Kylie Minogue’s “The Loco-Motion”, Ghanaian Highlife music and Diana Ross’s “Upside Down” are the sounds guaranteed to get King Charles III on the dance floor, the UK monarch revealed Monday.
The king has joined forces with Apple to launch “The King’s Music Room”, a radio show in which he shares his favourite songs from around the Commonwealth, and beyond.
They reveal a surprising appreciation of disco, reggae and Afrobeats, and the songs which get the royal toes tapping.
“The Loco-Motion”, by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue “has that infectious energy which makes it, I find, incredibly hard to sit still,” Charles said as he introduced the song from Buckingham Palace, photographed behind a desk boasting an “On Air” sign.
He also explained how he discovered Highlife music “and the urge to dance to that pulsating rhythm” when he first visited Ghana in the 1970s.
“On my most recent visit to Ghana in 2018 I found myself dancing along to the next track, which is by Daddy Lumba — who is regarded by some as the greatest musician Ghana has ever produced,” he added, before playing “Mpempem Do Me”.
Although not from one of the Commonwealth nations, US singer Diana Ross’ “Upside Down” is also “one of my particular favourites,” said the king.
“When I was much younger it was absolutely impossible not to get up and dance when it was played. I wonder if I can still just manage it,” he joked.
The king said that the songs evoked “many different styles and many different cultures” but that “all of them, like the family of Commonwealth nations, in their many different ways share the same love of life, in all its richness and diversity”.
The show was recorded to mark Commonwealth Day, which is being celebrated on Monday.
The Commonwealth is a bloc of 56 nations, most of which are British ex-colonies.
‘Hot Hot Hot’
Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley also makes the playlist, with his classic hit “Could You Be Loved”.
“I will tell you about a time when I met the great man himself. I remember when he came to London to perform when I was much younger and I met him at some event,” recalled Charles.
The 76-year-old monarch remembered Marley’s “marvellous, infectious energy… but also his deep sincerity and his profound concern for his community.
“I always recall his words ‘the people have a voice inside them’; he gave the world that voice in a way that no-one who heard could ever forget,” he said.
Also from the Caribbean, Charles selected Millie Small’s worldwide 1964 hit “My Boy Lollipop” and Montserratian musician Arrow’s “Hot Hot Hot”.
“When I last visited the island, it certainly was,” joked the king.
On a more nostalgic note, the playlist also contains “The Very Thought of You” by 1930s crooner Al Bowlly.
“For me there is something… irresistible about music from the 1920s and 1930s that reminds me of my much-loved grandmother. She used to play these sorts of music a lot, and also never fails to lift my spirits.”
Moving back to the present day, Charles confessed that there was a “performer so exceptional that I just could not resist including her music”.
“The incomparable Beyonce,” said the king as he introduced the US pop star’s song “Crazy in Love”.
Other songs to make the list include “La Vie En Rose” as sung by Grace Jones, “Love Me Again” by popular UK artist Raye and “KANTE” by Nigerian artist Davido.
“It also features lyrics in pidgin, which I love in all its forms,” said Charles.
Miriam Makeba’s “The Click Song”, “My Country Man” by Jools Holland and Ruby Turner, Anoushka Shankar’s “Indian Summer”, Siti Nurhaliza’s “Anta Permana”, Kiri Te Kanawa’s “E Te Iwi E” and Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” completed the list.
