Bowers & Wilkins sound for new Jaguar
The anticipation of a rather exciting, but currently secret, announcement to be made by Jaguar on July 9th had has thinking about driving recently. In particular, it got us thinking about our favourite driving tunes; the music we love to listen to when cruising along Highway One in the US, or the stress relief of an old favourite when stuck in traffic in central London.
Here’s the Society of Sound five driving tracks to get you started, but we’d love to hear your suggestions. And we’ll give three months full membership to Society of Sound to the non-member who comes up with the best ones, and we’ll add six months onto the subscription for the best selection from some one that’s already a full member.
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
Heaven 17 – Temptation
Eurhythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again
The Beatles – Ticket to Ride
![[Post to Twitter]](http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/theinsider/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter-big3.png "Bowers & Wilkins sound for new Jaguar"){kind=icon}
Posted by shaun on Friday, 19 June 2009 Comments (74)
Really, really hard to choose who should win this but decided, eventually, that anyone who follows Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings with Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile deserves the membership.
Congratulations MikeM and we’ll be in touch soon.
The music I like to listen to on the road is more music geared for American freeways… hours and hours and hours of long, monotonous bleak roadways, occasionally punctuated by some awesome scenery. For instance, a few years ago, we drove from Detroit to Utah, and, frankly, the first bit of interesting scenery we saw was when we crossed the Mississippi river in St. Louis, and then we still had to drive through Missouri, Kansas, and the eastern 2/3 of Colorado before things started to get interesting. So, with the stage set that way, I tend to like long, sweeping songs that last a long, long time. That way, you can kind of get lost in the song, and when it’s over, you’ve gone an appreciable distance.
Kashmir by Led Zeppelin is an awesome example of this.
Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who is good, but, for Who driving songs, I like the Underture in Tommy.
Stuff like that.
Depends on my mood (and the traffic on the road).
Anyway, I’ll try to put together a sort of list for all season:
Madness - One step beyond
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
Eagles - Life on the Fast Lane
Peter Gabriel - Don’t give up
Ludwig Van - 5th
But if you ask me the same question tomorrow, I’ll give you a completely diffent answer !
Bye and thank you.
Sorry, couldn’t possibly keep it down to 5:
Radar love, Golden Earring
Run to the hills, Iron Maiden
Highway star, Deep Purple
Go your own way, Fleetwood Mac
Road to hell, Chris Rea
One of these days, Pink Floyd (from Meddle)
pulp - common people
bruce - out in the street
superchunk - skip steps 1 & 3
Jeff Mills - The Bells.
every road has got it´s own music,my favourites are Genesis - Turn it on,Styx - Boat on the River , Deep Purple - Blind Man , Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven , Pink Floyd - Time
my age /a little older than the rest of you/music i would listen to as i drive my car. nelson riddles theme from route 66. it just kind of sets you back. bob.
Radar Love
Soda Stereo - En la ciudad de la Furia
Los Redondos - Vencedores Vencidos
R.E.M. - Loosing my Religion
Path Metheny - Daybreak (second part)
Tom Waits - New Coat of Paint
Focus - Hocus Pocus
Tears for Fears - Head over Heels
Frank Zappa - Sofa N°1
Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days
1984 - Wings
Toto - Africa
Andre from Brazil - Belo Horizonte
Fleetwood Mac - Angel
Dire Straits - Wild West End
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
Crosby, Stills & Nash - See The Changes
Rory Gallagher - Shadow Play
Jerry Rafferty-Baker Street/City to City.
Hello from Germany,
it`s difficult but
listen to these 6 and you have a lift off:
Shadow Play - Rory Gallagher (fantastic)
Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve (wow)
Knockin on heavens door - Dylan (marvelous)
Ride of the Walkyre - Wagner (incredible)
29 Palms - Robert Plant (What shall I say)
Touch of grey - Grateful Dead (to die for)
Ckikenfoot Oh yeah, Sexy Litle thing and My kinda girl and Joe Satriani Motorcycle driver it gets that wind in the hair feeling though i’m driving a car and i’m bould :O)
On the open road, there is nothing to beat Vivaldi’s the Four Seasons!!
Long distance motivation: Allman Brothers, Live At The Filmore including Mountain Jam….. Grateful Dead, Live-Dead, and similar jam vibe bands….
NYC driving: Ludacris, Move B**ch
Threading through moving traffic & fast lane sitters: A Love Supreme
Here’s my top 5
Mudbone & Nadirah X - Boy from Baltimore
Bukky Leo - Don’t go away
Gang Starr - Moment of truth
Femi Anikulapo Kuti - ‘97
Mos Def - Speed Law
hi, i´m from germany, so excuse my mistakes…
first i think it depends on the feeling in wich you are. i drive more than 40000 km a year-i nearly live in my car (volvo v70 with dolby-surroundsystem).
1. peter gabriel-live concert hannover 2004??
2. pink floyd-comfortably numb life
3. roger waters-life
4. steve hackett-life (firth of fifth) etc.
5. led zeppelin-kashmir
6. deep purple-made in japan life
and if i need it quiter and camfull maybee “cafe del mar”
hope, i could help you-have a nice time with b&w-speakers. (unfortunately volvo don´t use b&w :-((
bye bye pimo
Sabaton - 40-1
Within Temptation - Memories
Deep purple- smoke on the water
Sinergy - Wake up in hell
The brand new self-titled album by CHICKENFOOT - every song is a winner!!! If I had to pick the best it would be “Oh Yeah” and “Sexy Little Thing”. http://www.chickenfoot.us
It depends on the feeling. The best ever is Billy Joel. Songs like
- Movin’ out
- Zanzibar
- Piano Man
other possibilities
Simply Red - Fake
Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4
Joe Jackson - Night and day
Hi! My favorites is: Jello Biafra and No meats No
Dead Kennedys-Fresh fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980 !)
LÄRD-Power of Lärd
Ministry- Lady lay
RESIST
michael jackson-beat it,bad,dangerous,who is it,liberian girl,dirty diana,
reammon - star
mixalis xatzigiannis - που ειναι η αγαπη
steviw wonder - i just call to say i love you
Hmmm, difficult: my top 5 (at the moment) is:
Take it easy: Eagles
Take the money and run: Steve Miller Band
refugee: Tom Petty
Statesborough Blues: Allman Brothers
Riding with the King: John Hiatt
1. Running Down a Dream by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
2. Rock ‘n’ Roll by Led Zeppellin
3. Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane
4. Elevation by U2
I have recently been listening to Berlioz’ Requiem and Symphonie Fantastique (Previn versions) they are superb making the journey pass reaslly quickly- the music and sound is amazing!
Bonecrusher Feat. Onslaught - Come on
Britney Spears - Trouble
Cooked Beatz Mix - Day ‘n Night
Nightwish - Wishmaster
Delirious? - Our God Reigns
Howzabout:
Chuck Berry – You Can’t Catch Me (and practically everything else). Music from the true age of the car.
Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street. The whole album displays perfect control of driving rhythm.
Here it is, don’t look any further. This is THE list (limted to 20 tracks), you can all go home now.
AC/DC - Back in Black
Guns and Roses - Sweet Child of Mine
Don’t speak - No doubt
Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
Turn back time - Cher
Mickey - Toni Basil
Garota de Ipanema - Joao Gilberto & Tom Jobim
Paradise by the Dashboard light - Meatloaf
Who are you - The Who (Baba O’Reilly also acceptable)
Hypnotize - Notorious B.I.G.
Panama - Van Halen
Wind beneath my wings - Bette Midler
Copacabana - Barry Manilow
Don’t stop believing - Journey
What’s going on - Marvin Gaye
If you want me to stay - Sly and the Family Stone
Another one bites the dust - Queen
Danger zone - Kenny Logins
Solsbury Hill (play live version) - Peter Gabriel
Jumpin’ Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
There are many songs that’s great in the ride. Being a ragtop lover, I also think there are songs great to listen to with the windows up AND songs that just need to be turned up while driving top down in beautiful spring day.
Under the hard top Sinatras Fly Me To The Moon or The Way You Look Tonight will get your fingers snapping or maybe Vivaldis Foir Season.
While under the sunny skies with the top down — wellthe above This would be great as well, only with volume a few more notches higher— or some Loving, Touching, & Squeezing by Journey; How about blasting Money For Nothing by Dire Straits? Some days Born To Be Wild by Steppenqwolf — of you’re feeling carefree and a bit exotic , I go for some La Bamba (only the original Richie Valens) or maybe La Vie En Rose or Autumn Leaves (in French)
I can go on and on - but I love music while driving — but the best song is different depending on my mood, weather, type of car, and company.
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Dwight yoakam - Claudette
Boz Scaggs - Lido Shuffle
Elvis Presley - Burning Love.
Robert Palmer - Bad Case Of Loving You
Pat Metheny- Yolanda you learn
The Ides of March -vehicle
Weather report-Fast City
Talking heads-Cross eyed and Painless
Street Sweeper Social Club- Promenade
Nine inch nail- Wish
Richart Thompson- Dads gonna kill me
All Putumayo CDs
Well, where does one start!
Hotel California - Eagles
Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
The whole of Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
As you have guessed, yes I love the floyd!
Rosemary’s Baby - Michal Urbaniak
Peaches, Walk on by - The Stranglers
Incommunicado, assassing - Marillion
Na calych jeziorach ty - Nosowska
Matrix Soundtrack
Californication, Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Duende - Bozzio, Levin, Stevens
finally… The End - The Doors
Cant stand Chavvy R&B. But I found it depends on the type of drive I’m on, but if I’m forced t generalise it has to be the following five.
1, She sells sanctuary - The Cult.
2, Go with the flow - Queens of the stoneage.
3, Adagio for strings - Samuel Barber.
4, Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix.
5, Street spirit (Fade out) - Radiohead.
Ok, after looking through my collection, I’ve come up with some more.
Poker Face – Lady GaGa
Ride Of The Valkyries – Richard Wagner
Gimme All Your Lovin’ – ZZ Top
Even Flow – Pearl Jam
Heaven’s On Fire – Kiss
Hell’s Bells – AC/DC
Highway Star – Deep Purple
Tie Your Mother Down – Queen
Hot Patootie – Meatloaf
I Thank You – Sam & Dave
Rockin’ The Paradise – Styx
Nowhere Fast – Fire Inc.
I have a playlist called “loud stuff”, some of these are in it….
My in Car favorite is:
Chris Rea (have 33 of his CD’s)
Allan Taylor (full discography also)
I like to calm down when I’m on the road…
turbo78
While there are some great songs that come to mind, a few are sure to end with a speeding ticket. They are:
Roll On Down The Highway – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Working In A Coal Mine – Devo
Queen Bee – Grand Funk Railroad
Do You Want To Touch Me? – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Wipeout – The Ventures
Get Out Of Denver – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Bullet With Butterfly Wings – The Smashing Pumpkins
Peter Gun – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden
Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
I’ll stop at ten…….
Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror
There is a light that never goes out - The Smiths (as English as B&W)
Fantastic number and lyrics:
Take me out tonight
Where theres music and theres people
And theyre young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I havent got one
Anymore
Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people and i
Want to see life
Driving in your car
Oh, please dont drop me home
Because its not my home, its their
Home, and Im welcome no more
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine
Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I dont care
I dont care, I dont care
And in the darkened underpass
I thought oh god, my chance has come at last
(but then a strange fear gripped me and i
Just couldnt ask)
Take me out tonight
Oh, take me anywhere, I dont care
I dont care, I dont care
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I havent got one, da …
Oh, I havent got one
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine
Oh, there is a light and it never goes out
Spocky
A little sample for all tastes:
1st movement of Mahler’s 2nd symphony
The Dies Irae in Verdi’s Requiem
Shostakovich’s 5th symphony
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana
Dave Brubeck’s Time Out in concert with Gerry Mulligan
Diana Krall’s 1st Record ‘when I look in your eyes’
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the moon
Hotel California
Carol King’s I feel the earth move
…and have a good trip!
