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Monthly Archives: February 2009

Valentines Day / Songs Named After Women A-Z


Thanks again to our entire facebook rock geek advisory panel for the assistance identifying songs that refer to other bands. This show worked out well. Scott liked it much better than he did songs that refer to their own bands.

For Valentine’s Day Cristy and I are going to dedicate a show to songs named after women, especially songs named after Judy or Caroline, as we have found enough songs about these two ladies to make a collage. We’ll be getting caught up with the Myshkins requests with “Mimi LaValley.” We’ll finally get around to Phil Ochs with “Celia.” We will not play “Cecilia.” And we will play some things by bands other than Material Issue.

We even recorded a short promo so you can try before you download.

As we hope to organize these songs in alphabetic order, we are in dire need of songs named after women whose names begin with Q, X, and Z. Rock geek scrabble, anyone?

Flawedcasts of those two shows are downloadable here: A-M /  N-Z

Next Saturday we are going to devote an hour to newly-released music. Last year saw a new album by some band called Radiohead, and this week saw me finally get my pre-ordered LP of Goodnight, Oslo, by Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3. Future Clouds and Radar, a Texas band that sounds British, completed a concept album about Peoria, Illinois, for reasons that remain obscure. And Ben Folds titled his latest after Normal, Illinois, and wrote a song about Effingham, even if he got the name wrong. Downstate Illinois is the new Tobacco Road, apparently.

Were there any new records last year (or this) that struck your fancy? As music snobs stuck in the 1990s and 1980s, respectively, Cristy and I will rely on your suggestions.

Tune in to Rock Geek F.M. Saturday mornings from 8-9 a.m. CST on http://weft.org. Or at a more reasonable hour in the Nordic countries. Or, if you’re reading this now, listen to the MP3 on the wayback machine.

Songs that Refer to Other Bands

This week we’re dedicating our radio show to songs that refer to other bands. We’ve recorded a short promo to explain our position on this complex and far-reaching topic. For example, Robyn Hitchcock has songs that are about or refer to Arthur Lee, Arthur Cane, David Byrne, Nick Lowe, and the Higsons. They Might Be Giants has “We’re the Replacements,” “Rhythm Section Want Ad,” and “Twisting” (my fave for the dB’s reference).

We hope this topic will be rich enough to create a dazzling playlist of utter gems.

Your help naming songs is totally useful and appreciated. And I hope Scott likes it. How is the rock radio in Norway, anyway?

Rock Geek F.M. is broadcast on 90.1 FM and webcast on http://weft.org Saturday mornings at the hung-over hour of 8-9 a.m. Chicago time.

And here’s the whole show on MP3.

Thanks for listening. I hope Neil Young will remember…

I forgot!

I forgot!

Saturday the 31st on Rock Geek F.M. Cristy and I are looking for songs that name their own band—songs whose lyrics include the name of the band that plays them. Unfortunately, we must steer away from rap for this theme, as it is part of the genre for rappers to discuss themselves. When it happens in a rock song, though, it can be a bit jarring.

25 True Things About Me

MC Willy G PhD ABD
MC Willy G PhD ABD

1. I was born in a cross-fire hurricane.

2. If I were a swan, I’d be gone.

3. I wish I were a Kellogg’s cornflake. I’d rather be a hammer than a nail.

4. I need a dumptruck to unload my head.

5. Superman or Green Lantern ain’t got nothing on me.

6. I’m gonna fly my freak flag high.

7. I’m a snow-covered mountain in an empty room.

8. I should pour through the keyhole or evaporate completely.

9. I have tried marijuana. I get nervous every time: There will come a knocking at the door.

10. I am a man who will fight for your honor.

11. I’d like to be under the sea.

12. When I was an astronaut, an asteroid ht the earth and prematurely ended my career.

13. My tissue is rotting where the rats chew my bones. My eye socket’s empty. I’m a space invader, I’ll be a rock-and-rolling bitch for you. This film is a saddening bore, because I wrote it ten times or more. I’d like to be a gallery and put you all inside my show.

14. I live above a grocer’s store owned by an Austrian. He often calls me down for tea. He jokes about his broken English, tries to be a friend to me. But for all my years of reading conversation, I stand without a word to say.

15. My death waits there among the leaves.

16. I’ve got an electric guitar and half a bottle of warm beer. I’ve got some funny ideas about what sounds good.

17. I may be hungry but I sure ain’t weird.

18. Eight miles out of Memphis and I got no spare.

19. I’ve got a crystal ball, a divining rod, a magnifying glass and a pack of dogs.

20. The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south.

21. Memories of it still keep calling and calling, but forget it all, I know I will.

22. My wheels never touched the road.

23. It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I’m much obliged to you for making it clear that I’m not here. I’ve been looking all over the place for a place for me, but it ain’t anywhere. It just ain’t anywhere.

24. I’m a Citizens for Boysenberry Jam fan.

25. If I were a better man, I’d understand the spaces between friends.