I love Tuesdays: it’s new release day for music stores, of course, and iTunes makes that much more fun than most shops. I like to go digging through the new album listings past all the Coldplays and Eminems, searching for something new and different (both UNKLE Matt & NBC News anchor Brian Williams are iTunes hunters, too, by the way), and that’s how I discovered my most recent obsession: Oi Va Voi. They’re British indie by way of Israel, and I can’t stop listening to their new album Travelling the Face of the Globe, available in the US only digitally @ iTunes.

At first glance, their sound recalls Beirut thanks to the globetrotting ethnic instrumentation — clarinet, trumpet, bouzouki, violins, and accordion pepper the songs — but as soon as Bridgette Amofah starts singing on the album opener “Waiting,” you’re transported somewhere distinctly modern and utterly unique. It’s indie rock! It’s traditional Jewish music! (It’s a floor wax! It’s a dessert topping!) It’s both, and it’s awesome. The songs are great, the melodies memorable, and the arrangements are consistently interesting & unexpected. Hard to describe in just a few words, but I think “Badly Drawn Jew” does them justice. If that intrigues you, check out the song below. Enjoy!

Download: Oi Va Voi, “Every Time” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

If you like what you hear as much as I did, grab Travelling the Face of the Globe at iTunes.

The Rolling Stones’ 1971 classic Sticky Fingers is one of those albums: even if you’re not intimately familiar with it, you’ll recognize something subconsciously. From Andy Warhol’s iconic cover art with the working zipper & die cut fly to the introduction of John Pasche’s instantly recognizable lips & tongue logo, the packaging itself is a major work of art as much as the classic music it contains. The songs are a still-electrifying blend of rock, blues, soul, country and juuuust a touch of hedonism that practically defines the “sex, drugs & rock n’ roll” cliché.

The album you’ll find in stores is a classic, yes, but it only tells part of the Stones’ story of that era: they were at the peak of their live prowess at that time, and it’s mystifying that no concert recordings have officially surfaced. Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! is decent but is essentially the product of lots of studio overdubbing, and their next official live release didn’t come until 1977’s Love You Live, so, sadly, no official document of them in their prime exists. Remedying that is one of my goals in presenting this.

One final note: I wouldn’t consider this a definitive look at the Stones’ Sticky Fingers recording sessions, it’s just a presentation of the best bits from my small collection of recordings to show that a good reissue of a classic album isn’t hard to do. If I can put something like this together from a handful of discs on my shelf, just imagine what the Stones could do themselves with the hours of tapes & acetate in their vaults — Enjoy!

[Note: Download each song individually by right-clicking (Win)/control-clicking (Mac) the linked mp3 after the song name, or download each disc-length list as a ZIP file at the end of each list.]

Bonus Disc #1: Alternate Takes/Versions/Mixes

I’ve compiled a host of studio outtakes & unreleased versions of Sticky Fingers album cuts and one infamous non-album track that’s become one of the most storied songs in the Jagger/Richards canon. The source for most of these is the incomparable multi-disc boxed set of 60’s studio outtakes, The Black Box, released by Yellow Dog in the early 90’s. Other tracks come from Beggar’s Breakfast, a good odds & sods collection, and the excellent Unplugged bootleg, which has zero documentation about the songs, but probably the most compelling alternate versions. You’ll hear more from these sets and others in the months to come, so for now, enjoy the best of what the Sticky Fingers sessions had to offer:

