Songs for any road trip

Summary

NPR Music – “Songs for Any Road Trip” (June 16, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this lively edition of NPR Music’s “All Songs Considered,” host Robin Hilton joins Stephen Thompson and Lars Gottrich to curate and debate the ultimate road trip playlist. As summer road trip season kicks in, the group explores essential travel themes: music for every age and mood in the car, power dynamics over the stereo, the art of the family sing-along, and how the right song can make the miles fly by. Friendly chiding, deep musical knowledge, and nostalgic anecdotes keep the tone playful and relatable—and the song picks are as eclectic as the conversation.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Road Trip Rituals

• All speakers recount their legendary (and lamentable) long-haul drives, establishing their road trip bona fides, and poking fun at how age and parenthood shift the adventure.
  • Robin: “I used to be an absolute machine behind the wheel... drove 21 hours by myself and didn’t think anything of it. And now I don’t even like going to Fairfax. That’s like 30 minutes away.” (01:42)

2. Road Tripping with Kids: Keeping Everyone Happy

Kid-Friendly Picks & Tricks (02:42–05:13)

• Lars’s tip: Start the drive with an energizing song kids love—his go-to is Stromae’s "Santé"—then queue up their next-favorite to avoid endless repetition.
  • Lars: “Your kid is going to fall in love with this song and they’re going to want to hear it eight times in a row. So what I would suggest: immediately follow this song with their second or third favorite.” (04:48)
• Song Suggestions: Amy Grant, Carly Rae Jepsen, Hamilton cast album (widely beloved; “perfect singalong” for Robin’s family), and the musical Be More Chill.
• Sing-along value: Theatrical or narrative music (like Hamilton) helps pass the time and energizes everyone.
  • Stephen: “Big part of what you’re trying to do on a road trip, you’re trying to turn 12 hours into nine and a half hours. And so you put on the Hamilton cast album.” (06:59)
  • Notable lyric: “The world’s gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?” —"Alexander Hamilton" singalong (06:32)

Power Dynamics: Who Rules the Stereo? (10:10–11:36)

• The consensus: “The tie always, always, always goes to the driver.” (Stephen, 11:14)
• Lars does hardcopy CDs to minimize distracted fiddling; everyone has veto power, but the driver’s choice reigns.

---

3. Songs for the (Adult) Driver’s Soul

The Right to Selfishness (12:12–17:41)

• Lars picks The Wipers’ "Mystery" for solo vibes or trusted passengers.
  • Lars: “Full of energy, existential as hell… when you’re in a car and you’re on the highway… you want to scream along to somebody who’s also feeling the frustration and mystery of this world.” (13:20)
• Robin’s classic: Steely Dan’s "My Old School" — a divisive pick, mocked as “a wedding band that really needs to try” (per Steve Albini, via Lars, 15:05). But Robin defends the Steely Dan catalog’s weird lyrics and next-level musicianship.
  • Robin: “Their lyrics are incredible. Often complete, like, nonsense. And the musicianship… Next level. I mean, listen to the horns on this song.” (16:14)

---

4. Family Compromise: The Shared Playlist (19:30–21:48)

• Stephen introduces the "Katie is in the Car" playlist—a collaborative family selection, majority upbeat, genre-spanning bangers like Tunde Olaniran’s "Namesake.”
  • Stephen: “It’s bangers, I will say… one song that everyone in the family can agree on… is this one.” (20:31)

---

5. Nostalgia and Genre Surprises

Rediscovering Pop Giants & Overlooked Hits (21:48–24:39)

• Lars’s late awakening to Shania Twain:
  • “I just never spent time with this particular album and it’s just full of A and A+ songs.” ("Man! I Feel Like A Woman") (22:12)
  • Stephen: “I think this album… is the blueprint for Taylor Swift’s entire career, especially the era when she went from country to pop.” (24:30)
• Robin’s counter: The “certified obscure” Pat Travers’ “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)”—a festival of “guitar wankery,” air guitar, and air drumming.
  • Robin: “This is an absolute heart attack of a song… there is maybe more guitar wankery per second in this one song than anything that has ever been written.” (26:30)
  • Lars: “No, this is the song for everybody in the car.” (25:54)

---

6. Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, and Nighttime Driving

Bridging Generations and Genres (27:43–33:44)

• Stephen honors his daughter’s love of 90s hard rock with a mix dubbed “Grace Against the Machine,” led by Public Enemy & Anthrax’s "Bring the Noise".
  • Stephen: “It is, I think, just a wonderful marriage of the two sensibilities.” (29:17)
• Lars provides post-rock for late-night alertness: Unwed Sailor’s “Monster Collecting”—"Driving music, but maybe I don’t need somebody singing or yelling at me." (30:15)
• Robin adds the ultimate night-driving classic: The Allman Brothers’ "Midnight Rider."
  • Robin: “The Allman Brothers actually have a lot of great driving music… if you’re not going to do Midnight Rider, a great runner up is the song Southbound.” (33:24)
    • Air-keyboard anecdotes and more musical embarrassment follow.

---

7. Closing Out: Ultimate Singalongs & Nostalgia Bait

Late Night, Air Guitars, and Movies (36:44–43:52)

• Lake Street Dive’s "Bad Self Portraits": Katie’s (Stephen’s partner) go-to singalong, complete with spray-the-throat preparation.
  • Stephen: “It’s just a completely committed vocal… you just lean your whole self into the song and you’re with your family who love you unconditionally.” (37:56)
• Lars’s metal entry: Black Sabbath (Dio-era) “Turn Up the Night”—the perfect heavy metal sing/shred-along.
  • Lars: “...a very special Dio-shaped place in my heart for Ronnie James Dio era Black Sabbath.” (39:00)
• Robin’s nostalgia confession: Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” a compulsory, cathartic 80s anthem.
  • Robin: “Anything from your youth...it’ll spark memories, which sparks conversations. And anything from that time in your life always leads to more song picks.” (41:51)
  • Fun Fact: The timeless "hey hey hey hey" was just a placeholder lyric, and the song went through several artists before Simple Minds agreed to perform it (42:15–42:46).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Family Music Democracy:
  • Robin: “Can we all agree on the most important rule is that the driver chooses?” (11:14)
• On Song Repetition Survival:
  • Lars: “Immediately follow this song [your kid’s fave] with their second or third favorite song.” (04:48)
• On Steely Dan (and Drinking Coffee):
  • Lars: “Every few years, I’ll try it just to see how I feel about it and see if anything’s changed… And much like coffee, Steely Dan has not changed.” (15:05)
• On Air-Keyboarding:
  • Robin: “I look over and the guy in the passenger seat of the car is staring right at me… and he is airplane the piano mocking me.” (34:16)
• On Road Trip Playlists as Time Machines:
  • Robin: “Anything that takes you back because it’ll spark memories, which sparks conversations.” (41:51)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:42] — Kid-friendly road trip music & the challenge of satisfying young passengers
• [05:31] — The value of theatrical singalongs: Hamilton and Be More Chill
• [10:10] — Power struggle: who picks the music in the car?
• [12:18] — Driver’s choice: songs you only play when in control
• [16:14] — Defending Steely Dan
• [20:31] — Collaborative family playlist “Katie Is in the Car”
• [22:26] — The Shania Twain revelation
• [25:29] — Full-body rock-out: Pat Travers and air-drumming
• [28:07] — Metal for the whole family: Public Enemy/Anthrax, “Grace Against the Machine”
• [30:47] — Nighttime road music: Unwed Sailor, instrumental focus
• [32:17] — The ultimate night-driving classic: Midnight Rider
• [37:10] — Family singalongs: Lake Street Dive
• [39:00] — Heavy metal air-guitar: Dio-era Black Sabbath
• [41:56] — Nostalgic 80s anthems: Simple Minds “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
• [43:59] — Outro and playlist announcement

---

Episode Flow & Takeaways

• The conversation blends practical family advice (kid strategies, stereo rules), musical geekery, and gleeful bickering over taste.
• The NPR team spans genres—from Belgian pop to 80s hard rock, hip-hop, musical theater, and classic southern rock.
• Singalongs, nostalgic picks, and the thrill of self-indulgence (when you’re the driver) make for the best road trip moments.
• Playlist curation, both as a compromise and an assertion of self, is celebrated throughout.

---

For Further Listening

• Find the compiled NPR “Road Trip” playlist (including all episode song picks and bonus tracks) on Spotify and Apple Music via NPR Music.

---

Memorable, warmly contentious, and extremely playlist-worthy—this episode is a true guide to music for every kind of road trip imaginable.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This message comes from Mint Mobile. If you're tired of spending hundreds on big wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop [e-mail] Switch taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Robin Hilton]

Mics are on. Why are we doing this here? Well, it's road trip season, and nothing goes better with road trips and listening to music. I'm Robin Hilton. All songs considered, Stephen Thompson is here. Stephen, I know you're a road trip warrior.

[Stephen Thompson]

You know, I have been.

[Robin Hilton]

Oh, come on. Your trips to Wisconsin are legendary.

[Lars Gottrich]

This is true.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

They're the stuff of a year younger,

[Robin Hilton]

more foolish, and Lars Gottrich, you're here as well. Have you been known to get behind the wheel?

[Lars Gottrich]

I like to get behind the wheel. We do a lot of road trips down to Asheville, North Carolina. That's where my folks live, so.

[Robin Hilton]

But don't you, Steven, don't you, like, get in the car at night, like in the evening or something, and just drive all night? Or, like, you do it in one shot or something?

[Stephen Thompson]

You know, I did that for a really long time. You know, I would go back, and I still, you know, to this day, have some of the most dearly loved people in my life live in Wisconsin. I love to go back. Driving for 14 to 18 hours.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay.

[Stephen Thompson]

Does not do for my back what it used to.

[Robin Hilton]

I used to be an absolute machine behind the wheel. Like, I remember one time I was in Kansas and I had a friend in D.C. and he's like, why don't you come out? We'll just hang out. I was like, okay. And I got in the car and drove 21 hours by myself and didn't think anything of it. And now I don't even like going to Fairfax. That's like 30 minutes away.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, it's only like, four. Yeah, 30.

[Stephen Thompson]

That's the beltway.

[Robin Hilton]

Who's doing that? Maybe we shouldn't be doing the show.

[Stephen Thompson]

I don't know. What I'm saying is, are none of us qualified?

