Murdering the Classics on WFMU

A good cover tune is truly something to behold. A cover can even surpass the original. This can even happen with top-tier artists. The Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" is so solid that people forget that Bob Dylan wrote it. Aretha Franklin owns "Respect" so hard that she pwns Otis Redding. I'd argue that Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash tie with their respective version of "Hurt". But that's not true of Yo La Tengo. Their request-only WFMU benefit covers are classic in their own way, but it's in that different, Gen-X ironic sense of the word.  They strangle these poor songs. But with that special, car wreck way it makes for irresistible, unforgettable live radio. On March 7th, 2020 they held their 25th annual Yo La Tengo Request-a-thon. 

The date of the show has always varied, and the show they guested on was also quite variable before 2015. But the co-host has almost always been Gaylord Fields. My list below has a lot of gaps in it. WFMU blogged it some years, posted a playlist other years and some years apparently left no searchable virtual record. Beware of the Blog only began in 2005, and information before that is scant.  On different years Yo La Tengo performed on slightly different dates, and on different WFMU programs but always during the WFMU fundraiser. If you can fill in any of the blanks please comment on this post.

YEAR	SHOW	AIR DATE	PLAYLIST
2021	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/13/2021	PLAYLIST
2020	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/02/2020	PLAYLIST
2019	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/09/2019	PLAYLIST
2018	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/10/2018	PLAYLIST
2017	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/18/2017	PLAYLIST
2016	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/12/2016	PLAYLIST
2015	Todd-O-Phonic Todd	03/14/2015	PLAYLIST
2014	The Evan "Funk" Davies Show	02/26/2014	PLAYLIST
2013	Hello Children with Faye	03/14/2013	PLAYLIST
2012	Pseu's Thing With A Hook	03/02/2012	PLAYLIST
2011	Trash Flow Radio	03/04/2011	PLAYLIST
2010	Pseu's Thing With A Hook	03/05/2010	PLAYLIST
2009	Pseu's Thing With A Hook	03/13/2009	PLAYLIST
2008	Bob Brainen's Show	03/02/2008	PLAYLIST
2007	Gaylord Fields & Tom Scharpling	03/16/2007	PLAYLIST
2006	Gaylord Fields & Tom Scharpling	03/07/2006	PLAYLIST
2005	Gaylord Fields & Tom Scharpling	03/15/2005	PLAYLIST
2004	Gaylord Fields & Tom Scharpling	03/20/2004	PLAYLIST
2003			PLAYLIST
2002		03/16/2002	PLAYLIST
2001			PLAYLIST
2000		03/07/2000?	PLAYLIST
1999			PLAYLIST
1998			PLAYLIST
1997			PLAYLIST
1996			PLAYLIST

So when the band released Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics in 2006 it removed that spontaneous rubber-necking experience and replaced it with a car crash montage that feels somewhat anemic by comparison. It lacks the visceral qualities, the fits and starts, the technical difficulties, and the unintended absurdities. The fund-raiser compilation includes covers from between 1996 and 2003. The 30 tracks make for a somewhat comedic 76-minute slog. But it's all for a good cause. Interestingly the existence of the disc seems to have further popularized the live radio program.

They way it works is that all listeners who pledged money during the band's appearances are offered a chance to request one song that the band would then attempt to perform. Yo La Tengo has no way to know what songs might be requested and therefore reserve the right to play the song, or fragment of a song in any form, tempo or key they see fit —acapella, instrumental or otherwise. Some tunes are therefore unrecognizable, or may even be a bluff. We have no way to know. The WFMU benefit compilation album compiles 30 "highlights" broadcast between 1996 and 2003.The breakdown of the full track list is below:

SEQUENCE	TRACK	PERFORMANCE
1	Tighten Up	2001
2	The Night Chicago Died	1997
3	Raw Power	2000
4	Sea Cruise	1997
5	Favorite Thing	2003
6	Baseball Altamont	2000
7	Meet the Mets	2002
8	Oh Bondage, Up Yours	1997
9	Ding dang/Interplanetary Music	1999
10	Captain Lou	1999
11	Oh, Sweet Nuthin'	1999
12	Route 66	2001
13	Roadrunner	2000
14	Tijuana Taxi	1998
15	Mendocino	2000
16	Sweet Dreams	2000
17	Baby's On Fire	2003
18	Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand	2001
19	The Hokey Pokey	1998
20	You May Be Right	1999
21	Mama Told Me Not To Come	2002
22	Roundabout	2000
23	You Ain't Seen Nothing yet	1998
24	Don't Worry Koko	2003
25	Downtown	1999
26	Let the Good Times Roll	1997
27	Never On Sunday	1998
28	20th Century Boy	2002
29	Rock The Boat	2000
30	Shotgun / Medley	2002