“Resident Evil”, Friendship

This way: Resident Evil

Friendship is an American indie rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of Dan Wriggins, Michael Cormier-O'Leary, Peter Gill, and Jon Samuels.

Friendship began in 2015 with the release of their first full-length album, You're Going to Have to Trust Me, on Burst & Bloom. On August 8, 2017, the band premiered a song titled "If You See My Beloved" from their upcoming second full-length album. They premiered another song on Stereogum in October titled "Skip To The Good Part". Their second full-length album, and first on Orindal Records, titled Shock Out Of Season, was released later in 2017. On September 11, 2019, Friendship once again premiered a new song through Stereogum titled "Clairvoyant". One month later, Friendship premiered another song on Stereogum titled "You Might Already Know". The album, Dreamin', was released on November 8, 2019. On July 29th, 2022, the band released their fourth full-length album, Love the Stranger, on Merge Records. Its fifth studio album, Caveman Wakes Up, was released in 2025. 

 

[Spotify] Resident Evil 

“Teenage Wasteland”, Wussy

This way: Teenage Wasteland

Wussy is an American four-piece indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001. The band consists of Chuck Cleaver (vocals/guitar), Lisa Walker (vocals/guitar), Joe Klug (drums) and Mark Messerly (bass). Former members include Dawn Burman (drums) and John Erhardt (pedal steel). Cleaver and Walker write most of the songs and either alternate lead vocals or sing them in harmony. Live performances feature the two vocalists having a "combative rapport". The band has released seven albums, one live album, two EPs, one mini LP and a number of singles. 

Wussy formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2001 while Chuck Cleaver had just released the last album with his previous group, Ass Ponys. He met Lisa Walker and asked her to perform with him at a local awards show in Cincinnati in 2001. Following the performance the duo decided to form a band together. Walker, originally from Muncie, Indiana, attended Cedarville University and has worked in marketing. They were joined by Messerly on bass and Dawn Burman on drums in 2002. Burman had not yet mastered the instrument but joined as she "loved their sound and wanted to be part of it". 

The album Strawberry was released in November 2011 and was described as "driven by an unpretentious, rust-flecked honesty and a warped worldview". Former Ass Ponys member John Erhardt joined the band before recording started. The band embarked on a three-week headlining tour in support of the album. In 2012 they released the Europe-only seventeen track compilation Buckeye on Damnably Records, their first international release.

In 2014 they released the album Attica!, the title inspired by the film Dog Day Afternoon, while the single and The Who tribute "Teenage Wasteland", received some airplay. The album was released in the UK through Damnably Records. 

 

[Spotify] Teenage Wasteland 

“Instructions for getting by”, Cottonwood Firing Squad

This way: Instructions for getting by

Cottonwood Firing Squad aka Bill Rodriguez, is primarily known to the indie scene as the producer of the hit song “Postmodern Fade”, which encapsulates the character of his entire discography: music for and about struggles, depression, and the introspective.  

  

[Spotify] Instructions for getting by 

“Heartless”, John Doe

This way: Heartless

John Doe, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet, guitarist and bass player. Doe co-founded LA punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span rock, punk, country and folk music genres. As an actor, he has dozens of television appearances and several movies to his credit, including the role of Jeff Parker in the television series Roswell. 

In addition to X, Doe performs with the country-folk-punk band the Knitters and has released records as a solo artist. In the early 1980s, he performed on two albums by the Flesh Eaters.

Doe moved to Los Angeles, California, and in 1976 met guitar player Billy Zoom through an ad in the local free weekly paper, The Recycler.

As a musician with X, Doe has two feature-length concert films, several music videos, and an extended performance-and-interview sequence in The Decline of Western Civilization, Penelope Spheeris's seminal documentary about the early-1980s L.A. punk scene.[5]

Along with co-writer Exene Cervenka, Doe composed most of the songs recorded by X. Wild Gift, an album from that band's heyday, was named "Record of the Year" by Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. With Dave Alvin, he co-wrote two of the songs on The Blasters' 1984 album Hard Line, "Just Another Sunday" and "Little Honey". He also wrote "Cyrano de Berger's Back" for The Flesh Eaters LP A Minute to Pray, a Second To Die.[6]

 

[Spotify] Heartless 

“Alright Guy”, Todd Snider, RIP

This way: Alright Guy

Live until you die.

Todd Daniel Snider (October 11, 1966 – November 14, 2025) was an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporated elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk.

Snider was born on October 11, 1966 in Portland, Oregon and grew up in nearby Beaverton, where he lived until he graduated from Beaverton High School in 1985. After high school, he moved to Santa Rosa, California to attend Santa Rosa Junior College. He attended for a semester and while there, learned to play the harmonica.

Snider met Kent Finlay at his very first writer's night, which was at Finlay's San Marcos club, Cheatham Street Warehouse. Finlay, who was a songwriter in his own right, became an important mentor and introduced Snider to the songs of Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, John Prine, and Shel Silverstein among others. Snider was soon packing small rooms in San Marcos and during the next few years, he began to draw enthusiastic crowds in Austin, as well.

