YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Bon Appétit's Valentine's Day Playlist

    This year, your a capella version of "Bowm Chika Bowm Bowm" may not cut it. In that case, try these eight songs to help convey your affection for your valentine.

    1. Sarah Vaughan/ IT'S CRAZY


    Like love, Grammy Hall of Famer Sarah Vaughan's voice fluctuates in range but remains sublime. In this 1954 swinging number about amorousness unhinged, her engaging vocals are matched only by Clifford Brown's nimble trumpeting.


    2. Shuggie Otis/ INSPIRATION INFORMATION


    Depart with your lover on this psychedelic, soulful-funk flight of passion and wallow together in its airy melodies.


    3. Chris Knox/ NOT GIVEN LIGHTLY


    In this New Zealander's ode to devotion, pleasant strumming overlays subtle distortion-a fitting backdrop for lyrics about unfaltering allegiance undeterred by occasional gritty moments.


    4. The Mojo Men/ SIT DOWN, I THINK I LOVE YOU


    It's not always easy to notify someone that you are utterly enamored with her or him. This pretty, folky, baroque-pop Buffalo Springfield cover might lend a hand.


    5. Teddy Pendergrass/ CLOSE THE DOOR


    Although there is no certified documentation as evidence, it's possible that half of all 30-year-olds were conceived with the help of this 1978 Philly soul classic.


    6. Sam Cooke/ THAT'S WHERE IT'S AT


    "Music soft and slow/With someone you love so/That's where it's at." Sam Cooke succinctly and melodiously answers the question of the meaning of life in a way Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas never could.


    7. The Lemonheads/ INTO YOUR ARMS


    According to singer Evan Dando, love is the ability to seek complete harmonious refuge from all of life's discord in someone's embrace.


    8. John Coltrane/ NAIMA


    When language fails to express your vehement adoration for your companion, John Coltrane's tenor sax prevails.

    --Mike Singer

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