Cadillacs, Lincolns too, Mercurys and Subarus

Sleeve notes

The starting point for this playlist was the Annie Ross song Things, with the prominent mention of a car brand at the end of an early verse (props to Gilles Peterson’s 6Music show for that one). That got me thinking.

I know from my personal love of music and my professional motoring background that there are plenty of songs and band names that mention car brands - especially from the US, with its strong, longstanding automotive culture. I wanted to avoid the Top Gear Best Driving Songs… Ever! route (apologies to friends working the motoring title/TV show), so I’ve mixed up some of the expected candidates with a few quirky outliers, some Brit classics, hip=hop (obvs), non-English-speaking songs - and Taylor Swift. (That one got in on merit, but also in the vain hope that the playlist will gain some Swifties approval and shares online. Yes, I’m that shallow.)

As befits a playlist about cars, you’ll ‘go on a journey’, from the earliest mentions of car brands in music. We get up to speed with the blues, 60s pop, indie, soul, hip-hop (and yes, there are a lot of car brand shoutouts in hip-hop), global pop, Americana, British punk and post-punk, before arriving at Bowie, Prince and Blondie’s Rapture (the full-length version, the one I use if I need a ‘comfort break’ when DJing. True story. Although I’ve got an even better one about how I was introduced to this version. You’ll have to know me personally to learn about the youthful indiscretions surrounding that one...).

So put the pedal to the metal (safely, of course) and enjoy the trip.