[Robin Hilton]

Well, okay. Well, so the whole premise of this show is, you know, we thought we'd share and talk about some of the songs that we play and listen to when we're on the road. Because this is road trip season, and we've got some categories I think we're gonna. And some themes for some of the songs that we're gonna play. Might not get through everything, but let's just see where it goes. Who wants to start?

[Lars Gottrich]

So should I start with kids stuff?

[Robin Hilton]

Well, that is one of the categories. What do you play when you've got kids in the car?

[Lars Gottrich]

Okay, so I used to take solo road trips all the time, but you know, now I got a kid, she's like five. She's six and a half, which is important.

[Robin Hilton]

Yes.

[Lars Gottrich]

And especially if we're going to do that eight hour drive, I need to have something right at the front of that trip that's gonna like get her motivated to get through it until she has iPad time.

[Robin Hilton]

Did you say iPad time?

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, iPad time.

[Stephen Thompson]

So just to clarify, the entire road trip is not iPad time?

[Lars Gottrich]

It's not iPad time.

[Stephen Thompson]

You are a more disciplined parent than

[Lars Gottrich]

I. I try, I really do. But anyway. She has fallen in love with Stro Mae. Yes, yes, she loves Stro May and in particular the song Sante. And I'm going to tell you why she loves the song after we hear a little bit of it.

[Robin Hilton]

This is interesting because I, I would not have thought, oh, kid friendly music. But it. Hearing it now, obviously.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, it's bright, it's very catchy, it's very fun. If I'm starting out a trip with my kid in the backseat, I tend to go for this kind of mood. But my suggestion for those parents out there, your kid is going to fall in love with this song and they're going to want to hear it eight times in a row. So what I would suggest, immediately follow this song with their second or third favorite song.

[Stephen Thompson]

Don't just get into a pattern.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah. So like, you know, for my kid, that'll be any number of Amy Grant songs from the 80s or like Carly Rae Jepsen.

[Stephen Thompson]

She is your child.

[Lars Gottrich]

Amy Grant is very much my kid.

[Stephen Thompson]

Is she into black metal? No.

[Robin Hilton]

She doesn't go from that to Sabbath like.

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

No.

[Lars Gottrich]

She hasn't really gotten to the heavy stuff yet.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, I wasn't gonna do one strictly for kids, but I do have one that I play when the kids are in the car because they love it so much. And this is gonna maybe seem like maybe not immediately kid friendly, but I can explain.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh yeah. How does a bastard orphan, son of

[Lars Gottrich]

a whore and a very kid friendly

[Stephen Thompson]

prosper in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished and squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay, so maybe it's obviously Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton. Maybe for slightly older kids. Mine are 10 and 13. They love this song so much because it is the perfect sing along. Like I put this on and they immediately sing both of them together and my wife along with every lyric. I think having a group Sing along is so important when you're in the car with other people.

[Stephen Thompson]

I was going to talk about sing alongs because I think that's a really, really important part of the family road trip and. And part of teaching your children to be goobers.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

And I mean, I'm serious.

[Robin Hilton]

They ham it up in this. Like, when this song takes off, like, around the part where. Oh, yeah, it's here, where it's with Leslie Odom Jr.

[Stephen Thompson]

The word got around. They said, this kid is insane, man. Took a book collection just to send him to the mainland. Get your education. Don't forget from whence you came. And the world's gonna know your name. What's your name, man?

[Robin Hilton]

Alexander Hamill. They sing every word. And they're in character. They love it. I never in a million years would have thought, oh, this is the one song I can get the whole family behind. Oh, yeah, it is closed at all.

[Stephen Thompson]

And I think the Hamilton cast album is a great example of something that works really, really well on road trips, which is music that has a theatrical quality to it that tells a story, definitely, and that helps pass the time. Big part of what you're trying to do on a road trip, you're trying to turn 12 hours into nine and a half hours. And so you put on the Hamilton cast album.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, and you're trying get everyone as animated as possible. Right. Because that also makes the time pass a lot faster. But, yeah, if you've got younger kids, there's some moments in this song where you've got some questions you need to answer, particularly in that opening. Opening or something. What's a bastard? And some stuff a little bit later on.

[Stephen Thompson]

But, yeah, another one for our family was Be More Chill. Be More Chill was a Broadway production that had a cult following on streaming, and that really caught the imagination of a lot of Gen Z kids. Often, like, if I'm desperate, if I'm tired, you know, and I'm in the car with the kids or my partner or, you know, whatever, you put that on and immediately two, two and a half hours are gone.

[Robin Hilton]

Is there something from Be More Chill you wanted to play, or did you have something else you wanted to do for kids in the car?

[Stephen Thompson]

So be more Chill. For those who don't know, it's a Broadway production about a pill that this kind of nerdy kid could take in order to be cool. And his best friend Michael sort of gets left behind in the process of that. And so one of the iconic songs from that cast album is called Michael in the Bathroom.

[Robin Hilton]

I am hanging in a bathroom at the biggest party of the fall. I could stay right here or disappear and nobody'd even notice at all. I'm a creeper in a bathroom Cause my buddy kinda left me alone. But I'd rather fake pee than stand awkwardly or pretend to check a text on my phone. Everything felt fine when I was half of a pair. Now through no fault of mine there's no other heaven. That pill that you were talking about that makes you cool, is that a real thing?

[Stephen Thompson]

Tell me more about that.

