The Bongos, the Feelies, Yo La Tengo...we used to wonder what made Hoboken so cool. I can't tell you how excited I was just to be in Maxwells for the first time in the mid-90s.

If the Bongos' Drums Along the Hudson plays like a singles compilation, Richard Barone says that's no accident, as most of the LPs tracks had been originally issued on 45s. The Bongos started with the intention of solely making singles, as they felt that was the most exciting medium for pop music. When you throw 'em all together though, you get a stellar LP, one I probably spent almost as much time with in high school as the dB's Repercussion, which is saying quite a bit. "Glow In the Dark" was always a particular favorite; enigmatic, exciting, hopeful, a perfect song for driving around aimlessly and indulging in a bit of night-daydreaming.

The "Numbers With Wings" EP is fantastic too, goes five for five in my book. I liked their RCA LP Beat Hotel immensely at the time, but years down the road some of the production choices haven't aged well. Still some terrific songs though. Richard Barone continues to do all kindsa things.

By the way, did anyone else notice that Barone did an acoustic-based arrangement of "The Man Who Sold the World" on his excellent live album Cool Blue Halo several years before Kurt Cobain did a very similar version of same on that MTV Unplugged thing? Coincidence? I wonder...