Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 2-9-24

The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt was sitting in a piano bar in Manhattan, listening to the pianist’s interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs, when he decided he ought to get into theater music because he felt he had an aptitude for it. “I decided I’d write one hundred love songs as a way of introducing myself to the world. Then I realized how long that would be. So I settled on sixty-nine. I’d have a theatrical revue with four drag queens. And whoever the audience liked best at the end of the night would get paid.”

The Magnetic FieldsStephin Merritt was born on this date in 1965. Lots of his/their music is included on today’s playlist.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 1-13-24

“One minute you’re just cooking up someone’s order of French fries and the next minute you’re laying on the floor and they blow your brains out.”-   The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne reflecting on being held up at gunpoint when he was a fry cook at Long John Silver’s 

The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on this date in 1961. A few of his band’s cuts are included on today’s playlist.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 8-11-23

Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, the two members of The Postal Service, collaborated by sending recordings of their music back and forth through the mail, which inspired their band name. The fact that they used FedEx and UPS for this purpose is besides the point. Do you really think they could get away with calling their project FedEx?

Ben Gibbard of The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie was born on this date in 1976. His work is well-represented on today’s playlist.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/7grUUfw8JYyKEGgrINX7Lb?utm_source=generator

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 5-22-23

Lots of songs from The Smiths and their lead singer Morrissey on today playlist.

Today is Morrissey’s birthday, and I feel the need to mention that to me and many many others, he now comes across as a repugnant person who shares his abhorrent thoughts. He may have always held repellent views, but as opposed to the means during the heyday of his career, it is now easier for his offensive quotes to go viral. Before he utters his next racist pronouncement, he should heed the advice in the first line of the chorus of “How Soon Is Now?:” “You shut your mouth.”

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Queer Music of the 1990s

What makes compiling lists of queer music by decades more challenging as we move forward in time is that the number of songs from which to choose keeps increasing greatly. For today’s playlist, I started with a list of several hundred songs by out LGBTQ+ acts or with LGBTQ+ subject matter, from which I whittled it down to the 30 tunes below. I second guess myself a lot. Should three of the first four songs be by straight-identifying acts? Should I include a lightweight novelty number over something by Maria McKee? (I decided yes, though I love Maria.) I didn’t necessarily choose my favorites. Instead I went for songs/acts that were on some level trailblazers. Here they be:

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