“Green, Green Rocky Road”, Dave Van Ronk

  This way: Green, Green Rocky Road

Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street".

Van Ronk's work ranged from old English ballads to blues, gospel, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. He was also known for performing instrumental ragtime guitar music, especially his transcription of "St. Louis Tickle" and Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". Van Ronk was a widely admired avuncular figure in "the Village", presiding over the coffeehouse folk culture and acting as a friend to many up-and-coming artists by inspiring, assisting, and promoting them. Folk performers he befriended include Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Joni Mitchell. Dylan recorded Van Ronk's arrangement of the traditional song "House of the Rising Sun" on his first album, which the Animals turned into a chart-topping rock single in 1964, helping inaugurate the folk-rock movement. 

[Spotify] Green, Green Rocky Road

“Mr. Alphabet Says”, The Glove

  This way: Mr. Alphabet Says

The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, Blue Sunshine, in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with Polydor. The latter came up with the band name, the album title and the blue/yellow sleeve concept, as Smith had to leave the project before completion due to prior commitments with the Cure. 

[Spotify]  Mr. Alphabet Says

“Birth, School, Work, Death”, The Godfathers

  This way: Birth, School, Work, Death

The Godfathers are an English alternative rock/new wave band from London, England, with strong influences from R&B and punk. The Godfathers were formed by Peter and Chris Coyne after the demise of The Sid Presley Experience in 1985, joined by Mike Gibson (guitar), Kris Dollimore (guitar) & George Mazur (drums). Fellow TSPE member and later Godfather, Del Bartle, went on to form The Unholy Trinity with drummer Kevin Murphy. 

[Spotify]  Birth, School, Work, Death

“EP2 / Single Blip”, VCMG

This way: EP2 / Single Blip

VCMG (also stylized as Vcmg) are an English electronic music duo, consisting of Vince Clarke (Erasure, Yazoo, Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode). Reuniting the two original members of the original Depeche Mode lineup over 30 years after Vince Clarke left the band after the release of their debut album Speak and Spell. Their debut album, titled Ssss, was released on 12 March 2012 by Mute Records. An EP titled Spock was released (initially exclusively on Beatport) on 30 November 2011. Their second EP, Single Blip, was also released initially exclusive to Beatport on 20 February 2012. Their third EP, Aftermaths was released on 20 August 2012. 

In 2015, Gore released a solo album titled MG as a reference to VCMG.

[Spotify]  EP2 / Single Blip

“The Kettle Valley Line”, Brian Dewan

  This way: The Kettle Valley Line

Brian Dewan is a multi-media artist, who produces music, audio-visual performances, decorative painting, furniture, poetry, filmstrips, illustrations, and musical instruments. He has released three albums of songs and performed extensively in clubs and concert halls as a solo artist and as a member of various ensembles. He lives in Catskill, New York. Brian is the brother of artist Ted Dewan and the cousin of musical instrument builder/musician Leon Dewan.

Dewan has a cross-genre approach to music, although he is predominantly known for his folk-tinged vocal stylings and instrumental electronic music, which on a performance level are generally mutually exclusive. His vocal repertoire references folk music, hymns, popular songs from bygone eras (especially topical songs from the 19th and early 20th centuries), and rock music. He also composes original songs reflecting these influences. These genres permeate his first two full-length albums, Brian Dewan Tells the Story (1993, Bar None Records) and The Operating Theatre (1998, Instinct Records). His songs often contemplate the nature of submission to authority, often in a storytelling manner. His lyrics are by turns humorous, philosophical, and contemplative. His historical song repertoire often betrays a post-modern irony in the re-telling. 

[Spotify]  The Kettle Valley Line

“Absolutely Sweet Marie”, Jason and the Nashville Scorchers

  This way: Absolutely Sweet Marie

Jason & the Scorchers, originally Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, are an alternative country band that formed in 1981 and are led by singer-songwriter Jason Ringenberg.

With a sound that combines alternative rock and country music, Jason and the Scorchers are noted for their energetic live performances, and have earned strong reviews from critics, including Mark Deming, who declared they "blazed a trail for the cowpunk and alt-country movements that followed in their wake."

Jason and the Scorchers have maintained a loyal core group of fans around the world for more than 30 years. Jason and the Scorchers released their latest album Halcyon Times in February 2010. 

