MONEY PLANE 2020: The Big List

We're so ready to never think about 2020 ever again, so we suppose that's the main reason why we had no interest in focusing on this playlist to the point where it was officially finished 6 months late! Extending this further, it's also probably the reason why literally no words came to mind when assessing any of 2020's best music. All we could think of were memes and vaguely related images. No one lately has been visiting this blog anyway, so it's not like it matters.

We've considered continuing "The New Shit Radar," but that energy has now morphed into The After Hours Top 20 and it seems redundant to repost the links over here.

We're just not bloggers anymore. This is definitely among the final TMK posts. We've conquered the blog, and we're ready for bigger and better things. If it returns, we'll probably do it a lot differently with a different name and a narrower focus. Not sure when or if that will ever happen tho.

So this is probably the last "Hot Mix" we'll ever post here. In the future, please check out our current blogger hub at AfterHoursFM.Com.

Regarding the hits and jams of 2020, this is as good as it got. Listen through our choices, and we guarantee you'll agree:

| Follow "MONEY PLANE 2020" on Spotify |

| 100 - 71 || 70 - 41 || 40 - 21 || 20 - 1 |

| All 100 Songs |
100. Body Count f/ Riley Gale "Point The Finger"'
99. Flo Milli "In The Party"
98. Love Regenerator & Steve Lacy "Live Without Your Love"
97. System of a Down "Genocidal Humanoidz"
96. Somerset Thrower "Accelerate Now"
95. Deerhoof "'Farewell' Symphony"
94. Innumerable Forms "Despotic Rule"
93. E-40 f/ B-Legit "Smellin Like A Brick"
92. Disclosure f/ Kehlani & Syd "Birthday"
91. Jocko "Majority Rule"
90. Dua Lipa "Break My Heart"' (tie)
90. The Weeknd "Blinding Lights" (tie)
89. Jorja Smith "Rose Rouge"
88. Higher Power "King Of My Domain"
87. Machinedrum f/ Freddie Gibbs "Kane Train"
86. Glitterer "Are You Sure?"
85. Disheveled Cuss "She Don't Want"
84. Boris "Lust"
83. No Age "Turned To String"
82. Lil B f/ Young L "Money Ova Here" (tie)
82. Lil B "Network" (tie)
82. Lil B f/ Tuney Tune "Where da Orange Juice" (tie)
82. Lil B "This Water Crazy" (tie)
81. Rebel Wizard "The Mind Is Not Your Friend"
80. 2 Chainz f/ Ty Dolla Sign & Lil Duval "Can't Go For That"
79. Beabadoobee "Care"
78. Space Camp "She Tells Me Yes Yes Yes"
77. Psychology Machine "Never Trust Anyone With More Money Than You"
76. Kate NV "Telefon"
75. Mindforce "Hope Dies In The City"
74. Disclosure f/ Slowthai "My High"
73. Drain "Feel The Pressure"
72. Pearl Jam "Take the Long Way"
71. Flo Milli "Beef FloMix"

70. Damu Karu "Comfortably Dumb (demo)"
69. Horisont "Pushin' The Line"
69. Limousine Beach "Stealin' Wine"
68. Charli XCX "Anthems"
67. 645AR "4 Da Trap"
66. Sada Baby "Whole Lotta Choppas"
65. Jam + Lewis x Babyface "He Don't Know Nothin' Bout It"
64. Lil B "Covid 19 Based Freestyle"
63. Deftones "Urantia" (tie)
63. Deftones "Ohms" (tie)
62. David Nance "When The Covers Come Off"
61. Fire-Toolz "(((Ever-Widening Rings)))"
60. Marlowe "Future Power Sources"
59. Drakeo The Ruler & JoogSZN "GTA VI"
58. Nudie Mag "Pet"
57. Coriky "Too Many Husbands"
56. Thundercat "Funny Thing"
55. Kevin Krauter "Green Eyes"
54. Supermilk "Cannibal"
53. Eric Copeland "Motor"
52. No Age "Smoothie"
51. Viper "F**k Earth Im Gon Wage An Interstella War"
50. Machine Gun Kelly "Bloody Valentine"
49. Charli XCX "Pink Diamond"
48. Sorry "More"
47. Eyehategod "High Risk Trigger"
46. Home Blitz "Final Decay"
45. Lil Mosey "Blueberry Faygo"
44. Nnamdi "Rage"
43. Molchat Doma "Discoteque"
42. Xibalba "El Abismo 1"
41. Disclosure f/ Kelis "Watch Your Step"

40. Vanity "Anticlimax"
39. Hum "Waves"
38. Rolling Blackouts CF "Cars In Space"
37. I Don't Know How But They Found Me "Leave Me Alone"
36. The 1975 "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)"
35. Fu Manchu "Takin' It To The Streets"
34. Sorry "Rosie"
33. Bullion "We Had A Good Time"
32. Mister Goblin "Punk Band"
31. CCR Headcleaner "Half A Tooth"
30. RMR "Rascal"
29. Turnstile x Mall Grab "I Wanna Be Blind" (tie)
29. Turnstile x Mall Grab "The Real Thing" (tie)
28. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou "Into Being"
27. Flo Milli "May I"
26. Badbadnotgood & MF Doom "The Chocolate Conquistadors"
25. Ringo Deathstarr "Just Like You"
24. Thundercat "Dragonball Durag"
23. Dua Lipa "Future Nostalgia"
22. Wednesday "Fate Is..."
21. Surface to Air Missive "Trouble Is"

