Lee Winkelman Says

It has been twenty years since Prince died. Inspired by musical geniuses Questlove and David Isaacson. Here is the list of my forty favorite Prince songs.

A few notes :

1. This is not a list of the “best” Prince songs: there are no “best” songs. These are just the songs I particularly like. Your mileage will vary. The exact order of my favorite Prince songs differs from day to day. I didn’t have the courage to put the ballad “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” as my #1 favorite, because it isn’t representative of Prince’s best work. The song originally appeared as a non-album b-side to the song 1999 (could it be the greatest two-sided single of all time?). I remember being in School Kids Records in Ann Arbor when the song first came out. The record store clerk put the ballad on, and a hush came over the record store. Everyone stopped their browsing, looked up, and listened. It was a magical moment. On many days, this is my favorite Prince song. Alicia Keys agrees with me: she covered it on her first album. But I put it number 2 on this list. “When Doves Cry” is also a worthy number 1.

2. In my humble opinion, Prince’s peak was the two-album run from 1980-1981 with Dirty Mind and Controversy. You can take that opinion with a grain of salt, since most people’s favorite Prince album is the one that they first listened to. I first listened to Dirty Mind. But it is undeniable that they are two great Prince albums.

3. The 1989 album Truth is one of Prince’s best, though most obscure, albums. It was lost to time because it was released as the fourth, bonus disk with the three volumes of Prince outtakes called Crystal Ball. The Truth is a semi-unplugged album of great songs. There are a couple of songs from that album on my list, but the whole album is worth checking out if you are a Prince fan.

4. While Prince’s albums after Lovesexy are not as consistently amazing as the ones before that, he still recorded great songs at the end of his Warner Brothers run and after he left Warner Brothers in 1996, continuing up until his death in 2006. I have included several late Prince songs in my playlist, and again it is worth checking out more of his later music.

5. Several Prince classic hits are not rated as highly by me as by most Prince fans. Sometimes that is due to burnout: I don’t need to hear “1999” or “Raspberry Beret” ever again, great as those songs are. Surprisingly, some songs, like “Kiss” and “When Doves Cry,” have remained among my favorites despite repeated listenings. In the case of “Purple Rain”, so many people’s favorite Prince song, I just don’t love the song. You can read why I don’t like Purple Rain here:

6. The Black Album, which Prince pulled from distribution at the last minute (supposedly while the album was on trucks for delivery), is not available on Spotify. The rumor is that Prince took ecstasy and decided based on a drug-induced vision that the album was evil. To me, that rumor seems too salacious to be true. In any case, if The Black Album had been on Spotify, I undoubtedly would have put one or two of the songs on this playlist. You can download The Black Album from Internet Archive or find vinyl or CD copies online. The Black Album is a great, funky record.

Time for another soundtrack to what I am watching. These playlists both show what I have been watching — eat your heart out, Letterbox — and provide a varied music-listening experience. The playlist itself is here, and the liner notes follow. Enjoy your varied listening experience!

The Mist -Jubt Hoon-hee – The Mist (Decision to Leave, 2022)

Canção do Mar – Dulce Pontes (Primal Fear, 1996)

Mass Prospers for the Feast of Corpus Christi – Christ Church Cathedral Choir (Primal Fear, 1996)

Son of Sam -Elliott Smith (Antitrust, 2001)

Prelude in G Major, Op. 23, No, 5 – Rachmaninoff, Yuja Wang (Antitrust, 2001)

I Played the Fool – Michael Stipe, Andrew Watt (Rooster, Season 1)

Nightswimming – Jason Segal (Shrinking, Season 3)

Comin’ Home Baby – Mel Torme (Invincible, Season 4)

Amaze Amaze Amaze (Life on Erid) – Daniel Pemberton (Project Hail Mary, 2026)

Glory Glory – Ike and Tina Turner  (Project Hail Mary, 2026)

Gracias A La Vida – Mercedes Sosa  (Project Hail Mary, 2026)

Go Get Your Toaster – Ian Hultquist, Sofia degli Alessandri (All of You, 2024)

Up the Junction – Squeeze (Black Bag, 2025)

Black Bag – David Holmes (Black Bag, 2025)

Don Giovanni K527 Act1 No9 – Chor de Deutschen Oper Berlin (Black Bag, 2025)

Building the Barn – Maurice Jarre (Witness, 1985)

How About You – George Fenton (The Fisher King, 1991)

Que Sera Sera – The Pixies (From, season 1)

Maria Caquita – Systema Solar (Drops of God, season 2)

You And Your Sister – This Mortal Coil (Drops of God, season 2)

9am Central Park – Hans Zimmer (Green Card, 1990)

Eyes on the Prize – The Emmaus Group Singers (Green Card, 1990)

Take Five – Tito Puente (Friends and Neighbors, Season 2)

Jersey Girl – Bruce Springsteen (Crime 101, 2026)

Linda At Home – Danny Elfman (Send Help, 2026)

Rip Her To Sherds – Blondie (Send Help, 2026)

Mai Nozipo – Kronos Quartet, Damisani Maraire (Fearless, 1993)

Beim Schlafengehen – Richard Strauss, Kiri Te Kanawa (Year of Living Dangerously, 1982)

My Male Curioaity – Kid Creole and the Coconuts (Against All Odds, 1984)

Gimme Soca – Byron Lee & the Dragonaires (Mosquito Coast, 1986)

Savior, Like a Sheppard Lead Us – Laestadian Luthern Church (Mosquito Coast, 1986)

Timeless – Theodore Shapiro (Devil Wears Prada 2, 2026)

Mr. Eclectic – Laufey (Devil Wears Prada 2)

Meeting Schumer – Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil (International, 2009)

Comes a Time, Lena Hall (Your Friends and Neighbors, Season 2)

C & H –  Anthony Willis (Wuthering Heights, 2026)

The Dark Eyed Sailor – Olivia Cheney (Wuthering Heights, 2026)

Perfect Day – Rufus Wainwright (How To Shoot a Ghost, 2025)

Cassandra – Keke Palmer (I Love Boosters, 2026)

Touching the World – Tune-Yards (I Love Boosters, 2026)

Adore – Prince (I Love Boosters, 2026)

Saving Grace – Kirby (Spider-Noir, Season 1)

Dream A Little Dream of Me – Li Jun Li  (Spider-Noir, Season 1)

Red on Yellow – Fritz Maldener (Tuner, 2026)

Get Carter Theme – Roy Budd (Get Carter, 1971)

Love Is A Four Letter Word – Roy Budd, Lesley Dawson (Get Carter, 1971)

Dirty Work – Steely Dan (One Battle After Another, 2025)

Perfidia – Los Panchos (One Battle After Another, 2025)

Shut Up and Let Me Go – The Ting Tings (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Season 1)

You Sexy Thing – Zella Day (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Season 1)

Media Matters – Marco Belttrami (Scream 7, 2026)

Red Right Hand – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Scream 7, 2026)

Lowly – Young Fathers (28 Years Later, 2025)

Bare Bones – Hildur Guõnadóttir (28 Years Later – The Bone Temple, 2026)

Everything In Its Right Place – Radiohead (28 Years Later – The Bone Temple, 2026)

Yellow – Paul Koch (Redux, Redux, 2025)

Four Seasons Spring I. Allegro – Vivaldi (Four Seasons, Season 1)

Pagliacci Act 1 Vesti La Giubba – Luciano Pavorati (Four Seasons, Season 1)

Night Moves – Bob Seger (Boroughs, Season 1)

Saying Goodbye – John Paesano (Boroughs, Season 1)

Lose Your soul – Dead Man’s Bones (They Will Kill You, 2026)

The Virgil- Carlos Rafael Rivera [They Will Kill You)

Main Title – Roy Webb (Notorious, 1946)

memories – GALego_BJJ (From, season 4 finale)

Theme From I Confess – Dimitri Tiomkin (I Confess, 1953)

So Long Cowboy – Westworld (Point Break, 1991)

Juke Box – Ron Goodwin (Frenzy, 1972)

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Geoff Zanelli (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, 2026)

The new album Muda by Mexican singer Carín León is an early contender for album of the year. León is at the height of his powers, and he does just about everything one can do with his voice. León calls this album the end of a chapter in his career, during which he has covered a wide variety of styles. On Muda, he covers disco, ska, norteño, soul, Colombian folk music, mariachi, R&B, cumbia, and more. Be sure to check out Muda!

Time for another soundtrack to what I am watching. These playlists both show what I have been watching — eat your heart out, Letterbox — and provide a varied music-listening experience. The playlist itself is here, and the liner notes follow. Enjoy!

• Of Remembrance -Max Richter (Hamnet, 2025)
• My Robin to the Greenwood Go – Max Richter (Hamnet, 2025)
• Double How – Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (Stranger Things, Season 5)
• You’ll Never Know – Alice Faye (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1974)
• All the Way From Memphis – Mott the Hoople (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1974)
• Baby Charlene – Johnny Greenwood (One Battle After Another, 2025)
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott-Heron (One Battle After Another, 2025)
• Laline – Patrick Doyle (Carlito’s Way, 1993)
• Rock Your Baby – Ed Terry (Carlito’s Way, 1993)
• Dina, Simone – Monette, Nile Rodgers, The-Dream (Opus, 2025)
• I’m the Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side – The Magnetic Fields (Caught Stealing, 2025)
• F1 – Hans Zimmer (F1, 2025)
• End Credits – James Newbury (Is This Thing On?, 2025)
• Main Title – Giorgio Moroder (Scarface, 1983)
• Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime – The Korgis (Marty Supreme, 2025)
• The Call -Daniel Lopatin (Marty Supreme, 2025)
• Keep on Running – Tom Jones (The Running Man, 2025)
• Underdog – Sly and the Family Stone (The Running Man, 2025)
• Car Makeout – Mac Quayle (His & Hers, Season 1)
• Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Black Pumas (His & Hers, Season 1)
• Soolaimon/Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show – Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue, 2025)
• The Privilege of Teeth – Theodore Shapiro (The Housemaid, 2026)
• Take Me As I Am – Lyn Lapid (The Housemaid, 2025)
• Trilha de Sumé/Culto à Terra/Bailado das Muscarias – Lula Côrtes, Zé Ramahlo (Secret Agent, 2025)
• Season Song – Blue States (28 Days Later, 2002)
• 28 Theme – John Murphy (28 Weeks Later, 2007)
• Keep the Streets Empty for Me – Fever Ray (Dark, Season 1)
• Melody X – Bonaparte (Dark, Season 2)
• Tokyo Midnight – Sababa 5, Yurika Hanashima (Drops of God, season 1)
• Tropical Canvas – Les Baxter (Drops of God, season 1)
• The Butler’s Sonatina – Brian Tyler (Ready or Not, 2019)
• Love Me Tender – Stereo Jane (Ready or Not, 2019)
• Manjuli’s Song: Dil Dharke – Satyajit Ray (Shakespeare Wallah, 1965)
• Love Theme: Sanju and Lizzie – Satyajit Ray (Shakespeare Wallah, 1965)
• My Body Is a Cage – Peter Gabriel (Dark, Season 2)
• Grand Cycle – Jermain Fendrix (Bugonia, 2025)
• Where Have All the Flowers Gone – Marlene Dietrich (Bugonia, 2025)
• Simon Williams to Set – Joel P West (Wonder Man, Season 1)
• Catch a Falling Star – Perry Como (Wonder Man, Season 1)
• IL Y A – Alice Et Moi (Drops of God, Season 2)
• Body Double – Pino Donaggio (Body Double, 1984)
• This Funny World – Tony Bennet (Blue Moon, 2025)
• Everything Happens To Me – Graham Reynolds (Blue Moon, 2025)
• Need Someone – Andrew Bird, Gavin, Brivik (The Pitt, Season 2)
• Se Vuelve Loca – Deorro, Gente de Zona (The Rip, 2026)
• Let a Woman Be a Woman – Dyke & The Blazers (Dead Man’s Wire, 2025)
• Witchi Thai To – Harpers Bizarre (Dead Man’s Wire, 2025)
• Attraction – Martin Phipps (Steal, Season 1)
• Wings Over Los Angeles – Carter Burwell (Good Fortune, 2025)
• La Canella – El Super Show de los Vaskez (Good Fortune, 2025)
• Play With Fire – Barbara & Ernie (Vladir, Season 1)
• Speaking to the Past – Hania Rani (Sentimental Value, 2025)
• I’m Alive – Johnny Thunder (Sentimental Value, 2025)
• Nobody Knows – Pastor T.L. Barrett & the Youth for Christ Choir (Sentimental Value, 2025)
• Stratusphunk – George Russell (52 Pickup, 1986)
• Hot Dogs With Chet – Joseph Trapanese (Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, 2026)
• Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker (Hijack, Season 2)
• Love Scene – Jerry Garcia (Zabriskie Point, 1970)
• So Young – Roy Orbison (Zabriskie Point, 1970)

