Plenty of music is worthy of a television-themed playlist, but this mix of sometimes sad, bitter or freaky songs is mostly relegated to the realms of punk, proto-punk and post-punk. The Web doesn’t yield some of the MP3s I wanted to include ("I’m the Slime" by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, or The Victims’ original "Television Addict"). I also purposefully excluded songs that would have worked nicely ("I Hate the TV" by Violent Femmes) and included a few songs with no mention of television ("Look Back in Anger" by Television Personalities), but the TV theme is obeyed overall. I like that most of these songs regard television with some degree of hostility: It’s nice being reminded to be skeptical of the establishment … while enjoying some really sick guitar parts. 1) "TV Casualty" • The Misfits • Static Age 2) "TV Set" • The Cramps • Bad Music for Bad People 3) "Look Back In Anger" • Television Personalities • And Don’t the Kids Just Love It 4) "T.V. Eye" • The Stooges • Fun House 5) "Television Addict" • Hoodoo Gurus • Crank 6) "TV Party" • Black Flag • Damaged 7) "Kill Your Television" • Ned’s Atomic Dustbin • God Fodder 8) "5-45" • Gang Of Four • Entertainment! 9) "Coffee & TV" • Blur • 13 10) "TV Movie" • Pulp • This Is Hardcore 11) "Nature Boy" • Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds • Abattoir Blues 12) "Dancing Choose" • TV On The Radio • Dear Science 13) "See No Evil" • Television • Marquee Moon
Hear this mix or make your own at alibi.com/earwig.