20. Narrow Head "Stuttering Stanley" (tie)
20. Narrow Head "Night Tryst" (tie)
19. Adrianne Lenker "Anything"
18. David Nance "The Merchandise"
17. Disclosure f/ Fatoumata Diawara "Douha (Mali Mali)"
16. Roddy Ricch "The Box"
15. Gulch "Sin In My Heart"
14. Romy "Lifetime"
13. Bedwetter "Headboard"
12. Masterpiece Machine "Rotting Fruit"
11. Tkay Maidza "Shook"
11. Tkay Maidza "My Flowers"
10. Dua Lipa "Levitating"
9. Soccer Mommy "Circle The Drain"
8. Thiago Nassif "Plastico"
7. Mindforce "Reign of Terror"
6. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou "Hollywood"
5. Charli XCX "Forever" (tie)
5. Charli XCX "Enemy" (tie)
4. Ringo Deathstarr "Once Upon A Freak"
3. Hum "Step Into You"
2. Pop Smoke "Dior"
1. Sweeping Promises "Hunger For A Way Out"

| Follow "MONEY PLANE 2020" on Spotify |

| 100 - 71 || 70 - 41 || 40 - 21 || 20 - 1 |

| All 100 Songs |

MF Doom 1971-2020

On the December 13th edition of "The New Shit Radar", we very inaccurately described his new song with BADBADNOTGOOD using the statement "DOOM's 2020 worldly contributions seemed to kick some ass across the board." For whatever reason, we incorrectly misremembered a few stray collaborations earlier in 2020, because the whole point of this feature is that it's stream-of-consciousness - written and posted very quickly.

Meanwhile, only his immediate family knew that he had actually passed away back on Halloween. His mysteriously anonymous trademark masking kept his identity unknown to most fans. So it shouldn't have been a surprise that his death was only discovered by fans earlier today, two entire months later -- not exactly typical for name as high profile as MF Doom, arguably the most lauded of any backpack rapper throughout the 2000s. Most hiphop fans who didn't care for backpack hiphop still usually gave Doom a free pass since both his bars and his anti-image were so undeniable dope. And he never broke character. He didn't need to.

Perhaps "Great Day Today" is the jam for this New Years Eve. A lot of people are anticipating the end of 2020, in hopes that at least a handful of the world's largest messes might reveal some hints of clarity. 2021 won't be a great year, but the goal is to shoot for a much happier New Years Eve one year from today.

RIP Riley Gale

Yesterday was a very sad day for Power Trip fans.

Dear Power Trip fans worldwide,

It is with the greatest of sadness we must announce that our lead singer and brother Riley Gale passed away last night.

Riley was a friend, a brother, a son. Riley was both a larger than life rock star and a humble and giving friend. He touched so many lives through his lyrics and through his huge heart. He treated everyone he met as a friend and he always took care of his friends. We will celebrate Riley’s life and never forget the great works of music, charity, and love that he left behind. You, the fans, meant so much to him, please know how special you are. If you have a memory of Riley please share it, no matter how small, as we remember him.

Please respect our wishes for privacy during this time. In lieu of flowers please send donations to Dallas Hope Charities, the link to donate directly is here: https://bit.ly/3jcyY5y

Signed,
- Rlley’s Loving Family

P.S. Funeral and visitation arrangements are pending.

Emitt Rhodes

RIP to another great one.

12 Jams from Adam Schlesinger (R.I.P.)

Adam Schlesinger had a somewhat similar fate as Alex Chilton, another power pop icon whose most popular songs were far from their best. We're pretty sure "That Thing You Do" and "Stacy's Mom" are the two big ones that casual fans played most frequently over the past two weeks.

"That Thing You Do" always tasted too sugary. We're not surprised that so many people were attracted to its catchiness, but we also largely disagree with the multitude of claims mishearing its reasonable emulation as authentic. True sixties garage, even in its sugariest moments, was rough, dark, and generally sad. As an approximation, "That Thing You Do" is about 50% true to form, whether its largely remembered that way or otherwise, but that wasn't the point. By January '97, "Radiation Vibe" was merely a Buzz Clip, and he had already earned the title "Academy Award Nominee Adam Schlesinger."

Way too much had changed by May 2003. The hits of the '90s had zipped through so many different subgenres so quickly that none of its hitmakers had a chance to ride any momentum. By 2003, the biggest new rock bands were Evanescence and Good Charlotte.

We weren't alone in our alienation. We weren't the only ones who desired to hear Pinkerton era bands returning to commercial radio. But capitalism is cruel. By the time The Toadies finally released the follow up to Rubberneck in 2001, their momentum had plummeted. Nada Surf had signed to Barsuk. Both of these bands had planned 1998 albums that their labels refused to release. Bands like Eels' and Superdrag's major label contracts had run dry, signing with Vagrant Records and joining their emo-heavy touring packages. The Rentals were on a prolonged hiatus. It wasn't tough to quickly assume that no one would care about Welcome Interstate Managers.

The weirdest thing about "Stacy's Mom" was how unexpectedly it ignited FOW's comeback. We heard it a few weeks before was released and immediately winced at its ultra-sugar and corny lyrics. As current MD of our radio station, we opted to add "Mexican Wine" as our lead single choice.

They easily could have cashed in by donating "Stacy's Mom" to some Warped Tour band, but instead they went for it, flooding the video with subtle references to The Cars and a starring role from Rachel Hunter - last seen on MTV about ten years prior alongside Rod Stewart at one of their awards shows. The whole thing just didn't seem feasible. We were wrong. We were ALL wrong. By the year's end, "Stacy's Mom" was MTV's 24th biggest video of 2003.