1. “Brown Sugar #1″ (mp3)
   Apparently the earliest known version of the song, recorded at Muscle Shoals in December 1969. Some of the tracks end up on later takes. From The Black Box.
2. “Brown Sugar #2″ (mp3)
   Lots of start/stop/restart/stop/restarting, but eventually results in a take that’s close to final. From The Black Box.
3. “Brown Sugar (early mix)” (mp3)
   This early mix features a different lead guitar part by Mick Taylor. From Beggar’s Breakfast.
4. “Brown Sugar (Alternate Version)” (mp3)
   Mix originally appeared on the initial pressings of the quickly withdrawn US version of Hot Rocks. From The Black Box Bonus CD.
5. “Sway (early mix from acetate)” (mp3)
   From Beggar’s Breakfast.
6. “Sway (7″ single mix)” (mp3)
   Different mix from a different take. From The Black Box.
7. “Wild Horses (Acoustic)” (mp3)
   A fantastic, unreleased, completely acoustic take of which little is known except that it was recorded sometime between 1968-1970. From Unplugged.
8. “Wild Horses (Alternate Version)” (mp3)
   Mix originally appeared on the initial pressings of the quickly withdrawn US version of Hot Rocks. Heavy vocal reverb is plainly evident. From The Black Box Bonus CD.
9. “You Gotta Move (Acoustic)” (mp3)
   An unreleased take of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s blues classic of which little is known except that it was recorded sometime between 1968-1970. From Unplugged.
10. “You Gotta Move” (mp3)
    Another alternate take, recorded at Muscle Shoals in December 1969. Sounds a lot like the cut from Unplugged, but with a better stereo mix. From The Black Box.
11. “Bitch” (mp3)
    A near-final version of the song, marred by damaged tape at the 2:18 mark. From The Black Box.
12. “Sister Morphine (Acoustic)” (mp3)
    An unreleased, mostly acoustic take of which little is known except that it was recorded sometime between 1968-1970. From Unplugged.
13. “Sister Morphine #1″ (mp3)
    Features an alternate arrangement of Ry Cooder’s slide guitar. From The Black Box Bonus CD.
14. “Sister Morphine (Marianne Faithfull vocal)” (mp3)
    The Stones back up co-writer Faithfull on this original version of her single. Mind-blowingly good. From The Black Box Bonus CD.
15. “Dead Flowers (Acoustic)” (mp3)
    A fantastic, unreleased, completely acoustic take of which little is known except that it was recorded sometime between 1968-1970. Sloppy & glorious. From Unplugged.
16. “Schoolboy Blues (a.k.a. “Cocksucker Blues”)” (mp3)
    Probably the most notorious unreleased Stones recording. I’ll let Wikipedia do the heavy lifting: “‘Cocksucker Blues’ was the title of a song Mick Jagger wrote to be the Stones’ final single for Decca Records, as per their contract. Its context and language was chosen specifically to anger Decca executives. [That's a very diplomatic way of putting it -- S.] The track was refused by Decca and only released later on a West German compilation in 1983, although the compilation was discontinued and re-released without the song.” From The Black Box.

Download a handy ZIP of Bonus Disc #1: Alternate Takes/Versions/Mixes:

Download: Sticky Fingers Bonus Disc #1: Alternate Takes/Versions/Mixes (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Bonus Disc #2: Get Your Leeds Lungs Out! Revisited

Recorded live at the University of Leeds on March 13, 1971, during their short tour of the UK just ahead of the release of Sticky Fingers. The band is in fine, furious form, and the setlist is a great mix of (then) new material & instant classics from their Decca days. This version of the recording was remastered from the original tapes, and the result is an amazingly vibrant step up from any official live recordings from the era. I’m looking at you, heavily-overdubbed Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! The tracklisting:

1. “Dead Flowers” (mp3)
2. “Stray Cat Blues” (mp3)
3. “Love In Vain” (mp3)
4. “Midnight Rambler” (mp3)
5. “Bitch” (mp3)
6. Band Introductions (mp3)
7. “Honky Tonk Women” (mp3)
8. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (mp3)
9. “Little Queenie” (mp3)
10. “Brown Sugar” (mp3)
11. “Street Fighting Man” (mp3)
12. “Let It Rock” (stereo version) (mp3)

Download a handy ZIP of Bonus Disc #2: Get Your Leeds Lungs Out! Revisited:

Download: Sticky Fingers Bonus Disc #2: Get Your Leeds Lungs Out! Revisited (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

It’s not much of a secret that I’m a big Rolling Stones fan. The 3 shelves dedicated to the band in my CD collection house copies of each of their officially released albums, most of the members’ solo albums, a bunch of CD singles that date back to the Flashpoint live album, and a plethora (si, El Guapo, a plethora) of live and studio bootlegs that stretch from their early days through their last tour. I lurve the Stones, and when I heard that EMI Universal would be re-releasing the Stones’ post-ABKCO catalog starting this spring, I began to clear more shelf space. That catalog was beautifully remastered & repackaged by Virgin Records back in the early 90’s, but it’s been about 15 years, so I was ready for some expanded & improved editions of these classics.

