Authors: Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories
Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Composers & Musicians, #Genres & Styles, #Music, #Rock
One of my favourite things to do was to have friends over to my house and play them records I'd gathered from my travels all over the world and explain to them what was intriguing or different about each one. Now I get to do that every weekend with millions of people. Last year at a gig where the Canadian classic rock band Lighthouse opened for me, keyboard player Paul Hoffert said, “Isn't it interesting that you've travelled, played music, and done research for this show for the past forty years?” He was right.
I love doing
Vinyl Tap
because it reminds me of how and why I love so many different kinds of music. It has also opened my world up to so many new friends who listen every week and contact us. From all the feedback and mail we receive, our listeners range in age from eight to eighty and come from the most amazing places in the world.
I also appreciate the fact that CBC Radio is commercial-free and gives me the freedom to play whatever music I want. What I like the most, though, is trying to find and play songs like the radio I listened to growing up, a very eclectic mix of styles and sounds. What a great mixture it was.
Cheers.
Randy's Favourites
On
Vinyl Tap,
once I got into the swing of “theme” shows featuring songs over a span of five decades that have the same subject matter or some other connection, the fans began responding with theme ideas of their own as well as providing us with song lists to start each idea rolling. Denise and I would go through the song lists, add some of our own ideas, and eventually come up with a show. Most of the show has to be music that I like and am familiar with so that I can talk about it and hopefully relay a personal experience or connection to the song that will be interesting to the listeners. I now have enough theme ideas for many years of shows, and they keep coming in. Some of them, like funeral songs, for exampleâ I never would have thought of that theme for
Vinyl Tap
âreally surprise me and are great. I can't wait to get at them and get the shows ready.
RANDY'S FAVOURITE DOUBLE A-SIDED SINGLES
With CDs, MP3s, iTunes, and digital downloads, talking about A- and B-sides of a record no longer applies. But wasn't it great when you got two A-sides, or top songs, on one record instead of a B-side for your 99¢? The Beatles, the Stones, Creedence, and even the Guess Who had several double A-sided hits. Not an easy thing to accomplish, but if you did, it was quite something. The Guess Who are in some pretty impressive company.
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  The Beatles: Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever
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  Queen: We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions
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  The Rolling Stones: Honky Tonk Women / You Can't Always Get What You Want
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  Creedence Clearwater Revival: Proud Mary / Born on the Bayou
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  The Beach Boys: I Get Around / Don't Worry Baby
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  Rod Stewart: Reason to Believe / Maggie May
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  The Guess Who: American Woman / No Sugar Tonight
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  The Everly Brothers: All I Have to Do Is Dream / Claudette
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  The Beatles: Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out
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  Elvis Presley: Hound Dog / Don't Be Cruel
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  The Guess Who: Laughing / Undun
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  Larry Williams: Slow Down / Dizzy Miss Lizzie
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  Little Richard: Rip It Up / Ready Teddy
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  Bobby Day: Rockin' Robin / Over and Over
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RANDY'S 25 FAVOURITE GIRL GROUP SONGS
Girl groups were quite a phenomenon in the 1960s. Every song was sing-along material and each song was a step up from the simple but repetitive doo-wop songs of the 50s. Just reading the titles below, you instantly start singing the choruses in your head. That's how ingrained in our consciousness these songs are. Most of the girl group songs came from either New York's Brill Building or Motown (Detroit) and have stood the test of time. I got to perform with and even back up many of the New York girl groups like the Crystals, the Shirelles, the Ronettes, Candy and the Kisses, and more. They were all great people, fun to work with, and their music lives on.
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1
  Be My Babyâthe Ronettes
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  He's So Fineâthe Chiffons
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3
  Leader of the Packâthe Shangri-Las
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4
  Will You Still Love Me Tomorrowâthe Shirelles
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5
  Heat WaveâMartha and the Vandellas
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  My Boyfriend's Backâthe Angels
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  Maybeâthe Chantels
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  Tell Himâthe Exciters
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  Chainsâthe Cookies
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  Chapel of Loveâthe Dixie Cups
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  Dancing in the StreetsâMartha and the Vandellas
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  Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Babyâthe Cookies
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  One Fine Dayâthe Chiffons
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  A Lover's Concertoâthe Toys
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15
  Boogie Woogie Bugle Boyâthe Andrews Sisters
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  Sugartimeâthe McGuire Sisters
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  Stop! In the Name of Loveâthe Supremes
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  QuicksandâMartha and the Vandellas
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  He's a Rebelâthe Crystals
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  Da Doo Ron Ronâthe Crystals
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  Baby It's Youâthe Shirelles
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  Please Mr. Postmanâthe Marvelettes
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  Mr. Leeâthe Bobbettes
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  Tonight You Belong to MeâPatience and Prudence
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  He's a Dollâthe Honeys
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RANDY'S 10 FAVOURITE COWBELL SONGS
After seeing a repeat of the “More Cowbell” skit on
Saturday Night Live,
my whole band and Kevin Duffy, my road manager, said, “How about a
Vinyl Tap
show on the cowbell?” It wasn't hard to put together. We made a list right away. I started out the show telling the audience to get something to bang on because they could participate in this with a spoon and a pot, or a fork and a bottle. The show was a big success. To this day I'll be walking down the street in Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, or anywhere and someone will roll down the car or truck window and yell out, “We loved the cowbell show!” So thanks to
Saturday Night Live
for that great skit, and everyone who played along at home.
