Have you ever found yourself at an art show wondering, “I wish there was a Hanson connection here?” If so, head on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Philbrook Museum of Art is promoting its new show of 1970s Pop art by boasting a custom-designed soundtrack of ’70s pop hits curated by the one-time teen pop sensations, with users invited to plug in to Spotify on their smartphones for a more immersive experience. The show itself is dubbed “Fever & Flash: Pop in the 1970s,” and is curated by the very capable Lauren Ross. It centers on a suite of 1972 Andy Warhol polaroids dubbed the “Little Red Book,” as well as works by Marisol, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, Robert Rauschenberg, Fritz Scholder, Saul Steinberg, Larry Rivers, and others, promising a taste of “the 1970s’s distinctive mix of patriotism, unrest, glamor, and fame.” But enough about the art! The now 33-year-old Isaac Hanson himself was on hand at the museum to tout the collaboration recently, and a Tulsa World video interview shows him explaining the rigorous artistic process that went into creating the “Fever & Flesh” soundtrack: “I took a look at my favorite albums from that era and talked to the guys about it and threw some ideas around and came up with a fun playlist.”
And you don’t have to be in Tulsa to enjoy the Hanson brothers’ selections! The Philbrook’s Hanson Spotify playlist is public—though, fair warning, it contains the much-loathed Frankie Valli tune “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!),” in addition to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young,” and a host of other toe-tapping tunes that you haven’t heard since the last time you were at a wedding reception. Still, if the “playlist” idea gets more people to see the show, that’s OK. And fans in search of an artier take on the ’70s pop playlist idea can look forward to a promised future Philbrook collabo with Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne.