Hungarian rock group Omega was another tough one for me to get Pandora to play. In addition to their song “seeds” being buried deep within a station, some of their albums are linked with a different artist with the name Omega. While Pandora has separated some albums under Omega (Hungary) a significant amount remain under the un-country delineated artist. Even if I seeded a particular song from one of those records, I would only get Latin-style hip-hop/rap. Nothing against that style, but I was on a mission. I eventually created a new station of Omega-only song links ,https://www.pandora.com/station/128387775899650908, and had to remove any songs that were not specifically attributed to “Omega (Hungary).” Only then did the sweet sounds that I remembered from back in my teen years begin to emanate from my speakers. Check out “Eltakart világ” (Just a Bloom) on this week’s playlist. (I have also reached out to Pandora support in hopes they may rectify the issue.)
Whilst playing-in-wait for Omega, I heard Pink Floyd’s “Summer ‘68” (Beach Boys? Chicago?) along with some deep tracks from Sinéad O’Connor, Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, Ruthie Foster, Kraan, Off Broadway and Elliott Sharp (an artist that was new to me) and have added representative selections to the playlist.

A significant portion of the playlist was helped along by the diligence of Kris LoPresto WTF 1520 (A recent conversation Marc Maron had with Thurston Moore) Playlist
Full Kris LoPresto WTF 1520 companion list

I picked a few items off that list to enhance my ever-expanding musical knowledge base.

Took a loooong time, but the Head East tracks started coming after I created a new Pandora station.

I had a good selection of their songs seeded in my HorsHawkHatHanHelm station, but after about a week of steadily listening to that station, I never managed to get it to play anything beyond some version of Never Been Any Reason.
I did get a good amount of Horslips – an Irish band which really stylistically covered a lot of ground. Summer’s Most Wanted Girl leads off the playlist and has them sounding somewhat like Roxy Music or Sparks. Juliana Hatfield was also well represented with everything from Blake Babies to some of her cover work – Olivia Newton-John’s “Deeper Than the Night” made the cut.
And I made some space for Hawkwind’s “Kiss of the Velvet Whip.” (I should write more about the seminal psychedelic rock outfit – maybe in a later posting.)

I pulled the Head East tracks out of the previously mentioned station along with the Nick Heyward tracks as he was getting no love either. The new station “HeadHeyward” initially gave me a good deal of NH’s tracks (also Haircut 100, Aztec Camera, Split Enz & Squeeze), but it wasn’t playing Head East. Instead I was offered Aerosmith, Bad Company, Angel, Thin Lizzy, Boston etc. – which was fine, but I was on a quest. Finally the breakthrough came with a latter day track from 2013’s ”Raise a Little Hell” – not a preferred track, but I gave it the thumbs up and that seemed to get the ball rolling. Got a couple of tracks from 1977’s Gettin’ Lucky (playlist includes “Show Me I’m Alive”) and I was sated when I heard Get Up and Enjoy Yourself from their 4th, eponymously-titled record from 1978..

Tweets this week led me to include a track from Agitation Free’s “Malesch” (1972), Big Big Train’s latest “The Likes of Us” and Iron and Wine’s collaboration with Fiona Apple “All In Good Time”

You may also find:
a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers track from their debut
Tracks from Dressy Bessy, Liz Phair & Susan Werner (another Philly Folk Fest Fave) which I assume were played as similar tracks to the Juliana Hatfield ones I had seeded
Billie Holiday, Charlie Haden, Freddie Hubbard & Allan Holdsworth representing the “H” stations
The Mountain Goats’ “Until I Am Whole” (WTF Podcast episode #366 with John Darnielle)

I succeeded in getting Pandora to play some Kayak. I had heard previously that their lead writer Ton Scherpenzeel had done some work writing music for Dutch theater so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the first track I heard from them on this particular quest, Larger than Life, sounded very much like a showtune. From 2014, long after their heyday, I liked it more than I thought I would. After getting a classic from 1975’s Royal bed bouncer, “If This Is Your Welcome,” and another decent latter day track, “Anywhere But Here,” I set my Pandora sights on Head East.

Broadway became a theme for this week of musical discovery as my wife and I ended up in New York city, at our daughter’s behest, to see Hadestown (Wednesday, 2/28/24 matinee). Of special interest to me was watching Ani DiFranco take on the role of Persephone. I believe I was biased by a memory of an exciting performance of hers at the Philadelphia Folk Fest (maybe 2003? Ani DiFranco – Shy (2003 Philly Folk Fest)). Initially I wanted more of her crazy energy – it finally kicked in after intermission with her performance of “Our Lady of the Underground.” I thoroughly enjoyed the show – with all of the instrumentalists on stage, it felt very organic.

