NEW YORK, NY.- A few weeks ago, I asked New York Times readers to share the best older song they discovered or rediscovered in 2023. As usual, the Amplifier community did not disappoint.
This playlist is a compilation of some of the best submissions along with your (condensed and edited) explanations of why these songs resonated so deeply. The track list is an eclectic mix, featuring rock, soul, jazz, hip-hop, folk, punk and just about everything in between. Quite a few of you introduced me to artists Id never heard before, like British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre, Los Angeles punk band the Brat and underrated North Carolina-born soul singer Bessie Banks. Ill definitely be seeking out more music from all of them.
I was especially struck by the stories about rediscovered songs. Sometimes a piece of music weve known for decades (or, in the case of one readers story about a Rosemary Clooney song, about as long as we can remember) boomerangs back into our lives with poetic and fortuitous timing. A classic Chiffons hit becomes an anthem for a freshly resumed relationship; a wry Liz Phair song becomes more earnest in the light of new parenthood. Some of these narratives are fun and playful, while others are powerful reminders of the ways that music can buoy us through our darkest times.
Heres to another year of music discovery!
1. Badfinger: No Matter What
While wandering the aisles in a supermarket this year, I heard this song and launched a mini investigation into why it had such a Beatle-esque sound (answer: recorded at Abbey Road and released on Apple Records). Recently, I was pleased to hear it included in Alexander Paynes movie The Holdovers. The harmonies and hooks really evoke the 70s for me, just like that films nostalgic rhythms and interiors. Cathy Boeckmann, San Francisco
2. Bessie Banks: Go Now
When I read that Denny Laine of the Moody Blues died, I immediately thought of his greatest hit, Go Now. When I went online, I found out that an American woman, Bessie Banks, recorded it first. Its fantastic no disrespect to Mr. Laine, but it is tremendous. Should have been a hit. Finn Kelly, Long Beach, California.
3. Labi Siffre: Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying
It seems like a perfect encapsulation of the roller coaster that was 2023, pushing through a rainbow of emotions and holding close what matters most. Its also just an excellent song from an artist that too few people know. Jeremy Kotin, Milan, New York
4. John Prine: Souvenirs
At 69, I am starting to think more about mortality and memories. This song evokes both. It also evokes the memory of Steve Goodman, one of my favorites, who recorded it with Prine. Dennis Walsh, Media, Pennsylvania
5. The Chiffons: One Fine Day
This song, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, resonated this year because a former girlfriend and I got together after being apart for many years, and we are now so happy! Nick Lange, Cambridge, Massachusetts
6. Liz Phair: Whip-Smart
My wife and I had our second child this year, our first boy. I am constantly thinking about how to raise both of my kids in this world and then I rediscovered this song, which flips the script on centuries of raising macho, stiff-upper-lip boys. Ryan Humphries, Millersville, Pennsylvania
7. Big Maybelle: My Country Man
This song swings so hard and has an appreciation for proper farming technique. It is a welcome burst of elemental pleasure in a year with a lot of bleakness. No one can remain motionless with this on. Brent Bliven, Austin, Texas
8. Billy Bragg: A New England
I like the lyric I loved the words you wrote to me, but that was bloody yesterday/I cant survive on what you send every time you need a friend. Its a short, cut-to-the-quick tune that I didnt immediately take to, but now Im always in the mood for it. Kimberly Melinda Hogarty, Tucson, Arizona
9. The Brat: The Wolf (and the Lamb)
The Brat were a Chicano punk band from Los Angeles that emerged in the early 80s. As a fan of 80s indie rock, I thought I knew all of the bands from that era, but this year I was astonished to hear this urgent, ferocious song for the first time. Had the Brat come around later, they likely would have been much bigger, but the music industry in 1980 was unwilling to accept a Chicano punk band with a female lead singer. Hearing this song, and this band, is a reminder of all that weve lost through the years when we ignore artists outside the mainstream. Kelly Mullins, Seattle
10. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: Superrappin
Its such an influential track that has been name-checked, sampled and quoted by so many artists, yet Id never heard it until hip-hop turned 50 this year. I think it does a great job of capturing the vibe of what I imagine hip-hop was like its first decade. Its hype, its a party track, and when I listen to the song I can see Flash and the crew performing it live at a rec room party in the Bronx. Jack Kershaw, New York
11. Doris Troy: Whatcha Gonna Do About It
Doris Troy was part of the original lineup of the greatest ensemble I had never heard of, the Sweet Inspirations, whose members included Cissy Houston (Whitneys mother) and her nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick. Theres something about the staccato piano combined with Troys elongated I love yous that reassures me that love isnt fireworks its the world they illuminate as they ascend and break up the darkness. John Semlitsch, Austin
12. Nina Simone: Blues for Mama (Live at the Newport Jazz Festival)
This year has been a lot. War, rockets, drones: All that I could hear and see in Kyiv as a civilian resident. One might be amazed at how people can adjust. This is a song I discovered when I was riding my bike to the hospital in Kyiv where I work. It was a morning after some powerful explosions overnight. But there was also sunlight and spring, and the tune playing in my headphones, forcing me to smile. Nazar, Kyiv, Ukraine
13. Rosemary Clooney: Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep
A young woman I know recently posted a photo of herself and her newborn baby girl on Instagram with Rosemary Clooneys rendition of this Irving Berlin song in the background. When my mother passed away and I was only 4 years old, her older sister, my aunt Edie, sang this song to me often as she tucked me in for the night. Its a bittersweet memory, but now, 71 years later, it still reminds me of how fortunate I am to have had so much love in my life. Norman Reisman, New York
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.