I guess you can say I’m a lucky one. I get to celebrate not one but two Thanksgivings.  Why?  Well, since I was born in Canada, the second Monday in October is Canadian Thanksgiving — and there is turkey served in our house… and it is good. But I’ve lived in the United States since I was one, so of course I celebrate U.S. Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November — and there is turkey served in our house…and it is good. But while there aren’t that many songs about Thanksgiving, there are a good many about one of my Thanksgiving favorites:  pie.  I’m aware that these songs aren’t necessarily about desserts, but they do provide a good Thanksgiving soundtrack that, if anything, will make you smile that knowing smile as one track segues into another.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Popdose readers in the U.S. And for those of you who don’t reside the US of A, I hope you can raise a glass and enjoy a great meal with your friends and family this week.

“Country Pie,” Bob Dylan (Download)

I was looking at Bob Dylan’s Facebook Like page, and oddly enough there isn’t any mention of pie on his bio.  For a guy who sings about it so energetically, I would think he would have at least one small mention about pie.  But…that’s Bob. Always pushing forward and never being nostalgic about the past — or pie.

“Black Coffee,” Humble Pie (Download)

A an easy riddle:  what goes great with pie?  You could say “more pie,” but really black coffee makes for a nice contrast.  The sweetness of a pie with the bitterness of the coffee.  Just thinking about it makes you kind of hungry, huh.

“Custard Pie,” Led Zeppelin (Download)

Probably one of the most unsubtle lyrics about sex since Warrant’s “Cherry Pie.” But still, with the full on rock/blues thing that Zep had down so well, the PG-13 lyrics really don’t matter since Plant’s vocals are kind of obscured by the music.

“Lemon Pie,” Stawbs (Download)

Another song about a woman’s pie — and not the kind she would bake and serve to the whole family.  According the Wiki on this song, Dave Cousins from the band wrote the tune about, yes, a woman he was pursuing.  The real life story ends with the “Lemon lady” becoming his wife.

“Honey Pie,” The Beatles (Download)

 Bob Dylan may not be nostalgic, but never let it be said that Paul McCartney isn’t one who like to slip into the past…

“American Pie,” Don McLean (Download)

And what mix about pie would be complete without Don McLean’s anthem to the loss of a rock icon.  Whatever you make of the song (and people have read deeply into the lyrics), it certainly does connote the loss of “better days.”  But on Thanksgiving, loss is something that many of us stay clear of, so let’s not dwell on the boo hoo. Rather, let’s eat!

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The other day, I was messing around with Spotify’s “related artists” tab after listening to a song by The Smiths. And I found that in short order I was back listening to music that brought me back to my college years. You know, that brief bubble in time when many of us find music that’s off the beaten path (unless you were already listening to stuff off the beaten path) that’s new, exciting, and helps you shape your identity in terms of music you bond with.  For me, it was new wave/modern rock/alternative rock that defined much of my musical tastes.  I still love the genre, though I admit that to my aging ears, much of what gets played on the radio that falls under the heading “Alternative rock” sounds stylistically similar.  I suppose it’s the nature of the music industry — where a trend is favored, and like any business, they saturate that product until the law of diminishing returns kicks in and people grow tired of the band, the style, or the song. But when those songs that were once riding a wave of popularity gets shelved and take a rest — allowing for listener fatigue to wane — they sound rather good when brought back for a brief spotlight dance.  And so, here we go with six songs that, for me, take me back to my college years — when I had hair.

“C’mon Every Beatbox,” Big Audio Dynamite (Download)

What I loved about B.A.D. was their ability to skillfully weave audio clips into their songs that added extra context to what they were singing about.  But that’s not all. Because I’m a sucker for great pop hooks, their sense of (and, I’m taking this from another B.A.D. song) rhythm and melody was superior to many pop artists of the day.  Listening to this songs 24 years later, it has some dated musical elements, but overall I think it holds up really well.

“Fashion,” David Bowie (Download)

Okay, this song did not come out when I was in college (I was still in middle school), but it resurfaced in the mid to late ’80s as Bowie’s back catalogue got more play from yours truly.  Why?  Partly because I liked Bowie, but mostly because my girlfriend (who is now my wife) liked Bowie (Go ahead and make whatever joke that’s on the tip of your tongue.)  However, when surveying Bowie’s output in the ’80s, I think this song is one of Bowie’s most solid singles.  It combines his love of the arty farty with some great guitar work from Robert Fripp.

