Big Hair

Pace Breakdown

Slow Walk 7:57
Mod Walk 7:42
Brisk Walk 13:34
Slow Jog 7:17
Mod Jog

Brisk Jog 8:58
Run
Total 45:28

Distance: 2.1 to 3.2 miles
Speed: 2.8 to 4.2 MPH
Ave BPM: 123
Jog Beats: 42%
Pace Variability: High


We’re talkin’ teased up, boufed up, glammed up, and mulleted: that’s how the Rock Gods and Goddesses of the Arena Era wore their hair. Back then, there was no talk of “Arena Rock” or “Alternative Rock,” and “New Wave” was just something in a magazine. It was just over-the-top rock, with blistering lead guitar solos, power chords, and huge, growling vocals. Shallow? Maybe. Dated? You could say that. But you could also say these groups dished out fun with a wallop, and what better company for a vigorous wog?

Title	Artist	BPM	Time	PC	Comment	Genre	Album/Source
Unskinny Bop	Poison	93	3:48	5	Catchy opener. SKBL	Poison’s Greatest Hits 1986 - 1996	Hard Rock
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap	AC/DC	138	4:11	5	Oh, what evil fun!	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap	Hard Rock
Turbo Lover	Judas Priest	152	5:29	5	Straight ahead, in your face jogging	Turbo	Hard Rock
Unchain The Night	Dokken	126	5:19	5	Fabulous axe solo	Under Lock and Key	Metal
I Want You To Want Me (live)	Cheap Trick	103	3:38	5	Whoa! Rock out, Rick Nielsen! SKBL	Live at Budokan	Arena Rock
Urgent	Foreigner	116	3:59	5	Backbeat funk makes this hit move	4	Arena Rock
Eye of the Tiger	Survivor	109	4:04	5	Rocky III theme song	Eye of the Tiger (Remastered)	Arena Rock
Rock You Like a Hurricane	Scorpions	125	4:16	4	German rockers pick up the pace	Love at First Sting	Hard Rock
Heartbreaker	Pat Benatar	156	3:29	4	Pat goes incendiary on us	Greatest Hits	Arena Rock
Dance the Night Away	Van Halen	130	3:06	5	Oh, those party boys...	Van Halen II	Arena Rock
Love Is a Battlefield	Pat Benatar	94	4:09	5	One more time, Ms. Benatar, with feeling. SKBL	Greatest Hits	New Wave

Neil Young: Wog of Gold

All the best folk-rockers morph more times than a Saturday morning cartoon, and venerable Neil Young is no exception. This Canadian always had his roots in country, way back to his days with Buffalo Springfield and CSN&Y, but it was as a solo performer that he has truly fulfilled his artistic vision. Controversial, unafraid of political or personal repercussions, he has doggedly pursued his craft for five decades, and we are all better for it. I can’t think of another North American singer-songwriter other than Bob Dylan who’s had his persistence, style, and musical dedication. This wog’s for you, Neil, at Podwogging.com.

Let’s Give ‘Em a Five

In addition to possessing a large cranium, the human animal is blessed with clever fingers and clever hands. Since musicians rely on these body parts as much as their sense of rhythm, it’s only natural that references to them would work their way into songs, either metaphorically or literally. This week’s wog features all songs in which fingers and hands play a part, either in the band name or song title. Among other offerings you’ll find Crazy Fingers by the Dead (ironically, Captain Jerry was missing one) and Too Many Hands by the Eagles, as well as songs by Powderfinger and Badfinger. This is also a very light walk...unless, of course, you choose to walk on your hands. Get the skinny at Podwogging.com.

A Little Help From My Friends

I now have hundreds of wogging playlists in iTunes, and creating new ones is sometimes a challenge. To the rescue comes a growing trend in computerized music listening: functions that suggest which songs might go together to make a synchronistic playlist. iTunes itself has the Genius function, which compares the songs in one’s computer to its database of other users’ computers, which is what I used to create this week’s wog: SynchroniciWog #1. It uses a Genius-created list based on the song Things She Said, by Toy Matinee. I have other SynchroniciWogs that also use websites such as Pandora and last.fm that employ their own proprietary methods of suggesting songs that match each other in tone, musical composition, or user preferences. Things She Said is a great pop song from the 80s, but not all songs on the list are from the 80s, such as Nature’s Way by Spirit. Bottom line, my cyber friends helped me put together a Very Vigorous 38-minute wogging list, which can be seen along with hundreds of other lists at Podwogging.com.

