Welcome back to another flavorful edition of Playback, homes. This week’s jam session comes from junior photojournalism major John Lykowski. Lykowski, a Glenview native, loves ’80s music and longs for Chicago. If he were to make a mix CD today, these elite 15 songs would make the cut:

1. “Mountains” – Hello Dave. “Reminds me of a trip I took to Tennessee years ago. I also know the band. They’re a small Midwestern band out of the Chicago area.”

2. “Hey Good Looking” – Jimmy Buffet. “It came out this summer, and there was a girl at my job who always requested that song. It’s a really great tune.”

3. “1985” – Bowling for Soup. “The song reminds me of the girls who I went to high school with, who are probably all moms now and still stuck in 1985.”

4. “Forty Hour Week” – Alabama. “I like the lyrics in the song. It recognizes all the blue collar workers out there in a tribute to them that came out way before 9/11.”

5. “Closing Time” – Semisonic. “This reminds me of the bars around here, when they turn the lights on and kick people out. I like the line, ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.’”

6. “Loving the Alien” – Velvet Revolver. “When I saw a show on VH1 about Guns ‘n’ Roses and heard that Izzie and Slash reformed a new band, I knew I had to check them out. I did and their stuff is great.”

7. “Panama” – Van Halen. “The song starts off like a motorcycle, and it’s actually Eddie playing the drums. When I found out that it was a drummer doing that, I thought it was cool. It’s just an out of control song.”

8. “Road to Nowhere” – Ozzy Osbourne. “That was one of the first songs I really got into by him. I had heard about him for so long and I hadn’t listened to him. A friend introduced me to his music and that was one of the first songs I liked.”

9. “People Are Strange” – The Doors. “That makes me think of high school and how everyone thought we were strange. I never liked the trends then, and I tended to go with the flow – the song just hits home.”

10. “Lake Shore Drive” – Aliotta, Haynes and Jerimiah. “It reminds me of home in the Chicago suburbs and the big city. I really love being downtown, where there’s so much to see and do.”

11. “Paint It Black” – Rolling Stones. “I like this song because I used to wear black in high school all the time and defy trends. I used to wear black jeans during the summertime! It’s a great song about not conforming.”

12. “Perfect Day” – Hello Dave. “The album came out recently, and I listened to it while I was working a job I couldn’t stand -and that’s exactly what the song is about. I wanted to go back to the good life, like they say in the song, which was school compared to work for me.”

13. “American Pie” – Don McLean. “This is a song that’s a staple of music. My friends and I always listened to it, and it’s a great all-American song about what the American life is all about.”

14. “Home Sweet Home” – Motley Crue. “That is a great ballad song by a band from the ’80s. Using piano in rock was kind of innovative at that point. The video, which uses lapse photography, is cool too.”

15. “No Woman No Cry” – Bob Marley. “It’s true that women will make you cry at some point in your life.”