“Infected,” The The (Download)

Mostly a vehicle for Matt Johnson, The The’s Soul Mining was an impulse buy for me.  I knew nothing about the group, but the album art intrigued me, and so I took a chance and was rewarded with an amazing album.  When The The/Matt Johnson followed up with Infected in 1986, I hoped he would continue making great neurotic pop songs — and he didn’t disappoint.  ”Infected” (the single) had a similar long intro like “I’ve Been Waiting For Tomorrow (All of My Life)” from Soul Mining, and the lyrics certainly wove in allusions to STDs as a metaphor for love and desire. But if Johnson didn’t remain true to his devotion to pop hooks, the song would have been a real downer.

“Bedbugs and Ballyhoo,” Echo and the Bunnymen (Download)

A departure for the Bunnymen –stylistically speaking, that is.  With the release of their self-titled album in 1987, Echo and the Bunnymen really scaled back the new wave psychedelia of their earlier records, and, interestingly enough, channeled The Doors on this song.  Part of that fascination with the Doors could be because the group contributed a cover of “People are Strange” to The Lost Boys soundtrack and found that they liked their stay in the Morrison Hotel.  Nevertheless, the song has a great groove on drums and bass — even though the lyrics are pretty nonsensical.

“F***ing in Rhythm & Sorrow, ” The Sugarcubes (Download)

Before the Internet made everyone a critic, there was a time when I bought the hype and recommendations from music magazines, MTV’s 120 Minutes, and, of course, friends.  When The Sugarcubes were being touted as one of best bands ever, I made sure I was at Tower Records the next day to pick up an album I thought I had to have in my possession.  I saw the video to “Birthday” and rather liked the song, and the rest of the album did live up to the hype. I played the album for weeks on end, and loved the combination of Bjork’s powerful vocals and Einar Örn Benediktsson’s strange commentaries.  Alas, their staying power as the next big thing was short-lived.  But what a great debut album from a country that really didn’t produce any kind of rock music.

“All Day Long,” New Order (Download)

I knew very little about New Order prior to 1988.  Sure, I was aware of some of their songs, but they weren’t in my record collection — until my girlfriend made me a mix tape that had some of their music on it.  After that, I went right to Tower Record (or Rasputin’s) to buy a few LPs. “All Day Long” will always be one of my favorites from New Order because it has such a hypnotic vibe that makes it less a dance song than one that make you want to slip on the headphones and get lost in the layers of nicely crafted synth.

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The Moody Blues were the band that exposed me to what later became known as progressive rock.  Back in the early ‘70s when I first heard their records, I was but a small lad whose musical tastes centered on what was on top 40 radio. It was also a time when I was strangely obsessed with the music of the Beach Boys — but that’s another Mix Six for another time.  You know how they say older siblings or even parents often shape one’s musical tastes?  Well, when it came to the Moody Blues, the answer is both.  My mother, step dad, and oldest brother were quite taken by the Moodies and consequently their records were often the ones that were on high rotation on the record console in my house.  So what that means is when a few people in the house have a bit of a monopoly over the stereo, you just surrender to what’s on and enjoy the ride.  Thankfully, the Moody Blues’ music was something I found interesting (even as a young boy).  They had long, trippy songs, poems, hard rocking tunes, love songs, and even symphonic embellishments. It was a kind of one stop shop band where you could get many musical styles on any given album.

When putting this mix together, I quickly realized that I was a “core seven” kind of guy. That is to say, I was never really into the Moodies when they were an R&B band, nor did I really connect with their music after Long Distance Voyager. After 1981, Justin Hayward and John Lodge took over as the primary songwriters, and the Moody Blues’ music lost whatever psychedelic edge they had cultivated from 1967-1972 in favor of a softer, more adult contemporary sound.

“Sunset” (Download)

Michael Pinder was an integral member of the band, and his influence on the more trippy/psychedelic/prog songs is very evident on “Sunset.” Taken from their second album, Days of Future Passed,  “Sunset” fuses symphonic, Indian and Middle Eastern musical flourishes in a spare, but effective way.

“The Word/Om”  (Download)

As I wrote in the outset, the Moody Blues often included spoken word poetry, and on In Search of the Lost Chord the band really reflected the infatuation some British rockers had with Hinduism. Justin Hayward played the sitar on “Om” (as well as “Sunset”), and he does a wonderful job of adding a nice base layer so Ray Thomas’ flute playing and the band’s harmonizing could shine.

