Playlist for Not an Old Fashioned Love Song

Side A:

  1. Two Nice Girls, "I Spent My Last $10.00 (on Birth Control and Beer)" from Two Nice Girls (1989). I first heard this on an NPR station in eastern Oklahoma. Not exactly what one expects in Oral Roberts territory.

  2. Judy Small, "The IPD" from One Voice in the Crowd (1985). Sauce for the gander.

  3. Alice Ghostley, "Boston Beguine" from New Faces of 1952 - Original Cast (1952), introduced by Virginia de Luce. The cast album of this musical qualifies as the one I'd most like to see come out on CD. In addition to Alice Ghostley, the new faces included Robert Clary, Paul Lynde, and Eartha Kitt.

  4. Derek Stearns and Eileen Nugent, "There's Always Next Year" from The Curse of the Bambino - Original Cast (2001). Continuing on the Boston theme, if you don't think a song about the Red Sox is a love song, you don't know me well.

  5. Pierre Bensusan, "Au Jardin d'Amour" from Solilai (1982). My favorite guitarist with a love poem.

  6. Kim Wallach, "The Ballad of Erica Levine" from The Coldest Winter in Living Memory (1983). This song echoes a lot of my ideas about marriage.

  7. The Chenille Sisters, "You Sexy Dog" from Room to Breathe (2002). Clever lyrics and harmonic light jazz.

  8. Austin Lounge Lizards, "Hot Tubs of Tears" from Creatures From the Black Saloon (1984). Possibly the ultimate song about California.

  9. Yat Kha, "Charash Karaa" from Dalai Beldiri (1999). I couldn't make a mix tape without some Tuvan throat singing on it. The lyrics are supposedly something comparing the singer's lover's eyes to stars.

  10. Suzanne Henry, "Marry Me a Little" from Marry Me a Little - Original Cast (1981). Because Sondheim is also obligatory.

  11. Eric Bogle, "Little Gomez" from The Eric Bogle Songbook (1989). This is not quite as famous as Bogle's "Nobody's Moggy Now" but chihuahuas are more deserving of this fate.

  12. Pepe and the Bottle Blonds, "L'oranguta" from Latenight Betty (2000). My favorite song of the mix. I defy you to sit still while listening to it. And, if you're like me, you'll be walking around singing snatches of it for days.

  13. Kay McClelland, "With Every Breath I Take" from City of Angels - Original Cast (1990). In the good old days when Broadway and pop music had more to do with each other, this would have been a major hit.

  14. Michael Flanders and Donald Swan, "Misalliance" from At the Drop of a Hat (London recording - 1959). The course of interspecies love never does run true.

Side B:

  1. Jonathan Richman, "Give Paris One More Chance" from Her Mystery, Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001). From the first moment I heard this song, I was ready to hop a plane to revisit Paris.

  2. Paris Combo, "Attraction" from Attraction (2001). More or less traditional musette music.

  3. Andy M. Stewart, "The Errant Apprentice" from Man in the Moon (1994). One of my favorite Scottish singers tackles the thorny issues that arise when the love of beer leads to the love of a bad woman.

  4. Stan Rogers, "45 Years" from Home in Halifax (1982). This is the song I wish somebody had written for me.

  5. Virginia Rodriguez, "Manha de Carnaval" from Sol Negro (1997). Brazilian music in the fado style.

  6. Uncle Ruthie Buell, "In Loving Mammary" from The Mysteries of Time (1994). Uncle Ruthie is best known for doing a children's music show on the radio in Los Angeles. This is obviously not from that show.

  7. Uncle Bonsai, "Penis Envy" from The Inessential Uncle Bonsai (1992). While we're on the subject of body parts....

  8. Christine Lavin, "Artificial Means" from Future Fossils (1986). And then there are the times when body parts just aren't enough.

  9. The Foremen, "Firing the Surgeon General" from Folk Heroes (1995). Los Angeles satirists in a tribute to Jocelyn Elders.

  10. Huun-Huur-Tu, "Ezertep-le Bereyin Be (Do You Want Me to Saddle You?) from Where Young Grass Grows (1999). More Tuvan throat singing. I have to admit that I have no idea what the lyrics of this means, but their translation of the title is certainly suggestive.

  11. Anita Gillette, "The Secret Service" from Mr. President - Original Cast (1962). Obviously, times have changed and the Bush twins don't care.

  12. The Bobs, "Drive By Love" from Shut Up and Sing (1993). San Francisco a capella gods.

  13. Fred Small, "If I Were a Moose" from I Will Stand Fast (1988). A more successful interspecies romance.

  14. Greg Germann and Annie Golden, "Unworthy of Your Love" from Assassins - Original Cast (1991). This sounds sweet, albeit rather codependent, no? What if I tell you it's sung in the show by John Hinckley to Jody Foster and by Squeaky Fromme to Charlie Manson? Sondheim is often at his best when at his sickest.