Spin City Playlist For 3/24/07

4 pm hour

Sunglasses At Night- Corey Hart
Satisfaction Guaranteed- Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
You Stepped Into My Life- Melba Moore
Crumblin' Down- John Cougar Mellencamp
Backstabbers- O'jays
King of the World- Steely Dan
I Can Understand It- Bobby Womack
(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right- Luther Ingram
Summer- War
Too Late- Junior
Cruel Summer- Bananarama
Funky Nassau- Beginning of the End

5 pm hour

What I Like About You- Romantics
Neighbours- Rolling Stones
So Very Hard To Go- Tower of Power
Hot Stuff- Donna Summer
Boys Do Fall In Love- Robin Gibb
Jailhouse Rap- Fat Boys
Be Thankful For What You Got- William DeVaughn

On the Flip Side:
Monday Morning (B-side to Say You Love Me)- Fleetwood Mac

Day By Day- Hooters
Bit By Bit- Stephanie Mills
Take Me To the River- Al Green
Manic Mechanic- ZZ Top
Girls Girls Girls- Motley Crue
Lay Away- Isley Bros.
La Bel Age- Pat Benatar

6 pm hour

Goin' Back To Cali- LL Cool J
I Feel Sanctified- The Commodores
A Star In the Ghetto- Ben E. King & AWB
Mickey- Toni Basil
Take It Off- Alex Chilton
We Close Our Eyes- Go West
Jack & Jill- Raydio
Me & Bobby McGee- Janis Joplin (#1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart this week in 1971)
Mama Told Me Not To Come- Wilson Pickett
Down On My Knees- John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
Jump To It- Aretha Franklin
Boys Don't Cry- The Cure
Is That Love- Squeeze
Count Me Out- New Edition

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Although I am a week late, I still wanted to toss in a couple of pennies regarding this year's RRHOF Induction Ceremony:

1. It was cool to see The Ronettes after all of these years. Both curious and understandable at the same time, none of the members mentioned Phil Spector during their speeches. Allegedly due to illness, member Estelle Bennett (Ronnie Spector's sister) did not perform with The Ronettes during their set. A younger female singer stood in for her. However, at the end of their performance of "Be My Baby", the substitute left the stage and they brought out Estelle to take a bow with Ronnie and Nedra Talley (the 3rd member, who is also Ronnie and Estelle's cousin). If there is more to the story behind the substitution, maybe Ronnie will shed some light if she writes an update to her autobiography (naturally titled "Be My Baby").

2. During his speech, Grandmaster Flash took the time to make note that despite what some people think, what he and the Furious Five did musically was very much a part of rock and roll. Although they are the 1st rap/hip hop act to be inducted, they certainly will not be the last.

3. Given that we live in world that can be too PC, I give credit to Patti Smith for peforming her song "Rock and Roll Nigger" (of course, VH-1 bleeped out the offending word). For anyone unfamiliar with the song, it is in no way racist (it attempted to redefine the term "Rock and Roll Nigger" as a badge of honor for anyone who lived outside the establishment). Since there was no public outcry over her performance of this song during the induction ceremony, one of two things happened. People not familiar with the tune actually listened to the lyrics or they didn't see the performance at all. I'll keep my cynicism in check for a moment and go with the former.

4. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. looked sharp as hell in his white suit! Also, props to Eddie Vedder for his subdued (but hilarious) speech inducting R.E.M. I especially liked what he said about listening to "Murmur" over 1,200 times even though you can't understand a fucking thing [frontman Michael Stipe] is saying." Another highlight was Eddie duetting with Michael during R.E.M.'s performance of "Man On the Moon".

5. I was thoroughly disappointed that only 2 of Van Halen's inducted members (Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony) showed up. However, Eddie Van Halen did have a legit excuse (he's in rehab). Maybe brother Alex's no-show is related to that. As for Diamond Dave, it appears that he didn't show because of a dispute over what songs he would perform. According to Scott Weiland (who, along with his group Velvet Revolver, inducted VH and performed some VH tunes), David was adamant about doing ''Jump.'' Weiland added that "Jump was not really us, and we don't have a keyboard player." As a side note, Gary Cherone (the man who replaced Sammy Hagar as VH lead singer) was not inducted with Van Halen. However, bassist Michael Anthony showed tremendous class during his induction speech by mentioning Cherone's contribution to VH.

Rock & Roll Hall Welcomes Class of 2007 (clip approx. 2 minutes in length)

Spin City Playlist For 3/17/07

4 pm hour

Back In Black- AC/DC
Pay To the Piper- Chairmen of the Board
Cheaper To Keep Her- Johnnie Taylor
I'm Still Standing- Elton John
Since Yesterday- Strawberry Switchblade
The Ghost In You- Psychedelic Furs
One Nation Under A Groove- Funkadelic

Common Thread segment: songs feat. artists named Pat, Patti, or Patrick
A Girl Like You- Smithereens (lead singer Pat DiNizio)
Love's Got A Line On You- Scandal feat. Patty Smyth
Yo Mister- Patti Labelle
Born To Be Alive- Patrick Hernandez

Three Ring Circus- Blue Magic
Getaway- Earth, Wind, & Fire
Let It Flow- Grover Washington, Jr.