We lost Alison Feighan, who passed away early this morning. My heart goes out to her husband Steve Norton and her children Lincoln and Rose.

Alison was a remarkable person. I met her in 1981 or 1982, both of us waiting tables at Ian’s Patisserie/Alexandra’s in Ann Arbor while we were in college. I was immediately drawn to her humor and outgoing personality. We passed the time during the slow moments on our shifts by making jokes together. In 1983, we moved into a group house that Alison organized.

At that time, I was searching for what I wanted to do in the world. Over the couple of years before that, I had gone to meetings of a few different organizing groups, trying to find somewhere I belonged, but I hadn’t stuck with any of them. I think I was just too insecure. The summer we moved into the same house, Alison and I decided we would go together to a meeting of the Progressive Student Network (PSN). This time we stuck it out. Alison and I became leaders in PSN, and it changed both of our lives. It started me on my life’s path — community organizing. It is where I became friends with the people who are still my best friends today, more than 40 year later. None of this would have happened without Alison.

I remember that first meeting, Alison ingratiated herself by volunteering to make a flyer for an upcoming action of some kind (who remembers what that action was). Alison’s playful artwork was a regular part of PSN. We were both part of the sit-in in the laboratory of Thomas Senior in 1983, protesting military research on campus. We sat in the lab for 48 hours, peeing into jars, eating pizza that was delivered by supporters through the window, singing freedom songs, and chatting with the press. As we were getting ready to leave the lab at our planned time, all of a sudden, we were visited by campus president Harold Shapiro. We had to scramble back into position, sitting in the doorway to block the lab. He tried to talk us into leaving, and we didn’t let him know we were planning to leave anyway. After we were gone, the lab was cleaner than when we arrived.

Alison and I were the outside coordinators of the next protest action, in Professor Birdsall’s military research lab. We dealt with the press and got supplies to the protestors inside the lab. It was traumatizing to watch helplessly as our friends were arrested and dragged off by the police – more traumatizing for us than it was for our arrested friends.

I lived with Alison and three other friends when I first moved to Boston in 1985. Alison had already been in Boston for a year and was well established, doing work on housing issues in Quincy, a working-class suburb of Boston. While she was making a real difference, I struggled to find my place in Boston. My challenging first year was made so much easier by Alison’s support. Her friendship was stellar, but not so much her cooking. Her undercooked eggplant dish set a new standard we consistently encouraged her to meet: cooking that didn’t make us sick.

Alison continued to manifest the values of our college activism throughout her work and personal life (so unlike the characters in The Big Chill, a movie we hated when we were activists in college). She moved to DC and lobbied Congress on housing and community development issues. She eventually founded her own lobbying firm.

This world would be a poorer place without Alison’s personality, commitment, and work. My life would be poorer without her presence and support. I am so deeply saddened by her passing. May her name always be a blessing.

Photos from left: graduation 1984, Steve and Audrey’s wedding 1988, PSN reunion 2013, recent picture from the Feighan and Associates website.

Around July 1st, 2025, I started making a playlist with one or two songs from each of the movies and TV shows I watched.

The playlist serves two purposes. First, it is a record of what I have watched. Sure, I could use letterbox, and I still might one day. But I like making playlists.

Second, it creates an interesting and diverse listening experience. I often include both a song from the score written for the movie or TV show and a “needle drop,” that is a pre-existing song. So you get songs vocal and instrumental, old and new, and from many different genres.

The songs are listed in the order I watched, but I like to listen on shuffle play.

