CompilationCD

Revision as of 11:07, 24 March 2009

A set of music around a theme...

Time

Songs about the passage of time... both explicit and implicitely

• Time is on my Side - Most famously by The Rolling Stones
• Time is a Tempest - Cloudstreet
• We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
• End of the World - R.E.M

Busking / Meta

Musically earning money by busking is a common practice amongst musicians and bands as they start out, and so naturally songs are written about it.

This compilation is for songs about busking - and indeed, about songs about the performer as a performer. (this allowing Piano Man in).

• 30 Seconds of Happiness - Jigzag
• Baker Street - Jerry Rafferty
• Piano Man - Billy Joel
• The Entertainer - Billy Joel

Question: what about songs about fictional self-performances?

• Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band?

Explosive

For that music which builds and builds and builds (probably purely musically, and somewhat repetitively)... I considered calling this the 'orgasmic' compilation...

• Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg
• Tsunami Surfin' - Jigzag
• Endless Relentless - Def FX
• Duel of the Fates - John Williams
• Also Sprach Zarathustra (aka: 2001 - A Space Odyssey) - Richard Strauss

Chain of songs

A series of songs, where each song has a linking element to the song previous and after

• Where is my Mind - The Pixies
  • Links via 'mind' to...
• I got my mind set on you - George Harrison
  • Links via 'money' to
• Simply Irresistable - Robert Palmer
  • Links via 'money' again to...
• Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles (though almost any song about love really, but this is a good contrast!)
  • Links via Love to...

Extra links...

• Sugar Sugar - The Archies
• Lyrics: "pour ... sugar on me"
• Pour Some Sugar on me - Def Leppard

• Left Alone (Domain) ends with boating/water sounds. Follow with Signs of Life (Pink Floyd), which starts with boating/water.
• Hand in my Pocket (Alanis Morisette) ends with a similar beat to the start of Boom Crash Opera's "Super Heroes"

Songbirds

A different type of compilation - follow a path around the landmasses of the world, and play birdsong that is found in that area. It should be a more or less continuous set of birdsongs around the world, as much as possible :)

• Google maps view

Numbers

A compilation CD where the song titles feature numbers.

Ideally, the song title will have as little extra to the number as possible, and be sequential to match track number on the CD...

• One - John Farnham (original by Harry Nilsson?)
• One Robot - Rocket Science
• The One - Foo Fighters
• 1 2 8 - Mighty mighty bosstones
• Two Months Off - Underworld
• Two - Cartoon
• Song Two - Blur
• 2 x 4 - Metalllica
• Number Three - They Might Be Giants
• Lush 3.1 - orbitial
• Jumpin from six to six - colin james and the little big band II
• Thirteen O'clock - Labyrinth soundtrack
• Sweet Sixteen - Billy Idol
• Sweet Sixteen - BB King
• 17 Lies - Violent Femmes
• 25 O'Clock - They Might Be Giants
• 52 Girls - B-52s
• Rocket 95 - alien fashion sow

note that the following songs cannot have the number match the track title...

• A Thousand Years - Sting
• Two Thousand Years - Billy Joel
• Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller
• Infinity - Guru Josh

Count Five Or Six, by Cornelius? 18, by Moby? -- st

Title Dopelganger

Songs with identical (or very similar) titles...

• Learning to Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd

• Is There Anybody Out There - Pink Floyd
• Is There Anybody In There - Hunters & Collectors

• Sweet Sixteen - Billy Idol
• Sweet Sixteen - BB King

New York City

Songs about the City...

• New York City - They Might Be Giants
• New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
• New York - Eskimo Joe
• I Guess the Lord Must be in New York City - Harry Nilsson

see also

• • careers of Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and other NYC originating artists
  • http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/s1397332.htm
  • http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-songs-about-new-york-city?cat=entertainment

Week Days

• General
  • Happy Days theme tune
• Monday
  • Monday Monday - The Mamas and the Papas
  • I Don't Like Monday's - Boomtown Rats
• Tuesday
  • Ruby Tuesday - Rolling Stones
• Friday
  • Friday on my Mind - The Easybeats
• Saturday
  • (A Rollerskating Jam Called) Saturday - De La Soul
  • Saturday Night at the Movies - The Drifters
  • Saturday Night - see: Wikipedia:Saturday_Night
• Sunday
  • Sunday Morning - (pick an artist, any artist)
  • Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Driving Tunes

Songs about cars/driving - perfect for going on a RoadTrip. More general songs about distance/travel are ok too, especially if lyrics can be transposed. (I would drive 500 miles...)

