This fantastic photo is listed under Flickr's creative commons license by Edward: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewart/120334567/

Editors Note: This is the second of our “Blast from the Past” series where we feature top Gumboot posts of years past. This story was first posted May 6, 2010. It is among our most popular and quite timely posts.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine who is getting married asked me to compile a wedding playlist for him. I posted the news to Facebook and suggested an open playlist that anyone could add to – the idea was pretty well received. It turns out there are other people out there looking for the perfect wedding playlist, too.

I thought a good place to start compiling this imaginary perfect list would be on Facebook. So, I created a fan page: “The Ultimate Wedding Playlist.” If it catches, wonderful! Here’s hoping this seemingly “simple” way to manage song suggestions doesn’t turn complicated. If this page turns out to be a flop, no big deal. I’m confident I can come up with a damn good list on my own.

I have a sneaking suspicion my saving grace will be the fact that some truly universal wedding dance songs exist. You know what I’m talking about – those songs that have the ability to crack even the most reserved of wedding guests. Like “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles made fabulous by John Lennon’s vocal gymnastics. Or “Love Shack” by the B-52’s – who can resist throwing your arms and voice up when singer Cindy Wilson belts out “Tin roof… rusted!” (it was ranked #243 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.) These days you can’t throw a garter without hitting a wedding that features Chris Brown’s “Forever,” thanks to Jill and Kevin’s unforgettable wedding entrance. I’m sure Gumboot editor Kurt Heinrich would argue that Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” should show-up somewhere on our list (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he knows the lyrics by heart.) I know I would consider throwing in a little Jonsi into the mix (he’s the lead singer from Sigur Rós.) But that might be a little too “alternative” for some people’s tastes. And then you have to consider the fact that not all wedding playlists are created equal. It all comes down to the crowd and what sort of energy you want pulsing through your guests.

In any case, I hope to extract at least a few song suggestions that will help me on my musical compilation journey. Take a peek at the Facebook page – add your two cents and let’s try and build one, killer song list.