I tend toward surf, sun, and feel good party music, preferably with lotsa twangy guitar, thundering drums, and lyrics with cars, chicks, and sunny weather. I also like a lot of obscure stuff. All of these should still be available for download on Amazon, if you are so inclined.
My playlist:
Bitchen Summer/Speedway (The Bangles)
Summer Fun (The Barracudas)
Summer Means Fun (Bruce and Terry)
Pipeline (The Chantays)
The Rising Surf (The Tandems)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
In the Sun (Blondie)
Rockaway Beach (The Ramones)
Pier Pressure (Teisco Del Rey)
Bangalore (The Blazers)
Telstar (The Tornadoes)
Saints (The Breeders)
Pacifica (Los Straitjackets)
I Live For the Sun (The Dragsters)
Wipe Out (The Surfaris)
Bite the Hand that Feeds (instrumental) (Agent Orange)
Surf City (Jan & Dean)
Walk, Don’t Run (The Ventures)
Apache (Jorgen Ingmann)
Misirlou (Dick Dale)
Seville (Teisco Del Rey)
All Summer Long (Kid Rock)
Haunted Beach Party (The Pandoras)
Mojave (The Insect Surfers)
Hammerhead (The Halibuts)
Out of Limits (The Marketts)
Surf Rider (The Lively Ones)
Hot Summer Nights (Night)
I Got a Line on You (Spirit)
Rock and Roll, Hootchie Koo (Rick Derringer)
White Tornado (R.E.M.)
Sandoway (The Exotics)
Surfers Are Back (The Barracudas)
Dreaming Out Loud–Daniel Kadawatha
Steal My Sunshine–Len
Rollercoaster–Bleachers
Helena Beat–Foster The People
Na Na Na-My Chemical Romance
California Girls -David Lee Roth version
Dance The Night Away–Van Halen
Hella Good–No Doubt
Say You’ll Be There–Spice Girls
Summertime Sadness–Lana Del Rey
Going to Hell–The Pretty Reckless
Young Blood–The Naked and Famous
Sugar, Sugar–The Archies
Waves–Mr Probz
Lost Kitten–Metric
Moaning Lisa Smile–Wolf Alice
Hey Good Lookin’–Blonde Tongues
Drone–Chastity Belt
Yup. Gonna have to add those. Haven’t heard either one in years. I’d also opt to include the “original” rendition of the piano riff in Steal My Sunshine by including the Andrea True Connection song “More More More” from which it was sampled. I remember listening to “More More More” one hot summer as a teenager when I first discovered girls. Good stuff.
I got to see them play at New Mexico State University in 1986 right after that album came out. Loved that record. It was political without being overbearing, sort of like REM had started listening to U2. Michael Stipe told the audience how beautiful he thought White Sands National Monument was.
I loved REM all the way through their years with IRS records, so don’t misunderstand me that I’m trashing the band or anything.
But having said that the 1986 concert I saw was pathetic. The venue was about 3/4 empty (surprising for a favorite college band in the 1980’s but, hey, it was a podunk town back then). Michael Stipe was so drunk he could barely stand up straight. They pretty much did a “close to the record as possible” reading of the songs from Lifes Rich Pageant. The only other highlight I remember was that they resurrected “Sitting Still” and just did a fantastic version of it. I wish to this day they had done my favorite: Radio Free Europe. I never had another chance to see them. I don’t think they ever again stopped in this area.
