By philipphilip99
While tempted to choose only from those many nominations that were plainly titled ‘Hollywood’, so that this week’s playlists would read, ‘Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood…’ in their entirety, I began to pull together the songs that grabbed my attention and noticed immediately that they sounded like soundtracks to the kind of movies Hollywood likes to make best – movies about Hollywood itself.
As I listened, the standout songs conjured up locations, characters, and, most importantly, moods, which, by some strange alchemy, began to suggest overarching narratives.
Usually, finding a playlist’s most aesthetically pleasing running order is chiefly a matter for the ear, but, on this occasion, I found myself also being led by an inner scriptwriter, who insisted certain songs’ scenes had to go in a particular order and even suggested titles for the movies we were soundtracking.
So, grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy today’s double feature presentation…
The A movie: ‘Star-crossed On Sunset’
Erykah Badu – Hollywood
Guy Clark – Hollywood
Loudon Wainwright III – Hollywood Hopeful
The Everly Brothers – Little Hollywood Girl
Lana Del Rey – Hollywood
Brigitte Fontaine – Hollywood
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Hollywood Nights
Screen 3 – Red Dust
Terry Callier – Sunset Boulevard
Jenny Lewis – Hollywood Lawn
Codeine Velvet Club – Hollywood
Billy Joel – Say Goodbye To Hollywood
The B Movie: ‘Trippin’ With The Tinseltown Tranny’ Playlist:
Frank Zappa – Semi-Fraudulent Direct-From-Hollywood Overture
Father’s Children – Hollywood Dreaming
Don Henley – Sunset Grill
The Puppini Sisters – Hollywood
Jon English – Hollywood Seven
Thin Lizzy – Hollywood (Down On Your Luck)
Dory Previn – Mary C Brown and the Hollywood Sign
Jackie De Shannon – Holly Would
The Miracles – Ain’t Nobody Straight in LA
Ariel Pink – Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
Father John Misty – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Sleater-Kinney – Hollywood Ending
The reverse dark side …
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra – Pico & Sepulveda
Where nobody’s dreams come true.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: A whole heap of dreams: songs about Hollywood. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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