So we're considering any songs besides these two as Schlesinger's deep cuts. Too bad if you disagree. Start your own damn blog.

Ivy "I Hate December" and "Get Enough" (1994, 1995)
We don't really know Ivy, but these two songs are non-powerpop and cool.



Fountains Of Wayne "Radiation Vibe" and "Sink to the Bottom" (1996)
In January '97, we saw FOW open for Smashing Pumpkins in a giant 11,000+ room occupied by less than 2000. We wish we knew more than these two songs at the time, but they did play both.



Fountains Of Wayne "I Want An Alien For Christmas" (1997)
We're not sure if this one is Schlesinger (FOW had two songwriters), but it's one of the only non-rap holiday songs that still sounds good every December.


Fountains Of Wayne "Denise" (1999)
It's hard for us to divorce this from CMJ New Music Monthly Volume 69. This was not a popular comp, but the first four songs were "Army," The Rentals' "Getting By," "Denise" and "Steal My Sunshine." And it was the same month that "Scar Tissue" and "All Star" and "What's My Age Again" premiered, so Side A of our Summer '99 mixtape filled up very quickly. We also possibly saw FOW again at 104Fest in May '99. We recall getting to the show around 1PM mid-way through their set, but we're pretty sure we heard them play "Denise."


Kay Hanley "Pretend To Be Nice" (2001)
We incorrectly assumed Schlesinger wrote the entire JATP soundtrack on his own, but it was really just this one song. And it's the best one, so this checks out.


Superdrag "I Guess It's American" (2001)
From Superdrag's split with The Anniversary. This one song has a Schlesinger co-writing credit.


Fountains Of Wayne "Mexican Wine" and "Bright Future In Sales" (2003)
A huge 1-2 punch, kicking off Welcome Interstate Managers. They easily could have been switched too. It was a win-win.



The Click Five "Just The Girl" (2005)
Our guiltiest guilty pleasure hit of the 2000s. The extremely dumb "slick and sleek" mid-00s pop-rock subgenre had no right sounding as good as it did. This would also include American Hifi's "Flavor of the Weak" and All American Rejects' "Swing Swing." Our hypothetical "best of" playlist would be topped by "Just The Girl." It's the greatest hit from this era.


Tinted Windows "Kind of a Girl" (2009)
With a starting lineup of Schlesinger, Bun E Carlos, James Iha, and Taylor Hanson, Tinted Windows was the best supergroup from 2009, a year that also included premieres from Chickenfoot, Them Crooked Vultures, and The Dead Weather among others. Tinted Windows did not get huge, but their aesthetic was dope as fuck, and we love them for giving it a shot.

Daniel Johnston Will Haunt You This Halloween

We never got to post an official RIP for Daniel whose passing was announced on September 11th.

Satan and ghosts recur throughout his music; we're not 100%, but he may have been a believer in earthly spiritual continuation after death. He seems childlike enough to get a kick out of haunting his fans.

Plan on Daniel Johnston's ghost showing up in your bedroom this October. It'll be great.

Tom Petty thing

1983-1984
The first 3 LPs that were ever gifted to me were The Police Zenyatta Mondatta, Rick Springfield Working Class Dog and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Hard Promises. I was 3 or 4, probably sometime around Winter 1984. I barely knew how to put on a pair of headphones, but for the first time, I was a fan of modern rock bands. I examined and stared at the artwork a lot trying to understand what was happening...

Damn The Torpedoes was handed to me not long afterwards. As a youngin', both albums initially felt like showcases for "The Waiting" and "Refugee." I rarely made it past "Here Comes My Girl" on DTT, but curiosity led me further down Side A of Hard Promises through "Nightwatchman," "Something Big" and "Kings Road." Tom Petty helped me learn to love one side of an LP.

It seems like my entire family always loved Tom Petty and especially "The Waiting." Grandpa loved to flip through channels, but he never touched the remote when a Tom Petty video came on.



I was initially scared by this picture. Once that wore off, the narrative my 4-year-old self invented was that The Heartbreakers were in a classroom. Tom Petty was their teacher and has his finger up to his mouth to shush any whispering students who might be disrupting. The goofy disguise glasses used to scare me.

1988-1992
"Event jam" hits = when a song's popularity surpasses its artist's name. "Free Fallin'" was Tom's post-Wilburies event. It seemed larger than radio and larger than MTV. He knew how to write the kinds of songs where kids could memorize all the words without owning a physical copy of his albums. The animated video for "Runnin' Down A Dream" felt mad trippy. I was also unaware that he had co-written "You Got It" within this era until years later.

VH1 did a "Tom Petty Weekend" on a Sunday in June 1991. There was an annual town carnival and fireworks within walking distance from my grandparents house, who had no problem with leaving on VH1 for so that I could let it fill a 6 hours VHS tape. "Learning To Fly" had premiered only a week or 2 prior and aired about once per hour. His MTV Rockumentary was also shown and included the story of how he broke his hand and the segment with Eddie Murphy's reaction to the shout-out in "Jammin' Me."

1993-1996
No other classic rock artist (not even Neil Young) was able to unwittingly capitalize on the grunge era as properly as Tom Petty. MTV played the shit out of "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (in which Kim Basinger miraculously comes back to life within the song's final 5 seconds after being buried at sea). A few months later when "You Don't Know How It Feels" dropped, the kids on the bus were intrigued: "Tom Petty smokes mad weed now." He was officially as cool as Cypress Hill and Snoop Doggy Dogg. This mid-'90s moment might have been the pinnacle of his popularity as a rock star - enough that he received the Michael Jackson Vanguard award at the '94 VMAs (just after playing a lengthy noise-coda to close "Mary Jane's Last Dance").

