God love the iPod. Steve Jobs was right: Apple's palm-sized music player, capable of holding thousands of songs, really will change the way we listen to music. Before the iPod, there was no way to create a portable music mix that encompassed a genre in its entirety.
Like, say, the Las Vegas genre.
The list of albums and songs below should put a nice dent in a 15-gigabyte, 3,700-song capacity iPod. To fill the 20-gigabyte, 5,000-song iPod, just increase the amount of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones according to your tastes. To fill the 10,000-song, 40-gigabyte iPod, you may need to include Reno and maybe even write and perform a few songs about Boulder City.
THE CRYSTAL METHOD
While the Crystal Method's million-selling debut, Vegas, was recorded in LA (as were the group's two subsequent albums), Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have strong ties to Las Vegas: Back in the day, they worked on KUNV 91.5-FM's late, great Rock Avenue program and played DJ sets at various clubs around town that no longer exist. The Method has earned the right to place all three of their albums in this iPod set, even though Vegas is still the best of the bunch.
ESQUIVEL
Say, Juan—one more time? Juan Garcia Esquivel, the uncontested king of "space-age bachelor pad" pop, was a regular fixture at the Stardust in the early 1960s, and you can hear the Vegas influence on his music: his eccentric, hyper-produced records are the perfect soundtrack to sensory overload.
Pretty much any Esquivel record you find on disc is going to work perfectly in this set, so I recommend you just grab whichever compilations have the most attractive cover art. The Bar/None compilations are great—Space Age Bachelor Pad Music qualifies as essential—and RCA's Cabaret Manaña features "Harlem Nocturne," one of Esquivel's signature numbers and probably one of the reasons Frank Sinatra tried to catch Esquivel's act as often as he could.
TOM JONES
I don't need to go into Tom Jones' history, because he's still making it. However, the All Music Guide does call Jones' 1969 record Live in Las Vegas "one of his strongest," and as much as I hate to tell the forward-looking performer, they're right. Simply put, Jones was born to be on a Vegas stage, and that's where this session puts him: in front of a rabid-sounding crowd at the Flamingo, shakin' what his mama gave him. Also recommended: The Definitive Tom Jones 1964-2002 (Universal Records).
LAS VEGAS GRIND
You need this six-disc set of dirty garage, jazz and rockabilly rave-ups from the 1960s like you need f--king oxygen, dad. Go to Big B's right now and buy them, and know the pleasures of hearing The Upsetters, One Plus One, The El-Capris and the Fabulous Continentals pop up in random play and all but wriggle in your lap.
LOCAL ARTISTS
There's been a ton of great records released by local artists, and it's inevitable than I'm going to overlook most of them due to space considerations; I'm sorry. Generally speaking, local music is good for you, and you should buy loads and loads of it from Balcony Lights or the record store of your choice.
That said, I can't imagine assembling a Vegas iPod mix without these golden greats of past and present: Mama Zeus, Blue Soul Fire and Inside #21; 12 Volt Sex/Stereo Quatro, Pop Formula and Stereo Quatro; Inside Scarlet, Red; Hostage Symphony, Defaced; Native Tongue/Ultra Vulture, Electric Shiva; FFI, Apples and Oranges; Clockwise/Professor Punn, Healthy Manipulation; Home Cookin', Mmm Mmm Mmm and Pink in the Middle; Tripsitter, Tripsitter; Frank Klepacki, Morphscape; practically any damn thing by The Vermin. As I said, there are too many to name.
Also recommended: albums by Kristine W, Slaughter, The Killers and M.I.A. These bands and artists, like the Crystal Method, are known as Vegas acts but actually made their name while gigging and recording elsewhere.
The Killers are red-hot in England, of all places. If you want to buy their new single, "Somebody Told Me," you'll have to pay import prices.
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
A lot of movies have been filmed in Las Vegas, but only a handful produced soundtracks that were worth owning. David Holmes' score to Steven Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's Eleven is some of the sexiest music ever associated with this town. Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle recorded some underappreciated songs for Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart (not actually filmed in Vegas, but that's OK).
Casino, Swingers and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas all have solid compilation soundtracks, steeped in our cultural vernacular—and the Fear and Loathing soundtrack has Johnny Depp exclaiming, "You can't stop here. This is bat country!" You need that.
ELVIS PRESLEY
How do we solve a riddle like Elvis Presley? Easy—we limit ourselves to just 100 of his songs, omitting the obvious crapfests (many of his movie soundtracks, the Paul Oakenfold remix of "Rubberneckin'") and concentrating on the lean, nasty rock 'n' roll he must surely have played when he made his first, critically-savaged appearance in Las Vegas at the (old) New Frontier Hotel and Casino on April 23, 1956.
Jumping ahead—stopping at A Date With Elvis and From Elvis in Memphis, naturally—you should land squarely on RCA's special three-disc edition of That's the Way It Is, the soundtrack to Denis Sanders' documentary of Elvis' shows at the International Hotel (today the Las Vegas Hilton). Here, you'll find the King our town made: versions of "That's All Right," "All Shook Up," "Suspicious Minds" and even Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with ridiculously large arrangements. Listen closely and you can hear the karate kicks.
LOUIS PRIMA
I used to be at a loss to understand why there weren't more Louis Prima impersonators around. While Louis doesn't have as many well-known songs as Elvis or Frank Sinatra, the ones that are known—"I Wanna Be Like You," "That Old Black Magic," "Buona Sera"—were real gems, and King Louie's hyperactive stage manner made Keely Smith look like she was standing still. Ha! I jest, I jive.