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  (Don't Fear) The ReaperâBlue Ãyster Cult
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  Drive My Carâthe Beatles
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  All Right NowâFree
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  Honky Tonk Womenâthe Rolling Stones
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  We're an American BandâGrand Funk Railroad
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  Oye Como VaâSantana
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  Down on the CornerâCreedence Clearwater Revival
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  Free Rideâthe Edgar Winter Group
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  Time Has Come Todayâthe Chambers Brothers
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  You Ain't Seen Nothing YetâBTO
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RANDY'S 10 FAVOURITE ROCK 'N' ROLL MONDEGREENS
Mondegreens are misheard or misinterpreted lyrics. What you think you hear may not be what the songwriter actually wrote. That's the fun part of mondegreens, what you think someone is really singing. The word comes from a seventeenth-century ballad where the line “And laid him on the green” was misinterpreted as “And Lady Mondegreen.” Denise came up with this theme, and it was one of our more popular shows. I have a ton of my own favourite mondegreens, but it was great to get listener feedback and their own misheard words. One of my faves was “baking carrot biscuits” for “Taking Care of Business.”
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1
  Purple HazeâJimi Hendrix:
“'Scuse me while I kiss this guy”
(actual lyric: “'Scuse me while I kiss the sky”)
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2
  Bad Moon RisingâCreedence Clearwater Revival:
“There's a bathroom on the right”
(actual lyric: “There's a bad moon on the rise”)
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3
  Lucy in the Sky with Diamondsâthe Beatles:
“The girl with colitis goes by”
(actual lyric: “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes”)
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  Rocket Man
â
Elton John:
“Burning all the shoes off everyone”
(actual lyric: “Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone”)
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  Groovin'âthe Young Rascals:
“You and me and Leslie groovin'”
(actual lyric: “You and me, endlessly groovin'”)
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  Secret Agent ManâJohnny Rivers:
“Secret Asian man”
(actual lyric: “Secret agent man”)
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  The Heart of Rock 'n' RollâHuey Lewis and the News:
“The harder rock 'n' roll is in Cleveland”
(actual lyric: “Heart of rock and roll is still beating”)
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  Tiny DancerâElton John:
“Hold me closer Tony Danza”
(actual lyric: “Hold me closer tiny dancer”)
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  You're the One That I Want
â
John Travolta and Olivia
Newton-John:
“I've got shoes, they're made of plywood”
(actual lyric: “I've got chills, they're multiplyin'”)
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   Another Brick in the WallâPink Floyd:
“No Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom”
(actual lyric: “No dark sarcasm in the classroom”)
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SONGS PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL
It was amazing to get the listeners' views on this subject. Some were seriously sad and some were very funny, ranging from “Our Leaves Are Green Again” to “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Wasn't That a Party.” Everyone loved this show, and it also made many put the music requests into their last will and testament.
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  I Shall Be Releasedâthe Band
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  And When I DieâBlood Sweat & Tears
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  Peaceful Easy Feelingâthe Eagles
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  Two of Usâthe Beatles
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  Old and Wiseâthe Alan Parsons Project
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  Friends in Low PlacesâGarth Brooks
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  Bridge Over Troubled WatersâSimon & Garfunkel
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  I Will Remember YouâSarah McLachlan
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  Wasn't That a Partyâthe Irish Rovers
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  Spirit in the SkyâNorman Greenbaum
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  All My TearsâEmmylou Harris
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  Precious TimeâVan Morrison
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  Without YouâHarry Nilsson
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  Thank UâAlanis Morissette
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  When I DieâMotherlode
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  Thank You for Being a FriendâAndrew Gold
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  If You SleepâTal Bachman
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  Missing YouâJohn Waite
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  Our Leaves Are Green AgainâRandy Bachman and Stephan Moccio
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  Another One Bites the DustâQueen
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  Baby Come BackâEddy Grant
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  People Get ReadyâCurtis Mayfield and the Impressions
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RANDY'S 15 FAVOURITE CHUCK BERRY SONGS
Chuck Berry is unquestionably the greatest storyteller in rock 'n' roll. He knew what teenagers thought and he wrote songs that captured those thoughts and images. Every song painted a picture in your mind with a great storyline. Chuck even made up his own words to fill a rhyme, and we understood the word the first time we heard it, like the word “motorvatin'” in the song “Maybellene.” I've taken to doing that as well with words I've put together, like gi-normous, huge-antic, and others. But there was no one like Chuck Berry.
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1
  Johnny B. Goode
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  Roll Over Beethoven
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  Maybellene
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  Rock and Roll Music
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  Sweet Little Sixteen
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  Too Much Monkey Business
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  School Days
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  Reelin' and Rockin'
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  Nadine
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  Brown Eyed Handsome Man
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  Little Queenie
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  No Particular Place to Go
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  Promised Land
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  You Never Can Tell
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  Memphis, Tennessee
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RANDY'S 25 FAVOURITE VEHICLE SONGS
All these songs get your motor runnin', whether it's in a car, truck, or motorcycle.
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1
  She Loves My AutomobileâZZ Top (with Willie Nelson)
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  Crawling from the WreckageâDave Edmunds