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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Mercedes Bunz

Mad Men: what Don Draper listens to

mad men playlist
Mad Men: Don Draper's playlist includes Misery by Barrett Strong and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by the Platters

What you listen to says a lot about what kind of person you are: just look at the interest generated by Barack Obama's iPod playlist. The same logic applies to TV shows – and no show has more taste than Mad Men. So the release of playlists for seven of the show's main characters – Betty Draper, Don Draper, Salvatore Romano, Roger Sterling, Joan Harris, Peggy Olson and Pete Campbell – is revealing.

Five songs have been picked for each character and you can listen to samples on the characters' profile pages on the Mad Men website. The songs are designed to be a musical dialogue among the characters – Don Draper's choice of Misery by Barrett Strong appears to be a response to wife Betty's Too Many Secrets by Patsy Cline. Others give a nod to plotlines in the drama: I'll Be Seeing You by Liberace is on Sal's playlist.

The "Mad Men AM Radio Playlists" were compiled by creator Matthew Weiner, producer Scott Hornbacher, composer David Carbonara and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, and other artists include Ella Fitzgerald, Smokey Robinson, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and the Platters.

They are available to buy on the US iTunes store, or you can listen to them on Spotify; there will also be a special insert with the Mad Men season three home DVD that offers consumers special tracks and downloads.

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