Ninety minutes with tunes about the almighty dollar, the sound of cents, and the beats of bills, a playlist packed with financial anthems that’ll make your wallets tap and your spirits soar.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| The Wall Street Shuffle | 10cc | The funky beats of 10cc’s “The Wall Street Shuffle” dance through financial districts and stock market shuffles, setting the tone for our melodic exploration of wealth, written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman. |
| Money, Money, Money | ABBA | ABBA with “Money, Money, Money” is a dazzling disco fantasy that’ll have you dreaming of dollar signs and dancing in financial bliss, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. |
| She Works Hard For The Money | Donna Summer | Donna Summer’s groove “She Works Hard For The Money” celebrates hard work, a soulful anthem appreciating the hustle, written by Donna Summer and Michael Omartian. Summer’s inspiration comes from an after-party for Julio Iglesias when she went to the ladies’ room and encountered a restroom attendant, named Onetta Johnson, who was exhausted from working long hours. Johnson agreed to be photographed for the album’s rear cover, standing in a diner with Summer, the two wearing matching waitress outfits. |
| Money | Pink Floyd | Pink Floyd’s “Money” is a psychedelic journey through the world of cash, bringing a rock-infused exploration of wealth and consumerism, written by Roger Waters. With Pink Floyd’s “Money”, Roger Waters converted from a socialist to a capitalist … |
| Money Money | Joel Grey & Liza Minnelli | Broadway meets finance with Joel Grey & Liza Minnelli’s “Money Money” from the musical Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, a theatrical twist on the financial narrative written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. |
| Money, Money, Money | Kevin Ayers | Singer-song writer Kevin Ayers brings an avant-garde touch with “Money, Money, Money” offering a unique and quirky perspective on the dynamics of wealth. |
| Money (That’s What I Want) | Barrett Strong | Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)”, written by Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, is a timeless classic that hits the root of desire, the anthem of financial yearning. |
| Shake Your Moneymaker | Elmore James | Singer-songwriter and “King of the Slide Guitar” Elmore James shakes things up with “Shake Your Moneymaker”, a bluesy vibe and the rhythm of financial freedom. |
| I Need a Dollar | Aloe Blacc | Aloe Blacc’s “I Need a Dollar” is a modern twist with soulful vocals and catchy beats, exploring the struggles and aspirations tied to the almighty dollar, written by Aloe Blacc, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Jeff Dynamite. |
| Money (ft. Tom Misch) | Michael Kiwanuka | Michael Kiwanuka and Tom Misch’s collaboration in “Money (ft. Tom Misch)” is a soulful blend of vocals and contemporary production, offering a modern take on the financial anthem. |
| Cash (Cash Money) | Prince Charles and The City Beat Band | Charles Alexander (born April 2, 1958), a.k.a. Prince Charles playing the unique wind synthesizer called the Lyricon and The City Beat Band released the funky “Cash (Cash Money)” in 1982 adding a royal groove to the sound of currency, written by Prince Charles Alexander and Roger Glover. |
| For the Love of Money | The O’Jays | The O’Jays with “For the Love of Money” add a social and political dimension by exploring the impact of wealth on society, written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Anthony Jackson. |
| Money Don’t Matter 2 Night | Prince & The New Power Generation | Prince & The New Power Generation released “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night” in 1992, offering a poignant reflection on the fleeting nature of wealth, written by Prince and Rosie Gaines. |
| Money’s Too Tight (To Mention) | Simply Red | “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)” by Simply Red is a smooth and soulful track that captures the essence of financial constraints, written and first recorded by the brothers John and William Valentine in 1982. The lyrics make reference to Reaganomics, a set of economic policies implemented by U.S. president Ronald Reagan in order to encourage the growth of the American economy. |
| If I Were A Rich Man | Roger Whittaker | Broadway charm by Roger Whittaker with “If I Were A Rich Man” from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof, written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. |
| Diamonds Are Forever | Shirley Bassey | Dame Shirley Bassey performing the 1971 James Bond theme “Diamonds Are Forever”, written by John Barry and Don Black. It was the second James Bond film title song to be performed by Shirley Bassey, after “Goldfinger” in 1964 and John Barry’s sixth composition for a Bond film. |
| Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend | Marilyn Monroe | This song was written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin for the Broadway production of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and was first performed by Carol Channing in 1949. Marilyn Monroe, as playgirl Lorelei Lee, in the 1953 film version of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” is undoubtedly the most iconic performance. Her own sultry voice was used for most of the song, but some rough patches were dubbed over with Marni Nixon’s vocals. Despite the film’s title, Monroe was paid her usual contract salary of $500 a week, while Russell, the better-known actress at the time, earned $200,000. |
| Matilda | Harry Belafonte | Harry Belafonte’s tropical adventure with “Matilda” on Caribbean rhythms, was written and first recorded in 1939 by Norman Span (a.k.a. King Radio). Harry Belafonte released a version in May 1953 and re-recorded this version on August 17, 1955 for inclusion on his 1956 LP Belafonte. Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem, NYC, on 1 March 1927; died 25 April 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso, released in 1956, was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. |
| Get the Money | Iggy Pop | “Get the Money” performed by Iggy Pop for the “Arizona Dream” movie soundtrack is an English-language cover of the Yugoslav “Hajdemo u planine” (“Let’s Go to the Mountains”) by Goran Bregović (guitarist) Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme (trans. White Button) from their 1986 album Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo. |
| Fools Gold | The Stone Roses | “Fools Gold” is a song by British rock band the Stone Roses released in 1989. The lyrics reference Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” and Marquis de Sade. According to Brown, the song’s verses were inspired by John Huston’s 1948 film adaptation of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and tells about “three geezers who are skint and they put their money together to get equipment to go looking for gold, then they all betray each other…”. |
| Common People (ft. Joe Jackson) | William Shatner | William Shatner (a.k.a. Star Trek’s captain Kirk) and Joe Jackson released a spoken-word twist on Pulp’s classic “Common People” in 2004, creating a cosmic flair version of the song written by Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Russell Senior and Mark Webber. |
| Love Of The Common People | Paul Young | “Love Of The Common People” by Paul Young, first sung in January 1967 by the Four Preps, is a soulful ballad celebrating the shared experiences that bind us all, written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. Leonard Nimoy recorded a version on his second album Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy in 1968. |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
