There you go.
Told you I would resume this listing. Once I get caught up, I'll also put the songs in their order in the beginning of the final database.
"There You Go" is also the name of the first song I heard Nov. 7. It was by Pink in 2000, and it's score is 4,450.
Beyonce, "Irreplaceable" from 2006. Very replaceable, very pedestrian musically. 4,820. I think Beyonce is one of the 21st-century female soloists who is nowhere near as strong as the female soloists coming up in the '80s and '90s.
For that matter, the male soloists aren't very strong either. I just heard Enrique Iglesias, "Being with You," I think that's '06. I think I also heard it a couple of nights ago, and I'm pretty sure it was in the mid-4,000s, between 4,400 and 4,600. That may be generous.
I'm not sure if "American Idol" has lowered the bar for what's considered good or what the deal is.
The Killers, "Somebody Told Me" from 2004. 3,800. Kind of reminds me a little of the Jonas Brothers. Kind of from the same era, a little earlier.
K.T. Tunstall, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," '06. I would have called it "Whoo-hoo." I like the guitar work on this one, 3,750.
Britney Spears, "Lucky" from 2000. She seemed to be singing in a baby voice, sounded younger than she did when she was 15. 4,600.
Smash Mouth, with a 2001 remake of "I'm a Believer." It's a little more up tempo than The Monkees' version, but it doesn't really add a lot musically. It does bring back some '60s organ. 4,100.
Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You" from 2004. It's kind of a love song. It's not one of her best, but she surely can sing. 4,275.
My phone battery is dying and I have to get on the road soon. So I'll cut off this voice message #047 at 2:26 and pick it up later.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Catching up
The blog has gotten away from me for what has stretched into nearly two weeks.
I'll be making a number of posts, fitting in whatever I can, from my listening during the hiatus. I haven't blogged, but I have continued to listen to music and enter information into the database associated with this project.
I've missed only one day of listening since Nov. 7, and not sure that there have been any days when I haven't entered data. I've completed the 1980s, so I've been listening to Sirius XM Channel 8 for the last six days. I guess I'll listen to Channel 10 tonight on my drive to and from the American Airlines Center. Then Channel 9 Friday, and back to the '80s Saturday the 22nd.
At this point, I'm most of the way through the '70s, so by Sunday I could/should be listening to Sirius Channel 7 for seven days. By then, I could be ready to begin on the '60s, and after that the '50s. Then I'd set up a schedule incorporating all of the music channels on my Sirius XM radio.
Some information on family members I'll be mentioning in these posts. My children are Diana, Philip, Erin and Samantha. They range in age from 42 to 16, so they represent diverse interests. Anne was my first wife, Mary Beth my second and Margaret (M-Tex) my third/current/last. We'll just say they're older than my children but younger than I am. My sisters are Carolee (deceased) and Margaret, whom I'll indicate as such if she's included in a post to differentiate her from my wife, who's from Texas, M-Tex.
I'll be making a number of posts, fitting in whatever I can, from my listening during the hiatus. I haven't blogged, but I have continued to listen to music and enter information into the database associated with this project.
I've missed only one day of listening since Nov. 7, and not sure that there have been any days when I haven't entered data. I've completed the 1980s, so I've been listening to Sirius XM Channel 8 for the last six days. I guess I'll listen to Channel 10 tonight on my drive to and from the American Airlines Center. Then Channel 9 Friday, and back to the '80s Saturday the 22nd.
At this point, I'm most of the way through the '70s, so by Sunday I could/should be listening to Sirius Channel 7 for seven days. By then, I could be ready to begin on the '60s, and after that the '50s. Then I'd set up a schedule incorporating all of the music channels on my Sirius XM radio.
Some information on family members I'll be mentioning in these posts. My children are Diana, Philip, Erin and Samantha. They range in age from 42 to 16, so they represent diverse interests. Anne was my first wife, Mary Beth my second and Margaret (M-Tex) my third/current/last. We'll just say they're older than my children but younger than I am. My sisters are Carolee (deceased) and Margaret, whom I'll indicate as such if she's included in a post to differentiate her from my wife, who's from Texas, M-Tex.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Some explanation of the rankings
Before I realized I was wrong Thursday, I again set the radio to Sirius XM Channel 10, which covers the aughts.
So on Friday, I'll make sure to listen to Channel 9 (1990s). Perhaps I might make it 2 days in a row, or perhaps I'll keep on going first with Channel 10.
