Episode #9 - "School"

Let the Dilletante DJs getcha some learnin'!

“School” is actually a fraught and complex subject when you think about it. For all of the nostalgia and idealism associated with the subject, I don’t believe I know anybody who doesn’t have at least some traumatic memories from school. I mean, I’m sure there must exist someone for whom middle school was a good thing - I just have yet to encounter such a unicorn.

But, at the same time, school is the goddamn best. Between public school, college, grad school, and now teaching at a community college, I have spent the majority of my life in school, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. School is not just a place of learning and discovery but also community and humanity. There is a vulnerability to being in a growth mindset, in having a willingness to be wrong, that can be a leveling and connecting force between very different people.

And that is maybe the biggest reason I have dedicated my life to school: learning is one of the things that connects us all as humans. And yet the ways we go about it, the many different versions and visions of school we encounter, are as diverse as humanity itself.

This is what the Dilletante DJs manage to collectively capture in this set of playlists - distinctly individual takes on school that still resonate with one another, from the whimsy of a John Hughes film to the research of a deep dive into tropícalía to the nostalgia of a yearbook in playlist form.

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José's list:

Komeda | Blossom (Got To Get It Out) | Kokomemedada | 2003 x2

The Dead Milkmen | Violent School | Big Lizard In My Backyard | 1985

Finnolia Sound Effects | Handbell Ring (Hand Bell Ringing) [Version 3] | Bell Sound Effects | 2012

They Might Be Giants | Meet James Ensor | John Henry | 1994

Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders | The Game Of Love | The Game Of Love | 1965

John Linnell | Oregon | State Songs | 1999

Finnolia Sound Effects | Bell Ring (Bell Ringing) [Version 3] | Bell Sound Effects | 2012

The Donnas | Do You Wanna go out with Me | The Donnas | 1997

The Suburbs | Cows | In Combo | 2001 x2

Finnolia Sound Effects | Handbell Ring (Hand Bell Ringing) [Version 2] | Bell Sound Effects | 2012

Sound Ideas | Heavy Applause with Cheering from Children in School Auditorium | Cround: Large | 2014

David Byrne | Now I'm Your Mom | Uh-Oh | 1992

De La Soul | My Brother's a Basehead | De La Soul is Dead | 1991

Peaches | Boys Wanna Be Her | Impeach My Bush | 2006

The Magnetic Fields | When My Boy Walks Down the Street | 69 Love Songs | 1999

Finnolia Sound Effects | Handbell Ring (Hand Bell Ringing) [Version 3] | Bell Sound Effects | 2012

The Coup, Justin Sane | Your Parents' Cocaine | Sorry To Bother You | 2012

Stereo Total | Amo amor a tres | No controles | 2009

Rob's list:

Os Mutantes | Panis Et Circensis | "Os Mutantes" | 1968

Gal Costa | Vou Recomeçar | Gal Costa | 1969

Gilberto Gil | Volks-Volkswagen Blues | Gilberto Gil | 1969

Caetano Veloso | Tropicália | Caetano Veloso | 1967

Tom Zé | Não Buzine Que Eu Estou Paquerando | Grande Liquidação | 1968

Os Versateis | Ponteia | Os Versáteis e o Festival | 1967

Nara Leão | Quem Te Viu, Quem Te Vé | Vento De Maio | 1967

Jorge Ben Jor | Take It Easy My Brother Charles | Jorge Ben | 1969 x2

Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso | Baby | Gal Costa | 1969

Gilberto Gil | Cérebro Eletrônico | Gilberto Gil | 1969

Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso | Hino Do Senhor Do Bonfim | Tropicália Ou Panis Et Circensis | 1968

Zach's list:

Supertramp | School | Crime Of The Century | 1974

The Spencer Davis Group | Waltz For Lumumba | I'm A Man / Waltz For Lumumba | 1970

Dr. Timothy Leary Ph.D. | Part 10 | L.S.D. | 1966

Rage Against The Machine | Bullet In The Head | Rage Against The Machine | 1992

Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, John Raitt | The Pajama Game: Hey There | The Pajama Game (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | 1954

Jon Secada | Otro Día Más Sin Verte | Jon Secada | 1992 x2

The Immortals | Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat) | Mortal Kombat: The Album | 1994

Pearl Jam | Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town | Vs. | 1993

Eric Clapton | Wonderful Tonight | Slow Hand | 1977

Led Zeppelin | Ramble On | Led Zeppelin II | 1969

Sarah McLachlan | I Will Remember You | Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff | 1996

We also tried something new this time and announced our next theme in the closing of this episode. And while I told the DJs the inspiration for the theme, I failed to mention while actually on the mic that is was my exceptionally cool friend and subscriber to the podcast Kristin that first offered the suggestion: Your Birth Year 100 - a playlist drawn from the Billboard Hot 100 from the year of each DJ’s birth.

So, check us out next time as we get retro and drop three lists from the 70s!