  Spotify: Absolutely Sweet Marie

  Extra credit original: Absolutely Sweet Marie

“Suspended in Gaffa”, Kate Bush

This way: Suspended in Gaffa

Catherine Bush CBE (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, dancer and record producer. In 1978, aged 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. Bush has since released 25 UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", "Babooshka", "Running Up That Hill", "Don't Give Up" (a duet with Peter Gabriel), and "King of the Mountain". All 10 of her studio albums reached the UK Top 10, including the UK number one albums Never for Ever (1980), Hounds of Love (1985), and the compilation The Whole Story (1986). She was the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist to enter the album chart at number one. 

Bush began writing songs at 11. She was signed to EMI Records after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour helped produce a demo tape. Her debut album, The Kick Inside, was released in 1978. Bush slowly gained artistic independence in album production and has produced all her studio albums since The Dreaming (1982). She took a hiatus between her seventh and eighth albums, The Red Shoes (1993) and Aerial (2005). Bush drew attention again in 2014 with her concert residency Before the Dawn, her first shows since 1979's The Tour of Life.

[Spotify] Suspended in Gaffa

“Vagabond Moon”, Willie Nile

 This way: Vagabond Moon

Willie Nile (born June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter.

In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing in the US and Europe, establishing himself as a singer-songwriter. 

[Spotify] Vagabond Moon

“Alphabet”, Shame

 This way: Alphabet

Shame are an English alternative rock band originally from South London, England. Their debut album Songs of Praise was released on 12 January 2018. 

Shame released their debut album Songs of Praise on 12 January 2018 through Dead Oceans and was met with critical acclaim. The record currently holds an aggregated score of 83 based on 16 reviews. The album peaked at number 32 on the UK Albums Chart and remained on the chart for two weeks.

In late January 2020, NME reported that Shame was working on their second studio album, and that recording had been complete. On 18 November 2020, the band confirmed that their second studio album, entitled Drunk Tank Pink would come out 15 January 2021.  

[Spotify] Alphabet

“New England”, The Schramms

 This way: New England

Dave Schramm is perhaps best known as an original member and lead guitarist for Yo La Tengo, but over the years has worked with a wide assortment of notable artists from the Replacements to Richard Buckner and all points in between. In recent years, he created the Radio Free Song Club with singer / songwriter Kate Jacobs and disc jockey Nicholas Hill, a successful radio show / podcast showcasing a group of songwriting heavyweights that’s included Victoria Williams, Peter Holsapple, Freedy Johnston, Laura Cantrell, Robin Holcomb, Howe Gelb, Peter Blegvad, Jody Harris, Don Piper, Amy Allison, Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric. 

[Spotify] New England

“Headphones and Ringtones”, Komputer

  This way: Headphones and Ringtones

Komputer is an English, London-based electronic band, composed of Simon Leonard and David Baker.

Collaborating since 1982, Leonard and Baker were originally signed to Mute Records in 1984 under the name I Start Counting and continued with releases under the moniker Fortran 5 until the release of Komputer’s debut album, The World of Tomorrow in (1998). 

Simon Leonard and David Baker originally met at Middlesex University where they DJed together and, in 1982 began to collaborate on an electronic pop project, I Start Counting. Both had an abiding affection for pop music as well as a deep love of music in general, although Leonard specialised more in technology and David's bias was on the musical side. I Start Counting released two albums, and, in 1987, supported Erasure on a European tour.

In 1990, the new material they were working on was sounding quite different from their electropop roots and it was decided that a new name, Fortran 5, would give the new dance/techno style a completely fresh start. The duo also began to collaborate with a number of other artists including DJ Colin Faver, Thrash of The Orb, Rod Slater of the Bonzos and Neil Arthur of Blancmange. Remixes were provided by the likes of Vince Clarke, Moby, Joey Negro, David Holmes and Pascal Gabriel, while the duo supplied remixes for other artists including Erasure, Inspiral Carpets and Laibach.

David and Simon then reacted to the tedium of mid 1990s indie guitar music by returning to their Kraftwerk inspired roots which again provoked a name change. The band takes samples from a variety of sources: from Russian cosmonauts to rubbish compactors and mobile phone ringtones.