And he seemed so chill and humble about the whole thing. "I never expected an award."

Weirdly, the success of Wildflowers didn't generate enough momentum to turn his 1996 soundtrack of She's The One into nearly as big of a record as anything since Full Moon Fever. But it was a huge hit for me, and the second time in my life that I immersed myself in one of his albums thoroughly. She's The One and STP's Tiny Music (both borrowed from my dad) were my Fall 1996 go-to albums while playing Myst, Wolfenstein 3D, Lemmings and various other PC games.

1997
My first ever attempt at a "Top 900 Songs Of The '90s" list (which would be re-written 15 or 20 times in the coming years) included "Mary Jane's Last Dance" at #17. (#1 was "Maze" by Phish. #900 was "Epic" by Faith No More.)

2006
Howard Stern's first Sirius broadcast in January included "The Last DJ" played in its entirety.

2012
At The Middle East Upstairs, my band opened for another band that spontaneously covered "Yer So Bad," a song that I had not heard in over 10 years. In 2016, it was the only Tom Petty song to place on the 500 Hottest Jams list at #483. I'm pretty sure this is now tied with "A Thing About You" as my favorite Tom Petty song.

2017
I woke up on October 2nd, and the first thing I thought was that something bad had happened. Within 5 minutes, Twitter had confirmed the Las Vegas shooting. A few hours later, Tom Petty was trending with no other context. I threw together a radio show that night and played all deep cuts from 6:30PM until 8PM, hours before any confirmation was announced from his family.

Country bros, grunge kids, metal shredders, little kids, old homies. Everyone fucks with TP. The story's not over. "Time to move on."

Top 10 Prince Songs Before and After 4/21/16

Top 10 Prince Songs 1/1/16 Thru 4/20/16 Here are the 10 highest placing Prince songs as they appeared in our "500 Hottest Jams" list originally posted on April 1, 2016: 1. "The Beautiful Ones" 2. "Purple Rain" 3. "God" 4. "Pop Life" 5. "I Would Die 4 U" 6. "Let's Go Crazy" 7. "Take Me With U" 8. "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" 9. "Diamonds and Pearls" 10. "Little Red Corvette"

Top 10 Prince Songs 4/21/16 thru 12/30/16 Here are the 10 Prince songs that we listened to the most in 2016 based on the stats listed on our Last.Fm account: 1. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" 2. "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" 3. "She's Always In My Hair" 4. "17 Days" 5. "Strange Relationship" 6. "Another Lonely Christmas" 7. "Sign 'O' The Times" 8. "Starfish and Coffee" 9. "God" 10. "Good Love" / "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" / "Play In The Sunshine" / "When You Were Mine" / "Anotherloverholenyohead"

Hottest Prince jam to not appear on either list:
"PINK CASHMERE"

RIP George Michael

Some thoughts about GM in chronological order:

1985: "Freedom" ultimately became my pre-solo Wham! jam. Make It Big was one of the first vinyl LPs that I made my parents buy for me from Caldor.

1986: My mom lost her shit over "I'm Your Man" and included it on at least 2 of her driving mixtapes. I somehow acquired "The Edge Of Heaven" 45. The aforementioned was basically my Wham! canon. I had no knowledge of "Last Christmas" until probably high school, and (incorrectly as I'd discover) no other Wham! singles registered on my radar as canon.

1987: God, what a year for blockbusters. Hysteria, Kick, Bad, Appetite. As far as immediate artistic cred is concerned, the only other late-'80s blockbuster besides Faith to claim an "Album Of The Year" Grammy was U2's The Joshua Tree, but only Faith managed all of this PLUS being named SPIN's 14th greatest album of all time in April 1989.

With all this mind mind, it's surprising his peak only lasted throughout the Faith cycle. But still, he was among the giants - enough that his poster made it through several seasons in the kids' bedroom on Full House.



1990: "Freedom '90" initially felt like he was officially a career artist. The "Unplugged" version of this song was arguably the best out of the 4 pre-taped live videos for the MTV10 special in August 1991.



In retrospect, as a casual George fan, "Freedom '90" feels more like his final huge artistic statement, although I know diehards will hugely disagree with this. But from this perspective, that doesn't necessarily feel like a bad thing.

1990 was fucking weird though. In a year with such huge event video premieres as "Vogue," "Janie's Got A Gun" and "Escapade," "Freedom '90" only made it to #41 on MTV's year-end countdown.

"Too Funky" was '92 and his inescapable Elton John collab dominated Top 40 stations in early '93. By this point, he was still only 29 years old.

Sadly, we didn't keep up as much after that.

There's a few old George Michael posts from the more exciting years of TMK, but pretty much everything we wrote about him is really embarrassing.

Here, we wrote about a similarity that we noticed between Kanye's production in Drake's "Find Your Love" and Wham's "Everything She Wants."
http://tastemykidsblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/retroactive-drake-posting-regarding.html

Here's when "Freedom '90" was named our #11 Guilty Pleasure song of the '90s.
http://tastemykidsblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/90s-guilty-pleasures-11-george-michael.html

And perhaps most embarrassingly, here's a review of the original "Freedom" where we mistake its ultra-sugariness for a proud declaration of gay sexuality:
http://tastemykidsblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/80s-guilt-02-wham-freedom-1984.html

david bowie vids part 2 (more david bowie vids)

fave dave bowie 1913-1938-197?

