The theme for this show is a puzzle I recently completed. The last time I used a puzzle as a theme was back in March 2022. That one was a puzzle of famous album covers. This time around, I’ve taken a puzzle of vintage tourism posters and maps and created a show where each image has a song selected based on the place. The result is a mix of old and new, with a lot of lesser-known artists and songs.

As usual, there is a playlist for this show.

Amazon Music

Spotify

The Images and Songs

1. Seaside Resorts In Britain: Queen “Brighton Rock” (an early one, but one of their best rockers)
2. Flight Three USA: Smashing Pumpkins “Geek U.S.A.” (one of their biggest hits)
3. The Cittie of London: The Smiths “London” (from the Louder Than Bombs compilation)
4. 24 Hours in Tokyo: Jay de la Cueva “Tokyo” (new release)
5. Amsterdam Street Map: Imagine Dragons “Amsterdam” (from their first album)
6. Air France Paris: The 1975 “Paris” (from their 2nd album)
7. Sweden (One of the Scandinavian Countries): C418 “Sweden” (music from the Minecraft game)
8. A Map of the World: Randy Newman “Great Nations of Europe” (from his Songbook collection)
9. New York Tour Guide: Billy Joel “New York State of Mind” (one of his best)
10. German Street Map: Wilco “Impossible Germany” (from Sky Blue Sky)
11. City Atlas: Sara Bareilles “City” (from her 2nd album)
12. Paris Street Map: Chainsmokers “Paris” (from their 2017 album)
13. Nester’s New York: Ryan Adams “New York, New York” (from his 3rd album)
14. Zodiac Star Map: Peter Schilling “Major Tom (Coming Home)” (the famous 80s hit that pays homage to David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity”)
15. Map of Japan: The Vapors “Turning Japanese” (the famous 80s hit about unrequited love)
16. Weekend Istanbul: They Might Be Giants “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” (from their 3rd album)
17. New Zealand Map: Flight of the Conchords “New Zealand Symphony/Summer of 1353” (live and hilarious with Nigel from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)
18. Finland: Monty Python “Finland” (from their album The Final Ripoff)
19. Map of Australia: The Kinks “Australia” (from Arthur)
20. Map of the World: Charles Bradley “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” (even more now than when I started making this playlist)
21. Our Auto Trip: Nat King Cole “Get Your Kicks (On Route 66)” (one of the greatest odes to America’s roadways)
22. Shanghai Tour Guide: Doris Day “(Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai” (huge hit in 1951)
23. The First Book of Space Travel: Lucia Pamela “Moontown” (Lucia Pamela’s album Into Outer Space is on the Mount Rushmore of outsider recordings; go listen to it now if you don’t know it; it will make you happy in its joy)
24. Hong Kong Tour Guide: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “Hong Kong” (I no longer enjoy listening to much Screamin’ Jay since he was forced to record as this ridiculous character that verges on racist ignorance and uncomfortable humor, but this is one of his best if you ignore the openly racist attitudes toward China that were present at the time)
25. Tijuana Tour Guide: Charles Mingus “Tijuana Gift Shop” (from his overlooked masterpiece Tijuana Moods)
26. Italia Tour Guide: Chris Botti “Italia” (Andrea Bocelli sings this one – gorgeous)
27. Travel Italia: Henri Salvador “Italie (Un tableau de maitre)” (a late in life recording by the French Caribbean cabaret artist who was the first French rock and roller in the late ’50s; this cat is awesome)
28. Florida Tour Guide: Munya “Cocoa Beach” (I know nothing about them, but they are groovin’)
29. Jakarta Tour Guide: No-No Boy “Jakarta” (I know nothing about them, but they are groovin’)
30. British Columbia Tour Guide: Dan Gibson’s Solitudes “British Columbia” (field recordings of British Columbia set to new age meditational music)
31. Paris Map: Lords of Acid “Paris, France” (techno)
32. Munich Tour Guide: Editors “Munich” (modern rock/pop)
33. Florida Tour Guide: Cherry Cola Champions “Ft. Myers Flyers” (indie rock)
34. Geneva Tour Guide: The Affordable Floors “Geneva” (one of my favorite finds of the show; an 80s pop band from Pittsburgh who recorded in the mid 80s; I bet there are thousands of people my age who grew up around Pittsburgh who have very fond memories of this band)
35. Wisconsin Tour Guide: Tuppy The Band “Wisconsin” (from the 2016 album Wisconsintrate-Now With More Wisconsintration by a Wisconsin band who really love Wisconsin – very fun)
36. World Atlas: Fhana “World Atlas” (J-Pop from 10 years ago)
37. Frankfurt Tour Guide: Ulla Meinecke “Frankfurt” (a 1981 live recording from a German actress and rock singer who is still touring at the age of 70)
38. Map of the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen “Born In the U.S.A.” (the original 4 track demo that was dropped from the Nebraska album and rerecorded as a very different version on his next album)
39. Jungfrau Tour Guide: Jeff Wall “Jungfrau” (very pretty acoustic ballad)
40. Ireland Tour Guide: Elle Banke “Ireland” (2023 single by young singer/songwriter)
41. Alaska Tour Guide: Johnny Horton “North To Alaska” (one of his biggest hits)
42. Hawaii Tour Guide: The Beach Boys “Hawaii” (from the Surfer Girl album)
43. India Tour Guide: Roxy Music “India” (from the album Avalon)

That’s it for this show. The next show will be a collection of Halloween-themed songs. In the meantime, as always, thanks for listening (and reading)!

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