I
can’t remember if I’ve done this before or not and I’m at work
right now so I can’t check.
Every
year before Dragon*Con I put together a playlist of dorky music to
accompany me on my drive downtown. And back home on Monday, I guess,
but the whole point is to start immersing myself in the dorkery as
soon as possible. I do the same sort of thing with Halloween and
Christmas, except those last an entire month and require a lot
more time to put together.
It’s
also important to have the right flow. In my head, this collection
represents Saturday at Dragon*Con, from when you wake up in the
morning until you pass out the next morning.
Star
Trek Movie Theme – Jerry Goldsmith – This is a fantastic
morning theme. It fills me with hope and joy and is just a great
thing to wake up to. I have a very soft spot for the motion pictures
featuring the original crew, as they have basically accompanied me
everywhere throughout my life. I saw each of them in the theater as I
grew up and have owned a collection of them for as long as I can
remember – the first VHS box set I owned was I – V. It didn’t
even have The Undiscovered Country. I had to buy a new,
Special Edition set when that came out. Then I moved to DVD, and now
I have them on Blu-Ray. I have watched all six movies in their
entirety more times than I could tell you. To a certain extent, this
variation of the Star Trek theme is even more significant to me than
the Star Wars theme.
Fett’s
Vette – mc chris – Yeah, I know this is the most
overplayed of mc chris’ songs, but it’s also one of his best.
There’s a reason this one gets so much play. While the
narrative inaccuracies detract somewhat from the track, the beat and
tone are too perfect. This is good for while you’re heading to the
Parade.
March
of the Raiders/Imperial March/Olympic Theme – Band of Her Majesty’s
Royal Marines – Awesome, great, amazing parade music. This
is an incredible, inspiring mix of John Williams’ marches performed
in possibly the greatest way ever. The first two are gimmies anyways,
as they both come from hugs nerd franchises. The Olympic theme may
not be quite as fitting, but it is a sweeping, majestic piece that
would match any portion of the Dragon*Con Parade perfectly.
Ghostbusters
– Ray Parker, Jr. – It just wouldn’t be a D*C Parade
without a few Ecto-1’s (plus other models) and a ton of
Ghostbusters cosplayers dancing to this tune.
GI
Joe "Revenge of Cobra" Closing Credits - ? – While the opening from the 80’s
cartoon is one of the best theme songs ever and the Movie theme is
just badass, the music from the closing credits of the cartoon is a
true march and would be perfect accompaniment for the Joe cosplayers
in the Parade.
Justice
League Unlimited Theme - ? – Of course we have to have
representation for the DC Superheroes. Yeah – the Batman ’89 and
John Williams Superman themes are great, but the JLU theme represents
everybody. And believe me – you’re going to see everybody
in the Dragon*Con Parade. What? Would you rather they be moping around to some Hans Zimmer?
Shoot
To Thrill – AC/DC – What? Well, nailing down a song to
represent the Marvel Universe is a whole lot trickier. The closest
thing there is the theme from the new Avengers cartoon – Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes – and while the cartoon is excellent, that
song is fucking terrible. Sure, “Shoot To Thrill” has been
established across two different movies as Iron Man’s entrance
music, but can’t you just picture all of Marvel’s heroes and
villains marching down Peachtree Street to this one? No? Well then
how about
Captain
America song - Glan Yarbrough – Maybe this one works better for you.
Where
There’s A Whip, There’s A Way - ? – And of course we
have to represent the Tolkien Track. I don’t know if the folks who
are bigger fans of Tolkien’s work than I am find this corny or
anything, but I would love to see all of the hobbits, Orcs, and
dwarves marching down the street to this one. Also doubles as the Dragon After Dark theme.
Danse
Macabre - Camille Saint-Saëns – This accompanies all the creeps, zombies,
ghouls, and the Netherworld contingent. Such a great piece of music.
Ghost of Stephen Foster – Squirrel Nut Zippers – Okay, I admit I mainly threw
this one out as bait. Are the Steampunkers into Squirrel Nut Zippers?
