Reading way too many blogs about everyone else’s picks for their favorite (read: Top 5) picks from some of my favorite bands of all time. First, R.E.M. – my own list may or may not be coming – then Weezer. It literally made me open iTunes and start revisiting quite a few of the songs mentioned to make me fall in love with said bands all over again. Then I came across a playlist I had forgotten I had compiled a ways back, a list I’ve decided to share with all of you crazy kids. But first, a story;
Back in the early 2000’s my radio was pretty much permanently fixed to 104.1 WBCN. Being stuck driving somewhere when the noon time “all request lunch” came on could turn my frown upside down. There was one particular day that the DJ at the time announced that the theme for that day’s show would be songs with the word “girl” in it.
I had just picked up Weezer’s Flip Sides and Acoustic Cuts where the opening track (if you don’t count the acapella serving “Sweet Adeline” – and with a run time that lands under a minute it hardly counts) is a fun little ditty titled “American Girls”. A song so fun and enjoyable I couldn’t understand why it was cast to a B-Sides album that, most likely, only die-hards would purchase.
Well, the song was on my mind as the DJ announced the theme and my head instantly screamed for me call in and request the undervalued Weezer should be classic. I dialed and without a second ring the phone was answered. The voice on the other end rolling off the call letters like it had been ingrained into his very being. I immediately said “Can I request a song?” with a little too much excitement. He came back with a slyly cool response of “Yeah, man, whatcha got for me?”
His relaxed tone brought me back down to a more manageable level of elation as I slipped out “Can I hear American Girls by Weezer?”
I got a curt “By who?” as a reply.
“By Weezer?” I clarified.
“I’ll see what I can do, man, thanks!” The voice hung up and I continued driving as my heart buzzed inside my chest. I wanted to call everyone I knew to tell them to tune into BCN and hear my voice come through the speakers petitioning for the Weezer song to be played!
Turns out, not calling everyone was for the best. Sure enough I did hear my voice come on after the station break. The DJ came on saying “Alright, let’s get this train rolling with the first request, what can I play for you, young man?”
And out came my oddly falsetto squeak of “Can I request a song?” I immediately made a mental note to never call into a radio station ever again.
He responded once again with “Yeah man, whatcha got for me?”
My heart was no longer buzzing, it was practically jumping out of my throat as I was about to hear this little known Weezer gem be played on the airwaves! Maybe, just maybe, I would introduce some of the musically inept, the poor souls not gifted with the superior taste of my pallet, to their new favorite song! My voice came cracking through (why did I sound like that?) “Can I hear American Girl-”
Before I could process the fact that my request was spliced to remove the pluralization of girls, and the rest of my message completely cut off, the instantly recognizable guitar riff and “Chh-Chh” of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came blaring through the radio. I was suddenly listening to Tom Petty singing “She was… an AMERICAN GIRL!”
I came to the realization I was used. I was a prop in this guy’s already preconceived playlist . It didn’t matter what came out of my mouth, this DJ was going to que up the Tom Petty standard because it’s what immediately came to HIS mind when creating the theme. I now realized the entire show was a sham. He picked a theme and pulled songs he knew of and just waited for some unsuspecting schlub to call in and request it. Even if they didn’t request it, he would just play God with the audio and make it say whatever HE wanted! Damn your choices! There was no free will! We were going to listen to his old, tired picks whether we liked it or not. Even worse, he was going to frame it like these were OUR choices! I was the ultimate dupe! A patsy in this guy’s musical landscape where I regurgitated the most obvious and stale selection to be played.
If you’re wondering, I still listened to BCN but maybe with not as much vigor and enthusiasm as before that fateful day. I also let my fingers do the talking and discovered other great rock stations like WBOS to occupy my ears while driving.
That being said, I came across a playlist I created years back that I think everyone should indulge in – one that actually includes the offending Petty classic. I could have expanded this list if I stole the theme of the BCN DJ from yesteryear but I’ve narrowed the field even further by geographically placing the females. Without further ado;
- American Girls by Weezer (from Flip Sides and Acoustic Cuts)
- American Girls by Counting Crows (from Hard Candy)
- Last of the American Girls by Green Day (from 21st Century Breakdown)
- All American Girl by Melissa Ethridge (from Yes I Am)
- American Girls by Reckless Kelly (from American Girls)
- American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers) *If you want my biased opinion, you should track down the live version from the Live Anthology)
- Your Best American Girl by Mistski (from Puberty 2)
*There is also the cover that Everclear did of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” but, and no disrespect to Art Alexakis, there is no substitution for the original artist on this one.
**Sea Puppy also did a very somber sounding rendition of Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” that’s worth a listen.
Now I am going to go ahead and straight up tell you that everyone should do themselves a favor and leave the Carrie Underwood dud “All-American Girl” as well as the over saturated, bubblegum pop anthem “American Girl” by Bonnie McKee off the list.
I’m also aware I have left off Lenny Kravitz’s “American Woman”. For some reason, I just felt that the more mature lady just didn’t fit in with the “girls”.
The Life I Live... 