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In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks for a single artist, or for popular songs from a given year or genre.

[edit] List of medleys

Some examples of medleys:

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completion. You can help by expanding it with sourced additions.

• "Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" medley (1993) released by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
• "Sum 41 did a medley with Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.
• "Stars on 45 Medley" (1981) single by Stars on 45. Several other medleys by Stars on 45 were also released.
• "Whole Lotta Love" was often made into a medley lasting up to 45 minutes in live shows by the band Led Zeppelin.
• "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" (1970) from Chicago's double album Chicago II
• "Beatles Movie Medley" (1982) single by The Beatles.
• "Beatles Medley" by Tommy Emmanuel
• "My Generation" by The Who from their Album Live at Leeds (1970).
• "Beach Boys Medley" (1981) single by The Beach Boys.
• "Ageless Medley (EP)" (1983) by Amy Grant.
• "Antakshari" (1989) by Lata Mangeshkar and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for the film Maine Pyar Kiya, based on the Antakshari game.
• "Fast and Slow Medleys" (2007) by Papa Eden.
• "The Grease Megamix" (1991) by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
• "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby)" (1988) by Will to Power.
• "Purple Medley" (1995) by Prince.
• "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (2001) by Mariah Carey.
• "Instrumedley" (2002) by Dream Theater from their live album Live at Budokan.
• "Medley" (2003) by Five Iron Frenzy from their live album The End Is Here.
• "HELL-O Medley" (2006) by GWAR from their From the Bloodbath and Beyond.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic has had a medley played as a polka on every album except his debut, Even Worse and Alapalooza. Most often, Yankovic's polka medleys feature snippets of hit songs that are popular at the time he records an album, though he sometimes chooses songs of a similar genre (and in one case, different songs recorded by a single group) for a themed medley.
  • "Polkas on 45" (1984) from his album In 3-D.
  • "Hooked on Polkas" (1985) from his album Dare to be Stupid.
  • "Polka Party!" (1986) from his album Polka Party!.
  • "The Hot Rocks Polka" (1989), a medley of The Rolling Stones songs, from his album UHF.
  • "Polka Your Eyes Out" (1992) from his album Off the Deep End.
  • "The Alternative Polka" (1996) from his album Bad Hair Day.
  • "Polka Power" (1999) from his album Running With Scissors.
  • "Angry White Boy Polka" (2003) from his album Poodle Hat.
  • "Polkarama!" (2006) from his album Straight Outta Lynwood.
• "The Queen Is Dead" by The Smiths

• Dream Theater frequently performs medleys of other bands live. In various medleys, Dream Theater has covered works by Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Journey, Elton John, Queen, Kansas, and Dixie Dregs, occasionally using some of their own work to smooth the transition between bands.

• In 2003, Sum 41 did a medley of Metallica songs at MTV Icon Metallica.

• Metallica did a medley of Mercyful Fate songs on their album Garage Inc.

• Metallica did a medley of "A National Acrobat" and "Sabbra Cadabra" of Black Sabbath on their 1998 covers album Garage Inc.

• The Japanese website Nico Nico Douga does a medley of anime songs known as Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga.

• Metallica did a medley of "Orion", "To Live Is to Die", and "The Call of Ktulu" (all composed primarily by late bassist Cliff Burton) at a 1993 concert. These were all songs that were rarely or never played live.

• The famous side-two medley on Abbey Road (1969) by The Beatles.

• Black Sabbath performed a medley on their album Past Lives, consisting of "Wicked World", "Supernaut", "Sometimes I'm Happy", and "Into the Void", along with a guitar and drum solo.
• Black Sabbath performed a medley of Heaven And Hell, Sign Of The Southern Cross and Paranoid live during the recording of the Live Evil album, featuring guitar solo and additional lyrics.

• Rage & Prague Symphonic Orchestra - Medley - Don`t Fear The Winter (instrumental), Black In Mind, Firestorm (instrumental), Send By The Devil, Lost In The Ice (instrumental)

• Die Ärzte often do medleys on their concerts. One medley was also released as a single.

• Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Tarkus Medley

• Brian Setzer Orchestra performed a "BIG BAND MEDLEY", entitled Big Band Medley

• Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby-1948 by Les Applegate. The short songs "Coney Island Baby" and "We All Fall" were first combined as a medley by Les Applegate in 1924 for the musical comedy "No, No, Nanette".

• Children of Bodom did a medley of Bodom after Midnight and Bodom Beach Terror on their live album Stockholm Knockout Live.

• Paula Abdul's "1990 Medley Mix" (a medley of her first 6 singles) was popular in 1990 from her "Shut Up And Dance - The Mixes" album. It was also used in a TV commercial by L.A. Gear.

• "Thank ABBA For The Music" - a 1999 British charity single produced by Pete Waterman. It featured 4 ABBA songs covered by Tina Cousins, Billie Piper, Steps, and girl-groups Cleopatra and B*Witched.

• Beyoncé did a Destiny's Child medley covering most of Destiny's Child popular songs during her worldwide tour The Beyoncé Experience in 2007.

• George Michael performed a medley of Papa Was a Rollin' Stone and Killer in 1992.

• Guns N' Roses did a medley of their own song "Patience" and John Lennon's "Imagine" in 1993. It was unplugged version.

• "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", a medley of two songs from the musical Hair by the Fifth Dimension.

• "Brain Stew/Jaded", a medley of two songs from the album Insomniac by Green Day.

• Sabaton (band) made a medley of their two tracks: Metal Machine and Metal Crüe. It's only played during live gigs.

[edit] See also

• Potpourri (music)
• Mashup (music)
• List of Genesis medleys
• Judson Laipply, dance medley

Look up medley in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.