First of all, credit where credit ‘s due: the Dark Side of Lite FM is the brainbaby of my friend Edward Julian O’Hara Bonilla. Dude is a pop music genius the likes of which has only graced this beautiful world a handful of times. He’s the true arbiter of what is and what isn’t DSLFM, and he’s an ornery bastard, so he’s probably going to find this playlist and the accompanying analysis idiotic and way off base, but still: this one’s for you, Eeje.

The concept of cool that was manufactured by the Punk “movement” did some weirdass things to music criticism and to pop music in general. Punk threw a clusterbomb of contradictions into the heart of cultural discourse by claiming that it was divorced from the influence of that which came before while being heavily derived from the roots of rock ‘n’ roll and by saying that it was anti-consumerist and anti-pop. In reality, there’s virtually nothing poppier than punk: two minute infectious verse-chorus-verse missives that fill teenagers with the desire to throw themselves at each other? Yeah.

Accompanying this was the idea of “effortless cool;” the jaded irreverence and slick cynicism that can only be perfected by those who haven’t really experienced all that much. Anybody caught trying to do anything besides trying to look like they’re not trying was excommunicated from the church of cool. Roxy Music, Fleetwood Mac and ELO were demonized for their ambition and sincerity.

These days, those bands are regarded as the awesome they were, and in these post-ironic times, sincerity has crawled its way back into the indie mainstream. But there were a lot of groups and artists in the ’70s and ’80s just weren’t interested in screwing around with the punk conception of cool, folks that weren’t ashamed of excess or mushiness. You still find these songs on easy listening radio in dentists offices and cluttering up the jukeboxes of “Old Man Bars” (as people who don’t actually know what dive bars are have taken to calling dives); these slickly produced, sometimes saccharine tunes that seem to lack any sense of self-awareness or meaning. Until, you know, you listen to them. Whether it’s Gilbert O’ Sullivan’s flirtations with suicide, 10cc satirizing the concept of love, Peter Gabriel condemning the murder of Steven Biko by the South African government, or Don Henley painting a horrifying portrait of news media, we find a grimness and feeling that outpunks the headiest Minor Threat 7″. This is music that’s not afraid of being uncool, and as a result, it goes deep into understanding the gamut of human emotions. This, ladies and gents, is the Dark Side of Lite FM.

1. Sister Golden Hair – America

2. Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren

3. Don’t Answer Me – The Alan Parsons Project

4. I’m Not In Love – 10cc

5. Eminence Front – The Who

6. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) – Billy Joel

7. Logical Song – Supertramp

8. Dirty Laundry – Don Henley

9. Life’s What You Make It – Talk Talk

10. Broken Wings – Mr. Mister

11. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

12. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan

13. Mind Games – John Lennon

14. Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty

15. Biko – Peter Gabriel

16. Don’t Forget Me – Harry Nilsson

That’s it for this week, but be sure to leave any stray thoughts in the comments. What are your favorite DSLFM songs that we missed? Why does this playlist not have a single female voice on it? Isn’t that kinda weird? We certainly think so! Comment or hit up Simon Lazarus Vasta on Twitter @Hunter_S_Narc.

One of the things I love most about pop music is its versatility. It’s a medium with room for everything: the political and the personal, the avant-garde and the lowbrow, orchestral finesse and two-chord anthems, stupidity and intelligence, beauty and brutality. Additionally, these elements can be arranged any which way, swapped out and mutated into something unpredictable and groundbreaking. And there are hundreds of millions of these things. There are pop songs about everything from the slave trade to lactating men, from stoned professions of lust to the sincere love felt for a desk, from street level survival to dying alone in space. If something exists in space and time, you can bet your ass there’s a song about it.

Being the popaholic waste of space that I am, I’ll listen to pretty much anything, but I do have a soft spot for songs about my favorite subject: pop music. What’s rad about songs about songs is that they have just as much range as pop at large. There’s self-reflexive navel-gazing, revolutionary manifestoes, nostalgia-drenched love letters, and condemnations of the mainstream. Pop songs about pop songs embrace the medium’s limitless potential and celebrate it. You can listen to a few of my favorites here or by pressing play on the embedded playlist below.

