Recently, a science fiction/fantasy book club asked me to respond to some questions, and I’ll be posting the answers I gave here over the coming days. One question was about the music that I listened to or was inspired by in the writing of the American Craftsmen series. So here’s the list, or rather lists. If some of the connections aren’t obvious, keep in mind that some of the songs may have more of a book 2 connection.

First, songs not in the party mix, but somehow connected to the composition of books one and two, or perhaps just in my imagined soundtrack:

Song of Scheherazade, Renaissance
Scherzo Fantastique, Josef Suk
Hot Freaks, Guided by Voices
Sheet Kickers, Guided by Voices
Let’s Call It Love, Sleater-Kinney
Old Man, Neil Young
Finest Works Song, REM
Shine, Collective Soul
Holly Holy, Neil Diamond
I Miss You, Blink 182
I Am the Walrus, Beatles
Cornflake Girl, Tori Amos
Fly on the Windshield, Genesis
The Man Who Sold the World, as covered by Nirvana.
The Rover, Led Zeppelin (and another Zeppelin tune to be named later)

Also, recently noticed some resonances with my story in the song “Riptide” by Vance Joy (reference to “left-hand man,” etc.)

Party mix: this is an “uncurated” kitchen sink of everything on my computer that I thought would be appropriate to my book launch party–themes from Bond films, songs about war, etc. But some of the songs, particularly those that I allude to in some way (e.g. “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”) were more directly connected with my experience of writing of books one and two or are part of my current mental soundtrack for those books. I’ve noted some of those by indicating the book to which they connect.

1 Fearless, Pink Floyd
2 Zombie, The Cranberries
3 Year Of The Cat, Al Stewart
4 Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon (book 2)
5 Waterloo, Abba
6 War Child, The Cranberries
7 War, Bruce Springsteen &
8 A View To A Kill, Duran Duran
9 US Blues, Grateful Dead (book 1)
10 Tom Sawyer, Rush
11 Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones
12 Surrender, Cheap Trick
13 Sunday Bloody Sunday, U2
14 Street Fighting Man, The Rolling Stones
15 Starship Trooper, Yes
16 Star Wars, National Philharmonic
17 Spanish Bombs, The Clash
18 Slip Kid, The Who
19 Skyfall (Full Length), Adele
20 Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, Elton John
21 Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Warren Zevon (book 2)
22 Revolution, Beatles
23 Pull out the Pin, Kate Bush
24 Overture, The Who
25 On The Border, Al Stewart
26 Oliver’s Army, Elvis Costello
27 Nobody Does It Better, Carly Simon
28 No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen &
29 No Light, No Light, Florence and the Machine (book 1)
30 You Only Live Twice, Nancy Sinatra
31 The River Kwai March, Malcolm Arnold
32 Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney
33 Life During Wartime, Talking Heads (book 1)
34 Lawyers, Guns And Money, Warren Zevon (book 2)
35 Killer Queen, Queen (book 2)
36 James Bond Theme Movie Soundtrack
37 Heroine, Sinead O’Connor and the Edge (all 3 books)
38 Happiness Is a Warm Gun, The Beatles
39 The Guns of Brixton, The Clash
40 Gun Shy, 10,000 Maniacs
41 Goldfinger, Shirley Bassey
42 The Gentleman Soldier, The Pogues
43 The Fortunes of War, Dropkick Murphys
44 Fernando, ABBA
45 Experiment IV, Kate Bush
46 Drink Before the War, Sinéad O’Connor
47 Diamonds Are Forever, Shirley Bassey
48 Diamonds and Guns, The Transplants
49 Death or Glory, The Clash
50 Burning Bridges, Mike Curb Congregation
51 Colonel Bogey March, Malcolm Arnold
52 Burnin’ for You, Blue Oyster Cult
53 Billy, Don’t Be a Hero, Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods
54 Battlestar Galactica, Stu Phillips
55 The Battle Of New Orleans, Johnny Horton
56 Battle of Evermore, Lovemongers
57 The Battle March Medley, The Pogues
58 The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, The Pogues
59 The Ballad Of The Green Berets, Sgt. Barry Sadler
60 Back in the U.S.S.R., Beatles
61 Baba O’Riley, The Who
62 All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix
63 The “Fish” Cheer (I Feel Like I’m Going to Die), Country Joe McDonald
64 How Soon is Now, The Smiths (book 1–hate that this was already used for a TV show)
65 E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), Blue Oyster Cult (book 1)
66 (Don’t Fear) The Reaper Blue Oyster Cult
67 Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Blue Oyster Cult (book 1)
68 Burning Down the House, Talking Heads
69 Season of the Witch, Luna
70 You Make Loving Fun, Fleetwood Mac (book 1–I imagine this as the sort of tune at the wedding reception)
71 Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac
72 West Coast Lana Del Rey (book 1, looking backwards)