After his punk band, GC5, broke up, singer-guitarist Doug McKean worked with Roger Hoover & the Whiskeyhounds, Tim Easton, and Rosavelt. Now heading his own group, he celebrates Heels Up, a new album of roots rock and soul with a rock-and-roll spirit.
1. Townes Van Zandt, Live at the Old Quarter. “No one writes lyrics like this. It’s as beautiful and lonesome as a deserted island.”
2. The Equals, First Among Equals. “I’d need some good party music. I was going to go with a Prince record, but you don’t want to be preoccupied with sex while you’re alone on an island.”
3. Doug McKean, Heels Up. “This is not a plug, it’s just that all my friends played on it, and I could listen to it and it would remind me of them.”
4. Robyn Hitchcock, Fegmania! “Catchy as can be, and the surreal lyrics would delay the onset of insanity for a while.”
5. Elvis Costello, Blood & Chocolate. “Once insanity set in, I’d split my time between imagining old girlfriends and listening to ‘I Want You’ over and over, and making Napoleon Dynamite jokes to myself.”
This article appears in May 10-16, 2006.