[Robin Hilton]

Is that available?

[Stephen Thompson]

Is that a fictional item? I mean, recommendation for those who are suddenly like, oh, be more chill. I remember that there is a be more chill tiny desk that is really moving and sweet. And that brings a bunch of the original cast.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, Steven, I don't know if you remember this, but back when you used to do a regular column called the Good Listener, this was actually a question that you considered one time. I think it was a question that a listener sent in. And the question was, with kids in the car, who controls the stereo? Do you remember writing about that?

[Stephen Thompson]

I do. I think I had to cop to the fact in that column that I don't control the stereo when I'm driving.

[Robin Hilton]

But you said, and I'm going to quote you here, you said, and when listening to music purely for pleasure on, say, a family road trip, it's most fun to stick to songs we'll all enjoy, with an emphasis on Fermo Sapien by Abiotic. I actually don't know that.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, Robin, I'm sorry. Would you like to hear it?

[Robin Hilton]

Oh, sure, we'll do that. And then I will.

[Stephen Thompson]

I once burned this song to a cd and it just says, kids mix, and it's just the one song. So if we listen to the entire nearly five minutes of Vermo Sapien and it would end, the CD would kind of go. And then it would start over, be like, oh, let's. Or like, oh, we should skip to the next track. And I would skip to the full dad mode.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, no, that's classic.

[Stephen Thompson]

You know, I used to do that when I would drive them to school all the time.

[Robin Hilton]

But the most important line you have here, and you say this at the very end, you say, but the tie. The tie always, always, always goes to the driver. So I want to raise. If there are ground rules for how you pick music in the car, can we all agree on the most important rule is that the driver chooses? Do we agree on that?

[Lars Gottrich]

Yes, the driver chooses, I think is generally a good rule. But there are sub rules in my car. I am not allowed to fiddle. I'm not allowed to, like, be touching screens. So I always.

[Stephen Thompson]

You have to be eating. Yes.

[Lars Gottrich]

So I always. I literally do boxes of CDs, but I always have a little stack. I refresh it every couple of months. And, yeah, it's just I have to be able to grab one of those and stick it in and not be fiddling around with my phone trying to find a song that I want to play.

[Robin Hilton]

Do you have something that you get to play because you're the driver that you otherwise might not get to play?

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah. This song is normally meant for solo time, but occasionally I can sneak it in if there are others in the car. And it is the song Mystery by the Wipers.

[Robin Hilton]

Think I'm retrospective by someone you used to know I think it's indecision that leads us a far way to go what you say it's not that way. Try to make a man to never end does this sound like Jonathan Richmond to you?

[Stephen Thompson]

A little bit.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Lars Gottrich]

I hear that. Sure, sure.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, totally. So this came out in 1980, I think, from the album Is this Real? Yeah, this is a great example of how maybe music was actually pretty great in the 80s. And I just wasn't hearing any of it because, like, this was not on the radio where I was growing up.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, I've been on a real wiper's kick this year. It's basically all I have in a car. Like, if I'm in the car by myself, this is what I am blasting. Because it's full of energy. It's existential as hell. It's asking for big life questions in every single song. So when you're in a car and you're on the highway and you're in your head, you want to scream along to somebody who's also feeling of the frustration and mystery of this world. And so the Wipers, especially the album Is this Real Is like, perfect for that.

[Robin Hilton]

I think one of the categories could also be music to get you there faster.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yes.

[Robin Hilton]

This song could fall under that, I think for my pick for the driver gets to decide that rule. I think I'll go with this.

[Stephen Thompson]

I remember the 35 sweet goodbyes

[Robin Hilton]

when

[Stephen Thompson]

you put me on the Wolverine of the. It was still September when your daddy was quite surprised to find you with the working girls in the county jail.

[Robin Hilton]

Come on, guys. Steely Dan, you know this, right? My old school never.

[Lars Gottrich]

I've tried.

[Stephen Thompson]

I'm aware of their work.

[Lars Gottrich]

No, it's just every now and again, it's like coffee. I don't drink coffee, but every few years, I'll try it just to see how I feel about it and see if anything's changed.

[Robin Hilton]

And much like coffee, Steely Dan has not changed.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's still coffee. Still the exact same thing.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, this is my old school. From their album Countdown to Ecstasy.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, Robin, I hate to agree with Lars.

[Robin Hilton]

Neither of you. Neither of you know what you're talking about.

[Stephen Thompson]

I know this has been a blind spot. This has been a blind spot for me my whole life. I think my impression of Steely Dan was cast in amber from, like, Reelin in the Years, and I hate that song.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay, this is not.

[Lars Gottrich]

Can I share what Steve Albini used to say about Steve Albini?

[Stephen Thompson]

Okay.

[Lars Gottrich]

What? He used to call them a wedding band that really needs to try.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, my God.

[Robin Hilton]

All right. They are. First of all, they're not a cheesy band. I think that word gets thrown around. They are so weird. They are a very weird band. Their lyrics are incredible. Often complete, like, nonsense. And the musicianship across their records, you know, they worked with so many incredible studio musicians. Next level. I mean, listen to the horn. Listen to the horns on this song.

[Stephen Thompson]

California Tumbles into the sea. That'll be the day I go back to Annandale.

