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It was part charity, part publicity stunt (entirely publicity stunt if you asked most everyone in SHIELD). A good chunk of Manhattan had been destroyed, and while the Avengers had certainly saved the planet, they'd also done billions of dollars worth of damage, and the city was hard-pressed for funds to rebuild.
So a lowly intern in SHIELD's public relations department (which consisted of her, a guy named Mel, and a stray cat that refused to leave) had come up with a suggestion: a charity mix. Put a collection of songs together, sell it on iTunes and in stores on a CD, proceeds going to the 'rebuild the rubble' fund. And hey, for added fun, the Avengers could pick out the songs! Call the whole mix 'Avenge New York' or something.
After informing Miss Lewis that she was never allowed to name anything ever, Mel brought the suggestion to the director, who approved it under the 'why the hell not' clause. (A clause that actually existed in the SHIELD by-laws, to the surprise of no one who had ever worked with them.)
Tony Stark's picks came back about three minutes after Fury sent the email. Not shocking, considering Stark had a tendency to make his entrances via music, so he certainly had some tracks set out. What was shocking was that none of them had to be veto'd for bad language (kids would be buying this mix, after all).
Bruce Banner's was the next to come in, sent via his own brand new Stark Industries email address, with a note attached saying that he hoped it was okay that none of them had come from the Hulk itself.
Natasha Romanov stopped by after a debriefing, handed Fury a flash drive, and left without another word.
Steve Rogers had needed some help (although not as much as many assumed someone straight from the 1940s would) and seriously considered his choices before making his final selections.
Thor learned of the project after returning from delivering Loki to Asgard. He went to visit Jane - and Darcy, who was all too happy to bombard him with songs until he picked.
Clint Barton had to actually be tracked down and badgered into scribbling down his song titles on a scrap of paper, shoved into the interfering agent's face before he went back to whatever he had been doing with stacks of paper towels in the air ducts.
It wasn't initially meant to be a mystery, which member picked which songs. But the information was nowhere on the mix itself and the songs were all mixed together, so the internet - always full of people with nothing better to do - exploded with speculation over who each song was from. Arguments flew fast and furious, from the fact that nothing seemed old-fashioned enough to be from Captain America, to disappoint that "It's Not Easy Being Green" wasn't on the mix for the Hulk, to a handful of comments scornfully calling the superhero team "a bunch of hipsters".
It's Tony's suggestion this time, not Darcy's. "Why not make it a contest? First person to match all the songs with the right Avenger gets an all-expense paid trip for four to meet the Avengers."
They agreed (see clause: why-the-hell-not), and Stark Industries hosted the website for people to send in their picks. And despite the overwhelming amount of traffic the site got (the first legitimate superhero team in existence, and filled with very pretty people? The Avengers were extremely popular), it took four and a half days until someone hit upon the right combination. The winner was contacted, and flown out.
After a rather pleasant visit (the girl who had won had mostly stammered and blushed at everyone except Natasha, who she seemed to be halfway in love with; her father actually managed to hold his own in a conversation on programming with Tony; her mother cracked bad jokes and kept waggling her eyebrows at everyone; and her little brother had taken all of five minutes to get lifted onto Steve's shoulders), they released the winning set for their fans to see.
4. AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill
12. Black Sabbath - Iron Man
17. Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
No one is shocked by Tony's first two choices. He's not going to not drop his alter ego's name in as a choice, and his entrance to the Stark Expo was an extremely popular YouTube video. The last one confused a lot of people, but Tony picked it for one reason. That reason's name was Pepper.
2. The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand
13. Cat Stevens - Wild World
18. Social Distortion - Story of My Life
One was a song he heard in college, and the other two were songs from his childhood. Bruce didn't put too much thought into it - he just chose songs he liked, not ones he felt represented him. He's exposed enough.
5. Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning
9. Band of Skulls - I Know What I Am
15. Dropkick Murphys - The Dirty Glass
Some people are convinced that Natasha just chose three songs randomly (not the least because the Black Widow couldn't be such a hipster, right?). In fact, each of the songs speaks to her, even if it's just in the solid beats and one or two lines of lyrics. She doesn't feel the need to explain it.
3. Tom Petty - Learning to Fly
8. Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker
14. Black Rebel Motorcyle Club - Shuffle Your Feet
Every single one of Steve's choices are songs that spoke to him about adjusting the future. He yearns for the simpler days (and who knew that fighting bloody battles against a red-skinned Nazi would ever be considered simpler?). Still, he's adjusting. He certainly likes the amount of music available these days.
6. The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
11. Barenaked Ladies - Falling for the First Time
16. Good Luck - Stars Were Exploding
Thor's problem is that he doesn't know Midgardian music, and Jane doesn't listen to much music, so he's pretty much stuck with Darcy's eclectic collection. The first two songs remind him of Jane; the last one makes him think of the Bifrost. And all of them are just very loud and fun!
1. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Go Big
7. Enter the Haggis - Lights and Cars
10. Neon Trees - Teenage Sounds
Honestly, they're the first three songs that popped into Clint's head when that annoying agent found him.