Thursday, May 29, 2008

Less Than 2 II (& III Too)


Here are 2 more "Less Than 2" playlists. I played II on my radio show a few wks ago. I'll be playing III on my radio show this Thur nite (Jun 5th) from 9 to 11 PM Central on KRUU FM.

To recap from before, pop & rock songs prior to 1963 were almost always less than 3 mins long, & quite often less than 2 mins long. Then came The Beatles, FM radio, mind-altering drugs, & Album Oriented Rock. So nowadays, pop & rock songs that are less than 2 mins long are very rare. (Yet songs that are more than 7 mins long--such as "Hey Jude", "American Pie", "Layla", "Free Bird", "Purple Rain", "Champagne Supernova", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Stairway To Heaven", "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Living For The City", "Life's Been Good", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Light My Fire", "Deacon Blues", "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper", "Like A Hurricane", and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"--are radio staples.)

Each of my "Less Than 2" playlists will fit onto 1 CD (if the silence at the beginning & end of songs is edited out). It's strange to listen to a CD containing 40 or more songs. Listening, it seems as if time is being altered and then altered again--it seems elongated by the sheer number of songs--yet it seems shortened, since songs seem to end almost as soon as they begin. It's as if a min is no longer 60 seconds--it's now only 30 secs. And an hr is no longer 60 mins--or even 120 30-second mins. It's now 240 mins.

Nowadays, songs that are less than 2 mins long are usu not released as singles. They are often songs that open or close an album, and their tempo is often very fast--such that it would be exhausting (for the listener as well as the band) if they lasted more than 2 mins.

For these three "Less Than 2" playlists, I've pretty much exhausted all of the artists that I enjoy--so this is probably the last of these playlists.

Note: For my "Less Than 2" playlists, I did not use any songs that were short reprises of earlier songs on an album--such as The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", or "Finale" from The Kinks album "Schoolboys In Disgrace". Nor did I use short demo versions of longer songs. (And I tried to stay away from rock instrumentals & interludes--altho I allowed a few to sneak in, simply because they are well-known and pretty darned good.)

(The links below are to the songs in iTunes unless notated otherwise.)

Less Than 2 II
1. Prologue - Electric Light Orchestra
2. The Leader - The Clash
3. Venus And Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings
4. Miss Gradenko - The Police *
5. Doll - Foo Fighters
6. The Heart Of The Band - They Might Be Giants
7. We Have Heaven - Yes
8. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment - The Ramones

9. Tea - Brendan Benson Amazon.com (not available in iTunes)
10. Misfire - Queen
11. My Flying Saucer - Billy Bragg & Wilco
12. Particle Man - They Might Be Giants
13. Secondary Modern - Elvis Costello

14. Child Is Father Of The Man - The Beach Boys (From their unreleased "Smile" album. Not available in iTunes or Amazon.com)
15. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Simon & Garfunkel
16. Little Deuce Coupe - The Beach Boys
17. Welcome To The Working Week - Elvis Costello
18. Career Opportunities - The Clash
19. Seven Days Of The Week (I Never Go To Work) - They Might Be Giants
20. Mystery Dance - Elvis Costello
21. Whistle In - The Beach Boys
22. Letterbox - They Might Be Giants
23. Kinda Fonda Wanda - Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks
24. Carbona Not Glue - The Ramones
25. Love For Tender - Elvis Costello
26. Zeroes - They Might Be Giants
27. Imperia - Fountains Of Wayne
28. I Love To Say Da Da - The Beach Boys
29. Little Tiny Song - Barenaked Ladies
30. Women And Men - They Might Be Giants
31. Commando - The Ramones
32. Hot Cha - They Might Be Giants
33. White Riot - The Clash
34. Ooh La! Ooh La! - They Might Be Giants
35. Girlfriend - Harry Nilsson
36. Beaten To The Punch - Elvis Costello
37. Click Click - The English Beat
38. I Was Born - Natalie Merchant
39. Sapphire Bullets Of Love - They Might Be Giants
40. Black And White World - Elvis Costello
41. Hell - Foo Fighters
42. Five Percent For Nothing - Yes
43. Twisting - They Might Be Giants
44. Everybody's Rockin' - Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks
45. Song For The Asking - Simon & Garfunkel
46. I Don't Need This Pressure Ron - Billy Bragg
47. Dear Friends - Queen

48. Lullabye - Emitt Rhodes Amazon.com (not available in iTunes)
49. Epilogue - Electric Light Orchestra

* = iTunes lists this song as 2 mins long, but there are a few secs of silence at the end of it

Less Than 2 III
1. Threshold - The Steve Miller Band
2. When Heroes Go Down - Suzanne Vega
3. Country Pie - Bob Dylan
4. Papa Gene's Blues - The Monkees
5. Barnyard - Brian Wilson
6. Breaking Glass - David Bowie
7. Very Ape - Nirvana
8. Ronnie, Talk To Russia - Prince
9. Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll - Queen
10. Charlottesville- They Might Be Giants
11. You Just May Be The One - The Monkees
12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - Bob Dylan
13. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives - Pink Floyd
14. Which Describes How You're Feeling - They Might Be Giants
15. The Celibate Life - The Shins
16. Memo To My Son - Randy Newman
17. I'm In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop - Brian Wilson
18. The Frying Pan - John Prine
19. The Kind Of Girl I Could Love - The Monkees
20. Odds And Ends - Bob Dylan & The Band
21. Eight Hundred & Thirteen Mile Car Trip - They Might Be Giants
22. The Imposter - Elvis Costello
23. Hole In My Pocket - Sam Phillips
24. Nevermore - Queen
25. Cool Cool Water - The Beach Boys
26. I Hear The Rain - The Violent Femmes
27. Tommy Can You Hear Me? - The Who
28. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out - The Replacements
29. We're The Replacements - They Might Be Giants
30. Sweet Young Thing - The Monkees
31. The Show Must Go On - Pink Floyd
32. Vancouver- They Might Be Giants
33. Saturday - The Carpenters
34. Girls Talk - Elvis Costello
35. Asbury Park - They Might Be Giants
36. I Dreamed I Stopped Dreaming - Sam Phillips
37. Lily Of The Valley - Queen
38. Clean Money - Elvis Costello
39. Nonagon - They Might Be Giants
40. Talking Pictures - Sam Phillips
41. Outside The Wall - Pink Floyd
42. Mama Says - The Beach Boys
43. God Is Love - Marvin Gaye

44. Why Did You Grow A Beard? - They Might Be Giants From "The Spine" bonus disc, which is called "Cast Your Pod To The Wind" (not available in iTunes)
45. He Gives Us All His Love - Randy Newman
46. Kiss Me, Son Of God - They Might Be Giants
47. Goodbye - Elton John
48. Lullaby - The Free Design
49. And Your Dream Comes True - The Beach Boys
50. Goodnight My Friends - They Might Be Giants

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