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Some landmark albums — and some songs you’ll hear at every wedding reception — have been added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
Each year, the National Recording Registry chooses 25 recordings for preservation that are at least 10 years old and that are judged to showcase “the range and diversity of American sound heritage.” This year’s list includes Jackson Browne‘s acclaimed 1974 album Late for the Sky, Kool & the Gang‘s 1980 chart-topping party track “Celebration,” Janet Jackson‘s record-setting 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814, and Labelle‘s 1974 smash single, “Lady Marmalade.”
This year’s list of also includes blues great Albert King‘s 1967 album Born Under a Bad Sign, and reggae artist Jimmy Cliff‘s groundbreaking 1972 soundtrack to The Harder They Come.
Among the other well-known or historic recordings picked for the registry this year: Louis Amstrong‘s 1938 version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”; sportscaster Phil Rizzuto‘s iconic play-by-play of the New York Yankees’ Roger Maris hitting his 61st home run in 1961; 1972’s Free to Be…You & Me by Marlo Thomas and Friends, a star-studded children’s album about gender equality; and Kermit the Frog‘s “The Rainbow Connection,” from 1979’s The Muppet Movie.
Check out the full list at LOC.gov.
By Andrea Dresdale
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