Snider also discovered Memphis songwriter Keith Sykes while living in San Marcos when a friend at the local record store turned him on to a pair of albums Sykes made in the early ’70s. In 1989, Snider's father moved to Memphis and happened to meet Sykes’ sister-in-law. Through that connection, Snider sent Sykes a demo tape of some of his songs. Sykes thought one of the songs had potential, so Snider moved to Memphis to try to work with Sykes. Not long after he arrived in Memphis, Snider landed a weekly residency at a local club The Daily Planet. He not only was soon packing the room, the audience knew the words to the songs and would sing along. Through Sykes, Snider met Prine in 1991 while assisting on pre-production work Prine was doing with Sykes in Memphis for his album The Missing Years. It was the beginning of a friendship Snider and Prine had until Prine's death in 2020. In 1992, Sykes helped Snider land a development deal with Capitol Records. He recorded a number of sides in Nashville for the label, but they declined to pick up his option for a full album. Around the time of the Capitol deal, Snider began performing with a small band backing him which he dubbed the Bootleggers. The band's lineup fluctuated some over the first year or so, but by the end of 1994, the lineup was set with Will Kimbrough on guitar, Joe Mariencheck on bass, and Joe McLeary on drums. Snider also had changed the band's name to the Nervous Wrecks.

Sykes was a one-time member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band and Buffett had recorded a few of his songs, so when the Capitol deal fell through, he reached out on Snider's behalf to Buffett's label, Margaritaville Records, which was distributed by MCA. Not long after label exec Bob Mercer saw Snider perform at an industry showcase in Memphis in April 1993, Snider flew to California to open a show for Buffett. After seeing his set, Buffett offered Snider a deal with Margaritaville.

 

[Spotify] Alright Guy 

“IV”, Shoppers

This way: IV

Meredith Graves was a guitarist and vocalist for Syracuse noise rock trio, Shoppers. The A.V. Club described their 2011 release Silver Year as "a short, intense breakup album about the terrible things we’re capable of when our feelings are hurt;" Punk News called it "top notch noise-rock."   

 

[Spotify] IV 

“This is Your Life”, Glaxo Babies

This way: This is Your Life

Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977. There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break up again in 1990. The band reformed once again in 2015 for the Un-Peeled 2015 event with Steve Street on bass and Tony Wrafter's son Oscar on vocals.

The band was formed by Tom Nichols (bassist), Dan Catsis (guitarist) and drummer Geoff Alsopp (previously Nichols and Alsopp had been in another Bristol based band called The Vultures). The initial band line-up was completed by Rob Chapman (singer) joining in November 1977, and their first gig was held just 3 weeks later in The Dockland Settlement, St Pauls, Bristol. The band signed to local label Heartbeat Records (marketed by Cherry Red), with their first release being the This Is Your Life EP in February 1979. This led to them recording their first session for BBC radio's John Peel the following April, and the track "It's Irrational", from this session, opened the seminal 1979 Bristol Compilation album "Avon Calling". For this release the band had been forced by pharmaceutical company Glaxo to change their name, and this resulted in the use of "Gl*xo Babies", with an asterisk replacing the "a", although subsequent recordings have used a mixture of the two forms.  

 

[Spotify] This is Your Life 

“Your Rival”, Vera Violent

This way: Your Rival

The band Vera Violent was originally formed in 1985 by brothers Brien and David O'Sullivan and their friend Alan Fitzpatrick in Waterford, Ireland. The band played locally in Waterford for a few years. Playing petered out as family and work took priority. They got back together for two gigs in Waterford the mid-2000's.

Since 1989, David, the main songwriter, continued to write and record new material on his Tascam 4-track, and later on ProTools and Cubase.

In 2014, David found himself living in Sligo, 4 hours from his home in Waterford. It was here that he formed a new Vera Violent line-up for playing live and recording. His now wife, Paula, plays bass and their good friend, Jason Geraghty plays drums. 

[Spotify] Your Rival 

“Falling Around”, Adam Green

This way: Falling Around

Adam Green (born May 28, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, artist and filmmaker.

Green is well known for his involvement in the anti-folk music movement and as one half of the band the Moldy Peaches, alongside fellow singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson. Green has found success as a solo artist, enjoying increasing popularity in the United States as well as a number of European countries, particularly Germany.

Green attended Emerson College for one semester in 1998 before leaving to concentrate on his music, going on to co-found the Moldy Peaches with Kimya Dawson. In 2002, the Moldy Peaches went on hiatus, and both Green and Dawson embarked on solo careers. 

 

[Spotify] Falling Around 

“Please No Mary”, Mydolls

This way: Please No Mary

Mydolls is an American rock band from Houston, Texas, formed in 1978. The group consists of Linda Younger (guitar and vocals), Dianna Ray (bass and vocals), Trish Herrera (guitar and vocals), and George Reyes (drums and vocals). 