The first wave of discs hit shops a couple weeks ago, so I hit my local Newbury Comics ready to grab my newest copy of Sticky Fingers. I left the store a couple minutes later sans disc. Why? Because these new EMI Universal releases add nothing new to the mix. No bonus alternate/early studio takes, no bonus live tracks, no interesting new packaging, no new anything, except for possibly the remastering which would be subtle at best given the great job that Virgin did 15 years ago. These reissues are a naked cash grab, and that’s a crying shame given the wealth of unreleased studio & live recordings in the Stones’ vault. The Stones (or EMI Universal at least) have proven that they just don’t get reissues.

Sadly, the Stones aren’t alone in the reissues dunce club: both Bob Dylan, whose entire voluminous catalog has been given the remastering/reissuing treatment over the last few years, and the Beatles, whose reissues will be out this fall, both don’t really get it. The sonic upgrades to their catalogs are great, but there’s nothing else new to the mix. Both artists have vaults jam-packed with illuminating, fascinating alternate takes and early versions of historic songs. Why not share them with the world? And finally make a buck on it, too, given the widely available bootleg disc markets for both artists? Even Sir Paul would understand that argument.

So who’s getting the remaster/reissue concept right? The Who: their Live At Leeds deluxe edition is a home run, offering an entire unreleased run-through of Tommy from the same performance. The Monkees: their self-titled debut was re-released in 2006 with a bonus disc containing the entire album in mono and a bunch of alternate versions & unreleased songs. Def-freaking-Leppard: Hysteria was bundled with a second disc of unreleased songs, live cuts & remixes, and the upcoming Pyromania set will include an entire unreleased concert from 1983.

The Stones, the Beatles, and others can get it right, they just choose not to, so Onkel Rudi & I have decided to help them out. Our CD libraries have loads of unreleased studio & live gems by our favorite artists, and once a month we’re going to put together CD-length playlists of what a proper reissue of a classic album should sound like. We’re calling it Reissues Done Right, and this week I’ll be debuting our first installment, my version of a Sticky Fingers reissue that’s 2 discs long: one of studio sessions, one live. I’d love it if these artists get the hint & do it right themselves, but until then, we’re more than happy to lend a hand.

Check back for Sticky Fingers later this week!

This month we begin to tackle music’s holy trinity of excess. I’ll let Mister Mackey set things up:

Duly noted.

• The Mandel From UNKLE’s “Rated Rx”
• Uncle Sam’s “I don’t like the drugs, but the songs about drugs like me”
• Onkel Rudi’s “Chemically Enhanced”
• U.N.K.L.E. Matt’s “Bad Things, Man”

Bonus playlist!

• Uncle Sam’s “More Songs About Amphetamines and Ecstacy”

There are so many great Primal Scream songs that fit this month’s theme that I thought they deserved their own playlist — enjoy the bonus tunes!

As a pretty clean & sober guy, it was, ironically, drugs that introduced me to Primal Scream: I was obsessed with the movie Trainspotting in college, and I spent a lot of time spinning the soundtrack. Based solely on the titular instrumental track that the Scream donated to that disc, “Trainspotting,” I sought out their album Vanishing Point & was hooked. That album’s mix of rock, dub, psychedelica & electronics was a potent cocktail, and it opened my ears up to some amazing stuff. Here are my favorite altered consciousness Scream songs:

1. Primal Scream, “Loaded”
   This is really what started their ascent to the big time in the UK. The first single from their 1990 acid house masterpiece Screamdelica, it hit #16 and signaled a new direction for the band which had been releasing mostly retro rock for the previous five years — its fusion of Exile-era Stones-y rock, soul, and British club grooves is still hypnotic. FYI, the vocal sample is a bit of Henry Fonda dialogue from the flick Wild Angels.
2. Primal Scream, “Higher Than The Sun”
   I’ve never touched the stuff myself, but this is what I’d imagine my consciousness would be like on LSD. Though the rest of Screamadelica was produced by Andrew Weatherall and the great Jimmy Miller, eclectic ambient geniuses the Orb provided the final mix of this song, turning it into a high-flying headphone odyssey.
3. Primal Scream, “Can’t Go Back”
   This lead single from their most recent album, Beautiful Future, is a breathless look inside the mind of someone watching their girlfriend overdose. Unlike the positive vibe exuded by the Screamadelica tracks, this song is dark, dark stuff.
4. Primal Scream, “Deep Hit Of Morning Sun”
   The opening song on Evil Heat, which bridges the sonic gap between the urban, abrasive XTRMNTR and the colorful, psychedelic Screamadelica.
5. Primal Scream, “Pills”
   One of the frightening high points of XTRMNTR, Gillespie spits venom while a creeping, drug-fueled paranoia washes over the song. Wild-eyed stuff.
6. Primal Scream, “Some Velvet Morning”
   Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie duets with supermodel Kate Moss on this slinky cover of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood classic. And yes, that’s one of the oddest sentences I’ve ever typed out. This is the original mix of the song that appeared on Evil Heat — the single release was extensively reworked & eventually ended up on their Dirty Hits best-of compilation, but I’ve always preferred the darker original.
7. Primal Scream, “Trainspotting”
   The murky, experimental instrumental which made me a fan. Can’t hear this song without picturing Ewan MacGregor’s Renton.
8. Primal Scream, “Shoot Speed/Kill Light”
   A soaring shot of Krautrock amphetamine high which closed XTRMNTR.

Download: Primal Scream, “Loaded” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Higher Than The Sun” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Can’t Go Back” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Deep Hit Of Morning Sun” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Pills” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Some Velvet Morning” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Trainspotting” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Primal Scream, “Shoot Speed/Kill Light” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: More Songs About Amphetamines and Ecstacy (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

You may have noticed that Selective Service is tweeting, but did you know that we’re also on Facebook? Become our friend & help us pick themes for upcoming playlists!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Selective-Service/77256953575

01. Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues”
Rick James said it best: “Cocaine is a hell of a drug!” This really is the sound of someone holding on to life with his teeth and fingernails, the white devil on one shoulder being drowned out by the even bigger white devil on the other shoulder. Gotta say, it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

02. Debbie Harry, “Rush Rush”
When this subject came up, I originally noodled with the idea of coming up with a list of “hey, drugs really aren’t that bad” songs. Songs that support Renton’s rationale in “Trainspotting”; that they wouldn’t do drugs if they didn’t feel good - I mean they’re stupid but they’re not that stupid… But my heart really wasn’t in it. I’ve had a bit too much personal experience with young people having fun turning into older people bound by liquid handcuffs. So this song from the “Scarface” soundtrack is the only “drugs are fun” song to survive. Ah the 1980s…

03. Jeffrey Lewis, “No LSD Tonight”
This is a lighthearted version of the kind of problem people like The Sex Pistols and Sublime used to have: they’d built up such a public image of “hey we love getting high” that it was impossible to get the “hey we’re dying, stop giving us drugs” memo through to their fans. Part of the problem of course is keeping up that image, not wanting to “disappoint” their fans by saying “y’know, you think you’re doing us a favor, but if you’re really a fan maybe you might consider not trying to kill us!”

04. Travesty, Ltd., “Rock & Roll Doctor”
A hilarious bit from the Doctor Demento show, harkening back to the Cheech & Chong / Led Zeppelin late-70s sex-and-drugs-and-rock-n-roll scene.

05. Frick & Frack, “You Shouldn’t Have Done It”
Right from hip-hop’s genesis, rappers wrote songs dealing with the real-life drug problems they saw around them every day. At the beginning you had stuff like “White Lines” or “King Heroin”, but soon came the urban plague of crack. Suddenly you just couldn’t write a rap song without commenting on how crack was destroying lives left and right. There are better known anti-crack songs, such as MC Shan’s “Another One To Get Jealous Of” or Shinehead’s “Gimme No Crack”, but I’ve chosen a lesser-known slice of vinyl, another cautionary tale from the hip-hop stable of producer Marley Marl.

06. Unified Theory, “Wither”
One of the most poignant songs about the fallout from drug abuse, this is the surviving members of Blind Melon eulogizing Shannon Hoon, while also commenting on the frustration they felt watching it happen.

07. The Durutti Column (featuring Eley Rudge), “The Drinking Song”
“Why do you do this, there’s easier ways to die”. Though about alcohol abuse, this unfortunately applies equally well to those afflicted by addictions of any kind.

08. The Onion Radio News, “Ritalin”
Okay well I guess there still is a lighter side to drugs…

Download: Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Debbie Harry, “Rush Rush” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jeffrey Lewis, “No LSD Tonight” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Travesty, Ltd., “Rock & Roll Doctor” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Frick & Frack, “You Shouldn’t Have Done It” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Unified Theory, “Wither” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Durutti Column (featuring Eley Rudge), “The Drinking Song” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Onion Radio News, “Ritalin” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: Bad Things, Man (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

A wise sage once told me “drugs are the answer.” He then gave up his IT job and fled to Cape Cod to run a B&B.

Dar Williams one mused “There’s so much to see through/Like our parents do more drugs than we do.”

And I’m sure that Ms. Williams indulged a bit in the land of…. “chemical creative enhancement.” It’s been a lure of composers since the days of Mozart (and likely earlier), and continues to be part of songwriting lore. And some of the best have chronicled their drug adventures in song.

1. “I Want A New Drug” - Huey Lewis & The News (from Time Flies: The Best Of Huey Lewis & The News)
   Huey Lewis came into his prime in the 1980s, when cocaine was all the rage amongst the rock star elite. The one problem? All the nasty side-effects. So Lewis asks for a better drug that has zero side effects, one that makes him feel like he does when he’s alone with the object of his affections. I blame good ‘ol endorphins and hormones, man.
2. “My Drug Buddy” - Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield (from Rare On Air, Vol. 1)
   One of The Lemonheads’ lesser-known tracks, this song talks about scoring some kind of illicit substance, then finding a place to use it. Simple and effective, this sparse arrangement (recorded for an NPR show) makes the whole deal seem a bit creepy.
3. “Cold Turkey” - John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band (from Live Peace In Toronto 1969)
   In the latter days of The Beatles, John Lennon was fueled by drugs. In particular, 1968 and 1969 saw him addicted to heroin, like many of his peers. His attempt to shake the smack monkey resulted in this song - appropriately titled “Cold Turkey.” He describes the agony of withdrawal from the addictive substance, and this live performance from his one-off peace activism concert in Toronto includes painful warbling from Yoko Ono, who was also shaking the smack, and manic guitar playing by Eric Clapton, who was still very much addicted to the stuff.
4. “Cocaine” - Bob Dylan (from Live At The Gaslight)
   Sure, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton (via J.J. Cale) mused about cocaine. But Dylan beat ‘em all to the punch with his folk song about having “cocaine all around my brain.” The song was penned by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Harrison, and its lyrical construct and contents hearken back to Tin Pan Alley more than the rock-and-roll circus (which Dylan had yet to join). But as a song telling the tale of too much cocaine, this one works quite well.
5. “Addicted To Drugs” - Kaiser Chiefs (from Off With Their Heads)
   This song doesn’t really say much about drug use, other than its protagonist saying that the subject of his warnings is “addicted to drugs.” Seems fitting.
6. “Another Irish Drinking Song” - Da Vinci’s Notebook (from Brontosaurus)
   Alcohol is a drug (a depressant), and this ditty plays upon the cliché “Irish pub song” by pointing out what really happens when a person drinks non-stop all night. Tongues firmly in cheek, DVN does a nice, four-part harmony job while warning of drinking in excess.
7. “Who Needs The Peace Corps?” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention (from We’re Only In It For The Money)
   Frank Zappa was about as anti-drug as anybody coming out of the 1960s could be. He took pride in his straight-edge ways, and used every available opportunity to poke a bit of fun at the “trippy, hippy” generation. “Forgive me ‘cos I’m stoned” is one of the refrains of this song, which skewers not only the “tune in, turn on, drop out” culture of San Francisco, but also the then-new Peace Corps. It’s classic Zappa, to say the least.
8. “Smoke Two Joints” - Richard Cheese (from Tuxicity)
   The ultimate Vegas lounge lizard parody artist, Mr. Cheese skewers Bob Marley’s ode to smoking reefer. Irie, all you cool cats and kittens!

