It’s been more than a few weeks now since Guardians of the Galaxy first came onto the big screen and made us all fall in love with feisty humanoid raccoons and tall tree-men with limited vocabularies. While the film itself has truly been a highlight of the Summer season, its soundtrack has found the classic, shameless rocker in all of us and taken on another life as the go-to playlist for shameless sing-alongs and altogether shameful dance-alongs. Being the music nerd that I am, however, and a firm lover of the mix-tape, I’ve often wondered if I could do as good a job of creating an ‘Awesome Mix’ that our Star-Lord himself would be proud to use on his next space mission. Somehow I doubt it, Hooked On a Feeling and If You Like Pina Colada are already taken, and there’s so many songs that have that level of hookability to them. But hey, I’ll give it my best shot!
Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke (Songs in the Key of Life)
Stevie is just about as good as it gets for funk soul goodness. His 18th record Songs In The Key Of Life is a necessity for any feel-good rotation, and he’s had a career that would make most other musicians weep. Just listen to that brass-led bridge section and try not to hum along, and ever more try not to listen to those vocal melodies and try not to jive along. Impossible, innit?
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath)
The original Gods of the riff, Black effin’ Sabbath. There’s nothing to be said about Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill that hasn’t already, just listen to the track and bang your head. Still untouchable.
Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway)
And now for something completely different. Well, not entirely, but Genesis are a different animal to the mighty Sabbath for sure. Being one of the bigger names of the prog scene in the 60’s and 70’s, and onwards, Genesis are truly a band whose career warrants exploration and a full listen to each record and every single in detail. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to outline that for you, so instead check out this well-worn slice of brilliance from their ’74 classic and enjoy the wondrous world of Genesis.
Eric B. & Rakim – Lyrics Of Fury (Follow The Leader)
Continuing the tangent of unrelated musical projects, no good mix is without a piece of 80’s hip hop, and they don’t come much hip hoppier than Eric B. & Rakim. While their career was short, it was one that left us with some incredible flows and rhythms that stand up to this day. Check this out, samples from both James Brown AND Funkadelic. Almost too good.
Led Zeppelin – Going To California (Led Zeppelin IV)
You don’t need to be loud all the time, just most of it, and Led Zeppelin are one of the best bands for the smooth, soft romps into acoustic territory while still maintaining catchiness and sing-ability. Led Zeppelin IV is a cliché in most-loved rock albums, but that doesn’t stop it being a masterpiece from start to finish, and this is one of the greater highlights in an album that contains Misty Mountain Hop, Battle of Evermore and Black Dog. Now that IS a triumph.
Abba – Mamma Mia (Abba)
Shameless. Absolutely shameless. You may be shaking your head, but I’ll be damned if you aren’t also already singing this in your head before the video has even started.
David Bowie – Diamond Dogs (Diamond Dogs)
Okay, so this is technically blasphemy as this is part of a concept album, but it’s Bowie, it’s Bowie at his groovy best (in my opinion) and it’s Bowie that recently got featured in an ad with MGS V, and all the comments are people complaining about them sing a David Bowie song with Metal Gear Solid. Which is hilarious. Turn it up.
So, that’s my ‘Awesome Mix’, what’d be yours? Let us know in the comments!
