Queen Latifah, Super Mario, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Daddy Yankee and mariachi music are the latest additions to the U.S. National Recording Registry, which means a selection of their recordings have been dubbed “audio treasures worthy of preservation” by the Library of Congress.
“The Equalizer” star Queen Latifah made history as the first female rapper with a recording in the registry thanks to this year’s inclusion of her 1989 album “All Hail the Queen,” which includes the feminist anthem “Ladies First.”
“Her album showed rap could cross genres including reggae, hip-hop, house and jazz — while also opening opportunities for other female rappers,” the library said Wednesday.
The instantly recognizable “Super Mario Bros.” theme music — officially known as the “Ground Theme” — became the first music from a video game to enter the registry Wednesday when the library announced this year’s selections. The tune, written by young Nintendo composer Koji Kondo in 1985, appeared in dozens of iterations of the iconic video game and most recently in the box-office smash “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Kondo, 61, told the Library of Congress that he had to be “very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity” available to him at the time to record the motif because the amount of data he could use for music and sound effects was extremely small.
“I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen. We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals, and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short,” he said through an interpreter.
Additionally, Madonna’s breakthrough 1984 album “Like a Virgin,” Mariah Carey’s 1994 holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Daddy Yankee’s explosive reggaeton single “Gasolina” from 2010 are also among “the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture,” the library said. “Gasolina,” the first reggaeton hit to be included in the registry, helped the Panama-rooted musical genre cross over from Latin radio to wider audiences and launched Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee onto the global stage. His single’s appeal was so great, the library said, that it “even moved some radio stations to switch formats from English to Spanish to tap into this revolution.”
This year’s 25 selections were chosen based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage, according to the library’s Wednesday announcement. Other pop and rock entrants include the Four Seasons’ classic “Sherry”; “Déjà Vu” by former supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; antiwar ballad “Imagine” by John Lennon; “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin; “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver; “Flashdance...What a Feeling” by Irene Cara; “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics (1983); and “Synchronicity” by the Police.
“The National Recording Registry preserves our history through recorded sound and reflects our nation’s diverse culture,” said Carla Hayden, the first Black American and first woman to be named the Librarian of Congress. (You’ll recall it was she who invited singer Lizzo to play an 1813 crystal flute once belonging to President Madison in Washington, D.C., in September.)
“The national library is proud to help ensure these recordings are preserved for generations to come, and we welcome the public’s input on what songs, speeches, podcasts or recorded sounds we should preserve next. We received more than 1,100 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry,” Hayden said.
The 2023 entries range from 1908 to 2012 and include Cuarteto Coculense’s first recordings of mariachi music, early sounds of the blues and radio journalism leading up to World War II too. Last year’s honorees included “It’s a Small World,” Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey, Queen and late comedian Robin Williams’ 2010 interview on “WTF With Marc Maron.”
The recordings will soon be featured on NPR’s “The Sounds of America,” segment on “1A,” as well as interviews with Hayden and some of the featured artists.
Here’s the complete list of this year’s class:
1. “The Very First Mariachi Recordings” — Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909)
2. “St. Louis Blues” — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922)
3. “Sugar Foot Stomp” — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
4. Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation for NBC Radio (Aug. 23-Sept. 6, 1939)
5. “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” — The Fairfield Four (1947)
6. “What the World Needs Now is Love” — Jackie DeShannon (1965)
7. “Wang Dang Doodle” — Koko Taylor (1966)
8. “Sherry” — The Four Seasons (1962)
9. “Ode to Billie Joe” — Bobbie Gentry (1967)
10. “Déjà Vu” — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)
11. “Imagine” — John Lennon (1971)
12. “Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin (1971)
13. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — John Denver (1971)
14. “Margaritaville” — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
15. “Flashdance...What a Feeling” — Irene Cara (1983)
16. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics (1983)
17. “Synchronicity” — The Police (1983)
18. “Black Codes (From the Underground)” — Wynton Marsalis (1985)
19. “Super Mario Bros.” theme — Koji Kondo, composer (1985)
20. “Like a Virgin” — Madonna (1984)
21. “All Hail the Queen” — Queen Latifah (1989)
22. “All I Want for Christmas is You” — Mariah Carey (1994)
23. “Pale Blue Dot” — Carl Sagan (1994)
24. “Gasolina” — Daddy Yankee (2004)
25. Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer (2012)
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