"What are you listening to?": A simple question, with a universe of possible answers
MINNEAPOLIS -- Music's biggest night is about to be celebrated, as the 65th annual Grammy Award are right around the corner. That got our resident music fanatic A.J. Hilton wondering what's on people's playlists. As it turns out, there's quite a variety.
"What are you listening to?" It's amazing where those five words can take you. It certainly took a lot of Electric Fetus shoppers down memory lane.
"Post Malone, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey."
"A lot of John Coltrane, Miles Davis."
"Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Phoebe Bridgers."
"I gotta go with Kendrick (Lamar), Kanye ... SZA, and then like Arctic Monkeys."
From pop to folk, from country to EDM, music complements the moments that shape our lives.
"It's storytelling. At that time, you know, when I was listening to punk, it spoke to me."
"My parents were born in the 40s, so Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, Bo Didley, so all that stuff."
"We listened to a lot of Bob Marley when I was young. My grandma was into a lot of reggae. Bob Marley. I listened to a lot of rock when I was younger."
That's the thing about music -- it's always there, wherever you are.
"It's like comfort. If I'm having a bad day, I'll listen to some music and it makes me feel better. That's what it is for me."
"It's like some of the things when I resisted when I was young, all of a sudden I discovered I loved them now that I'm older. Lyle Lovett's newest album, I really like that one, "12th and June." And that one leans country, too. Man, something's changing with me! I fought country my whole life."
There's always something new -- or old -- to discover. And the best part is music continues to teach us all.
"You got my son. He's an 8th grader, and he's heavy rap. But I'm going to introduce him to A Tribe Called Quest. Teach him, you know."
No matter why you tune into a certain artist, or for whatever reason, there's never a wrong answer or a bad playlist.
"There's always one for every emotion. You could play a song if you're sad, happy ... I don't know, I just feel like everybody should listen to music."
The Grammy Awards air at 7 p.m. Sunday on WCCO.
Team WCCO's favorite songs
By the way, A.J. Hilton asked WCCO employees what songs are at the top of their own playlists, and the results were eclectic, to say the least! (NOTE: Presented in no particular order, and a few of the songs in the playlist feature explicit lyrics.)
Tracy Perlman
- Hall and Oates -- "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling "
- Queen -- "Don't Stop Me Now"
- Whitney Houston -- "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"
- Bill Withers -- "Lovely Day"
- Salt-n-Pepa -- Shoop"
- Beyoncé -- "Run the World (Girls)"
Gracie Stockton
- "Heavy" -- Birdtalker
- "Make it Rain" -- Ed Sheeran
- "Death of a Bachelor" -- Panic
- "Don't You Forget About Me" -- Simple Minds
- "Cuz I Love You/Better in Color" – Lizzo
Addie Chernow
- "Flowers" -- Miley Cyrus
- "Silent All These Years" -- Tori Amos
- "California Uber Alles" -- The Dead Kennedys
- "It Gets Better" -- Marina V
- "Pure Morning" -- Placebo
Sean Freese
- Coheed and Cambria -- "Old Flames"
- Grett Van Fleet -- "Heat Above"
- Pneuma -- "Tool"
- Blink 182 -- "I Miss You"
- Heart -- "Alone"
Adam Duxter
- "Gratitude" – Brandon Lake
- "Villainy" -- Local Natives
- "Joy" -- Kings Kaleidoscope
Derek James
- The Lumineers -- "Where We Are"
- Lissie -- "Night Moves"
- TALK -- Run Away to Mars"
- Leon Bridges -- "If It Feels Good"
- Phoenix (feat. Ezra Koenig) -- "Tonight"
Pauleen Le
- "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" -- Andy Gibb
- "Raspberry Beret" -- Prince
- "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" -- Four Tops
- "Isn't She Lovely" -- Stevie Wonder
- "Boogie Shoes" -- K.C. And The Sunshine Band
Jonah Kaplan
- "Five o'clock somewhere" -- Alan Jackson
- "Sledgehammer" -- Peter Gabriel
- "Fool in the Rain" -- Led Zeppelin
- "46 Days" -- Phish
- "Song That Jane Likes" -- Dave Matthews Band
Caroline Cummings
- "Silver Springs" -- Fleetwood Mac
- "Thunder Road" -- Bruce Springsteen
- "The Wire" -- Haim
- "You're so Vain" -- Carly Simon
- "Kill Bill" -- SZA
- Taylor Swift's entire discography (LOL, but always in the rotation. Swiftie forever.)
