2003 was the year I started these weekly playlists, and will be the last year I look back on. Since I started late in the year, there were 377 songs across the mixes that year. Here are my favorite 38 of them.
Bobby Womack's dramatic "Across 110th Street" has long been a favorite of mine, but in 2003 I heard a dj play a rare acoustic version of the song that I spend months tracking down. They are both really great. In addition to Neil Young, John Coltrane is a favorite artist that I was surprised didn't make more of these "best of" year compilations. But if I had to choose just one of his, the majestic "Aisha" would be it. It reminds me of walking alone in the jungles of Costa Rica. The live version of The Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet" by the Replacements is even more fierce than the original, such attitude and great lyrics. "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" by The Spinners is so sweet and lushly produced. Phillip Wynne's singing, as usual, is otherworldly and this version ends with a brief a cappella snippet. Mary J. Blige's "Deep Inside" features a brilliant interpolation of Elton John's "Bennie And The Jets" and such heart-wrenching lyrics and singing. The Kostars were an obscure one-off group of Luscious Jackson members. It's al album that reminds me so much of the summer of 96, my first in NY, dealing with heartbreak and poverty and uncertainty. The album is so soothing and hypnotic, and "Don't Know Why", with Ween singing harmony, is the very best song on that album. Bobby Brown's sweet "Every Little Step" reminds me of early college, when new jack swing and fades were the rage and this was the joint at school dances. I love the album version of Elvis Costello's exquisite "Every Day I Write The Book" but the alternate version here is rockier and ragged in a good way. "Games People Play" is The Spinners' masterpiece, so haunting and melodic and pretty. It reminds me of the year after college, when I really got into them and I was happy to rediscover them in 2004. "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" is the most hopeful, human song George Harrison ever wrote.
One of these days, I need to spend more time with Joni Mitchell's music. Her biggest hit, "Help Me" will always be favorite of mine, so jazzy and light and sweet. The lonesome "Here Comes A Regular" by The Replacements conjures a perfect Midwestern autumn evening. "Hey Ya!" by Outkast was brand new when I started these mixes in the fall of 2003 and I had never heard anything quite like it. "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates is one of the only "white" tracks I would ever hear on the AM Radio Dusties in Chicago. It's such a well made record. Andy Gibb's "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" reminds me so much of my childhood and the innocence of crushes. Pavement had an uneven live reputation, but the live version of "In the Mouth Of A Desert" should put that to rest, it was one of my favorites of 2003. Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" features that great Jackson 5 sample via Kanye West. "Jack And Jill" by Raydio os so funky and sly, I used to love hearing it on heavy duty headphones. "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul, And Mary is so tender and gorgeous. I really love her singing on here. "Lil' Darlin'" by Count Basie was the theme song form the end of the end of the night Dusties AM radio show, where the dj Lon Dyson would wish his late wife good night. Missing Chciago, I called the station after aI moved to NY to ask for the name of this sweetly mournful tune. Mr. Dyson himself called me back personally to tell me, and years later he passed on, presumably to reunite with his wife.
Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" has such dark beauty and drama. "Me & My Bitch" by the Notorious B.I.G. is both lewd and poignant. "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison is so uplifting. The version of the Frank Sinatra standard "My Way" by The Sex Pistols is so delightfully packed with sneering attitude. It's such exciting music. Stevie Wonder's "Please Don't Go", off my favorite album of his Fulfillingness' First Finale, was a big one for me in 2003. So soulful and pleading and brave, and of course I love how he puts his name in the lyrics near the end. "Pop Shit" is the collaboration of The Neptunes, and Pharrell's singing, with one Dirt McGirt, aka Ol' Dirty Bastard. The sirens and falsetto singing perfectly complement Dirt's paranoid and hilarious lyrics. "Rocks Off" by the Rolling Stones is so loose and decadent, and I love Mick Jagger's tired drawl over the horns. "Roses" was my other favorite Outkast single of 2003, another Parliament pastiche, with funny lyrics and an unbeatable hook. "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn reminds me so much of college. Love the Spandau Ballet sample. "Starlings Of The Slipstream" might be the prettiest song Pavement ever wrote. Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" is so jazzy and uplifting, sounding very little like anything I ever heard on the radio growing up. Otis Redding's ragged acoustic guitar-driven version of the soul standard "You Left The Water Running" is one of the best things he ever did. "99 Problems" by Jay-Z was a new single in 2003 and I loved the Rick Rubin production complete with guitar and cowbell.
