The first part of my June playlist is heavily influenced by one of my favorite shows, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Extraordinarily well done, smart and beautiful — it’s the first new show I’ve seen since Mom died that I knew she would have loved.
Save for Midge’s potty mouth.
For me, Alex Borstein’s Susie Myerson makes the show with Tony Shalhoub’s Abe Weissman very close. And I just am figuring out that Borstein is Lois Griffin. Blown away. Anyway, if you haven’t started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this gets my highest recommendation.
The rest of this month’s list is pretty random. No country this month, but I’ve got pop, indie and even a tune from a Christian artist. Here goes, and it starts with two songs I heard on Maisel.
This is Mary Hopkin’s version of “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” featured at the end of S2E2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The music selections on this show have been eclectic, and I constantly find myself Shazaming songs.
This is the second song I’m including from Maisel, and it’s “Some Other Time” from Blossom Dearie. This was featured in the scene where Rose Weissman resigned herself to returning to New York from Paris, to where she had fled to find herself. The song is incredibly wistful and beautiful.
“Stronger Than Before” by Carole Bayer Sager was a Top 30 hit for Sager back in 1981, and it has that classic soft electric piano, not-quite-a-true-Rhodes sound and easy listening instrumentation that I loved from the era. Dionne Warwick also recorded this later in the decade.
Electric Light Orchestra’s “Last Train To London,” for me is unremarkable until the chorus, where it gets very hooky, very fast.
Barenaked Ladies, “Odds Are,” has been in my heavy rotation for months now. I joked inside my own head that I might try to wage a public campaign to join the band since I love them so much and since I’m practically Canadian after rooting so hard for the Raptors. We’ll see how that goes. BNL are a musical treasure.
“Cuddly Toy” by British band Roachford is way funkier than I gave it credit for in 1988. But did you know that lead singer and namesake Andrew Roachford later joined Mike & The Mechanics!?
“Patience,” by Tame Impala is incredibly well produced, as is everything from the band. All of their tracks are catchy and interesting.
You, me, the entire world knows this song, “It’s Strange,” from a Nissan commercial. It’s from a DJ duo called Louis The Child with a singer who goes by the name K. Flay. The production is amazing. The video is captivating, and K. Flay brings a ton of personality to it. This one gets better for me with each listen.
British singer-songwriter JP Cooper caught my ear with “September Song,” which to me sounds like Nick Jonas’ “Jealous.” And then I read that Cooper has written songs for the Jonas Brothers, and it makes me wonder.
Don’t judge, lol. This is apparently from 2012, and it’s a contemporary Christian singer named Britt Nicole with a song called “Gold.” Loved the positive vibe, and the ‘SUS’ chord progression in the verse. Big, fat hook in the middle. I have zero idea where I heard this. The car? The mall? Forever 21? (Never been. So, just kidding, ha!)
