1   Spinning in the Cycle (Erken/Erken)
Lyrics written by my niece Emma Erken when she was in 8th grade. I never came up with any lyrics for the bridge. 1998

2   OK OK (Erken)
Sedge on vocals. One line borrowed from Yakov Smirnoff. 1992

3   The Best That He Can (Erken/Some Kid)
Some sixteen year old Kid asked me to write some music for this poem he wrote for his girlfriend. I think he was expecting a Michael Bolton ballad. 1995

4   Things (Erken)
One of several rough demos in this collection with unfinished lyrics. 1990

5   Twenty Flight Rock  (Eddie Cochran)
Basement band (Lucky Jim) recorded live to boombox. Les on vocals, John Wright on guitar, Chris Webster on drums, Erken on bass. Check out John's band The Necrotonz. 1987

6   Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins)
Another Lucky Jim track. 1987

7   Evil Ways (Willie Bobo)
Instrumental jam with Robert McFadden on lead, Buck Downs on drums, Erken on rhythm. 1992

8   I Wanna Be Paranoid
Ramones/Black Sabbath mashup. I started this long before I had the proper tools that make these things so easy nowadays. I should finish this. 1999

9   MIDI Feedback (Chance)
One day I hooked up my 4-track, drum machine, and MIDI sequencer the wrong way, and this happened. I've never been able to replicate this, so it's a good thing I taped it. 1991

10  Specification (Erken/Sedge)
Extemporaneous tune with Sedge on vocals. 1995

11  Courtroom Cocktail (Downs/Erken)
Jim Walrath and Pat Joe of Escrow Tomato did all the work here, except for my acoustic guitar part. Inspired by a headline in the "Weekly World News." 1992

12  No I Don't (Buck Downs)
Instrumental, mostly for bass practice. 1995

13  Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! (Bosstweeds)
My first MIDI orchestration. Everything you hear comes from my first cheesy MIDI keyboard (except the guitar). Lacks vocals. 1990

14  Go With Your Feelings (Erken)
Demo of the theme song to a cable-access show some friends and I tried to produce called "The Thing About Women." I have lyrics to this, but a female ought to sing it. 1995

15  The Unhappy Song (Erken/Licona)
Mark Licona asked me to write some bleak music for some of his lyrics (alas, never recorded). 1993

16  Oh Oh Oh (Erken/Licona)
Another song written for Mark's lyrics (there's a couple silent passages where only vocals were supposed to go). 1993

17  Say What You Like (Erken)
Tracks 17 - 20 are some of the first tunes I ever recorded. Before I had a 4-track, I did overdubs using a double-cassette player and an ancient drum machine. Hence the rather crude audio quality. Sean Pueschel added the scat later. 1988

18  Second Look (Erken)
My attempt at a dance tune. 1988

19  Pick On Me (Erken)
No, I wasn't really picked on at school. It's just a song. 1988

20  Woman's Day (Erken)
Note the overlapping vocals; I never settled on the lyrics. I think my voice got sped up somewhere along the line. 1988

21  Tomato Patch (Erken)
A Spin Doctor Dial-a-Song written for Jim Walrath and Pat Joe of Escrow Tomato (Jim's site here and MP3s here). 1990

22  Colored People (Erken)
Don't worry, it's just a dumb pun. Another Dial-a-Song for the answering machine. 1990

23  That Girl (Downs/Erken)
Dial-a-Song with Buck Downs on vocals. 1990

24   Hello, Person (Erken/Nabokov)
A dramatic reading by Robert Amorello of the opening passage to Vladimir Nabokov's "Transparent Things," accompanied by my spontaneous acoustic guitar noodlings. OK, this is really just an excuse to list "Erken/Nabokov" in the credits. 1987

25  Outside the King Cafe (Stella Schindler)
Stella was one of the best singers and songwriters I've ever worked with. She's on vocals and acoustic. 1994

26   Here and There (Stella Schindler)
Stella sings another of her tunes. 1994

27   Remember My Somedays (Erken)
I have half the lyrics for this attempt to express a complex sentiment. The keyboard part is the vocal melody. This was to be the centerpiece of a collection of songs for an old fashioned musical called "Date Certain," which was really just an excuse to write some Tin Pan Alley type tunes. 1997

28   DeLovely (Cole Porter)
Kersti O'Farrell on vocals. This originally had a drum machine track, but that got lost when I made the transition to PC recording. I need to overdub some brushes on this one. 1993

29   My Romance (Rogers/Hart)
Recorded for Eddie Mulholland and his wife to dance to at their wedding. Eddie is on vocals and flute, Cathy Cleaver Ruse on keyboards, Sedge on cymbal crescendo. 1995

30   Sorry, Charlie (Erken)
An attempt to rip off Bird. All I can do is apologize. 1992

31   Waltz, Didn't He? (Erken)
My first foray into orchestral music. 1999

32   Fake Paganini (Erken)
A short piece featuring my first use of Gigastudio and string samples. 2002

33   Feeding Time Credits (Erken)
From a forthcoming short film starring my niece Rita Erken. 2002

34  Interlude From "Mr. Markman, Dig the Wizard of Oz" (Erken)
Orchestral section of my tune for my nephew Mark Lopez, part of my "Things One Through Seven" collection. 2001

35  Ben How You Ben Jig (Erken)
A little sketch that formed the basis for a music video for my nephew Ben Erken. 2002