Miss this dude so much already.

Riley Martin R.I.P.

they go in 3's

Lemmy, Meadowlark Lemon and John Bradbury all left us within 24 hours. Is it true that celebrity death always happens in 3's? We would like to find more evidence of this.

Edit: And now Natalie Cole. Unforgettable. :(

10 Jams from Scott Weiland

Sad news late last night. We're honestly bummed about Weiland's passing and have noticed a few friends posting their memories and favorite tracks on social media. We'd like to do the same here.

Through the 2015 lens, '90s modern rock presents an eclectic and varied spectrum, including a large fraction resting in an area similar to Stone Temple Pilots - the ones that were not easily categorized. Superficial claims like "they sounded like Pearl Jam" or "they sounded like Nirvana" never made much sense to us.

Alice In Chains' video for "Man In A Box" may have been the first "grunge" video to debut on Headbangers Ball early in 1991, before "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "Alive." They didn't look like Megadeth or Metallica. But its groove was undeniable, and the images were different from anything aired prior. Contrary to popular belief, their presentation was calculated by managers and publicity agents to help them ride the crest set in motion by Nirvana and Pearl Jam. So by the time Dirt was released on September 29, 1992, they were prepped to enter the world of super stardom without really having to try.

Core and Dirt were released on the same day, but Core was not promoted by MTV for its first 6 months of existence while singles from Dirt like "Would?" and "Rooster" quickly became hits. It wasn't until early 1993 that "Plush" - STP's breakthrough - was able to earn the title of "Buzz Clip" with a presentation that seemed suspiciously familiar by then. To many, it seemed as if they never paid their dues. By late Spring, "Plush" was unavoidable, and Weiland's face found itself on countless magazine covers as the band received constant coverage on MTV.

If Core were their first and only album, Alice In Chains would have remained their closest sonic companion. But from 1994 onward, they wisely chose to distance themselves from the bands they were accused of emulating. John Lennon, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and mid-'70s glam became their most frequently cited references as they sunk into their new niche: the bizarre uncategorizable mid-'90s pocket that continued to be branded as "alternative."

[The opposite of alt-rock - mainstream bands who did not present any form of alternative - have never been difficult to locate throughout the past 40 years. And we strongly prefer to distance STP from this grunge-lite lineage: Counting Crows, Soul Asylum, Collective Soul, Seven Mary Three, Goo Goo Dolls and Dishwalla. They begat the post-grunge megasellers of the TRL era and beyond: Days of the New, Creed, Staind, Godsmack, Puddle of Mudd, Nickleback, Hinder and Daughtry. Most who choose to insert STP into this atrocious lineage might just as easily blame the band who wrote "Territorial Pissings."]

In retrospect, "alternative" was a very accurate tag, since a lot of these bands seemed very left-field and strange, although frequently melodic and with plentiful distorted guitars. But most importantly, they were always adventurous. STP doesn't get enough credit for that aspect of their music. Thanks to the popularity of Core, they remained the biggest rock band of this era alongside names like The Toadies, Spacehog, Garbage, Veruca Salt, Superdrag, Sponge, Local H, Fountains of Wayne, The Cardigans, The Flys, Tripping Daisy, White Town and Primitive Radio Gods among countless others.

They were the square pegs that were too glossy for college airplay, and except for STP, they were all too strange for mainstream rock longevity or their own headlining arena tours. In one MTV interview, Billie Joe Armstrong asked, "Everyone keeps calling it 'alternative,' but it's an alternative to WHAT?" In retrospect, the answer seems a lot more obvious.

With this said, we're pretty much now ready to present our 10 Scott Weiland picks. Our chronology begins just as the promotion cycle of Core almost too perfectly segued into Purple via "Creep" and their episode of MTV Unplugged, first broadcast in January 1994. The chronology ends 12 years later as Velvet Revolver was winding down the promotion for their debut album.

#1 Stone Temple Pilots "Andy Warhol" (David Bowie cover, 1993)

For their Unplugged episode taped late in 1993, MTV chose to cram "Crackerman" and the four singles from Core into a tight 30-minute episode. In the unaired hour-long version, fans would have been treated to the live debut of "Big Empty." This performance was used as the song's only promo video a few months later when it was chosen as the lead single for The Crow soundtrack. Two other notable Unplugged exclusions: A version of Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here Again," and their cover of David Bowie's "Andy Warhol," which later appeared as a b-side on the CD maxi-single for "Vasoline."

#2 Stone Temple Pilots "Sex Type Thing (Swing version)" (1993)

In the original closer to STP's Unplugged episode, Weiland asks "Hey there, how's your steak?" for no apparent reason, and the audience cheers.

#3 Stone Temple Pilots "Pretty Penny" (VMAs, 1994)

The arrangements from the Unplugged episode must have struck the band with a freshly uncovered sense of cohesion since they used it many more times throughout the next few years, including a 25-minute all acoustic mini-set that was placed in the center of their live shows throughout the Tiny Music tour, not to mention their unfortunately overplayed cover of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days." It also found its way onto Purple in the form of "Pretty Penny." This vid also might jog memories of the odd post-"Lithium" era when rock bands were encouraged to choose non-singles for their VMAs performances.

#4 The Magnificent Bastards "Mockingbird Girl" (1995)

Later re-recorded with electronic drums for Weiland's 12 Bar Blues LP in 1998. We prefer the guitar rock version with real drums. (Also, kinda unrelated, but check out the intro: Better Than Ezra playing deadpan basketball with a bear. No does deadpan anymore. "Weird for the sake of weird." We need more of this.)


