No Expectations 113: Lotta Love

A short holiday newsletter with a 60-song playlist of old favorites.

Jul 03, 2025

green blue and brown galaxy — Photo by Rachael Ren on Unsplash

No Expectations hits inboxes on Thursdays at 9am cst. Reader mailbag email: Noexpectationsnewsletter@gmail.com. Daily Chicagoan, the local news newsletter I produce at my day job with WTTW News (PBS Chicago), can be found here.

Headline song: Neil Young, “Lotta Love”

Thanks for being here. It’s a short newsletter today because I’m in Montana this week for a wedding. I’m traveling with my girlfriend’s family, and it’d be pretty embarrassing to have to tell them, “I’m sorry, I can’t hang out because I have to write my indie rock newsletter.” Instead, I made a 60-song playlist that you can enjoy over the July 4th weekend.

While there’s no real theme (you won’t find saccharine doses of pop music patriotism here), I thought it’d be nice to highlight older tunes rather than recent releases. With no songs released after 1987, this is four hours of soul, classic rock, jazz, country, ‘70s Brazilian pop, and more. There are crowdpleasing and ubiquitous hits as well as equally accessible relative obscurities. If you’re spending time with family or friends this holiday, I’d recommend putting this on at the get-together. It also works if you’re traveling too.

If you’re new to No Expectations, here’s a short explainer of what you should expect going forward. Each week, you get a wildcard main essay (often new album recommendations), a 15-song playlist, as well as updates on what I’m listening to, watching, and reading. Sometimes you’ll get an interview with an artist I love, and other times it’ll be a deep dive into one band’s discography. Since I’m a Chicago-based writer, this newsletter is very Midwest-focused. So, if you live in this city too, you’ll also receive a curated roundup of upcoming local shows to check out.

As always, you can sign up for a paid subscription or tell a friend about a band you read about here. It’s still $5 a month—the cost of one Old Style plus tip at Rainbo Club. Every bit helps, keeps this project going, and allows it to stay paywall-free. It’s rough out there, so I’m grateful you’re still reading and supporting this writing project. No Expectations will be back in full ~~next week~~ (7/17).

The No Expectations 113 Playlist: Apple Music // Spotify // Tidal

1. Wayne Shorter, "Ponta de Areia"
2. The Band, "Life Is A Carnival"
3. Dr. John, "Qualified"
4. Allen Toussaint, "Last Train"
5. Bobby Charles, "Street People"
6. Emmylou Harris, "Luxury Liner"
7. Nashville West, "Mental Revenge"
8. Rusty Kershaw, "Sweet Peace of Mind"
9. Pure Prairie League, "Amie"
10. Linda Ronstadt, "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
11. Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Green River"
12. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, "Hollywood Nights"
13. Ike & Tina Turner, "River Deep - Mountain High"
14. Nicolette Larson, "Lotta Love"
15. Jackson Browne, "Doctor My Eyes"
16. Boz Scaggs, "Georgia"
17. The Staple Singers, "Brand New Day"
18. Cymande, "Bra"
19. Little Beaver, "Let the Good Times Roll"
20. Hot Chocolate, "Every 1's a Winner"
21. George Harrison, "What Is Life"
22. Todd Rundgren, "I Saw the Light"
23. The Velvet Underground, "Rock & Roll"
24. Grateful Dead, "Ramble on Rose (5/26/72)"
25. Fanny, "Badge"
26. The Replacements, "Can't Hardly Wait"
27. Big Star, "In The Street"
28. Sly & The Family Stone, "Everyday People"
29. Rita Coolidge, "Ain't That Peculiar"
30. The Isley Brothers, "Coolin' Me Out, Pts. 1 & 2"
31. Sonya Spence, "Let Love Flow On"
32. George Benson, "Breezin'"
33. Weldon Irvine, "I Love You
34. Harvey Mason, "Till You Take My Love"
35. Timeless Legend, "I Was Born To Love You"
36. Alicia Myers, "I Want To Thank You"
37. Nohelani Cypriano, "Lihue"
38. Jorge Ben Jor, "Medley: Por Causa De Você, Menina / Chove Chuva / Mas Que Nada"
39. Evinha, "Esperar pra Ver"
40. Paul Ortiz y La Orquesta Son, "Tender Love"
41. Donald Byrd, "Lansana's Priestess"
42. Stevie Wonder, "You Haven't Done Nothin'"
43. The Winstons, "Color Him Father"
44. Esther Phillips, "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"
45. Phyllis Dillon, "Make Me Yours"
46. Candi Staton, "Too Hurt to Cry"
47. Betty Harris, "Ride Your Pony"
48. Herman Jones, "I Love You"
49. Winfield Parker, "I Wanna Be with You"
50. Thelma Houston, "Nothing Left To Give"
51. Van Morrison, "Bulbs"
52. Fleetwood Mac, "Did You Ever Love Me"
53. The Beatles, "She Said She Said"
54. McGuinness Flint, "When I'm Dead And Gone"
55. Bob Dylan, "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again"
56. Talking Heads, "The Big Country"
57. Nicole Willis, "No One's Gonna Love You"
58. Kathy Heideman, "Sleep a Million Years"
59. Cathy Hamer, "Lady Full Of Dreams"
60. Pharoah Sanders, "Love Is Everywhere"

The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar:

The gig calendar lives on the WTTW News website now. You can also subscribe to the newsletter I produce there called Daily Chicagoan to get it in your inbox a day early.