Mother told me, yes she told me, I’d meet Shuffle-a-gogoers like you

Once again - it's shufffle time. MP3 player device of choice set to random and the first ten songs...

1. the ROLLING STONES - Sympathy for the Devil (Beggars Banquet 1968) I love absolutely everything about Sympathy, from the "whoo woo" backing vocals to Keith's cool-as-shit guitar to Bill Wyman's fabulous maraca shaking.

2. JERRY REED - Guitar Man (the Essential Jerry Reed) Jerry's semi-autobiographical 1967 single, which was later appropriated by Elvis.

3. the TEARDROPS EXPLODES - When I Dream (Kilimanjaro 1980) I'm pretty sure that this was the first Julian Cope song I ever heard and it's still my favorite. The song clocks in at over seven minutes, but the last four minutes are really just an incredibly gradual fade out. And I wish it sent on for ten more minutes.

4. the RAMONES - I Don't Care (Rocket to Russia 1977) I love Joey's faux aristocrat vocal. He's trying to sound snobby, but he still sounds like he's from Queens.

5. the POGUES - Boat Train (Peace and Love 1989) This is one of my favorite Shane MacGowan vocals and about the point that I sort of gave up on him. Everything after this seems a bit uninspired.

6. the BEATLES - You're Going to Lose That Girl (Help! 1965) The Beatles were contemporaries of Freddie and the Dreamers and the Hullaballoos and are probably best remembered today for having Barbara Bach's husband on drums.

7. the WILLIS BROTHERS - Alcohol and # 2 Diesel (24 Great Truck Drivin Hits) Take a truckful of oranges and truckful of watermelons and add alcohol and you end up with a great country song.

8. ELVIS PRESLEY - Clean Up Your Backyard (Elvis at the Movies) From the 1967 film the Trouble with Girls, this Mac Davis/Billy Strange song was the song that brought me back to Elvis. I was sick of Elvis kitsch by the time I got to college and broke bad on the king, but at my college radio station I randomly played this cut off of one of the many suspect Elvis comps that came out in the 80's and was absolutely floored.

9. CROWDED HOUSE - Pineapple Head (Together Alone 1993) Neil Finn's overdue for another album, right?

10. JACCO GARDNER - Watching the Moon (Cabinet of Curiosities 2013) This will most likely be a 2013 top 20 album for me. Jacco is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist that plays chamber pop ala the Left Banke or Sagittarius. Or, in the case of this song, Syd Barrett.