Kate Link
- "ILYSB" -- LANY
- "Freedom" -- Jon Batiste
- "All Too Well" (10 Minute Version) -- Taylor Swift
- "Glad You Exist" -- Dan + Shay
- "Want You Back" -- Haim
Craig Schroepfer
- "Black" -- Pearl Jam
- "Darkness on the Edge of Town" -- Bruce Springsteen
- "Paint It Black" -- Rolling Stones
- "Hey Jealousy" -- Gin Blossoms
- "Return of the Mack" -- Mark Morrison
Marielle Mohs
- "Background Music" – Maren Morris
- "Would've Could've Should've" – Taylor Swift
- "Now I'm In It" – Haim
- "I Like That" – Janelle Monae
- "Never Going Back Again" – Fleetwood Mac
Jodi Oelfke
- "I Feel the Earth Move" -- Carole King
- "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- U2
- "Moment of Forgiveness" -- Indigo Girls
- "Strong Enough" -- Sheryl Crow
- "Mr. Brightside" -- The Killers
Guy Still
- Archie Bleyer -- "Hernando's Hideaway"
- KRS-One -- "Don't Fall For It"
- Concrete Blonde -- "Wendy"
- M.I.A.-- "Borders"
Kari Patey
- Kendrick Lamar -- "King Kunta" and "All the Stars"
- Chris Stapleton -- "You Should Probably Leave" and "Starting Over"
- John Mayer -- "New Light" and basically all of his songs
Mike Augustyniak
- "So Many Skies" -- Caroline Jones & Matthew Ramsey
- "Dear Miss Loretta" -- Carly Pearce
- "Handle on You" -- Parker McCollum
- "Let's Have a Kiki" -- Scissor Sisters
Chloe Rosen
- "Remember Me as a Time of Day" (long, no lyrics) -- Explosions in the Sky
- "Simple Song" -- The Shins
- "Changes" -- Longhorne Slim & The Law
- "Under Pressure" -- Queen and David Bowie
Jonathan Kahner
- "Beers and Sunshine" -- Darius Rucker
- "Not Afraid" -- Eminem
- "Feel So Close" -- Calvin Harris
Amelia Santaniello
- "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" -- Stevie Wonder
- "Beautiful Day" -- U2
- "Rocket Man" -- Elton John
- "Through the Fire" -- Chaka Khan
- "Optimistic" -- Sounds of Blackness
Chris Shaffer
- "Rock You Like A Hurricane" -- Scorpions
- "I Love A Rainy Night" -- Eddie Rabbit
- "Thunder Island" -- Jay Ferguson
- "She's Like The Wind" -- Patrick Swayze
Frank Vascellaro
- "Bizarre Love Triangle" -- New Order
- "Dreadlock Holiday -- 10CC
- "Beautiful Day" -- U2
- "My Baby Give its Away" -- Pete Townsend
- "Carry On" -- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Ann Chase
- "Love From The Other Side" -- Fall Out Boy
- "Bloodhound" -- 5 Seconds of Summer
- "Happy Together" -- The Turtles
- "Fuzzy" -- Waterparks
- "Mariners Apartment Complex" -- Lana Del Rey
John Lauritsen
- "Tunnel of Love" -- Bruce Springsteen
- "One Margarita" -- Luke Bryan
- "Fishing in the Dark" -- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- "I Was on a Boat that Day" -- Old Dominion
- "I'm On Fire" -- Bruce Springsteen
Kelly Pederson
- "You Should Probably Leave" -- Chris Stapleton
- "Lebanon" -- Ondara
- "Wildflowers" -- Trampled by Turtles
- "Busy Earnin'" -- Jungle
- "Sugar" -- Robin Schulz & Fransecso Yates
Shayla Reeves
- Beyoncé -- "Before I Let Go"
- T.I. & Rihanna -- "Live Your Life"
- Lauryn Hill -- "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
- Kirk Franklin -- "I Smile"
- Staple Singers -- "I'll Take You There"
Andy Osterbauer
- "Buried Alive By Love" -- HIM
- "Ruby Soho" -- Rancid
- "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" -- Against Me!
- "True Believers" -- Bouncing Souls
- "Ain't It Fun" -- Paramore
Mitchell Krisnik
- "Toolmaster of Brainerd" -- Trip Shakespeare
- "Towers" -- Bon Iver
- "You Get What You Give" -- New Radicals
David Mahlman
- "Unholy" -- Sam Smith & Kim Petras
- "Made You Look" -- Meghan Trainor
- "Victoria's Secret" -- Jax
Scott Wooldridge
- "Strong God" -- Vertical Church Band
- "Sway" -- Dean Martin
- "Planet Claire" -- B-52's
Erica Jansen
- "Our Love" – Incubus
- "The Kingdom" – Bush
- "Thinkin' Bout Somethin'" – Hanson
- "Set It Off" – P.O.D.
- "Muzzle" – Smashing Pumpkins
Eric Henderson
- Nuyorican Soul -- "It's Alright I Feel It"
- We Are KING -- "The Greatest"
- Peggy Lee -- "Is That All There Is?"
- Björk -- "It's Not Up To You"
- Prince -- "Pop Life"
A.J. Hilton (This changes hourly)
- Jimpster -- "Distant Light"
- Seal -- "Colour"
- N.E.R.D. -- "Sooner or Later"
- J. Dilla -- "Mash"
- Dzihan & Kamien -- "Sliding"
- Quincy Jones -- "On the Street Where You Live"
- Hans Zimmer -- "What Are You Going to Do When You Aren't Saving the World"
- Mos Def -- "Casa Bey"
- Daft Punk -- "Voyager"
- Jay-Z -- "The Ruler's Back"