The Rough Guides Book of Playlists (Rough Guide Reference)

The 500 Rough Guide Book of Playlists are recommendations of ten songs (sometimes a couple more, sometimes a couple less), covering artists (Rufus Wainwright to Thelonius Monk, Al Green to Manu Chao, Glenn Gould to Julie Andrews), genres (Bebop Classics to Reggae Toasters to Punk Originals to Hot Club jazz), songs (10 best Dylan covers; 8 classic versions of Summertime; 10 love songs that don''t cloy), quirks and silliness (Songs about Chickens and Insects; Who let the frogs out?; Big Pizza Pie crooners; Take this Job and Shove it!). There''s even a literary edge with playlists like ''10 songs raved about in Murakami novels''. Each of the Playlists has a nugget about the song (why you want it on your iPod), and a listings of where it''s from (remember CDs?).

Editor Mark Ellingham founded Rough Guides in 1982 and has created many of the series new ventures over the past ten years, including the Rough Guide to the Internet, the Rough Guide to World Music, and, recently and only a little ashamedly, the Rough Guide to the Da Vinci Code. He has pressurised everyone he knows to contribute to this book.