[Spotify] Headphones and Ringtones

“Waltz No 2”, Elliott Smith

  This way: Waltz No. 2

When Elliott was a young lad growing up in Texas he was molested by his stepfather. His Mothers solution was to side with her husband and send the boy to live with his Father in Portland. This is a heart wrenching number he wrote to his mother. I can't think of a more powerful song. If you don't know this mans work there is a trove of great songs. He killed himself in 2003. 

[Spotify] Waltz No. 2

[extra credit live] Waltz No. 2

“Make a Deal with the City”, East River Pipe

 This way: Make a Deal with the City

F.M. Cornog is an American songwriter, singer, self-taught musician, and home-recordist who records under the name East River Pipe. The New York Times describes Cornog as "the Brian Wilson of home recording.

Cornog was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, Cornog worked a series of menial jobs before succumbing to alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness, and eventual homelessness, ending up in the Hoboken train station.

During this time he met Astoria, Queens-resident Barbara Powers, and with Powers' support and label (Hell Gate), Cornog released some home-recorded cassettes and 7" singles under the name East River Pipe, which he chose after observing a sewage pipe spewing out raw waste into the East River.[4] These initial 7" singles attracted the attention of UK-based Sarah Records who released his records from 1993 to 1996, making Cornog one of the few American artists ever signed to the label.

In the U.S., Cornog released his first LP, Shining Hours In A Can, on the Chicago-based micro-indie Ajax Records in 1994. A year later, he found a more permanent home on Merge Records, the Chapel Hill-based indie run by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance. Merge released Poor Fricky (1995), Mel (1996), The Gasoline Age (1999), Shining Hours In A Can (2002;reissue), Garbageheads On Endless Stun (2003), What Are You On? (2006), and We Live In Rented Rooms (2011). 

[Spotify] Make a Deal with the City

“Magic”, November Növelet

 This way: Magic

This band is German. 

[Spotify] Magic

“Letter to ZZ Top”, U.S. Maple

 This way: Letter to ZZ Top

U.S. Maple was an American rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson (lead singer), Mark Shippy (guitarist), Pat Samson (drummer), and Todd Rittmann (guitarist).

U.S. Maple was formed in 1995 at DeKalb's Northern Illinois University by former members of Shorty and the Mercury Players. Two members from each band met at the corner of Grand and Western Avenues, and as the band would reveal later on their website, began discussing how the group could erase rock and roll from their collective minds. The assembled group set out to devise a working method for reorganizing Rock and Roll, keeping only what they felt were its most important core elements. Recognizing they were kindred spirits, the group decided then and there to join together in an attempt to realize some of their musical ambitions. 

U.S. Maple inherited vocalist Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy from Shorty, while drummer Pat Samson and second guitarist Todd Rittman were transplants from the Mercury Players. The band's first recording came in the form of a two song 7" single produced by Doug Easley and recorded in September 1995 at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee (during these sessions a cover version of AC/DC's "Sin City" was also recorded, and eventually released on Skin Graft's "Sides 1-4" 7" compilation). U.S. Maple's first single featured the songs “Stuck” and "When a Man says Ow!” The independent label Skin Graft Records took an interest in the band and signed them to the label, releasing the "Stuck" single in the fall of 1995

[Spotify] Letter to ZZ Top

“A Little Death To Laugh”, Cold Cave

 This way: A Little Death To Laugh

Cold Cave is the moniker for the music of Wesley Eisold based in Los Angeles and New York City whose music is described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop". A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division.

Cold Cave was founded in 2007 by Wesley Eisold, former vocalist of hardcore groups Give Up the Ghost (previously known as American Nightmare), Some Girls and Heartworm Press founder. Cold Cave represents Eisold's first venture into instrumentation. Eisold was born with one hand which led him to electronic music.

[Spotify] A Little Death To Laugh 

“Going Down to Liverpool”, The Bangles

 This way: Going Down to Liverpool

"Going Down to Liverpool" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for his group Katrina and the Waves, although best remembered for a cover done by the Bangles.

The Bangles are an American all female pop rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987), "In Your Room" (1988), and "Eternal Flame" (1989).

The band's classic lineup consisted of founding members Susanna Hoffs (guitar and vocals), Debbi Peterson (drums and vocals), Vicki Peterson (guitar and vocals), and Michael Steele (bass and vocals). As of June 2018, the band consisted of Hoffs, Debbi and Vicki Peterson, and founding bassist Annette Zilinskas.

