As a big music fan, I can’t write up these reflections on my trip without mentioning the music I brought along. Back in 1979 I took a big trip on my 1976 Honda CB 750, which you can read about here. This was my route, about 7,000-miles.
On that trip I traveled with a backpack, tent, and sleeping bag. I had a helmet and a jacket and that was about it. I did carry a small transistor radio to listen to at night while camping, but that was the extent of the electronics I’d brought along.
In 1982, I took a trip to British Columbia and back, from Southern California.
While I didn’t make my current “mix tape” specifically for this trip, it was perfect for it anyway.
When things were shut down due to the pandemic in March of 2020, I, like many others, resorted to our indoor hobbies to keep us entertained and engaged. I have lots of hobbies, interests, and passions and there is always a list of things I want to get to. One of them was a to make a collection of my favorite singles. I named it my “No Skip List” after the “skip” button found on music streaming services, like Pandora, that allow the listener to “skip” a song they might not be fond of. I thought, what if I had a collection of songs that I’d never hit skip on? What would that list look like?
I started off by going through all the mp3s that I have “acquired” since that format was invented, somewhere around 65,000 files. From there I went through my vinyl albums, about 900, and digitized songs that made the cut. Then I went through my cassettes, 8-tracks (yes, 8-tracks), and compact disks. Finally, I went through my reel-to-reel tapes, digitizing anything that I wanted from this analog collection. When I’d done that I had just over 450 singles and looked like it would play for over 28-hours. There was every kind of genre represented and spanned musical history from the late-1930s to the present day. I loaded these on my phone and played them over the past year while I was out for a run, working on a piece of art, doing household chores, or working in the garage. I also kept a list on my desk as I came across new songs that I would add. What is interesting is that I play these on “shuffle,” that is, in a random order, and it is fun to see how well they segued from one to another.
With these on my phone and my Cardo PackTalk Bold helmet communication system connected to it over Bluetooth, I had plenty of music to keep me company on the trip. I will say that I still rode long stretches in silence because, sometimes, all that is needed is the sound of the bike and the passing wind to add a soundtrack to the scenery. I’d alway stop the music as I come into a town so as not to distract me from other vehicles.
So, what are these songs? Here’s the list, in a random order.
Santana - Moonflower
Shadows - Zambesi
Skeeter Davis - I Cant Stay Mad At You
Van Morrison - Moondance
Simon and Garfunkle - I Am A Rock
Tom Petty - Breakdown
Paul Simon - Kodachrome
Sadao Watanabe and Lee Ritenour - Someday in Suburbs
Eddie Howard - It's No Sin
Bob Marley - Is This Love
Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
10cc - Dreadlock Holiday
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
The Motels - Total Control
Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
Steely Dan - My Old School
Dean Martin - That's Amore
Buckinghams - Back In Love Again
Arlo Guthrie - Coming Into Los Angeles
Eagles - How Long
Acker Bilk - Stranger On the Shore
Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless
Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
Rod Stewart - The First Cut Is The Deepest
Santana - Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way
Matt Bianco - I Never Meant To
Eva Cassidy - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Cold Shot
Eddie Howard - To Each His Own
Fleetwood Mac - Sara
Carpenters - Yesterday Once More
Michael Franks - Eggplant
The Guess Who - Runnin' Back To Saskatoon
Dido - White Flag
John Prine - Hello In There
Jim Croce - I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song
Eurythmics - Would I Lie to You
The Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Standells - Try It
The Guess Who - These Eyes
Carly Simon - Haven't Got Time For Pain
10,000 Maniacs - Like The Weather-
Dire Straits - Six Blade Knife
Arlo Guthrie - The City of New Orleans
John Tropea - Muff
Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy
Amy Winehouse - Fuck Me Pumps
B52s - Love Shack
Average White Band - Pick Up the Pieces
Elvis Costello - Allison
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
David Sanborn - Carly's Song
Travis - Why does it always rain on me
Basia - Reward
Tommy Bolin - Savannah Woman
Laura Nyro - Stoney End
REM - Stand
Beach Boys - I Get Around
Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Beautiful South - A Little Time
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)