I'm not as far along as I'd like in entering the 1980s Billboard Hot 100s to the database -- about halfway there, but I could have some time during the day Saturday and on Sunday morning.
Here's what I heard Thursday on the way to and from the American Airlines Center.
Pussycat Dolls, "Stickwitu". Because Philip once sat next to one of the Dolls on a flight, I'll give it 4,600. I didn't record the year.
The Script, "Break Even", I would have thought it was called "Falling to Pieces." It's from 2008. 4,150. Not bad for a song from this century.
Akon/Snoop Dogg, "I Wanna Love You", '06. When it's just one beat and kind of indecipherable lyrics, it's hard to give it a good score. They did mix it up some toward the end, so 4,700. One of the reasons why I try to listen to different channels is so I can try to get a feel for the music of that time and it could jog my memory as to some songs I listened. Even if I wanna love this song, I can't.
Lady Gaga, "Poker Face", '09. I know it was a big hit at the time. I'm not a big fan of Lady Gaga. I'm feeling a bit generous to give it 3,950. A word on how I resolve discrepancies between my rankings and how they were received by the general public at the time: My recollection is that "Poker Face" was No. 2 in the '09 Billboard list. That would put it in the top 99%. The 3,950 rating would put it in the top 21%, meaning that I'd expect 79% of the songs to be better. So I could take an average, and move it up or down my list accordingly. 99+21=120, and the average of the two would be 60. I haven't quite decided whether to move it up 60 places to 3,890 or move it up the difference between the average and my ranking (60-21=39), which would put it at 3,911. At present, I don't expect I would ever change my ranking by as much as 100 places, and rarely would I move it more than 50. I'll see how it plays out as I get more songs ranked.
Mario, "Let Me Love You", '04. It's kind of a melodic ballad over a steady -- not rap, but a steady -- beat. 4,800.
Atari, "Boys of Summer", I think that was about '03. I've been debating whether to put it up in the top half of my rankings. I don't think it's that good. I have a little soft spot for it because the title reminds me of Roger Kahn's book, "Boys of Summer," about the Brooklyn Dodgers -- and I'm a sucker for baseball stuff. I would not have been able to tell you the group was Atari. I didn't give it a ranking. And when I was entering some '80s songs into the database, I noticed that the original was by Don Henley. The Atari version sounds like the version I remembered (Henley's), so I couldn't give Atari as high as score as Henley. For now I'll say 3,600 for the Atari version, but I'll revisit it when I hear Henley's.
Christina Aguilera from '99 spilling over into 2000, "What a Girl Wants". I don't think it's the original. 4,600.
T.I./Justin Timberlake, "Dead and Gone". I think it was Justin trying to establish some street cred by being associated with some rap. 4,650.
Pink, "There You Go" from 2000. 4,450.
Beyonce, "Irreplaceable" from 2006. Very replaceable. Very pedestrian musically. 4,820, and that may be too high. I think Beyonce is one of the 21st-century female soloists who is nowhere near as good as the strong female vocalists who were coming up in the '80s and '90s. For that matter, the male soloists aren't that good either.
Enrique Iglesias, "Being with You". I think I heard that a couple of nights ago. I think I ranked it in the mid-4,000s, between 4,400 and 4,600, and that may be generous. I'm not sure if American Idol has lowered the bar for what is considered good, or what it is.
Killer, "Somebody Told Me", from '04. 3,800. It kind of reminds me of the Jonas Brothers, same era.
KT Tunstall, "Black Horses and the Cherry Tree" from '06, though I would have thought it was called "Whoo-hoo!" I like the guitar work on this one. 3,750.
Britney Spears, "Lucky" from 2000. She sings it in kind of a baby voice. She sounded younger than she did when she was 15. 4,600.
Smash Mouth with a 2001 remake of "I'm a Believer". It's a little more up-tempo than The Monkees' version, but it really doesn't add much musically. It does bring back some '60s organ. 4,100.
Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You" from 2004. It's kind of a love song, and not one of her best, but she sure can sing. 4,275.
Three Doors Down, "Here Without You", 2003, I believe. I'll pump it up a bit to 4,050 in honor of M-Tex because they put some strings in there.
