Today's exercise in fictional playlist-building slaps together a bunch of tracks performed by acts I never had the pleasure of seeing in concert. But in each case, I did witness some other act play that song in a live performance.
I kept the parameters loose 'n' easygoing for this one: One track per recording artist, one cover per live act. Having just done a real-world playlist AND a fake playlist spotlighting bands covered by the Flashcubes, I tried to avoid repeating any of those songs. (This cost me my ability to list Big Star's "September Gurls," which I heard the Searchers perform at a club show in the '80s, but I allowed one exception: The Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action," courtesy of the Rubinoos.)
I figured it was fair game to include acts I didn't see even if I did see one of its key members in a different billing--Paul McCartney of the Beatles, Johnny Thunders of the Heartbreakers, Colin Hay of Men At Work--as long as I didn't see the original singer perform that song live. This rule prevented me from including the Stooges; a Brockport group called the Party Dogs used to include "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their sets, and I'm pretty sure I saw the late Jack "Penetrator" Lipton sing "Search And Destroy," but I also saw former Stooge Iggy Pop himself warble both of those li'l ditties at a Lost Horizon show in Syracuse, rendering the songs ineligible for this playlist. And I had the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law" on the list (thanks to a live cover by the Stray Cats), but the fact that I also heard the song performed by its originators the Crickets made me rethink its inclusion.
That still left plenty to choose from. Is this all mere reflected glory? No. It's rockin' pop music, whether on record or loud 'n' proud live. A great song is its own justification.
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Fake TIRnRR Playlist: Acts I Didn't See (but I heard someone else perform their song live)
[Act in brackets shows the performer I did see play the song live]
CHUCK BERRY: Sweet Little Rock And Roller [Artful Dodger]
AC/DC: Back In Black [Let's Active]
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: White Light/White Heat [David Bowie]
THE ONLY ONES: Another Girl, Another Planet [The Replacements]
DONNA SUMMER: Hot Stuff [David Johansen]
THE STANDELLS: Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White [New Math]
--
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter [The Records]
LED ZEPPELIN: Whole Lotta Love [The Rascals]
FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS: I'm Telling You Now [Herman's Hermits]
CONNIE FRANCIS: Lipstick On Your Collar [The Saints]
SPIRIT: I Got A Line On You [Buffalo area bar band, can't remember their name]
RICK JAMES: Super Freak [Rochester area bar band, can't remember their name]
--
THE WHO: Pinball Wizard [Freaky Age]
THEM: I Can Only Give You Everything [The Chesterfield Kings]
LOVE: 7 And 7 Is [The Bangles]
THE CRYSTALS: He's Sure The Boy I Love [Screen Test]
THE TROGGS: Wild Thing [The Runaways]
THE BYRDS: I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better [Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]
--
WAR: Low Rider [L'il Georgie and the Shuffling Hungarians]
THE PRETTY THINGS: Midnight To Six Man [The Romantics]
NANCY SINATRA: These Boots Are Made For Walking [The Fast]
THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' [Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band]
WILMER ALEXANDER JR. AND THE DUKES: Give Me One More Chance [The FabCats]
THE TRASHMEN: Surfin' Bird [The Ramones]
--
THE MODERN LOVERS: Roadrunner [The Greg Kihn Band]
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action [The Rubinoos]
GARY GLITTER: Rock And Roll, Part 2 [1.4.5.]
CHRIS BELL: You And Your Sister [Chris von Sneidern and Gary Frenay]
GENERATION X: King Rocker [The Dead Ducks]
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Everyday People [Joan Jett and the Blackhearts]
--
THE ZOMBIES: I Love You [The Grip Weeds]
MARY-CHAPIN CARPENTER: Never Had It So Good [The Delta Rays]
THE YARDBIRDS: For Your Love [The Insiders]
ARETHA FRANKLIN: Chain Of Fools [Little Caesar]
JOHNNY RIVERS: Secret Agent Man [Blotto]
EARL VANCE AND THE VALIANTS: Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight [The Trend]
--
LITTLE RICHARD: Long Tall Sally [The Pete Best Band]
THE ELECTRIC PRUNES: Get Me To The World On Time [The Strawberry Zots]
NICK LOWE: Switchboard Susan [The Searchers]
PAGLIARO: Some Sing Some Dance [Ray Paul]
JACKIE WILSON: Higher And Higher [The Peter Tork Project]
TWISTED SISTER: We're Not Gonna Take It [The Skeletons]
--
? AND THE MYSTERIANS: 96 Tears [Joe "King" Carrasco]
LORETTA LYNN: Coal Miner's Daughter [Crystal Gayle]
THE BALLOON FARM: A Question Of Temperature [The Lords Of The New Church]
JERRY LEE LEWIS: Great Balls Of Fire [The Georgia Satellites]
CARL PERKINS: Blue Suede Shoes [Chubby Checker and the Wildcats]
ROY ORBISON: Crying [Don McLean]
THE ENEMIES: Disconnected [Perilous]
FATS DOMINO: Ain't That A Shame [Cheap Trick]
--
THE BEATLES: Yellow Submarine [The Smithereens]
THE HEARTBREAKERS: Chinese Rocks [The Most]
ALIVE AND KICKING: Tighter, Tighter [Tommy James]
MEN AT WORK: It's A Mistake [Mark Dixon and the Goldman Theory Band]
THE VOGUES: Five O'Clock World [Dan Elliott and the Monterays]
THE SHADOWS: Apache [The Ventures]
THE NAZZ: Open My Eyes [The Sworsdsmen]
THE RONETTES: Be My Baby [Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas]
--
DIRTY LOOKS: Let Go [The Miamis]