While a post-Keely session, Prima Show in the Casbar is nonetheless golden. Recorded at the Sahara in 1963, this is Louis in good company: He shares the stage with Gia Maione and longtime friend Sam Butera, and he sounds as happy to be performing as I am to be listening to him. Also recommended: Capitol's two-disc Ultra-Lounge compilation featuring Louis and Keely.
SIN CITY
This title has some serious mileage behind it. There's "Sin City" by AC/DC, a tale of raw hedonism sung by the mighty Bon Scott and covered by The Offspring, Twisted Sister, Great White and probably a hundred other hair bands I don't know about. "Sin City," by Graham Parsons, is a cautionary yarn that Beck, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, kd lang and Uncle Tupelo also have seen fit to perform.
Also, Merideth Brooks, Genitorturers and the Human League have all recorded songs titled "Sin City." I must admit I've not heard any of them, and aside from the Genitorturers track, I'm not sure I care much.
FRANK SINATRA
You can easily upload 500 Frank Sinatra songs (he recorded nearly triple that, if I'm reading my own math correctly). However, as I did with Elvis, I'm going to cap you at a hundred songs (or thereabouts), so you can really enjoy what you're listening to. While it's admittedly difficult to find Truly Bad Frank, it's out there—mostly concentrated in his last few albums, but it's out there, by God, and it should be avoided. Frank Sinatra and Kenny G, together? Didn't happen. Didn't happen.
The songs and albums will pick themselves, of course. "Fly Me to The Moon." "I've Got You Under My Skin." A Swingin' Affair! It probably goes without saying that you'll need Frank's definitive Vegas album, Sinatra at the Sands—the Chairman's first true live record, recorded in 1966 with Count Basie. Also recommended: The Rat Pack Live at the Sands, a Summit performance captured in 1963.
MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY…
Deep breath … "Goin' to Las Vegas" by Suicide; "Show Biz Kids" and "Do it Again" by Steely Dan; "Freaky Tales" by Snoop Dogg; "Queen of Las Vegas" by The B-52s; "Ooh Las Vegas" by Gram Parsons (or the Cowboy Junkies); "You Were Right" by Badly Drawn Boy; "Lost Weekend" and "On Interstate 15" by Wall of Voodoo; "Las Vegas Turnaround' by Hall and Oates; "Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol; "Hot Blood Risin'" by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult; "40 Miles to Vegas" by Southern Culture on the Skids; "Elvis is Everywhere" by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper; "Comin' of Age (Da Sequel)" by Jay-Z; "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now") and "Happy Birthday" by Cracker; "I Married a Martian" by Sparks; "Back 2 The Base" by X; "Howard Hughes" by Rasputina; "Double Time" by Xzibit; "You're The Boss" by Brian Setzer and Gwen Stefani; "Sinatra" by Helmet; "Strange Powers" by The Magnetic Fields; "She Just Misses Elvis (Sometimes)" by Starlight Drifters; "Elvis Ate America" by Passengers (U2 and Brian Eno); "Elvis Everywhere" by the Kronos Quartet; "Frank Sinatra" by Cake; "Lucifer in Las Vegas" by Sponge; "Leaving Las Vegas" by Sheryl Crow; "The History of Utah" by Camper Van Beethoven; "Me and Howard Hughes" by the Boomtown Rats; "Walkin with the Beast" by The Gun Club; "Casino Queen" by Wilco; "Christmas in Las Vegas" by Los Straitjackets; "Porecelain Monkey" by Warren Zevon; "The Happening" by The Pixies; "Check Out Time" by 2Pac; and "Heaven or Las Vegas" by the Cocteau Twins.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
"My Way" by Paul Anka, Sid Vicious, Elvis, and too many more to name; "I've Gotta Be Me" by Sammy Davis Jr.; "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin; "Danke Schoen" and "Shangri-La" by Wayne Newton; "With Plenty of Money and You" by Tony Bennett and Count Basie; "Something's Coming" by Vic Damone; "Once in a Lifetime" by Bobby Darin; "Parks and Recreation" by Liberace, "It's Delovely" by Mel Torme.
As much as I hate reducing these truly great Vegas performers to a footnote, I have a good reason for doing so: You can get all the tracks listed above, and a hell of a lot of other good songs besides, by acquiring two Vegas compilation discs. Rhino Records' Jackpot! The Las Vegas Story and Capitol Records' Ultra-Lounge: Vegas Baby! The Rhino compilation feels truer to the spirit of the town, but both compilations are exceptional and there are very few songs duplicated.
VIVA LAS VEGAS
Forged in a river of neon by Doc Pomus, carried down from Mount Olympus by Elvis Presley and subsequently given to ZZ Top, Nina Hagen, Wayne Newton, Dread Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, the Residents, Shawn Colvin, Trailer Park Casanovas, Nine Inch Elvis and some lunatic called "Piranha Man," this is our anthem, like it or not.
While I'm somewhat inured to the song, the original Elvis track can still get a smile out of me, because he actually sounds happy to be here. Incredibly, the same is true of the snarling, fingers-crossed-behind-the-back covers by the Dead Kennedys and Nina Hagen.
WAIT, THERE'S MORE
You need anything and everything by the Treniers. The eponymous debut album by Dirty Vegas. The Pleasure Barons' Live in Las Vegas, Brian Setzer's Guitar Slinger and Mack Stevens' At Rolling Rock: Las Vegas Stomp (you could easily fill half your iPod with Vegas-related rockabilly). Death in Vegas, Dead Elvis. Liberace's 16 Biggest Hits. Puff Daddy's "Feels So Good," Monster Magnet's "Space Lord," The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?" and U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (the videos for which were all filmed on Fremont Street).
And the rest? Well, you live in Las Vegas, so whatever you listen to is Vegas music by extension. A month from now, when you finally take out your earbuds, you'll have to tell me what songs you chose, so I can add them to my own iPod.