• Drive My Car - The Beatles
• I've Got a Plan - My Friend the Chocolate Cake
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• I Drove All Night (Cyndi Lauper)
• Fast Car (Traci Chapman)
• Little Deuce Coupe - The Beach Boys
• The Distance - Cake
• Stick Shifts and Safety Belts - Cake
• Mustang Sally - The Commitments
• Three Wheels on my Wagon - New Christy Minstrels
• Moving Right Along - The Muppets (Kermit and Fozzie)
• RV - Dana Lyons
• In The Big Red Car We Like To Ride - The Wiggles
• Beep Beep - The Playmates
• Grease Lightning - Grease
• Race Car Ya Yas - Cake
• I've been driving in my car - Madness
• Jump in my car (I wanna take you home) - ?
• I'm Mad - Animaniacs

see also: other Beach Boys and Grease songs?

Singalong Songs

No specific theme, just a collection of those songs which everyone seems to somehow instinctively know. These are songs which are easy to pick up, and awesomely fun to sing along to. ie, also perfect as RoadTrip material.

• Love Shack - B52s
• Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da - The Beatles
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
• Hey Jude - The Beatles
• YMCA - The Village People
• American Pie - Don McLean
• Do Wah Diddy - Manfred Mann
• I'm a Believer - The Monkees / Smashmouth according to taste
• Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• Hits from Grease

Cover songs

A series of compilations focused on covers...

Origin of Covers

Songs where the cover became famous, whilst the original never became known at all. See also 'The New Definative' below for songs where the original was a hit, but the cover moreso.

• Mah Nà Mah Nà - The Muppets (originally by Piero Umiliani with whom it peaked at #55 on Billboard)
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (original by Robert Hazard)
• Time is on my Side - The Rolling Stones (originally recorded by by Kai Winding)

Also, Check out Bob Dylans career for this one.

• Also: http://www.coversproject.com/

History of Covers

This bridges, conceptually, the origin of covers and the new definitive. The history of covers is purely for tracing multiple covers of a song through time. With songs that have been covered many times of course. Naturally, some songs were never famous to begin with and the cover was huge - and so also could fit into the Origin series. Similarly, if both original and a cover were well known, it could fit into the New Definitive below. A per-case judgement will be needed.

• Misirlou (greek trad through to doowop through to surf) wikipedia:Misirlou
• Rock and Roll Music (Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, The Beatles) wikipedia:Rock and Roll Music
• The Girl from Ipanema wikipedia:The Girl from Ipanema
• Yesterday (the most covered song in history) wikipedia:Yesterday (song)

The New Definitive

This is like Origin of Covers, but where the original was a hit or well known in it's own right, yet has since been eclipsed in the public mind by a cover. How to define "well known in it's own right"? Current rule of thumb is "it was a top40 hit". See Mah Nà Mah Nà in Origin of Covers above for example...

• Hurt - Johnny Cash (original: NIN)
• Mad World - Gary Jules (original: Tears for Fears)
• Istanbul - They Might Be Giants
• Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon - Urge Overkill
• Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet (I don't know whose it was originally, though I do know The Troggs did a version of it - so it could have been theirs.)
• I Fought the Law - The Clash
• Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
• Forever Young - Youth Group
• All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
• As Time Goes By - Frank Sinatra
• Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
• Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente!
• Black Betty - Ram Jam
• Everlasting LOve - U2
• I'm a Believer - The Monkees or Smash Mouth (Depending on how old you are)
• If you don't know me by now - Simply Red
• Jealous Guy - Roxy Music
• Layla - Eric Clapton
• Live and Let Die - Guns 'n' Roses
• Love Rollercoaster - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
• Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor (original: Prince)
• Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Cake
• Sloop John B - The Beach Boys (original: Trad folk)
• Tainted LOve - The Living End (or Soft Cell if you're old school)
• Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever_%281956_song%29

Stairways to Covers

Title based on Denton's infamous "Stairways to heaven" album - consisting of multiple covers of hte same song. So this compilation where each compilation is merely many covers... ideally songs where the original is long forgotten, but there is no definitive either. The Girl from Ipenema is a perfect example. This list is not tracks, but merely songs for whom multiple tracks should be sourced later

• Stairway to Heaven
• The Girl from Ipenema
• Yesterday
• Misrlou
• Man of Constant Sorrow

One Man in a Band

Not for solo artists, but for tracks which have notable instrument solos within them

• Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (David Gilmour guitar solo)
• The End - The Beatles (notable for being Ringo's only Beatles solo. All four Beatles in fact have solos in this piece)

See also: Wikipedia:Guitar solo and Wikipedia:Drum solo

Existential

A compilation comprising songs from bands which only exist in fiction, yet the music is available to listen to... Now the question is where is the line drawn between fiction and reality? Whilst Wyld Stallyns and The Electric Mayhem definately count as fictional bands, what about The Monkees, The Blues Brothers or the Gorillaz? How about a group where the artists use pseudonyms? (Travelling Wilburys). A usefull starting point is the ever-helpful wikipedia... Wikipedia:Category:Fictional_musical_groups

• Can You Picture That - The Electric Mayhem

Suicide Songs

• See SuicideSongs - a compilation from a BBC poll