It was with some joy that I opened the above text message on my phone yesterday. As you can see, I’ve won the not inconsiderable sum of 300,000 Great British Pounds in a rather wonderful competition called the Ongoing UK COCA-COLA 2011 PROMO. Not bad, eh? It sounds even better when you convert it into other currencies. For example, it’s worth a third of a million euro and nearly half a million dollars. The funny thing is I don’t remember entering the competition and I’ve yet to visit the UK this year. I don’t even drink Coca Cola! I haven’t phoned or emailed them yet in case they tell me that it’s all a mistake. I suppose I should’ve been spending my day wondering how I’d spend this sudden windfall, but instead I put together a playlist. The first three songs are about people dreaming of winning the lottery and wondering how they’d spend the money. It’s holidays and vacations for Harry, a new car for Bruce and a jet plane for Patti. The Format, Ani DiFranco and, in particular, The Walkabouts offer their own interpretations of these songs. The final three tracks deal with luck as Junior Tucker and the Easy Star All-Stars delve into reggae, while Frenchman Noël Akchoté delivers an instrumental version of Kylie’s debut hit. Its title and words should leave nothing else to be said about my apparent good fortune

The Lottery Song (Harry Nilsson cover) – The Format

I Should Be So Lucky (Kylie Minogue cover) – Noël Akchoté