theDIHEDRAL Playlist

In case you haven’t been following along…

Each month this year, I’m creating a new climbing playlist for each decade going all the way back to the 1920’s.  A hundred years of music!  Not necessarily the best songs from each decade, but songs that I can envision on road trips, at the crag, at the gym, on training days, and on the send train.

We kicked things off in January with the 1920’s.  February and March brought in hits from the 30’s and 40’s, April gave us the classics of the 1950’s, and we reached a crescendo in trying to pick from an onslaught of magnificent songs from the 60’s.

After the impossible task of picking songs from the 60’s I ignorantly welcomed the 70’s as an easy chore.  I’m not a fan of disco, and that’s all 70’s music amounts to.  Right?  Wrong!  It didn’t take long to learn that the 70’s is filled with some of the best songs from the last 100 years.  I was blown away at the artistry that came out of 70’s music.  The foundations of punk, new wave, and rap all took shape in the 70’s.  Bands like Queen and Zeppelin were still laying down the goods, as well as The Sugar Hill Gang, Blondie, The Temptations, The Clash, Bob Marley.  The 70’s did have disco, but it was a decade with so much more.

So, the “easy” task of selecting 10 songs for this playlist became as difficult as every other decade.  I am discontented by how many songs I had to leave off, but rules are rules!

I’m only picking ten songs from each decade.  So, here is where I am depending on you to fill in the gaps.  If you have a song or songs that need to be added to the list, let me know and they are going on, no questions asked.

The 1970’s (In no particular order)

1. Passenger – Iggy Pop
2. Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan
3. Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
4. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
5. Walking on the Moon – The Police
6. Everything’s Coming Our Way – Santana
7. Sheena is a Punk Rocker – Ramones
8. Black Betty – Ram Jam
9. Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure
10. Friend of the Devil – Grateful Dead

Earth, Wind, & Fire, Qyeen, Bill Withers, James Taylor, Lou Reed, Dolly Parton, The Sex Pistols, Dire Straits, so many songs left off this list.  I understand my selection may be head scratching, but cuts had to be made.  I tried so many combinations of music for this list, but ultimately landed on this final product.  It could have easily been a list with all Talking Heads songs, or songs from The Temptations, but these particular songs just seemed to fit a particular mood.  Not including the road trip anthem Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was difficult, but the initial chords of Passenger by Iggy Pop set the tone, and as everyone knows, once Iggy Pop sets a tone, there is no going back!

I loved how much I learned about 70’s music in attempting to whittle this list down to 10, I only wish I was picking the top 30 songs from each decade!!!

You can find the playlist HERE!