Galloping into the rest of the mix: the sleazy "Louis XIV" by Louis XIV, the equally salacious "Wash My Back" by Mr. Wiggles, The Velvet Underground's bouncy "What Goes On", Billie Holiday's sexy "He's Funny That Way", Merle Haggard's sly "Okie From Muskogee", Nas' immodest "Eastside Story" featuring Styles and Notorious B.I.G., GZA's synth-laden "Killah Hills 10304", Tom Waits' spooky "Black Wings", and the sweet "Close To Me" by The Cure.
Next are three fun songs that sound like dance instructions: "Bust A Move" by Young MC, "Drop It LIke It's Hot (Remix)" by Snoop Dogg with Pharrell & Jay-Z, and a reggae cover of Anita Ward's disco smash "Ring My Bell" by The Blood Sisters.
Bob Dylan's gleeful live version of his "Tonight, I'll Be Staying Here With You" with The Rolling Thunder Revue is followed by a cover of "Okie From Muskogee" by The Grateful Dead with some backing help from The Beach Boys. Wonder what Merle Haggard thought.
The sweet doo-wop single "I Really Love You" by The Amabassadors is followed by Barry White's cover of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are".
Two more pairs of songs in the mix seem to go well together. First, Nina Simone's classic "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl" is followed by Alicia Keys' beautiful "If I Ain't Got You".
Finally, Stevie Wonder's gorgeous "My Cherie Amour" precedes what I think is the best song U2 ever made, "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" . It has the swelling emotion that other songs of their strain for and miss. It's Bono's best singing performance ever. And it has the good sense to steal its melody from Stevie's "My Cherie Amour".
