Road Trip Playlist by Volkswagen Camper Adventures (Part 1)

We hope that you enjoyed the first part of our Road Trip Playlist that we published last week in collaboration with our friends Volkswagen Camper Adventures. This week, we're very pleased to be publishing part 1 of Volkswagen Camper Adventures Road Trip Playlist. Enjoy!

My Campervan Playlist

Having the right playlist for your campervan trips is absolutely essential.  

If you're anything like me, hearing certain songs will remind you of specific trips, holidays or journeys.  For example, whenever I hear Vanessa Carlton's 'A Thousand Miles', it takes me back to a road trip to Cornwall for a lads holiday to Board Masters in 2007.  The song was five years old at this point, so it isn't like it was hanging around the charts and playing on the radio regularly, it was more about the funny moment where two, big, rugby league players and an Army engineer blurted out the opening lines in perfect harmony without thinking, when it played on whichever radio station we were listening to at the time.

Wyatt, the T4, may be 22 years old at the time this blog is posted, but he's fully equipped with a modern Alpine head unit, meaning I can attach my phone by Bluetooth and play my favourite songs from my Spotify account.  Being a bit of a music fan (and ex DJ), I have a huge, eclectic taste in music, so I can't really pick all of my favourite tunes, so I'll just give you my top 20 songs for a campervan playlist.

In no particular order;

1. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu.  Yes, that's right!  The song from Lilo and Stitch.  If you have heard it you'll know why.  If you're still wondering why, listen to it.  Afterall, there's no place I'd rather be, than on a surf board out at sea.

2. Kokomo by The Beach Boys.  Who doesn't love a bit of The Beach Boys?  Another beach themed song, made famous by the Jamaican beach bar scenes in the 1988 Tom Cruise film, Cocktail.

3. Big Love by Fleetwood Mac.  I LOVE The Mac, and this is my favourite song from them.

4. Breakthru by Queen.  Do you remember the bass line?  It gives the impression of moving quickly, like the steam train from the video but not so much like our favourite VW buses.

5. Dancing on My Own by Robyn.  Calum Scott may have had success with this song, but it was nowhere near as good as the original by Robyn.

6. Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins.  Another beach song... Do you see a pattern?

7. Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks.  The best solo song from the Fleetwood Mac Songbird, with the best female singing voice.

8. Get It On by T. Rex.  T. Rex didn't have many poor songs to be fair, but this one is my favourite.  It also appears in one of my favourite films, Blue Juice.  Have you seen it?

9. I Drove All Night by Roy Orbison or Cyndi Lauper.  A great song performed well by two artists.  Both versions are on my big playlist, so I'll let you decide which is best.

10. Make The World Go Round (Deep Dish Edit) by Sandy B.  One of my favourite songs to play when DJing.

11. You're So Right For Me by Rooster.  Whatever happened to Rooster?  I saw them play live at Radio 1 Big Weekend in Sunderland, and they were awesome live.  This one also reminds me of the lads holiday to Board Masters, blasting it out on a Jukebox in Falmouth.

12. Wig Wam Bam by The Sweet.  This one is both of my daughter's current favourite dance, so you can blame them for the inclusion of this one.

13. Uninvited by Freemasons with Bailey Tzuke.  I aren't saying it's better than the original by Alanis Morissette, but the Freemasons take is as good as a cover gets.

14. So I Begin by Galleon.  Probably one of the most underrated club tracks from the noughties, which I loved to play on the decks.

15. The Snake by Al Wilson.  Well I did say that my taste was eclectic.  Even as a kid I loved a bit of Northern Soul, and this is one of the best!  I just wish I could do the Northern Soul dancing! 

16. H.A.P.P.Y. Radio by Edwin Starr.  Starr was a musical legend and H.A.P.P.Y. Radio was one of his best records.

17. Movin' On Up by Primal Scream.  What a song and what a band.  Memories from my school days are ignited by Primal Scream, but Movin' On Up is timeless.  If you can find the cover by Edwin Starr, which was recorded for the ending credits of Blue Juice, you're in for a treat.  Starr also has a cameo in the film, playing Ossie Sands.

18. Molly's Chambers by King's of Leon.  Fantastic early record from the American rockers.  I could've picked quite a number of the earlier K.O.L. songs but this one is a proper rock-out tune!

19. Laid by James.  Another track that reminds me of the late teen years.  It still stand up now, and is guaranteed to get a venue (or campervan) singing at the top of its lungs.

20. I Feel Love by Donna Summer.  Can you believe that this is a song from the mid seventies.  It really stands the test of time and there aren't many disco/club songs as complete and perfect as this.

So there's 19 of my favourites (and one from my kids) campervan playlist songs.  It's was hard to whittle down to twenty, and if you'd ask me tomorrow, it'd probably change again.  That's just how mixed up my music choices are.

If there's any on there you love, let me know.  And if there's some on there you didn't know, buy now you love, let me know.

Check out other blogs by Volkswagen Camper Adventures by following this link.

Don't forget to join us again next month for another collaboration with Volkswagen Camper Adventures.