[Robin Hilton]

The horns on this are sick. And also the lines like, I'm sorry, California tumble into the sea. That'll be the day I go back to Annandale. All time. Great song. But clearly you feel much the same way the rest of my family does.

[Stephen Thompson]

Lars and I are the kids in the back of the car begging you to change it, because I never get to.

[Robin Hilton]

I mean, they all just have to sit there and fume. When I put Steely Dan on, you know, it wakes me up, it takes me back, it lifts me up. You know, their 2000 album, two against Nature, may be one of the only times the Grammys finally got it right. Beat out Radiohead's Kid A for Album of the Year, Beck's Midnight Vultures, Eminem's the Marshall Mathers album, Paul Simons. You're the one. They beat that one out for Album of the year, too. But whatever. Steely Dan. Love Steely Dan. You know who else on the team loves Steely Dan? Felix Contreras. I can drop any random line from a Steely Dan song and he'll immediately pick it up.

[Stephen Thompson]

I knew you're not my only friend who loves Steely Dan. I knew there were also people whose tastes I respect. Yeah, yeah, okay.

[Lars Gottrich]

Stephen.

[Announcer]

Support for NPR comes from IBM On Smart Talks with IBM, host Malcolm Gladwell speaks with leaders who are pushing the boundaries of AI and technology in partnership with IBM. Hello.

[Stephen Thompson]

Hello, I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of Smart Talks with IBM. I sat down with Alon Cohen, who leads research and development at ufc, to discuss the complexity of using technology to analyze fight data.

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

With kick to the head, it makes contact with the outside of my arm, which I brought up. In our world, that's, that's a blocked strike. Yeah, but teaching a computer what exactly that means and when and how, like when my arm is up, that's a block. When my arm is down and hits my shoulder, that's not. It's those nuances that proved incredibly difficult for machines to be able to handle for a very, very long time.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is, until IBM entered the octagon.

[Announcer]

Listen to Smart Talks with IBM wherever you get your podcasts. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Strawberry Me. Be honest, are you happy with your job? Are you stuck in a job you've outgrown or never wanted in the first place? Are your reasons for staying really just excuses for not leaving? Let a career coach from Strawberry Me help you get unstuck. Discover the benefits of having a dedicated career coach in your Corner and get 50% off your first coaching session at Strawberry Me, NPR.

[Stephen Thompson]

This message comes from WISE, the Smart Way to manage your money around the world. With Wise, you can send, spend and receive Money in over 40 currencies at the mid market rate. Learn [e-mail] Ts and Cs apply.

[Robin Hilton]

What's next here for our road trip mix?

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, for many years my kids just had to get used to the fact that, you know, when I was the driver and they were little kids, I had complete control and when my partner Katie, Katie Pressley used to be on this show. When Katie moved in and started joining us on road trips, some changes had to be made as dictated by Katie Pressley. So we started a mix first on itunes, then on Spotify called Katie is in the Car. If you Google Katie is in the Car Spotify is a public playlist. It's got like 2,000 saves. So other people do use this. It's bangers, I will say not small kid friendly but you know one song that everyone in the family can agree on that is an anchor of Katie is in the Car is this one.

[Announcer]

That.

[Stephen Thompson]

See him flossing in the metal. The games in a higher level dimensions. We in December you see we get them together diy, French we swing it bangers, bangers he's slanging show on point he's slaying he wasn't always a spade brown boy.

[Robin Hilton]

Is this Justin Bieber's what Do youo Mean?

[Stephen Thompson]

Or you're scanning. You're scanning kitties in the car.

[Robin Hilton]

I'm looking at the Kitty is in the Car playlist.

[Stephen Thompson]

So that is Tunde O' Lanoran from an album from 2015 called Transgressor. And I think it's actually kind of in the spirit, Lars, of the Strome song that you were playing.

[Lars Gottrich]

Oh, sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

Where there's just like. There's just sounds whizzing from every corner of the speaker.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's got between jumpy quality to it and it eventually just blasts into this huge anthemic chorus.

[Lars Gottrich]

You know, sometimes I come to music late, but my personal opinion has always been music comes to you when it should.

[Stephen Thompson]

Right.

[Lars Gottrich]

So I was in the thrift store one day, saw Shania Twain's Come on over and I was like, hey, I know, like a couple of her songs. I like those songs. Let me pick this up. Ended up having a revelation about Shania Twain.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, you are the godfather of wave, man. I mean, this is true.

[Lars Gottrich]

But I just never spent time with this particular album and it's just full of A and A plus songs. Yeah. Let's go with the song that everybody knows

[Robin Hilton]

let's go, girls,

[Announcer]

come on I'm

[Robin Hilton]

going out tonight I'm feeling alright Go let it all hang out Wanna make some noise really raise my voice yeah, I want to scream and shout. No interventions Mango conditions get a little out of line I ain't going to have to let it be correct I only want to have a good time the best thing about. I don't know this song.

[Lars Gottrich]

What?

[Stephen Thompson]

How this is like, how do you.

[Robin Hilton]

I just don't know this song. You said the one song Everybody Knows. I was like, nah, I don't know.

[Stephen Thompson]

I don't know this song.

[Robin Hilton]

I don't know this song. I don't. I can't. I haven't listened to a lot of Shania Twain. I don't listen to the radio very much. I certainly wasn't in the 90s when I think this came out. Yeah, I mean, this was just not remotely what I was listening to in the 90s.

