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I didn’t watch the Grammy Awards last weekend – I don’t know that I ever have watched the entire thing all the way through. As with most awards shows I go into them with good intentions and then I get bored pretty early on and start multi-tasking and then stop paying attention entirely.

I realized today that I didn’t even know what won Record of the Year. Turns out it was Get Lucky by Daft Punk and Pharrell. Good song. Don’t know if its a great song and Record of the Year-worthy. Were it up to me I probably would’ve gone with Locked out of Heaven by Bruno Mars, but I guess that’s why I’m not a Grammy voter.

Then I wondered what other songs had won Record of the Year, so for my Differently today I went and created a playlist on Spotify of every single one of them from Get Lucky at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards to Volare at the 1st. I listened as background music while working this afternoon.

The full list is below but a couple of thoughts:

Listening to 56 years worth of songs on random shuffle is like musical whiplash but there really isn’t a bum song in the bunch. Even ones that might make you roll your eyes at first glance like Don’t Worry Be Happy (1988) or Bette Davis Eyes (1981) are not terrible songs, especially when you put them in context of the time in which they won.

There were a few songs that took me by surprise, not because they were on the list, but because I enjoyed hearing them so much. It’s probably mostly a time and distance thing – these were songs I haven’t heard in years – but still, it was a pleasure to listen to Higher Love by Steve Winwood (1986); Change the World by Eric Clapton (1996); I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston (1993) (I had avoided that song at all costs for a long time); This Masquerade by George Benson (1976); All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow (1994); and Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks (2006).

Favorites (that I knew would be favorites)… The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack (1972); What’s Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner (1984); Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel (1978); Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille (I’m not ashamed!) (1975); It’s Too Late by Carole King (1971); Rehab by Amy Winehouse (2007); and Rollin’ in the Deep by Adele (2011); and Beat It by Michael Jackson (1983).

Songs I could do without… Hotel California by The Eagles (1977); Up, Up and Away by the Fifth Dimension (1967); Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by The Fifth Dimension (1969); Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye (2012); the doo-be-doo-be-doo part of Strangers in Night by Frank Sinatra (1966); Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins (1990); an Days of Wine & Roses by Henry Mancini (1963).

Randomness… A girl in high school (I think I was in Junior High at the time) sang I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton John (1974) at a choir concert and I fell completely, totally in love with her at that moment. It was my first real crush on a girl. Take My Breath Away by Berlin was what was playing when I developed by first real crush on a boy but that’s a story for another time.

1958 – Volare by Domenico Modugno
1959 – Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin
1960 – Theme from a Summer Place by Percy Faith
1961 – Moon River by Henry Mancini
1962 – I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Tony Bennett
1963 – Days of Wine & Roses by Henry Mancini
1964 – The Girl from Impanema by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto
1965 – The Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
1966 – Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra
1967 – Up, Up, and Away by The Fifth Dimension
1968 – Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel
1969 – Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the Fifth Dimension
1970 – Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
1971 – It’s Too Late by Carol King
1972 – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
1973 – Killing Me Softly With his Song by Roberta Flack
1974 – I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton-John
1975 – Love Will Keep Us Together by The Captain & Tennille
1976 – This Masquerade by George Benson
1977 – Hotel California by The Eagles
1978 – Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel
1979 – What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers
1980 – Sailing by Christopher Cross
1981 – Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes
1982 – Rosanna by Toto
1983 – Beat It by Michael Jackson
1984 – What’s Love Got To Do With It? by Tina Turner
1985 – We Are the World by Artists for Africa
1986 – Higher Love by Steve Winwood
1987 – Graceland by Paul Simon
1988 – Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
1989 – Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
1990 – Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins
1991 – Unforgettable by Natalie & Nat King Cole
1992 – Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
1993 – I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
1994 – All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
1995 – Kiss from a Rose by Seal
1996 – Change the World by Eric Clapton
1997 – Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin
1998 – My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
1999 – Smooth by Santana with Rob Thomas
2000 – Beautiful Day by U2
2001 – Walk On by U2
2002 – Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones
2003 – Clocks by Coldplay
2004 – Here We Go Again by Ray Charles & Norah Jones
2005 – Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
2006 – Not Ready to Make Nice by Dixie Chicks
2007 – Rehab by Amy Winehouse
2008 – Please Read The Letter by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
2009 – Use Somebody by Kings of Leon
2010 – Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
2011 – Rolling in the Deep by Adele
2012 – Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye
2013 – Get Lucky by Daft Punk

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