Harry Nilsson - Save the Last Dance for Me

Just some good lost weekend music.

Neil Diamond - Lady Oh

Off of 1976's Robbie Robertson-produced Beautiful Noise. This with Robbie Robertson on guitar, Bob James with the string and horn arrangements.

Hatsune Miku Orchestra - Nice Age

It's come to this.

Joe Dassin -
Le Jardin de Luxembourg
Salut les Amoureux

"Like many Russians, Olga adored Joe Dassin, especially the songs on his last album, with their resigned, lucid melancholy. Jed shivered, feeling an irrepresible crisis coming on, and when he remembered the words of "Hello Lovers" he began to cry."
--Michel Houllebecq

Improved Sound Limited -
Nine Feet Over the Tarmac
Suicide Road

With a tip of the hat to my brother, here are two songs by Improved Sound Limited from Wim Wenders' 1976 movie Kings of the Road. I haven't seen it, but based on these two tracks I'm going to tentatively say it's the best fucking movie ever made.

Elton John - Amoreena

OK, this is the third time I've posted this song, but it's that good. And we haven't heard this version from 11/17/70.

Note to self - live more like a lusty flower in '12.

Stephen Stills - Midnight in Paris

From 1976's not very good Illegal Stills, here's a track written by Donnie Dacus and Stills's wife at the time, Veronique Sanson. Listen as Stephen Stills sings in French. Wonder about the debt Woody Allen owes to this album. Midnight in Paris? And does Stephen Stills bear a little more than a passing resemblance to a certain Wilson brother? Just sayin'.

The Beach Boys - Little Bird

Dennis Wilson comin' at ya off of Friends. I feel like the string section should be given the sample treatment. Or maybe it has been? Whatever. I'd still probably prefer this version.

Bee Gees: I Close My Eyes

From the b-side of the Bee Gees' 1st.
Add it to the list of classics released in 1967.

Terry Melcher -
Beverly Hills
The Old Hand Jive

And speaking of Terry Melcher, here are two from Terry Melcher, an album Bud Scoppa in Rolling Stone described as "a disturbing, difficult album that reverberates like a cosmic sigh."

That's a bad thing?

Al Hazan - Just Another Broken Heart

Get ready to hit play again and again on this one from Al Hazan. Some things to know about the man, from his website: "In addition to his music career, Al has been a licensed real estate broker since 1954, worked as a professional photographer, is a proud veteran of the U.S. Army, and now specializes in treating crime victims as a Doctor of Psychology." And, relevantly: "Dr Hazan earned his PhD in Psychology in 1987 after writing his dissertation on the Seven Developmental Stages of a Romantic Love Relationship."

And yes, that is Terry Melcher you hear.

Chris Robison - I'm Gonna Stay With My Baby Tonight

Special thanks to Wombletunes for this one.

Eddie Hooper & Storm - Pass It On (Part 1)

Although I already recommended purchasing an mp3 of this, I have to post it now--slightly slowed, à la Tako in this mix--for New Year's inspirational purposes.

Can't wait to hear part 2.