Friday, September 2, 2011

Labor Day playlist

From silly to somber, a Labor Day playlist to go with all that beer and barbecue you'll be patriotically consuming this weekend.

These are songs that celebrate the working man/woman and occasionally bash those evil bosses.

Go to my Bradenton Herald page on Sunday to see which songs made the final cut for the column I just filed.

1. “Big Boss Man,” Jimmy Reed
2. "Bang the Drum All Day," Todd Rundgren
3. “Maggie’s Farm,” Bob Dylan
4. “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton
5. "Factory Girl," The Rolling Stones
6. “Welcome to the Working Week,” Elvis Costello
7. “Take This Job and Shove It,” David Allan Coe/Johnny Paycheck
8. “Shove This Jay Oh Bee,” Canibus with Biz Markie
9. "Working for the Weekend," Loverboy
10. “Working Man Blues,” Merle Haggard
11. "Working for MCA," Lynyrd Skynyrd
12. "Cleaning Windows," Van Morrison
13. “Workin’ for a Livin’,” Huey Lewis
14. "U.M.C. (Upper Middle Class)," Bob Seger
15. “She Works Hard for the Money,” Donna Summer
16. "Takin' Care of Business," Bachman Turner Overdrive
17. "Chain Gang," Sam Cooke
18. "I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)," Tom Waits
19. "Earn Enough for Us," XTC
20. “Working Class Hero,” John Lennon

4 comments:

Loretta Lynne James said...

Dig it!

Dave G said...

oooh, this list isn't complete without some Springsteen. Humbly suggest "Factory." Or if you need something more upbeat -- it's a weekend, after a-- "Out in the Street."

Wade Tatangelo said...

@Loretta: Thanks!

@Dave G: Definitely need some Springsteen. How about his rousing, reworked version of the traditional folk song "Pay Me My Money Down"?

http://youtu.be/uTF2ZkqCa4M

Kirk Adams said...

"Earn Enough For Us"! Can't believe I didn't think of that one. One of my favorite bands (and albums..er, sorry CD's)

Great list!