DECHANT Her "Girls and Airplanes" has a defiant quality.

There's a scene in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity when one of the guys who works at the trendy record store where the novel is set arrives with a mix tape and puts it on to show his co-workers just how cool he is. It doesn't quite work out as planned and the guys

dismiss it right from the opening notes of the first track, Katrina and the Waves' over-the-top-giddy hit "Walkin' on Sunshine." Well, hopefully, that's not the reaction we get to our decidedly whimsical summer mix of Northeast Ohio-based acts. Our ragtag panel of

so-called experts — Ron Kretsch Jeff Niesel, Anastasia Pantsios — culled this list together after brainstorming sessions that often ended in near fisticuffs. When the dust settled, we assembled the songs in this order and put the office CD burner to good use.

SIDE 1

Andrea Carroll
"Please Don't Talk to the Lifeguard"

Little Andrea Carroll from Akron had a regional hit with this 1963 tune that was taken nationwide by Diane Ray. It was the tag end of the era of big-voiced, wide-eyed teen angels like Dodie Stevens, Kathy Young and Brenda Lee singing achy songs to guys they had crushes on. It was the time of "See You in September" and "Sealed with a Kiss" when life was measured in semesters. Carroll's girly, edge-of-pubescence delivery suits the cute song just perfectly. — AP

Pere Ubu
"Waiting For Mary"

Shortly after their heralded late '80s reunion, ur-Clepunks Pere Ubu gifted us with this catchy and joyous celebration of, um, anxiety and existential dysphoria. How perfectly Cleveland, and how perfectly Ubu, a band that can lay legitimate claim to the invention of art punk. Under the seemingly uncharacteristic breezy façade of "Waiting For Mary" lies the nervous frisson that underpins all of the band's best work from any of its lineups. Really, if any man alive can make you sing "what are we doing here?" with a huge grin on your face, it's Ubu wailer David Thomas. — RK

Uptown Sinclair
"Girlfriend"

These guys have all moved on to other projects (Tim Parnin plays guitar in Cobra Verde and frontman Dave Hill now lives in New York and plays with Valley Lodge) but a few years back, they were one of the best power-pop acts in town. "Girlfriend" stands as the group's crowning achievement and the hit that never was. Its catchy chorus ("girlfriend/girlfriend/falling off the deep end") and guitar riffs rival anything by commercially successful acts such as OK Go. Check YouTube for the goofy video, which finds the guys beating up on some kids in a game of hoops at a local gym. — JN

Anne E. DeChant
"Girls and Airplanes"

The title track from the album that is perhaps Anne E. DeChant's best, "Girls and Airplanes" has all the tough-girl attitude of Alanis Morissette or Melissa Etheridge. "I just got out of the cage that I've been living in," DeChant sings defiantly in the song's opening. Her vocals have a bit more rasp to them and the organ riff adds a nice touch. — JN

Generators
"I'm a Generator"

PERE UBU Anxiety and dysphoria never sounded so good.

The Generators were the most promising of a crop of "modern rock" bands that sprang up in Cleveland in the late '70s, taking advantage of the club scene's transition from copy bands to original acts and music's infusion with door-opening new wave. With their bright and breezy music, they shed some of the pretensions of '70s rock. They never quite made it over the hump to full-bore success but this self-celebrating track captures their zest and energy. — AP

Morticia's Chair
"Morning in July"

Known for fatalistic, lugubrious (although often hauntingly lovely) goth anthems, Morticia's Chair lightens up here for this lilting folk-influenced tune - for once they aren't singing about death - that seems to exude warmth and lushness. Vocalist Mark Kae's vocals shed some of their usually portentous quality and become almost tender and playful on this sun-drenched love song. — AP

Pat Dailey
"Great Lakes Song"

Pat Dailey is the musical patron saint of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, the guy who created the template for a batch of acoustic performers who have made careers of entertaining Put-in-Bay's partying masses with a repertoire of racy songs about drinking and getting laid. It was tempting to pick one of the party songs that have amused several decades of rowdies, but you sort of have to be there. This paean to the Great Lakes could be considered a song for weekday Put-in-Bay when the masses go home. It shows Dailey's gentler and more pensive side: the guy whose repertoire is studded with songs about less taxing summer pastimes dear to the heart of those who live near the Erie shores, such as boating and fishing or just enjoying the beauty of the water. — AP

The Mice
"Downtown"