“Higher and Higher”  (Download)

 When I was a kid, the Apollo program transfixed me — and the Moody Blues, too.  “Higher and Higher” somewhat gets beyond the mysticism the band explored on their earlier albums and is a sort of paean to space flight and what humankind could create with science and technology.  That’s not to say that the band wasn’t skeptical about modernism (a recurring theme in some rock music of this era), but if you were alive when humans were walking on the moon, it was hard to be anything but amazed by what us mere mortals accomplished.

“In the Beginning/Lovely to See You” (Download)

I’m skipping the chronology of the albums here, but “In the Beginning” really captures the sense of alienation from the modern world that many boomers were reacting to.  You certainly hear it in the questioning of the first character, the overbearing computerized voice of the second character, and the third character who implores the first not to give in to a soulless culture.  “Lovely to See You” is classic Justin Hayward:  a pretty song steeped in themes of love and deep connection.  And, lest I forget, his killer guitar work.

“And the Tide Rushes In” (Download)

Ray Thomas has retired from the band, but he often wrote some really fine love songs that were deeply introspective, and diversified the band’s sound in such a way that they couldn’t be pigeonholed only as a psychedelic band.

“Isn’t Life Strange”  (Download)

 John Lodge’s songs explore similar themes as Hayward’s (usually love), but unlike his counterpart, his songs often have odd vocal phrasings that can be a bit darker.  I was surprised that this song was a released as a single back in 1972.  If I were an A&R guy, I don’t think I would have picked this as a single for radio play, but it peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. Go figure.

“The Story in Your Eyes” (Download)

Another Justin Hayward classic! With the opening guitar riff, his velvety vocals, the earnest lyrics, and the background vocals from the entire group, it’s pretty clear why he eventually became the de facto leader of the band:  his songs were the most radio-friendly.

“Veteran Cosmic Rocker”  (Download)

 Because the Moody Blues have had more chart success with the Hayward/Lodge songs than those by Pinder, Thomas and Edge, I wanted to feature more songs by the latter than the former.  I feel the combination (and contributions) of all the band members made the Moody Blues a wonderfully diverse group who produced seven amazing albums — and then kind of drifted into a much more mellow (and less adventurous) sound that certainly produced hits for them, but lacked the spirit of their progressive rock days.  “Veteran Cosmic Rocker” contains musical elements from their early days, but Thomas’ lyrics signal that while the group was still making music, their sound and their spirit would eventually die. Alas, Ray Thomas was right.

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Remember in the 1980s when Australia was just, well, everywhere?  In music, movies, TV, and of course, the radio.  No?  Well, I do, and the other day I was sitting around listening to music on my iPhone (on Genius Mix) and a bunch of Aussie songs came on and triggered one of those “Aha!  This might make a good mix” moments.  So a couple of songs on my iPhone leads to six, and now you have this week’s Mix Six. Yes, most of the songs featured are very mainstream, and some of the songs are pretty old, but hey, that’s the way the Foster’s oil can crumbles, right?

“Sun Dirt Water,” the Waifs (Download)

I saw these boozy gals headline in San Rafael a few years ago, and they were hilarious.  I say they were boozy because, quite frankly, they were completely lit on stage.  But that didn’t stop them from putting on a great show that had the audience just naturally giddy.  Okay, I would say more than a few had a good beer buzz going, but the band performed admirably and was having a hell of a time on stage.   Sure, everyone loved it when the band busted out ”London Still,” but “Sun Dirt Water” was another high point in the show that added the right kind of atmospherics after a number of rockin’ songs.

“Overkill,” Men at Work (Download)

The year I graduated from high school, Men at Work released this rather somber follow up to their debut, Business as Usual.  The album did reasonably well, but it seemed all the wacky stuff they were doing on the first album was completely missing on songs like “Overkill” — which was probably the first time I’ve ever heard the word “nullify” in a song.

“Original Sin,” INXS (Download)

Loved, loved, loved Shabooh Shoobah from INXS.  Great songs, great vibe, and made me ready for more.  When the group released The Swing – and the lead single, “Original Sin”– it was a tepid response by radio and even MTV in the U.S.  But you know what?  I freakin’ loved the song. It has such a cool and spare feel to it, allowing the lyrics (especially the chorus) to really bubble up to the front.  Little did I know at the time that Daryl Hall sang backup vocals on this song, so listen carefully to the song if you didn’t know half of Hall and Oates sings on the chorus.

