President Obama, during the DNC, tweeted his “summer” playlist see pic at left). Since this blog falls on the weekend between the DNC and the RNC, it seems a good time to re-share my “State of Our Union playlist; I created it before the 2019 annual presidential speech. Some people create playlists all the time. It predates streaming. People would make their own tapes. My daughter would make CDs for the car. For me, just as with drafting these blog, something needs to muse me.

I tend to go with original LPs as a general rule but for various reasons I made some playlists.

One, I call “Songs to Inspire” (“Inspiration” in Apple Music), got developed in conjunction with a story I created as part of an assignment for a Hofstra ancient literature course (We are talking more than four decades back.).

Years would go by before I re-created it as a playlist in Apple music and YouTube.

My most recent list, Rain Songs, found its muse during heavy rains just before Independence Day.  Doin’ Fine got created “to help us anyone needing healing” as the Covid-19 Pandemic hit New York.

In each of the two weeks preceding it I created Train Tunes and then Songs for the Road.

To a large extent some of my Apple Music-only playlists reflected encouragement from Friday’s blogger. When in my pre-Gotham blogger days, I posted an alternative story during Gotham Story Week, the referenced songs were included in 2012 playlist at Fred’s request. Gotham Entertainment chair Norm Spizz asked me to curate a list for a Spring 2014 Gotham Cocktail Party; I obliged.

Fred also induced me to create lists of Dylan covers; one just by The Byrds and the other, various artists.

Songs of Love had it roots in a cassette played during the first road trip Shelly and I took to Grandma Evelyn’s in Southold. Some songs got added thereafter, but only by an artist on the list who produced two new songs that fit.

Happy Holidays in Song, is one list that I allow to be open source and often include suggestions by others. Ditto for Songs to Ring in the New Year.

Do you have playlists to share?