Don't Tell a Soul, Vol. 40.5: The Many Lives of Charles Douglas

Here it is, Charles Douglas' greatest hits (at least according to me). If you've never heard his work -- or, even worse, never even heard of him (see above) -- you're doing yourself a huge disservice, as he's one of the most talented and prolific post-punk* rockers out there.

From Wikipedia: Charles Douglas - musical pseudonym of popular novelist Alex McAulay, who has recorded four indie rock albums under that name, and recorded with members of the Velvet Underground and the Pixies. He is best known for writing songs about his favorite musicians, including Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and Syd Barrett.

See!

Anyway, here's what I've gathered about how everything came to be (by slyly ripping off the discography he posted on his MySpace page): Things started out in the early '90s when he formed Vegetarian Meat with Indian actor Manish Kalvakota.

Together they released two 7" singles (now both out of print) and one terrific full-length album, "Let's Pet," in 1995. (Douglas has since collaborated with Kalvakota on some of the actor/musician's solo works.)

This is also the same time Douglas launched his solo career, with "The Burdens of Genius." That album -- as well as 1996's "Minor Wave" -- is now out of print, but was reissued on the "31 Flavors" compilation in 2001.

"The Lives of Charles Douglas" followed in 1999, and featured none other than the Velvet Underground's Maureen Tucker on drums (and handling production duties).

It would be a full six years before "Statecraft" -- my personal favorite -- was released. Not to be outdone by its predecessor, the album features the Pixies' very own Joey Santiago on lead guitar. (Aside from his Martinis releases, it's some of the axe man's most enthralling work outside of the Pixies.)

Without further ado, I humbly present my selections for Charles Douglas' greatest recordings to date:

1. "Blues for Catalina" (from "Statecraft")

2. "New Attitude" (from "Minor Wave")

3. "A Boy Like Me" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

4. "I Don't Care" (from "Statecraft")

5. "She's an Angel" (They Might Be Giants cover) (from "Hello Radio")

6. "Beneath the Flowers" (from "Statecraft")

7. "Part Time Lover" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

8. "Diamond Mine" (from "Outer Limits," credited to Manish Kalvakota with Charles Douglas)

9. "Not You" (from Vegetarian Meat's "Let's Pet")

10. "Free at Last" (from "Statecraft")

11. "Girl (of the World)" (from "The Burdens of Genius")

12. "Splitting the Atom" (from "Statecraft")

13. "Baby Come On" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

14. "Ancient Mysteries" (from "Statecraft")

15. "Go" (from "The Burdens of Genius")

16. "Me + My Woman" ("31 Flavors" outtake, unreleased)

17. "Groom Lake" (from "Minor Wave")

18. "Ring or Ashes" (from "Outer Limits")

19. "If" (from "Minor Wave")

20. "Luxury" (from "Minor Wave")

21. "Sticker Atlas" (from Vegetarian Meat's "Let's Pet")

22. "Minor Wave" (from "Minor Wave")

23. "Summertime" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

24. "Name" (from "The Burdens of Genius")

25. "(Unlisted)" (from "Outer Limits")

26. "Spiders & Snakes" (from "The Burdens of Genius")

27. "Under the Command" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

28. "Volume & Tone" (from "Minor Wave")

29. "The Day You Went Away" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

30. "Earlybird School" (from "The Lives of Charles Douglas")

31. "Trip" (from Vegetarian Meat's "Let's Pet")

32. "The Rabbit Never Gets the Carrot, Pt. 2" (from "Statecraft")

33. "Drive Me Away" (from Vegetarian Meat's "Let's Pet")

*If we must apply labels. It seems fitting, however, as he's done so much work with the Pixies' "axe man," Joey Santiago. And we all know "post-punk" is a term that always pops up in discussions revolving around those legendary Bostonians.