Please enjoy this souvenir of my watching experience in the second half of 2025. Here are the songs on the playlist:

• Home – David Fleming (Superman, 2025)
• The Mighty Crabjoy Theme – The Mighty Crabjoys (Superman, 2025)
• Blood Simple Theme – London Symphony Orchestra (Blood Simple, 1984)
• Lady in Red – Xavier Cugot (Blood Simple, 1984)
• Say No Go – De La Soul (Civil War, 2024)
• Breakers Roar – Sturgill Simpson (Civil War, 2024)
• Raising Ukuleles – Carter Burwell (Raising Arizona, 1987)
• Maine Stays – Damian Jurado (Tumbledown, 2015)
• Tumbledown Theme 2 – Daniel Hart (Tumbledown, 2015)
• Waterloo Sunset – Ethan Hawke (Juliet Naked, 2018)
• Fantastic Four To Be Reckoned With – Michael Giacchino (Fantastic Four: First Steps, 2025)
• Claw Machine – Sloppy Jane, Phoebe Bridger (I Saw the TV Glow, 2024)
• After Millers Crossing – Carter Burwell (Miller’s Crossing, 1990)
• Here Comes the Night – David Bowie (Vamps, 2012)
• I Be Blue – Mason Darling (Eight Men Out, 1988)
• Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagnini – Rachmaninoff (Somewhere in Time, 1980)
• There is Always One More Time – Johnny Adams (Bowfinger, 1999)
• Habibi – Tamino (The Bureau, season 4)
• Ce Soir Je M’En Vais – Jacqueline Tiaeb (Old Guard 2, 2025)
• Main Titles – Maz Aruj, Alfie Godfrey (Mission Impossible: the Final Reckoning, 2025)
• Prologue – Carter Burwell (Hudsucker Proxy, 1994)
• Let’s Find Each Other Tonight – Jose Feliciano (Fargo, 1996)
• Fargo, North Dakota – Carter Burwell (Fargo, 1996)
• You Don’t Know Me – Lenny Welch (Presumed Innocent, season 1)
• Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In – Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (Big Lebowski, 1998)
• Hotel California – Gypsy Kings (Big Lebowski, 1998)
• Piacere Sequence M36 – Teo Useilli (Big Lebowski, 1998)
• Toxic – The Bluebeaters (Present Laughter, National Theater Live)
• Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho – Grant Green (Severance, season 1)
• Main Titles – Theodore Shapiro (Severance, season 1)
• Procession – Jeff Russo (Alien: Earth, season 1)
• Hard Times Killing Floor Blues – Chris Thomas King (O Brother Where Art Thou, 2001)
• I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow Instrumental – Norman Blake (O Brother Where Art Thou, 2001)
• In the Jailhouse Now – Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou, 2000)
• This is Who I Am – Celeste (Day of the Jackal, season 1)
• Spanish Grease – Willie Bobo (Day of the Jackal, season 1)
• What Is Done in the Dark (Will One Day Come to Light) – Jackie Wilson (Day of the Jackal, season 1)
• Morning Evening – Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan (Ballad of Wallis Island, 2025)
• Dorul (Haydee’s song) – Jérôme Rebotier, Gülay Hacer Toruk (The Count of Monte Cristo, 2024)
• Highest 2 Lowest – Aiyana-Lee (Highest 2 Lowest, 2025)
• Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri (Highest 2 Lowest, 2025)
• Excerpt Piano Concerto No,14 in C Sharp Minor, Op.27 No.2 – Ludwig Beethoven (Man Who Wasn’t There, 2001)
• The Glory of Love – Big Bill Broonzy (Intolerable Cruelty, 2003)
• I Hadn’t Anyone Til You – Hadda Brooks ( In A Lonely Place 1950)
• Betrayal (Sorecer’s Theme) – Tangerine Dream (Sorcerer, 1977)
• I’ll Remember April – Charlie Parker (Sorcerer, 1977)
• Deborah’s Theme – Ennis Morricone (Once Upon a Time in America, 1984)
• Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfeld (The Exorcist, 1973)
• Paramythaki Mou – Giannis Kalatzis (The Exorcist, 1973)
• Daddy Not Walking Dead (Swan Lake) – Joel J Richard, Tyler Bates (Ballerina, 2025)
• See Line Woman – Danielle Ponder, Bryce Dressner (The Accountant, 2016)
• Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down (Thai version) – jayce, Chris Benstrad (Fountain of Youth, 2025)
• Dirty Money – Ida Marie (Peacemaker Season 2)
• The Taming of the Shrew -Nino Rota (Taming of the Shrew, 1967)
• Miss Me in the Morning – Mike D’Abo (There’s a Girl in my Soup, 1970)
• Harry Looks for Love – Carter Burwell (Burn After Reading, 2008)
• Taboo – Les Baxter (M3GAN 2.0, 2025)
• Moliendo Café – Fanfare Ciocarlia (Creature Commandos, season 1)
• My Gypsy Auto Pilot (Creature Commandos, season 1)
• The Swan Piano Variation – Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriele Bagnati (An Officer and a Spy, 2019)
• Outer Space Suite, Prelude – Bernard Hermann (The Twilight Zone, season 1)
• Dem Milners Trern – Ian Pomerantz, Byron Schenkman (A Serious Man, 2009)
• …My New VP – Marcello Zarvos (The Diplomat, Season 3)
• Where Do I Go From Here – Paul Williams (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, 1974)
• Beware of Darkness – George Harrison (Weapons, 2025)
• I Want To Go Out – Atli Öravarsson (Silo, Season 1)
• I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night – Frank Sinatra (Higher and Higher, 1943)
• President to WNBA – Volcker Bertelmann (House of Dynamite, 2025)
• Green Green Rocky Road – Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, 2013)
• Re-enlistment Blues – Merle Travis (From Here to Eternity, 1953)
• From Here to Eternity – Frank Sinatra (From Here to Eternity, 1953)
• Coming Through The Rye – Ava Gardner (Mogambo, 1953)
• Windmills of My Mind – Rumer (Harlen Coben’s Lazarus, Season 1)
• Pluribus Theme – Dave Porter (Pluribus, Season 1)
• Nobody Told Me – Murat Evgin (Pluribus, Season 1)
• Fiat Lux – Carter Burwell (Hail, Caeser! 2016)
• Glory of Love – Carter Burwell (Hail, Caeser! 2016)
• Forgiveness – Alexandre Desplat (Frankenstein, 2025)
• Theme from Manchurian Candidate – David Amram (Manchurian Candidate, 1962)
• Boys Night Out – Patti Page (Boys Night Out, 1962)
• That’s All – Baby Rose (The Materialists, 2025)
• The Bug Blow Out – Henry Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961)
• Carousel Memories – Dick Hyman Purple Rose of Cairo, 1985)
• Brian Song – Monty Python (Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 1979)
• Sally and Jack – Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (Blow Out, 1981)
• Third Man Theme – Anton Karas (The Third Man, 1949)
• Shower Theme from – Pino Donaggio (Dressed To Kill, 1980)
• I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me – Pino Donaggio (Carrie, 1976)
• Snake Eyes – Ryuichi Sakamoto (Snake Eyes, 1998)
• Train Song – Vashti Bunyan (Down on Cementary Road, Season 1)
• I’ll Be Seeing You – Cat Power (Down on Cementary Road, Season 1)
• Death Theme – Ennio Morricone (The Untouchables, 1987)
• Vesti La Giubb from Pagliacci – Mario Del Monaco & Orchestra dell’Accademia Nacionale di Santa Cecila Roma (The Untouchables, 1987)
• People Are Strange – Kit Sebastion (Pluribus, Season 1)
• Jay Kelly Theme – Nicholas Britell (Jay Kelly, 2025)
• Bolerish – Ryuichi Sakamoto (Femme Fatale, 2002)
• American Patrol – Glenn Miller (Twilight Zone, season 2)
• Esperanza – Hermanos Gutiérrez (Pluribus, Season 1)
• The Majors: The Mind Is a Strange Thing – Randy Newman (The Natural, 1984)
• Come On Up To The House – Tom Waits (Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, 2025)
• Requiem – Nathan Johnson (Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, 2025)
• Baby – Robert Bradley’s Backwater Experience (The Pitt, Season 1)
• Ella – Hans Zimmer (Ella McKay, 2025)
• Talk Show Host – Radiohead (Romeo + Juliette, 1996)