“The Dead Heart,” Midnight Oil (Download)

When “The Dead Heart” came out, one of my friends called it the “Let’s diss the white people song.”  But Peter Garrett does more than just sing the song from the point of view of Australian natives, he goes on to diss the fact that corporations have more rights than the ordinary Bloke or Sheila in the land down under. Now that he’s a big elected politico in Australia, he not only talks the talk of what he sang about all those years ago, but he walks the walk.

“Joker and the Thief,” Wolfmother (Download)

Back in the day before my practice space burnt down and I lost my one and only place to play drums, I was fortunate enough to jam on this tune with a friend of mine.  It’s got such a wonderfully primal feel to it, that how can you not like its throwback feel to another era of rock.

“Thunderstruck,” AC/DC (Download)

And finally, I don’t think you can have a mix from Oz without featuring the grandfathers of hard rock from Australia, AC/DC. Sure these guys have a Johnny One Note quality to them, but boy do they play that one note well. Yes, Phil Rudd — AC/DC’s long time drummer — was out of the picture when The Razor’s Edge came out, but Chris Slade added some serious balls to this album.  And hey, who doesn’t love Angus’ riff on this song.  It just screams Rock and Roll, huh.

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The nuclear danger after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan made me think back to another, equally less innocent time, when the threat of nuclear annihilation was that dark cloud that hung over the world.  In the early to mid ’80s when I was transitioning out of high school and into college, the “new wave” of music was decidedly electronic, at time sterile, and often rather glum.  Besides the superstars of pop at the time, there weren’t many who were very optimistic about the future – or maybe lack thereof.  The music I listened to at that time spoke in fragments and phrases about impending destruction brought about by an escalation in the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States.  Nuclear arsenals were built up, more missiles were deployed in western Europe, the rhetoric on both sides were increasingly hawkish and it all seemed like it was going to end in a fiery exchange of ICBMs.  I lived near a weapons depot and my friends and I would joke that if we got word that missiles were coming, we’d pack up our lawn chairs and binoculars and haul ass over to the weapons depot to watch the bombs drop on their targets.  We figured it was better to go out in the belly of a mushroom cloud than be part of the sickly survivors of a nuclear holocaust.  A grim outlook, I know.  But I wasn’t the only one. As you’ll hear in this mix, these artists were also worried that all that humanity had built would be gone if the mad fuckers in the White House and the Kremlin didn’t come to their senses and quit playing chicken with some dangerous toys.

The Clash, “London Calling” (Download)

“…London is drowning…and I live by the river.”  Inspired in part by another famous nuclear accident in Pennsylvania (Three Mile Island), the Clash sang about a whole bunch of stuff on this song — and very little of it flattering.  War, nuclear “errors,” environmental disasters and a whole host of really upbeat fun stuff.  Despite the rather dour lyrics, “London Calling” is one of those songs that’ll keep your fists pumping as we all go over a cliff — metaphorically speaking, that is.

Ultravox, “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” (Download)

And yet another song about, well, a nuclear disaster. How uplifting!  But Ultravox was really able to tap into some collective sentiment about life in the nuclear age because the song was in the top 10 (in the UK).  Midge Ure’s earnest vocals on this song (and other songs on the album) should remind people that not all new wave music from the ’80s lacked passion.

U2, “Seconds” (Download)

Speaking of a group who doesn’t lack passion… What more can be said about U2′s War?  It’s an album that’s probably one of their strongest; one that has great hooks; one that clearly has passion, and one that has the group pondering the toll war takes human emotions.  None of it is subtle, but neither is war, so you can’t blame U2 for being over the top at times.

Bruce Cockburn, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” (Download)

If there were ever a theme song that should have been used in The Terminator, I think Bruce Cockburn could have been a contender.  Sure, you can point to “Intimacy” by Linn Van Hek as one of the theme songs in the movie, but just listening to Cockburn’s tune conjures up images of the following carved on a tree:  Sarah Conner + Kyle Reese = Lovers in a Dangerous Time

Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “Peace In Our Time” (Download)

Costello loves irony, and what’s more ironic than Neville Chamberlain returning from Germany with assurances that Hitler and his gang were not going to be all aggressive-y and invade-y when it came to Poland and the Sudetenland.  And then Germany occupied the Sudetenland the very next day.  Hahahaha. Don’t you love a good punch line?

