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This will be the first installment of likely several custom greatest hits tracklistings I make available on this site. Many bands have greatest hits or best of albums but many bands don’t for different reasons. Most reasons involve a record label. Some bands that have best of packages are flawed for one reason or another. Examples of this are the tracklist isn’t updated or they just plain did a bad job picking songs.
I like making these “Best of” packages for my car, as I’m sure many people do. Because of this, all my tracklists should fit onto a regular blank cd if anybody is interested in making one of their own. The term “Best of” works much better than “Greatest Hits” for these collections I feel. Many of the bands I will do this for don’t really have hits anyway. Hits are for Lady GaGa, I’m interested in good music.
For my first collection I have chosen the Decemberists. Why? They just released a new album; I am currently liking the album quite a bit; They have never had a best of collection. So here is the tracklisting for the album.
1. Oceanside
2. July, July
3. Los Angeles, I’m Yours
4. We Both Go Down Together
5. Eli, The Barrow Boy
6. 16 Military Wives
7. The Mariner’s Revenge Song
8. The Island: Come & See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel The Drowning
9. Yankee Beyonet
10. O Valencia!
11. The Perfect Crime #2
12. The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
13. The Rake’s Song
14. January Hymn
15. Down By The Water
16. This Is Why We Fight
A few notes:
I chose to do this in chronological order, most times I don’t do this but for this album I felt it was appropriate.
I only took one song from their first two records. I know this will likely enrage longtime Decemberists fans who think those first records are the best things they have ever recorded. The bottom line: they aren’t, their new stuff is much better.
Songs from albums are as follows:
5 songs ep: 1
Castaways and Cutouts: 1
Her Majesty: 1
Picaresque: 4
The Crane Wife: 4
Hazards of Love: 2
The King Is Dead: 3
FYI, the last cuts I made were: The Hazards of Love 1, Billy Liar, Valarie Plame and Shankhill Butchers.
I would love any feedback on this list or anything else on the site. Post a comment or send me a direct email. wiederholt8@yahoo.com
For many years baseball cards have been very important to the game of baseball. Cards seem to document the game and bring it to a more personal level for fans. This obviously starts with kids collecting baseball cards. It makes each players face more familiar and seem closer to fans and especially young fans. The internet really hurts baseball cards in this way. It makes players familiar without the benefit of cards or even newspapers.
Baseball certainly doesn’t need cards to survive, especially now, but I think it is a key part of the lure of the game. Growing up in a city without a major baseball team I couldn’t make it to many games and cards drew me closer to it without even being at the stadium. A couple of trips to the stadium in a year only added to the excitement. What does all of this mean? It means baseball cards are very important to baseball as a whole and important to each individual club. My team is the Kansas City Royals so now I present the 5 most important baseball cards in Royals history.
#1, George Brett 1975 Topps, #228, Book Value = $80
The 1975 Topps design is one of the most colorful they have ever done. Brett’s rookie card in this set is the iconic image of the set that also included Robin Yount’s rookie. You could also say Brett’s card is one of the most iconic cards in baseball card history. this simple pose of Brett in his famous left-handed stance is burned into the brains of baseball card collectors all over the world.
Why is it important? This one is pretty easy. Brett is almost unquestionably the best player in Royals history and a first ballot Hall of Famer. You could argue that even after about 15 years off of the field he is still the face of the Royals. I could list all of Brett’s achievements but if you are reading this you are already well aware of them.
#2, Bret Saberhagen 1984 Topps Traded, #T104, Book Value = $3
First let me breifly explain traded sets. Card manufacturers, mainly Topps, put out a couple of different releases of cards for each year. Topps is traditionally separated into series 1, series 2 and a traded or update set. The traded set is a vehicle to put out cards of players who weren’t originally intended to be in that particular set. There can be 3 reasons for this; the player is a rookie, the player was traded to a different team or the player’s card simply didn’t make either one of the first two series. So a player can appear in Series 1 and the traded set in the same years, this is fairly common.
The card in question is a rookie card. Bret Saberhagen did pitch in 1984 and in fact had 10 wins with a 3.48 ERA. He was included in the traded set and is still one of the most sought after cards in that series.
Why is it important? The Royals have won one championship, 1985. Saberhagen was an essential part of the 1985 season posting 20 wins, a 2.87 ERA, AL Cy Young Award winner and most importantly was named World Series MVP.