Mydolls formed in 1978 in Houston, Texas. Dianna Ray and Trish Herrera began writing songs together. Dianna and Trish were then joined by Linda (Bond) Younger. After several attempts working with various auditioning drummers, Trish's cousin, George (Jorge) Reyes, joined the band, and the post-punk sound took shape as the band remained inspired by punk ranging from the 1960s and 1970s, including Iggy Pop, Magazine, Television, Red Crayola, the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, New York Dolls, and other disruptive bands. Trish and Linda tended to play their guitars in a very unconventional way. Linda would sometimes play the top three strings, while Trish played the bottom three, making the sound textured. Meanwhile, Jorge Reyes percussive style de-emphasized a hi-hat based rock'n'roll meter in favor of a syncopated, Latin-flavored approach that concentrated on rhythmic tom tom usage rather than basic back-beats. The vocals, were mainly shared by Trish and Linda, with Dianna adding chanting and George singing back-up vocals on a few songs while playing drums. Since the band pre-dated punk as a strict genre, the band wasn't aware of making "mistakes", since no musical box constricted them. Only later, they felt, did punk begin to form uniforms and formulas.

 

[Spotify] Please No Mary 

“The Wait”, Pretenders

This way: The Wait

The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; American-born Hynde has been the band's only continuous member.    

 

[Spotify] The Wait

“Bad News”, Cari Cari

This way: Bad News

Cari Cari is an Austrian indie rock duo consisting of drummer and singer Stephanie Widmer and guitarist/singer Alexander Köck. They have stated that they formed the band to get their music in a Quentin Tarantino film. As of 2025, they have released three studio albums, one EP, and two live recordings.

In 2014, the duo released the EP Amerippindunkler and followed it with a tour through Australia, including shows in Darwin, Cairns, and Melbourne. Their songs "No War" and "White Line Fever" were featured in the American TV series Shameless and The Magicians.   

[Spotify] Bad News 

“It's Not My Fault”, MX-80 Sound

This way: It's Not My Fault

MX-80 Sound, is an eclectic American art-rock band founded in 1974 in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, by guitarist Bruce Anderson. Considered “one of the most out of step but prescient bands of its time", MX-80's signature sound consisted of breakneck metallic guitar combined with atonal chord structure, cross-rhythmic percussion and dispassionate vocals. Notoriously difficult to categorize—the band has been labeled noise rock, post-punk,[3] acid punk, and heavy-metal—MX-80's sonic melange set the stage for bands such as Swans, Sonic Youth, Codeine, and Shellac. 

Originally named MX-80 Sound formed in 1974 by Bruce Anderson (guitar) and Dale Sophiea (bass). Sophiea and Anderson, former members of Bloomington's Screaming Gypsy Bandits, shared an interest in modern classical composers as well as in avant rockers like Captain Beefheart and the Hampton Grease Band. They soon added two drummers, Jeff Armour, and Kevin Teare in 1975, and the quartet contributed the instrumental composition, Spoonfight, to Bloomington I (Bar-B-Q records 1976). Rich Stim (vocals, guitar, and sax) and Dave Mahoney (drums), both formerly of Chinaboise, joined MX-80 in 1976 and Teare left the band to pursue a full-time art career. Anderson and Stim emerged as the band's primary songwriters, with occasional lyric writing by Andrea Ross (aka Angel Corpus Christi).

Unable to obtain gigs in most local music venues, MX-80 performed a regular series of Sunday concerts at the Monroe County public library, tracks of which were later compiled on CD. The band's first studio release was the EP, Big Hits: Hard Pop From The Hoosiers (Bar-B-Q Records 1976), recorded at Gilfoy Studios, produced by Mark Bingham and engineered by Mark Hood. A review of Big Hits in the British music magazine Sounds by Caroline Coon, spurred Island Records A&R man Howard Thompson to license the band's second recording, their debut LP.  

[Spotify] It's Not My Fault 

“Crassy Mel”, Sextile

This way: Crassy Mel

Sextile is an American electronic music project from Los Angeles, California. The project consists of founding members Brady Keehn (vocals, guitar, electronics) and Melissa Scaduto (drums, electronics, guitar). The project takes its name from the aspect of the same name in astrology.

Sextile was formed in 2015 by Keehn and Scaduto, after the duo relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles. They were soon joined by bassist Kenny Elkin and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Wuebben. Signing to Felte Records after supporting Ritual Howls at local gigs, the band released its debut album, A Thousand Hands in the same year. The follow-up, Albeit Living, was released in 2017; by the time of its release, Elkin was replaced by bassist Cameron Michel.

In 2018, with the band reduced to its two founding members for their EP, 3, later in the year. Sextile entered a hiatus in 2019, with Keehn and Scaduto pursuing other projects, Panther Modern and S. Product, respectively. The band's former guitarist, Eddie Wuebben, died on 5 October 2019, at the age of 29. 

  

[Spotify] Crassy Mel 

“Rigamarole”, Whitimer Thomas

This way: Rigamarole

Whitmer Alexander Thomas is an American comedian, actor, and musician. He is best known for his voice role on FXX animated comedy Stone Quackers (2014–2015), and his work with LA-based comedy troupe Power Violence.

