Of course I need to begin by thanking Holly, Phil, Phantom Third Channel, Rachel and Rhienna for their exemplary efforts last week in my absence. I’ve been trying to think of a song for this week that somehow encompasses all of them, but I’ve been unable to find a super-sad song by the Fall that’s totally bonkers in a surprisingly blissful dance remix that’s only available on vinyl. I suspect that the track I’ve described actually exists, but it’s beyond my capabilities to find it.

So instead I’ll just get right back to Friday business, digging into my ancient past to share a song that helped define my college radio experience and, by extension, me. In this instance, it’s a song that I can’t quite believe I haven’t gotten around to previously. By my inexpert count, I’m approaching the 200 mark on the tally of One for Friday posts, which would make me suspect that I’m running out of out of print tracks that are personally memorable to me for one reason or another. At least I would feel that way if not for the little detail that there are songs such as “Don’t Crash the Car Tonight” that haven’t had their turn in the digital spotlight.

Mary’s Danish was a Los Angeles band that released their debut full-length studio release in 1989. It was on the Chameleon record label, which, for reasons that are lost to me now, had a little bit of extra added clout at our humble Midwestern radio station. Even if we weren’t prone to paying attention to their releases, there was a fair amount of buzz surrounding the band (as much as there could be for an act on an independent label in those pre-interweb days), especially centered on the lead single, a (suitably) driving track entitled “Don’t Crash the Car Tonight.” The whole album received a decent amount of attention at the station, but much as we strove for diversity in our playlists, I seem to recall that just about everyone on the staff kept returning to that same song. Remarkably, it never got old. No matter how many times I heard it, the track was just as striking as the first time I dropped the needle on the vinyl.

Mary’s Danish, “Don’t Crash the Car Tonight”

(Disclaimer: It appears to me that There Goes the Wondertruck…, the debut release from Mary’s Danish, is entirely out of print, unavailable as either a physical item or a digital download. I could surely be wrong. There’s got to be some reason I didn’t feature the track until now. Regardless, I will gladly remove the song from its spot in my little corner of the online world should I be contacted by someone making that request who actually has the due authority to issue such a demand. I will be especially quick about it if the request comes from key band member and song co-writer Gretchen Seager. There’s a last name kinship there, you see.)