#3, Alex Gordon 2006 Topps, #297b, Book Value = $80
This one is tricky. It’s importance is mostly due to the circumstances surrounding it as opposed the player actually on the card. To call this card a short print is an understatement. This was once one of the most sought after cards in history. There are two versions of the Series 1 card. A regular version and one with the picture actually cut out of the middle of it! They were found in packs this way.
A brief explanation: Topps was not supposed to put the card out until Gordon had logged his first major league game. They put it in the set and claimed it to be a mistake. The cards that weren’t distributed yet were “cut out.” The card, in 2006 sold for as much as $7500, a shocking number for a single card. It can now be obtained much cheaper as Gordon’s star has unfortunately continued to decline over the past few years.
For a little better rundown of the history of the card see this site: http://www.sportscardfun.com/alex-gordon-rookie-card.asp
Why is it important? The value it sold for alone is one reason. As a Royals fan, this represented, at the time, the climb back into contention for a club that had been horrible for years. Gordon suffered constant comparisons to George Brett and the whole franchise seemed to ride on the young shoulders of the “sure thing.” Sadly it still hasn’t worked out. Gordon enters 2011 as a player barely good enough to stay in the big leagues, his potential may be the reason he is still with the Royals. He has moved to the outfield from third base and will have to fight for a starting job in spring training this year. Worst case: Gordon doesn’t ever pan out, The 2006 Topps card will always remain an important part of baseball history.
#4, Bo Jackson 1987 Topps, #170, Book Value = $2
This card is of a young star soon to make an impact on both the MLB and The NFL. Jackson was a rare two sport star. He played for both the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Raiders. The 1986 Topps set is important for the Royals because it largely depicts the team that brought Kansas City their only World Series Championship. This card of Jackson from the next year’s set did not represent that team, it represented the next step for the Kansas City Royals. Jackson did have a traded card in the 1986 Topps set that serves as his proper rookie card. This card sums up the excitement of Jackson, an action shot of him patrolling the outfield while his 1986 card was a simple mugshot picture. “Future Stars” scrolled across the bottom of the card represents exactly what the Royals needed, their next star player.
Why is it important? Bo Jackson represented excitement, whether it was a long touchdown run or a long home run flying out of Royals Stadium. Jackson could pound the ball and make great plays in the field, could steal bases and gun down runners trying to tag on a sacrifice fly. He was a bright personality that brought young fans to the game including myself. Bo Jackson was the first player to captivate me as a young fan of not even 10. I can still remember the excitement of pulling his 1990 Donruss Diamond Kings card out of a pack in Savannah, MO. (Current book value $.25) Jackson was simply the man at that time.
#5, Zack Greinke 2010 Topps Award Winners, #155, Book Value = $.25
Topps has put a second base set card of players that win major awards in recent years(Cy Yound, MVP, Rookie of the Year(I think)) This is a great way to honor the recipient of the awards. Greinke won the Cy Young award for the AL in 2009 and got this card to reflect the prize. These cards aren’t short prints or even look much different than the base set cards, they also have no more value that the base set cards. As a side note, this card has a much better picture than his 2010 base card.
Why is it important? This is really the only curious choice of my 5 cards. I will sum it up by saying the Royals really needed him to win this award. They needed something to hide how bad they were. It also helped sell merchandise and sell tickets greatly. It was a close race simply because Greinke didn’t have the normal amount of wins usually associated with the award. It wasn’t that he was pitching bad, it was that the Royals hitters seemed to take the day off when he was on the mound. Greinke had a eye-popping 2.16 ERA during the season while winning only 16 games. If CC Sabathia would have had a 2.16 ERA that season with the Yankees he may have won a number of games that would have been in the upper 20s.
Greinke is gone, and that is a good thing now I believe, but at the time it was one of the most important achievements in Royals history because they sure weren’t getting any awards associated with winning at the time. The card is important because of the effect of the achievement the card itself would be listed as a common in nearly any price guide.
The Old 97’s swung through Lawrence, KS last weekend and put on another classic show. I have seen the band live three times now and every time I am shocked at the enthusiasm the band displays. They are four of the nicest musicians I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. It is rare to see a band that looks genuinely happy to be performing in a club with about a hundred or so people. The Old 97’s are that band, not only that but after the show they all made themselves very accessible to the fans.
They were supporting their very strong new album, The Grand Theater Vol. 1. They hit it rather hard, playing 9 of the 12 tracks from the album. It was a sold out show and the band didn’t disappoint mixing in several old songs with the new album while blasting through a 26 song set.
The setlist:
Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck 1/28/11
encore:
As I mentioned, the band was very approachable and I was able to get the spread on the inside of their new cd autographed by all four members of the band. So I’d like to thank Rhett Miller, Murray Hammond, Ken Bethea and Philip Peeples for coming through on the tour and I can’t wait for the next time.
The Old 97's The Grand Theater Vol. 1 cd inside spread autographed with a nice silver sharpie by (from left to right) Ken Bethea, Rhett Miller, Philip Peeples and Murray Hammond.
1974 Topps is another one of those “classic” designs I love so much. I just wish Topps could come out with a modern design that looks as nice as these cards do.
I am a list nerd, I like to make lists. This is my top 10 albums of 2010. It is by no means the autority of albums for 2010. I didn’t hear every album, nor would I want to. Is Kanye’s album better than these? Maybe but I don’t care and don’t want to listen to it. These are the top 10 albums I bought of the year.
My #1 album of the year: Jason Collett's Rat A Tat Tat
1. Jason Collett – Rat A Tat Tat
Jason Collett is fantastic. He has little fanfare but writes some of the best pop-rock songs around. Collett is part of the Broken Social Scene family from Canada. He was a guitarist for them for a while and has released a few great albums. The best of his albums is probably 2008’s Here’s To Being Here. This record is almost as good. Few albums can hold up to repeated listens as this does. “Love is a Dirty Word” was the lead single and is probably the strongest song on the album. Collett also released an EP named “Too Wit To Woo” simoltainiously with this album. It is a great companion piece to Rat A Tat Tat and I would encourage giving both albums a spin.
Key Track: “Love Is A Dirty Word”
2. Eels – Tomorrow Morning
The Eels are interesting band that makes very catchy music. They have some great songs and records. They also have some records and songs that are not quite as strong. This is a good one. It is the Eels second release of the year. “End Times” preceded it and it seems as if almost all the best songs were saved for this record. Like Jason Collett’s album, I don’t feel this is the Eels strongest of their career. If you want to get one Eels album I would recommend “Hombre Lobo.” If you want some of the best music of the year pick up “Tomorrow Morning.”
Key Track: “Baby Loves Me”
3. Black Keys – Brothers
You’ve probably heard this one. It got a decent amount of airplay and deserved every bit of it. It is great blues-rock. The Black Keys have a stomp to their music that is unparalleled in modern music. This album is a career highlight and is a great listen every time.
Key Track: “Howlin’ For You”
4. Ike Reilly – Hard Luck Stories
This is an interesting album for the Illinois act. It was released digitally in 2009 but the hard copy came out in 2010. It is more commercially freindly that his previous efforts. Reilly has released some great records in the last decade and is one of the better live acts I have seen. He also borrows the talents from the band Cracker for this album, Johnny Hickman and David Lowery. Cracker covered Reilly’s “Duty Free” on their Countrysides record and that is how I, along with many others I imagine, discovered Mr. Reilly’s music. Hard Luck Stories is exactly that, the hard luck story of Ike Reilly.
Key Track: “Lights Out”
5. Bruce Springsteen – The Promise
I’m not going to be able to say anything about this double album that hasn’t already been said a hundred times but I’ll say it is really good. Springsteen’s music is all good but his early music has a little more “life” to it. This album was recorded back in 1978 in the sessions for Darkness on the Edge of Town. It is a great glimpse of what was baffelingly not good enough to make the Darkness album.
Key Track: “One Way Street”
6. Zeus – Say Us
I bet you haven’t heard of this one. Jason Collett is obscure enough, this is Collett’s backing band. They released their first album in 2010 and it great. Great pop songs that have a great scope of sounds for your listening pleasure.
Key Track: “Marching Through Your Head”
7. Spoon – Transferrence
Spoon makes music that has a sound all of it’s own. Late in 2009 they released the single “Got Nuffin'” off this album and I knew it was going to be great. Transferrence has the best song of their career on it as well: “Written In Reverse”
Key Track: “Written In Reverse”
8. Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
When I heard the lead singer of the Killers was releasing a solo album I was less than excited. I think the Killers’ Sam’s Town album is fantastic, one of the best records of the decade actually. They then released Day & Age after that and it is a pile of crap. The song “Human” is maybe the worst song a band I really liked has ever put out. Back to Flowers; Flamingo to me had very low expectations because I thought it would be more of the same, maybe even worse. It wasn’t, it is Flowers having fun and writing modern arena rock anthems while not sounding like crap as the Kings of Leon did in 2010. Get the deluxe edition for the extra bonus tracks.
Key Track: “The Clock Was Tickin;” (Deluxe Edition only)
9. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
Justin Townes Earle is the offspring of Steve Earle, there is no hiding that. He does still make records with a sound all of their own. Each of JTE’s full length records has a sound all of it’s own in fact. Harlem River Blues’ sound? Think O Brother Where Art Thou? With one important additions. Lead Guitar is played by the incredible Jason Isbell. His electric guitar on top of this smooth folky music makes for a fantastic listen.
Key Track: “Harlem River Blues”
10. Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
Jenny and Johnny are Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley and Jonathan Rice. This record is exactly what the title advertises; fun. The two share songwriting and singing duties throughout the album creating a very smooth sound that is like pop bliss.
Key Track: Scissor Runner”
Okay, that’s the list for this year. Next year looks promising and I can’t wait to make the list for it. I do have a couple of small quick notes:
Honorable Mentions:
Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: John Prine Tribute
Vampire Weekend – Contra
A couple of these albums are available autographed on Newbury Comics website. For the regular price of the cd you can get the album still sealed with and extra booklet that is autographed by the artist. I picked up Jenny and Johnny and Brandon Flowers off the website. While you are there be sure to preorder the new Cold War Kids album that I think might just make next year’s list.
I have posted several cards on the site and it is about time I posted about music.
Cracker is a band that is criminally under-rated. They have a strong following, appropriately called crumbs. They are a fiercely loyal fanbase that keeps the band moving forward. David Lowery is the lead singer and has a great worpress blog: 300 Songs It is great for any music fan, whether they like Cracker or not. I strongly encourage anyone to read the blog and especially buy the records associated with the band.
The core of Cracker is David Lowery, also of Camper Van Beethoven, and Johnny Hickman. Johnny is one of the more approachable musicians I have ever met, David is a little more distant. Johnny has always been willing and excited to talk to fans from my experiences.They are a great live band and are worth the money every time.
Cracker put out a self released greatest hits sometime in 2010. I was able to pick it up and get it autographed at a show in Kansas City in July.
What’s missing from this picture? Johnny Hickman’s signature. That is Camper Van Beethoven guitarist Greg Lisher’s signature in the bottom right hand corner. Johnny wasn’t at the show and Greg filled in admirably. It wasn’t quite the same without Johnny but it still was a great show. Signatures from the top left read: Sal Maida, Frank Funaro, David Lowery and Greg Lisher.
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The Chiefs beat the Rams today so as promised, here is a Chiefs set. 1985 Topps football by Topps is a very simple card, one of only a few black bordered cards. Not a great looking set but a nice clean look to the cards. One of the easiest sets I have re-created.
1981 Topps was just a year I chose at random. I wanted to do a football card and since the Chiefs showed how valuable Matt Cassel is on Sunday in San Diego(31-0) I thought I would do a card of him.
1981 Topps is of course best known for being Joe Montana’s rookie card. Until I re-created the card, I never realized how intricate the design actually is. I especially like the way to Topps logo is integrated into the card design (see top right corner.) I can’t say I am too fond of the flagpole in the bottom left hand corner however. I think it might have worked better without that totally. Overall the card design has nice colors and has a nice clean look to it. I think the picture really fits well with the card design as well. As my first football card design, I am very pleased with it.
A snapshot from Roger Waters' The Wall in Kansas City, MO.
This is the initial post on the “A Hair Off Square” blog. This blog is intended a jumping off point for several projects. It’s name comes from the title of a webcomic that will probably never happen. It is also an outlet for a project of mine where I make custom baseball/football cards because I am a nerd. If you need an example of what this is until I get a post with one try this: http://goosejoak.blogspot.com/
The picture is random, ignore it if you wish.
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