Thomas's hour-long comedy special, The Golden One, premiered on HBO on February 22, 2020. An accompanying album, Songs from the Golden One, was released via Hardly Art Records. Thomas's sophomore record, The Older I Get The Funnier I Was, was released on October 21, 2022. Whitmer Thomas was raised in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His mother, Jenny Henderson, founded the musical duo Syn Twister with her twin sister Jude Hammock. The previous occupation of Thomas's father, Whit Thomas, is unclear; as of 2020, he is employed as a paralegal. Thomas has one older brother, Johnny.  

 [Spotify] Rigamarole 

“Coward”, Soft Kill

This way: Coward

Here is a tune from a great new LP by one of my current faves Soft Kill. Tobias Francis has been making music under the moniker Soft Kill since 2010 after the dissolution of Blessure Grave. Currently he resides in Chicago, IL.

Truth: 

"link in bio and apologies for the fidelity. I mixed this on the ear buds they hand out on planes. Old habits die hard."

 

[Spotify] Coward 

“Guard Dog”, Snõõper

This way: Guard Dog

Snõõper is an American punk rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2020. The band consists of vocalist Blair Tramel, guitarists Connor Cummins and Ian Teeple, bassist Happy Haugen & Meredith Hanscom and drummer Cam Sarrett. The band released their debut studio album Super Snõõper in July 2023, which was met with positive reception. Due to their non-serious nature, their music is often described as egg punk. They are known for their large papier-mâché puppets at their shows, including their mascot, a large green bug.  

 

[Spotify] Guard Dog 

“Going Hey Hey”, Gleaming Spires

This way: Going Hey Hey

Gleaming Spires was an American new wave pop group in the 1980s. Performing as Bates Motel, they were enlisted by brothers Ron and Russell Mael to be a part of the 1981–85 incarnation of their band, Sparks. After completing demos with neophyte producer Stephen Hague, principal members Leslie Bohem and David Kendrick (later of Devo, Xiu Xiu) recruited fellow Sparks members Jim Goodwin and Bob Haag to form Gleaming Spires with the blessing of the Mael brothers.

Following promotional materials by graphic artist Kevin J. Walker (who designed punk band covers for T.S.O.L. and Channel 3, among others), they were signed to Posh Boy Records on the strength of what had been intended by the group as a non-LP B-side, "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?". "Sex Girls" became a hit on Los Angeles' KROQ-FM radio station and was later featured in the films The Last American Virgin and Revenge of the Nerds, the latter of which also featured the Gleaming Spires song "All Night Party". The cover art for Gleaming Spires' Walk on Well Lighted Streets album was designed by artist Mark Kostabi, who later went on to design album covers for Guns N' Roses (Use Your Illusion) and the Ramones (¡Adios Amigos!). 

 

[Spotify] Going Hey Hey  

“Homer” by Miracle Legion

This way: Homer

Also this way: Homer

Baseball season ends tonight, by hook or by crook. Thanks to Jeff Twiss for guiding us thru the sounds of baseball. I'm trying to convince him he needs a daily Baseball SOTD blog. Am I right? Otherwise the off season looks like a diminished place to be. —Bdev

Somebody told me I needed to listen to this song (It was me!-B deVallance). I can’t remember why…probably because of the line, “You’re too good for Baltimore.”

Miracle Legion were a Connecticut-based band that immediately sprang to life on the heels of a post-R.E.M. guitar rock boom, chiefly because lead singer Mark Mulcahy's voice bore an uncanny resemblance to Michael Stipe's, and the arpeggio guitar structures were akin to Peter Buck's. But the band -- Ray Neal (guitar), Jeff Wiederschall (drums), and Steven West (bass), and later just Mulcahy and Neal -- ultimately became unique in its own right. 

In 2016, Miracle Legion staged a reunion tour, and recordings from two of the dates were compiled into a live album, 2017's 'Annulment'.

--notes adapted from Miracle Legion biography by Denise Sullivan at Allmusic.com

 

[Spotify] Homer 

“The Star-Spangled Banner”, performed by Jose Feliciano

This way: Star-Spangled Banner

“The Star-Spangled Banner”, performed by Jose Feliciano at the fifth game of the 1968 World Series, unaccompanied by Merl Albi’s band.

Prior to October 7, 1968, the National Anthem was intoned at baseball games; after that date it was interpreted.  Feliciano's take on the song paved the way for others like Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix and Whitney Houston to try out more personalized versions. [Gaye had performed a ‘straight’ version of the song before the previous game.]

In a 2019 interview for WBUR, Roger Weber asked Feliciano why he sang the anthem the way he did.

