Disc 32 / 48

There's a mini-theme of science songs on this one.

For five years, the "Johnny in the Morning" radio show on Planet 96.3 in Detroit held an annual Gong Show wherein people with strange talents would show up and risk getting their feelings hurt by three local celebrity judges, who had the power to hit a gong and cut their act short. I can't remember if I was the only person to perform at all five years of this show any more, but there can't be more than three people who could make that claim (including me). Over the years I shared the stage with impressionists, an escape artist, an a capella group, a guy who played a banjo made of an empty tin can, a standup comic who was also an outlaw biker, and--once--a guy who belly-flopped onto a tarp full of vanilla pudding wearing only a diaper (Johnny in the Morning's verdict on his act:  "Even countries without entertainment wouldn't watch that!").

The fifth year of the contest I won it with a perfect score and less than a month later the DJ team was fired and the station's format changed to play more songs and have less disk jockey stuff in the morning. I choose to believe that they knew the fix was in and told the judges that I should win (I went last that year, and the scores tended to inflate as the show went on every year as the judges were more generous, or possibly more inebriated). And honestly it's a pretty damn good periodic table song so I figure it belongs here more than on disc 13. I followed it up with "Telstar (Surf)" because that's my absolute favorite cover of the song. I own about 170 different versions so I make this statement with some authority. And since I normally end the Timothology with that song, I broke another rule when making this disc. The first time I played it back, hearing the Lively Ones crank into "Telstar" after my "Thank you, Detroit!" thrilled me to the core.

Special thanks to my older brother Patrick for serving as my accompanist live the first year and taping the piano part so I was able to use it every subsequent year, my mother for taping the broadcast and Eric and Stefan Peterson for transferring the tape to CD so that I could put it on the Timothology in 2004.

Timothology:  Strange Aeons Disc 32 / 48
Theme:  Fantastic covers
Label phrase:  "Thunderball fists? I can have such a thing?"

01) 2001 Sprach Kazoostra / The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra
02) Shombalor / The Cramps
03) Eve of Destruction / The Dickies
04) Living After Midnight / The Donnas
05) Authority Song / Reel Big Fish
06) What Do I Get? / The Polecats
07) The Martian Hop / The Routers
08) Benson, Arizona / gribben
09) Make a Circuit With Me / The Phenomenauts
10) Why Does the Sun Shine? (live version) / They Might Be Giants
11) The Elements (live version) / Tim Lehnerer
12) Telstar (Surf) / The Lively Ones
13) Major Tom (Coming Home) / Shiny Toy Guns
14) Do You Love Me / The Sonics
15) I Fought the Law / The Clash
16) Bad Moon Rising / The Spitballs
17) Raspberry Beret / Hindu Love Gods
18) The Tide is High / Petty Booka
19) California Sun / Los Straitjackets
20) William Tell 1967 / Davie Allan and the Arrows
21) Diana / The Misfits
22) 96 Tears / Jimmy Ruffin
23) Sussudio / Big Daddy
24) Please Don't Touch / Ian Gomm, Clem Cattini and Ray Fenwick
25) Have I the Right? / The Dead Kennedys
26) Sheena is a Punk Rocker / Los Plantronics
27) Zip a Dee Doo Dah / The Rationals
28) Popeye Twist / The Tornados
29) Victoria / Cracker