[Stephen Thompson]

I just assumed this song was on the wind. I mean, I was a college radio music director. I wasn't like necessarily listening to a ton of the radio.

[Robin Hilton]

You were playing this on college radio?

[Stephen Thompson]

No, I'm just saying this Song was on the window in a way that was impossible to avoid.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, if you didn't have a TV and you didn't listen to the radio.

[Stephen Thompson]

Hate.

[Robin Hilton]

And you got all your news from a printed paper, like me at the time, I just. Yeah, I just totally missed this. I. I don't dislike it.

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

Yeah.

[Lars Gottrich]

How's it getting you now?

[Stephen Thompson]

It's joyful. I hate it.

[Lars Gottrich]

I think this is like my hot take. But I think this album in particular, Come on over, is the blueprint for Taylor Swift's entire career.

[Stephen Thompson]

Interesting.

[Lars Gottrich]

Especially the era when she went from country to pop.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. Certainly the straddling of the two genres feels like it was a blueprint. That's interesting.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, let me play something that I am certain everybody actually knows. Unlike maybe that song, the very obscure

[Stephen Thompson]

song that is like Certified diamond by the Ria. Sam. Paint a picture with words.

[Lars Gottrich]

Robin is currently air drumming, but also air guitar standing. Wait for it. Wait for it.

[Stephen Thompson]

Okay.

[Lars Gottrich]

Doing the solo.

[Robin Hilton]

Oh, I'm breathless pat travers. I'm guana kick booty. Right. Come on.

[Lars Gottrich]

No, This is the song for everybody in the car.

[Robin Hilton]

No, no, this is the category. Songs that'll get you there faster or wake you up. This is an absolute heart attack of a song from the guitarist Pat Travers.

[Lars Gottrich]

Guys, guys, guys. Gotta check this out.

[Stephen Thompson]

I've always is known about you, Robin, that there is, like, this part of you.

[Lars Gottrich]

There's county fair rock, Robin.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, well, there's also, like, Billy Joel, dad. Robin.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, that's fair.

[Robin Hilton]

There is maybe more guitar wankery per second in this one song than anything that has ever been written.

[Stephen Thompson]

Did you not grow up listening to Joe Satriani the way I did?

[Robin Hilton]

The song is ridiculous, and I can't help but I absolutely love it. Many memories of listening to this song both on the road and in the parking lots that we'd all hang out in in our cars, wherever we.

[Stephen Thompson]

This is in Abilene.

[Robin Hilton]

In Abilene, Kansas. Yeah. Tasty. Pat Travers. I'm Guana Kick Boot.

[Stephen Thompson]

Robin. If you didn't already have kids, two kids would be assigned to you.

[Lars Gottrich]

Oh, they.

[Robin Hilton]

My children hate this so much. This is also under the category of I get to play whatever I want if I'm driving.

[Announcer]

Oh.

[Robin Hilton]

Anyway, Steven, where do you. I guess you get to play something else here.

[Lars Gottrich]

All right.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, you know, one trick to pulling off a family road trip is to meet the other people in the car part way. My daughter. My daughter loves 90s hard rock and heavy metal. And a few years back, she did the greatest thing any Child can do for a parent. She said, dad, can you make me a mix?

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

I really thought you were gonna tell the story of when she came to you and said, dad, have you ever seen the human centipede?

[Stephen Thompson]

I tell that story frequently. She was about 11.

[Robin Hilton]

Have you ever seen the human centipede?

[Stephen Thompson]

I was literally tucking her in at night, had turned out the light kissed her forehead. And this sweet voice cuts through the darkness. Dad, have you ever seen a movie called the human sense pod?

[Lars Gottrich]

Oh, God.

[Stephen Thompson]

So grace has always loved the darkness, clearly including the band the darkness. And so I made her a m of heavy music of the 90s called Grace against the machine.

[Robin Hilton]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Stephen Thompson]

And it kicks off with this. How low can you go Death row? What a brother know Once again back. It's the incredible rhyme animal the uncannable d. Public enemy number one five bull said trees and I got dumb Then I tell him never really never had a gun but it's the wax got the terminator x1 gotta got me in a cell Cause my records they sell. Cause a fellow like me said well, there comes a poppin And I think you all are listening to what it can say to you what you ought to do.

[Robin Hilton]

It's a public enemy.

[Stephen Thompson]

Public enemy with Anthrax.

[Lars Gottrich]

Right, Right.

[Stephen Thompson]

So the song later in the song Chuck D shouts out waxes for anthrax. Still, it can rock bells. And it's like a shout out to Anthrax in this song that is also praising, like Eric B and Rakim. And Anthrax took this for the greatest honor imaginable that it was, and did kind of a version of the song for one of their albums that pairs up, like, Chuck D raps the first two verses, and then anthrax kind of comes in and does the second two. And it is, I think, just a wonderful marriage of the two sensibilities.

[Lars Gottrich]

So this is a completely different vibe. But one thing that I've been thinking about lately is how do I soundtrack nighttime when I'm still on the road? Maybe other people have nodded off in the car, and I still need music that is driving music, but maybe I don't need somebody singing or yelling at me.

[Robin Hilton]

But you can't. Nothing that's gonna make you fall asleep.

