If you can, find The Commitments film soundtrack, which includes covers of many popular soul songs, covered by the eponymous, fictional band featured in an eponymous film. It's a pretty good film, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commitments_(film)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEsoq0B1IOo[/youtube]
However, I'm on the same page as PlanHex - have never actually driven (the long distance). But plenty of people I know like it quite a lot, so try it out. Catchy, moody, but not distracting.