Though in some circles Bill Fox is better known for his two (totally fucking amazing and luminous and indispensable) folk-pop solo albums, Cle-lifers revere him as the front man for urgent young punks the Mice, a band that left a big mark on countless Ohio groups, including Guided By Voices. And when the formerly Cleveland-based Scat records reissued the Mice's work a few years back, it wasn't just a welcome blast from the past, it served to underscore what a cryin' shame Fox's apparent retirement from music is. "Downtown," the lead-off from its 1986 debut, For Almost Ever, is the track the band announced itself to the world with. Fox's already-evident genius for pop hooks set him somewhat at odds with the more doom-obsessed Cleveland scene of the time, but his British-Invasiony melodic inventiveness does nothing to dull the edges off of the song's awesome reckless energy. — RK

Chris Allen
"Tilta Whirl"

Singer-songwriter Chris Allen wrote this Don Dixon-produced tune while touring Europe with his former band, local alt-country icons Rosavelt. With its images of the White Cliffs of Dover, it's one of his most eloquent songs, and its catchy refrain and gritty guitars make it a hearty approximation of Allen's influences, namely the Replacements and Tom Petty. — JN

Outsiders
"Time Won't Let Me"

The Outsiders rammed Merseybeat into Motown and scored this memorable hit in 1966, but never did successfully follow it up. A rotating lineup around singer Sonny Geraci didn't help (though most of the musicians to pass through the Outsiders' revolving door had at one time or another been members of area R&B stalwarts the Starfires), and further success eluded the band; its run of excellent soul-pop singles was negated, it seems, by extra-musical missteps and blunders. Still, "Time Won't Let Me" is a durable oldies-radio stalwart, and along with the Choir's "It's Cold Outside," provides a fine snapshot of Cleveland's mid-'60s rock scene. — RK

Chi-Pig
"Bountiful Living"

Chi-Pig was the hidden treasure of Akron's late '70s music scene, unsung mostly because, unlike its colleagues Devo, Tiny Huey, the Bizarros and the Rubber City Rebels, it never released an album in its prime. But the perky, quirky music and colorful stage apparel combined some of the most appealing qualities of Devo, the B-52s and the Talking Heads. Tongue firmly in cheek, they sang the praises of the good life on this spirited track that captures their casual charm. — AP

CHI-PIG One of Akron's hidden musical treasures.

Devo
"Uncontrollable Urge"

Our internal debate about whether to include Akron bands in this list was instantly kiboshed by the mere mention of this song. An indisputable classic from the band's debut LP, well before it forsook its early promise and became little more than a smarter-than-average '80s synth band, "Uncontrollable Urge" chugs gloriously along like a fuckin' locomotive, unyieldingly forward until it crashes upon its final chord. While it's certainly far from the guys' only great song, what else did they do that was anywhere near this satisfyingly visceral? "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" will get you where you need to go, but "Urge" is the faster way there. — RK

Frankie Yankovic
"Cleveland the Polka Town"

When World War II ended and Johnny came marching home anxious to forget the horrors of war, Frankie Yankovic strapped on his accordion and became "America's polka king," playing some of the most upbeat music ever made. "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz," two million-selling hits in the late '40s, and the constant touring that followed made Yankovic a nationally known star. In the process, he put his hometown of Cleveland on the map as "polka town" and immortalized it in this jaunty polka. Now it may be your grandparents' music but just try to sit still. You can't. — AP

SIDE 2

I-Tal
"Rockers"

Nothing says warm weather quite like reggae with its languid drawl of a beat that seems designed to accompany puffing on something that will make you even mellower. I-Tal jumpstarted the Cleveland reggae scene in the late '70s with a repertoire that encompassed the reggae standards American rockers were just starting to become familiar with. But this roots-reggae tune written by band leader Dave Smeltz has such an adhesive melody that it stuck in my head and cropped up periodically even though I hadn't heard it for 25 years until I re-listened to it recently. The reverb guitar vibrates like waves lapping on a beach, encouraging listeners to grab a tall, cool glass of something and reset their clocks for "reggae time." — AP

The Vacancies
"Hand of Fear"

Remember when rock was about the awesome power of youthful self-righteousness? The Vacancies do. The anthemic "Hand of Fear," from the 2007 album Tantrum, brilliantly captures the rage, violence and strange beauty of clashes between idealistic kids bent on changing the world and the foot soldiers of those who like it just the way it is. In the age-old manner of poets with agendas, singer Billy Crooked delivers the song like the story of a real protest, with imagery ("Now we're waiting as the cops start forming a line/My hatred boils as the badges of dishonor shine") and slowly building passion until finally issuing a metaphoric call to arms: "Tear gas in our mouths, never gonna surrender/But if they want a fight we'll give 'em one to remember." If this song doesn't get your fist in the air, you have no soul. — Frank Lewis

Gem
"Your Heroes Hate You"

