gts198 “mylandish”
Also, this land is your land.
01-01 Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys – Okeh 6742 – Stars And Stripes On Iwo Jima (1945)
— in the Country Music Hall Of Fame, understandable. But also in the Rock And Roll HOF, which baffles. Bob sounds pretty happy, with hoots and hollers in the songs, but he was infamously abusive to his band, including physical assault. Thus, over the 32 years of this band, there were more than 600 “Playboys”.
01-02 Village People – In The Streets 09 – America (1983)
— didn’t make the cut on their 1982 album “Fox On The Box” but released as a 45rpm single in Australia/NZ. Finally made it to the US as a CD bonus track on the 1999 re-issue of FOTB, called “In The Streets”. Victor Willis, the main force behind the VP passed away on June 29, 2026.
01-03 David Clayton-Thomas & The Bossmen – Sings Like It Is! 101 – Brainwashed (1966)
— not so big in the States but a big hit in Canada, where droves of late-teen/early-20s men who felt this way ended up. Clayton-Thomas passed away on June 24, 2026.
01-04 Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A. 101 – Born In The U.S.A. (1984)
— the E Street Band at peak fame, and this isn’t even the best song on the album.
01-05 The Dollyrots – Love Songs, Werewolves & Zombies 10 – U.S.S.A. (2013)
— released as a CD in 2014, prior to that, the album was only available for download, and only to fans who had crowdfunded the band on Pledge Music.
02-01 Oliver Anthony Music – Rich Men North Of Richmond (2023)
— viral video caused a ruckus a few years back, with competing political factions each claiming he “speaks for us.” Turns out, like with the Springsteen song above, many folks simply didn’t listen to the lyrics as closely as they should have.
02-02 Above Envy – Radio Rebel OST 13 – My Revolution (2012)
— never saw theatrical release, the movie was only for Disney Channel subscribers. Not a bad flick but the soundtrack album is excellent.
02-03 Don Hinson – Treva 222 – The Protest Singer (1965)
— also known as The Reverend Ginkfingdingler, or as bandleader for Don Hinson And The Rigamorticians. In January 1966 Billboard named this (with b-side “Peddlers Of Hate”) as one “predicted to hit the Hot 100 chart”. It did not.
02-04 Emma’s Revolution – One 13 – We Are One (2004)
— speaking of protest singers, here’s the closing tune from their debut album, not so much protestation, but rather explaining *why* they protest.
02-05 Grand Funk – We’re An American Band 101 – We’re An American Band (1973)
— one of the worst album covers ever, and the inner jacket is worse: the band all naked sitting on haybales. Their first album after dropping “Railroad” from the bandname, which they restored in 1976. Todd Rundgren produced this.
02-06 Les Waldroop – Me Too 27483 – Watergate Bugs (1974)
— out of North Carolina, Les released on his own labels. Me Too Records had an ass for a mascot, being “good enough for the Sacred Mother of Jesus to ride”.
03-01 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 205 – American Girl (1976)
— the closer on their debut album, one of rock’s greatest albums.
03-02 Olivia Rodrigo – Guts 01 – All-American Bitch (2023)
— only 3 years after she was on Disney Channel’s series “Bizaardvark”. Her third album is not even 3 weeks old (as of today in 2026), and has already sold half a million, including 200,000 copies on vinyl.
03-03 Tonio K. – Life In The Foodchain 201 – American Love Affair (1978)
— real name: Steven Krikorian, off his first solo album, just after fronting the Buddy Holly-less Crickets. Described as “punk for academics”.
03-04 Samantha Fish – Belle Of The West 01 – American Dream (2017)
— most recent album, 2025’s “Paper Doll” got a Grammy nomination.
03-05 The Monitors – V.I.P. 25032 – Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam) (1966)
— recorded only 3 and a half years after Jimi Hendrix was “allowed” to leave the army. VIP was a sub-label of Motown, until dissolving in 1974.