Depending on the mood…for speed autocrossing or hot laps at a track: Steve Morse -Cruise Missile
Emerson Lake And Palmer- Carnevil #9
ELP -Fanfare For The Common Man
Baby Animals- At The End Of The Day
Golden Earring- Radar Love
For easy driving ANYTHING
Pink Floyd especially Dark Side Of The Moon but Meddle is classic as well
Blues Traveler
Peter Gabriel
Old Genesis
Zepplin always has a soft spot in my heart
their recordings are “alive” and not disturbed by compression and gating on the channels
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia, by day
Miles Davis - Doo Bop, by night
Tool - Stinkfist, by day
Nils Petter Molvaer - Remakes, by night
My fave road cruising 5 would be (in no specific order):
1. Eagles - Take it easy
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird (just beats J J Cale’s “Call me the breeze” by them)
3. Fleetwood Mac - Go your own way
4. Clash - Should I stay or should I go?
5. Booker T & MGs - Green Onions (as requisite instrumental in any selection)
You can’t beat Metallica Full Blast anywhere! even more so in the Car!
At high revs, there’s only one to get me going: The Rolling Stones “Midnight Rambler”!!
Metallica - Turn the page
Violence, synthesizers & jumping about? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Try some real music: Verdi, Bizet, Wagner, Rachmaninov, Berlioz…The classics are endless, and absolutely nothing delivers them better than my B&W 801 Studio Monitor loudspeakers, over 20 years old, a
matchless investment in life itself. Beethoven maintained that music gives you more than art. I believe it.
Lack of dynamic range, melody, innovation?
You gotta be kidding…
Forget Pop “artists”. it’s all kitsch. Ask musicologist cum philosopher Roger Scruton. He tried teaching musicology at Boston University - and gave up. Students were no more musical than the dreaded, repetitive boom-beat you hear at traffic lights.
HL Mencken summed it up 100 years ago:
“America’s mission is to vulgarize the world.”
Not an easy task cause there are so many outstanding driving tunes. Some day, some night driving. But have to agree, they all gotta be rock and roll
Here’s 10 of my favorites
My Wife - The Who
Flirtin’ with disaster - Molly Hatchet
Lonely is the night - Billy Squier
Heading out on the highway - Judas Priest
Gun’s Gun’s Gun’s - The Guess Who
School - Supertramp
Smokin’ - Boston
Waiting on you - Coverdale/Page
All the girls Love Alice - Elton John
Vultures - John Mayer
I’ve got just one sterling suggestion…
Todd Rundgren - “Drive”
From “The Ever-Popular Tortured Artist Effect”
But be careful, it’s all too easy to keep pressing that accelerator pedal. Sounds great on my new 704s, too!
More to the list above
Little Deuce Coupe, The Beach Boys (1963)
Radar Love, Golden Earring (1974)
I Can’t Drive 55, Sammy Hagar (1984)
Freebird , Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974)
Mr. Brownstone, Guns N’ Roses (1987)
Maybellene, Chuck Berry (1955)
Born to Be Wild, Steppenwolf (1968)
Authority Song, John Mellencamp (1984)
Layla, Derek and the Dominos (1972)
East Bound & Down (the Smokey and the Bandit theme), Jerry Reed (1977)
Let’s Go, The Cars (1979)
Drive My Car, The Beatles (1966)
Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen (1986)
Little GTO, Ronny and the Daytonas (1964)
Stuck in the Middle with You, Stealers Wheelers (1973)
ZZ Top’s “La Grange” is probably the most speed-inspiring, road-twisting, tire-burning, throttle-pummeling, RPM-boosting, forget about your troubles tune ever devised by man. Designed for the open road, no-place in a traffic-jam JAM.
Open road tunes, guaranteed to generate road rage if you’re caught in a tailback.
Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to rule the world
Bachman Turner Overdrive - Roll on down the highway
Talk Talk - Today, It’s my life, Living in another world
Doobie Brothers - Long train running, Taking it to the streets
Ram Jam - Black Betty
Saga - On the loose
Eagles - Life in the fast lane
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
*Tom Cochrane - Life is a highway
*Steppenwolf - Born to be wild
Black Betty, Ram Jam (1977)
Highway Star, Deep Purple (1972)
Black Betty, Ram Jam (1977)
How can you ever say there is one best driving song? It depends on the car, on the road, where you are going, and why. But I can tell you this: In my Jag, heading south on Highway 1 as it approaches the Bixby Creek Bridge, at about 5 p.m. in the summertime, when the sun is glinting off the white caps of the Pacific and the light is golden against the cliffs of Big Sur, I just got to hear the Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” Which is strange because the surfing around there is lousy.
Morphine’s “All Wrong” makes me feel like I’m cruising Route 66 in a Film Noir movie, regardless of what road I’m on.
“She had a smile that swerved, she had a smile that curved.”
“She had a smile that swerved all over the road!”
My other favorite band for hitting the road is Radiohead, especially Amnesiac and Kid A.
Coolest of the cool:
“Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box” and “Dollars & Cents.” I drove around Hawaii with that music on vacation n December 2001, and that probably cleared my head of post-9/11 stress as well as anything.
Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire III: Tocata
Best stuff for Autocrossing or lapping around Road Atlanta or Sebring
The Fight - Over The Top Soundtrack
Give Into Me - Michael Jackson
Taurus 2 - Mike Oldfield
No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
Metamorphosis - Enigma
That`s the first that come to mind as to which songs drive me out behind the wheel…..
On my 803Ds or in the car, there is nothing like the inimitable Byrds (check out my ”Byrds Songs Covered By Other Artists”–62 songs they wrote, covered by 285 other artists–at byrds flyght). I also enjoy the Moody Blues, Left Banke, Doors, Jefferson Airplane & Starship and Strawberry Alarm Clock (now regrouped).
Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell
Ramble On-Led Zeppelin
Red Barchetta-Rush
Teenage Wasteland-The Who
Ride On-AC/DC
The Thrill is Gone-B.B. King
Red Barchetta-Rush
Ramble On-Led Zeppelin
Teenage Wastleland-The Who
Ride On-AC/DC
My top three:
1. Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive
Sunset, open road, windows down… just put your foot down and crank up the volume.
2. U2 - With or Without You
Great atmospheric track especially when you’re in a melancholy mood, having had a tiff with your partner… grey clouds & plenty of miles to go, engage with the song.
3. 2 Pac - Changes
A modern classic, not too rude to blare out down the streets but poignant enough in lyrics to share with all… and such a great piano rift.
There ya go! May I win please????
Have to agree with John on this one… electronica definitely has its place in the car and if there is one ultimate travelling tune that beats them all:
Underworld - Dark and Long
Here’s ten of my top road tunes.
Life Is a Highway - Tom Cochrane
No Cars Go - Arcsde Fire
Wicked and Weird - Buck 65
Take Me to the Riot - Stars
You Can Sleep While I Drive - Melissa Etheridge
Amarillo by Morning - George Strait
Tennessee Blues - Steve Earle
Pound - Bumpkin
The Kenworth of My Dreams - Richard Shindell
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
AC/DC Thunderstruck
Everyone knows that Queen’s “Don’t stop me now” is the world’s greatest driving song.
However, Golden Earring’s Radar Love, Craig Morgans “International Harvester”, and Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochie” give it a good run for it’s money.
Peach, Plum, Pear - Joanna Newsom
I must admit I do love a bit of electronica to get me from A to B.Four tunes in my car at the moment are:
Let forever be - Chemical Brothers
If I survive - Hybrid
Daylight Robbery - Imogen Heap
Joy - Temposhark
There’s just something about syth music in a car that feels right!
It has to be on a lone stretch of highway rather than the clogged up roads of the city. It helps if the family are not in the car either…
and it has to be ROCK!
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild (”get your motor runnin’… head out on the highway!”)
Brooce - Rosalita
Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
Sugar - A Good Idea
Underworld - Born Slippy
Green Day - American Idiot
War - City Country City
Wow! Can’t you let us in the big secret?!
Music is essential on any drive, my current top 5 would be:
Taillights Fade - Buffalo Tom
Mykonos - Fleet Foxes
Kansas City - Joya Landis
Bernadette - Four Tops
Maggie May - Rod Stewart