A small selection of songs (mostly inspired by the fact that Weezer have a new album out and ‘Hash Pipe’ was an awesome track for this sort of thing), that probably show the average age of the people in the RouteNote office, but should none the less help you rock the last few hours of your week. Happy head-nodding…
The absolute best/worst of stadium and dad rock for you this week. It’s probably best to listen to this over your headphones, unless your co-workers have a good sense of humour, or are fans of falsetto, hair dye, facepaint and massive, massive guitars. The worst thing about it is that it’s brilliant:
Boston: More Than A Feeling
UFO: We Belong To The Night
Rainbow: Since You Been Gone
Journey: Don’t Stop Believin’
Asia: In The Heat Of The Moment
Guns ‘N’ Roses: Sweet Child O’ Mine
Bon Jovi: Livin’ On A Prayer
Toto: Hold The Line
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama
Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son
UFO: Doctor Doctor
Kiss: Strutter
Alice Cooper: Poison
Scorpions, Berlin Philharmonic: Hurricane 2000
Skipped some playlist weeks there – so here’s one that covers a fortnight.
How much sample makes a cover? Some of the biggest selling rap songs do little more than add lyrics to great songs someone else has written. I don’t want to detract from the achievments of the superbly successful rap artists in this playlist, success is hard to argue with. On the contrary, it’s just interesting to hear the songs that they’ve given a second shot at the charts.
I know, it’s unaaceptable, there’s no playlist this Friday, and I’m sure you’d been looking forward to it all week dot dot dot.
There’s a doozy coming next week though, we promise, and to console you in the meantime, here is an amusing video of a dog like they have on the internet.
You know what this is going to be about: A Spotify playlist that kicks off with the best Christmas song ever – Christmas Pig by Rolf Harris, and continues with some obscure and cool stuff you hopefully won’t have heard before. Yes there is some Bing Crosby, no, there isn’t any Slade.
A kind of halfway house here between the Billboard Hot 100 post we did a while back and a Christmas playlist (since it’s still a bit too early): this is everything that was at number one in the UK charts on the 25th of December every year since 1950, which is pretty much (-+ 2) when the charts began. Interesting for the changing styles and for freakish little things like the fact that the Spice Girls had 3 consecutive number ones, the last 4 years have all had an X-Factor winner take the Christmas cake, Queen have had two wins with the same song (Bohemian Rhapsody)… Here’s the Spotify playlist [with some replacements where things aren't live].
1950 Gene Autry • Bing Crosby - Rudoph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
1951 Teddy Johnson • Teresa Brewer - Longing For You
1952 Al Martino - Here In My Heart
1953 Frankie Laine - Answer Me
1954 Winifred Atwell - Let’s Have Another Party
1955 Dickie Valentine - Christmas Alphabet
1956 Johnnie Ray - Just Walkin’ In The Rain
1957 Harry Belafonte - Mary’s Boy Child
1958 Conway Twitty - It’s Only Make Believe
1959 Emile Ford & The Checkmates - What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For
1960 Cliff Richard & The Shadows - I Love You
1961 Danny Williams - Moon River
1962 Elvis Presley - Return To Sender
1963 The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand
1964 The Beatles - I Feel Fine
1965 The Beatles - Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out
1966 Tom Jones - The Green Grass Of Home
1967 The Beatles - Hello Goodbye
1968 Scaffold - Lily The Pink
1969 Rolf Harris - Two Little Boys
1970 Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knockin’
1971 Benny Hill - Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)
1972 Little Jimmy Osmond - Long Haired Lover From Liverpool
1973 Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody
1974 Mud - Lonely This Christmas
1975 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
1976 Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born (Soleado)
1977 Wings - Mull Of Kintyre / Girls’ School
1978 Boney M - Mary’s Boy Child-Oh My Lord
1979 Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall
1980 St Winifred’s School Choir - There’s No One Quite Like Grandma
1981 The Human League - Don’t You Want Me
1982 Renee & Renato - Save Your Love
1983 The Flying Pickets - Only You
1984 Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1985 Shakin’ Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
1986 Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite
1987 The Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
1988 Cliff Richard - Mistletoe & Wine
1989 Band Aid II - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1990 Cliff Richard - Saviours’ Day
1991 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives
1992 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
1993 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby
1994 East 17 - Stay Another Day
1995 Michael Jackson - Earth Song
1996 Spice Girls - 2 Become 1
1997 Spice Girls - Too Much
1998 Spice Girls - Goodbye
1999 Westlife - I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun
2000 Bob The Builder - Can We Fix It?
2001 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman - Somethin’ Stupid
2002 Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground
2003 Michael Andrews feat Gary Jules - Mad World
2004 Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
2005 Shayne Ward - That’s My Goal
2006 Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This
2007 Leon Jackson - When You Believe
2008 Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah
Another Friday, another playlist. A few of my favourite classical pieces to waft you through the last few working hours of the week – I’m sure that these are cringingly pop to anyone who knows anything about clasical music, but I think they’re amazing. The variation of the simple theme in the Moonlight sonata has got to be one of the best things ever to come out of a human brain.
http://open.spotify.com/user/d45hiel/playlist/0fCs4oABSFjHiJZ1R3exk9
I don’t know whether anyone else is enjoying these playlists, or how long we’ll carry them on, but here’s something to phase out your Friday in a painless, soulful way. It reflects my limited knowledge of modern soul, and the fact that I am a sucker for a bassline, Otis Redding’s voice, and ridiculously long mixes. Also probably that I listen to music on headphones rather than speakers at the office. If anyone fancies making a playlist for me then post something in the comments; if I like it, I’ll give it it’s own post 
This is inexcusable, I know. But here is a poorly conceived, badly executed playlist for all of my Spotify loving comrades. However, in preparation for your weekend I have prepared you slightly more than an hour’s worth of music on the theme described in the title. It starts off slow, plumbs the depths of cheese, and pretty much stays there. May your Saturday nights be forever fevered.