1. Losing My Edge – LCD Soundsystem
2. Heard About Your Band – Brakes
3. Top of the Pops – The Rezillos
4. This is Pop – XTC
5. Hitsville UK – The Clash
6. R.A.P. Music – Killer Mike
7. Heavy Metal Drummer – Wilco
8. Slap Dash for No Cash – Art Brut
9. The Medium Was Tedium – The Desperate Bicycles
10. The Song is the Single – BARR
11. Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s Too Stupid to Know About – Tullycraft
12. Let’s Kiss and Listen to Bis – Mikrofisch
13. Part Time Punks – Television Personalities
14. Rebellious Jukebox – The Fall
15. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Ian Dury and the Blockheads
16. Radio Song – Danny Brown
17. Triumph of the Swill – Dead Kennedys
18. Meet the Beatle – Tall Dwarfs
19. The One on the Right is on the Left – Johnny Cash
20. Bad Cover Version – Pulp
21. We’re the Replacements – They Might Be Giants
22. Alex Chilton – The Replacements
23. Thirteen – Big Star

If anybody else has some favorite songs about songs, we would love to see them in the comments.

Simon Lazarus Vasta dives into a huge vault of records at the end like Scrooge McDuck at the end of every day and swears he won’t get out ‘til the third My Bloody Valentine album finally comes out. Well, that’s what he says, anyway; he’s always at the breakfast table the next morning. If you’d like, you can follow him on Twitter @Hunter_S_Narc.

“America, Fuck Yeah,” by Team America: You were expecting something else? This captures everything you’ll need in a patriotic drinking song. Easy lyrics that are fun to yell out whether they’re slurred or, uh, really slurred.
Serve with: Gotta assume you’ll be drinkin’ a Bud to this little ditty.

“Born in the U.S.A.,” by Bruce Springsteen: The fact is Springsteen sounds drunker than any double downer.  The video links to a live performance of Springsteen playing in Paris, because we’re better than they are, because we tuck our t-shirts into our jeans.
Serve with: Jersey native shaken, with a side of star spangled. Oooo that’s good. But seriously. Jager.

“Pink Houses,” by John Cougar Mellencamp: Ain’t that America? It is. It is indeed. This song goes out to the ladies, cause nothing revs up a Cougar like a little Mellencamp.
Serve With: Vodka, however she likes it.

“All That She Wants,” by Ace of Base: Because that drunk dude by the jukebox thought everyone would freak out over it. He was wrong. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Remember this song, eh? Eh? All that she needs is another maybe.” Would somebody kick him the hell outta here?
Serve With: Pickle back.

“Surfin’ USA,” by The Beach Boys: Need to get the mood back on track fast, so a little California lovin’ should soothe the soul.
Serve with: Ask the bartender for a Mai Tai. If he gives you a sideways look, you’re in the wrong kinda bar.

“The American Way,” by Hank Williams Jr.: Let’s slow things down a little. Maybe square dance up a bit. Put your arms around the friend-o next to you, white collar or blue collar, and jib your feet to the groove of the banjo.
Serve with: Crack a Pabst. It’s the American way.

“Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam),” by The Monitors: Because propaganda songs were so much better in the 60’s. Ask Alice, that lady co-worker you’ve had your eye on, for a nice slow dance by the pool table.
Serve with: 5$ glass of merlot.

“Where Is the Love?” by Black Eyed Peas: It’s the weepy time of the day. Start dealing with the things that are going wrong in the country and knock back your choice of the bitter nectar.

“It Wasn’t Me,” by Shaggy: Dude, did we not kick that drunk guy out?! What the hell! “But she caught me in the other area place thingy.”

“Boy Named Sue,” by Johnny Cash: By this time it’s looking like you’re probably gonna get into a fight with this guy and what’s more American than that?
Serve with: Grab a little Wild Turkey and put on the most under rated fight song of all time. Happy President’s Day.