The talk box is an effects box used with an electric guitar.

It consists of an guitar amplifier connected to a tube that runs up the microphone stand, and ends close to the guitarist's mouth. The musician can then let the sound from his amplified guitar enter the mouth, and can mouth audible words into the microphone with the guitar replacing the vocal cords.

The most famous sample of the talk box in popular music is, without much doubt, Peter Frampton's "Show Me The Way" from his breakthrough Frampton Comes Alive! album, circa 1976.

The talk box was first created in 1971 by Bill West for Joe Walsh to use on the song "Rocky Mountain Way", which also appears in this playlist. However, the talk box has found its way into many other recordings over the years. This playlist contains songs that utilize this unique instrument effect.

It's a classic rock-heavy list for sure, but also contains some funk, which is a genre that's used it to great effect as well.

The Playlist:

1. Show Me The

gunfireThe ultimate percussion instrument is probably the handgun. Any sound above 65 decibels can cause hearing loss, and a gunshot tips the scales at around 140dB. This should give you a pretty good idea of how difficult it is to record the audio produced by a gunshot. Although most gunshot sounds found in recorded music are not produced by real guns, some are. This playlist contains both flavors.

We all know the role the gun plays in film, but it also has a place in music. However, the gunshot sound is utilized only by a small fraction songs in comparison to the attention it receives on the big screen.
Granted, most gunshot sounds in music fall squarely within the gangster rap genre, where lyrics dealing with violence take center stage.
Although these are well represented in this playlist, it has been overdone to the point of becoming mostly uninteresting.

The gunshot sounds I find the most fascinating come from other genres. I will highlight a few here:

The first track in this playlist is

LasagnaMusic has the ability to make life better in so many ways. Case in point: The dinner party.

Whenever you host a dinner for friends, or create a meal for family, music can always add to the experience. The key is proper song selection and keeping the volume low to ensure it never competes with conversation.

The simplest rule of thumb is when serving ethnic food, use music from the part of the world where the dish originates. Having a sushi dinner party? Use Japanese music!  Mexican? Try Mariachi. French? Throw on some Edith Piaf.The extra effort will improve your meals dramatically and give you a big leg up in social circles.

With the advent of subscription music services like Rhapsody, it's now simple to go the extra mile and provide fitting music for any occasion. 

This particular playlist works best with immigrant Italian food.

Piles of spaghetti or lasagna, antipasti, meatballs, Italian bread and a big basket-bottle of Chianti, all served on a red and white checkered tablecloth.

Fake Beatles

If you're a digital music freak like me, you understand that The Beatles are absolutely, without a doubt, the largest gap when it comes to downloadable and streaming music content on the Internet.

I have built many playlists around this unfortunate fact.

Try doing a number one hits, or a most influential playlist without the Beatles. It's like going to a football game without the fourth quarter, or going on a date without a kiss. Sure it can be fun, but it's always incomplete.

The Beatles are, after all, the undisputed most important band to ever breathe oxygen on planet Earth. 

For this playlist I faced the problem head on. I looked at all 21 number one hits the Beatles had in America and then found the very best cover versions available on Rhapsody.

I have assembled these covers in chronological order, starting with the Beatles very first hit in America, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and ending with their last, "The Long And Winding Road".

The end result is an interesting mixed bag