Roads can take you anywhere, but they have a funny way of bringing you around to the same spots now and then. You pass through these hubs and junctions on your way someplace new — but as you pass, you take a look around and see what’s changed.
The Ultimate Roadtrip Mixtape is like that for us here at Popdose. The idea was always to provide a curated soundtrack for your long car ride, with the aim of elevating that everyday experience into the realm of the mythic — to make your ride as cool as the movies — and we seem to keep coming back to it. We’ve gotten periodic reader requests to repost these longform mp3 mixes, and as we have occasionally done so, we have also expanded the scope of the project. That’s the nature of a roadtrip, after all. Constant motion. Constant change. It’s not enough to simply revisit your points of reference. The journey is always getting longer; the scenery grows ever more wild and strange.
And the trip has grown long and strange indeed. From the original three installments, the project has grown to eleven mixes — nearly fifteen hours of continuous music and sound, which is just about as long as anyone would ever want to drive at a stretch. You’ll find classic-rock radio staples, overlooked gems and obscurities, rarities and reimaginings, suggested and contributed by Popdose staff past and present — an assemblage of more than two hundred tracks, all selected and sequenced to turn your jaunt down the interstate into a cinematic experience.
Just in time for your summer travels, we present this gift to you once more, here for your downloading or streaming pleasure. (Or, if physical media are still your thing, note that each mix is just about the right length to burn to a CD.) We suggest you take a moment, as you load up these files, to read Jon Cummings’ original essay on the meaning of the road in American music. Then settle in, turn it up, and get ready to hit the highway — even if it’s only in your mind.
PART ONE: LIGHTS OUT FOR THE TERRITORIES
Full Mix — 1:18:14
I. Get Everybody And Their Stuff Together
(intro: The Blues Brothers — ”We’re 106 miles from Chicago…”)
Tank! (Theme to Cowboy Bebop) — The Seat Belts
Ride — The Vines
The Passenger — Siouxsie and the Banshees
On the Road Again — Canned Heat
Roam — The B-52s
II. Someone Take The Wheel
(interlude: The Ralph Spoilsport Mantrum [excerpt] — The Firesign Theater)
Going Mobile — The Who
Harley Davidson — Mick Harvey with Anita Lane
Vehicle — The Ides of March
Dashboard — Modest Mouse
Boss Hoss — The Sonics
The Bumpin’ Contraption — Latyrx
III. No Particular Place To Go
(interlude: Jack Kerouac reads from On the Road)
Missing Person Afternoon — The Story
Trampled Underfoot — Led Zeppelin
Silver Wheels (live) — Bruce Cockburn
Away — The Feelies
Freeway Jam — Jeff Beck
Hang On St. Christopher — The Bulletboys
Burn Rubber On Me — The Gap Band
Gear Jammer — George Thorogood and the Destroyers
(coda: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation — ”Burn some dust, eat my rubber”)
PART TWO: BROTHER WHERE YOU BOUND
Full mix — 1:18:04
IV. Dangerous Curves
(intro: Back To The Future — ”Once this car reaches 88 MPH…”)
Crash — The Primitives
Panama — Van Halen
I Ride In Your Slipstream — Richard Thompson
Rev It Up — Casual Gods
Car Song — Elastica
V. And You May Ask Yourself, Where Does That Highway Go To?
(interlude: Big Trouble In Little China — ”I never drive faster than I can see”)
I’ve Been Everywhere — Johnny Cash
Orphan Girl — Emmylou Harris
Driving South — The Stone Roses
Highway 49 — Howlin’ Wolf
Tennessee Plates — Charlie Sexton
East Easy Rider — Julian Cope
Roadrunner — The Modern Lovers
Lover — Michael Stanley Band
On the Western Skyline — Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Going in the Right Direction — Robert Randolph and the Family Band
VI. Another Roadside Attraction
(interlude: National Lampoon’s Vacation — ”A quest for fun”)
Sunday Afternoon — Blossom Dearie
The Church of Logic, Sin, and Love — The Men
Last Chance Texaco — Rickie Lee Jones
San Berdoo Sunburn — The Eagles of Death Metal
DizzKneeLand — dada
Trigger Happy Jack (Drive-By Á¡ Go-Go) — Poe
