2023 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

The National Recording Registry has just selected the latest twenty-five sound recordings inducted with the goal each year to highlight what it calls "the range and diversity of the American recorded sound heritage". The Registry is an extension of the passage by Congress in 2000 of the National Recording Preservation Act. Since 2002, the Library of Congress oversees the selection of 25 recordings, which must be at least 10 years old at the time of induction, and deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". This latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 625.

Some of the selections this year include the breakthrough (and then highly controversial) album by Madonna, "Like a Virgin"; "Imagine", the inspirational anthem by the late, former Beatle, John Lennon; the debut album by hip-hop artist, Queen Latifah, "All Hail the Queen"; "Margaritaville", the laid back ode to the cocktail from Jimmy Buffett; Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton explosion, "Gasolina"; "Wang Dang Doodle", the first big hit from "The Queen of the Blues", Koko Taylor; "Stairway to Heaven", the lengthy, innovative rock classic that progressively shifts in tempo and volume from the blues-rock band, Led Zeppelin; the first recording of one of Bacharach-David's legendary pop songs, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon; the video game sound of "Super Mario Bros." and Mariah Carey's now traditional holiday song, "All I Want For Christmas".

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five selections entered into the 2023 Recording Registry:

"The Very First Mariachi Recordings" — Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909)
"St. Louis Blues" (single) — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922)
"Sugar Foot Stomp" — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
"Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation" for NBC Radio (Aug. 23-Sept. 6, 1939)
"Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around" (single) — The Fairfield Four (1947)



"What the World Needs Now is Love" (single) — Jackie DeShannon (1965)



"Wang Dang Doodle" (single) — Koko Taylor (1966)



"Sherry" (single) — The Four Seasons (1962)



"Ode to Billie Joe" (single) — Bobbie Gentry (1967)



"Déjà Vu" (album) — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)
"Imagine" (single) — John Lennon (1971)
"Stairway to Heaven" (single) — Led Zeppelin (1971)



"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (single) — John Denver (1971)



"Margaritaville" (single) — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
"Flashdance. . .What a Feeling" (single) — Irene Cara (1983)
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (single) — Eurythmics (1983)
"Synchronicity" (album) — The Police (1983)
"Black Codes (From the Underground)" (album) — Wynton Marsalis (1985)
"Super Mario Bros. theme" — Koji Kondo, composer (1986)



"Like a Virgin" (album) — Madonna (1984)
"All Hail the Queen" (album) — Queen Latifah (1989)
"All I Want for Christmas is You" (single) — Mariah Carey (1994)
"Pale Blue Dot" — Carl Sagan (1994)
"Gasolina" (single) — Daddy Yankee (2004)



"Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra" — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer (2012)