"Because I was sick and tired of hearing it the old way and the audience, kind of, not being into it," Feliciano said. "Get to the end of the song, and the audience would start clapping as if to say, ‘Thank God this thing has passed.’ And I got tired of that. I did. I really, really did. And I said, ‘I'll fix it.’ "

"You sure did," Roger said. "Well, it fixed me for a while," he said. "You know, my records were stopped. People at radio stations stopped playing my records. They wanted to deport me. But you can't deport a citizen of the United States. But it was funny to me. I thought, ‘Where the hell am I going to go?’ "

The live recording was released as RCA Victor -47-9665, a vinyl 7-inch 45rpm single. You can hear a mix of cheers and boos at the end.  A listener of today wonders why the controversy? It sounds soulful, bluesy, reverent, even prayerful.

The prayer must have worked, because the Tigers roared back to win Games Five, Six, and Seven. They became only the third team in MLB history to rally from a 3-1 deficit. There have been numerous documentary analyses of the controversy in the past 57 years.  Here is a link to one of them:

 

[Spotify] Star-Spangled Banner 

“The Sidewalks of New York”, composed by Charles Lawlor, lyrics by James Blake

This way: The Sidewalks of New York

Jeff still with all the answers and some of the questions. The Sidewalks of New York”, composed by Charles Lawlor, lyrics by James Blake

First recorded by George Gaskin on October 29, 1895, and released in 1896 on Berliner Gramophone 959Z

After one of their World Series victories in the 1920s or the 1930s, the Giants or the Yankees gathered up in the clubhouse and sang “The Sidewalks of New York”.  It is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 and became an immediate and long-lasting hit.  It is often considered a theme for New York City. Many artists, including Mel Tormé, Duke Ellington, Larry Groce, Richard Barone, The Grateful Dead, and Blondie have performed it.  --Wikipedia

 

[Spotify, Duke Ellington version] The Sidewalks of New York 

[Charming Cover] The Sidewalks of New York 

"Sleep", by Max Richter

This way: Sleep

Jeff Twiss baseball week continues into its second week with this homage to the 18 inning game the other night . . . .

Max Richter has released an album that contains musical compositions designed specifically to help calm the nervous system and make it easier to fall asleep.

The total duration of the album "Sleep" is eight hours, which, according to Richter, provides listeners with a calm and deep eight-hour sleep. For two years, while composing music, the composer consulted constantly with an American specialist in neurology and neurobiology, David Eagleman, from Baylor College of Medicine.

Max Richter is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and studied with Luciano Berio in Italy.  Richter arranges, performs, and composes music for stage, opera, ballet, and screen. He has collaborated with other musicians, as well as with performance, installation, and media artists. He has recorded eight solo albums, and his music is widely used in cinema.

--notes adapted from YouTube and Wikipedia

 

[Spotify] Sleep 

“Hank Greenberg and Jackie Robinson”, The Tinklers

This way (full LP link): Hank Greenberg and Jackie Robinson

Jeff keeps it going and as some games never end baseball songs are also endless (apparently) . . .

The Tinklers are a band from Baltimore who have been together since 1979. The group consists of Charles Brohawn and Chris Mason, both of whom sing, play guitar, and percussion instruments of varying degrees of quality (including cigar boxes, spoons, and other types of junk). Both members are also actively engaged in creating art in other mediums including visual art and books. Their music can be characterized as outsider music due to its lack of traditional musical skills and abilities including proficiency at their instruments and the ability to sing in tune. Their performance method and practice eschews conventional standards of skills thought necessary for making music and can be historically placed with other acts such as Jad Fair and Half Japanese, Daniel Johnston, and many more obscure musicians.

While the band's roots are in the mid-70s Baltimore art scene, they did not release a proper record until 1990 when the band caught the attention of legendary producer Kramer. They were promptly signed to Kramer's record label Shimmy Disc and released their first LP, Casserole. The band would release two more LPs on Shimmy Disc - Saplings and Crash - all of which contain similar material.

While The Tinklers have not disbanded, since 1993 the band has released only one full-length album, Slowpoke, and made a few other compilation appearances. Live performances are infrequent.

This account of Jackie Robinson's collision with Hank Greenberg is from the SABR website:

Jackie Robinson's collision with Hank Greenberg: Collision

As it happened, the most significant part of Jackie Robinson’s Dodgers’ debut in Pittsburgh was not reflected in the statistical ledger. When Greenberg reached first on his fourth inning walk, an inning after his accidental collision with Robinson, he asked Robinson if had been injured and offered words of encouragement. “I know it’s plenty tough,” Greenberg said. “You’re a good ballplayer, and you’ll do all right.” It was a moment of warmth for Robinson, as his pioneering season marched on. They remained friends for the rest of Robinson’s life; Greenberg attended Robinson’s funeral in October 1972.

“He helped me a lot by saying the things he did,” Robinson said of Greenberg after the game. “I found out that not all the guys on the other teams are bad heels. I think Greenberg, for instance, is pulling for me to make good.”

“Class tells. It sticks out all over Mr. Greenberg.”

 

[Spotify] NO!

“Ted F*cking Williams”, The Baseball Project

Jeffs reign continues as does the baseball season . . . 

