This week we have a playlist ripped from recent headlines. First up we have a little known Van Halen gem entitled Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now). This song is in honor of the last minute addition of former President Bill Clinton as keynote speaker at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh Thursday night. It seems not so long ago when Big Bad Bill was threatening bloggers and belittling them, now Sweet WIlliam has shown up at the biggest gathering of bloggers annually to spread some lovin’. 

Squirrel Nut Zippers wrote the song Hell with other motives in mind I’m sure, but for our purposes this song represents what is at stake in the health care debate. If we allow the insurance companies to win this fight today tomorrow there will be hell to pay for sure.The Clash wrote the classic song White Riot about the mood in England in the late 70s amongst young punks looking for a riot for no reason. This of course reminds me of the astroturfing protesters at the health care reform town halls disrupting the gatherings on behalf of the insurance companies paying the protest organizers.

All this talk of death panels by Sarah Palin has got the crazies stirred up spinning out some seriously dystopian views of the future. No song better represents these folks than Gary Numan’s classic Down in the Park with its dark lyrics of a bleak future of killing machines coldly killing off humankind late at night down in the park.

How High the Moon is the first big hit for Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford from way back in the day. Les Paul died this week at the age of 94. In honor of the inventor of the electric guitar I thoght I would share his greatest hit with you all. Rest in peace Les Paul, you changed human history when you invented the electric pickup.

There seems to be something apropos about the song Nosy Neighbors by LA’s The Ditty Bops for this week’s playlist. There is a paranoid style to some of the discussions taking place these days. I thought I would share this cool little tune from TDB, enjoy!

With word that we are sending troops to Colombia to combat the narcotraffickers in yet another futile covert action, I thought it time to add Billy Bragg’s classic song The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions. The more things change with the Obama Administration, the more they remain the same. Hope and Change!That’s it for this week, tune in next week for another playlist ripped from the headlines!