As usual for our Awards & Charities Galas over the past decade, this year’s 37th annual event theme, “Shake It Up,” was inspired by music – in this case, by the post-punk/new wave/pop band The Cars’ No. 2 US smash of the same name. The title track to The Cars’ fourth studio album, Shake It Up, the song was released in late 1981. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982 and became one of the year’s most popular songs.
As we brainstormed ideas for this year’s gala theme and theme song, we went back to 1982 in homage to The Cannata Report’s 40th Anniversary this year. Aside from having the right tone, tempo, and groove, “Shake It Up” is an organic continuation of last year’s theme, “Start Me Up. Before the COVID-19 Omicron surge that kicked in late last year, dealers and vendors were getting revved up for the post-pandemic phase. This year, dealers and vendors have increasingly prioritized diversification efforts – and that’s what “Shake It Up” is all about.
Diversification has become an increasingly imminent priority and a trend The Cannata Report continues to encourage and supports. We even created a new Frank Award category to underscore its importance, “Best Diversification Partner,” with ConnectWise voted by dealers as the inaugural winner in 2022’s Annual Dealer Survey.
In compiling the soundtrack for the gala’s award ceremony, we stuck with tracks that were either released in 1982 or peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 in continued homage to The Cannata Report’s 40th Anniversary.
We hope you enjoy listening to this “retro” soundtrack as much as we enjoyed putting it together and digitally packaging it for you!
This playlist was created in Spotify. If you have a Spotify account, simply click on the soundtrack cover art in the upper right hand corner of the embedded media player above to open Spotify and stream.
You may also preview the soundtrack continuously by clicking on the play icon to the right opposite the soundtrack cover art, or track by track, by clicking on your preference(s) in the embedded media player above.
USER OVERVIEW + GUIDE
- This playlist was created in Spotify.
- You can sample the playlist with or without a Spotify account.
- You can navigate through and listen to the playlist – along with every track – whether you have a Premium or Free Spotify account.
- Some users of thecannatareport.com may be able to listen to the playlist without any account whatsoever. (Unfortunately, we do not know why this is. However, as this is year for trying all types of new things, I’m just going with it again this year – and am hoping that if this feature continues to be well received, that I will receive feedback from users in order to improve its functionality for future playlist posts.)
SAMPLING THE PLAYLIST
- You can sample the playlist with or without a Spotify account by clicking on the play icon centered over the “START ME UP” cover art located at the top left of the playlist box above and listening to :30 second clips of each or any track.
- You can sample the tracks in order, continuously, or you can navigate forward or backwards by clicking on the arrows to the left and the right of the play bar located directly above the “START ME UP” playlist listing or by clicking on the individual tracks themselves.
NAVIGATING AND LISTENING TO THE PLAYLIST
- When you click on the play icon centered over the “START ME UP” cover art, one of the following sentences will appear: (1) “Listen to the full playlist on Spotify,” or, less likely, (2) “This track is not available in your country.”
- Regardless of which aforementioned message is served on your screen, proceed to one of the following two calls to action: The first will be “Play on Spotify” and the second will be “Log in.” Click “Play on Spotify” if you eitherhave or do not have a Spotify account and proceed as prompted. More than likely, Spotify will require you to register for an account, but a free account is all you’ll need to navigate and listen to the playlist in full. However, some users may have the ability to navigate and listen to the playlist without registration.
