“The Playlist” Tries to Salute The Nations in the London Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London has over 200 nations gathered in the spirit of athletic competition, and this week's version of "The Playlist" attempts to salute as many as possible.

Trying to find 20 songs to cover some 200+ nations is impossible, but these 20 on The Playlist will cover more than you think - helps when 3 songs covers 3 continents and about half of the countries in the games.

One song does salute this year's Olympic city of London, and you may be surprised how familiar you may be with the song that was chosen.

The end result is you'll see that these songs are all hits in their own right, and with some liberties taken (which we do here) we find a proper coverage of the nations of the Olympics (even Guam!)  Time for The Playlist to go for the gold (and I hope we deliver):

The Beatles -- Back in the USSR (normally do not use an old song but Paul McCartney did sing in the opening ceremony for the games, and we can cover all of the nations of the former Soviet Republic)

Bruce Springsteen -- Born in the U.S.A. (you may now start chanting U-S-A!!!!)

Alphaville -- Big in Japan (Top-5 in 12 countries, #1 in 4 of those, and a #1 US Dance hit in 1984)

The Bangles -- Walk Like An Egyptian (did you know Race-Walking is an Olympic event, and that Egypt has never won a medal in this event?)

Kenny Chesney -- Beer in Mexico (Party Time with this Million selling song from 2007)

Toto -- Africa (here is about a quarter of the Olypic nations done is one swoop)

Men At Work -- Down Under (check off Austrailia)

Alanis Morissette -- Thank You (she thanks India)

David Bowie -- China Girl (these girls have won a bulk of their medals so far)

Murray Head -- One Night in Bangkok (that's in Thailand but he mentions Iceland and the Philippines in the song)

Billy Ocean -- Caribbean Queen (21 nations from the Caribbean at the London games)

Billy Joel -- We Didn't Start The Fire (mentions North Korea and South Korea to name a few)

Van Halen -- Panama (one of only 2 songs for South America)

Asia -- Heat of the Moment (whatever is left in that continent that has not been covered by other songs here)

Europe -- The Final Countdown (same theory as above)

Big Country -- In a Big Country (bag pipe sounding guitars and a video that salutes their home of Scotland)

Madonna -- Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Thank You Evita!)

When In Rome -- The Promise (when there you are in Italy, and this band scored a Top-15 hit in 1988 with this song)

Beach Boys -- Kokomo (the Caribbean gets more love as they mention Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, etc.)

Warren Zevon -- Werewolves of London (one for the base city of the 30th Olympiad, and you know the guitar riff of this song thanks to Kid Rock's "All Summer Long")