Are you heading on a very long road trip this summer? Are you unsure about what kind of music you want to have playing on your driving playlist? Here’s a challenge for you: Turn on your laptop and look up the top 100 hits from each year starting from 1960 and finishing at around 2015.
Why would you ever want to do something like that? It’s quite simple, really. Before you even open the door to head to your vehicle, you have a unique opportunity to travel through time. All you need is a pair of headphones, a hint of curiosity and a lot of free time.
I ended up spending countless hours in the weeks leading up to my Texas trip on my computer listening to the different hits from over the years. It was very interesting to learn about the different dance crazes ranging from the twist, the hustle, la macarena, to the wobble. I even found out about some dances that I had no idea existed. As I went from year to year, the dance crazes left as quickly as they came. If I was lucky, maybe songs revolving around a certain type of dance lasted a year or so before the next dance craze.
Another thing which was fascinating was seeing how artists came in and out of time. Like dance crazes, there were some artists that only lasted a year or two. However, there are artists, like Cher, that pop in and out of history since the 1960s. However, even if artists manage to stick around through the years, their own style transforms to whatever the population is listening to at the time. The Cher that sang “I Got You Babe” is the same one that sang “Believe.” Hard to believe, right? That’s how music is sometimes.
I would have to say the best thing about going through the decades of music would have to be finding new artists that I like. Before doing the time travel project, I was limiting myself to the same artists that I was familiar with. Did it get boring? Absolutely. Trust me, I tried some radio apps, but even when using them, I found that I was listening to the same artists again and again. I was trapped. However, after I decided to take on the time travel challenge, I ended up putting brand new artists on my iPhone that I never would have in the past.
Doing the time travel challenge has not only opened myself up to new artists, but new music tastes as well. Depending on what mood I’m feeling, I now have a wide array of artists to choose from. This being said, if you playlist is becoming stagnant and you don’t know what to do, just choose a year and start exploring.
Like with anything, keep your mind open and if you are in a decade that you don’t typically listen to, it may not be a bad idea to take some time and listening to the entire song (rather than a 30 second clip) before adding it to you playlist. Anyway, I will stop rambling now and let you get on your own pre-road trip adventure. Happy listening!