Roger Waters, “The Tide is Turning (After Live Aid)” (Download)

I couldn’t end this mix on a completely depressing note.  Waters’ “The Tide is Turning” is probably one of the most hopeful songs he’s written. It seemed at the time the world was leading to its inevitable end with the push of a few buttons. But Waters saw people actually giving a damn about other people thousands of miles away who they didn’t know, but wanted to do so something to help; something to lift them out of hunger and despair. Did the tide turn? Well, in a way, yes it did.  But, alas, it was short-lived.

* And yes, a special nod to the Vapors’ 1980 album for supplying the title of this mix:

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Recently, I rented Mystery Train on DVD — a film I haven’t seen since its original release in 1989.  Back in the late ’80s, it seemed the U.S. was experiencing an Elvis resurgence, but a lot of it was tongue in cheek. It spilled over into the film world where some filmmakers were trying to capture the zeitgeist of all things Elvis. Certainly Mystery Train was a blatant homage to The King, but David Lynch — no stranger to the ’50s — also jumped aboard the Elvis train with Wild at Heart. Nicolas Cage certainly had no trouble channeling his inner Elvis to depict the character, Sailor Ripley.  But through all the TV movies, books, fake Elvis interviews (and yes, I bought one of those back in the day on cassette), there was, at bottom, a genuine appreciation for the music that Elvis recorded. So here we go with a mix that starts with the power of E and then rides out with covers, tributes, and meditations.

“Mystery Train,” Elvis Presley (Download)

The bloated Elvis at the end of his life was a sad spectacle.  A man so clearly tormented by his inner demons, and outward excesses, that he was ripe for ridicule. But when going back to the early recordings, there’s no denying the talent he had in that voice and the emotion he could bring to a song.

“Love Me,” Nicolas Cage (Download)

Some flinch at Cage’s odd-ball characters he’s created, but to me he’s one of the more inventive actors who can take a line and not only make it his own, but make it memorable as well.  In Wild at Heart portraying Sailor Ripley as a wannabe scion of Elvis was brilliant.  The film was hit and miss, but there’s no denying that Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage commanded the screen in this potpourri of American iconography that was more Wizard of Oz than Blue Hawaii.  And the fact that Cage could actually sing was just the cherry on top.

“Suspicious Minds,” Fine Young Cannibals (Download)

Perhaps FYC was on the cutting edge of the Elvis rebirth because their cover of “Suspicious Minds” came out in 1985 — about two years before Elvis mania really started to take off.  Still, while it’s a fairly faithful cover, the group rightfully upped the tempo and added co-vocals from Jimmy Sommerville from Bronski Beat.

“Elvis’ Rolls Royce,” Was (Not Was) (Download)

Was (Not Was) was right in the middle of the Elvis obsession of the late ’80s/early ’90s.  On their third album, What Up, Dog they peppered in the Elvis references on “Walk the Dinosaur,” and “Earth to Doris.”  How do you top that?  Well, you dragoon Leonard Cohen into supplying his growl to “Elvis’ Rolls Royce.”  It proved to be a smart move because Cohen was able to supply a read that had the right amount of dry humor for a song that was silly to begin with.

“Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis), Cowboy Junkies (Download)

Under the category of “tasteful tributes,” Cowboy Junkies rank in the top five.   This semi-cover of “Blue Moon” was atmospheric, smoldering, and beautifully sung by Margo Timmins.  Yes, the recording sessions of this album often had the band playing around a single mic, but because of the placement of the instruments, the mix is surprisingly distinct — as you can hear on “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis).”

“King of the Mountain,” Kate Bush (Download)

After a 12 year break in recording, Kate Bush returned to the music world with a two CD collection of songs that was more “mommy diaries” than her more obscure and eccentric explorations of relationships and the inner working of the mind. However, one song departed from tunes about her son, washing machines, and the like to focus on Elvis.  It’s tough to know, but perhaps Kate had this song sitting around in a half-finished state since the early ’90s.  How else do you explain a song about Elvis after the rest of the music world had seemingly moved on.