  This way: Ted F*cking Williams

"Ted F*cking Williams"

By The Baseball Project

from the album Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails

The Baseball Project plays nothing but songs they wrote about America’s pastime: The players – mostly old, a few new, some famous, many obscure – the legends, the eccentricities and the intricacies of the game.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Wynn said, “I think our best songs are metaphors for those same things that all songwriters write about…Take for example, ‘Ted [Expletive] Williams.’ When I write about Ted Williams, I’m not just writing about Ted Williams, saying ‘What a dude, he had a lot of home runs.’ No, I’m writing about a guy who sees that he’s not appreciated as much as other baseball players, just because he won’t play the game of trying to be well-liked.”

--comments adapted from an article published in The Jewish Journal, September 18, 2025.

 

[Spotify] Ted F*cking Williams 

[Charming Live version] Ted F*cking Williams 

“D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley)”, Danny Kaye

Jeff Twiss Baseball Song of the Day is here today.“D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley)”, Danny Kaye, with orchestra, arranged and conducted by Pete King. Lyrics co-written with Sylvia Fine and Herbert Baker. 

This way: D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song

Danny Kaye (stage name of David Daniel Kaminsky) was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1911.  He was a multi-talented actor, comedian, singer, and dancer, equally at home on Broadway, in a recording studio, on the silver screen, or in a Las Vegas nightclub.  His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs.  A lifelong Dodgers fan and a good friend of Leo Durocher's, Kaye often traveled with the team.  He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and was an accomplished second baseman.  –biographical notes adapted from Wikipedia.

Kaye’s “D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O’Malley)” was released in 1962 on a seven-inch, 45rpm vinyl recording, catalogue #R-20, 105 on Reprise Records, a label founded by Frank Sinatra in 1960 in Los Angeles.  Kaye recorded the song on August 18, 1962, but had already been performing it on stage during his July 23-August 4 engagement at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. “The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song” was written for Kaye by his wife, Sylvia Fine, and her occasional collaborator Herbie Baker, to celebrate the fierce 1962 pennant race between the Dodgers and the hated San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers would lose the crown to the Giants in a season-ending, best-of-three playoff series.

A description of a fictitious encounter with the San Francisco Giants, “D-O-D-G-E-R-S” is one of the rare baseball songs which could be depicted on a play-by-play scoresheet.  It features high drama by the likes of Dodgers speedster Maury Wills, power hitter Frank Howard, and eccentric coach Leo Durocher; and the Giants’ Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda. The highlight is a tongue-twisting finale, as the ball flies between Miller, Hiller and Haller (Giants pitcher, infielder and catcher), reminiscent of the best of Danny’s famous patter songs.

Listeners of today may be puzzled by the parenthetical addendum to the “D-O-D-G-E-R-S” song title, but it would have made perfect sense to Danny Kaye fans in the 1960s.  It was derived from a running gag on Kaye’s 1940s radio show which featured weekly variations on an old joke:

 “My sister married an Irishman.” 

“Oh, really?” 

“No, O’Riley.” 

In “D-O-D-G-E-R-S”, it became “Oh, really? No, O’Malley.”  This variation of the joke gave Kaye an opportunity to take a jab at Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, reviled in Brooklyn for moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. The enduring popularity of the song resulted in its inclusion on the “Baseball’s Greatest Hits” CDs released by Rhino Records.   –notes adapted from David Koening’s ‘Danny Kaye Show’ blogspot dated November 19, 2012.

 

[Spotify] No!

Thanks to Jeff Twiss for these rousing Baseball numbers!

“Hells Bells” AC/DC

This way: Hells Bells

Why wait 'til next year? Jeff Twiss Baseball Song of the Day is here today. Also, being a baseball fan is a lot like eternal damnation.

“Trevor Hoffman's entrance before save number 479, an MLB record at the time. That roar of the crowd as soon as the first bell rang.  Every closer needs a dangerous walk up song like this. To be an elite closer, you need a kickass entrance song.  This is the most badass entrance song ever!  This entrance not only is still awesome to witness over 20 years later, but it inspired other teams to create their own entrances for their closers.”  —adapted from fan comments at YouTube. "Hells Bells" was the entrance music for Major League Baseball pitcher Trevor Hoffman at home games from 1998 to 2010. "Everyone in the ballpark will turn their attention to the center field gate that will swing open." Hoffman trots onto the center field warning track as "Hells Bells" begins with the slow, funereal tolling of a one-ton bronze bell, manufactured by John Taylor & Co Bellfounders in Loughborough, in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The business originated in the 14th century, and the Taylor family took over in 1784. The sound of the bell was recorded by Tony Platt using Ronnie Lane's mobile studio inside the bell foundry. It's late in the afternoon and late in the season…the shadows are lengthening…dust has settled over the field. The funereal tolling continues every five seconds, as Hoffman runs toward the pitchers mound. Between the fourth and fifth peal, the guitar begins a bloodcurdling riff that is implacably repeated twelve times. The riff ends with three descending chords that make you feel like you're being taken down to hell.

