Now Introducing Your First Road Trip Partner: The Oldies Guy

First of all, sorry about the one-day delay in road trip playlist fun. My iTunes and I had a disagreement in which it would delete a boatload of oldies tracks that I wanted to use in introducing our first road trip partner.

Meet The Oldies Guy. Even though he has been blessed with this generation's great technologies like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook (better known as YouTwitFace amiright?), The Oldies Guy's playlist is stuck in retro mode. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. So much of today's good music has its roots deeply entrenched in some of yester-year's great songs. (See: Kanye West soul sample usage.)

So when The Oldies Guy steps into your ride, this playlist will help you be prepared to kick it old school and take the rest of the unsuspecting road trippers on a history lesson.

1. I Want You Back by Jackson 5 - Great bassline and melody, a fan favorite.
2. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding - A mellow track to go with what is hopefully a smooth ride.
3. I Feel Good by James Brown - An easy choice because of its universal sound. Everyone knows this James Brown track.
4. My Girl by The Temptations - A must have because of how great The Temps were. Again, everyone will be singing this song.
5. Wonderful World by Sam Cooke - Really, you can't lose with a Sam Cooke track. Has pop culture relevancy in the 2000s with its appearance in the hit Will Smith movie, 'Hitch.'
6. Use Me by Bill Withers - A simple sound with some soulful lyrics. A classic dusty.
7. Soul Man by Sam & Dave - Works well if there's someone named Johnny Sole in your car. (HT @wsiujohnnysole)
8. Shout by The Isley Bros. - If you don't know this song because of its appearance in those classic laundry detergent commercials, you know it because of its cameo in 'Wedding Crashers.' Either way, you love this song and you know it!
9. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison - Usually long road trips lead to interesting conversations about pretty girls. This song usually gets those conversations started.
10. California Girls by The Beach Boys - Ditto.
    
11. Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye - Another song that has ties to a commercial. Remember the Levi's ad? Anyway, this is for the ladies ... if you're lucky to be blessed with that kind of road trip.
12. At Last by Etta James - Why, yes. It is another song for the lovers. But the fellas love it to ... it's a classic!
13. ABC, 123 by Jackson 5 - What goes around comes around, and this road trip playlist delivers a Jackson 5 bookend. R.I.P. Michael.

Playlist Time: 40 minutes, 10 seconds

The Five Folks You Meet On A Road Trip

Not too long ago, I came across mademan.com, a Web site that caters to my interests of wit and pretty girls. A couple of my favorite posts include the seven lies told in romantic comedies and the nine mistakes you make with your lady friend. (Ed. note: Only nine? Really? I'm sure I've made more) Anyway, their most recent linkage involves their version of an ultimate road trip playlist.

Upon further review of the track listing, I felt as if something was missing. Oh yeah, that something is called variety. See, when you go on a road trip, you encounter a variety of musical tastebuds, each wanting to be represented and satisfied.

Trust me, I've been there before. When I was Daily Egyptian sports editor, I had as many as four passengers in my ride on trips to cover games. With Carbondale being the epicenter, we've gone as far west as Springfield, Mo., as far east as New York City, as far south as Memphis, Tenn., and as far north as Evanston, Ill. So it goes without saying that as the driver in each of those (and many other ) road trips, I had to have a good mix of music in order to keep everyone happy.

For the next few days, you will meet each of these road trip partners and the playlist that accompanies them. Until then, I'll leave you with what the L.A. Times music blog called the song of the summer by an artist who will get a blog of his own tomorrow.

Drizzy!

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