Awesome Genius Mix of shame

One of the coolest inventions from the fine folks at Apple has to be the iTunes Genius Mix, where you select one song from your library and it automatically creates a playlist of 25 songs from your music library that eerily seem to go quite well together.

Sometimes I’ll do the equivalent of closing my eyes and picking a song at random and see what the Genius button spits out. One day, the waggling virtual finger alighted on Wham’s “I’m Your Man” (what? I was a teen girl once, you know), and the Genius Mix that popped out never fails to entertain me in a totally awesome and completely shamed way. Note that it was created when I only had my iTunes purchases loaded into that computer and not my ripped CDs, so that’s why there are so many duplicated artists, but I kind of like that.

Here’s the lineup, if you want to re-create this delight yourself (song, album, artist, because I’m too lazy to edit the iTunes listing). I dare you not to shake your tailfeathers at some point while listening to this:

1. I’m Your Man, Music from the Edge of Heaven, Wham!
2. Blame It On the Boogie, Essential Michael Jackson, The Jacksons
3. Never Can Say Goodbye (Tom Moulton Mix), The Best Of Gloria Gaynor, Gloria Gaynor
4. The One Thing, Shabooh Shoobah, INXS
5. …Baby One More Time, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, Britney Spears
6. Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely), I’m Not Dead, P!nk
7. Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), The Hits – Chapter One, Backstreet Boys
8. Boogie Shoes, The Best of KC & The Sunshine Band, KC & The Sunshine Band
9. I’d Really Love to See You Tonight, Rhino Hi-Five: England Dan & John Ford Coley, England Dan & John Ford Coley
10. Heartbreaker, Greatest Hits, Pat Benatar
11. Freedom, Make It Big, Wham!
12. Bad Inﬂuence, Funhouse, P!nk
13. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), Essential Michael Jackson, The Jacksons
14. Pretty Vegas, Switch, INXS
15. Boys (Co-Ed Remix), Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, Britney Spears featuring Pharrell Williams
16. Spiderwebs, Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
17. The Game of Love, Shaman, Santana Featuring Michelle Branch
18. I Have Seen the Rain, I’m Not Dead, P!nk featuring James T. Moore
19. Last Christmas, Music from the Edge of Heaven, Wham!
20. As Long As You Love Me, The Hits – Chapter One, Backstreet Boys
21. If I Can’t Have You, All I Ever Wanted, Kelly Clarkson
22. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, The Very Best of Daryl Hall and John Oates, Daryl Hall & John Oates
23. Love Is Alright Tonite, Working Class Dog, Rick Springﬁeld
24. Don’t Change, Shabooh Shoobah, INXS
25. Extraordinary, Liz Phair, Liz Phair

Just for kicks, I regenerated the Genius Mix on a library that now contains the bulk of my digital collection, including ripped CDs. It also packs in a fair amount of awesome:

1. I’m Your Man, Music from the Edge of Heaven, Wham!
2. Church Of The Poison Mind, Colour By Numbers, Culture Club
3. Thorn In My Side, Greatest Hits, Eurythmics
4. Cherish, The Immaculate Collection, Madonna
5. Never Can Say Goodbye (Tom Moulton Mix), The Best Of Gloria Gaynor, Gloria Gaynor
6. You Do Something To Me, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Paul Weller
7. I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do), The Very Best of Daryl Hall and John Oates, Daryl Hall & John Oates
8. Blame It On the Boogie, Essential Michael Jackson, The Jacksons
9. Knock On Wood, Disco, Amii Stewart
10. Freedom, Make It Big, Wham!
11. Nobody Does It Better, Greatest Hits Live, Carly Simon
12. Too Shy, White Feathers, Kajagoogoo
13. Tell Her About It, Greatest Hits, Vol. II (1978 – 1985), Billy Joel
14. Little bird, Diva, Annie Lennox
15. Just Good Friends, Bad, Michael Jackson
16. Together Again, Velvet Rope, Janet Jackson
17. There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), Greatest Hits, Eurythmics
18. Into the Groove, The Immaculate Collection, Madonna
19. Our Lips Are Sealed, Greatest, The Go-Go’s
20. Disco Inferno, Disco, The Trammps
21. One on One, The Very Best of Daryl Hall and John Oates, Daryl Hall & John Oates
22. Coming Around Again, Greatest Hits Live, Carly Simon
23. True, True, Spandau Ballet
24. Sledgehammer, So, Peter Gabriel
25. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), Essential Michael Jackson, The Jacksons