“Bugs” is the second demo of The Theme Show. Initially aired on Winamp on December 9, 1999.
We’re not talking about computer bugs, either (although I would have included those too, had I the music to do so); instead, we’re talking about your roly-poly, creepy-crawly variety.
Initially, I had planned to recreate the playlists only through Spotify. However, it quickly becomes evident in this episode why I also chose to branch out to YouTube music, as the Spotify version is missing 25% of the original playlist. The advantage of YouTube is that if a song is missing, I can upload it myself and add it to the playlist (provided I have an undamaged MP3 and YouTube doesn’t flag the music); thus far, I haven’t had too many issues with the occasional rare song that is missing from the streaming service.
This Demo has been recreated with current streaming music services for your enjoyment at:
As with the pilot episode, this demo was built around three defining segments:
- *Theme Show Warm-Up: Every broadcast kicked off with five fast-paced, high-energy tracks, setting the tone. Then, after the fourth song, I would check my Yahoo! Messenger, eagerly awaiting the first correct guess of the theme. The person who answered first won a prize, which, more often than not, was a Pez dispenser.
- Requests: This segment was designed to blend pre-arranged selections with real-time audience engagement.. While a significant portion of the song choices were curated in advance, if someone had an exciting song idea that fit the theme, they could message me, and—provided I had the track in my library, I’d weave it into the setlist.
- Obligatory Polka: Of course, I tried to end every episode with a Polka song. Even if the final song didn’t match the overarching theme, that was entirely fine. I’ve always found Polka entertaining, and as a longtime fan of “Weird Al” Yankovic, I did my best to make sure this unexpected finale stayed intact.
As time passed, the show evolved. Eventually, I decided to simplify the podcast pre-recording process by trimming down these segments. Despite that, elements of the “warm-up” concept continue to live on—often appearing in newer Spotify and YouTube Music playlists, where I still organize songs based on BPM and energy level.
Variations on a theme about bugs would return in:
and
Setlist
| Color Key | Not Available on Spotify | Not Available on YTMusic | Not Available on Either |
Theme Show Workout
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| Butterfly Wings | Machines of Loving Grace |
| Lullaby | Leæther Strip |
| Spiderman | The Ramones |
| Crab Louse | Lords of Acid |
| Heartworms | Coil |
THEME GUESS WINNER: gonkdroid (through Yahoo IM)
Standard Playlist
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| Butterfly Potion | Foetus |
| Five Fleas | Rasputina |
| Cyberspider | The Tear Garden |
| Butterfly (Tilt’s Mechanism Mix) | Tilt |
| I, Virus | Death Ride 69 |
| Infested | Course of Empire |
| Bad Bug | Zorak feat. Brak & Space Ghost |
| Eric the Half a Bee | Monty Python |
| Spiders & Snakes | Jim Stafford |
| The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati | Rose & The Arrangement |
| Ugly Bug Ball | Burl Ives |
| There’s a New Sound | Tony Burrello |
| Zingor | Zorak |
| Germs | “Weird Al” Yankovic |
| Hungry Ants | Barry Adamson |
| The Fly | Howard Shore |
| Hypnotic Web | vidnaObmana |
| Muscoviet Mosquito | Clan of Xymox |
| Cocoon | Switchblade Symphony |
| The Fly | U2 |
| Parasites | Skatenigs |
| Wormboy | Marilyn Manson |
| Virus | KMFDM |
| The Caterpillar (Flicker Mix) | The Cure |
| Food for Worms | wAx |
Obligatory Polka
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| Honey Polka | Whoopee John |