PopMixWhen it became apparent that Christmas Day would be falling on a Friday this year, it only seemed appropriate to come up with a mixtape that went a little bit above and beyond the norm.

A little bit? How about this for a premise — the members of the Popdose staff were asked, “If you were stuck on a desert island with an iPod that could only hold three songs, which three songs would you choose?”

The response to that provocative question was literally the breadth of music itself. Think I’m kidding? Alongside time-tested pop-music favorites, there was opera, thrash metal, soul, musical theatre, and barbershop, all passing the staff’s stringent “necessary three” criteria, all for the sake of giving our readers what we consider to be the best.

That’s not all. A few surprises have been smuggled in as well — an extra live cut or two, a Shep Pettibone remix, and a digital booklet in the form of a PDF file — to further explain our choices. What else would you expect from your friends at Popdose? From us to you, we wish you the best of holidays and a wonderful new year, too.

Distant Sun – Crowded House, from Together Alone (1993)
Walk Away From Love – David Ruffin, from The Ultimate Collection (1998)
You’re An Ocean – Fastball, from The Harsh Light of Day (2000)
More Than This – Roxy Music, from Avalon (1982)
He’s So Shy – The Pointer Sisters, from Best of the Pointer Sisters (2000)
Jesus Walks – Kanye West, from The College Dropout (2004)
Don’t Disturb This Groove – The System, from Don’t Disturb This Groove (1987)
‘Til I Die – The Beach Boys, from Surf’s Up (1971)

And there’s much more where that came from. You can download the full mix here, here, and here — and the digital booklet here — when you right-click on each link and select your computer’s “save” option.

About the Author

Dw. Dunphy

Dw. Dunphy is a writer, artist, and musician. For Popdose he has contributed many articles that can be found in the site's archives. He also writes for New Jersey Stage, Musictap.net, Ultimate Classic Rock, and Diffuser FM. His music can be found at http://dwdunphy.bandcamp.com/.

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