Hot Hot Heat - Middle of Nowhere
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
Stone Ponys - Different Drum
Manfred Mann - Spirit in the Night
Peter & Gordon - A World Without Love
Fleetwood Mac - Hypnotized
Steve Winwood - While You See a Chance
Mott the Hoople - All The Young Dudes
Gerry & the Pacemakers - How Do You Do It
The Cure - Close To Me
10,000 Maniacs - You Happy Puppet
Zombies - Care Of Cell 44
Roy Obison - Crying
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
She and Him - Me and You
Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again
Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride
John Prine - Speed Of The Sound Of Lonliness
Van Morrison - Have I Told You Lately
Eagles - Tequila Sunrise
No Doubt - Running
Ho'omau - Daydream
Rod Stewart - Tonight's the Night
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
Jefferson Starship - Miracles
Allman Brothers - Blue_Sky
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Donovan - Wear Your Love Like Heaven
Smokey Robinson And The Miracles - I Second That Emotion
Herman's Hermits - I'm Into Something Good
The La_s - There she goes
Derek and the Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues
She and Him - Ridin in My Car
The Church - Under The Milky Way
Robustos - Don't Be Down
Monkees - Daydream Believer
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
New Riders of the Purple Sage - Panama Red
Monty Python - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Jay And The Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
BJ Thomas - Hooked On a Feeling
Shadows - It's Been A Blue Day
Golden Earring - Radar Love
Billy J Kramer & Dakotas - Bad To Me
CSNY - Ohio
Flash in the Pan - Media Man
Tennis - Never Work for Free
The Police - Every Breath You Take
Beautiful South - Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)
Elton John - Crocodile Rock
Van Morrison - Brown-Eyed
The Pointer Sisters - Slow Hand
George Benson - Breezin
Jerry Jeff Walker - Morning Song to Sally
Peter Frampton - Baby, I Love Your Way
Matt Bianco - Ronnie's Samba
Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Tommy James - Crimson And Clover
Neil Young - Long May You Run
Coldplay - Dont Panic
Belle and Sebastian - Asleep On A Sunbeam
Fleetwood Mac - Emerald Eyes
Modest Mouse - Float On
Sam Cooke - You Send Me
Face to Face - 10, 9, 8
Pink Martini - Hang On Little Tomato
Meatloaf - Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
Temptations - My Girl
Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Love Over and Over
Paul Stookey - Wedding Song
Alan Parsons Project - I Robot
Joe Satriani - Love thing
Toots and the Maytals - Just Like That
Dido - Life for rent
Creedence Clearwater Revival - composite
Neil Young - Heart of Gold
Doobie Brothers - - Black Water
Rusted Root - Send me on my way
Booker T and the MGs - Time Is Tight
Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken
The Band - Up On Cripple Creek
Santana - Samba Pa Ti
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tears Of A Clown
Lake - Time Bomb
Maria Muldaur - Midnight at the Oasis
Sugarloaf - Green-Eyed Lady
Paul Simon - Something So Right
Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia
Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
Zombies - Tell Her No
Simply Red - Holding Back The Years
Patsy Cline - Faded Love
The Moody Blues_Nights In White Satin
Bad Company - Feel Like Makin' Love
Looking Glass - Brandy
Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks - It's Not My Time To Go
Oasis - Supersonic
Blue ™yster Cult - Then Came The Last Days Of May
Beach Boys - Kokomo
Kyu Sakamoto - Sukiyaki (Japanese love song)
Steely Dan - Kid Charlemagne
Cream - Badge
John Hiatt - She Said the Same Thing to Me
Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
Bob Seger - Mainstreet
Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - Lil' Red Riding Hood
Jackson Browne - Rock Me On The Water
Billy Joel - Honesty
Jim Croce - Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)
Prince - Little Red Corvette
Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Kinks - Tired of Waiting for You
dir.txt
Box Tops - the Letter
Nanci Griffith - Speed of the sound of loneliness
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Wonderful World-Over the Rainbow
David Bowie - Young Americans
Jay And The Americans - This Magic Moment
John Lennon - Imagine
Michael Franks - I Don't Know Why I'm So Happy I'm Sad
Eagles - The Best Of My Love
Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Michael Franks - Monkey See Monkey Do
Basia - Baby You're Mine
Shins - Girl Sailor
Breakfast at Tiffanys - Deep Blue Something
Keane - This Is The Last Time
Sonny and Cher - I Got You Babe
Zombies - A Rose For Emily
The English Beat - Rough Rider
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