With members culled from the ranks of Death of Samantha, Prisonshake and Ghost Sonata, Gem would've had to have really tried hard to suck. It didn't, of course, and though its lone full-length album (1995's Hexed) seems an inadequate representation in retrospect (I distinctly remember them rocking way harder live), "Your Heroes Hate You" remains a crafty little tune that retains all of its charm. Lively, high-spirited and energetic, it does what it has to do in a minute and a half and gets out, all the cooler for its parsimony. Not one damn thing wrong with this song. — RK

O'Jays
"Use Ta Be My Girl"

The recently late Gerald and Sean Levert were such dominant forces in the area's R&B scene it was nearly impossible to forget that they were scions born to the task. Their father, Eddie Levert, has been lead singer and a principal member of the O'Jays from the group's inception in late '50s Canton, a man whose take on Philly Soul begat umpteen regional and national hits in the '60s and '70s. Their majestic ballad "Use Ta Be My Girl" is an oddity for its time - released in 1978, it offers no nod to the then-dominant disco scene that threatened to fully engulf R&B for a few years. Instead, it stays true to the band's roots, with sweeping strings, horns and astounding vocal harmonies complete with old-school "shoop-shoop" backing vox. So laid-back and so damn cool. — RK

Raspberries
"Ecstasy"

THE FRANKIE YANKOVIC BAND They put Cleveland on the map as "polka town."

The Raspberries entire catalogue is pretty much summer music. Even their schmaltzy ballads are redolent of warm weather. So choosing a single song from their shimmering power-pop repertoire is difficult. Their biggest hit "Go All the Way" cries to be cranked while cruising with your friends; "Driving Around" ("long hot days, we'll be catching the rays") and "On the Beach" were created to be summer anthems; and a strong Beach Boys influence runs throughout the band's music. But this rocker from its third and best album, Side Three, blasts off in an explosion of drums and guitars and stays in orbit fueled by Eric Carmen's whooping, libido-stirring vocal. It's the band at its hard-rocking, unself-conscious best. — AP

Zaza
"Wild and Forever"

Summer in the Flats circa 1990-1991 seemed like a party that would never end. Skinny, big-haired guys sporting Lip Service spandex pants and cropped Ts stapled flyers for their next gig to every utility pole. At Peabody's DownUnder, Silky Sullivan's and Sabre's, local bands like Priscilla, Bad Madam, Ginger Roxx, Fashion Police and Kidd Wicked provided the soundtrack for good times. The king of the scene was Zaza, whose signature rocker "Wild and Forever" talked about being as young and brash as a teenager even when you were a 30-something-year-old wannabe rock star. It was wild but it wasn't forever; that fall Nirvana released Nevermind and hair-metal bands singing about porking Pamela Anderson lookalikes were passe. — AP

Eric Carmen
"Make Me Lose Control"

Just when most thought he was down for the count, Eric Carmen's solo career surged back with this 1988 top five hit that celebrated recollections of young love. Just hitting 40, Carmen projected himself back to that high-school summer when you fell in love for the first time and you feverishly anticipated getting together with your "steady" to drive around aimlessly, snuggle and listen to love songs on the radio. The song's a veritable time-shifting memory play as he sings, "We go cruising so close/The way they did long ago" and "Jennifer's singing "Stand By Me' and she knows every single word by heart/was love always this good or could this be just the start?" A conflation of the Drifters and Phil Spector, it contrasts laid-back, finger-snapping verses with big, swollen choruses. — AP

The Twilight
"Walking Down the Street"

Many great area bands are bucking the hardscrabble working-class downer-rock stereotype that's often associated with Cleveland in favor of magnificent sunny pop. Case in point, the Twilight. Its Tempest in a Teapot album is awe-inspiringly enchanting, never insipid, and worthy of favorable comparison to any power-pop forebears you might care to name. Though "Apple Pie Suburbia" is the tune that wins the band most of its props, for this writer's money, "Walking Down the Street" is pure gold, with its unflinchingly confident, laid-back bass line driving a relentlessly catchy tale of - is it urban alienation? Whatever, it kicks ass and you should listen to it. — RK

Black Keys
"When the Lights Go Out"

Black Snake Moan director Craig Brewer had finished filming his movie about a sex-crazed girl living in the rural South when the Keys' tune came up on his iPod as he was watching the final cut. He thought the sleazy garage-blues ballad would be so perfect for the opening scene that he made it a last-minute addition. Its bluesy groove and raw edge worked to a T, making the film's initial sex scene that much more explicit. — JN

Dead Boys
"Sonic Reducer"

The song that most clearly symbolizes Cleveland's punk-rock past has been covered by everyone from Pearl Jam to Guns N Roses, showing just how wide its influence has been. A snarling bit of vitriol, it's every bit as raunchy and rude as the Stooges' "Search and Destroy" or the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK." — JN

Levert
"Casanova"

Although Gerald Levert later became a prominent songwriter whose sensual tunes were covered by many other R&B artists, the vocal trio he formed with his brother Sean and friend Marc Gordon made its mark in 1987 with a tune penned by Reggie Calloway of Cincinnati's Midnight Star. Its well-meshed, lighter-than-air vocals brush a contemporary (for that time) R&B tune with the specter of the vocal groups of the '50s, an era when teenage boys would gather on a door stoop or street corner and while away long summer days practicing their vocal harmonies. — AP

O'JAYS So laid-back and cool.