This playlist is the third and last of my playlists covering the best music released in 2025. It features newly released songs recorded long ago, that are now released or, in some cases, released for the first time. You can find my first two 2025 playlists, covering the best overall songs and best cover versions, on my website.

All through the year, I put reissue and archival songs I like into a folder. At the end of the year, I had more than 3 hours of music that I had to narrow down to a manageable amount of music. It was heartbreaking having to eliminate so many great songs.

I had three absolute, unbreakable rules in making this playlist:

1. All songs must have been released in 2025
2. Only one song per artist is allowed on this list
3. I can fudge any of the absolute, unbreakable rules I want, because this is my damn playlist.

The list is not in order of my favorites. I do not have particular favorites among the songs on the list. I love all the songs. Here is the playlist:

1. Carlo Savina – Una Vergine in Famiglia. Horror film director Eli Roth released a collection of songs from 1970s Italian sexploitation films. The rare soundtrack songs are from CAM Sugar, founded in 1959, which has a catalogue of over 2000 Italian original soundtracks, winner of over 500 international awards. The whole 2 LP collection is great — it was hard to pick just one song for this playlist, so check out the whole album. This song is from the 1976 film “A Virgin in the Family” (“Una Vergine in Famiglia”) about a family living “under the influence of intrigue and debauchery.”
2. Prince – Free (Acoustic Version). 2025 was a disappointing year for Prince fans, as the estate’s only new release was the album “Around the World in a Day” with no previously unreleased alternate versions or new songs. Luckily for us, they also released as a single this great alternate version of the song from the album 1999.
3. Bob Dylan – (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow. Unlike the Prince estate, Bob Dylan and his people did not disappoint fans in 2025. They released “Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18,” an 8-CD collection of outtakes, alternate versions, and live cuts from Dylan’s earliest years, 1956 (when Dylan was 15 years old) through 1963’s Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, before he “went electric.” The whole set is worth the cost, expensive though it is. This song is a cover of a Hank Williams classic.
4. The Wilson Lewes Quartet – Holly Golly. It is hard to find information about the Wilson Lewes Quartet. It appears that there is no Wilson Lewes, that the band is a studio creation in the 1960s by Peter Pan Records, which released mostly children’s records, but also some knockoff pop records, like this Ramsey Lewis knockoff jazz instrumental.
5. J.D. Crowe & the New South – Why Don’t You Tell Me So. J.D. Crowe & the New South’s 1975 eponymous album – more commonly known by its Rounder Records catalogue number 0044 — was a hugely influential record, both for its musicianship and for its mix of the traditional bluegrass repertory with rock and pop songs. J.D. Crowe was the elder statesman of the group, born in 1937 and having played with Jimmy Martin. The other, younger musicians were in their early 20s or teens. They were amazing instrumentalists who later became stars in their own right: Tony Rice on guitar, Ricky Skaggs on mandolin, and Jerry Douglas on dobro (resonating guitar). This 2025 release has an unreleased song and an alternate version.
6. Denise LaSalle – Trapped in a Thing Called Love. LaSalle has been singing and writing great soul and blues songs from her twenties up until her death in 2018 at 83 years old. This song was a hit in 1971. It is from her first album, which shared the single’s title, recorded at Memphis’ HI Studios, where the great Al Green’s records were made. While this album was released in 2025, let’s hope her next two, Hi-Studios-recorded albums will also be rereleased soon.
7. Charley Pride – It’s Just a Matter of Time. This song is from “Endlessly”, a lost tribute album to soul singer Brook Benton (most famous for the song “Rainy Night in Georgia”).  Pride recorded this tribute album in the 1980s, but it was not released until 2025.
8. Peggy Lee – Please Mr. Sun. At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings features 44 rare solo performances from CBS Peggy Lee’s radio series in 1951-52, never before available on digital release. This song was a number 6 hit for Johnny Ray in 1952.
9. John Prine – Hey Ah Nothin’. We are still mourning the loss of John Prine to COVID in 2020. In 2025, his estate released his great 1995 album Lost Dog + Mixed Blessings, with five alternate versions and this new song.
10. Ray Charles – Don’t Set Me Free. This 1963 single was included in “No One Does It Like …Ray Charles,” 2025’s collection of Charles’ 1960s singles and B-sides, most receiving their first digital release.
11. Joyce Street – Mississippi Moonshine. From Numero Group’s great collection of songs by obscure female country singers from the 1960s and 1970s. Joyce wrote more than 300 songs and recorded several while raising a family. She never got much attention for her music back then, but this release shows she deserved more than that.
12. Alick Nkhata – Kalindawlo Ni Mfumu. Alick Nkhata was a Zambian musician, freedom fighter and broadcaster from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. This song was reissued in 2025 on the collection “Radio Lusaka.”
13. The Mavericks — All Night Long. We lost Raul Malo, the lead singer for The Mavericks, in 2025 after a battle with cancer. This song comes from the classic Mavericks’ album “Mono,” released in stereo for the first time in 2025. Hopefully, there is more unreleased music from Malo available soon.
14. Gypsy Caravan – Soweto Mujibha. Don’t miss the great 2025 collection “Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound of Harare’ Township 1975-1980,” where this song comes from. Gypsy Caravan were teenagers at the time of this recording.
15. Francesco De Masi – Jerry’s Theme. We end this playlist as we began it, with a song from a collection of Italian soundtrack recordings from CAM Sugar, chosen by a film director. This song is from a collection of Spaghetti Western songs chosen by Jeymes Samuel, director of Netflix’s “The Harder They Fall.” This song is from the movie “Seven Dollars on the Red” (“7 Dollari Sul Rosso”), an early and uneven Spaghetti Western from 1966, which redeems itself with a “truly memorable” last 20 minutes (according to spaghetti-western.net).