The Dawn of Kraut Rock

This week’s wog features the robotically blissful music of Kraftwerk, best known for their long paean to the German Überhighway, the Autobahn—which isn’t in this set, BTW. That the ‘werkers were fascinated by the confluence of computers and music—in an outrageous yet endearing way—can be illustrated by their song Pocket Calculator, which of course was back in the day when the PC was just a blip on the horizon—and is in this set, BTW. Also you will find Trans-Europe Express (a great train song), Computer Love (kisskiss), The Model (ooo!), Tour de France, and finally, The Robots. So sync up with Kraftwerk, find the list at Podwogging.com.

Year of the Wog

Best-of albums, especially for artists who aren’t in the current generation of pop stars, can definitely offer a great bang for your musical buck. Al Stewart’s Best Of is one of my favorites, and delivers a solid 38 wogging minutes. Stewart’s halcyon days were the 70s, when his biggest hit, Year of the Cat, lilted its way onto the airwaves. But his songs, a kind of Scottish storytelling pop, full of wistful notions and historical references, can’t be so easily attached to one place or time. This week’s wog is definitely on the softer side though, easy on the bones, and can be found at Podwogging.com. Of course.

Get Juiced!

For my money, the best pure pop act to come out of Britain during the New Wave 80s was Squeeze, who deserved far more acclaim than they received. Whether crafting catchy tunes like If I Didn’t Love You or bopping you with their Brit accents in Cool for Cats, Squeeze delivers the goods in this week’s wog, 39 minutes of Vigorous pop. If you’re never heard them, and you like funny, sassy, and sardonic—think Kinks with a dash of Split Enz—by all means, check ‘em out. My woglist resides at Podwogging.com.

Altering Dreams on the Path

Each day now brings a little less light, so even as we shine in summer’s glory we are reminded, day by day, of delicious darkness creeping in. Let the hunter be hunted, and rejoice while we yet gaze on the heavens! This week’s wog, Älterdream, is...different. You may not recognize many of the artists, because I deliberately sought out those willing to plunge into the psychic depths: Dead Can Dance, Conjure One, Nijole Sparkis and eight more artists...all delve into ancient joys and fears, echoing ritual and surrender to the inevitable twin victories of love and death. It makes for a truly reverent Überwog; get the complete playlist at Podwogging.com.

Hey! It’s Officially Summer!

Summertime, and the wogging is easy, even if it’s 53 minutes long and Very Vigorous. But this week’s wog is guaranteed to give you happy feet as we explore the joyous side of pop music. Who can resist Simon & Garfunkel’s Feeling Groovy, Three Dog Night’s Joy to the World, or Stevie Wonder’s You Are the Sunshine of My Life? Not me! (Okay, I confess there are a couple songs in the set that explore Happiness from the other side of the street.) Get the list at Podwogging.com.

Tweet, Tweet

This week’s wog celebrates the life aviary with 16 songs—almost one hour’s worth—about birds. The Beatles’ Blackbird kicks things off, and before Steve Miller finally flies you off like an eagle, you’ll wing your way down the path with such sweet songs as Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, Jerry Garcia’s Bird Song, Laurie Anderson’s Excellent Birds, and Simon & Garfunkel’s El Condor Pasa. When your flight is done, stick a feather in your cap! Get the playlist at Podwogging.com.

Holy Jazz, Batman!

Way back before Miami Vice (ask your mom & dad, kids), a band named Steely Dan ruled the coolness waves. Straight out of LA, they wrote the book on hip, jazz-inflected rock with clever lyrics, catchy beats, and outrageous snark. This week’s wog, Walk Lightning, is an infectious stew of some of their best tunes, from their top 40 smash Reelin’ In The Years to the fabulously slinky, in-your-face Show Biz Kids. Believe me, these guys rule! Get the holy list at Podwogging.com.

The Real Power Walk

Many slow- or medium-paced walk songs can be pumped up by skipping to them. This week’s wog features 46 minutes of songs with this endearing quality, ranging in pace from Mungo Jerry’s good-time In The Summertime, at 83 BPM, to the supercharged Bodhisattva, by Steely Dan, at 110 BPM. Of course you can always dial it down and actually walk a skipper; often I save the skipping for the chorus and walking for the verse, or vice-versa. Whichever you do it, skipping is fun, good exercise, and guaranteed to make you look like a five-year-old. So don’t skip—er, miss this opportunity, and check it out a Podwogging.com.

Jog, Where is Thy Sting?

Before he went on to a solo career, British singer Sting fronted the Police, a New Wave band that blended catchy reggae rhythms with a little progressive rock, interesting lyrics, and an edgy delivery that always kept its balance. This week’s wog features 8 songs from them, including the pop-reggae standard Don’t Stand So Close to Me and the irresistible, progressive Synchronicity II. It’s 34-minute, Very Vigorous set, the details of which can be found at Podwogging.com.

