Up And Atom!

Not much to say about this one, it’s just as the intro post describes: songs that get me pumped up, motivated, inspired, etc. I’ve already posted plenty of vim and vigor on other playlists, but this category finally opens things up for me to include a few of my favorite songs of all time.

1. David Bowie, “Suffragette City”
There are few more kick-ass rock songs than this, a timeless classic that ties together everything from boogie woogie and the blues-riff roots of rock-n-roll through the analog synth glee of glam rock. KISS tried, over and over, for friggin’ decades, to come up with something to sum up Detroit Rock City better than this song by an British omnisexual former folkie named Davy Jones - and failed. Deal with it.

2. St. Germain, “Rose Rouge”
Cool modern sample-based hypnotic jazz mantra. I used to hear this every Wednesday morning on Emerson College’s WERS radio station while I was getting the store ready for “New Arrival Day”, and it helped the day get going with a spring in my step.

3. The Modern Lovers, “Roadrunner”
I’ve mentioned this song a bunch of times before - it’s just one of my favorite songs and has an energy that can instantly improve my state of mind.

4. Peter Gabriel, “A Different Drum”
This is from one of my favorite albums, Peter Gabriel’s music for “The Last Temptation Of Christ”.

5. Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, “Driver’s Seat”
Okay here we go. This is, with no apologies or qualifications, my favorite song of all time. It came out in 1979, I taped it off the radio, listened to it incessantly, was under the misconception that it was by The Cars, found it on 45 quite by accident at a library sale a few years later, and then finally got it on CD when it showed up on the soundtrack for “Boogie Nights”. I don’t know why it’s my favorite song, it’s just a combination of entering my life when I was at the impressionable age of 7, and featuring bits of things representative of lots of music I would later love; dancy beat, catchy synchopated chords, analog synths, vocal harmony, nonsensical but vivid word imagery… I guess it was just love at first listen, and I haven’t fallen out of love even thirty years later. Sure it’s got a high cheese factor as well - this was the disco-rock era that gave us stuff like “I Want To Kiss You All Over” and “Dream Weaver”. I don’t care. My love affair with cheese goes back even farther than 1979.

6. Sly & The Family Stone, “Stand!”
The first two thirds of this song are fine, the kind of “you can make it if you try” feel-good emotion that Sly was pumping out into the world at the time. But then the end break kicks in and wow! I’ll still play this over and over in my headphones when I need a pick-me-up and it just jams! I just want to jump up and down when this comes on, no matter how embarrassing it might be to do so on a crowded T platform. The essence of Up And Atom, distilled into a far-too-short-before-it-fades riff. Thank you, Mr. Stone and Family.

Download: David Bowie, “Suffragette City” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: St. Germain, “Rose Rouge” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Modern Lovers, “Roadrunner” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Peter Gabriel, “A Different Drum” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, “Driver’s Seat” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sly & The Family Stone, “Stand!” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)