This playlist is the second of three covering the best music released in 2025. It features new versions of songs originally sung by someone else. You can find the first playlist at https://lwinkelman.com/lees-favorite-songs-of-2025-a-playlist/.

All through the year, I put cover songs I like into a folder. At the end of the year, I had more than 6 hours of music that I had to narrow down to a manageable amount of music. It was heartbreaking having to eliminate so many great songs.

I had three absolute, unbreakable rules in making this playlist:

1. All songs must have been released in 2025
2. Only one song per artist is allowed on this list
3. I can fudge any of the absolute, unbreakable rules I want, because this is my damn playlist.

The list is not in order of my favorites. I do not have particular favorites among the songs on the list. I love all the songs. I hope you enjoy my playlist of favorite cover songs of 2025.

1. Josh Rouse – Somebody’s Baby. Nebraska-born but Spain-based singer-songwriter Josh Rouse released Streets of Your Town a great album of covers songs in 2025. This song is a cover of Jackson Browne’s 1982 hit from the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.
2. Chrissy Hynde & k.d. lang – Me and Mrs. Jones. Chrissy Hynde, from The Pretenders, also released a great album of cover songs in 2025:” Duets Special.” She is joined by country/torch song singer k.d. lang on this version of the 1972 Philly Soul classic song, written by Gamble & Huff and Cathy Gilbert and originally sung by Billy Paul.
3. Muireann Bradley – Candyman. Nineteen-year-old Irish guitarist Bradley sings this song that Mississippi John Hurt first recorded in 1928 for OK Records. She omits the most salacious verses, which is probably for the best, but she nails the intricate guitar part that music writer Elijah Wald says took him “a decade or two” to figure out.  
4. Charlie Hunter, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Steven Bernstein – Single Ladies. This Beyoncé megahit from 2008 is done in a mutant jazz-funk style by guitarist Hunter, drummer Previte, sax player Skerik, and trumpeter Bernstein from Sex Mob. The four musicians come together on occasion as Omaha Diner, playing only #1 billboard hits. Their eponymous album, which contains their version of Single Ladies, had a limited release in 2013 but its first digital release in 2025.
5. The Feelies – Dancing Together. In 2025, the New Jersey indie rock heroes The Feelies put together an album of rare cover songs that mostly have never before been released digitally. This song is a cover of Patti Smith’s 1979 single.
6. The Shootouts – Only You. The Akron, Ohio “rust belt Americana” band is joined by guests Sam Bush (newgrass mandolinist), Michigan native Lindsay Lou Lindsay Lou (guitarist and singer), and ace harmonica player Mikey Raphael (best known for his work with Willie Nelson). They sing and play a version of Only You, the gorgeous 1982 synthpop hit from Wazoo.
7. AKIA, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad — Daydream. Younge is an LA-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer. He started by creating soundtracks for nonexistent movies, but has graduated to working on real movies and TV shows. He releases music under his own name and in partnership with Muhammad, a member of A Tribe Called Quest. The two partnered on a great series of jazz releases under the name “Jazz Is Dead.” They are joined here by 23-year-old Atlanta R&B singer AKIA on the 1969 hit by the Belgian band The Wallace Collection. This song is from the third season of the television show Reasonable Doubt.
8. Ledisi – This Bitter Earth. R&B singer Ledisi can sing anything, and she proves it here, by singing the song made famous by Dinah Washington in 1960. Ledisi’s whole 2025 Washington tribute album “For Dinah” is excellent.
9. Doane Music School, Ron Sexsmith — Sunny – Ron Sexsmith sings this version of the 1963 Bobby Hebb hit, backed up by the students of the Doane Music School in Toronto. I didn’t think the world needed another cover of Sunny, one of the world’s most covered and annoyingly cheerful songs. But I was won over by this charming version, which bears repeated listens without getting on one’s nerves. And the video for the song is even more charming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPz0Z7M7BU.
10. Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia – Vaca Profana. The brother-and-sister Brazilian popular music (MPB) stars sing this song, written by Caetano but made famous by their friend and fellow MPB star Gal Costa. A fitting tribute to Costa, who passed away in 2022. 
11. Kenny Eastwood, Joni Mitchell – Trouble Man. Kenny Eastwood is a jazz bassist and film composer and the son of director Clint. In 1998, he recorded this cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1972 song with Joni Mitchell’s vocals. I became aware of the song when it was released on the collection Joni Jazz in 2025. Should this song be in the reissue playlist instead of here?  No, because I make (and break) the rules for my playlists.
12. Jayce, Chris Benstead – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). This song was written by Sonny Bono and sung by Cher in 1966. Nancy Sinatra also sang the song in 1966, and her version was used over the credits in Kill Bill, Vol. 1. This Thai version was recorded for the soundtrack of Fountain of Youth, an entirely forgettable 2025 movie, directed by Guy Ritchie.
13. Rumer – The Windmills of My Mind. Pakistani-British singer-songwriter has a beautiful voice, born to sing 1960s sophisticated pop, like the Carpenters or Burt Bacharach. Here she sings “Windmills of My Mind,” the Michel Legrand earworm originally sung by Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison, in the 1968 film “The Thomas Crown Affair.” Rumer’s version appears in the 2025 TV series “Harlen Coben’s Lazarus” on Amazon Prime.
14. Rachel Burke – Weary Blues from Waiting. Burke is a country singer from “up north” in Michigan’s lower peninsula. On her great 2025 album “Sings Sad Songs,” she abandons any attempt at commercial success to sing heartfelt, tearjerkers. This song is a cover of Hank Willams’ posthumously released 1953 single. The whole album is worth a listen.
15. I’m With Her – Espresso. The folk/American trio – Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins – sing Sabrina Carpenter’s smash-hit, Grammy-winning song.
16. Prine Royce – How Deep Is Your Love. In 2025, Bachata star Royce released an album of pop- and soft-rock, English-language classic songs, sung in a mix of English and Spanish. This song is his version of the Bee Gees hit ballad, originally released as a single and as part of the soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever in 1977. 
17. Phosphorescent – O Canada – Alabama singer-songwriter Matthew Houck, known as Phosphorescent, sings the Canadian national anthem – my favorite national anthem! – from the soundtrack of Paul Schrader’s great film Oh, Canada.