[Lars Gottrich]

Nothing that's gonna make you fall asleep. So it still has to be engaging enough. And so I immediately went to the band Unwed Sailor from the wonderful bassist and songwriter Jonathan Ford.

[Stephen Thompson]

Sam.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, this is good. It's like, it's probably not gonna wake anybody else up, right? It's not gonna put you to sleep, but it's got enough drive to sort of lift you up and kind of energize you.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah, it's a good pick.

[Stephen Thompson]

There's a lilt to it.

[Lars Gottrich]

Yeah. Yeah. And this is from a record called Cruel Entertainment. The song's called Monster Collecting. Perfect for that moment in the night where you got a lot of thoughts running through your head and you need to collect them a little bit, but you don't need somebody else telling you what to think. So it's like, it's good meditative, but driving music.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, if we're going to do nighttime music, I brought something that I think is sort of the ultimate driving song. It's perfect for night, but actually you could probably do it just about anytime. But I often think about it when I think about nighttime music.

[Stephen Thompson]

I've got to run to keep ro and I'm bound to keep on running I've got one more silver dollar But I'm not gonna let them catch me no, I don't let them catch the midnight.

[Robin Hilton]

I'm literally never having you on the show again.

[Stephen Thompson]

If you guys don't know Robin, you just grew a Hawaiian shirt.

[Robin Hilton]

Allman Brothers, this is Midnight Rider from their album Idle Wild South.

[Stephen Thompson]

I just like Robin's demeanor. The character you are playing this entire episode is Homer Simpson yelling out the car to his kids. For more about Grand Funk, consult your local library. Is that Homer?

[Robin Hilton]

The Homer Palooza episode? I actually watched that recently with my kids, and I thought everything that Homer played for them was amazing.

[Stephen Thompson]

The competent drum work of Don Brewer.

[Robin Hilton]

The Allman Brothers actually have a lot of great driving music. I would say if you're not going to do Midnight Rider, a great runner up as the song Southbound. I'm assuming you guys know the song Southbound.

[Stephen Thompson]

It all just sounds like Steely Dan playing Reelin in the years. Oh, God.

[Robin Hilton]

There's this great piano part to Southbound. And I remember listening to this song one time. I was on the highway. I was in my VW Bug driving home from college. It was a long drive and I had this song blasting. And it got to the piano solo. And I was airplane the keyboard.

[Lars Gottrich]

Sure.

[Robin Hilton]

Along with this. And I'm just jamming. Yes. And I see out of the corner of my eye, this other car slowly comes up alongside me on the highway. And I look over and the guy in the passenger seat of the car is staring right at me. He's kind of sitting sideways and he is airplane the piano mocking me. He had seen me playing the keyboard on my invisible keyboard over the steering wheel and made Last time I ever played the invisible keyboard keyboard in my car, he totally ruined it for me. Now I yeah, and unless I'm sometimes I'll just go out and sit in my car in the driveway and just play the song, listen to the song

[Stephen Thompson]

and play playing air keyboard while crying

[Robin Hilton]

and playing the air keyboard over it. Anyway, Allman Brothers Midnight Rider. Great song. Everyone should listen to it.

[Announcer]

Support for NPR comes from IBM on Smart Talks with IBM, host Malcolm Gladwell speaks with leaders who are pushing the boundaries of AI and technology in partnership with IBM. Hello.

[Stephen Thompson]

Hello, I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of Smart Talks with IBM. I sat down with Alon Cohen, who leads research and development at UFC to discuss the complexity of using technology to analyze fight data.

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

With kick to the head, it makes contact with the outside of my arm, which I brought up. In our world, that's a blocked strike. Yeah, but teaching a computer what exactly that means and when and how. Like when my arm is up, that's a block. When my arm is down and hits my shoulder, that's not. It's those nuances that proved incredibly difficult for machines to be able to handle for a very, very long time.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is until IBM entered the octagon.

[Announcer]

Listen to Smart Talks with IBM wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen Thompson]

This message comes from Vanta. How many third party vendors does your company use? 2200 thanks to AI. Someone on your team probably added three more this week and your security lead has no idea. Traditional third party risk management can't keep up. Vanta gives you continuous coverage across every vendor automatically. So you actually know what's in your stack and what to do about it. Aion risk off vanta.comtprm I think we

[Robin Hilton]

all have maybe one more thing that we're gonna play here.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, what I thought I would go with is the go to sing along in the car for my partner Katie. This song by the band Lake Street Dive. And when this song comes on, everybody stops. Katie goes mimics the spraying her throat.

[Lars Gottrich]

Oh yes.

[Stephen Thompson]

And proceeds to belt this out at the top of her lungs.

[Robin Hilton]

Would it be true to say that I ordered you or is it you that ordered me?

[Stephen Thompson]

I could say you are the only

[Robin Hilton]

one I see But I can't stop

[Stephen Thompson]

at 2 or 3

[Robin Hilton]

and

[Lars Gottrich]

I'm afraid to need you so

[Robin Hilton]

I'm too sober

[Stephen Thompson]

not to know that you may be my problem not my love.

[Robin Hilton]

Can Katie sing this?

[Lars Gottrich]

Does she?

[Robin Hilton]

Can she sing?

