Activities: Cooking With Friends

All of the greatest, uptempo songs from Motown's 1964-1971 Golden Age. Digitally remastered from the mono master tapes, listen to these classics the way they were meant to be heard.

Shake off the winter doldrums and dance around to these upbeat, shamefully catchy indie pop tunes.

Don't fight it, feel it! In the 1960s, gospel music met secular lyrics describing the black experience in America, and soul music was born. '60s soul singers demanded respect, begged for love, and told it like it was, changing popular music forever.

In the early 2010s, we've seen a new emergence of fun, upbeat pop music created by alternative-leaning artists. Enjoy some new songs about celebrating, dancing, and (often) being in love.

A retrospective of Chicago's legendary Chess Records, America's greatest blues label. Chess was the home of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James, Little Walter, and many more.

As blue-eyed soul matured beyond its '60s roots, elements of funk, fusion and even disco beats started to percolate through the music. Come back to the decade where blue-eyed soul expanded its mind.

Perhaps the most important record label in history, Motown gave us a wealth of smooth and funky soul hits. From The Temptations to The Supremes to Marvin Gaye and beyond, these are the classic songs from Hitsville, U.S.A.

From BBQs and honky-tonks to rodeos and hoedowns, this playlist of country songs is sure to bring out the "yee haw" in you.

Some songs just sound like summertime. Hold up your lighter and groove to these essential warm-weather classic rock jams.

Mom-friendly tunes from classic rockers and newer artists. Nothing too loud or outrageous: you get enough of that in your day as it is.

These are good, old songs about food. It's the perfect soundtrack for cooking comfort food.

Welcome to the world of Ray Charles, where you'll encounter not only monumental cuts from the man who melded blues, soul, country, jazz, and gospel into a harmonious whole, but also some titanic tracks by Brother Ray's influences, peers, and disciples.

Home to The Swampers, one of the greatest house bands in American R&B history, Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama remains the go-to destination for artists seeking that iconic, soulful sound. These are the essential songs recorded there.

Get down with these soul and R&B classics -- most of which are about food -- at your next barbecue.

The yearning, country-tinged feel of Cajun music and the blues-based, party-starting grooves of zydeco are at the core of Louisiana's musical tradition. These are the old-school artists who built the sound.

Listen to female rockers from the punk era to today's indie girl-crushes who use smarts, speed and sex appeal to get their point across.

Often referred to as "Hot Jazz," "Early Jazz," or "New Orleans Jazz," Dixieland is the earliest form of jazz music.

Born in the slums of the Santo Domingo during Trujillo's dictatorship, Bachata tells the story of the Dominican Republic. Bachata songs cover themes about unrequited love, heartbreak, and sadness.

It's mambo time with the best of the Cuban big band era. Explore the music that inspired dancemania in Havana and around the world.

Classic Jamaican reggae songs, plus newer songs from reggae artists in the U.K., U.S. and Africa.

Known for its distinctive vintage sound and house band, Daptone Records has become one of the world's premier independent record labels. Listen to highlights of the best soul, funk, gospel and afrobeat released by this Brooklyn-based label.

Afro-Cuban dance music turns up the heat on the African influence present in most Cuban music, embracing it's visceral syncopation, polyrhythms, and shout and response vocals.

Teen longing, sweet harmonies and walls of sound, from the songwriters at the Brill Building to Motown's hit factory.

In late '50s Britain, the young Beatles consumed a surprisingly eclectic mix of styles, including early rock & roll, pop, jazz, blues, folk, country & western, and swing. Here are the songs that inspired the 20th century's most influential band.

These songs hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in the 1960s. Since 1958, the Hot 100 has been America's barometer of song popularity.

These songs hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in the 1970s. Since 1958, the Hot 100 has been America's barometer of song popularity.

Rappers love to eat! Whether bragging about dining out on lobster and shrimp, extolling the virtues of a healthy diet, or bigging up their favorite hole-in-the-wall chicken spot, these mighty healthy rap songs invoke food as inspiration.

Bouncy, upbeat songs from classic soul to '80s alternative and today's indie rock. Let this eclectic mix help you get through the mid-afternoon lul.

Meet the '50s rockers who combined hillbilly music and rock & roll, and see how their music has influenced subsequent generations of rockers. And not just the ones who put pomade in their hair, either.

The British blues boom, from its purist mid-'60s beginnings to the early '70s, when a new breed of bands brought a harder edge to England's take on U.S. blues and R&B.

Explore the current wave of scuzzy, lo-fi rockers, with a smattering of old-school classics of the style.

In the early 1960s, young fashionable Londoners, or "mods," danced all night to the uptempo sounds of African-American soul, Jamaican ska, and British rock & roll. Put on your sharpest suit and celebrate the original mod scene's best songs.

The perfect combination of Afro-Cuban rhythms and American jazz, from the Havana jam sessions where the style was born to its international exodus.