We might as well also include "How Do You Sleep" for the sake of completing their 2-song discography. We're not sure if The Magnificent Bastards were intended as anything beyond a project for one-offs and comp submissions that seemed uninteresting to the other members of STP. In either case, both "Mockingbird Girl" and the John Lennon tribute turned out surprisingly decent. Failure (as The Replicants) released an equally explosive arrangement of the same song a year later.

#5 Stone Temple Pilots "Adhesive" (1996)

They get frequently labelled as a "singles band," although an imaginary 7-song EP pulling only from Purple and Tiny Music's non-singles would have been among the very best releases from any mainstream '90s rock band. Our dream track-listing would keep the middle section of Purple as Side A - "Still Remains," "Pretty Penny" and "Silvergun Superman" - and then flip over the tape for Tiny Music's Side B - "Art School Girlfriend," "Adhesive," "Ride the Cliche" and "Seven Caged Tigers," with "Adhesive" as our personal highlight.

#6 Scott Weiland "Lady, Your Roof Brings Me Down" (1998)

Released during the first week of 1998 on the Great Expectations soundtrack with Sheryl Crow playing accordion. (Proud to say we got to see one of the sets from the 12 Bar Blues tour in May 1998. Pretty sure they did "Tumble In The Rough," "Vasoline," and either "Piece of Pie" or "Sin" - plus a handful of his solo songs, including a loud-guitar version of "Lady Your Roof...")

#7 Stone Temple Pilots "Glide" (1999)

We never hear anyone talk about their 1999-2003 era beyond "Sour Girl," so we were hoping to highlight this section of their output. It was a tough call between this one and "Church on Tuesday."

#8 Stone Temple Pilots "Days of the Week" (2001)

Talk about remembering where you were... I recall this album being a topic of discussion on the night of September 10, 2001. Yeah anyway, "Days of the Week" is their most underrated lead single. Pretty sure it was the only song from their 5th album performed during their headlining hour-long set on the 2001 Family Values Tour (with Linkin Park and Staind). If memory serves correctly, they closed the show with The Beatles' "Revolution" as Weiland emerged wearing only an American flag. As the crowd cheered, he tripped out of the flag and ran off stage naked.

#9 Stone Temple Pilots "Hello It's Late" Video (2002)

In November 2003, they released Thank You, a retrospective that included a bonus DVD with all of their videos presented chronologically and concluding with "Hello It's Late," the final video prior to their first break-up and hiatus in November 2003. It might have something to do with Weiland's beard and clothing, but something about this has a very distinct Abbey Road feel to it, as if they secretly knew it was their final moment.

#10 Velvet Revolver "Fall to Pieces" Video (2004)

Kinda chilling to watch this now in light of the recent news. Weiland chose to participate in a decently brave and ballsy video performance, literally lying on the floor of a backstage area and revived from a heroin overdose by Duff McKagen - one of the last musicians to speak with Kurt Cobain while he was alive and probably GNR's 2nd most notorious victim of intense drug addiction (after Steven Adler). And plus, this was definitely Scott Weiland's last great song.

leonard nimoy

Hot Mix 2013: #40 to 31

| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

40. Doe B featuring T.I. & Juicy J “Let Me Find Out (Remix)”
Pour one out for Doe B. Hazy sadness permeates the hiphop community mourning what may have evolved into a much larger career. A string of remixes and mixtape cuts followed in the aftermath of “Let Me Find Out (Remix),” supplying the proof that he was worth such a tribute. Social media provides immediacy in our recent discoveries, although Doe B, T.I. and Juicy J concern themselves with dark discoveries that might be revealed in person (or through texting): “Let me find out you puttin' molly all in that champagne and she don't even know” implies the lowest scum. The unfortunate realities of trap life don't always reveal the lightest subject matter.
https://soundcloud.com/thatericalper/let-me-find-out-remix-feat-doe

39. Kanye West “I Am a God”
In Groundhog Day (directed by the late, great Harold Ramis), Bill Murray struggles to grasp his overwhelming superpowers: “I am a God. I'm not THE God - I don't think - but I'm A God.” Kanye seems far more comfortable with his similar position of power, approaching yet another item to cross from his extensively absurd bucket list: standing elevated in New York City above a mile-deep crowd and screaming “I am a God" through a PA system. This might imply the logical continuation that began in 2010 with “No one man should have all that power.” “I Am a God” signifies the moment when someone realizes they might be uncontrollably drunk with power, recognizing the bizarre reality of their existence. Beyonce experienced a similar fate, probably around the time where she admitted via Youtube, "I am more powerful than my mind can digest or understand." The video may have been yanked, but she's clearly in the same boat (or yacht, whatever).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGNBLQpGWE

38. Jute Gyte “The Haunting Sense of an Unrepeatable Unidirectional Vector”
A math rock band who used to worship Drive Like Jehu discovers Satan. The results are otherworldly - a creepily warped or even psychedelic version of hell . Descending dissonant chords emit the aura of dark, confusing chaos. Atmosphere aside, the songwriting on this record displays nothing less than killer craftsmanship, with “Haunting Sense” ruling hard as the feared dark lord within its universe. Thou shalt sacrifice a goat on the sixth hour of the sixth day in the sixth month. Victory is ours.


