One-Day Music Fest!

OK, here goes: In the middle of a coupla long weeks at work. Got 1 day off 4 my "weekend," so when I woke up early Tues & the sun was out & I felt almost human, I decided 2 Seriously Music-Out like I haven't done in MONTHS.
Just 1 minor little problem: My 6-year-old $100 CD-player/turntable/receiver/cassette-player/coffee-maker/rocket-launcher/inflatable-date had ideas of its own. The turntable didn't always turn, the CD player didn't always play, eventually resulting in a complete breakdown & cessation of all musical proceedings.
Nevertheless, I got about 45 songs played over a period of 6+ hrs, & covered a pretty wide variety of stuff -- old faves, brand-new stuff, weird crap, etc.
It is also time 4 me 2 begin SERIOUSLY looking 4 a new, cheap music-generation device. So feel free 2 click on that DONATE button you'll find off 2 the right 2 help keep those of us here at the Back-Up Plan up 2 R necks in .... Whatta ya mean? I FORGOT 2 set-up the friggin DONATE button? Well, DAMN.
Whatthehell, here's the playlist:

Raiders -- Do Unto Others, Country Wine, Song Seller.
Lighthouse -- Pretty Lady, Sunny Days, One Fine Morning.
Left Banke -- Desiree, She May Call You Up Tonight.
5th Dimension -- Carpet Man.
Indigo Girls -- Closer to Fine.
Launderettes -- Red River.
Kracker -- Because of You (The Sun Don't Set).
Captain & Tennille -- Ladybug.
Chris Hodge -- We're On Our Way.
Brewer & Shipley -- Witchi-Tai-To.
Casey Kelly -- Poor Boy.
Doobie Bros. -- Neal's Fandango.
Sheryl Crow -- Every Day is a Winding Road.
Pam Tillis -- Homeward Looking Angel, When You Walk in the Room, Melancholy Child.
Church -- Reptile.
Fleetwood Mac -- Murrow Turning Over in His Grave, Say You Will.
Vertical Horizon -- Everything You Want.
Keane -- Somewhere Only We Know, This is the Last Time, Bend and Break, Your Eyes Open.
Coheed and Cambria -- The Road and the Damned, Feathers.
Sarah McLachlan -- Stupid.
Jordin Sparks -- Worth the Wait.
Jade Warrior -- A Winter's Tale.
Fleet Foxes -- Blue Ridge Mountains.
Van Morrison -- Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile), Into the Mystic.
Love -- Alone Again Or, Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale, You Set the Scene, Your Mind and We Belong Together.
Wackers -- I Hardly Know Her Name.
Nektar -- Cast Your Fate, King of Twilight, Oop's (Unidentified Flying Abstract), Fidgety Queen.
Happy the Man -- On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs.
Brian Wilson -- On a Holiday, In Blue Hawaii.
Gong -- Oily Way.
Wigwam -- Prophet/Marvelry Skimmer.

