01 Oct Matador Playlist 9/26/24

Having taken a brief 4 1/2 year hiatus from the DJ booth at Ye Olde Matador Bar & Lounge, I had forgotten how quickly these playlists come along. Like, uh, one a week it seems. There’s no small amount of busy work involved in transcribing these things from the Matador laptop (an older but still very serviceable MacBook that has no other purpose but to be home to my Matador music) to my Numero Uno laptop (a brand spanking new maxed out 2024 MacBook Pro) and then compiling all the associated YouTube links together so that you, Gentle Reader(s), can be a Gentle Listener(s), if you so desire. I have no idea if anyone anywhere ever clicks the link and actually listens to these playlists, but for some obscure reason I feel compelled to put them up regardless. It gets easier and faster the more I do it, but still… I’m sure there must be some sort of support group or 12-step program out there to gently prod me back in the direction of rationality, but who’s got time for that? Reality? Pffft! Overrated.

Some of you—and by ‘some of you’ I mean… you—might have noticed that I just posted a piece about the great Joe Boyd. Joe has had the kind of career in music that, in my dream of dreams, I wish I could have had. Being a celebrated and sought-after producer would be a pretty great gig to my thinking, but if you’re also a musician—which rumor has it that I am—that can have the potential to complicate things. If you’re a player/composer in your own right it can be seen as potentially problematic to be involved in the nuts and bolts aspects of other artists’ careers, such as in the recording studio. Something along the lines of, ‘Why am I sweating over this person’s songs and this person’s session when I’d rather be sweating over my own stuff?’ This situation has an approximate analogy in the art business: It’s not unusual for galleries to employ artists, but they’re pretty much always relegated to back-of-house duties, as in art handling, installation, lighting, etc. It’s considered to be inappropriate to have an artist front-of-house dealing directly with clients, the suspicion being that they wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of steering clients in the direction of their own work. Shiny young people with degrees in Art History—not Art Studio—are the front-of-house norm in the art world. Keep the paint-splattered weirdos back in the shop with the ladders, the spare light bulbs and the bubble wrap.

But I’ll admit—this theory of mine, if it may be dignified as such, doesn’t really hold up so well in the music biz. There are, in fact, lots of musicians out there who have been brought into the studio to produce other artists. A notable case in point would be Todd Rundgren, whose biography I am currently reading. In addition to his career as an acclaimed recording and performing artiste Todd has had a remarkably successful run as a producer. He has had a significant hand in hit albums by Meatloaf, Badfinger, Grand Funk, Hall & Oates, XTC, the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick, the Psychedelic Furs and Sparks—and when I say ‘hit’, I mean HUGE hits in several instances. Case in point: Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell album—produced by Todd—has sold over 43 million copies worldwide since it’s release in 1977. That’s like… a lot. That makes Bat Out of Hell number six on the all-time bestseller list, just two positions below Dark Side of the Moon. That stat will likely earn you a few follow up gigs.

One problem with Todd Rundgren as producer can be that records by other artists he’s been involved with can sometimes end up sounding rather suspiciously like Todd Rundgren albums. His sensibilities as an musician have, on occasion, seeped through into his sensibilities as a producer, lending a distinctly Todd-like quality to albums like XTC’s 1986 release Skylarking. Andy Partridge & his bandmates had a famously contentious relationship with their producer and there were hard feelings and hard words all around, but Skylarking is now considered to be XTC’s finest hour and their most popular album. As for myself, I’ll take Black Sea and Drums and Wires over Skylarking any day, but what the hell do I know?

So, I shall continue to bash away on my guitar and fiddle about with my drum machines and such, and should it ever come to pass that Joe or Todd might take an interest, then either one of them can have their way with me. Turn it up to 11? Yessir, Mr. Boyd! More cowbell? Right away, Mr. Rundgren!

Be that as it may, I know what you’re really here for, and here it is: Yet another thrilling Matador playlist and its accompanying YouTube doppelgänger. Enjoy, Gentle Reader(s), and I shall return later this very week with another installment.

Grammar of Life – Charles Bukowski
Bulldog – the Fireballs
Sleep With Me – Mark Lanegan Band
The Clapping Song – Shirley Ellis
Cities in Dust – Siouxsie & the Banshees
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Neil Young
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais – the Clash
Monday – Wilco
Pain – Tiger Army
Don’t Look Back in Anger – Oasis
Cry – the Birthday Party
Ode to Billie Joe – Bobbie Gentry
Rat Bastard – the Shods
The Rover – Led Zeppelin
This Charming Man – the Smiths
Breed – Nirvana
Scary Monsters (And Super Freaks) – David Bowie
Highway to Hell – AC/DC
Band of Gold – Freda Payne
In the Meantime – Helmet
Five Foot One – Iggy Pop
Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill – the Bosstweeds
I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me) Pt. 1 – James Brown
Good By Johnny – the Gun Club
Shake Some Action – the Flamin’ Groovies
No Horse – the Dead Weather
A New England – Billy Bragg (duet with/ Bro Cubbie)
Sin City – the Flying Burrito Brothers
Train in Vain – the Clash
The Kids are Alright – the Who
Down by the Water – PJ Harvey
Cassavetes – Fugazi
No Matter What – Badfinger
Machine Gun Etiquette- the Damned
Fire – Ohio Players
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie – Black Flag
No More Hot Dogs – Hasil Adkins
Photograph – Def Leppard
I Was In Love With You – the Gutter Twins
Oye Como Va – Santana
Hanging on the Telephone – Blondie
The Great Salt Lake – Band of Horses
Aphrodisiac – Bow Wow Wow
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – the Ramones
Food for Clouds – the Brian Jonestown Massacre
Blue Jean – David Bowie
Bohemian Like You – Dandy Warhols
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – Elvis Costello & the Attractions
American Psycho – the Misfits
The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon – the Cramps
Ugly Boy – Die Antwoord
Bomber – Motörhead
Do You Love Me? – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Flashlight – Parliament
Sheela-Na-Gig – PJ Harvey
Little Sister – Queens of the Stone Age
Waiting for the Siren’s Call – New Order
Shadow of the Season – Screaming Trees
Doll Parts – Hole (request)
Crazy – Patsy Cline
Tupelo – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Cream – Prince
In the Dark – Billy Squier
Transmission – Joy Division (request)
Bubbles in my Beer – Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now – the Smiths
Friend of Mine – the National
6’1” – Liz Phair
Winterlong – Pixies
Always A Friend – Alejandro Escovedo
Kick Out the Jams – MC5
Wide Awake – Parquet Courts
Denver Haircut – the Hold Steady
Dancing Barefoot – Patti Smith
The Look of Love, Pt. 1 – ABC
Theme from Shaft – Isaac Hayes
Back in Your Arms Again – the Mavericks
Roadhouse Blues – the Doors
Marquee Moon – Television
Billy the Kid – Marty Robbins
Don’t Stop the Dance – Bryan Ferry
Fell On Black Days – Soundgarden
World Without Tears – Lucinda Williams