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Ah, the demo. It’s a recording created to demonstrate how the song should sound to a producer or even to other band members.  Each band works differently, and unless you’re Pete Townshend (who often comes into the recording process with fully produced demos), the chances that what’s on the demo recording versus the completed album is quite different – and yes, sometimes not so much.  The recording process is one of major and minor tweaks to songs until all parties are satisfied.  Well, if you’re a band, that is.  If you’re one of those Auto-Tune junkies who thinks everything can be fixed with ProTools (or as they say in the film biz, “fixed in post”), you’re probably not the one writing the songs.  If, however, you are in a serious band where everyone has an equal say (though, I’m sure some band members are more equal than others), everyone wants to get their best performances recorded by an engineer and producer who knows when you’re really delivering the goods, or just phoning it in.  What you will find in these demos are certainly works in progress.  Some songs sound complete and others sound pretty raw and unformed. But chances are that after hearing these demos, you won’t listen to the album versions in the same way.

“Close to Me,” the Cure (Download)

When Head on the Door came out, I think I listened to it pretty exclusively for about a week.  The production alternated between bright shiny pop to densely layered productions that made the Cure more that a new wave band du jour. This demo of “Close to Me” has many of the musical elements that ended up in the final recording, but clearly changing the choice of the keyboard was a smart one. (Thanks to David Medsker for supplying this song).

“Girlfriend in a Coma,” the Smiths (Download)

Who would have thought that “Girlfriend in a Coma” could be played with a reggae vibe.  While the vocals sound similar to the final recording, the rest of the band sounds like a garage band backing Morrissey.

“Can’t Get There From Here,” R.E.M. (Download)

Now here’s a version of a song that didn’t change all that much from the demo to the final product.  The vocals aren’t as murky as the song that ended up on the album, but the vocals in the chorus clearly needed to be mixed together better. I suppose that’s what producers and engineers are for, huh.

“Veronica,” Elvis Costello & Paul McCartney (Download)

The original version of “Veronica” is one of Costello’s more accomplished songs of the late ’80s.  I’m sure his collaboration with Paul McCartney had a lot to with it, and the demo clearly shows the basic elements of the song were so strong that what ended up on Spike was a matter of adding layers of bells and whistles.

“Glory Days,” Bruce Springsteen (Download)

Now here’s an iteration that’s more of a sketch than a fully formed song.  There’s no argument that Springsteen had some good ideas working here, and whatever he took from this demo of “Glory Days” to the E Street Band during the recording of Born in the U.S.A. must have inspired them to really jam it out into the version that we all know today. (Many thanks to Scott Malchus for providing this tune).

“It Don’t Come Easy,” George Harrison (Download)

Ringo was never really a great singer, so perhaps George Harrison recorded a guide vocal version for Ringo to sing along to.  Whatever the case, I do rather like Harrison’s version of “It Don’t Come Easy” sans horns. I like his more unbridled singing, the fact that he punched up the volume on the guitar, brought the background vocals to the fore, of course, really pushing the Hare Krishna vocal punch up in the mix.  Sure it’s not subtle, but there’s an honesty that comes through.

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… because Ted didn’t want to.

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When Nabokov concluded back in the 1950s that some of his American students’ ears were merely ornamental, I’m sure many adults believed that he was referring to the kids’ musical taste. It’s no wonder. These people grew up in a world where Frankie Laine was considered progressive. The refined and mannered style of swing era vocalists was gradually being replaced by the raw emotion and indecent body language of young belters inspired by the dark forces of the blues.

As rock ’n’ roll took over the airwaves, the concept of ‘easy listening’ was introduced when some radio stations continued playing traditional pop music aimed at mature audiences. The Billboard Easy Listening chart debuted in July 1961, paving the way, at least for a while, for old-timers like Perry Como and Frank Sinatra who were no longer able to crack the pop charts, and at the same time creating a market for new acts like Herb Alpert, Bert Kaempfert and the Baja Marimba Band.

Follow us as Mix Six investigates the pops in the 1960s.

“Tenderly,” Paul Weston (Download)

Let’s do it the right way and start this journey softly, nay, let’s start it “Tenderly” with the gloriously imitable Paul Weston, a veteran in this context, and his band of marshfellows who so eagerly spun musical candy from the Capitol Records assembly lines at the time, around 1960. Record upon record, they ruthlessly spilled sparkly, pinkly liquid over their aural brass pots and clarinets utilizing an army of stringed wooden spoons, which to the untrained and modern ear resembles the grating shape of a 1,000 violins. I love it. The grown-ups of the day loved it –- you really can’t blame them for being pissed when back beats and amps came along and ruined everything.

