Setlist Society

1. In 3D is probably my most nostalgic Weird Al record, and I loved this song. I also loved the X-Men, and imagined which one played each part. Cyclops was on vocals and keyboard.

2. This one goes out to my older brother and sister, who, being 10 and 13 years older than me, respectively, we're in high school in the 80s. I watched this movie lots of times, and the theme really reminds me of the 80s music influence they had on me.

3. This was the soundtrack of EVERY family road trip we took (I didn't set foot on a plane until I was in 9th grade). I know every song on this album, word for word. My dad is a man of habit, and this was one of the few albums he liked for driving. It could have been much much worse though, since this is a phenomenal album.

4. The first "real" album I bought was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits, and I listened to it until the tape was inches away from breaking. My buddy J.R. taught me how to play the beginning, and endless summer hours were wasted goofing around with this in the background.

5. Swing. This was one of the first albums I bought, and I remember listening to it in Cabeza's kitchen one afternoon. I don't listen to it much anymore, but any time this song comes on, I'm teleported back to late Jr. High.

6. Believe it or not, this was the first song I heard when I walked in to my first ever stake dance (Bothell). I was nervous as hell, and I knew hearing this was a good omen. For the next few years, I spent lots of Saturday nights enjoying myself to some sometimes very bad music. But props to the Kirkland stake DJ for playing some excellent music in the face of the small crowds that always showed up.

7. EFY and Sam Adams (the man, not the beer). Our friend DJ was supposed to go, but Sam went with me instead to my first "get out of the house, meet some ladies" EFY week. Times were good. I had hair. But not nearly as much as the Gibb Brothers.

8. This one is pure Seattle in the 90s. 107.7 and all that. It was good to be in Jr. High at that time.

9. I wanted to put "Breakfast at Tiffany's" right here, since that was one of the first songs I thought of, for the exact same reason as the Mookster, but instead you're getting "Mr. Jones" which to me is one of the themes of the Fun Bus, which as some of you know, was the legendary teenage transportation of the Kirkland 2nd Ward during her glory days. Often piloted by Sam Adams (the man, not the American revolutionary), this song would pop up a lot. I think he had a big influence on the kinds of music I listened to, and I think I can say the same for a few others who post to this blog.

10. I bought this album at the Tower Records in Bellevue (before they moved to the Galleria), in the basement. That was an awesome day. This was the first "serious" jazz record I bought and I was mesmerized by it. I am still mesmerized by it today. Please, please, please, if you don't own it, go out and buy it.

11. When I started to drive, I inherited a 1986 Nissan pickup with a lot of "customizations" added by my father (a Mac bulldog hood ornament being the best of them). One of the things this truck didn't have was a working FM band. So, I struggled through months of listening to KIXI, which was the older than oldies radio station, and it sucked, but it was better than traffic reports or religious talk shows. And this song, which always sort of haunted my dreams as a child has always reminded me of those heady days of new found mobility and how grateful I am for FM.

12. Shark mentioned high school musicals and me playing in the pit orchestra. Well, Fiddler was my first, and though Guys & Dolls was probably my favorite (best music for a trumpet player) this one takes me back the most. And this part was fun to play, even though we butchered it.

13. While I was in high school, I was one of 3 directors of our school's pep band. There was one for each year (sophomore, junior, senior) and once you got elected in, the post was yours for the rest of high school. I got in as a sophomore, and loved it. I got to go to a lot of state basketball games (hooray for missing school), including the state final once, which meant I got one of those headsets with mics so that the cable TV trailer could cue me in for bookending commercial breaks. And though "Secret Agent Man" was what I warmed the band up with every game, this is the song I'd play to annoy the cheerleaders, who never seemed to have a routine that worked at this speed. I once acquiesced to their pleas to play it faster, which caused my band teacher to as me if I'd ever been to a strip joint and that they'd never play it that fast. When I told him no, he said, "I'll take you sometime." Don't worry kids, it was a joke, and not at all creepy.

14. Long story involving a homecoming princess who happened to be my date and me saving the day when her homecoming prince wasn't around for the royalty dance. No biggie.

15. This song will ALWAYS remind me of Cabeza and our friend Stephanie. You see, he didn't like this song and we made fun of him for it. A bit cruel, I know. It's not a great song, but the reasoning was funny to us back then. Plus, it's a perfect example of the kind of radio songs that were on the air during high school, which reminds me of how much fun I had back then.

16. Let me set the scene: Last day on campus at BYU after my freshman year. All of us are packed and our parents are there to pick us up. But a few of us guys decide to have one last day out, so we pile in to my friend's gigantic 1970's land yacht (complete with broken down everything and the color to match), slip on our shades, and begin cruising past the Maeser Building in time with this classic. If I ever make a film, that will be the last shot.

17. I heard this song every day on my mission. Every day. We'd have singalongs at night when we'd get home to blow off the stress of the day. It's a totally ridiculous song about a man who dreams his girlfriend goes off with another man and is relieved when he wakes up, and is filled with the kind of machismo that is so popular in rural Mexico, but I love it.

18. Another Mexican music entry. I picked up this album after returning from my mission, and one day, while helping my cousin run a fair for the Latinos in Provo, I put this in and realized how great it felt to be back at school, home from a great mission and all the amazing opportunities that lay ahead of me. I've rarely felt so good, and this whole album takes me back to that time and that feeling. I wish I could go back there now.

19. Another college classic. D. Henderson and C. Bronson would play a lot of funny gospel numbers, and this was one of them. I distinctly remember moving in to a new apartment with these huge sliding glass doors that looked directly in to another apartment with the same huge sliding glass doors and all of us doing a funny little dance to this song (lots of arm waving and kicking) to say hi to the girls across the way. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

20. Another C. Bronson song, which has become a running joke between him and I. For more information, please find a copy of The Ben Stiller Show and watch the sketch entitled "The Pig Latin's Lover Ariety-vay Ectacular-spay" starring Ben Stiller as Tito Gallegos, the Pig Latin Lover. You will be greatly rewarded for your efforts.

21. Love you, Shark.

22. Shark and Cabeza know all about this one. Every Bellevue Stake dance ended with this tune, and I think it's highly appropriate that I end this nostalgic playlist in the same way. Goodnight!