[Stephen Thompson]

You know she can hold her own. She certainly like the notes are in the correct order. I mean, Rachel Price, the singer for Lake Street Dive, she's a tough act to match. But what is fun about that song as a sing along is it's just a completely committed vocal. And I think that's the most fun part of like late night sing along is you just lean your whole self into the song and you're with your family who love you unconditionally. That is a fun Pick me up, wake up Late night communal. Everybody's just kind of wired and weird and just committed to the bit for the moment. That is a really fun place in the late night road trip experience.

[Lars Gottrich]

So a lot of what I've been hearing and that we have not named as a category is can you air instrument to this song? So we. I feel like.

[Robin Hilton]

And if you can, then it's in. Yeah.

[Lars Gottrich]

So like, Robin, you had your traverse thing.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, well. And the Allman Brothers.

[Lars Gottrich]

And the Allman Brothers. And Stephen, during the Public Enemy song, you were like, I saw you rapping. So I will enter my song into this category. With all due respect to the late Ozzy Osbourne, I have a very special Dio shaped place in my heart for Ronnie James Dio era Black Sabbath. And so turn up the night. Let's do it, Robin.

[Robin Hilton]

Okay, fine.

[Stephen Thompson]

Rumble of thunder I'm sudden under your spell no, I am a reason the

[Robin Hilton]

time of the season.

[Stephen Thompson]

Totally air guitary.

[Robin Hilton]

Oh, God, that face. Lars, you mentioned stank face. The other on the other, other recent show we did. And now I've seen it with my own two eyes. It's a thing. This whole album, Mob Rules is awesome. I would have gone with the title track myself is my favorite one.

[Lars Gottrich]

Can't go wrong.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

And Dio's post Sabbath stuff is excellent.

[Lars Gottrich]

Oh, Dio. Solo, solo Dio. Holy Diver. Oh, my gosh, Forget about it.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's the sound of Iola, Wisconsin in 1986 or whatever it was you.

[Robin Hilton]

You also, Lars, you did a whole playlist of metal for driving. Years ago, many years ago, the NPR music team did a whole series of songs for road trips.

[Lars Gottrich]

Mine was just simply called Heavy Metal Road Trip. Yeah. Yep.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, Stephen mentioned the importance of sing alongs. I think another thing that is really important is something that taps into the nostalgia. Well, something from your youth, particularly your teen years. I think anything that takes you back because it'll spark memories, which sparks conversations. And anything from that, you know, from that time in your life always leads to more song picks because it makes the other person in the car think of, you know, you Know, Steven, you've got. You've mentioned all these great playlists you have. I have one on my computer, and it is called no One Needs to Know this. And in the no One Needs to Know this playlist, you will hear this one.

[Announcer]

Dancing.

[Robin Hilton]

Don't you forget about me. So the lead singer, Jim Kerr, he intended to write more lyrics for this song and those. Although, hey, hey, all that was, like, supposed to be a placeholder. And then he goes into the studio and it does, and they're like, you know what? That sounds pretty good print.

[Lars Gottrich]

I didn't know that. Yeah, let's just.

[Robin Hilton]

Let's just go with that. But, you know, this whole song, so they did not write it. Simple Minds did not write it.

[Lars Gottrich]

It.

[Robin Hilton]

A music producer who was working on the film wrote the song. Simple Minds initially turned it down. Then they went to, like, Billy Idol turned it down. Corey Hart turned it down.

[Stephen Thompson]

I could hear Corey Hart or Billy Idol.

[Robin Hilton]

These are all great. Brian Ferry turned it down. All of them could have pulled this song. They eventually go back to Simple Minds. They're like, come on, man, you guys got to do this. So Simple Minds, very.

[Stephen Thompson]

Come on, Cory Hart, turn this down.

[Robin Hilton]

So they were like, okay, fine, we'll do it. And it ends up being this massive hit. It's an anthem of a generation and instantly takes people back to that time. And this. This song and this whole SoundTrack is now 40 years old. It's celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Came out in 85. Anyway, so, yes, I'm admitting that I have a playlist called no One Needs to Know. And it is full of all of the 85 pop songs that I actually, really, really love. And this is one of them. I could have gone with Crowded House, maybe. Don't Dream it's over.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, my God. Anything by Crowded House.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah, Squeeze Tempted. Anyway, lots of great stuff. We'll put all these songs and anything else that we can think of into a road trip playlist that people can find on Spotify and Apple.

[Stephen Thompson]

A very confusing road trip playlist.

[Robin Hilton]

What is happening?

[Stephen Thompson]

Pat Travers, Chuck D. Strome. Strome.

[Robin Hilton]

Public Enemy. Yes, but these are guidelines.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yes.

[Lars Gottrich]

This is a way to inspire you to make your own mix for your road trip. Yes.

[Robin Hilton]

All right, so we'll go out on this. Lars Gottridge, Stephen Thompson, thanks as always.

[Guest or Additional Speaker]

Thank you.

[Lars Gottrich]

Thank you.

[Robin Hilton]

And for NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's All Songs Considered. Forget about me. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't you forget about me.

[Announcer]

This message comes from Mint Mobile. If you're tired of spending hundreds on big wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop [e-mail] Switch taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. This message comes from Odoo. How many streaming subscriptions do you have? Is it the same for your business? Avoid it by having all of your business on one platform. Try Odoo for [e-mail] that's o d o o dot com.