For this Friday morning playlist, I have decided to pay homage the my hometown, and what I feel is the greatest city in the universe: New York City. With my Giants winning the Superbowl, and the passing of Mets’ legend Gary Carter yesterday, I felt it appropriate to remind you all of the simple electricity of the city that has it all to offer – 24 hours a day.
Kicking off with Ace Frehley’s New York Groove, which is the official anthem of the NY football giants, it’s a short rocker to set the mood. Next up is moe. with the straight-forwardly titled New York City. Always invoking loud crowd cheers when they play it here, this is a hometown staple for the jamband heroes.
One of my most talented friends, and feature in some of my Postcards From Page Side columns and mixtapes before, Brock Butler shares an amazing take on Simon & Garfunkel’s Only Living Boy in New York. A heartfelt piece that I find myself listening to a lot when I am pondering life, and its existence. It’s also a track that makes me realize just how many individual stories make up a city of over 8 million people. A remarkable tune and version by Butler here. In nothing short of a homage to Gary Carter and his passing yesterday, I included Yo La Tengo’s take on Meet the Mets, a song that symbolizes a better time for my favorite sports franchise.
To close things out, we go with the modern day anthem for this city, with Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind, followed by the anthem that has signified New York for over 50 years – Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York. For the exclamation point, I include my second favorite song of all-time with the Talking Heads’ This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody), which boasts the line: “home, it’s where I want to be, but I guess I’m already there!”
So, please enjoy the playlist, and remember, whether you live here, or just come to visit, there is simply no place like New York City – the greatest city in the world.
2 Responses
Great calls on this mix. A great, potentially little known favorite:
Rakim – New York (Ya Out There)
“The smell of gunsmoke’s more common than cigarettes. We got: clicks for wreck. We like: Pits for pets. We got: the Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets …”
I agree, nothing like the city that never sleeps. Absolutely love the place.
Here are some from my own NYC mix:
Across 110th St – Bobby Womack
Dropping Some NYC – Blues Traveler (also the “name” of the mix)
Midnight in Harlem – Tedeschi Trucks Band
Shattered – Stones
New York – Sex Pistols
Native New Yorker – Booker T
New York City’s Killing Me – Ray Lamontagne
New York, New York – Ryan Adams
Pacifics – Digable Planets
An Open Letter to NYC – Beastie Boys (this one’s always in my head when I traverse the city)
Take the A Train – Duke Ellington