulnerable,
so real. And the production is so stripped back.
It's literally her and a piano. It adds this
element of self -reflection to the song. And
this is the kind of song that you don't need
a big production because her voice in the piano
portray exactly what the song is meant to portray.
That being, as Grace put it, letting go of grief
and pain in order to forge a better way forward.
which for a lot of people, me included, letting
go is one of the hardest things to do. And for
someone that does struggle with anxiety, she
captures that struggle in this song, even though
it's based lyrically, it sounds like on a relationship.
You can take the lyrics and kind of put it to
whatever meaning you want. And for me, her voice,
the arrangement, just everything about this song
is just so frigging perfect. It's the reason
I love Grace Potter as a musician and as a songwriter.
And anytime I talk to somebody and I'm like,
I want to introduce you to Grace Potter, I go
right to the song. Because if it doesn't stop
them the way it stops me, Grace Potter might
not be an artist for them. Yeah. So I went with
release. Yeah. I'm not a big Grace Potter fan.
And I don't know why. Because she's kind of in
my wheelhouse. But yeah, I need to listen. to
more of her i wasn't totally familiar i guess
i kind of know this song there is a video for
it and the videos is great but there's also some
live videos again just her and a piano and i
feel like the emotion in her voice in the delivery
of this song if it doesn't grab you she might
not be an artist for you well if you're going
there then let's stay in the valley let's go
with um this woman's work from kate bush okay
so we're if you weren't already depressed and
sad and mopey like this will get you there such
a beautiful song there is a really great cover
out there also by maxwell and he doesn't change
the gender so it is he's singing it just like
kate saying it There were two versions of that,
right? He did it on MTV Unplugged in the 90s.
And then in the aughts, he put it on a studio
album as well. Yeah, correct. Correct. This is
on the soundtrack for She's Having a Baby, which
is a John Hughes movie from, what, 88? Terrible
movie. Don't go see it. But the soundtrack is
really great. Soundtrack's really great. And
this song is just, yeah. And I am definitely
an unapologetic Kate Bush fan, and I'm not even
sure this is the pinnacle of Kate, but it's right
up there. And again, if you wanted to be down
there in the valley where Grace Potter is, the
song will bring you there. These two back to
back work so well together. It's ridiculous.
And I know you said you're not a big. grace potter
fan but once we put this episode out listen to
these two songs back to back this is a punch
right here i'm i'm feeling this yeah i mean and
we set you up with morrissey as well right before
grace potter so y 'all are gonna need a xanax
or two after listening to this portion of the
playlist yeah you aren't kidding man so let's
try to change things up and go with a palate
cleanser here all right let's hear it i'm gonna
go with What I feel is one of the greatest instrumental
songs ever recorded. Okay. And this is one of
my favorite guitarists of all time. And I'm going
to go with something we talked about on the show
on episode 27, the ultimate Stevie Ray Vaughan
playlist with Patreon mixtape or David Lee Smith.
I got to go at Riviera Paradise. The first time
I heard this song, I was driving home from college.
Listening to 105 .5 WDHA at 11 o 'clock at night.
And this song started. And seven minutes later.
I was going to say, did they play the whole dang
thing? The whole song. Because it's like an eight
minute song, right? Yes, in its entirety. When
it was done, they played like three or four other
songs that I just, I kept listening until the
DJ came back and did the talk back. And the next
day I went out and bought InStep. And fell in
love with Stevie Ray Vaughan as an artist. I
already knew the hits. I knew crossfire. I knew
the house is rocking Riviera paradise was on
another level back to my wedding. When they asked
us, what kind of music do you want played during
dinner? I said, Riviera paradise, Lenny Riviera
paradise, Lenny in that order. Just keep looping
it because the songs are just, they just sink
in. And I, Can't say enough wonderful things
about what he does in this song, the way he plays
it. It's jazzy, it's rock, and it's blues all
in one. And it's the last song on his last album
on this earth. Count all the posthumous releases
he's had. This was his musical swan song, so
to speak. And what an amazing one it was. So
Stevie Ray Vaughan's Riviera Paradise. I was
just looking at my, I have the box set. Nice.