It is again time, on my birthday, to give you all a present: a playlist of my favorite songs of the previous year. These are not necessarily the best songs from 2025, but they are my favorites. All through the year, I put songs I like into a folder. At the end of the year, I had more than 10 hours of music that I had to narrow down to a manageable amount of music. It was heartbreaking having to eliminate so many great songs.

I had four absolute, unbreakable rules in making this playlist:

1. All songs must have been released in 2025
2. Only one song per artist is allowed on this list
3. Cover versions and re-release/archival songs are not included here but will be on separate playlists, to be released tomorrow and the next day
4. I can fudge any of the absolute, unbreakable rules I want, because this is my damn playlist.

The list is not in order of my favorites. I do not have particular favorites among the songs on the list. I love all the songs. They are sequenced for your listening pleasure. Enjoy the Playlist!

1. Rosalía – Mundo Nuevo. Rosalía is the great Spanish singer, rooted in Flamenco music, but singing in a variety of styles. This song is from “Lux,” the album of the year, brilliant and surprising. Rosalía sings in 13 languages and in a wide range of styles, from opera to Kate Bush-esque. The whole album is great, and it was hard to pick just one song for this playlist. But I love the sweep of Mundo Nuevo, which fuses a Middle Eastern, flamenco flavor with soprano diva vocals.
2. 13^th Ward Social Club & Nadri Brown – Cool Cat. 13^th Ward Social Club is one-man-band Justin Catoni from Providence, Rhode Island. He makes upbeat instrumental music with lots of brass that ranges from “psych-rock, samba, jazz, afrobeat, and Holy Week processional hymns.” His varied musical interests are indicated by his choice of cover songs:  from Buena Vista Social Club/Compay Segundo to Fela Kuti. In this song, Catoni is joined by Nadri Brown, a Brazilian immigrant living in Chicago.
3. Margo Price – Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down. The great Nashville country/americana artist sings a song of defiance against the shitty powerful people we have to deal with in this shitty world. We need her energy and defiance in these shitty times.
4. The Cords – Fabulist. The band is comprised of two Scottish teenaged sisters. I am a sucker for this combination of loud guitars and sweet melodies. Very catchy.
5. Mavis Staples – Beautiful Strangers. The venerable Mavis Staples – soul legend, gospel great, prominent activist, and national treasure – continues to make great music at 86 years old. Her 2025 album “Sad and Beautiful” was produced by Brad Cook, who also produced records by Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, and Nathaniel Rateliff. The song “Beautiful Stranger” was written in 2016 by Kevin Morby as a protest song in remembrance of the Paris 2015 attacks, Orlando 2016 shooting, and death of Freddie Gray. Staples’ version is gentle and full of grace.
6. Keren Ann – La Sublime Solitude. The great Dutch-Israeli-French singer and songwriter Keren Ann, releases her 10^th album. The moving song “La Sublime Solitude” is the album opener, a celebration of spending time by yourself.
7. Joe Ely – Adios Sweet Dreams. We lost Joe Ely this year. Ely was the great Texas singer-songwriter, who started singing with his pals Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in the more-a-legend-then-a-band The Flatliners. He went on to open for the Clash and sing with Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo, Los Super Seven, The Chieftains, James McMurtry, The Clash, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, and Guy Clark. Raised in Lubbock, Texas, Ely followed in the footsteps of fellow native son Buddy Holly. Elly released 22 studio and live albums over 38 years, including 2025’s great “Love and Freedom.” This song tells the moving story of two Mexican immigrants who come to the U.S. to make a better life for themselves. But the “land of the free” is not what was promised to them, and the narrator laments the loss of his sweet dreams and his love Maria, who was separated from him on the journey north and may be dead.
8. Laufey — Lover Girl. Who would have predicted that a 26-year-old Icelandic singer would have huge hits with her Gen Z peers with songs in the sound of early 1960s pre-rock singers like Julie London, Jo Stafford and Dinah Shore, perhaps the least cool music ever? Not me. But Laufey writes great songs and has a great sound, and her music is catchy. She is one of the few artists (along with Rosalía and Beyoncé) that my 21-year-old child and I love equally. 
9. Patty Griffin – Back at the Start. The great singer-songwriter Patty Griffin released her 12^th album this year, and it is another winner. Griffin got her professional start in Boston in the 1990s and I started loving her music from her powerful first album Living with Ghosts. She has long-since relocated to Austin, Texas (shout out, Johnny Hartigan). Griffin’s voice has changed since her battle with cancer. Her voice lost some of the intensity it used to have, but has picked up a weathered grace. Griffin’s new record “Crown of Roses”, is consistently great. It was another record where I had a hard time picking only one song for this playlist.
