Show #100 May 4, 2013

Our 100th Episode is dedicated to Stacy's Mom!


Stacy's Mom- Fountains Of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers  [#21 Billboard Hot 100 9/29/03]
Animal- Neon Trees Habits [#13 10/22/09] 
There She Goes- The La's The La's [#49 10/22/90]
Always The Last To Know- Del Amitri Hatful Of Rain - The Best Of  [#30 6/9/92]
Radio Free Europe- R.E.M. Radio Free Europe 45 [#78 7/23/83]
We Got The Beat- The Go-Go's Urgh! A Music War (The Album)  [#2 1/30/82]
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To- Weezer s/t [#81 9/12/09]
Where Have You Been All My Life- Fotomaker Fotomaker [#81 4/22/78]
One Way Or Another- Blondie Parallel Lines  [#24 6/2/79]
Hey Jealousy- Gin Blossoms New Miserable Experience [#25 7/15/92]
Take On Me- A-Ha Hunting High And Low [#1 7/13/85]
I'll Be There for You- The Rembrandts L.P. [#17 5/15/95] 
My Girl- Donnie Iris 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection [#35 3/27/82]
Thank U Very Much- The Scaffold Thank U Very Much [#69 2/10/68]
Hold On Loosely- .38 Special The Very Best Of The A and M Years [#27 2/28/81] 
Why Can't I- Liz Phair Liz Phair [#32 9/8/03]
A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)- Romeo Void A Girl In Trouble 7" [#35 9/1/84] 
Ain't That a Shame- Cheap Trick At Budokan [#35 8/4/79]
Train in Vain (Stand by Me)- The Clash London Calling [#23 3/22/80]
Shannon- Henry Gross Shannon  [#6 2/28/76]
Summertime Girls- Y and T Summertime Girls 7" [#55 7/13/85]
Working In The Coalmine- Devo Working In The Coalmine [#43 9/5/81]
Rendevous- Hudson Brothers Rendevous 45 [#26 6/21/75]
The Loco-Motion- Grand Funk The Loco-Motion [#1 3/9/74]
Manic Monday- The Bangles Manic Monday [#2 1/25/86]
Burnin' For You- Blue Oyster Cult Burnin' For You [#40 8/15/81]
Anywhere With You- Rubber Rodeo Anywhere With You [#86 8/25/84]

Wow- 100 Episodes of ALL KINDSA GIRLS!  That is a surefire sign of quality- just think of all the great TV shows that reached that hallowed 100 episode benchmark, including:

If I ever feel any doubts about my suitability for a TV executive job I just need to remind myself that each of these shows ran for at least 100 episodes while Freaks and Geeks ran for 12.  Small Wonder was especially puzzling to me;  I just couldn't understand the show's appeal.  It was almost surreal:  the broad humor, the canned laughter and canned audience "awwww" that accompanied every "touching moment."  Plus the freaky next door neighbor girl had the most bizarre hair I had ever seen.  Seriously, in a contest of Weirdest "Hair" On TV this girl would give psychic Gary Spivey a run for his money.

Between 1985 and 1989 it seemed like every time I'd flip through my TV channels on the weekend Small Wonder would come up.  I was never able to make it through an entire episode but for five minutes or so I'd sit there in slack jawed amazement at what I was seeing- what madcap antics were robot girl V.I.C.I. (Voice Identified Child Identicant, of course) and her crazy family up to this time?  Were the writers sincerely doing their best to explore the tricky ethical implications of the coming robotic age or were they cynical hacks whose disdain for the show was trumped only by their stunning misanthropy?  You could could practically feel the contempt for their viewers oozing out of the screen.

As they say, there's no accounting for taste and anyway, Small Wonder is probably Seinfeld compared to Keeping Up With The Kardashians or Here Comes Honey Boo Boo- which I've never seen but I feel confident are not for me.  I've heard many people decry shows like The Real Housewives as signs of the impending apocalypse and back in the day I would be railing right alongside these folks.  Yet, I've come to realize that these shows are not successful in spite of their insipid mindlessness they're successful BECAUSE OF their insipid mindlessness.  I'm one of those people who will chill out in front of the TV watching The Wire or Game of Thrones but there are a lot more people out there who don't want to engage with television that way- they just want to relax with something light they don't have to think too much about and there's certainly nothing wrong with that.  Truth be told I watched way too much Gilligan's Island and I Dream Of Jeannie in my youth to get all uppity about the modern equivalents (um, Duck Dynasty and Bridezillas?).  While it's a challenge sometimes (I mean Extreme Couponing... really?) I've come to accept that we all watch TV to escape, we just escape in different ways.  I've found that rather than trying to dissuade someone from watching Toddlers and Tiaras, I should ask them what they like about it, listen to their response and then tell them how much I love Homeland.  It's really much better this way- I don't make them feel like an idiot and they don't make me feel like a snob.

It's much the same way with ALL KINDSA GIRLS- yes most of the bands are obscure and the songs unfamiliar, but my hope is that the themes are universal and anyone can listen.  Who can't relate to a catchy three minute pop song about falling into/out of love?  The Intro, Verse, Verse, Chorus, Guitar Solo, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Chorus structure of these songs is embedded in our collective DNA so I'd like to think that anyone would feel comfortable listening and find something to like on any episode of ALL KINDSA GIRLS.

Tonight's 100th Episode is a big "Thanks For Listening!" to you all.  Your prize is a show of nothing but Power Pop Peaks- those rare gems that made it onto commercial radio, MTV and the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  Granted, they are not all top ten records, but I'm happy to say more than half hit the Top 40 and a couple made it all the way up to #1.  So, I invite you to enjoy tonight's ALL KINDSA GIRLS- whether you're Shazaming every other record and adding it to your Spotify playlist, keeping the show on in the background while you do other things, or simply relaxing and staring off into space contemplating the genius that is "Stacy's Mom."  Thanks so much for your support and here's to 100 more episodes of ALL KINDSA GIRLS!

Here are the links to stream or download Episode #100 (if the download gets sticky you may need to pause and un-pause)
Hour 1
Hour 2