The Colourfield - Can't Get Enough of You Baby
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child Of Mine
War - Low Rider
Uriah Heep - Rain
The Cars - It's All I Can Do
Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry
Al Stewart -Time Passages
Traveling Wilburys - Walk Away
UB40 - Red Red Wine
Emitt Rhodes - Fresh As A Daisy
Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen
Al Green - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen
Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
Steely Dan - Deacon Blues
Archies - Sugar Sugar
Leon Russell - Tight Rope
10,000 Maniacs - Grey Victory-
Jennifer Warnes - Right Time Of The Night
Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes
John Prine - Illegal Smile
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville
Roy Orbison - Blue Bayou
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions
Fountains Of Wayne - Bright Future In Sales
Elton John - Daniel
Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive
Nino Tempo & April Stevens - Deep Purple
Rolling Stones - As Tears Go By
Rascals - It's Wonderful
Lightspeed Champion - Madame van Damme
Blondie - Heart Of Glass
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Roxy Music - More Than This
Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg - Guitar ?tude No. 3
Styx - The Best of Times
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Elton John - Your Song
Kayak - I Want You to Be Mine
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (Hey Ho! Let's Go)
Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It
Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
Weezer - Island In The Sun
Classics IV - Traces
Housemartins - Build
Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown
Buffalo Springfield - Burned
Smiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Spanky and Our Gang - Like to Get to Know You
Frank Sinatra - All Or Nothing At All
Chicken Shack - I'd Rather Go Blind
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
Hall and Oates - Don't Change
Neil Young - I Am A Child
REM - Everybody hurts
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Steely Dan - Turn That Heartbeat Over Again
The Clash - The Magnificient Seven
Carole King - It's Too Late
Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma
Styx - Babe
Ekolu - Stuck On You
Donald Fagen - The Goodbye Look
Timbuk 2 - The Future's So Bright
Tom Petty - Mary Jane's Last Dance
Heart - Dreamboat Annie
Sade - Your Love Is King
Rascals - Ray Of Hope
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
Aimee Mann - Mr Harris
Los Lobos - I Got Loaded
Cold Play - Clocks
The Motels - The Days are OK But the Nights are Made for Love
Matt Bianco - Ordinary Day
David Grisman - Minor Swing
Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
Eva Cassidy - What A Wonderful World
Ho'omau - How Long
Syd Straw - Sphinx
John Klemmer - Pure Love
Bob Seger - Against the Wind
Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife
Colin Hay - Overkill
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Dave Clark Five - Because
Karla Bonoff - Isn't It Always Love
Beautiful South - The Rocking Chair
Carly Simon - You Belong To Me
Tommy James - Crystal Blue Persuasion
Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon
No Doubt - Underneath It All
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
Alison Krauss - Baby, Now That I've Found You
Aragon - unknown
Zombies - This Will Be Our Year
Blast - Dance With Me
Gary Puckett - Over You
John Fogerty - Centerfield
Beautiful South - I'll sail this ship alone
Keith - 98.6
The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
Steely Dan - Dirty Work
Jay & The Americans - Cara Mia
David Grisman - Swing 42
Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
Patsy Cline - Crazy
Basia - Cruising For Bruising
Cardigans - Love Fool
Rickie Lee Jones - Chuck E's in Love
Bob Welch - Sentimental Lady
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Steely Dan - Cousin Dupree
Pretenders - Brass In Pocket
Neil Young - Old Man
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
Artie Shaw - Honorable Mr So and So
Buffalo Springfield - On the Way Home
Steely Dan - Bad Sneakers
Don McLean - Vincent
Marty Robbins - Man Walks Among Us
Camera Obscura - Shine Like a New Pin
Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Katrina and the Waves - Walking on Sunshine
Devo - Whip It
Steely Dan - Only A Fool Would Say That
The XX - VCR
Tremeloes - Silence Is Golden
A-Ha - Take On Me
Jethro Tull - Bungle In The Jungle
The Cure - Love Song
Roches - Mr. Sellack
10,000 Maniacs - Hello In There
Bob Dylan - Positively Fourth Street
Queen - Killer Queen
Yes - Roundabout
Beatles - In My Life
Ricky Nelson - Travelin' Man
Fleetwood Mac - Sands of Time
Pilot - Magic
Dave Brubeck - Take 5
Bob Welch - Ebony Eyes
Velvet Underground - Candy Says
