Well, nobody else was scheduled to be on tonight, so I came in early to play a whole lot of Firesign Theatre, which never got a lot of airplay.
Its Phil Austin, Nick Danger himself, died last week at the age of 74. Then, inspired by the terrific Brian Wilson bio pic “Love and Mercy,” a heavy dose of “Pet Sounds” instrumentals, isolated vocal tracks and other celestial high points.
Fifty years ago, The Byrds’ “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” hit No. 1; 49 years ago today the Rolling Stones played the Washington Coliseum in an afternoon show (they were playing Baltimore that night). I’m not the only person stuck in the ‘60s; John Fogerty’s current tour is full of stuff he recorded in 1969. It’s a pretty good set list too, played a bit from it as well. He plays Wolf Trap Tuesday.
Rosanne Cash played in Fairfax tonight, so played some of her, as well as her dad, which led to a bunch of murder ballads from a mix a pal made me.
Moved on to Nouvelle Vague, Jason Isbell and a bunch of singles. Closed with some Mick Jones – it’s his 60th birthday! Here’s what I played on the radio tonight:
Friday Night Rock 6-26-2015, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., Radio CPR, 101.7 FM, Washington, D.C.
- “Shoes for Industry,” Firesign Theatre
- “Ersatz Bros. Coffee,” Firesign Theatre
- “Stab from the Past,” Firesign Theatre
- “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger,” Firesign Theatre
- “I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus,” Firesign Theatre
- “Ralph Sports Sports Motors,” Firesign Theatre
- “Trombone Dixie,” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “Pet Sounds,” The Beach Boys (various instrumental takes)
- “Let’s Go Away for a While,” The Beach Boys (various instrumental takes)
- “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “You Still Believe in Me,” (The Beach Boys various takes)
- “Caroline No,” The Beach Boys (various instrumental takes)
- “Hang On to Your Ego,” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “Here Today,” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “That’s Not Me,” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “Good Vibrations” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “God Only Knows” The Beach Boys (backing track)
- “Wouldn’t It be Nice,” The Beach Boys (vocals only)
- “Caroline, No,” The Beach Boys (vocals only)
- “God Only Knows,” The Beach Boys (vocals only)
- “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,” The Byrds
- “My Back Pages,” The Byrds
- “This Wheel’s on Fire,” The Byrds
- “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Long As I Can See the Light,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Lodi,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Fortunate Son,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Not Fade Away,” The Rolling Stones
- “The Last Time,” The Rolling Stones
- “Play with Fire,” The Rolling Stones
- “The Spider and the Fly,” The Rolling Stones
- “Get Off My Cloud,” The Rolling Stones
- “19th Nervous Breakdown,” The Rolling Stones
- “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash
- “Modern Blue,” Rosanne Cash
- “50,000 Watts,” Rosanne Cash
- “Runaway Train,” Rosanne Cash
- “Delia’s Gone,” Johnny Cash
- “Make Your Bed,” Neko Case
- “John Hardy was a Desperate Little Man,” The Carter Family
- “Shankill Butchers,” The Decemberists
- “The Scarlet Tide,” Alison Krauss
- “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” Sufjan Stevens
- “Old Time Angels,” Jim Lauderdale
- “Johnny 99,” Bruce Springsteen
- “Little Sadie,” Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley
- “Down in the Willow Garden,” The Everly Brothers
- “Knoxville Girl,” The Louvin Brothers
- “Where the Roses Grow,” Nick Cave with Kylie Minogue
- “Only in Songs,” TIft Merritt and Simone Dinnerstein
- “Magnolia,” Lucinda Williams
- “Helpless,” Neil Young (live)
- “To a Band That I Loved,” Jason Isbell
- “Too Many Creeps,” Bush Tetras
- “It’s Obvious,” Au Pairs
- “Off the Hook,” Y Pants
- “The Bulrushes,” The Bongos
- “Guitar Beat,” Raybeats
- “When I Was Young,” Eric Burdon
- “Road to Nowhere,” the Talking Heads
- “Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight,” Hindu Love Gods
- “Eight Miles High,” Husker Du
- “Whips and Furs,” The Vibrators
- “Borderline,” The Flaming Lips, Stardeath and White Dwarfs
- “Summertime,” Fun Boy Three
- “Pride in the Name of Love,” Nouvelle Vague
- “Guns of Brixton,” Nouvelle Vague
- “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” The Clash
- “The Bottom Line,” Big Audio Dynamite
- “E=MC2,” Big Audio Dynamite
- “Medicine Show,” Big Audio Dynamite
Friday Night Rock returns July 3 at 11 p.m., or maybe earlier, on Radio CPR, 101.7 FM, Washington, D.C. or streaming online at tinyurl.com/radiocpr