The Decade Dance

Here it is, my serious collection of wogging tunes from the 00s. Since some of my favorites are on other playlists, with certain artists I’ve included another song by them: The Lovemakers, The New Pornographers, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Engineers, Dark Captain Light Captain, John Fogerty, Cake, Dead 60s, Belle & Sebastian, Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, Engineers, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Fields all have songs on at least one other wogging list on my computer. Making their debuts for Podwogging are Beyoncé, Finn Brothers, Sufjan Stevens, Outkast, and Duffy. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the 00s saw an explosion of creative music that stretched the boundaries of world, folk, hip-hop, and in Steven’s case, ambient minimalism (!). Coming up this decade: more “freaky folk,” Animal Collective, the Decembrists, Dead Can Dance, and scads of off-center concertinas and flutes! Until then, check out this week’s ode to the Double Aughts at Podwogging.com.

Fresh Woggage

Long before the word “indie” appeared on the scene, back in the groovy sixties there were certain groups who refused to compromise themselves, who played what they liked and to hell with the record companies. Such a group was the legendary Love, and right with them was Spirit, another LA group who blended jazz, pop, rock, and quirky lyrics for a distinctive sound and attitude that still resonates today. How could one not love a fuzz-guitarist named Randy California, or a drummer who was completely bald? Like Love they didn’t last long, only putting out a few albums before their disdain for the gods of commerce ended their careers as rock gods. This week’s wog is a brisk 39 minutes full of Spirit, featuring hits (I Got a Line on You, Nature’s Way) and non-hits (Mr. Skin, Uncle Jack) alike. Seriously, if rock that’s fun without being nauseating, check out Spirit, at Podwogging.com.

Spring Forward with Donovan

I couldn’t wait for a reflection day in Summer, so the first wog of the Spring is by Donovan, that Groovy Bard from England. It’s just that Donovan’s breezy ‘n’ sassy folk rock songs feel more springlike than anything else I can think of. If you’re like me, you’ll wear your love beads like heaven, get your fat angel off the couch, and feel like a sunshine superman once you finish this more mellow than yellow walk. And may your beach at sunset never end...at Podwogging.com.

Streetwise, Beatwise

If you’re like me, sometimes you don’t have time head out to a running track or a nice soft trail in the woods. So you learn to survive on the urban pathways. This week’s wog celebrates the streets in pop songhood, from the Dead’s Shakedown Street to Bob Seger’s Mainstreet to Donovan’s Sunny Goodge Street. The streets can be mean or they can be liberating, it all depends on how you handle yourself, which for woggers means keeping your eyes open for cars, bikes, and road hazards. And while it may not be fun to jog in place at a traffic light, your life may depend on it. Get your streets and beats at Podwogging.com.

Bet you can’t wog to it just once...

All too often, exercise music ignores melody for rhythm: thumpa-thumpa-thumpa-step-step-step-step-ho-hum. Why not let your heart sing to the song while your feet jog along? That’s why this week’s wog, Hooked On Melodics—and it’s a Wog-a-Thon at that—features some of my favorite pure melodies in pop music, without sacrificing a steady beat. The Beatles, Guster, Collective Soul, Sarah McLachlan, Til Tuesday, UB40—these are just a few of the artists who will stroke your eardrums while you walk and jog. It’s 63 minutes of brisk exercise bliss, and you’ll only find it at Podwogging.com.

Post-Valentine Get Down

Now that you’re addicted, face it—you gotta keep wogging! Let Robert Palmer, who rocked the 80s with dance pop R&B, give you the sickness AND the cure. This week’s wog features 39 minutes of delightful dance—er, walk and jog—music guaranteed to be simply irresistable. So get what’s coming, stop sneaking through the alley, and get a bad case of wogging. If Mr. Palmer were still with us, he’d tell you get over to Podwogging.com to check out his playlist. Do-lang!

Let’s hope it all works out

Love is a crazy thing, and what better way to celebrate the week leading up to Valentine’s Day than to hit the trail with a pod full of songs about the agony (Ted Nugent’s 8-minute jogging opus Stranglehold) and the ecstacy (the Drfter’s Magic Moment) of it all? If you can get through the Slings and Eros (this week’s wog), the Bard Himself may smile upon you. Plus Fine Young Cannibals, Bo Diddley, Wilson Pickett and others...it’s all part of a 36-minute workout “with benefits.” After the heavy breathing, check out my other playlists at Podwogging.com.