37. Joanna Gruesome “Wussy Void”
“I think it's kind of a ripoff of a Mannequin Pussy song,” admits Owen Gruesome, guitarist from Joanna Gruesome and songwriter of the sludgy and pensive “Wussy Void,” one of the defining slacker-anthems of the year. A few nights ago, we sat down with Owen, lead vocalist Alanna McArdle and lead guitarist George Nicholls, prior to a recent sold out UK concert, for our big exclusive interview:
Alanna: “['Wussy Void'] was called 'Dave' for a really long time.”
Owen: “And then it was changed to 'Davey von Bohlen.' After it was recorded, we changed it to 'Wussy Void'. We don't have many slow songs, so it's like our ballad.”
TMK: Is that why you don't play it live as much?
Owen: “We don't play it much because it's got a more complicated structure than any of our other songs.”
Alanna: “Well it was my favorite on the album, but then Max [their bassist] just said he didn't know it, and that was the end of that.”
Nicholls: “But it's only three chords?”
Owen: “He only plays one string on it.”
TMK: Are you especially psyched that you've recently added it to your live repertoire?
Alanna: “Actually no, because now that we have played it, I realized that I can't sing that high anymore and it's really embarrassing for me. I think I'm out of tune the whole time.” [She def wasn't.]
Nicholls: “But also we can now play a complete set of songs.”


36. Bad History Month “Sad History Month, January 2012”
What might have been intended as Fat's swansong turned into a new era for Jeff Meff. "Sad History Month" boasts closer production value to Fat's pre-hiatus LP, thanks to Philly's most badass sound engineers Dan Angel and James Ryskalchick. But the song's first half is injected with so much sludgy drone and teetering distorted piano octaves that one might not decipher any difference from their earlier self-produced material. Halfway through a particularly rough hospital visit, overbearingly chaotic brain chemicals surge. Devastatingly gothic drones give way to a sunrise that doesn't signal a new dawn. The sun is completely up in flames as a pensive morning arrives. The previously painful stabbing piano re-enters with clarity, but slowly builds in intensity. Curious grinding noises emerge within the final few seconds before an abrupt cut to silence.


35. Juana Molina “Sin Guia, No”
We forgot where we heard this quote, but a wise man once noted that the scariest moment in a suspense thriller isn't when the monster or killer is slicing and dicing, but rather the moment of anticipation. It's that gripping moment just as the door handle starts to turn in slow motion. With that said, “Sin Guia, No” could have easily fit onto the soundtrack of a suspenseful 60s spy movie (or in a vaguely similar art-house film like Blow Up or something). The atmosphere surrounding Juana increases in intensity throughout the song's 5 minutes. As the enemy suddenly catches onto our hero's scheme, sexy-spy will need to think fast in order to avert the situation.
https://soundcloud.com/crammed-discs/juana-molina-sin-guia-no-from

34. Queens of the Stone Age “My God is the Sun”
Did we mention yet that this was the first Queens album with no re-recordings? In its place, they've cranked the “David Bowie” knob far louder than on previous releases, although certain circles may have noted a sudden resemblance to Pile's Dripping LP from 2012. The entire calendar year of 2013 progressed with no new music from Pile, who have since admitted strong influence from Josh Homme and Dave Grohl, fused with their own personalized flair. Perhaps coincidentally, this flair appears generously within “My God is the Sun,” perhaps the biggest hit song Pile never had. Is it possible that Grohl places Kris Kuss among his drumming contemporaries? Does Josh Homme's current phase of songwriting include Pile among his same echoes of influence that Brian Wilson offered Paul McCartney, in turn offering influence to Brian Jones and Keith Richards? And most importantly, when will the QOTSA/Pile tour pummel across the United States and beyond? All this and more will be answered in due time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-90obSa1Az4

33. Jackson Scott “That Awful Sound”
Dreamy teenage-slack and slo-mo weed haze saturates Jackson Scott's 2013 output. His one-man-band uses home recording equipment in a similar style to Mac Demarco's first 2 albums, striking his instruments very quietly and compressed with just enough reverb to evoke gentle dreamy immersion. Even the nearly whispered double-layer vocals don't know their own strength, as if they may push over large furniture without really trying. He should also be commended for the best usage of Christmas bells since prior to indie-rock's hokey 2007-era fascination with glockenspiel. “Evie” and the unfortunately titled “Sandy” are his catchiest early standouts, while “That Awful Sound” may best represent Jackson's charmingly lazy naivety.
https://soundcloud.com/jollyyjackk/that-awful-sound

32. Kurt Vile “Wakin on a Pretty Day”
Nigel Godrich's contributions to Pavement's Terror Twilight seem especially prevalent in the pristine clarity of “Wakin' on a Pretty Day,” the ultimate wake and bake jam of 2013. The atmosphere strongly evokes clear summer morning skies accompanied by the satisfaction one may receive from a morning coffee and/or cigarette (or in Kurt Vile's case, the stoned-wisdom perspective). Forget about your cellphone for a few hours. Step away from immediacy and urgency. Allow the next two minutes to feel like 20 and simply enjoy the feeling of being alive in a perfect moment alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd0K76H7sU8

31. Connections “1980 Called”
We'll have to apologize for indulging yet another Connections/Bob Pollard comparison, even though nothing else on their LP raises more suspicions than “1980 Called.” We'd like the think the song title partially disses the overwhelmingly pushy marketing tactic of equating modern music to previous styles or eras. The differences are both subtle and crucial: Connections slightly buries their lyrics in delay, while Pollard typically pushes lyrics closer to the forefront, emphasizing melodic hooks alongside enunciation. The next great Ohio band has arrived.


| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

peace out MCR

We often forget that we never really hated them. This is still among our 20 favorite videos:

Six Hot Jams from Wesley Willis

We'll be breaking hiatus to discuss an artist who we discussed often in the "Geocities" years, but who we've been neglecting since launching the "blog" version of this website.

