So just to remind everyone, Playlist Wars celebrated music in a competitive manner; so while there was an objective to win the votes of the listeners, the truth is, winning is truly secondary to having a great list of songs that folks can enjoy, and even maybe remind people of some true gems. Put together a list of ten songs on an artist or theme, and having a sense of flow or curation for the process really helps. And one other rule I have for these playlists: every Performer inductee must be on the list. No shorting any Performer inductee you don't like. The Performers are prerequisite; the other categories are elective. That's the gist of it. So what creation would I bring to the rumble? Ding ding.
Track 01: "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott
Kicking if off big, with big attitude. This song sets a mood. As soon as that opening riff starts, the spell is cast and a mood overtakes the room. And everyone knows this song too, so no one is exempt. It's not necessarily bold, but it is in your face. You know what's going on. But it sets a high bar because you have to maintain the energy after kicking it off with the Misdemeanor. She had the energy to close down the induction ceremony, and we need that same energy to kick off a playlist.
Track 02: "Rumble" by Link Wray
There are a few marked differences between this song and the leadoff track. This song is a little slower, albeit slightly, and is bereft of vocals, which is the primary driving force of the previous song's energy. But this instrumental has attitude. Admittedly, having the title "Rumble" probably has a big part of the attitude. If the song had been titled "Tire Change" or "Dentist's Drill" the imagery evoked by the music would probably be very different, and it also wouldn't have been flagged for aggressive lyrical content. But it's "Rumble," and for me, the imagery is approaching the scene, slowly sizing up one's foe, displaying an unwillingness to back down, and getting ready to throw down. It maintains an attitude, but shifts the vehicle for that attitude to a more guitar driven sound.
Track 03: "A Change Would Do You Good" by Sheryl Crow
The transition between tracks two, three, and four is that sense of guitar phrasing. "Rumble" had attitude, and the guitar line has remnants of that attitude in the lingering of the jangle of the guitar on this song. It doesn't linger like Wray's guitar does, but the rhythmic structure of this song keeps that sense of attitude going. Plus, the lyrics corroborate that attitude with the insistence that getting away from the rat race would be beneficial, and it's coming from a place of being fed up. Nowhere is this more evident than in the lyric, "If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone!" The song is still a little bit playful, though, and has a fun spirit mixed in with that sense of being fed up. Works well in this slot.
I thought about killing two birds with one stone and using one of the many duets of Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson, and create an extra space for the one inductee who was a recording artist also that I did not get to include. However, given that they're both inductees in the Performer category, I figured I'd better give them each a slot of their own. I chose this song to follow "A Change Would Do You Good" based on the guitars' rhythm lines of the two. They're not identical, obviously, but they do carry over well and segue well. This is a fun ditty musically, although the lyrics are obviously not so whimsical. Nevertheless, I liked the overall feel of this song, and was a chance to dig a little deeper and remind everyone that Willie Nelson has decades of music to his name, and not just a few hit songs and a legacy of weed.
Track 05: "Know Your Enemy" by Rage Against The Machine
Well, I did say that the defining feature for the first stretch of the playlist was attitude, and what better depicts attitude than Rage Against the Machine? Musically, this doesn't flow out of the Willie Nelson track well, but aside from attitude, I had another reason for placing this particular song here. Back when "Playlist Wars" was active, they frequently referred to how if the playlists were mixtapes or vinyl records, the fifth track would be the end of the first side. I wanted to end this potential first side with this song because of the song's ending. Imagine the needle on the vinyl or the spools of the cassette stopping just after you've heard Zack De La Rocha screaming "All of which are American dreams" repeatedly. It's just the most beautifully jarring and puzzling way to end a side. After that, where do you go?
Track 06: "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush
Where do you go? Running up that hill, of course! Duh! Because of the wonderful diversity of styles that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame tries to have in their classes, at some point, you're going to have some pivots. This seemed like a pretty good place to make that pivot. By this point, everyone knows this song. There's not much left to say about why I would use this song. If I were playing this topic competitively, you need a couple of solid slam dunk big hits, especially if it's a topical episode. Actually, in a topical episodes, having any deep cuts is borderline suicidal, as I found out on the Motown episode I crashed and burned on. But yeah, to start a clean slate, let's go to Kate Bush.
