James at 50 Playlist

James at 50!

So, last weekend, I turned 50 years old! It’s hard for me to believe, but it really happened. And despite it being the coldest night of the winter so far, at least 25 of my friends made the journey (some from as far away as Waterloo!) down to Kensington Market to celebrate with me. I’ve been a recent regular at a cozy little bar called the Kensington Lodge, and they were nice enough to let me curate my very own playlist of favourites. I’d been planning to include music spanning my entire lifetime, but I found that by the time I got to 1985, the playlist was 150 songs and more than 9 hours long. That’s the reason that I started my party at 5:00pm! Even so, we only got up to about 125 songs played before we all headed home. Here for posterity is my epic playlist. And I’d be happy to organize another 9-hour party somewhere just so I could play this again!

p.s. The above photo was actually taken at Kensington Lodge the night of my party. I don’t know whether that sign was there just for me, but it felt appropriate. 🙂

  1. Help! – The Beatles (1965)
  2. In My Life – The Beatles (1965)
  3. Le temps de l’amour – Françoise Hardy (1965)
  4. All Day and All of the Night – The Kinks (1965)
  5. Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones (1965)
  6. I Fought the Law – The Bobby Fuller Four (1966)
  7. Judge Dread – Prince Buster (1966)
  8. Wipeout – The Ventures (1966)
  9. Here Comes My Baby – Cat Stevens (1967)
  10. These Days – Nico (1967)
  11. The Way Young Lovers Do – Van Morrison (1968)
  12. Rain From the Skies – Delroy Wilson (1969)
  13. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin (1969)
  14. No Fun – The Stooges (1969)
  15. Wild World – Cat Stevens (1970)
  16. What is Life? – George Harrison (1970)
  17. Who Loves the Sun? – The Velvet Underground (1970)
  18. Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath (1971)
  19. Queen Bitch – David Bowie (1971)
  20. Cross-Eyed Mary – Jethro Tull (1971)
  21. Do Ya – The Move (1971)
  22. Thirteen – Big Star (1972)
  23. Growin’ Up – Bruce Springsteen (1972)
  24. Dream On – Aerosmith (1973)
  25. Search and Destroy – Iggy and the Stooges (1973)
  26. She Cracked – The Modern Lovers (1973)
  27. Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder (1973)
  28. Magic – Pilot (1974)
  29. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (1975)
  30. More Than a Feeling – Boston (1976)
  31. Livin’ Thing – Electric Light Orchestra (1976)
  32. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas (1976)
  33. Blinded by the Light – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (1976)
  34. Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones (1976)
  35. I Wish – Stevie Wonder (1976)
  36. Breakdown – Buzzcocks (1977)
  37. Sonic Reducer – Dead Boys (1977)
  38. Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac (1977)
  39. Barracuda – Heart (1977)
  40. The Passenger – Iggy Pop (1977)
  41. Teenage Lobotomy – The Ramones (1977)
  42. God Save the Queen – Sex Pistols (1977)
  43. Hanging on the Telephone – Blondie (1978)
  44. Just What I Needed – The Cars (1978)
  45. Uncontrollable Urge – Devo (1978)
  46. Shot By Both Sides – Magazine (1978)
  47. Hot Child in the City – Nick Gilder (1978)
  48. Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones (1978)
  49. So Lonely – The Police (1978)
  50. I Just Wanna Have Something to Do – The Ramones (1978)
  51. Nicotine Stain – Siouxsie and the Banshees (1978)
  52. Warning Sign – Talking Heads (1978)
  53. 52 Girls – The B-52s (1979)
  54. Someone’s Lookin’ at You – The Boomtown Rats (1979)
  55. I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick (1979)
  56. London Calling – The Clash (1979)
  57. New York City – The Demics (1979)
  58. Tired of Waking Up Tired – The Diodes (1979)
  59. Hey St. Peter – Flash and the Pan (1979)
  60. Damaged Goods – Gang of Four (1979)
  61. Flat Tire – The Government (1979)
  62. I’m Bored – Iggy Pop (1979)
  63. Got the Time – Joe Jackson (1979)
  64. Transmission – Joy Division (1979)
