It started out as an idle whim which surfaced during a long wander across the Somerset Levels. Could I build a Spotify playlist with a song for every year from 1922 to 2021? It turned out that I could.

Lord, but it was a painful and troublesome process. Painful, how? Waterloo Sunset is probably my favourite ever record, but The Kinks didn’t make the cut at all. Troublesome? I Can See For Miles is the one I would go for above the rest of their output, but The Who missed out with that one too. There was quite the logjam around 1967, you see. That golden year boiled down to a choice between two; as it goes, I went with Scott Mckenzie as the chief zeitgeist summer-upper.

They are not necessarily my favourite songs, although some of them are. A number of them, but not all, were chosen because of the way they reflected a particular period. You see the equivocation, some say dithering, which formed an essential part of this exercise?

They are mostly singles, however that rule was waived when it suited me.

Anyway, here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4eh2YVgVlQYgJ5m4Gn9xxJ?si=94da6b2f066e454e

If you would like to suggest a song for a particular year which you think might improve things, please do let me know or put it on your preferred social media outlet. By the way, I have tried to make it reasonably accessible, so we're not at home to Doctor Achingly Obscure.