Top Ten:

1)Zaire, Pygmy girls’ initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull

2)Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes

3)”Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry

4)Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen

5)India, raga, “Jay Karan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar

6)China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu

7)Georgian SSR, chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow

8)”Dark Was the Night,”  written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson

9)Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor

10)Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi Mexico

I listened to all 27 pieces of music on the Golden Record a few times before narrowing it down to 10.  First, I narrowed the songs to try and obtain different geographical representation of countries.  I wanted to represent as much variety in culture. Next, I tried to pick songs that showed a bit of society on Earth such as the Peru ‘Wedding Song’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’ while also showing different voices. Lastly, I chose songs that had an example of a full orchestra, and orchestra with voice, and one with just a choir.