On the seventh peal the cymbals begin sizzling quietly. On the ninth peal Hoffman reaches the mound, begins his warmup pitches, and the drums begin pounding. After the twelfth peal the sound of the bell is lost in the roar of the band and the crowd. But ten seconds later the bell is heard for the last time…the 13th peal. Seventeen seconds after that the vocalist begins: “I’m a rolling thunder pouring rain...” A fan said, “You guys have no idea how much I thought he was saying ‘I’m an undertaker...’ at first as a kid. This actually got me into baseball the most.”

"Hells Bells" is the first track of ‘Back in Black’, the seventh studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC and their comeback album after the death of lead singer Bon Scott. The album was released by Atlantic Records on July 25, 1980. “Hells Bells” was released as a single on October 31, 1980.

 

[Spotify] Hells Bells 

[Fan video of Trevor Hoffman entering a game on September 24, 2006,
to the sounds of Hell’s Bells:] Hells Bells 

“Baseball Boogie”, Mabel Scott, with orchestra

This way: Baseball Boogie

Do you know how to play the game? Jeff Twiss Baseball Song of the Day will show you the way. Infact we can arrange for lessons if needed. Although from personal experience I know this involves a grapefruit. 

Mabel Scott’s “Baseball Boogie” was released in 1950 on a ten-inch, 78rpm shellac recording, catalogue #4368-AA on King Records, a label that operated in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1943 until 1968.  It’s a double-entendre ‘baseball’ song written and composed by Bill Williams.  The enduring popularity of the song has resulted in reissues on numerous compilation albums including the soundtrack for Ken Burns’ 1994 baseball documentary.

Mabel Scott was born on April 30,1915, in Richmond, VA, and raised in New York City. She developed her singing voice in the Metropolitan Baptist Church and led her own all-girl gospel group, the Song Cycles.  In 1930 the 15-year-old Scott began singing at Harlem's Alhambra Theater.

This led to a 30-year career in musical performing, recording, and touring.  ‘Baseball Boogie’ was preceded by four other boogie recordings: “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”, “Elevator Boogie”, “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus”, and “Googie Woogie (Jungle Boogie)”.

Biography compiled from Wikipedia and Marv Goldberg’s R&B Notebooks website. 

 

[Spotify] Baseball Boogie 

“Joe DiMaggio done it again”, lyrics by Woody Guthrie, music by Billy Bragg and Wilco

This way: Joe DiMaggio done it again

Jeff Twiss baseball songs takeover continues: Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma. Over the decades, his songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well-oiled track. They've become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. He wrote over 3,000 songs in his lifetime, hundreds of which have become staples in the canon of American music. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land".  – from the Woody Guthrie Publications website.

Billy Bragg was born on December, 20, 1957 in Barking, Essex, England.  He is a singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His activism is centered on social change and left-wing political causes.  –biographical notes from Wikipedia

For 30 years, Wilco has been a pioneering force in independent music. Evolving from a rough-and-tumble alt-country act into a mature and eclectic indie rock ensemble, Wilco have become critical favorites and cult heroes on the back of a stylistically diverse body of songs from founder Jeff Tweedy. 

The Chicago rock band has released 13 studio albums and won multiple Grammy Awards. They have founded their own record label, dBpm Records, and renowned Solid Sound festival. The sextet comprised of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone, Nels Cline, and Mikael Jorgensen—continues to be regarded as a live powerhouse.  –biographical notes from Spotify and The Factory music club.

Billy Bragg joined with Wilco in 2000 to perform ‘Joe DiMaggio Done It Again’, a baseball song written by Woody Guthrie in 1949. It is an upbeat song about an old-timer keeping up with the kids. British musician Eliza Carthy joined the fun on fiddle. The recording was included on ‘Mermaid Avenue Vol. II’ and released on the Elektra label. It was an album of previously unheard lyrics by Guthrie, put to music written and performed by Bragg and Wilco. It continued the project originally conceived by Guthrie's daughter Nora Guthrie, which resulted in the release of Mermaid Avenue in 1998. Both volumes were collected in a 2012 box set along with volume three as Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions. – notes taken from Baseball Reference Bullpen Blog and the Wikipedia article on the album.

[Spotify] Joe DiMaggio done it again 

“Harvey Haddix”, The Baseball Project

This way: Harvey Haddix

Jeff Twiss baseball songs takeover continues: 

An alternative rock supergroup united in their love of the Great American Pastime, the Baseball Project features members of a handful of celebrated bands who write and sing songs about baseball. Playing smart, energetic rock with pop accents and a rootsy feel, the group features members of R.E.M., the Dream Syndicate, and the Minus 5, and their material focuses on the outsized personalities and legendary tales of the great game's history. The act started after a casual conversation backstage at a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame event in 2007, and within a year they put out their debut album on Yep Roc Records.  It was entitled ‘The Baseball Project, Vol.1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails’, and includes the song “Harvey Haddix”. “The facts themselves are simple enough: Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a perfect game for 12 innings before giving up a hit in the 13th and losing the game. But singer Steve Wynn is a storyteller, and knowing how to tell a story is the key to the success of ‘Harvey Haddix.’ 