Just remember: don’t drink/smoke/toot/snort/shoot and drive, okay?

Download: “I Want A New Drug” - Huey Lews & The News (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “My Drug Buddy” - Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Cold Turkey” - John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Cocaine” - Bob Dylan (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Addicted To Drugs” - Kaiser Chiefs (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Another Irish Drinking Song” - Da Vinci’s Notebook (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Who Needs The Peace Corps?” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Smoke Two Joints” - Richard Cheese (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: Chemically Enhanced (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

1. Alabama 3, “U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore”
   I couldn’t resist dropping a song from my favorite Brixton-based acid house/country/gospel collective this month. Their excellent debut Exile on Coldharbour Lane is brimming with drug/rehab/12-step program references (”Hypo Full of Love,” “The Old Purple Tin”), but my favorite is definitely this fiddle-fed ditty about a club overdose.
2. Placebo, “Special K”
   Definitely not talking about the breakfast cereal. Taken from Placebo’s highly underrated 3rd album Black Market Music, ketamine has never seemed more romantic & angsty.
3. Oasis, “Gas Panic!”
   I’d seriously thought about picking any random track from their 3rd album Be Here Now, as the recording sessions were rumored to have been fueled by booze and white lines, but I opted for this lesser-appreciated number from 2000’s Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. The song details Noel’s withdrawal-induced panic attacks while he was coming off of a serious addiction to valium. The song’s heavy, oppressive atmosphere beautifully accompanies the paranoia of the lyrics, and for that we can thank producer Mark “Spike” Stent, known best for his work with Massive Attack and Björk.
4. The Rolling Stones, “Mother’s Little Helper”
   It’s amazing to think that this Aftermath-era single was amazingly scandalous for its time. I almost included QotSA’s “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” right after it on the list to show how far we’ve come.
5. Guns N’ Roses, “Mr. Brownstone”
   This live, unplugged version of their Appetite ditty about heroin was recorded at the dearly departed CBGB in October ‘87. What an amazing goddamn band they used to be. Was this their way of testing the waters before releasing the acoustic Lies album? Maybe.
6. Electric Six, “I Buy The Drugs”
   Man, I love the Six. They made a bit of a splash with “Danger! High Voltage!”, an irresistible slice of silly dance-rock that featured a wild-sounding Jack White on backing vocals. They dropped off the radar of most after that, but they’ve continued to put out consistently clever, funny, albums of sophomoric dance-rock year after year, and this tune from 2005’s Switzerland is no exception. My favorite part? The address for the, uh, pharmacy that Dick Valentine rattles off? It’s one zip code digit off of the address for Fox Broadcasting.
7. The La’s, “There She Goes”
   Sorry, fans of the cloying Sixpence None The Richer cover: it’s really about smack. Adds an extra layer of comedy to the song’s use in ads for birth control meds.
8. Wyclef Jean, “Something About Mary”
   It’s, uh, about hair gel. Yeah.

