There are songs which can transform motion into movement. In 2010 my family and I travelled from South Africa to Kenya overland. I had purchased an 80 GB iPod before the trip and spent months ripping all my CDs to the device. I downloaded cover art, categorised, ranked and organised each genre and category. It took four months to do all this but the day we left South Africa I discovered that the iPod was gone. Vanished. Poof. All we had left in the Landy, musically, was a Burning Spear CD. Mozambican, Malawian and Tanzanian radio is a typically African affair, all gospel and really, really bad versions of Western pop and rap. We listened to that bloody Burning Spear CD for three months. Pure torture. Marley you can repeat for weeks but he is a stand alone in the reggae world. The loss of the iPod was a huge blow for me, almost as bad as a buggered head gasket. Yes, that bad.
In Dar es Salaam (after those long three months) we stayed at a beach camp. The owner blessed us with the most magnificent playlist in the pub. I would have been hanging out there the whole day even if the beer wasn’t dirt cheap and ice cold. Bowie, Hendrix, the Cure, The Smiths. Punk, Reggae, Ska, Metal, Folk, Jazz, good pop, Alternative, you name it. Before we left, and over a few glasses of the worlds most dangerous punch, we explained our musical disaster. He sympathised and told us to bring our hard drive around for an upload. What he gave us was 64 GB of the finest music in the history of the planet. Every album from every great artist in one little black box. Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Radiohead, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Neil Diamond, Credence, Arctic Monkeys, Joy Division, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Stones, The Stone Roses …
Everyone loves lists. So here is my Top 20 + one list of the greatest road-tripping music, ever … and in no particular order. They are either listed by track (T) or by album (A). Enjoy.
- OK Computer (A) – Radiohead (Actually any Radiohead if the wife is sleeping)
- No Rain (T) – Blind Melon (the anthem to my youth)
- A day at the Races (A) + Bohemian Rhapsody (T) – Queen
- Band of Gypsies (A) – Jimi Hendrix
- Gulag Orkestar (A) – Beirut
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Sizzou – ((A) Soundtrack)
- Legend (A) – Bob Marley
- I hope I Become a Ghost (T) – The Deadly Syndrome
- Sigh No More (A) – Mumford and Sons
- The Queen Is Dead (A) – The Smiths
- Into the Wild – ((A) Soundtrack)
- Riders On The Storm (T) – The Doors
- The Wedding Singer – ((A) Soundtrack)
- Michelles Mix – ((A) mix tape from a buddy with the greatest Alternative choons of the 2000’s)
- Greatest Hits (A) – Johnny Cash
- Ramble On (T) – Led Zepplin
- Jeandre’s Mix – ((A) mix tape of the greatest cool choons from the Cape’s coolest dude)
- Mixed Up – (A) The Cure
- Barbara Anne – (T) The Beach Boys (kids sing along favourite)
- Songs For The Deaf – (A) Queens of The Stone Age.
- Man Must Dance (T) – Johnossi
Remember though that whatever we are listening to we are listening to through the sound system and over the drone of a Land Rover Defender with big, fat mud tyres. You could slip in a Julio Iglesias CD and I wouldn’t realise your sins until All The Girls at a pee break.
While we are talking music here is the link to a video we have made of our current travels through South America. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
Image courtesy of MatÃas on Flickr