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love
Mink DeVille - Spanish Stroll
Santana - Smooth
Tommy Bolin - Alexis
Matt Bianco - La Luna
Gerry And The Pacemakers - How Do You Do It
ZZ Top - Rough Boy
Joan Osborne - One of Us
Michael Franks - Popsicle_Toes
Boz Scaggs - It's Over
Helen Reddy - You And Me Against The World
Shadows - Blue Star
Fleetwood Mac - Bermuda Triangle
The Colourfield - Hammond Song
Oasis - Wonderwall
Sade - Smooth Operator
Midnight Oil - Power and the Passion
The Cars - Drive
Stylistics - Stone in love with you
Linda Ronstadt - I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You
Gladys Knight & the Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia
Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good
X Ambassadors - Renegades
Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
Pretenders - Thin Line Between Love & Hate
Lovin' Spoonful - You Didn't Have to Be So Nice
Edgar Winters Group - Frankenstein
Crosby, Still, and Nash - Just a Song Before I Go
Brave Belt - Anyday Means Tomorrow
Bob Seger - Night Moves
10cc - Wedding Bells
Keane - Can't Stop Now
Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song
Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap
Dido - Thank You
Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
Zombies - She's Not There
Roches - The Married Men
Herman's Hermits - A Must to Avoid
Tommy Bolin - Lotus
Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman
Derek and the Dominos - I Looked Away
Marty Robbins - As Time Goes By
Eagles - Already Gone
Blondie - Tide Is High
Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
Lou Reed - Walk on the wild side
Jim Croce - I Got a Name
Rascals - I've Been Lonely Too Long
Stephen Bishop - On And On
Amy Winehouse - Help Yourself
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Rascals - How Can I Be Sure
Beach Boys - Darlin'
Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
Beatles - It's Only Love
Buckinghams - Susan
Dido - Here with me
Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking
Bronski Beat - It Ain't Necessarily So
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
Ekolu - Beautiful
The Guess Who - Back to the City
Manfred Mann - Blinded by the Light
Bruce Springsteen - Prove It All Night
Grass Roots - Midnight Confessions
Shins - New Slang
Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
Van Morrison - On the Bright Side of the Road
George Harrison - Love Comes to Everyone
Buckinghams - Don't You Care
No Doubt - In My Head
The Motels - Careful
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man
The Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears
The Guess Who - Undun
Belle and Sebastian - The Blues are Still Blue
Pat Metheny - Are You Going With Me
Peter & Gordon - I Go To Pieces
Fumiaki Miyamoto - Blue Rondo A La Turk
James Gang - Walk Away
Belle and Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
Cyndi Lauper - She Bop
Gil Scott Heron - Gun
Katie Melua - Just Like Heaven
Pretenders - Kid
Basia & Peter White - Just Another Day
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
I’ll continue to add to the list as time goes by.
I didn’t listen to just music. I’ve been a fan of radio drama since the mid-1960s when I stumbled upon some rebroadcasts of “The Shadow” and “The Green Hornet” and, as a collector-prone person, I started saving those programs, first on tape and later in digital format. My interest in this medium goes beyond what is referred to as “The Golden Age of Radio” and includes contemporary productions, mostly from the BBC that is still doing this, but also the occasional American-made shows. One of my favorites of the latter is the radio version of the Star Wars trilogy. The first two, “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” were produced in the early 1980s and feature several of the original actors, all the original music and sound effects, with expanded scripts delivered in 13 and 10 part serial format. I give these a complete listen every year or so and on the last day of my trip, the 580-some mile ride through eastern Montana, I listened to the first 7 episodes of “The Empire Strikes Back.” It helped burn up those miles and, as always, headphone listening is the best way to experience these.
Technology has certainly made bringing this type of entertainment along so much easier than in the past. No more bulky tape players or shuffling through tapes that only contained 90-minutes of content. Hours upon hours of material are simply (or not so simply) loaded on the phone and streamed to a communication device mounted on the helmet. Add to it that both that device and the phone are multi-purpose units, performing a variety of tasks simultaneously with physical footprints that are negligible. There is lots to like about this stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment