Recordings by The Police and Led Zeppelin are among those being added to the National Recording Registry at the U.S. Library of Congress.
The list of 25 recordings, unveiled Wednesday morning, includes The Police’s 1983 album Synchronicity and Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic “Stairway to Heaven."
The only Canadian content this year comes from Neil Young with the addition of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 1970 album Déjà Vu. (Canada’s Joni Mitchell wrote the track “Woodstock.”)
John Lennon's "Imagine" is the first song by a former Beatle to be added to the registry.
The recordings were selected for preservation “based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage,” according to the U.S. Library of Congress. There were 1,100 nominations from the public this year.
“The National Recording Registry preserves our history through recorded sound and reflects our nation’s diverse culture,” said Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, in a release. “The national library is proud to help ensure these recordings are preserved for generations to come.”
Here is the full list:
The Very First Mariachi Recordings — Cuarteto Coculense
“St. Louis Blues” — [W.C.] Handy’s Memphis Blues Band
“Sugar Foot Stomp” — Fletcher Henderson
Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation for NBC Radio
“Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” — The Fairfield Four
“Sherry” — The Four Seasons
“What the World Needs Now is Love” — Jackie DeShannon
“Wang Dang Doodle” — Koko Taylor
“Ode to Billie Joe” — Bobbie Gentry
Déjà Vu — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” — John Denver
“Imagine” — John Lennon
“Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin
“Margaritaville” — Jimmy Buffett
“Flashdance…What a Feeling” — Irene Cara
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics
Synchronicity — The Police
Like a Virgin — Madonna
Black Codes (From the Underground) — Wynton Marsalis
Super Mario Bros. theme — Koji Kondo, composer
All Hail the Queen — Queen Latifah
“All I Want for Christmas is You” — Mariah Carey
“Pale Blue Dot” — Carl Sagan
“Gasolina” — Daddy Yankee
“Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra” — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer