My Valentine's Playlist

Sweet Prissy Atherton told me one afternoon while we were standing in the back room of The Polo Shop in Richmond Oaks, "Bobo, I know how you feed your soul." I'm sure I gave her the same look that our amazing dog Mookie gives me sometimes.  Puzzled.  Prissy was a free-thinking free spirit who introduced me to many new age kinds of things. We talked some more about the care and feeding of my soul. She observed that I got a lot of satisfaction from the music I listened to. I was feeding my soul with Sade, and everything but the girl, as well as Jody Watley and the soundtrack to Out Of Africa. And I remembered this just the other day, driving the streets of San Antonio, with a small case of January blahs. I switched on the CD player in my car, cranked up the volume, and immediately felt a little better. Prissy was right.

Prissy

So, in the spirit of the season, I will share with you some selections from my Valentine's 2013 playlist - song selections that have been feeding my soul lately.  I'm putting them on a CD that I'll be blasting in my car. And when I think nobody's looking or listening, I'll be singing (howling) along. They are - for the most part - slow jams, most with a similar groove and vibe... Here we go.

1. "I Couldn't Love You More" - Sade.

2. "Give Me The Night (Chill Night Remix)" - Randy Crawford.  A great version of a George Benson song, and this mix is just right.

3. "Desire" - Boz Scaggs.  The title of the song and the "feel" of the song sound like sweet seduction, but the lyrics are all about how we're never satisfied with what we've got.

4. "You Mean The World To Me" - Toni Braxton.

5. "Angel Of Mercy" - Steve Winwood.  As best I can remember, my beautiful friend Ramona turned me on to the music of Steve Winwood during our Hendrix College days. Maybe it wasn't Steve Winwood.  I know Miss Ramona and I used to listen to Grace Jones for hours on end.  In any case, Mr. Winwood also reminds me of my friend Jo Ann (a.k.a., Crazy Jo) who thought the lyrics of "Higher Love" contained these words: "Bake me a pie of love."

6. "Why" - Annie Lennox.  This seems like more of a sad, mournful, break-up song, but I love the way Annie can transport you.

7. "Baby" - Anita Baker. Another ditty that might be considered a break-up, "begging" kind of song.  Favorite line goes something like "Now the power of your thunder belongs to someone new."

8. "That's The Way Love Goes" - Janet Jackson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUOkg4jFNus

9. "She's Gone" - The Bird And The Bee. These guys released a great set of Hall & Oates covers some time back.  This is just one little jewel from that treasure chest.

10. "I Want To Know What Love Is" - Tina Arena. This Australian released some great albums in the mid-1990s, and this Foreigner cover is one the tasty tracks from one of them.

11. "Love And Happiness" - Al Green. If you walk into a party, and Al Green is playing, you know it's going to be a good party. One of my favorite Sex And The City moments is when SJP and her date are dancing to Reverend Al's "I Can't Get Next To You."

12. "The Lies Of Handsome Men" - Sara Gazarek.  I only recently discovered Miss Gazarek, and I'm not sure how or where or when.  Love her voice and her version of this Blossom Dearie song.

13. "The Heart Of The Matter" - india.arie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJb_Sq7_jjo

14. "Get Here" - Oleta Adams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KbdIl57zL4

15. "Miracles" - res.  Great cover of the Starship song.  I have only been able to find this on the soundtrack to Maid In Manhattan.

16. "If You Love Me" - Brownstone. Another song from another movie - Living Out Loud with Queen Latifah and Holly Hunter.  The Brownstone album that this is from also contains a great cover of The Eagles' song "I Can't Tell You Why."

These are the songs that I chose to put on my Valentine's 2013 CD.  A few more that I would have liked to include, but didn't have room for - - Jody Watley's sultry cover of Madonna's "Borderline," Leon Russell's "A Song For You," "I Feel Good All Over" by Stephanie Mills, and something by Simply Red - maybe "Stars" ("I wanna fall like the stars / Straight into your arms") or Mick Hudnall's rendition of Aretha's "Angel."

I'll make a few extra copies in case you want to come by the deli and pick one up. Feed your soul. At least give a little snack. Prissy would like that. And I would, too.