10. Michigander – I’ll Be OK. The Kalamazoo rock group channels 1970s-style rock. Michigander is led by vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist frontman, Jason Singer.  They get extra points for the Michigan connection.
11. Annahstasia – Tether. Annahstasia released her debut album in 2025, and is hard to classify. It is an R&B folk album, somewhere between Tracy Chapman and Sade.
12. Romeo Santos, Prince Royce – Dardos. The two biggest stars of Bachata music release their first album together. If you don’t know Bachata, which originated in the Dominican Republic, picture a beefy, macho guy, singing sophisticated delicate dance music in falsetto. Their joint record “Better Late Than Never” is uniformly great, all worth a listen to.
13. Ashley Monroe – There You Are. Monroe is one of my favorite country singers, and 2025 album “Tennessee Lightning” is another compelling entry into her body of work. You may also have heard Monroe in the country supergroup Pistol Annies with Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley.
14. Julieta Venegas – Tiempos Dorados. Venegas is a Mexican singer, songwriter, keyboardist and accordionist living in Buenos Aires. She is known for indie pop-rock. Venegas released this great song in 2025, and we hope for a full new album in 2026.
15. Durand Bernarr – Unspoken. Bernarr has sung backup vocals for Erykah Badu, Anderson.Paak, and Kaytranada, among others. His fourth album BLOOM was released in 2025 and has been nominated for several R&B Grammy awards. It won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist, honoring musicians who use songs, music videos and live performances to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance. 
16. Julian Lage Et Al – Talking Drum. This funky instrumental is a release from jazz guitarist Julian Lage’s upcoming album, due on January 23. It also features John Medeski, Jorge Roeder, and Kenny Wollesen.
17. John Gorka – Particle or Wave (Solo Acoustic). I have been a fan of acoustic singer-songwriter Gorka’s music since the mid-1980s, when he was part of the Fast Folk collective with Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin and others. This 2025 song has a simple but important message: “there is goodness in the world.” I have turned to this song for solace many times this year to help cope with the hard times we live in.
18. Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu. Ethiopian jazz percussionist and the father of Ethio-jazz, recorded his last album “Mulato Plays Mulato” in 2025 before his retirement. You may know his music from the Jim Jarmusch movie Broken Flowers.
19. Robert FinIey – I Wanna Thank You. Seventy-one-year-old blues, soul and gospel singer Finley hails from Northern Louisiana. His 2025 album “Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya” is the most recent Finley album produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.
20. Rodrigo Bezerra – Sonhar Sonhar. I really don’t know much about the Brazilian songwriter, singer, guitarist and producer Rodrigo Bezerra. This song is from his ninth album (I think). I do know that I like this song quite a bit.
21. Shinyribs – Shitty Music. “I don’t wanna hangout with anyone who listens to shitty music.”  These are words to live by. Thank you, Kevin Russell, frontman for the Austin, Texas group Shinyribs, for your wisdom.
22. iLe – Un Amor de la Calle. In a year with so much great Latin music, the album Como Las Canto Yo by iLe may be my favorite (but what a Sophie’s choice!). The record is full of haunting boleros, and Puerto Rican iLe sings her heart out.
23. Trombone Shorty and the New Breed Brass Band — Line Em Up. Kick ass brass band music, New Orleans style. Try to stay still to this one – you can’t!  From New Orleans Trombonist Troy Anderson, aka Trombone Shorty, and the New Breed Brass Band from their great 2025 album Second Line Sunday. 

This week’s standout album release is Better Late Than Never, a surprise new record by two superstars of Latin Music Romeo Santos and Prince Royce, who have long been friends but never released music together until now. Santos and Royce sing Bachata music, a Dominican music style that started in the 1960s. Bachata is delicate and romantic dance music. Bachata started in the Dominican Republic, but many of its best-known practitioners today, like Royce and Santos, are from the States, often with Dominican parents. I first became aware of Bachata music through Luis Guerra, a great singer who is a generation older than Royce and Santos. Until I researched the music for my new Bachata playlist, I only knew of three Bachata singers: Guerra, Santos, and Royce. They head up this playlist (including a song by Aventura, Santos’ band before he went solo). The playlist starts with one of my all-time favorite songs “Ojalá Que Llueva Cafe” by Guerra. Then the list continues more or less chronologically from the 1960s. Enjoy yourself some Bachata. 

As Juan Luis Guerra says: I hope it rains coffee in the countryside. ¡Ojalá!