Wes was a gentle giant with an incredibly accurate memory and amazing penmanship. He's been mentioned often throughout our travels across the United States, and since we'll be heading to Chicago later today, we've decided to throw together a mini-"Best of" comp with some light commentary...

"They Threw Me Out Of Church"

Rest In Peace Denis Fleminon...

Denis very sadly passed away on July 7th which we discovered while heading from Santa Fe to Phoenix. Denis was a member of The Frogs (who we've been listening to almost daily since we left for this trip) and was also the guy who initially introduced myself and thousands (possibly millions) of others to Wesley Willis on January 8, 1995 when Pearl Jam included Denis as a guest on their one-off radio simulcast "Self-Pollution Radio." During the segment, Eddie Vedder and Krist Novoselic called Denis and asked him to play a Wesley Willis song over the phone... (The entire transcript can be found here: http://www.monkeywrenchradio.org/spr/19950108.html) and you can listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GZDzIWFkVY

Krist: How things been hanging Jim? (correcting himself) Denis?
Denis: What's that?
Krist: Hey Denis, it's Krist Novaselic.
Denis: Hi, how's it goin?
Krist: Got your letter.
Denis: Yeah.
Krist: Thanks.
Denis: Thank you.
Krist: Alright.
Denis: We got to ...we got to take the cow for a walk in a little...a little while.
Eddie: Hey Denis, you don't have any of that Wesley Willis stuff lying around do you?
Denis: Um. If I could find it. I do. You want it?
Eddie: Actually yeah. I mean, you know. Wesley Willis his whole repertoire is a...we'll take anything.
Denis: Here it is. This is a uh. I'm hearing the delay downstairs. What's it called ... "They Threw Me Out of Church".
Song: "They threw me out of church" by Wesley Willis
Denis: Can you handle it?
Eddie: Ah man. Well I could, you know he's one of my favorites. Just the fact that you know that really happened and that his lyrics are honest. That's all I want in music. An honest lyric...


"Arnold Schwarzenegger"

Wes' tribute to Arnold epitomizes his collection of tributes to his friends and his favorite bands. Other fan-favorites of this type include "Alanis Morrisette, "Elvis Presley" and "Oprah Winfrey" among hundreds of others. He tells Arnold "You are the best man I ever liked."

"Shit and Fuck"

Many of Wesley's songs describe his battles with the demon. "Shit and Fuck" discusses the voices in his head who scream profanity instead of allowing him to hear the music he desired and needed. The outro of this song repeats the refrain "Shit and Fuck" for a minute or so longer than average, depicting his difficulty with chasing away these voices.
"2 X 4"

At the beginning of this song, Wesley says "Thank God for how I'm learning how to live." In certain moments, he was able to convince himself that his schizophrenia may be able to subside itself, and that he might be able to live peacefully and quietly among strangers, although it's not long afterwards that he imagines fighting those strangers with 2x4's and BB guns.

"Casper The Homosexual Friendly Ghost"
It's not easy to choose just one song from The Wesley Willis Fiasco, who Wesley fired in 1996 not long before his infamous Howard Stern interview. The Fiasco only released one album in 1992 (full of classics including "I'm Sorry That I Got Fat" and "Jesus Is The Answer") but "Casper" seems to be the jam where the Fiasco and Wesley both came together in a manner that rocks beyond novelty aspects.

"Michael Jackson"
As far as we can tell, "Michael Jackson" is unavailable on any of Wesley Willis' studio albums (although we've heard from sources that ALL of his songs had studio versions... Wes was able to recall the tracklistings for his entire discography consisting of over 100 albums, between his solo work and his albums with The Fiasco and The Dragnews). In the case of "Michael Jackson" however, the fan-taped live version is definitive, mostly because of its extensive introduction. The song was recorded in 1997, which was about a year or 2 prior to his rise as one of the first internet-phenomenon artists. After 1999-2000, the shows were less full of DIY-punk who heard of Wesley through word-of-mouth. By 2001, the frat and college crowd made up the louder half of his audience, and Wesley's demon voice became louder than ever, encouraging him to drop shows and tours altogether. However, he was always able to convince himself that the show must go on; otherwise, he wouldn't get paid...

Along with "I'm Sorry That I Got Fat," "Michael Jackson" is probably the best representation of his mesmerizing live sets:

RIP "Trololol"

BULLSHIT :(

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/04/tech/web/mr-trololo-dead/index.html
(CNN) -- Eduard Khil, a Soviet-era singing star who found renewed popularity as the viral Web's "Mr. Trololo," died Monday, Russian media reported.

Khil had been in a St. Petersburg, Russia, hospital since suffering a stroke in April. He was 77.

Khil was considered one of the Soviet Union's great performers in the '60s and '70s. But his claim to fame in the rest of the world came in 2009 after a YouTube video posting of him performing the Russian pop song "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home."

Ween splittin up

We are saddened to report what was recently confirmed from Ween's message board and RollingStone.Com, that Gene and Dean Ween have parted and gone their separate ways. We've been hearing stories about their drifting apart over the past few years, leading to increasingly sporadic releases and the uncompleted "Shinola" series which unfortunately never made it past Volume 1. Either way, they were a big part of what made the 90's exciting and adventurous and strange, and we'll likely be posting Ween videos for the rest of the week..........