I Love NY

The senses-shattering explosion of sights, sounds, and souls that is New York City has inspired countless odes to its skyscraping top end, its buzzing, humming underground, and all the savvy, soulful folks on the streets in between. George Gershwin’s 1924 jazz concerto “Rhapsody In Blue” painted an elegant portrait of the hustle and bustle that was already an everyday part of life in the city, and Duke Ellington’s orchestra brings it to rushing, roaring life. Generations of urban romantics took their cues from the uptown street-life saga “Spanish Harlem,” and when Aretha unleashes her sensuous croon, you can see that rose “growing in the street, right up through the concrete.” Bruce Springsteen surely had that flower in his mind’s eye when he penned his sprawling midnight-in-Manhattan epic “New York City Serenade,” capturing all the romance NYC can hold for a hungry heart from the other side of the river
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In Next Steps, Bronx hip-hop heroes rub shoulders with British balladeers in New York’s musical melting pot.

The glitter and grit of New York City shows something different to everyone. For a visiting Brit like Sting, being “An Englishman in New York” means strolling the streets to a pop-reggae beat with a mix of wonder and wariness. But on “Shattered,” Sting’s countrymen the Rolling Stones see the city as a loud, loose lion full of “love and hope and sex and dreams,” whose roar leaves you wanting more, kind of like the Stones themselves. And for boogie-down Bronx boys like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, “New York New York” is full of harsh realities that go down easier with some old-school hip-hop beats — like the man says, "I’m down by law, and I know my way around."

Electro-punks and roots rockers shower pure New York power all over our Deep Cuts.

Everything and everybody moves a little faster, works a little harder, and grooves a little deeper in New York. Bill Withers may have grown up in Slab Fork, West Virginia, but he hits his stride hollering out the heartaches and joys of the folks in “Harlem” over a fat, whomping funk beat. Lone Star legend Steve Earle brings grungy rockers the Supersuckers in to back his Texan twang with some fuzz ’n’ bang when he starts singing about the lure of “N.Y.C.” And Le Tigre tightens up their electro-pop dance-punk riffs in time to the rumble of the subway on “My My Metrocard” to remind you that, in New York City, you can travel from one world to another for a single train fare.

From the gleaming spires peeking out of the skyline to the pulsing masses of humanity tearing through Times Square, take a bite of the Big Apple with the tunes that capture the crowds and the craziness, the beauty and the beat of New York City. Get away from it all by climbing “Up On the Roof” with the Drifters, take a punk-powered ride to “Rockaway Beach” with the Ramones. Or maybe you want to settle in alongside Sinatra for a leaf-strewn stroll through “Autumn In New York.” Whichever way you choose to get into your “New York State of Mind,” we’ve zeroed in on the tracks to take you there. There may be eight million stories in the naked city, but we’ve narrowed it down to a solid 75 for you right here.