Any year with Vampire Weekend, Adele, Kanye West, Radiohead, Britney Spears, R.E.M., The Ting Tings, Madonna, “Single Ladies,” “Paper Planes” and two songs named “Lollipop” can’t be that bad. Herewith are thirty music highlights of 2008.
A Kanye West Playlist
My favorite artist to emerge in the 2000s is Kanye West. Not only has he released so many great tracks, he also tries new things with each release, not content to repeat himself or rest on his laurels. Unfortunately, his public shenanigans – some non-music-related, some gimmicky promotional stunts – have distracted from his talent, especially these last few years. This playlist will remind you of his merits. Big fan that I am, I hadn’t heard some of these songs in a while. It was nice to hear them again.
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Throwback Thursday: 1999
The music of 1999 shows the century coming to a close in grand style, as if to say the next year the party will be over, oops, out of time, so this year we better party. Latinx artists were crossing over to the mainstream pop chart. Cher and Santana, who first charted in the 1960s, scored the biggest hits of their careers. Artists who made their chart debuts include Eminem and Britney Spears. Pure pop exploded, though the charts made room for country, hip hop, electronica, and big beat. As one who values diversity, I loved hearing all these different genres and styles bump up against each other on the radio. Here are 30 prime examples of the music that hit in 1999.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-15-21)
Inspired by the February 15 birthdays of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, Megan Thee Stallion, Melissa Manchester, Birdman (Baby), UB40’s Ali Campbell, Denny Zager, Olivia, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd, and Harold Arlen.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (12-13-20)
Inspired by the season and the December 13 birthdays of Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge, Morris Day, Taylor Swift, Ted Nugent, Dick Van Dyke, Jamie Foxx, Television’s Tom Verlaine, John Anderson and Steve Forbert.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (12-5-20)
Inspired by the season and the December 5 birthdays of Little Richard, Keri Hilson, J.J. Cale, Andy Kim, Michel’le and Pamela Blair.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (11-26-20)
Inspired by Thanksgiving and the November 26 birthdays of Tina Turner, Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie, The Supremes’ Jean Terrell, DJ Khaled, Garnet Mimms, Rhythm Heritage’s Michael Omartian and The Fendermen’s Jim Sundquist.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (11-11-20)
Inspired by the November 11 birthdays of XTC’s Andy Partridge, LaVern Baker, Wu-Tang Clan’s U-God, Marshall Crenshaw, Stubby Kaye, Peaches, Mose Allison, Raveonettes’ Sharin Foo, Dennis Coffey, Chris Smither, Static Major, The Ides of March’s Jim Peterik, and The Blasters’ Dave Alvin.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (9-30-20)
Inspired by the passings of Helen Reddy and Mac Davis and the September 30 birthdays of The Fifth Dimension’s Marilyn McCoo, Johnny Mathis, T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, Frankie Lymon, Sugababes’ Keisha Buchanan, Patrice Rushen, T-Pain, Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes, Marley Marl and Len Cariou.