NOTES: "Do Unto Others" (Fall 1967) is sorta "Louie Louie" meets "Wild Thing," with lyrics that seemta support urban rioting. Hypnotic & a little disturbing. Also 2 short. "Country Wine" still sounds as bright & optimistic as it did back in '72. Jimmy Webb's "Song Seller" is a little 2 clever, but gets help from Mark Lindsay's usual over-the-top vocal. All from THE ESSENTIAL.
I 1nce called the lyrics 2 Lighthouse's "Pretty Lady" "smarmy." Now 4 some reason they sound lonely, modest, heartfelt. Hmmm. Great choruses, 2. "Sunny Days" is a hippy anthem from '72, & the long version of "One Fine Morning" adds NOTHING 2 the brilliant single edit. All from THE BEST OF.
"Desiree" is cluttered but gorgeous, shoulda sold millions in '67. "She May Call You Up Tonight" is just plain gorgeous & shoulda bn a single. Both from ALL THE SMASH HITS.
I'm a sucker 4 the 5th Dimension's unison vocals. "Carpet Man" just soars. May sound kinda cheesy now, but shoulda sold millions in '68. From the 5th/Jimmy Webb/Bones Howe concept album THE MAGIC GARDEN.
"Closer to Fine" is a little over-serious, a little 2 solemn, but I love the Girls' vocal blend.
I regret 2 report that "Red River" sounds better coming outta the radio during LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE than it does coming outta my stereo -- which I blame on my stereo's tinny speakers. Great song anyway, & the 1st 45-rpm single I've bot in YEARS.
Kracker's album LA FAMILIA arrived a few days back in a cover meant 2 resemble a cigar box. Turns out they were on ABC/Dunhill. & holy crap, their album was produced by Stones & Traffic producer Jimmy Miller! "Because of You" sounds diffrent than I remember -- faster, & not as much bass (which I blame on my stereo), but otherwise it sounds right. Just might take some getting used 2, like....
"We're On Our Way," another old favorite, which I still can't believe sounds so much like a T. Rex track. Far as I know, Hodge never did an album....
"Ladybug" is by far the best thing The Captain & Tennille ever did -- so joyous & uplifting it feels like the sun coming out after weeks of rain & cold. From COME IN FROM THE RAIN.
"Witchi-Tai-To" is a lost '60s classic, 7 minutes of chanting & strumming & vocal interplay, hypnotic, marvelous, joyous. From WEEDS.
"Poor Boy" is a poppy 1-shot from an Elektra Records folky, pure 1972.
"Neal's Fandango" otta B 8 minutes long. The Doobies rush it -- what's the hurry? Pat Simmons hasta scramble 2 get all the words in, & there was plenty of room 4 flashy guitar heroics -- which they decided not 2 do. Why not? A lost '70s classic from STAMPEDE.
"Winding Road" is the best thing Sheryl Crow ever did. I find mosta her stuff amazingly ... average.
"Homeward Looking Angel" is a gorgeous, mournful country lullabye with amazing guitar work from Larry Byrom & Paul Worley. Jackie De Shannon's "When You Walk in the Room" is an almost perfect lovesong & shoulda bn a huge hit. "Melancholy Child" is driving yet mournful. Mary-Chapin Carpenter wishes she hadda band as good as Pam Tillis's. From HOMEWARD LOOKING ANGEL, SWEETHEART'S DANCE & PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE.
"Reptile" is sorta David Bowie-meets-Lou Reed. The Church shoulda bn more popular, but they were also kinda inconsistent. From STARFISH & UNDER THE MILKY WAY/THE BEST OF.
"Murrow" is the best NOISE Fleetwood Mac's made in a LONG time. & I'm a sucker 4 "Say You Will," especially the choruses & the ending.
Like the tenseness & submerged-threat feeling of "Everything You Want."
Haven't heard much from Keane lately. Wish they were still that cute little pop band with the breathy vocals & the pounding piano. "Somewhere" was the hit, "Last Time"'s nearly as great, "Bend and Break" is their turn-it-up masterpiece, & "Eyes Open" is smooth.... All from HOPES AND FEARS.
"The Road and the Damned" is sorta Ozzy-meets-Rush, but with a gorgeous, haunting guitar theme. & it's short. "Feathers" has everything you'd ever want from a great heavy-pop single Xcept 4 a good ending. Worth it just 4 the great catchy choruses....
"Stupid"'s still the best thing McLachlan's done.
"Worth the Wait" is a bonus track on Sparks's 1st album. Compared 2 summa her louder productions it's hushed & intimate, simple & brilliant.
"A Winter's Tale" is a pastoral from the guys who invented New Age way back in 1972 -- nice LOUD guitar at the end. From LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM.
"Blue Ridge Mountains" is my fave track off Fleet Foxes' 1st album. If I play the disc from the start I get sucked in2 the whole thing....
"Jackie" & "Mystic" R probly known 2 every1 now, still 2 of my all-time faves from Van. From STILL ON TOP/THE GREATEST HITS.
"Alone Again Or" is a kind of loneliness tango with some gorgeous sections & very '67 vocals, really beautiful; "People Would Be the Times" is a portrait of the scene Love leader Arthur Lee useta hang-out in, very clever; "You Set the Scene" is a gorgeous, stirring psychedelic suite; "Your Mind" is a twisted, Hendrix-like piece that goes off in 3 diffrent directions B4 settling in2 some heavy guitar at the end. All from THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION.
"Hardly Know Her Name" shoulda bn a hit -- pure rush, great group vocals, punchy guitars, & all over with in 1:58. From HOT WACKS.
"Cast Your Fate" is worth investigating; "King of Twilight" is killer, 1 of Nektar's great heavy moments & later covered by Iron Maiden; "Oops" is a kinda formless jam with some good guitar from Roye Albrighton; & "Fidgety Queen" is a lost classic with great choruses & more brilliant Albrighton guitar. All from THE DREAM NEBULA/BEST OF.
"Time" is merely gorgeous. Happy were really on2 something special -- as gorgeous as Genesis or Yes at their best.
"Holiday" & "Hawaii" R my fave trax from Brian's reconstruction of SMILE.
Gong's "Oily Way" started out with some rather-nice-as-usual flute from Didier Mahlerbe, but just as Daevid Allen began 2 sing "Down the oily way you go....," my CD player suddenly rejected the disc & WOULD NOT PLAY IT ANY FURTHER, despite multiple repeated attempts.
This sounds like a critique, 2 me. Maybe I'll let the CD player post some reviews in the future. It's gonna need SOMETHING 2 do, Bcos it ain't gonna B HERE much longer.
"Prophet/Marvelry Skimmer" is a long, flat, kinda dull guitar&keyboard meditation from the early phase of Wigwam's career. It has none of the rumbling, relentless menace of their later classic "Bless Your Lucky Stars."

...& that's where I gave up. More coming soon, assuming the CD player & turntable keep cooperating & that nothing else goes wrong. The cassette-player that was part of the package stopped working almost immediately after I bought it. & Ghod knows with MY luck, something else will probly ... grgsk ... shprttt ... grong ... ning .... brsp.....