News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

World Cafe's July 4th Mixtape

Appeal to the senses this Independence Day — before watching fireworks, treat your ears to this playlist of <em>World Cafe</em> favorites.
Yana Paskova
/
Getty Images
Appeal to the senses this Independence Day — before watching fireworks, treat your ears to this playlist of World Cafe favorites.

I love mixtapes. Don't we all? If I'm having a party or even a dinner, I meticulously program the music — even though, if it's a good party, no one will hear it because they're all talking!

Here's my Fourth of July mixtape for you. No in-studio guest today, just a wide variety of music with the only stipulation that "America," "American" or "U.S." has to be somewhere in the title. It's not even all from the U.S.! There's a version of the Brazilian singer Jorge Ben's "So Loco Porti America." There are some stirring classic tunes from Tom Petty and The Steve Miller Band.

We'll play the original cast recording of "America" from West Side Story, some James Brown and you have to have Ray Charles' sublime version of "America The Beautiful." I had a little help from our listeners on our World Cafe Facebook page, so we'll give them some shoutouts. Have a great party this Fourth of July and if there happens to be a lull, I hope you like the music! And if you want to listen elsewhere, stream our Spotify playlist!

Playlist

  • The Grateful Dead, "U.S. Blues"
  • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "American Girl"
  • Counting Crows, "American Girls"
  • West Side Story Original Broadway Cast, "America"
  • Los Van Van + Carlinhos Brown, "Soy Loco Por Ti, America"
  • David Byrne, "Miss America"
  • Chuck Berry, "Back in the U.S.A."
  • Steve Miller Band, "Living in the U.S.A."
  • Francis Dunnery, "American Life in the Summertime"
  • David Bowie, "Young Americans"
  • Gaslight Anthem, "American Slang"
  • Los Lobos, "One Time, One Night"
  • Steve Forbert, "The American In Me"
  • Kanye West & Jay Z, "Made In America"
  • Violent Femmes, "American Music"
  • Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."
  • James Brown, "Living in America"
  • LCD Soundsystem, "North American Scum"
  • The Blasters, "American Music"
  • David Wilcox, "Rusty Old American Dream"
  • Laura Veirs, "America"
  • Indigo Girls, "American Tune"
  • David Bowie, "This Is Not America"
  • Ray Charles, "America the Beautiful"
  • Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, "This Land is Your Land"
  • Simon & Garfunkel, "America"
  • Jimi Hendrix, "The Star Spangled Banner"
  • Copyright 2014 XPN

    David Dye is a longtime Philadelphia radio personality whose music enthusiasm has captivated listeners of World Cafe® since 1991. World Cafe is produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.