My Top 5 Playlists For Trading Sessions
If anyone knows me at all they know I love music. All kinds of music from all time periods so long as it’s good and jams. You know what I mean when music just sounds GOOD. The beat, the tune, the vocals it doesn’t matter sometimes music is jamming and that is the type I like. Some of my favorite tunes from the ages include Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Johnny Cash’s Folsum Prison Blues and Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein which I consider to be in the top three greatest rock songs of all time, right up there with Frank Zappa’s Peaches n Regalia. Below you will find my top 5 list for musical jams I like to listen too while I am trading, and not in any particular order.
1. Johnny Cash
My number one all time favorite musician is Johnny Cash. I mean, what’s not to like about him? He’s got roots in country, gospel, bluegrass and blues. His sound and his scene are a blend of edgy-early-pre-punk-rock with the more traditional music of the ages, the very beginnings of Rock n Roll. He’s been around for decades producing album after album and relevant in every period of modern music. I first fell in love with the sound from my dad who would play those 8-tracks tapes over and over again. I rediscovered him in college and delved deeply into the musicology. From there it’s like a match made in heaven, the modern Johnny with Rick Rubin as the producer is some of the most enduring albums ever created. All along the way, he was famous for duets, covers and guest appearances with other stars of the times in music and TV.
2. Social Distortion
My number two all-time favorite musician and music to trade is Social Distortion/Mike Ness. Social Distortion is a California rockabilly/punk band from the early 80’s that is reminiscent of, you guessed it, Johnny Cash. In fact, Mike and Social Distortion cover many Johnny Cash and other early country songs very well. His music is at once hard and soulful, telling the story of down and out, disenfranchised youth in southern California. Over the years his sound and his lyrics have mellowed but retain the je ne sais quois, that certain something, that made all his early music so timeless.
3+4. Pandora Channels
My next two picks are Pandora channels. Yes, I know, I’m old and dated by using Pandora but it’s the first music service I ever used and I like it just fine. The channels are great because I can set up based on a song or a group, fine tune it to specifics, and have a pretty good time listening to all my favorites. My top pick, and don’t laugh, is Vanilla Ice Radio. It’s not that Vanilla Ice is soo good because he’s not. It’s because of the 80’s/90’s hip-hop scene, back when there was still hip-hop, was soo good and this channel delivers all the best. It’s not uncommon to hear Salt n Peppa, Run DMC, the Fresh Prince, Tribe Called Quest, Young MC, De La Soul and all the rest.
My next favorite Pandora channel is Joan Jett radio. I like Joan Jett for many reasons but the top is because I can remember jamming out to her when I was 8,9 and 10 years old at the roller skating rink. Her and all the other great 70’s and early 80’s punk bands like the Police, the Talking Heads, Blondie, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Clash. If I had to choose only one era of music to listen to the rest of my life this would be it.
5. The TV
My final choice is not musical at all, at least not primarily. It is the TV. Trading sessions are often lengthy with lots of downtime waiting for signals to appear. Music is great some of the time but for the rest, I am watching the tube. My number one channel is CNBC, all market news all day, but I will stray from there from time to time. Lately, I’ve been watching MASH because I was able to record the whole series from the pilot to the LAST MASH on my DVR.