And I was looking to see if it's on there. It's
not. Ridiculous. Yeah. I mean, that's a huge
omission. So since we're talking about the songs
that stop you in your tracks, let me just give
a little story on Stevie Ray. When I was first
married, I was an assistant manager at a Sam
Goody in Spokane, Washington. We opened up the
store at a brand new mall. So I had we had all
of these people from Minneapolis that had come
to unpack the semi truck to help us get the store
all set up. And we all took turns picking something
on the stereo or the DVD player because we had
television screens all around the store. One
of the guys picked a Stevie Ray Vaughan. live
recording i and i'm trying to remember which
dvd it was but it would have been 96 97 when
it when it came out we're all wheeling our stuff
into this store and i kid you not there was like
eight or nine of us who were unpacking the semi
and every one of us stopped we got in the door
stevie ray is going on i think it was his version
of little wing which is just ridiculous amazing
how do you even top jimmy hendrix stevie ray
did and all of us stopped like we all got in
the door and we finished watching little wing
and then once it was done we all went about our
business again but that's what we're talking
about these are songs that stop you dead in your
tracks because they're so good so all right i'll
get off my soapbox Soapbox away. Now we've taken
it down, and now we've had eight minutes to clear
our mind from the onslaught of the Smiths, Grace
Potter, and Kate Bush. How are we coming out
of Riviera Paradise? Yeah, let's go a little
upbeat. You know that I'm a big Gaslight Anthem
fan, so I'm going to choose 45. That's my go
-to Gaslight Anthem song. I think that that gets
us a little bit out of our doldrums here. It's
a rocker, even though it's, I guess it's a sad
song. It's a breakup song. But just the play
on words of, you know, flip the record over.
It's just, it gets me every time. And Wayne and
I had the opportunity to see Gaslight Anthem
last year. This was the song that they closed
out the set. And it was just, that's how you
do it. You leave the people wanting more and
closing your set on 45. That freaking did it.
Amazing song. Anyways, Gaslight Anthem. Going
back many, many years, my wife and I lived near
a club in Garwood, New Jersey. Okay. Yeah. And
one night I saw online Brian Fallon was playing
a solo show there. Sold out within seconds. Sure.
Absolutely. However. Brian came out on stage
and said, yeah, it's actually not a solo show.
Gaslight Anthem came out and did a whole set
for this tiny little place that I've played hundreds
of times over the years. Love the place. Love
the venue. Crossroads, Garwood, New Jersey. They've
had Frank Turner's gone through there even recently.
It's just a great venue. One of the small local
New Jersey venues. And they just surprised everybody
and did a Gaslight Anthem show. You picked my
favorite Gaslight Anthem song from my favorite
Gaslight Anthem album. So major kudos to that.
Brian Fallon's a poet on this track. Taking a
love story and turning it into a musical metaphor.
You're speaking my language, man. Like that just.
hits right where it needs to be i love handwritten
all the way through but i highly suggest if people
go out to buy it or stream it whatever you do
grab the deluxe version because there's a cool
cover of tom petty's you got lucky on that one
there is you knew you knew i was going to bring
that oh yeah oh yeah of course you were going
to bring that as if i needed a reason to like
gaslight anthem more they cover tom petty and
they do it well come on and his when he does
the his little collaboration, The Horrible Crows,
he also mixes in, and I'm trying to remember
which song it was. Never Tear Us Apart by NXS.
He does that as well, but he also does Pictures
of You from The Cure. Really? Yeah. All right.
I haven't heard The Cure one. That almost made,
The Cure's version, of course, almost made my
list here, but we'll save that for the next mixtape.
All right. Well, you've got this punk thing going.
Okay. And I've got one song left. So I'm going
to see your punk, but I'm also going to see this
vibe that we've kind of put together. This is
a little bit more of a reflective, little downside,
little more end of the night kind of driving
home music. And I'm going to take a punk song
that incorporates both. Okay. I'm going to go
from 2002's Drunken Lullabies. I'm going to go
with Flogging Molly, If I Ever Leave This World
Alive. If there's a song that's both gut -wrenchingly
heartbreaking and joyful all at the same time,
I get that that oxymoron makes no sense. But
when you listen to the song, lyrics like wherever
I am, you'll always be more than just a memory
makes it seem very final. But later in the song,
if I ever leave this world, hey, I may never
leave this world. but if I ever leave this world
alive, paints a different picture. This is coming
from the guy that used to be the lead singer
of fast way in the eighties. And when Dave King
switched from, I guess you'd call it eighties
hair metal, so to speak. And he brought this
Irish punk rock band out. I was very intrigued
and instantly fell in love with the band, been
a big fan for many, many years. And this song
always hits me when they play it live. It just,
chokes me up it's just such a perfect follow
-up to 45 because you bring that punk energy
at the end but it comes after this really long
build really reflective build and it's kind of
that like encore moment and i feel like coming
out of 45 it just works really really well so
flogging molly's if i ever leave this world alive
very good i barely know this one really Which
is really kind of surprising when, when, when
I tell people that I'm a big dropkick Murphy's
fan, they're like, Oh, flogging Molly too. I'm
like, no. Wow. And I don't even know why, dude.