Ray Cash
"Bumpin' My Music"

As defiant as Ice-T's "6 in the Morning," NWA's "Fuck the Police" or Public Enemy's "Fight the Powers," all of which are referenced in the song, Ray Cash's "Bumpin' My Music" is one of the best hip-hop jams to come out of town in years. While the song lyrics don't really reference Cleveland, the video does as it's all filmed in C-town and finds Cash cruising through the hood in a pimped-out Delta 88. This is the track you play with the doors and windows wide open. — JN

Section 36
"Go Joe Charboneau"

With its primitive beat, this novelty single about the Cleveland Indians player who had a phenomenal rookie year in 1980 before fading to oblivion isn't particularly sophisticated. Yet its hearty refrain "Go, Go Charboneau" makes it easy enough to sing along to. And the fact that it honors a guy who's really only a footnote in the Cleveland sports annals (Charboneau was famous for dying his hair an array of odd colors and performing party tricks like opening beer bottles with his eye socket) makes it that much more essential to our whimsical summer mix tape project. — JN

Michael Stanley
"Rosewood Bitters"

Most locals undoubtedly would pick "My Town" as their favorite Stanley tune. But 1971's "Rosewood Bitters" is a bit more subtle and finds Stanley "singing up a storm," as he puts it in the song. It builds its energy slowly, in part because of its shimmering keyboard riff played by Todd Rundgren. That mid-song guitar solo (courtesy of Joe Walsh) has a good groove to it, too. — JN

OF COURSE, WE'RE WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THIS. REALLY, WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING, LEAVING OUT BLAHBLAHBLAH? TEAR US A NEW ONE AT WWW.FREETIMES.COM/FREEBLOG.

PLUS, IF YOU'RE SO INCLINED, WE'RE HAVING AN ULTIMATE CLEVELAND MIXTAPE PARTY THIS SATURDAY, 7/12, AT THE CLEVELAND MATINEE (2527 W. 25TH ST.). BANDS. DJS. GIVEAWAYS. FREE ADMISSION. ALL THAT KINDA GOOD STUFF. STARTS AT 8-ISH. SEE YA.

RUNNERS UP (’CUZ IT'S ONLY A 90-MINUTE TAPE)

h-100s
"Destroy Cleveland"

A brief, ugly, profane outburst, grunted out like a painful meat shit to music so feral it practically drools. A flawless hardcore hometown anti-anthem.

Chargers Street Gang
"Every Light on Euclid"

We've all been there, Chargers Street Gang, we've totally all been there. We hear they're fixing that shit, though.

BLACK KEYS Garage blues with a cinematic quality.

Mifune
"Supercrush"

The opening track on this funk/world beat/electronica group's Afro-Electronique is an intoxicating blast of Afro-pop that has a political message as well.

MSB
"He Can't Love You"

The song wherein our boy Stanley and his Tonto Kevin Raleigh well and truly nailed all of their corn-fed ersatz Springsteenisms is one of the dandiest brain-dead top-down cruisin' bits of fin-de-'70s fluff ever committed to 8-track tape. Shamelessly begging for sex has never been such a toe-tappin' hoot.

Roué
"Rockin' This Disaster"

Well, apparently Roué have broken up yet again, but this early song still remains one of their most FUCK YEAH-inspiring tunes. So headstrong you could feel like you were goin' 100 mph even if you were sitting stuck in a traffic jam.

Kiddo
"This Could Take Forever"

Kiddo freakin' rules, and this song is among their most undeniably great - a sassy, barnstorming, uptempo delight, with perfect retro keyboards provided by Beachland overlord Mark Leddy.

Patrick Sweany
"Them Shoes"

There's a cinematic quality to this eerie blues ballad by one of the area's most underrated singer-songwriters. Here's to hoping the guy gets the acclaim he deserves when he lands in Nashville later this summer.

30 Lincoln
"East of Motor City"

Though Mike di Liberto is rockin' with serial panty-soakers Boatzz now, he cut his teeth with the primal punk of 30 Lincoln, for whom he penned this SWAK paean to the music scene he called his own. The indelible guitar riffing by Brandon Stevens (now Exit Stencil Records' honcho) drives the point home with an adamantine sneer.