The Best Song Ever (This Week)

Like love turned fraught, honey can be bittersweet, especially when a band pours it through record-setting guitar feedback. A playlist of this and other songs by The Jesus and Mary Chain can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3M2DDGAyfh1yaaHvdSk8In?si=4bb8007eaaaf49f2

From Bugs Bunny to Motown to Moog synthesizers, Raymond Scott was a 20th century music innovator who got his weirdo compositions into American living rooms. A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6DJg4CFkgVdwmk2nhaFadE?si=553b149e4ec84002

The first bi-lingual pop hit launched a country career for Freddy Fender, which wasn't at all what he wanted. A playlist of this and other songs in the neighborhood of this playlist is available here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6tgdIlzaWQkUzlboplRRjT?si=e773cba95d3a48a1 The email newsletter version of The Best Song Ever (This Week) is available for free at bestsong.substack.com

A folk song about the WWI Gallipoli campaign has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day, but everything to do with the truth Shane MacGowan and The Pogues could find in a song. A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oUG8FGmjhC0ZkzctKvFLP?si=78f2f40c8a934da1

In Berlin, David Bowie found that his best character was himself, and his most experimental period, created an anthem. A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3eYn0DT7OlmfrdIwnkW2O8?si=8e6b06cea2224c9c You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at bestsong.substack.com.

A force-of-nature singer, The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," and Simon & Garfunkel's secular hymn made spiritual. A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1kL1nQAZYxb9aMlX486Nxk?si=b12db8d602754d2a You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at bestsong.substack.com.

Mark Lanegan died on February 22nd. His breakout song with Screaming Trees was a grunge hit that wasn't and got him into living rooms via MTV. His solo albums got him into people's hearts. A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5xHBI6JUUAPcAmR6eKwEyn?si=a1434ac70205430f You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at...

Betty Davis blazed a sexually explicit funk-rock trail. As her ex-husband Miles Davis put it, she was "Madonna before Madonna; Prince before Prince." A playlist of this and other songs relevant to the episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3iWCL3woi74dotbZFpu0CR?si=87e0f5c386e94bb4 You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at bestsong.substack.com. A bonus playlist...

Kris Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn to hand him a demo tape. The rest is music history. Hear "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and more songs by Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and more music in the direction of this episode here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2INnKPtBzNzKXUNn9E8Twa?si=7056a587c07044fe You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at bestsong.substac...

How did reggae become such a big part of the early UK punk scene? One DJ with more dub than punk in his record case, who also had his own connection to Bob Marley. You can hear "Punky Reggae Party" and songs from that early intersection of punk and reggae here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Q4D3HKvKWWMiTeKHPUIx8?si=9b53a00e4fd94947 You can read The Best Song Ever (This Week) for free at bests...

Best known for her debut single, the 1969 story song "Ode to Billie Joe," Bobbie Gentry's second and third acts could be more compelling -- Vegas, the NBA, and another great story song about a woman's journey to "move uptown." You can hear a playlist with "Fancy" and more by Bobbie Gentry here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wEAvWaxjjNmPiLzV2Ntk8?si=a656dc21984e48e2 You can read this podcast f...

A 1982 song about the Falklands War with lyrics by Elvis Costello became an unlikely hit in 1983 for Robert Wyatt, the former drummer in jazzy, psychedelic prog-rock bands who found a second career and new life after falling out of a London apartment window. You can hear "Shipbuilding" and more by Robert Wyatt here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5mkFuLAlECQE1dbSESbafM?si=33a9a31a92f8478a You c...