JUKEBOX: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, ‘Mad Men’ World

Well my fellow Mad Men fans, we’ve nearly reached the end of the line. Just seven weeks from now we’ll be saying goodbye to Don, Roger, Peggy, Joan, Pete, and the rest of the characters that make up Stanley Cooper Draper Pryce and their personal lives. Like most viewers, I’ve drooled over the mid-century set design and clothing — important components that were the icing on the cake of an extremely well-written and captivating series. But without a doubt one of the best things about the show was its soundtrack, which carried us from the Perry Como-crooning days of the Kennedy administration to the psychedelic sounds of the hippie era.

What I love most about the musical choices for Mad Men is that they relied less on the ’60s hits you’d hear on any oldies radio station, and more on the era’s hidden gems that found news listeners through the show. I can’t tell you how many times I looked a song up on YouTube only to see the comment, “Mad Men brought me here.” For many of these songs, I can still remember the scene and in some cases, the episode name that they were used in, such was their impact.

So as the show kicks off the second half of its final season on Sunday, it only seems appropriate to take a look back at a selection of songs from pivotal moments in the series that have stuck with me and many other fans.

1) “Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina),” Rosemary Clooney (1962)

Remember when Roger made a pass at Don’s wife, Betty, in Season 1? Don got his revenge by taking Roger out for multiple rounds of martinis and raw oysters, then bribing the elevator attendant into making Roger think the elevator was out of service, forcing him to walk up 27 flights of stairs to make a meeting with Richard Nixon’s campaign men. Don barely breaks a sweat, but Roger vomits in front of the clients, prompting one of them to comment that he must have eaten a bad oyster.

Although Clooney sings the song in an affectionate matter as it closed the episode, there was no doubt that it meant that no one — not even a superior — could mess with Don Draper (even though he blamed Betty for encouraging Roger’s flirtations).

2) “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” Bob Dylan (1962)

Mad Men‘s writers always know how to close out each season with heart-aching moments. The episode “Carousel,” in which Don Draper talked about nostalgia while showing photos of his family on a slideshow during happier times, was one of the best hours that ever aired on television. When he arrives home we’re hopeful that he’ll reconcile things with Betty — and clearly, it looked like he was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her, only to discover that she left with the kids to visit her parents. Don is alone in a quiet house as Dylan’s song is heard. As Nat Hentoff said in the liner notes to the original release of the composition, the song is a “a statement that maybe you can say to make yourself feel better.”

3) “Let’s Twist Again,” Chubby Checker (1961)

For some reason, I’ve always preferred Checker’s twisting “sequel” to his first hit, and I loved the way this song opened up Season 2, showing the cast members grooming and dressing, getting ready for action and another season.

4) “Shahdaroba,” Roy Orbison (1963)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyK5ew4m6JU

At the end of Season 3, Don finds himself separated from Betty and uncertain about his career, but as he crosses a street to meet with coworkers to form a new ad agency, Orbison’s beautiful, hopeful “Shahdaroba” playing reminds us to stay positive during the most trying of times. Thanks to the show, this song has become one of my own personal anthems and one of my favorite Orbison tracks.

5) “Zou Bisou Bisou,” Gillian Hills (1960)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HTfkcMxl8M

An embarrassed Don wasn’t a fan of his second wife Megan performing this at his birthday party in a sexy black minidress, but it sure impressed the other male guests including Roger who asked his wife why she wouldn’t sing to him like that. It also attracted a ton of media buzz the morning after the episode aired, giving renewed publicity to a 50 year-old French pop song.

6) “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” Lou Johnson (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEE64yvkUfM

I was rooting for Peggy and Ted to become a full-fledged couple but alas, it was not meant to be. This song closed out the episode when it became clear they’d never be together. Most people are aware of the 1980s’ Naked Eyes version of the Burt Bacharach-composed “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” (along with Sandie Shaw’s version) but after hearing the Johnson version with its horn arrangements, I definitely favor it over the Naked Eyes cover.

7) “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” The Beach Boys (1966)

A song that many retro fans such as myself can relate to. It was played during the episode “Far Away Places” where Roger and his wife take LSD at a party.

8) “Tomorrow Never Knows,” The Beatles (1966)

Just as this song signaled the Beatles’ venture into psychedelia and experimental sounds as the last track to the album Revolver, so did the inclusion of this song let Mad Men viewers know that things were about to get hairier (literally) and deeper into the ’60s.

9) “You Only Live Twice,” Nancy Sinatra (1967)

It seems appropriate that a James Bond song would years later become associated with Don Draper — a man who was indeed living twice, first as the illegitimate son of a prostitute and later as an ad executive using another man’s name. And just when we thought Don had found a woman he was capable of being true to — Megan — we saw him potentially planning a tryst with an attractive woman at a bar. Indeed, you only live twice.

10) “The Best Things In Life Are Free,” Jack Hylton (1928)

One of my favorite moments in the show was when Robert Morse, playing a recently departed Bert Cooper, performed a song-and-dance number to this tune for Don, complete with background secretaries. Originally written for a 1920s play named Good News, it became popular during the Great Depression for obvious reasons. RIP Bert Cooper.

11) “Both Sides Now,” Judy Collins (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Xm30heHms

At the end of Season 6, Don takes his three children to see the now-dilapidated house he grew up in as this somber song plays over the scene. A little boy on the front porch licking a Popsicle is reminiscent of the story Don had told earlier in the episode of how a Hershey bar was one of the few sweet things that brought him happiness during his depressing childhood. It’s a brilliant closing scene made all the more heartbreaking by Collins’ pessimistic lyrics.

12) “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” Vanilla Fudge (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=307vbEuG_M0

A heavy, psychedelic cover of the Supremes’ hit, it takes the song to a much darker place and seemed to match Don’s mood as Season 7 premiered.

What songs from the series that weren’t included here do you enjoy the most? Let us know in the comments!

Pamela Sosnowski

Pam Sosnowski's love of retro music and pop culture all started when she saw the Beatles cover band 1964 in concert in the early '90s. It wasn't long before her obsession with the Fabs led to an interest in all things 1960s, probably because she never actually lived in the decade. Today she is the author of Go Retro where she ruminates about the people, places, and things of the pop culture past and is also a freelance writer.