Music on Only A Game - 7/25/2009

• Cooperstown by Terry Cashman (from Passin’ it On: America’s Baseball Heritage in Song, Legacy, 1995)

Gary’s Take-It’s always a tough call whether to use the King of Diamond Schmaltz, but when you’re doing an entire segment on Cooperstown, you’ve just got to reach for that dusty CD that contains the song titled “Cooperstown”. To be fair, I hear that Terry Cashman is a really nice guy, so we’ll cut him some slack…and play his song this week.

• I’m Dead (But I Don’t Know It) by Randy Newman (from Bad Love, Dreamworks Records, 1999)

Gary’s Take-The full song includes these memorable lines:

 Everything I write all sounds the same
 Each record that I’m making
 Is like a record that I’ve made
 Just not as good

False modesty? Brutal honesty? You decide!

• Elektro Kardiogramm by Kraftwerk from Tour de France Soundtracks, Astralwerks, 2003)

Gary’s Take-These Deutsche dorks from Dusseldorf (yes, you can call one of them “Ralf”!) really know how to jazz up a public radio sports show with their bubbly, thoroughly enjoyable electronic orchestra. Listen for them each and every July here on Nur Ein Spiel.

• Jack, I’m Mellow by Lucky and the Hot Dice (from Marijuana’s Greatest Hits Revisited, Re-Hash Records, 1992)

Gary’s Take-The opinions expressed in this song in no way represent the opinions of Only A Game, WBUR, NPR or those little green men stealing the Doritos.

• Iron Man by Black Sabbath (from Paranoid, Vertigo Records, 1970)

Gary’s Take-Ozzie, meet Keizo. Keizo, Ozzie. What, you’ve already met?

• Il Duce by Big Black (from The Wailing Ultimate, Homestead Records, 1987)

Gary’s Take-Perhaps the lyrics to this song don’t offer the most in-depth look into the life of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, but they do contain the hilariously understated line “I am Benito. And I like my job”. Nice work from a band not usually known for understatement.