I’m a complete music nut and I take my work playlists really seriously: I’ve got lists for when I have to buckle down and nail a deck, lists to motivate me before a big presentation, something for when I need to change my thinking… you get the idea. Here are five tracks that do a job for me on a regular basis.
Have I the Right, The Honeycombs
My “Get to Work” playlist on Spotify generally accompanies my morning coffee and this surging 60s’ belter heads it up for a double jolt of energy. It’s my favourite track from Joe Meek, a pioneering producer and archetypal British boffin, whose innovations in the studio changed the sound of modern music.
The otherworldly drum sound was recorded using stomps on wooden stairs and a bathtub in the flat where Meek later killed his agitated landlady. Meek’s tragic story is a marvel for you to discover for yourself, but this song – the band’s only hit – feels like lightning he conjured and captured in a bottle.
Send Him Back, The Pointer Sisters
We all know The Pointer Sisters of “Jump (For My Love)”, “I’m So Excited” and “Sisters are Doing it for Themselves” fame, but this unrelenting Northern Soul foot-tapper predates their pop fame, and serves as a reminder that you can’t hold talent down.
And a bit of a factoid for the older folks: The Pointer Sisters created the iconic Pinball Number Count from Sesame Street, recorded around the same time as Send Him Back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk
I’d been a huge fan of Leikeli47’s unique brand of catchy, oddball hip hop for a while and was lucky enough to meet the secretive Brooklyn resident whilst filming a documentary in the states a few years ago. She’s never been seen without her balaclava on, was too young to have a drink in the club she performed in and fizzed with the creative energy you hear in her production and vocals. As close as you’re going to get to a new Missy Elliot.
You Can Call Me Al, Paul Simon
Sometimes you just need a sing-along, and it’s almost impossible not to get into the swing of this. I grew up thinking Paul Simon was lame. I was so wrong.
Don’t Fight, Donnie & Joe Emerson
These two jumpsuit-wearing 70s’ farm boys recorded an album in a barn, released it themselves and remained unknown. A record collector found it almost 30 years later in a second-hand store, made a noise about it and they were “discovered”. It reminds me that great things don’t always bear fruit quickly.
I’ve chosen to feature “Don’t Fight” because it’s more upbeat, but the most celebrated track by them is rightly “Baby”, a strange, delicate ballad that Ariel Pink covered in 2012 and will send you drifting into a daydream.
Ruby Quince is the creative direct at PR agency Porter Novelli London. He’s also a failed music producer and geeky radio presenter on Hoxton.fm where he creates alternative soundtracks for stuff (see www.nondef.com)
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