So I have been attempting to compile a playlist that both my wife and I can enjoy while in the car. I’ve been a metalhead since the '80s and have been almost completely out of the loop with pop music since I was a pre-teen, but still enjoy old '70s disco and '80s techno even though those styles aren’t what I normally choose to listen to nowadays. My wife, on the other hand, can’t stand heavy metal, and past attempts to find anything within my usual rotation have generally been met with failure, leading to many dull, quiet rides together.
My wife’s favorite group is Modern Talking, and I overhear her playing “Brother Louie” over and over when she listens to music, along with their other more popular songs along with a pretty good helping of other dance-pop music, a significant amount of which is Russian. A few weeks ago, when we were about to go on a fairly long drive together, I decided to hastily throw together a small playlist that I felt pretty sure she’d like while also knowing I’d enjoy them as well. That went over well, so I’ve built on that and have been playing a new, larger playlist for the last few weeks when I pick her up from work. If she doesn’t like a song, she just says “next” and we move on.
I’m sure a few of you might be wondering, “Why don’t you just ask her?” Well, you see, she is Ukrainian, and while her English is good enough for day-to-day things, she doesn’t feel very comfortable talking about more complicated or philosophical subjects. Also, when she does tell me about music she likes, my own disconnect with current popular music makes it hard for me to remember anything beyond the very small variety of songs she plays for herself at home. For example, when we were at a wedding reception last year, several times a song would be playing and she would say “Remember this!” while I could neither identify the song was or remember how it goes.
That said, I’ve been enjoying tracking down songs from my youth or more recent songs that were massively popular enough for me to remember, and she seems to be enjoying both the lack of silence and her veto power. While my success rate has been below 50%, we’ve managed a decent-sized list of unskipped songs so far:
ABBA - Dancing Queen
Bananarama - Venus
Bee Gees - Night Fever
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
C&C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat
Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain
Daft Punk - Get Lucky (single edit)
Daft Punk - One More Time
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
Donna Summer - Bad Girls*
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff
E-Type - Russian Lullaby
Earth Wind and Fire - September
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
Haddaway - What Is Love
House of Pain - Jump Around
KC & the Sunshine Band - That's The Way (I Like It)
KC & The Sunshine Band - (Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty
Kool & The Gang - Celebration
Kool & The Gang - Get Down On It
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown
Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei
Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin
Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
PSY - Gangnam Style
Rick James - Super Freak
Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Hooked On Classics
Stars On 45 - Stars On 45
Snow - Informer
Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam
The Emotions - Best Of My Love
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
Usher - Yeah!
Walter Murphy - A Fifth of Beethoven
(* she said “next” the third time, so still 2-1)
However, the following failed the test and have been purged (items with an asterisk were skipped on the second listen…not sure if that matters at all but there you go):
A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
Chic - Le Freak*
Daft Punk - Around The World
Daft Punk - Get Lucky ("Daft Punk" version - rejected before Pharrell started singing)
Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
Depeche Mode - Everything Counts
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Destination - Move On Up*
Devo - Whip It*
Diesel - Sausalito Summernight
Duran Duran - Planet Earth
Duran Duran - Rio
Earth Wind and Fire - Boogie Wonderland
Earth Wind and Fire - Lets Groove
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
Gary Numan - Cars
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
Huey Lewis & the News - Do You Believe In Love
Huey Lewis & the News - If This Is It
Jackson 5 - ABC
Katy Perry - Firework
KC & the Sunshine Band - Boogie Shoes
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie
Kriss Kross - Jump
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
Liv Kristine - You take me higher
Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
Musical Youth - Pass The Dutchie*
New Order - Blue Monday*
New Order - True Faith
Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good
Olivia Newton-John - Physical
Outkast - Hey Ya
Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities (Lets Make Lots Of Money)
Prince - 1999
Prince - Kiss*
Prince - Lets Go Crazy
Prince - When Doves Cry
Queen - You're My Best Friend
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Stray Cats - Rock This Town*
Sunmi - Pporappippam
Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Tears For Fears - Mad World*
The Gap Band - You Dropped A Bomb On Me
The Human League - Dont You Want Me
The Trammps - Disco Inferno
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
Toto - Africa
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart
So far, this has all given me a better idea of what NOT to add, but it still seems to be a crapshoot. Old '70s disco doesn’t seem to be as universally successful as I had originally hoped, seemingly moreso with '80s new wave and techno, but the biggest and most danceable hits seem to fare well so hopefully there are more that I’m simply drawing a blank on.
This list is still lacking more modern dance music, which I am almost completely unfamiliar with (the likes of Usher and E-Type were chosen pretty much at random). If at all possible, I’d really like to get some good Russian dance tracks in here, since I’m sure she would be impressed.
Fine:
And Drinkee