Track 07: "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan
Speaking of slam dunk songs, this has to be the lynchpin of the entire playlist. This is just such a jam, and it kind of continues a theme of strong pride that I wasn't intentionally building. Though Kate Bush's song lyrics don't explicitly say it, it can be interpreted as having a hubris that she could do a better job of running the universe than the Almighty. This song proudly declares that she's every woman and that she can in fact do it all. She takes pride in all her abilities, and she rattles them off in front of an absolutely danceable beat that no one can ignore. Chaka belts it out, and it's simply amazing.
Track 08: "Citizen Jane" by Bernie Taupin
And in a weird, yet congruous twist, we keep the theme of femininity in play, going from women being acknowledged for their strength to women being objectified. This was the only charted hit for him as an artist, to the best of my knowledge. I could be mistaken, but either way, it fits pretty well here. The glamour and fashion industry, presenting a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional person, and making feminine beauty cutthroat and narrowly defined. Since Bernie Taupin is remembered primarily as a songwriter, and rightfully so, it's understandable if you've never heard this song. I only knew of its existence thanks to the Record Research books. Much smoother than the rest of the tracks on this side, or the rest of the playlist, for that matter. Nevertheless, I feel it works well thematically, and in the eighth slot, it's a good place to put an emotional nadir of a song so that we can pick it back up.
Track 09: "Faith" by George Michael
With all the Performer inductees being the prerequisites, the last two slots are at least revealed in terms of who they could be, which means there's not much ability to segue gracefully if it has to be to one of those two. That said, this playlist does go from objectifying women that we don't know to respecting one that we do so much, that even going with the flow feels wrong despite feeling so right. Stylistically, it is a pivot once again, and it's even a little more fitting maybe on Side A with its beat. However, the cathedral organ opening is probably a better lead-out of "Citizen Jane" than even I might be giving it credit for. But this is a tight little song that's kind of fun and takes us to an even more fun official closer.
Admittedly, when first organizing this list, I thought I might use "One Of A Kind (Love Affair)" as Track 07 because I love that song so much. However, I quickly realized this track had the energy to close things out on an upbeat note. Just like ending the proverbial Side A with "Know Your Enemy" might leave the listener with a perplexed look before flipping the tape or record, "The Rubberband Man" closes definitively and positively and sends the listener away satisfied and in a good mood. It's pretty much impossible to be unhappy after hearing this at the end of a ten-song streak. You won't need any further happiness.
But in case you do need more happiness, here we go. So, I forget which podcast it was, but someone mentioned that DJ Kool Herc put out one or two albums late in his career. Despite my best, albeit fledgling, efforts to track it down, I couldn't find what I was looking for. What I did find, though, the Mr. Green's album, The Last Of The "Classic Beats." It credits Kool Herc with narration. Go listen to this whole album on whatever streaming service you have. Released in 2019, it's a short album of ten cuts, all of which include interview clips with DJ Kool Herc and then short little musical pieces that feel somewhere between hip-hop instrumental and ambient electronica. Love the whole album, and this track closes it. With it opening and closing with interview clips with Herc, it has the perfect feel to be the bonus track after twenty to thirty seconds of silence while the physical medium keeps going round upon completion of the Spinners' "The Rubberband Man."
Potential Honorable Mention: "I Stand Alone" by Al Kooper
And of course, there needs to be an honorable mention. Since Don Cornelius didn't really put out records himself (I don't think), that means there's one person left who could be that honorable mention. Nothing really against Al Kooper. The Blues Project and Blood, Sweat, And Tears were both Previously Considered, but neither could sneak onto the ballot. Had either of those gotten in years ago, I doubt he'd have been inducted this way in 2023. But it's almost fitting too, since the Blues Project just couldn't break through and since he was gone from Blood, Sweat, And Tears before they finally broke big. Missing out on the brass ring, he also fails to make it as a canonical part of this playlist. But had this actually been an episode, I could see Brian's musical nerdiness wanting to sneak something by Kooper, perhaps in lieu of Bernie Taupin. Who knows? As is, though, yes, Al, you do indeed stand alone.