It seems to fit with me, though the eras don’t match up. I’ve
just been very curious about this one. I could have listed any of the
many artists that seem to cater to the Alternate History genre like
The Extraordinary Contraptions or Frenchy and the Punk (who I
actually want to check out this year after seeing some videos on
DC*TV); but I was curious about the whole squirrel Nut Zippers thing.
Also, this is just a great song.
Marriot
Cock Squat – Le Sexoflex – How could I possibly not
include the best song ever written about Dragon*Con? No other track
so perfectly captures the essence of the weekend-long free-for-all.
Also, Le Sexoflex is one of the greatest bands on the planet.
Midnight
Spookshow – Calabrese – Just a great, great opener to
represent the start of the Dragon*Con concerts. And no – not all of
these bands have played at Con, but I doubt you could argue the
selections.
My
TIE – Grand Moff Tarkin – The album from the
Atlanta-based Star Wars tribute band is some of the best nerd rock
you’ll ever hear in your life. I don’t know if you can track it
down online or not, but I might be able to get you a copy if you’re
interested. One thing about this song does bug me, though - TIE fighters don't have shields.
American
Psycho – Misfits – This one isn’t necessarily all that
Dragon*Con-oriented as far as content, but to me it is very
Dragon*Con. The first time I ever saw the Misfits was in 1997 or ’98.
The lineup was Dr. Chud, Jerry, Doyle, and Michale Graves. I’m not
actually sure they opened with this song, but it is the one that
really stuck in my head. It’s also significant because it is a
Graves song and very much attached to this era of the Misfits.
I
Am The Law – Anthrax – Possibly the first nerd song I
ever heard. This thrash metal tribute to Judge Dredd is my favorite
Anthrax song and one of my favorite songs, period. I threw it in
because the movie is coming out soon. It doesn’t actually use this
song, but it should.
Frankenstein
– Edgar Winter Group – Because as They Might Be Giants
taught me years ago, no live rock and roll performance is complete
without this song.
Party Party Party
– Andrew WK – Yeah, he’s never played Dragon*Con, but
you cannot have a massive party like this without some Andrew
WK. Plus, this song was featured in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Movie, so it is tangentially connected.
Doctorin’
the TARDIS – The KLF (or Time Lords, whatever) – C’mon.
C’mon. I had to put this in. You know you’re gonna
geek out if this plays.
Old School – DANGERDOOM (w/ Talib Kweli) – Ooh, son. This is a nerd-hop
standard. Everybody should recognize it.
MAL
– Adam WarRock – It took me a minute to get where the MC
was coming from. Actually, it took a minute and for Warrock himself
to personally step in on a Twitter feud between me and this guy that
totally misunderstood one of my posts and got all bitchy. But I would
have come around. All it would have taken was a couple more listens
to The Browncoats Mixtape.
Alcohol
- The Millionaires – This song is probably old news to lots
of people, but I have only recently discovered it. It's utterly stupid, but it’s another
that represents Dragon*Con nightlife fairly well.
Gett
Off – Prince and the New Power Generation – As morning
draws nigh, it’s time to find somebody or somebodies or just any
convenient hole and do what we nasty, fleshy humans do.
Juke
Joint Jezebel – KMFDM – I just love this song and no late
night techno jam is complete without KMFDM. This is not the version I would use. I just thought the Mortal Kombat stuff was rad.
We
Want Some Pussy - Jason Nevins vs. 2 Live Crew – Perhaps a
counterpoint to “Alcohol”. No, wait – not a counterpoint. A…
what? Companion piece? Piece.. huh, huh.
Rough
Sex – Lords of Acid – Fairly self-explanatory, I think.
Midnight
Cowboy – Faith No More – Not so Dragon*Connish, but this cover
is the song that plays in my head every single morning as I walk back
to the hotel after partying all night. Just is.
I
know that’s a fairly narrow sampling of music. I’m sure there’s
tons of stuff that could go on there. Clue me in! Let me know
in the Comments what I missed or maybe have never even heard of. I’ll
use it next year, because believe me – I’ll be doing this again.
Come
back to Needless Things a little bit later today for 13 Questions
with somebody who actually knows her way around Dragon*Con music and
playlists – DJ Spider. She’ll be spinning in the wee hours on
Saturday morning, but will make it through 13 Questions first!
-Phantom
No comments:
Post a Comment