My Wife and I attended Hamilton the night before which was really an amazing theatrical experience. It was very moving and the cast was very convincing – of special notice was Tamar Greene in the role of George Washington. I would have been satisfied if it were just he and Jennie Harney-Fleming (Angelica Schuyler) performing a show – both standouts in a very strong cast. I’ve included Tamar Greene’s “Soaring” in the Spotify playlist, but it doesn’t fully do justice to his vocal talent. For Jennie Harney-Fleming, I found a track she appeared on with Carvens Lissaint, “Can We Be Free.”
I’ve ended this week’s playlist with Labrador by Aimee Mann which she performed on episode of 363 of the WTF podcast. She has been a favorite artist of mine since her days in Til Tuesday.

Started with an EC tweet and includes my ongoing struggle to “force” Pandora to play some Kansas (other than “Dust in the Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Sun”). The tweet:

"If you were to create a blueprint for what a McCartney/Costello team-up might sound like, it likely wouldn’t resemble “That Day Is Done.” With its sloggy pace and funereal horns, it sets you up for a dire tale, which it delivers." – @AmerSongwriter https://t.co/Q9rqebZa1U

— Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) February 13, 2024

I have included some tracks from other artists I noticed tweets about, but did not recognize: Maurice Louca, Julia Pratt, and Glen David Andrews. I normally listen to a shuffle of all my Pandora stations, but in order to get deep into the heart of Kansas I listened to that station in Pandora’s “Deep Cuts” mode. I never did get any deep, classic old stuff, but heard a few good tracks that I missed from their post 70s material. A live version of “Summer”, “Silhouettes In Disguise” and then Curtain of Iron which, to me, still sounded like the band I knew and loved back in the day. Had an excellent visit with long-time friend Bill out in Pittsburgh in mid-February where I met some other quality persons – including Impositions’ bassist Scott and Polkamaniacs’ guitarist Paul. Polkamaniacs’ “Hi Weirdo!” is included. Also got out to see some cookin’ jazz at Con Alma – Hugo Cruz was the drummer and band leader. “Descarga” made this week’s list. Lake Charles from Lucinda Williams is the sole nod to WTF on this one (conversation with the artist from 2013). Next Up: Pandora plays Kayak!

Another week, another playlist. This time they are tracks mentioned, or hinted at, within a conversation with Dave Grohl (from 2013 – again with Marc Maron). Dave Grohl had recently completed the “Sound City” documentary – chronicling the history of Sound City Studios from which he had purchased the apparently magical Neve 8028 analog mixing console (among other items). They spoke of recordings that were made at the studio – Fleetwood Mac, REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield, etc. and also other bands/artists that had influenced DG. The below playlist is a representation of the mentions in the conversation with a few surprises – I think.
NOTE: The Petty track may have been a leftover from the Lorde conversation mentioned in my previous musical discovery post (Weekly Discoveries).

Relaying some musical items of which I’d recently come aware. As I was was listening to the “Friday Show” provided to me as a “Full Maron” subscriber to WTF podcast, I was informed that, at the time, Lorde was the youngest guest to take part in a conversation on that platform. I took a listen to that episode (WTF Episode 844), finding it very enjoyable and surprising. Mostly her musical influences which include Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, Phil Collins (have to give Take Me Home a closer listen), Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. I am intrigued to listen to her stuff (I’m sure I have heard Royals) – I included “Green Light” from her sophmore effort, Melodrama, on my initial weekly music discovery Spotify playlist (link below).

The second influence, a sad one, to my musical searching was the death of Wayne Kramer of The MC5 (I always thought it was just MC5 and also realized, or remembered, that the name was kinda an acronym for The Motor City 5). I found out about it from the reposting of another WTF episode with Wayne Kramer – it is a WTF tradition to repost an episode with someone that has recently passed. In the episode WK mentions Freddie King’s Hideaway as a benchmark for early guitarists and the MC5 album High Time is mentioned as a proud achievement. Being familiar only with Phil Collins’ Take Me Home, I made a short playlist that includes:

• Peter Green – Showbiz Blues
• Paul Simon – Run That Body Down
• Phil Collins – Take Me Home
• Lorde – Green Light
• Freddie King – Hide Away
• MC5 – Baby Won’t Ya

(Re)Discover these along with me.

Note: I may add to the playlist during the week (or just make a new one as next week’s – haven’t decided yet).

-Ed

Ed Bejzak Music – How Can We Help You?