While I stayed at my aunt’s house for the summer for an internship, I spent a lot of quality time with my Grandma–especially after I learned how to knit (don’t worry, it gets better.)  We would spend hours knitting and crocheting to the music that she grew up with.  But instead listening to a record player or a CD, she pulled up a website, tropicalglen.com, where you can play music according to year or genre, from 1950 to the mid 80s.

As a music lover, it is amazing to hear the change in sound during the sixties, and even a few from the 50s surprised me in lyrical content, especially those sung by women.  The songs will certainly give you a feel for the times that they were made, and it’s amazing to think “Wow!  Before 1966, no one has ever heard California Dreamin’!” and so on.

When you click on a year, you can look at the top 100 or so songs from that time–although not all of them are played in the free player, which pops up and plays the hit songs randomly.  Unfortunately, there is no “next” button, so if Louie, Louie is starting to get on your nerves, all you can do is go back to the page and click another song title.

Anyway, this site is a lot of fun if you’re just working on something and want some background noise.  It’s also a good break for when you don’t feel like listening to anything from your iPod (the horror!), and sure beats listening to the radio.

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