Yeah. Go back to my comments about Grace Potter.
I don't even know why. So musical blind spot
or something. Maybe, maybe send me a playlist
that I need to. I need to indoctrinate myself
on flogging Molly. So consider it done. I'll
give you a 10 song playlist war style introduction
to them. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. Okay.
All right. What are you going to close out the
evening with? I think I'm going to bring us down
again. Is that okay? By all means. It feels like
if I ever leave this world alive is like the
main set closer and then lead singer comes back
out. with him and just a guitar. So let's go
father and son from cat Stevens to close it out.
Cause this is, this is a song that has taken
on some different meanings for me over the years.
I am a dad. I do have three sons, so I've got
that. And this became even more poignant for
me. I lost my dad in 2019. it's okay he was old
lived a great life but still kind of hurts like
father's day my dad wasn't a big talker on the
phone for instance so i always looked forward
to father's day you know we would talk on father's
day and you know christmas day and yeah this
is just one of those again it's i'm driving into
my my driveway and this song comes on and Yeah,
I might have to wipe my eyes a little bit. Go
back to your comments about the onions. This
is a judgment -free zone, man. What? I'm cutting
onions in my car. What? You've never done that?
Now, I'll give you this. I love the version from
1970s Tea for the Tillerman, but the 2020 re
-recording he did with 72 -year -old Cat Stevens
mixed with 22 -year -old Cat Stevens. Yeah. Hit
me on a level that was just I wasn't expecting
that when his original voice came into that recording.
And I'm like, oh, my God, this is him singing
with himself with 50 years of hindsight. It took
the song to completely different places for me.
It was like he was now the father and the son
singing back and forth. And the moment where
the two voices come together. Yeah, I can't.
Yeah, there's a few songs. That remind me of
dad. And I don't know if I could listen to that
version. Given what you just said, I totally
understand that, man. But once again, ranked
on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs of all
time. Considering how many times I've mentioned
that tonight, I think there's a future episode
on the way. 20 of the best 500 Rolling Stone
songs of all time. But an extremely poignant
way to close outside B, man. This is a good mixtape,
dude. No, I don't think we're messing around
on this one. It's kind of all over the place,
but this is a good mixtape. But when you're talking
to two music podcasters who have completely different
palettes of music that change from a lot of different
genres and a lot of different styles of music,
this actually has a theme to it. There's some
variance. But I didn't bring any poison to this
mix. I didn't bring. And there's, believe it
or not, hey, something to believe it hits me.
My father's a Vietnam veteran. I could have had
that in my bank, but it just didn't work here.
But I think there's a definite theme going on
here. And Side B kicked off with. Tom Petty and
the Heartbreakers, Learning to Fly, the live
version from the live anthology. Tears for Fears,
Everybody Wants to Rule the World. John Mayer's
Good Love is on the Way. The Smiths, There's
a Light That Never Goes Out. Grace Potter's Release.
Kate Bush's This Woman's Work. Stevie Ray Vaughan's
Riviera Paradise. The Gaslight Anthems, 45. Flogging
Molly's If I Ever Leave This World Alive. And
Cat Stevens. father, and son. Head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed in
this mix through the playlist embedded on the
episode page. Ben, this has been an absolute
pleasure. This has been a blast, dude. This is
a cool concept and I think, you know, it's resonating.
People are digging this. So, yeah, thanks for
having me on, man. It's always a blast. Look
forward to talking music with you again very
soon, man. And remember, you can find My Weekly
Mixtape on almost all the social media haunts
at My Weekly Mixtape. You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape
.com to check out the full catalog of My Weekly
Mixtape episodes. And if you like what you're
hearing on the show, you can help me out by either
telling a friend, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at Patreon .com forward slash
My Weekly Mixtape. That's all for this week.
Thanks again for listening. Until next time,
enjoy the tunes.