Eight Hundred and Thirteen Mile Car Trip — They Might Be Giants
(coda: The Big Lebowski — ”See you down the trail…”)
PART THREE: LONG WAY HOME
Full mix — 1:17:41
VII. The Hour Of The Wolf
(intro: Days of Thunder)
2, 4, 6, 8, Motorway! — The Tom Robinson Band
Passenger Side — Wilco
(interlude: Big Trouble In Little China, slight return)
The Western Lands — Material with Wm. S. Burroughs
Night Hawks — Crossover
Moonlight Mile — The Rolling Stones
(interlude: Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas)
State Trooper — Cowboy Junkies
Screenwriter’s Blues — Soul Coughing
Radar Love — Golden Earring
(interlude: Airplane! — ”Wrong week to stop doing amphetamines”)
VIII. We’re Gonna Get To That Place We Really Wanna Go
Born To Run — Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft — Marah
My City Was Gone — The Pretenders
A Million Miles Away — The Plimsouls
Any Ole Stretch of Blacktop — Shenandoah
On Every Street — Dire Straits
Come a Long Way — Simple Minds
(interlude: Back To The Future — ”Where we’re going, we won’t need roads”)
Western Lights — Simon Bonney
coda: Road — Nick Drake
PART FOUR: MIGRATORY INSTINCTS
Full mix — 1:16:01
IX. The Undiscovered Country
Long Time Traveller — The Wailin’ Jennys
A Sort of Homecoming (remix) — U2
Moonracing — Bikeride
Ramble On — Led Zeppelin
The Travellers — Big Country
Farewell, Farewell — Martin Carthy with Maddy Pryor
We Came Along This Road — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Big Sky Country — Chris Whitley
Lost — The Church
In the Back Seat — The Arcade Fire
Mile-Marker — The Innocence Mission
X. Everything Sounds Like Welcome Home
The Wheel — Rosanne Cash
Return of the Native — Early Day Miners
Still Water — Daniel Lanois
Go Places — The New Pornographers
Graveldrive — John Cale
A New Career in a New Town — David Bowie
Back of a Car — Big Star
Coming Up Close — til tuesday
coda: Always Returning — Brian Eno
PART FIVE: INTERNAL COMBUSTION
Full mix — 1:19:36
XI. Gridlock’d
(montage: city traffic)
Auto Where To — The Chap
Parked Outside — The Afghan Whigs
I’m Good. I’m Gone — Lykke Li
XII. Fender Benders
First Gear — The Rapture
Crosstown Traffic — The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Under the Westway — Blur
Milky Way Home — Sonny Landreth with Eric Johnson
XIII. A Pair Of Lead Boots
(interlude: The World’s End — ”Do you know why I pulled you over?”)
Boomin’ System — LL Cool J
Ride On / Right On — Phosphorescent
Roadtrip To Disaster — Curtains For You
Voyage — Charlotte Gainsbourg
Bullethead — Van Halen
Go, Boy, Go — Frank ”Sugar Chile” Robinson
Gypsy Rider — Bruce Springsteen
Diesel Smoke — Eggstone
XIV. Gone Around The Bend
Hard Shoulder — Mark Knopfler
(interlude: Batman Forever — ”Chicks love the car”)
Cars and Boys — Nathalie Nordnes
One Take — Lindsey Buckingham
The Boy Racer — Morrissey
Easy to Crash — Cake
Drive My Car (edit) — Cristina
coda: Hello There — John Cale
PART SIX: WHITE LINE FEVER
Full mix — 1:18:55
XV. Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
(intro: The Hobbit — ”And where have you been?”)
When Ye Go Away — The Waterboys
Back in the Saddle — Aerosmith
Take Me Anywhere — School Of Fish
In God’s Country — U2
Don’t Look Back — Boston
The Long Way Around — The Dixie Chicks
Life Is a Highway — Tom Cochrane
Drive South — John Hiatt
All Down the Line — The Rolling Stones
Anywhere With You — Rubber Rodeo
XVI. The Old Main Drag
(interlude: The World’s End, slight return)
The Chase — Nash the Slash
Little Red Corvette — Prince and the Revolution
Whoever You Are — Geggy Tah
Fantastic Voyage — Lakeside
The Streebeater (Theme to Sanford & Son) — Quincy Jones
XVII. Going Up The Country
Ohoopee River Bottomland — Larry Jon Wilson
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Fast As You Can — Minnie Driver
Going Up the Country — Not Drowning, Waving
When I Get To the Border — Lucy Kaplansky
PART SEVEN: DESOLATION ROAD
Full mix — 1:22:21
XVIII. FahrvergnÁ¼gen
(intro: James Dean interview excerpt)
The Art of Driving — Black Box Recorder
Autobahn — Kraftwerk
Monarch — Hex
Cars — Gary Numan
Dreamline — Rush
Madroad Driving — Johnny Depp with Come
Hallogallo — Neu!
