I never would have guessed this.
I was poking around on the iTunes Music Store, and started looking at some of the Celebrity Playlists — essentially “mix tapes” (only there’s no tape involved) assembled by famous people. I saw Barry Manilow listed, and had to know.
Two tracks immediately jumped out at me — favorites of mine, and not at all what I expected to see.
First, Underworld’s “Born Slippy/NUXX“. Underworld is one of my favorite modern electronica acts, and while most people know them for “Cowgirl” off of the Hackers soundtrack, they’ve done a lot of other excellent work, including this track (also featured on the Trainspotting soundtrack). Driving rhythms, inscrutable lyrics, and lots of electronic bleeps and bloops — good stuff. ;)
Even better, though, was seeing the Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush collaboration “Don’t Give Up” off of Peter’s album ‘So‘. Where many people would rank “In Your Eyes” (also featured on the Say Anything soundtrack) as their favorite song of his, “Don’t Give Up” has always been my personal pick. Beautiful, haunting, and full of hope for the future, this song is one that often helps me get through some of the rougher times in life. It also has one of the best videos I’ve ever seen — good enough that I remember it clearly, though I only ever saw it once, in a hotel in Italy during one of my trips to Europe. Just Peter and Kate embracing each other against a sunrise, standing on a platform that revolved so that each was facing the camera as they sang their lines. Very simple, and very effective, much like the song itself.
Good to know that Barry’s got better taste in music than I’d expect.