Without pushing too hard, Wynn sets the scene and then ratchets up the tension as much as the light, freewheeling folk-rock backing allows. As the pressure mounts, Haddix — let down by both his teammates' inability to break through the opposing pitcher's shutout and his own physical endurance — finally hits a wall when the crushing weight of a 0-0 tie becomes too much.”  —Marc Hirsh, NPR Fellow baseball fan David Letterman invited the group to appear on his Late Night chat show, and they played a handful of live dates in support of the LP. In 2010,the cable sports network ESPN invited the band to do a "real time commentary" project where they would write and record songs relating to that year's baseball season. The songs were made available as downloads on the network's website. The ESPN tracks and some outtakes from the band's studio sessions were issued on a digital EP, 2011's ‘The Broadside Project’. The same year a second proper album appeared, ‘The Baseball Project, Vol. 2: High and Inside’. It included more baseball-centric tunes done in an alternative rock and roots fashion. The group's post-release touring included a string of dates in cities that were hosting major league spring training camps, as well as a performance at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

[Spotify] Harvey Haddix 

“Brooks Robinson (Grandpa's Dream #5)”, The Drovers Old Time Medicine Show

This week we have a special guest contributor to SOTD. My esteemed baseball loving' pal Jeff Twiss, who has assembled a weeks worth of tunes in honor of  one of the great passtimes: Baseball. The World Series is staring in just a few days. So hang on to your hats.

This way: Brooks Robinson (Grandpa's Dream #5)

The Drovers Old Time Medicine Show was officially formed in 1987 and has been playing hard-charging hillbilly music with a good dose of country humor ever since. The band started out as a kind of back porch honky-tonk band, but over the years with the lineup and instrumentation shifting here and there, has become a bare knuckles bluegrass band with a good dose of country humor.  The Drovers are based in Praters Creek, South Carolina.

“Brooks Robinson (Grandpa's Dream #5)” is the Drovers tribute to the greatest third baseman of all time.  It is on ‘Dreamland’, their self-released second album and CD from 2007.  The song is archived in Cooperstown, and you can see the autographed picture Brooks sent the Drovers as a surprise.

 

[Spotify] Brooks Robinson (Grandpa's Dream #5)

“Stop Go”, Peter Astor

This way: Stop Go

Peter Astor (born 13 August 1960) is an English songwriter and solo artist, known for his work with The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound.

Pete Astor was born in England, in 1960. The Loft formed in 1983, and signed to Creation Records to release two acclaimed singles, "Why Does the Rain" and "Up the Hill and Down the Slope". They split at the Hammersmith Palais in 1985. Astor then formed The Weather Prophets, continuing to be managed by Creation founder, Alan McGee, and signing to his short-lived Elevation label under the auspice of WEA4 releasing the album Mayflower in 1987. Returning to Creation for Judges, Juries and Horsemen, the band split in 1989.

Astor then undertook a solo career with the albums Submarine (1990) and Zoo (1991) on Creation. Finding success in France, Astor moved to the Danceteria label to release Paradise (1992, as Peter Astor and the Holy Road), and God and Other Stories in 1992. 

 

[Spotify] Stop Go 

“Dark Companion”, 6 Finger Satelite

This way: Dark Companion

Six Finger Satellite (a.k.a. 6FS) is an American rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. Described by former member John MacLean as "a post-punk band utilizing dance music elements", Six Finger Satellite's eclectic sound is driven synthesizers as well as more traditional rock instrumentation.

The band formed in 1990 around a line-up of J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums). They infamously submitted an "alternative rock"-styled demo to Sub Pop Records, who subsequently signed them under the impression that this represented the band's musical intentions. The demo was the four-song Weapon EP in 1992. 

Six Finger Satellite's first full-length album, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, was released in 1993, with Kurt Niemand replacing Dixon on bass. The record more accurately represented the band's vision of noisy, cyborg-esque post-punk, and was recorded by Bob Weston, whose band Shellac named their 1994 single, The Bird is the Most Popular Finger in tribute. In 1994, 6FS released the Machine Cuisine EP, which was recorded entirely with synthesizers, suggesting the band's future direction. Their 7" single supposedly recorded "live at the A.C.I." was not actually recorded live at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute prison, as purported in its tongue-in-cheek liner notes.

In the meantime, Phillips had left the band and Niemand had died of a drug overdose. James Apt (bass) joined for the 1995 album Severe Exposure, which represented a fusion of their synth- and guitar-driven sounds. It was during this time that the band began using their advance money from Sub Pop to buy recording equipment and build their own studio called The Parlour. Over the course of the next 3 years, the studio underwent a few physical renovations and upgrades in recording gear. The band became adept at recording and Ryan, Pelletier and MacLean were involved in recording projects with local Providence bands; Les Savy Fav, Astoveboat, Landed, Men's Recovery Project, flicker, The Olneyville Soundsystem, to name a few. The low-budget music video for the song "Parlour Games" from Severe Exposure (directed by Guy Benoit of Thee Hydrogen Terrors) was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.

 

[Spotify] Dark Companion