04-01 Andrews Sisters & Vic Shoen Orchestra – Decca 18628 – Corns For My Country (1944)
— first appeared in the film “Hollywood Canteen” with the Andrews fronting the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Notable for the huge number of cameo appearances (including half the cast of “Casablanca”), most of the cameos were volunteers.
04-02 Gene Price – Cream 7606 – A Boy Named Hugh (And Friends?) (1976)
— wrote songs for Buck Owens and Aretha Franklin, played bass for Merle Haggard.
04-03 The Android Sisters – Songs Of Electronic Despair 205 – Macho Robot or The Banana Trilogy (1984)
— hailing from the radio series “Ruby, The Galactic Gumshoe”, the fan-favorite sisters went ‘solo’ with this one and only album.
04-04 The Hi-Lo’s – Broadway Playbill 206 – Politics And Poker (1960)
— named because two of the quartet were short and two were tall. Pumping out 20 albums in 10 years, this one is renditions from the Broadway shows “Sound Of Music”, “Gypsy”, and (this one from) “Fiorello!”.
04-05 Immortal Technique – Revolutionary Vol2 03 – Peruvian Cocaine (2003)
— real name: Felipe Andres Coronel, many songs like this one highlight his heritage from Peru. A bully in high school in Brooklyn, “Tech” once stuffed Lin Manuel Miranda into a trash can.
05-01 Lou Monte – RCA Victor 47-6704 – Elvis Presley For President (1956)
— more famous for “Pepino The Italian Mouse” and the Christmas tune “Dominick The Donkey”.
05-02 REO Speedwagon – You Get What You Play For 403 – Golden Country (1977)
— double LP recorded at four dates of their 1976 tour, this 1973 song was used as an encore to close out the shows.
05-03 Supertramp – Crime Of The Century 204 – Crime Of The Century (1974)
— third album but first to make it in the US. The recording sessions produced 42 songs but only eight made it onto the LP. My favorite ‘Tramp album, desperate to hear the 34 tunes which were not good enough!
05-04 Angelic Upstarts – Lost And Found 101 – I Won’t Pay For Liberty (1991)
— recorded on their own, without a label in 1982, intended for an album they never finished The orphaned songs were finally released on this compilation, fleshed out with 5 live tunes.
06-01 Tommy Durden and The Rite Ones – Davco 109 – Politicians (1964)
— written by Mae Boren Axton and John Thomas Axton, the parents of Hoyt Axton. Mae gave a start to careers ranging from Willie Nelson to Blake Shelton.
06-02 Jan The Actress – Dirty Anxious Low 02 – Liar, Leader (2018)
— debut album from Rochester’s own garage punks!
06-03 The Senators – Tower 432 – Psychedelic Senate (1968)
— taken from the soundtrack album (also on Tower Records) for the film “Wild In The Streets”, a bonkers film about making the voting age 14, involving dosing Congress with acid. Amazingly, nominated for an Oscar for editing.
06-04 Olivia Rodrigo – Guts (Spilled) 17 – So American (2024)
— already noted above, this is a ‘bonus’ track on the expanded version of her #1 debut album.
06-05 Root Boy Slim – Don’t Let This Happen To You 102 – Rich, White and Republican (1986)
— real name: Foster MacKenzie III. Was “asked to leave” the Sidwell Friends private school (long before the children of president Obama attended). Later at Yale, he was a fraternity bro of George W. Bush. GWB threw him out, and banned him from the frat.
06-06 Andrea McArdle – Annie OBC 204 – Tomorrow (Reprise) (1977)
— music here by Charles Strouse, Eastman School Of Music graduate and inductee to the Rochester Music Hall Of Fame in 2012.
… and (half of) a bonus track…
07-01 John Sinclair & His Blues Scholars – Full Circle 04 – Cow (1996)
— also called the Motor City Blues Scholars, Sinclair was manager of the Detroit rock gods MC5, and a founder of the White Panther Party.