 

[Spotify] Going Down to Liverpool

[extra credit-orig.] Going Down to Liverpool

“Crumpled Body”, Wolf Eyes

This way: Crumpled Body

Born in the dead, dread-filled haunted hills of Michigan, Wolf Eyes are the rabid beasts of Trip Metal & have been plowing thru new tunnels of the underworld since 1997. They also go by the name Nate Young. Pure audio stunn, homemade post-nuclear terror & claustrophobic atmospheres -- the most shattered and confusing horrorvision since Bo Diddley dropped the duct taped warhead on all humans in 2024. 

[Spotify]  Crumpled Body

“The Lion Inside”, Titus Andronicus

This way: The Lion Inside

Titus Andronicus is an American indie rock band formed in Glen Rock, New Jersey, in 2005. The band is composed of singer-lyricist-guitarist Patrick Stickles, guitarist Liam Betson, bassist R.J. Gordon, and drummer Chris Wilson. The group takes its name from the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus, and has cited musical and stylistic influences such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Pulp. 

[Spotify]  The Lion Inside

“Walking on Your Hands”, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

 This way: Walking on Your Hands

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, also known very briefly as the Lorries, are an English rock band formed in Leeds in early 1981 by guitarist and songwriter Chris Reed, vocalist Mark Sweeney, bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown. After breaking up in 1991, the band reformed in 2003 and have released 5 studio albums over the course of their career. 

[Spotify] Walking on Your Hands

“Pop Zeus”, Robert Pollard, Doug Gilliard

This way: Pop Zeus

Here is one of the best songs ever written. Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department is an album released by Robert Pollard (the brain trust of Guided by Voices) and Doug Gillard in 1999. For the album, Gillard recorded instrumental tracks for songs Pollard had written (along with contributing four instrumentals of his own), to which Pollard later added vocals.

The fifth track of the album, 'Do Something Real', appeared as the final soundtrack to Steven Soderbergh's 2002 film Full Frontal.

The two would collaborate again in 2003 under the moniker Lifeguards with the album Mist King Urth; this time, however, Gillard composed all the instrumentals himself, with Pollard adding lyrics and vocals. From 1999. 

[Spotify]  Pop Zeus

“Fear is a Man’s Best Friend”, John Cale

This way: Fear is a Man’s Best Friend

John Cale, (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music. 

He studied music at Goldsmiths College, University of London, before relocating in 1963 to New York City's downtown music scene, where he performed as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music and formed the Velvet Underground. Since leaving the band in 1968, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, including the widely acclaimed Music for a New Society. Cale has also acquired a reputation as an adventurous producer, working on the debut albums of several innovative artists, including the Stooges and Patti Smith.

Fear is the first of Cale's three studio albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year. During this time Cale was also producing records for other artists, working on albums such as Horses by Patti Smith, one of the most influential of all punk records.

In addition to his lead vocals on Fear, Cale also played keyboards, guitars, viola, violin and bass, and was joined by Fairport Convention's Richard Thompson, Roxy Music's Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, and other artists who were signed to Island at the time.

[Spotify]  Fear is a Man’s Best Friend

“The Message”, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

This way: The Message

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, The Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, Scorpio and Rahiem. The group's use of turntablism, breakbeat DJing, and conscious lyricism were significant in the early development of hip hop music. 

In the late 1970s, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five built their reputation and achieved local success by performing at parties and live shows. By 1980, the group had signed with Sugar Hill Records. Under Sugar Hill Records, the group rose to prominence in the early 1980s with their first hit "Freedom". It was not until the release of the song "The Message" in 1982 and the album of the same name that they achieved mainstream success. The song provided a political and social commentary and went on to become a driving force behind conscious hip-hop.

Edward Gernel Fletcher, known as Duke Bootee (June 6, 1951 – January 13, 2021) was an early rapper and hip hop and rap producer, who produced some of the most early and important rap records.

His best known single was "The Message". Produced for Sugar Hill Records, this record featured legendary rapper Melle Mel and Duke Bootee. The label on the record marketed the song as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, although the actual performers were Melle Mel and Duke Bootee. Later, he collaborated again with Melle Mel on the singles "Message II (Survival)", and "New York New York", in which the latter was credited to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

[Spotify]  The Message