Download: Alabama 3, “U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Placebo, “Special K” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Oasis, “Gas Panic!” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Rolling Stones, “Mother’s Little Helper” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Guns N’ Roses, “Mr. Brownstone” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Electric Six, “I Buy The Drugs” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The La’s, “There She Goes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Wyclef Jean, “Something About Mary” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: I don’t like the drugs, but the songs about drugs like me (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

As I compiled my list for this month, I couldn’t help but think of my first exposure to the wacky tobaccy…it was at the Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge concert then-Joe Robbie Stadium in 1994. I smelled something that wasn’t quite cigarette smoke…I forget who I was with at the time (Sam - were you with me at this one? Or was it your brother? [Sam: it was my brother])….but one of the friends who was next time pointed out that it was pot smoke. That distinctive smell wouldn’t be the last time I’d encounter it. And with that minor delving into reefer madness, I present to you…my list of songs to which I dare you to “just say no…”

BORN STONED by The Push Kings
This song came off of The Push Kings’ last album, “Feel No Fade.” Who were The Push Kings? One of the best power-pop groups from the late 90s. The members were all from Harvard…one of them lived a couple of floors down from me in my building. Their music had twinges of The Beatles (it didn’t hurt that one of the lead singers sounded a LOT like Paul McCartney), ELO, and Wings. This song was a Cheap Trick-esque homage to getting high and being stoned…new territory lyric-wise for the band…probably an attempt to get away from the glossier pop that comprised much of their first two albums. Alas, it was be their swan song…

WHITE LADY WHITE POWDER by Elton John
This is a deep cut from one of Elton’s many comeback albums in the 80s…1980’s “21 at 33″ to be exact. Bernie Taupin weaves a story about a love triangle between a man, his woman, and disco dust…something that Elton had dabbled in quite a bit (in more ways than one)…especially during the early 80s. It was never released as a single here in the U.S., but an attempt was made in the UK…but to little success due to the song’s subject matter.

ALL THE COCAINE IN THE WORLD by The Webb Brothers
This hymn-like ode to cocaine is the prettiest song ever you’ll ever hear composed about the drug. The Webb Brothers (Jimmy “MacArthur Park” Webb’s sons) recorded this short, but sweet ditty deddicated to devil’s dandruff. (Yay, alliteration!)

MIRACLE MEDICINE by Jason Falkner
Time to move into the addictive world of prescription drugs here thanks to Jason Falkner, one of the best singer-songwriters that most people have never heard of. Falkner was in Jellyfish and The Grays, but really blossomed once he went solo. This is a track from his 1996 solo debut “Author Unkown.” Probably the only song in history that name checks nembutal, demerol, and codeine in the same line!

WANDERLUST by Paul McCartney
Not all is fun in games in the world of drugs as evidenced in this Paul McCartney about a drug bust. I believe (correct me if I’m wrong, Rudi) that this song was inspired by a drug bust that almost occurred when Wings was recording the “London Town” album on Paul’s yacht (called Wanderlust). It’s certainly the most regal and classy recounting of getting busted…not quite the same as “Bad Boys.”

DON’T BOGART ME (aka “DON’T BOGART THAT JOINT”) by Robert Bradley
L.A. readers of this blog will probably recognize this song as the tune that closes the Friday morning broadcast of “The Kevin and Bean Show” on KROQ-FM. I think the title says it all…bottom line…don’t hog your weed! This recording was taken from a live performance of the song by Robert Bradley on Kevin and Bean’s show.

EVERYBODY TODAY IS TURNING ON by Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson
This number is from the musical “I Love My Wife” and comes courtesy of a clip from “The Beatrice Arthur Special” that has made the rounds on the Internet. Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson sing together on this clever tune about 70s drug slang. Rock Hudson singing about poppers/amyl nitrate?!? (Insert joke here) And R.I.P. Bea, you’ll be sorely missed…

PLOP, PLOP, FIZZ, FIZZ by Speedy
To close things out, here’s a little reminder about what drug to soothe the indigestion that may have been caused by listening to my list. Oh what a relief it is!

Download: The Push Kings, “Born Stoned” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Elton John, “White Lady White Powder” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Webb Brothers, “All The Cocaine In The World” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jason Falkner, “Miracle Medicine” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Paul McCartney, “Wanderlust” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Robert Bradley, “Don’t Bogart Me (aka “Don’t Bogart That Joint”)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson, Everybody Today Is Turning On” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Speedy, “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: Rated Rx (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)