Paul Weston had a long and prosperous career as a pianist, composer, arranger and conductor — if you own a 78 or two, chances are you’ll find “w/ Paul Weston orch.” printed somewhere on the label. He married songstress Jo Stafford in 1952 (and stayed married — to her) and he served as the first president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He died in 1996 at 84. These guys never die young, which makes sense considering that you probably have to be of a certain age (mine?) to be able to make (or enjoy?) this kind of music.

“Bachelor in Paradise,” Henry Mancini (Download)

“Lights down low, Frankie’s records and cocktails on the floor.” I have turned the lights down low and offered some of my lovers a cocktail on the floor to the sound of this song. I’m not sure if it was the music or my tastefully pale self layered out on the floor, relaxing on the sheepskin au naturel, but the lady usually laughed nervously and left in horror. Maybe actual Frankie records would’ve done the trick?

“Bachelor in Paradise” was nominated for an Academy Award for best song in 1961. Thankfully, Mancini beat himself with “Moon River”, which is a bloody perfect song no matter what you say. Henry Mancini, the man, is an American treasure that deserves to live forever on dollar bills or as some sort of cheese-flavored candy bar.

“Born Free,” Roger Williams (Download)

In 1966, neither the Beatles nor the Rolling Stones could touch piano virtuoso Roger Williams and his rendition of the hottest tune in adult contemporary circles at the time – at least not on the Billboard Hot 100 list, where this track finished at #12 on the year-end list, 4 steps ahead of the Beatles’ “We Can Work it Out”.

The British singer Matt Monro originally recorded the song, which was written by John Barry, for the James Hill movie Born Free. It won an Academy Award for best song and became Monro’s signature song. Among the countless artists who covered it in the late 1960s were Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and Connie Francis, but Roger Williams had the hit version.

Williams just celebrated his 86th birthday, he has released 116 albums and his 1955 version of “Autumn Leaves” is the only piano instrumental to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Watch him enjoying himself in Vegas in 2010 on his own YouTube channel. Like I said, these guys never die.

“Last Date,” Floyd Cramer (Download)

While we’re on the subject of pianists, here’s some easy country from Floyd Cramer. He was a prolific session musician, a member of the so-called Nashville A-Team in the late 1950s, and he made his breakthrough as a recording artist with this record.

His relaxed piano style was quite a departure from the typically percussive piano stylings of the late 1950s, and “Last Date” was a huge chart success in 1960, which is pretty hard to grasp in 2011 considering how faceless and inoffensive the music is. Then again, in the olden days of yore, like when I was a young adult, inoffensiveness used to be the hallmark of the mainstream. Cramer helped shape the Nashville sound, mixing pop into country music to reach a wider audience, and I’m betting Glen Campbell was listening.

“Summer Samba,” Walter Wanderley (Download)

I dare you to make love to this music. If you’ve never felt like a cad before, I’m pretty sure you’ll feel like one humping along with your lady friend to the sleek sound of Walter Wanderley’s Hammond L100. So erase the image of those pesky ’90s-hipsters who tried to make this music their own from your mind, let your chest hair grow, fertilize the outer surface of your upper lip, find some lame sunglasses and let the ladies get to know Thomas Magnum’s badass uncle.

The bossa nova was inescapable in the 1960s and everyone from Glen Gray to Vic Damone recorded his own bossa nova album. Wanderley was a Brazilian keyboardist who recorded a couple of albums in the U.S. produced by Creed Taylor for Verve in the mid-1960s. “Summer Samba” was a solid hit for him.

“A Man and a Woman,” The Free Design (Download)

Let’s round off this edition of Mix Six on a mellow note (as if we ever left it) with The Free Design and their version of Francis Lai’s theme song from Claude Lelouch’s hit movie. It adds some jazz flute and a slightly psychedelic flavor to the proceedings, which is appropriate, because by the end of the 1960s the lines had blurred and easy listening artists were starting to weave pop and rock music into their repertoire.

Andy Williams covered the Beatles, Bobby Darin cut folk records and Jack Jones grew sideburns. By 1973, Nelson Riddle was playing the funk. Desperate measures to be sure. Times were desperate too, especially for the old trad-pop vocalists, who had fallen badly out of favor with the popular taste. By 1970, most of them had lost major label support. But, to the disappointment of many, the tags — easy listening, middle-road, adult contemporary, pops, whatever you choose to call it – have certainly stuck it out.

