Weekend playlist ('That's hot' edition)

Saturday was conspicuously warm in St. John's ... it wasn't that hot, it's just that the preceding weeks have been so cold. Noticing that two of the newer songs on my iPod have a thematic link, I went looking for more. Apologies to Paris Hilton.

The B-52s: Hot Corner. The B-52s have a new album, Funplex, and pretty much the same sound and look that have served them well (for some reason, though, they dropped the apostrophe in their name, which I guess shows that it took about three decades to understand how a possessive works). It's nice to have a toe-tapper again, but ... well, don't they age?

The Detroit Cobras: Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat). This came from a CD tucked into Uncut some months back, paying tribute to Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. Proof, if nothing else, that rock is alive in someone's garage.

Bina Mistry: Hot Hot Hot. What wedding or Christmas dinner-n-dance would be complete without an awkward run-through of "feeling hot! hot! hot!"? Among the versions out there, I like this curried take on the Bend It Like Beckham soundtrack.

Hot Chip: Ready for the Floor. Nerdy look, non-melodic vocals, great hooks.

The Bosshoss: Hot Stuff. Yes, the Donna Summer song, getting the Bosshoss countrified workout. Not as hilarious as, say, their wink at Britney Spears's Toxic, but fun enough.

Billy Idol: Hot In The City. When did Billy Idol go from a semi-credible punk guy to a I-wanna-top-the-charts dude? About around here, I would reckon. "Straaaanger ..."

Sly & The Family Stone: Hot Fun In The Summer Time. More appropriate for August, I would guess, than the tentative warmth we get in May, but an AM radio favourite from my childhood. I'm still amazed to think that some people thought this song, or Dancing in the Streets for that matter, was code for rioting.

Level 42: Hot Water. A song from a period in the 80s when it was acceptable, if not fashionable, for semi-mulletted men to wear paisley shirts, long scarves and red jackets.