When I started assembling a playlist for Kelly’s 40th Birthday party, I came up with a unique challenge for the occasion. 

A playlist that would tell you about the car rides, the concerts, and the memories we’ve made over the past twenty years together. 

The art of making mixtapes (or mixed CDs) is lost on this generation. But for those of us old enough to remember, a burned CD was a way to do something nice for your close friends.

In college, I would spend hours tinkering with songs and sequencing to deliver the best possible mixed CD. It would blend genres, narratives, and – often – include gems I was certain the person listening to it had never heard before. 

When it came to making a playlist for Kelly, I would get excited to share new music and find creative ways to weave it into the songs that she knew and loved.

So, for her birthday this year, I decided to include one song from every year she’s been on this earth (in Taylor Swift album terms, we’d call this one 1984). Each year would feature a song that was either included on an album that year or released as a single (in one particular case, I opted for a cover song that represented the year the original song was released. Extra points if you figure that one out). 

However, unlike the mixtapes of yesteryear, the songs would also be played in the background of a small get-together we’d have with our closest friends and family members.  Many tracks would also demonstrate a connection between our guests and Kelly. 

Given the time we had at the venue – and the deep versatility of Kelly’s musical taste – the sequencing would need to be spaced out in a way that blended different decades, moods, and tempos. As such, an outline was roughed out to include the following:
 

• 1 hour of prep (music designed just for Kelly, myself, and two workers at the venue while we set up; remix heavy).

• 1 hour of mingling (chill, low-key welcome songs) 

• 1 hour of music to be played over dinner (conversation starters, late arrivals)

• 1 hour of BANGERZ (high energy, nonstop) 

• 30 minutes of get the fuck out (you don’t gotta leave…) 

• 30 minutes of clean-up gems (a few hits out of the fold, designed to keep up morale as we cleaned the place).

Each block works out to approximately 15 songs. 

The first guest arrived (early) during Track #10. 

The very last song on the playlist was the one that was playing as we exited the venue – about 84 songs altogether (yes, I did have more in an emergency playlist bin in the event I wanted to call audibles on the fly; I did not use any of them). It ended up pretty much where I planned it would. 

There were a handful of times when the guests told me, “Oh wow, I totally didn’t see you putting this song on here” – a credit to Kelly’s diverse taste.

Kelly had no parameters for the party playlist but did mention that she wanted to be surprised. The only thing close to a request was that some Dua Lipa appear on it (she did not know that Dua was already programmed to have a song at the top of every hour). I was incredibly happy to see Kelly humming along or occasionally telling guests, “Oh, I love this song.”

I promised a few of our friends on Saturday that I’d post a link to the playlist. I hope you all like it. And I thank each and every one of you who made the time to celebrate Kelly’s special day.

We love you all very much. 

P.S. - Mind you, this playlist is far from all-encompassing. Think of it more as Volume 1 with a lot more installments yet to be written. 

P.S.S. - For best results, adjust the setting on your Spotify to fade into the songs at 7-second intervals. You can do so under the PLAYBACK settings and adjust the crossfade.