5 pm hour

Causing A Commotion- Madonna
Escape (I Need A Break)- Whodini
Who'd She Coo- Ohio Players
Baby What A Big Surprise- Chicago
Blister In the Sun- Violent Femmes
Yes Or No- Go Gos
Crosstown Walk Up- JoBoxers
Patches- Clarence Carter

Now & Then segment's feat. artist: Paul Westerberg
Right To Arm Bears- solo tune from the soundtrack to the 2006 film Open Season
Alex Chilton- The Replacements

I've Done Everything For You- Rick Springfield
Sweet Thing- Rufus feat. Chaka Khan
How Good Is Your Game- Billy Paul
Your Saving Grace- Steve Miller Band
Romancing the Stone- Eddy Grant

6 pm hour

I Ran (So Far Away)- A Flock of Seagulls
Underground- Men At Work
Drive Me Wild- Vanity 6
You Sexy Thing- Hot Chocolate
Come & Get To This- Marvin Gaye
Come Back & Stay- Paul Young
You Little Trustmaker- Tymes
Reflections of My Life- Marmalade
Hold It Now, Hit It- Beastie Boys (from the album that was #1 on the charts this week in 1987, Licensed To Ill)
Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody- Brick
I'm A Sucker For Your Love- Teena Marie
Leave Me Alone- Michael Jackson
No One Like You- Scorpions
Disturbance At the Heron House- REM

Spin City Playlist For 3/10/07

4 pm hour

So Emotional- Whitney Houston
The Relay- The Who
Slippery When Wet- Commodores
So Alive- Love & Rockets
I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)- Donald Fagen
Party Train- Gap Band

Common Thread segment (songs about time):
Hazy Shade of Winter- Bangles
Too Much Time On My Hands- Styx
Time After Time- Cyndi Lauper
It Only Takes A Minute- Tavares

Mighty Love- Spinners
Biggest Part of Me- Ambrosia
Absolute Beginners- David Bowie

5 pm hour

Centerfold- J. Geils Band
Angeleyes- ABBA
What Am I Gonna Do With You- Barry White
Walk This Way- Run DMC
Really Wanna Know You- Gary Wright
Wait For Me- Hall & Oates
New Year's Day- U2

On the Flip Side segment:
Funkier Than A Mosquita's Tweeter- Ike & Tina (B-side to Proud Mary)

Life of Illusion- Joe Walsh
Jackie Blue- Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Get Down On It- Kool & the Gang

Tribute to Brad Delp, the lead singer of Boston:
Cantcha Say (You Believe In Me)/Still In Love
Peace of Mind

6 pm hour

Boogie Oogie Oogie- A Taste of Honey
Alligator Woman- Cameo
Motorcycle Mama- Sailcat
Never Ending Story- Limahl
The Metro- Berlin
Kelly's Eyes- Andre Cymone
Put Your Hands Together- O'jays
Tangled Up In Blue- Bob Dylan (from the album "Blood On the Tracks", which was #1 on the Billboard charts this week in 1975)
I'm No Angel- Gregg Allman
He's the Greatest Dancer- Sister Sledge
Glamour Boys- Living Colour
Too Much Posse- Public Enemy
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love- Blues Brothers
Freedom Rider- Traffic

Spin City Playlist For 3/3/07

4 pm hour

Staying Alive- The Bee Gees
Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me of a Friend)- Rufus feat. Chaka Khan
Too Hot To Handle- Heatwave
Stay With Me Tonight- Jeffrey Osborne
See A Little Light- Bob Mould
Christine- Siouxsie & the Banshees
Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime- The Korgis

Common Thread segment:
Songs about the telephone (in honor of Alexander Graham Bell's birthday):
Hot Line- The Sylvers
Obscene Phone Caller- Rockwell
Hanging On the Telephone- Blondie
Vienna Calling- Falco

Have You Seen Her- The Chi-Lites
Get the Cream Off the Top- Eddie Kendricks
House of Fire- Alice Cooper

5 pm hour

Would I Lie To You- Eurythmics
Long Time Coming- Ready For the World
Get Off- Foxy
Long Tall Glasses- Leo Sayer
Theme From Foxy Brown- Willie Hutch
Rent- Pet Shop Boys
I'll Set You Out O.K.- Con Funk Shun

Now & Then segment's featured artist: Diana Ross
More Today Than Yesterday (from her 2007 CD I Love You)
Upside Down

You Made Me Believe In Magic- Bay City Rollers
In My Dreams- Dokken
Atomic Dog- George Clinton
The Gigolo- O'Bryan
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show- Honey Cone

6 pm hour

A View To A Kill- Duran Duran
Ladies First- Queen Latifah feat. Monie Love
Dance Hall Days- Wang Chung
Draggin' the Line- Tommy James
AC/DC- Sweet
Jimmy Loves Maryann- Josie Cotton
Kiss- Prince
I Don't Know If It's Right- Evelyn "Champagne" King
Bridge Over Troubled Water- Simon & Garfunkel (song that was #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart this week in 1970)
Rockin' Roll Baby- Stylistics
Color of Success- Morris Day
Run To You- Bryan Adams
Lonely At the Top- Mick Jagger
Theme from the Rockford Files- Mike Post