Hello there. In a previous thread, I posted a playlist with my favorite smooth jazz tracks. I know created a playlist which has smooth jazz mixed with R&B, rap, and bubblegum pop. I chose these genres because I feel like each one compliments each other well on the same playlist. Other genres such as death metal or country would not work well in this playlist.
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/smooth-jazz-r-b-rap-bubblegum/pl.u-76oNljms9N0KJe (https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/smooth-jazz-r-b-rap-bubblegum/pl.u-76oNljms9N0KJe)
I was wondering, do you have any suggestions of good tracks that would fit with this playlist?
Anyone want to ask bandit what "bubblegum pop" is?
I've always heard it as late '60s-early '70s peppy, "innocent" rock music - "Sugar, Sugar" and all that. I would guess it would also include what we called "mall music" in the '80s - Tiffany, early boy bands.
Quote from: Pink Jazz on September 26, 2025, 02:52:23 PMbubblegum pop
I don't know if you consider them to be included in that category, but The Monkees are underrated.
Elton John had a "Bubblegum Era"; for example:
"Crocodile Rock" would fit that mold too.
Quote from: kphoger on September 26, 2025, 03:43:52 PMQuote from: Pink Jazz on September 26, 2025, 02:52:23 PMbubblegum pop
I don't know if you consider them to be included in that category, but The Monkees are underrated.
They're an interesting case - definitely as created they could be considered bubblegum, but as they went on to write more of the own material and perform their own instruments, in my opinion they were a lot more legit. Definitely an underrated band, though.
Quote from: gonealookin on September 26, 2025, 03:52:07 PMElton John had a "Bubblegum Era"; for example:
"Crocodile Rock" would fit that mold too.
Yeah, there was that '50s revival/nostalgia in the '70s. Sha Na Na could be considered bubblegum.
A little more seriously, I see you have one song off Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life" album on there, and there are definitely more to consider on that album. "As" was always one of my favorites. It goes along with your Earth, Wind and Fire selections.
"Songs in the Key of Life" is one of those albums that everybody in high school had; Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" and Supertramp's "Breakfast in America" come to mind as well. NOBODY would admit to liking disco, which was all over the radio at the time.
"Rise" - Herb Alpert
"What You Won't do for Love" - Bobby Caldwell
"You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" - Lou Rawls
"Breezin'" - George Benson
"Give Me the Night" - George Benson
"Just the Two of Us" - Grover Washington, Jr.
"Lovely Day" - Bill Withers
"Lowdown" - Boz Scaggs
Mansfield, Ohio was one of the nodes for "Bubblegum Pop" back in the 1960s with the Ohio Express (yummy, yummy, yummy)
And then you have the two bands that sound alike and were formed in the same city, but one is white and the other is black. It also makes sense that Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire have toured together over the years, allowing them to cover each other's songs every chance they get.
Keeping in mind that I haven't listened to your playlist to get a feel for what's already there...
"Hill Where the Lord Hides" -- Chuck Mangione
"Angela" (Theme from Taxi) -- Bob James
"Linus and Lucy" -- David Benoit
"Give It All You Got" -- Chuck Mangione
"Time and Tide" -- Basia
"First Day of School" -- David Benoit
"History Lesson" -- Dave Grusin
"Burning Up the Carnival" -- Joe Sample and Flora Purim
"Theme from Moonlighting" -- Al Jarreau
"Freedom at Midnight" -- David Benoit
"Red Sky" -- Pat Metheny Group
"The First Circle" -- Pat Metheny Group
"An Actor's Life" (from Tootsie) -- Dave Grusin
"Facing West" -- Pat Metheny
"Miss Sun" -- Boz Scaggs
"In the Stone" (the first half of it, anyway) -- Earth, Wind & Fire
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 26, 2025, 03:19:56 PMAnyone want to ask bandit what "bubblegum pop" is?
It bips, and pibs.
I have a smooth jazz playlist I've put together for my WeatherStar 4000 emulator instance. So this is all very Weather Channel, but I'm guessing that's what you're looking for (I notice that "Triangles" appears on both lists).
- "Southern Winds" – Doc Powell
- "Dancin' Shoes" – Paula Atherton
- "It's Me" – Adriano Maria
- "Diamond Dress" – Lisa Addeo
- "Sandcastles 2.0" – Brian Culbertson
- "Ocean Breeze" – Tim Bowman
- "Bad Bad Simba" – Paprika Soul
- "Funk Foot" – Walter Beasley
- "Triangles" – Michael Mani
- "Align" – Gerry Smoot
Most of these I ran into listening to KUNV radio (https://www.unlv.edu/kunv) out of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Their playlist seems like it might agree with yours, so I'd suggest checking it out if you haven't already. They have an app that you can stream the station through, which displays the names of the tracks and artists as they play. If you like a song you can upvote it and it will get played more frequently.
Here is another share link for those without Apple Music:
https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/6toKDby0G5
Du Hast
Black Sabbath
Pantera
Slayer
As a last resort, if you can't access either link, I exported a spreadsheet of the playlist and posted it to OneDrive:
https://1drv.ms/x/c/8c8194b2947f7702/ESGDeNJMmcNPnPsFRA__6O0Bskix8BCeNybrkKUDodsfZw?e=8ELK
Quote from: Pink Jazz on September 27, 2025, 02:36:30 PMHere is another share link for those without Apple Music
Quote from: Pink Jazz on September 29, 2025, 12:30:51 PMAs a last resort, if you can't access either link, I exported a spreadsheet of the playlist and posted it to OneDrive
Are people having trouble? I don't have Apple
anything, but I can see your song list just fine from the OP link.