Obama's iPod

Rolling Stone, which endorsed him for prez earlier this year, has an interview with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The big hook? What's on his iPod:

Growing up in the '70s, Obama said, he listened to the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire. Stevie Wonder is his musical hero from the era. The Stones' Gimme Shelter tops his favorites from the band.

The Illinois senator's playlist contains these musicians, along with about 30 songs from Dylan and the singer's Blood on the Tracks album. Jazz legends Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker are also in the mix.

Obama is also partial to rap, with the following proviso:

"I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," he said, "but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

He said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and rappers Jay-Z and Ludacris were "great talents and great businessmen."

"It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying that they were getting bad images of themselves," he added.

More here, via USA Today.

Excerpts from Rolling Stone Q&A here.

Needless to say, this sort of exercise is as useless as it is attention-grabbing.

Back in 1993 (wasn't that a time!), Andrew Ferguson looked at the soft-rock predilections of Bill Clinton for National Review. It's still worth a read.