Little Malcolm’s Playlists

Most Thoughts on Character (TOC) posts are intended for broad audiences of parents, teachers, and concerned citizens. Others are for those who just might share some of the obsessions of the author. This is one of those posts.

There’s a special place in my heart for any of my/our students who take a shot at the arts as a profession. When it works out (For our purposes here, “works out” = “liveable wage.”), two factors always seem to be present:

1. They cannot not do it. (As students they were always drumming on the desk… doodling on napkins… late for class while attempting to master a particular guitar riff.)
2. They develop a thick skin enabling them to perservere in the face of rejection.

Regardless of how it might work out, the effort, unto itself, can be a bonafide battle-tester on par with any graduate degree program.

Truth be told, I also feel some envy. As much as I love what I do, should I ever find myself daydreaming about doing something else, music is always involved: performer, dj, music journalist, impresario, etc.

Since middle school, I’ve always listened to it… intently. During my Malcolm’s Monthly days (1988-1998), I started writing reviews of albums I liked. [Fun Fact: My very first dip of that toe in that water occurred in January of 1988 (Vol. V, Issue 6) with a few words about Lou Reed’s Love and Magic and Donald Fagen’s New York Rock & Soul Revue.] At this point, the “Cultural Bias” category of TOC contains over 75 posts devoted to music. I’ve also gotten into making Spotify playlists. In fact…

Maybe it’s time to offer some suggestions for your listening pleasure? If you do Spotify, you’ll see that all of my public playlists kick off with “Little Malcolm” in the title. (I figured no one else out there would have that handle!) Some are recent (last year or two) and some I’ve been updating for years.

Since I opened this post referring to my students, lets’s start with them:

Little Malcolm’s Happy-Go-Lucky-Throng-Songs features songs recorded by Hyde alums and parents. (The title steals from a line in the school song.) Then there’s Little Malcolm’s (remember to include the “Little Malcolm” part in the playlist title)…

… Faves by Faves — 12 hours of songs by my Top-100 favorite artists, two songs from each.

… Unsung Singers — 3+ hours of songs sung by artists (5 songs each) I happen to love who have never quite caught the wave of fame/acclaim that I fervently believe they deserve.

… Jazz — At 16+ hours, my largest playlist.

… Ladies Sing the Blues — Just started this one. Shoot me some songs to add.

… Songs for History Majors — 34 songs with historical themes. Bet you didn’t know there is a song titled “Warren Harding” and another named “Nixonland.” (Great for history teachers in need of last-minute class “fillers.”)

… 16-3 The Band Vocals — 16-song list presenting the unique qualities of each of The Band’s 3 individual soloists. (The Point: No other 60s/70s band boasted 3 front-person-worthy vocalists.) Four songs for each singer and 4 more as a harmonic trio worthy of a blues/folk/country answer to the Beach Boys or CSNY.

… Songs of Race & Us — Each year I teach a 3-session class to the whole school titled “Race & Us.” Song is a big part of it: Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday (“Strange Fruit”), Mahalia Jackson “We Shall Overcome”), Mingus, Public Enemy, Stevie, Sly, The Staples, Gil Scott-Heron (“The Revolution Will Not be Televised”), Leadbelly (“Bourgeois Blues”) and more.

Little Malcolm Goes Soft — 5+ hours of slow, softer songs.

Finally, for the past several years, I have also compiled a “songs of the year” list featuring songs newly released during that particular given year. These include “Little Malcolm’s ‘24 More”… Little Malcolm’s 23 for ’23″… Little Malcolm’s 2022 Skidoo”… Little Malcolm’s Best of 2021… Little Malcolm’s Cultural Bias is so 2020.”

(Rock) Onward, (Little) Malcolm Gauld