- 01Nuclear WarSun Ra ArkestraIn 1982, he cut an album called Nuclear War for Columbia.from the chapter
- 02“Nuclear War”Sun Ra and his Outer Space ArkestraIt’s a groove song, with Sun Ra on electric piano joined by Samarai Celestial on drums (his real name was Eric Walker, but when you’re dealing with the Arkestra, there’s always the chance of getting renamed in the deepest reaches of outer space).from the chapter
- 03“The World Is Rated X”Marvin GayeIn this, it echoes/predicts the argument of Marvin Gaye’s “The World Is Rated X,” recorded in the early ’70s but not released in any form until 1986.from the chapter
- 04“Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me”Charles MingusOne of them requires reaching back to Charles Mingus’s “Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me,” recorded back in 1961, around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.from the chapter
- 05“Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me”Keith Richards & Charlie WattsThat song, a drowsy, almost drunken blues, was remade years later by the genius mash-up mind of the late visionary (and my pal) Hal Willner, who put it in the hands of a band that was kind of the Rolling Stones: Keith Richards on guitar and vocals, Charlie Watts on drums, and …from the chapter
- 06“You Dropped a Bomb on Me”Gap BandThink about a song as superficially trivial as the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.” Or one as strident as Time Zone’s “World Destruction.” Time Zone was a band concept headed up by the rap and electronic music pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.from the chapter
- 07“World Destruction”Time ZoneThink about a song as superficially trivial as the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.” Or one as strident as Time Zone’s “World Destruction.” Time Zone was a band concept headed up by the rap and electronic music pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.from the chapter
- 08ControversyPrinceTo get there, let’s go back to 1981, to Prince’s fourth album, Controversy .from the chapter
- 09“Jack U Off”PrinceTo get there, let’s go back to 1981, to Prince’s fourth album, Controversy .from the chapter
- 10Dirty MindPrinceI was only ten, my parents were Born Again by that point, and there was a song on the album called “Jack U Off.” But I heard about the record, and I eventually heard it, and while it was plenty filthy, like its predecessor, Dirty Mind , it was also consumed with current events.from the chapter
- 11“Annie Christian”PrinceAnd “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” had even bigger issues on its mind—it’s Prince’s plea to the president to set his pride aside and deal with Russia and the threat of nuclear war (“Ronnie, talk to Russia, before it’s too late / Before they blow up the world”).from the chapter
- 12“Ronnie, Talk to Russia”PrinceAnd “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” had even bigger issues on its mind—it’s Prince’s plea to the president to set his pride aside and deal with Russia and the threat of nuclear war (“Ronnie, talk to Russia, before it’s too late / Before they blow up the world”).from the chapter
- 131999PrinceOn 1999 , the title song extended the idea.from the chapter
- 14“Party Up”Prince“Tonight we’re going to party like it’s nineteen ninety-nine.” Leaving aside the total brilliance in the phrasing of those three n ’s, syllables tumbling down like dominoes, he’s recommending the same thing he had recommended in earlier songs like “Party Up,” which advised …from the chapter
- 15“1999”PrinceReagan wasn’t listening to Prince records—I feel safe making that assumption.from the chapter
- 16“Rosario (1999)”PrinceReagan wasn’t listening to Prince records—I feel safe making that assumption.from the chapter
- 17“Five Minutes”Bonzo Goes to WashingtonLater that year, a single called “Five Minutes” sampled the speech as its only lyrics; the group, Bonzo Goes to Washington, was in fact Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads and the famous James Brown and P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins.from the chapter
- 18“Paranoimia”Art of NoiseHeadroom was everywhere in media in the mid-’80s: on TV, in ads, in music—the Art of Noise sampled his voice, complete with its trademark glitch-stammer, for a remix of their 1986 single “Paranoimia.” He was also appropriated by the cartoonist Garry Trudeau for his popular …from the chapter
- 19ThrillerMichael JacksonA year before the movie, the same month that Thriller came out, Samantha Smith, a ten-year-old in Manchester, Maine, wrote a letter to the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.from the chapter
- 20The PaybackJames BrownThere are three or four longer ones on James Brown’s The Payback alone.from the chapter
- 21“James Joint”Questlove’s pickRihannaWhen I first heard this, I was sure that the James of the title was James Poyser, one of the Roots, and I was all bent out of shape.from the chapter
- 22“So Much 2 Say”Questlove’s pickTake 6This track stopped me dead.from the chapter
- 23“Sideways”Questlove’s pickRufusRight in the middle of the record is this song.from the chapter
- 24“Workin on It”Questlove’s pickDweleOf all the tribute songs that came after Dilla’s death, all of mine were overdramatic.from the chapter
- 25“Onomatopoeia”Questlove’s pickTodd RundgrenBlack people covered Rundgren’s songs.from the chapter
- 26“Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)?”Questlove’s pickJimi HendrixWe’ve just been through the soundscape of “.from the chapter
- 27“Make Me Hot”Questlove’s pickLittle BrotherThis was part of their demo before they made an album.from the chapter
- 28“Hey Girl (Interlude)—Studio Outtake (1973)”Questlove’s pickEarth, Wind & FireWhen I heard this on the EWF box set, I fell so in love with it that I begged for the master tapes.from the chapter