Bruin Beats: Chief of Campus Security Pat Cunningham

The Vision has teamed up with leaders from organizations across campus to bring you weekly Spotify playlists from students and staff.

For our second installment, Chief of Campus Security Pat Cunningham shared 10 of his favorite songs. Cunningham explains why he chose each song below.

I’m glad to share the information, but unfortunately I don’t stay particularly current on music. The last single — are they even still called singles? — I could name would be Josh Turner’s, “Would You Go With Me” from 2007, and the last album I bought was Loreena Mckennitt’s 1997 “Book of Secrets.” I’m not sure others would particularly share my taste.

Other than McKennitt’s CD, I’ve got “Briefcase Full of Blues,” “Best of The Monkees,” Jimmy Buffet’s “Changes in Latitudes” and Elton John’s “Madman Across The Water” on CD, “Theme from Shaft” and Herb Alpert’s “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” on LP and, somewhere, two of Rick Wakeman’s works and War of the Worlds on eight-track.

I’ve also got the soundtracks to Fiddler on the Roof, Evita, Oklahoma, Man of La Mancha, Grease, Camelot, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, Guys and Dolls, Hello Dolly and, of course, Saturday Night Fever.

I’m not sure that anyone else would have many of these in their top 100, if they were even familiar with them, but my top 10 would probably be:

As to why I chose them, I think most tell a story or are part of a larger story that I enjoy. There’s hope, joy, transformation, wistfulness, love and reflection all condensed into a few short minutes that can do anything from taking you back to a special moment from long ago to pondering on where you want to be, the person you want to be, in years to come. Even though “A Taste of Honey” is an instrumental, it still tells a story musically.