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• Frankie Avalon – “Why”/”swingin’ on a Rainbow” (joetroiano.wordpress.com)
• Connie Francis – “Her Number-one Hits” (joetroiano.wordpress.com)

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Are you tired of all the year end lists yet?  Well, here at Popdose, we love our lists — and it seems our readers do, too.  But one list that was begging for a Mix Six was our Top 20 Albums of 2010 that ran last week.  Punning Pundit of Indignant Desert Birds — who’s one of our faithful readers — lamented that we didn’t include any music samples in our Top 20. So in order to rectify that omission, I thought I would put together a little sampler from said list.  Now because I’m constrained by the whole “Mix Six” format of this feature, you’re only going to get six songs that I thought really mixed well.  So, with a lot of help from my Popdose colleagues, here we go with a sampler culled from the Top 20 Albums of 2010!

“Stars 4-Ever,” Robyn (Download)

Kelly Stitzel was, um, all ga-ga over Robyn’s Body Talk album — which was released in three EPs.  Robyn’s mastery of dance floor pop had Kelly thinking that the Swedish native has already yanked the Queen of Pop crown off of Madonna’s head.  Considering the weak output of Madonna these days, stealing her crown might not be all that difficult, but this collection of songs by Robyn will make it tough for Madonna to steal it back.

“Lavaux,” Prince (Download)

In the Popdose virtual office, there’s been a lot of arm wrestling over who the biggest Prince fan is.  And while the battle to wear the purple cloak of fandom is seemingly ongoing, Dave Steed currently dons the cape after winning this year’s championship, and then cleansing himself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. In his review of 20-Ten, he couldn’t understand the lukewarm reception this album received by the music press.  And while he’s not an “Everything Prince touches is gold” kind of guy, he was convinced that this was by far the best album he’s produced in many years.

“Dark Fantasy, Kanye West (Download)

Mike Heyliger encourages us to get beyond Kanye’s ego and his crybaby antics and focus on the music.  On My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West demonstrates why he is just that good, and track after track will pull you into his twisted world where the sacred and the profane stand side by side in a compelling ballet of the human condition.

“Blazin,” Nicki Minaj (Download)

In my review of Pink Friday, I said for all the swagger and bombast hip-hop artists are known for, Minaj channels something close to the blues in tone rather than style.  This isn’t evident on every track on the album, but she certainly does an impressive job weaving her wounded soul into rhymes that runs the gamut from fierce to fragile.

“Dear God 2.0,” the Roots (Download) 

Michael Parr, Kelly Stitzel, and Mike Heyliger were unanimous in praising the Roots’ latest album, How I Got Over.  Kellly was bowled over by the band’s sophistication, Mike (Heyliger) says they are “the torchbearers for musicianship, intelligence and maturity in hip-hop,”and Michael (Parr), said the album “is possibly the group’s most consistent work yet; not a second is wasted, giving the record a real sense of urgency.”

“I’m Not the One,” the Black Keys (Download)

Some albums just grab you by the collar and demand to be listened to.  With the Black Keys’ Brothers, Rob Smith says that many of the lyrics “will kick you in the groin,”  but you’ll be begging for more.  After listening to this album, you’ll be saying: “Thank you sir, may I have another!”

And before I sign off, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Teena Marie left this veil of tears on December 26th.  I first found out about her death from Mike Heyligner’s Twitter feed –and this is well before any major news outlets posted the story.  I can’t say that I was a big fan of her music, but like many pop music fans, I was captured by her 1984 song, “Lovergirl.”  I was just starting out in radio at the time, and the song was all over the place — mostly because MTV gave the video a huge push.   But because I was a young and naive kid at the time, I thought Teena was a new artist (which happens when you’re young and naive).  It wasn’t until one of the “older” DJs at the station told me Teena had been recording since the late ’70s, that I went to the record store to find her earlier albums and learned about her tumultuous connection to Rick James — that was back in the day when some record store clerks had encyclopedic knowledge of bands and singers.

Since “Lovergirl” was the first Teena Marie song I ever heard, I wanted to feature it in the spotlight dance on this week’s Mix Six…

“Lovergirl,” Teena Marie (Download)

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