XIX. Driving While Blind
Where’d You Go? — The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Rock n’ Roll Stew — Traffic
Open — Rhye
Slow Run — Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
Hit the Road, Jack — Ray Charles
Spirit of Ray — mash-up assembled by Mixsplosiv
The Other Way of Stopping — The Police
Arrested for Driving While Blind — ZZ Top
I Got a Name — Jim Croce
The Road Leads Down — Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang
PART EIGHT: I’M BAD, I’M NATIONWIDE
Full mix — 1:22:31
XX. Gentlemen Of The Road
Loneliest Road in America — Pray For Rain
Love Is a Long Road — Tom Petty
Truck Drivin’ Son-Of-a-Gun — Red Sovine
Ride Wit’ Me — Nelly
The Distance — Cake
Heading West — Cyndi Lauper
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 — Asleep At The Wheel
The Golden State — John Doe with Cindy Wasserman
Red River Rock — The Silicon Teens
River Towns — Mark Knopfler
(interlude: Champion Spark Plugs commercial)
Driving My Life Away — Eddie Rabbitt
Ramble Tamble — Creedence Clearwater Revival
I Drove All Night — Roy Orbison
Six Days on the Road — Dave Dudley
XXI. Mysteries Of The Hobo’s Life
(interlude: This Land Is Your Land — The Waterboys)
The Littlest Birds — The Be Good Tanyas
King of the Road — Roger Miller
Hots On For Nowhere — Led Zeppelin
You Can’t Catch Me — Chuck Berry
Forty Miles of Bad Road — Duane Eddy
(interlude: Oklahoma Service Station commercial)
Slow Ride — Foghat
The Roadblock — Stan Ridgway
The Rover — Jethro Tull
In the Highways — The Peasall Sisters
PART NINE: HAUNTED HIGHWAYS
Full mix — 1:22:33
XXII. Full Dark, No Stars
Night Ride Home — Joni Mitchell
One Headlight — The Wallflowers
Back Where I Started — Box Of Frogs
A Thousand Miles From Nowhere — Dwight Yoakam
Drive Away (End Title) — A Series of Unfortunate Events OST
XXIII. Pit Stops Hotspots Truckstops Greasy Spoons
Long Time Gone — Colin Scot
George Says He Has Lost His Way in This World — The Clientele
Hotel Song — Josh Ritter
Booth of Glass — Patty Larkin
Many Rivers to Cross — Jimmy Cliff
It’s a Trip — Shakespear’s Sister
XXIV. Blue Lights In The Rearview
(interlude: Mad Max — ”The Night Rider…”)
Midnight Rider — Gregg Allman
Hanging Out & Hung Up on the Line — Julian Cope
Gone (remix) — U2
XXV. An Unreliable Companion In The Watches Of The Morning
(interlude: The Warriors — ”All right now, Boppers”)
Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) — Reunion
Raised On Radio — Journey
Talkback Radio [edit] — Ν O
XXVI. Off The Edge Of The Map
Wanderin’ — Chris Isaak
I Woke Up in a Strange Place (live) — Jeff Buckley
Where Will I Be — Emmylou Harris
Lowside of the Road — Tom Waits
Take the Long Way Home — Supertramp
(coda: Hot Fuzz — ”A considerable amount of paperwork”)
PART TEN: TAIL LIGHTS FADE
Full mix — 1:23:59
XXVII. Nowhere Fast
Gridlock — The Pogues
The Bike Song — Mark Ronson featuring Kyle Falconer and Spank Rock
Free Ride — The Edgar Winter Group
Driver’s Seat — Sniff n’ The Tears
Car Chase (Arp Worship) — The Chemical Brothers
XXVIII. Brokedown Palace
Joyride (I Saw the Film) — Tribe
Car Trouble [single] — Adam and the Ants
Cruising (Like in the Movies) — Doctor L
Slipping Away — Dave Edmunds
Jeepster — T. Rex
XXIX. Prairie Schooners
Shenandoah — Tom Waits with Keith Richards
Mississippi Queen — Mountain
Drops in the River — Fleet Foxes
Fields of Fire [version] — Big Country
How I Spent My Summer — Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys
Ridin’ the Wind — The Tornados
XXX. Danish Windmill, Six Miles
Faster Than Light — Duran Duran
Twenty-Five Miles — Edwin Starr
Who Listens to the Radio? — The Sports
XXXI. Gone Troppo
Walkabout — The Sugarcubes
The Coast — Paul Simon
The Racing Rats — The Editors
Destination Unknown — Missing Persons
PART ELEVEN: TRANSCONTINENTAL HOMESICK BLUES
Full mix — 1:23:37
XXXII. Honey, Where You Been So Long?
Where Do You Think You’re Going? [version] — Dire Straits
Ride Captain Ride — The Blues Image
The Road’s My Middle Name — Bonnie Raitt
A Town Called Walker — Tom Verlaine
Ride Like the Wind — Christopher Cross
My Town — The Michael Stanley Band
The Night — Bruce Springsteen
Ford Econoline — Nanci Griffith
Tobacco Road — The Nashville Teens
Mess Around — Ray Charles
XXXIII. No Postcode Envy
The Red Plains — Bruce Hornsby and the Range
(Cross the) Heartland — Pat Metheny Group
Omaha — The Moby Grape
Royals — Lorde
Considering a Move to Memphis — The Colorblind James Experience
Carnival Town — Norah Jones
XXXIV. License And Registration
Brand New Automobile — The Payments
Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) — Big and Rich
Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley — Robert Palmer
Race With the Devil — Stray Cats
XXXV. There And Back Again
Right Back Where We Started From — Maxine Nightingale
Home — Phillip Phillips
Roads [version] — Glenn Yarbrough (The Hobbit OST)
You Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time — Luka Bloom
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