  65. Disorder – Joy Division (1979)
  66. My Sharona – The Knack (1979)
  67. Pop Muzik – M (1979)
  68. Bed and Breakfast Man – Madness (1979)
  69. Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe (1979)
  70. In The Flesh? – Pink Floyd (1979)
  71. Bring on the Night – The Police (1979)
  72. Rock Billy Boogie – Robert Gordon (1979)
  73. I Got You – Split Enz (1979)
  74. Cool for Cats – Squeeze (1979)
  75. The Logical Song – Supertramp (1979)
  76. Heaven – Talking Heads (1979)
  77. Picture My Face – Teenage Head (1979)
  78. Down in the Park – Tubeway Army (1979)
  79. Teenage Kicks – The Undertones (1979)
  80. Making Plans for Nigel – XTC (1979)
  81. Ant Music – Adam and the Ants (1980)
  82. A Forest – The Cure (1980)
  83. Twist and Crawl – The English Beat (1980)
  84. Raised Eyebrows – The Feelies (1980)
  85. My Mistake – The Kingbees (1980)
  86. This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide – The Kings (1980)
  87. A Song from Under the Floorboards – Magazine (1980)
  88. Paint by Number Heart – Martha and the Muffins (1980)
  89. Ace of Spades РM̦torhead (1980)
  90. Blue Boy – Orange Juice (1980)
  91. The Wait – Pretenders (1980)
  92. High School Confidential – Rough Trade (1980)
  93. Happy House – Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980)
  94. Do Nothing – The Specials (1980)
  95. Pulling Mussels – Squeeze (1980)
  96. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) – Talking Heads (1980)
  97. Disgusteen – Teenage Head (1980)
  98. Los Angeles – X (1980)
  99. Brand New Life – Young Marble Giants (1980)
  100. Black and White – The dB’s (1981)
  101. Watch Your Step – Elvis Costello and The Attractions (1981)
  102. Sex Beat – Gun Club (1981)
  103. Sorry for Laughing – Josef K (1981)
  104. Academy Fight Song – Mission of Burma (1981)
  105. Ceremony – New Order (1981)
  106. Super Freak – Rick James (1981)
  107. Tainted Love – Soft Cell (1981)
  108. Ghost Town – The Specials (1981)
  109. Throwing My Baby Out with the Bathwater – Tenpole Tudor (1981)
  110. Song Without an Ending – The The (1981)
  111. It’s Going to Happen! – The Undertones (1981)
  112. The Look of Love (Part One) – ABC (1982)
  113. I Could Be Happy – Altered Images (1982)
  114. I Love a Man in a Uniform – Gang of Four (1982)
  115. Love Plus One – Haircut 100 (1982)
  116. Compulsion – Joe Crow (1982)
  117. The Safety Dance – Men Without Hats (1982)
  118. Falling and Laughing – Orange Juice (1982)
  119. Love My Way – The Psychedelic Furs (1982)
  120. Someone Somewhere in Summertime – Simple Minds (1982)
  121. Nova Heart – The Spoons (1982)
  122. A New England – Billy Bragg (1983)
  123. Don’t Walk Past – Blue Peter (1983)
  124. The Walls Came Down – The Call (1983)
  125. Saved By Zero – The Fixx (1983)
  126. Laughing – R.E.M. (1983)
  127. This Is The Day – The The (1983)
  128. Europa and the Pirate Twins – Thomas Dolby (1983)
  129. Blister in the Sun – Violent Femmes (1983)
  130. Sixty Eight Guns – The Alarm (1984)
  131. The Saturday Boy – Billy Bragg (1984)
  132. Cath – The Bluebells (1984)
  133. Gonna Get Close to You – Dalbello (1984)
  134. Tenderness – General Public (1984)
  135. Are You Ready to be Heartbroken? – Lloyd Cole and The Commotions (1984)
  136. Doesn’t Really Matter – Platinum Blonde (1984)
  137. Waxie’s Dargle – The Pogues (1984)
  138. Listen to the Radio – Pukka Orchestra (1984)
  139. Harborcoat – R.E.M. (1984)
  140. How Soon is Now? – The Smiths (1984)
  141. This Charming Man – The Smiths (1984)
  142. My Ever Changing Moods – The Style Council (1984)
  143. Take On Me – a-ha (1985)
  144. She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult (1985)
  145. Like to Get to Know You Well – Howard Jones (1985)
  146. Call It Love – Images in Vogue (1985)
  147. Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (1985)
  148. Dirty Old Town – The Pogues (1985)
  149. FFF – Public Image Ltd. (1985)
  150. The Whole of the Moon – The Waterboys (1985)

One thought on “James at 50 Playlist”

Comments are closed.