Flo Rida/T-Pain, "Low" from '08. I'm going 1,900 on this one. I've written about it on another blog as a song that helped the Tampa Bay Rays come together when they became a good team. The song always seemed to be on in the visitors' clubhouse when they came to Arlington. It's kind of catchy: "Shawty got low, low, low, low ..."
Santana/Michelle Branch from 2002 with "The Game of Love". Not the original, but a different song with the same title. I would have expected a better collaboration from the two stars. Carlos' guitar was much better than Michelle's singing on this one, but it's also possible it's just not a very good song.
19 songs. That's a better pace.
So on Friday, I'll make sure to listen to Channel 9 (1990s). Perhaps I might make it 2 days in a row, or perhaps I'll keep on going first with Channel 10.
I'm not as far along as I'd like in entering the 1980s Billboard Hot 100s to the database -- about halfway there, but I could have some time during the day Saturday and on Sunday morning.
Here's what I heard Thursday on the way to and from the American Airlines Center.
Pussycat Dolls, "Stickwitu". Because Philip once sat next to one of the Dolls on a flight, I'll give it 4,600. I didn't record the year.
The Script, "Break Even", I would have thought it was called "Falling to Pieces." It's from 2008. 4,150. Not bad for a song from this century.
Akon/Snoop Dogg, "I Wanna Love You", '06. When it's just one beat and kind of indecipherable lyrics, it's hard to give it a good score. They did mix it up some toward the end, so 4,700. One of the reasons why I try to listen to different channels is so I can try to get a feel for the music of that time and it could jog my memory as to some songs I listened. Even if I wanna love this song, I can't.
Lady Gaga, "Poker Face", '09. I know it was a big hit at the time. I'm not a big fan of Lady Gaga. I'm feeling a bit generous to give it 3,950. A word on how I resolve discrepancies between my rankings and how they were received by the general public at the time: My recollection is that "Poker Face" was No. 2 in the '09 Billboard list. That would put it in the top 99%. The 3,950 rating would put it in the top 21%, meaning that I'd expect 79% of the songs to be better. So I could take an average, and move it up or down my list accordingly. 99+21=120, and the average of the two would be 60. I haven't quite decided whether to move it up 60 places to 3,890 or move it up the difference between the average and my ranking (60-21=39), which would put it at 3,911. At present, I don't expect I would ever change my ranking by as much as 100 places, and rarely would I move it more than 50. I'll see how it plays out as I get more songs ranked.
Mario, "Let Me Love You", '04. It's kind of a melodic ballad over a steady -- not rap, but a steady -- beat. 4,800.
Atari, "Boys of Summer", I think that was about '03. I've been debating whether to put it up in the top half of my rankings. I don't think it's that good. I have a little soft spot for it because the title reminds me of Roger Kahn's book, "Boys of Summer," about the Brooklyn Dodgers -- and I'm a sucker for baseball stuff. I would not have been able to tell you the group was Atari. I didn't give it a ranking. And when I was entering some '80s songs into the database, I noticed that the original was by Don Henley. The Atari version sounds like the version I remembered (Henley's), so I couldn't give Atari as high as score as Henley. For now I'll say 3,600 for the Atari version, but I'll revisit it when I hear Henley's.
Christina Aguilera from '99 spilling over into 2000, "What a Girl Wants". I don't think it's the original. 4,600.
T.I./Justin Timberlake, "Dead and Gone". I think it was Justin trying to establish some street cred by being associated with some rap. 4,650.
Pink, "There You Go" from 2000. 4,450.
Beyonce, "Irreplaceable" from 2006. Very replaceable. Very pedestrian musically. 4,820, and that may be too high. I think Beyonce is one of the 21st-century female soloists who is nowhere near as good as the strong female vocalists who were coming up in the '80s and '90s. For that matter, the male soloists aren't that good either.
Enrique Iglesias, "Being with You". I think I heard that a couple of nights ago. I think I ranked it in the mid-4,000s, between 4,400 and 4,600, and that may be generous. I'm not sure if American Idol has lowered the bar for what is considered good, or what it is.
Killer, "Somebody Told Me", from '04. 3,800. It kind of reminds me of the Jonas Brothers, same era.
KT Tunstall, "Black Horses and the Cherry Tree" from '06, though I would have thought it was called "Whoo-hoo!" I like the guitar work on this one. 3,750.
Britney Spears, "Lucky" from 2000. She sings it in kind of a baby voice. She sounded younger than she did when she was 15. 4,600.
Smash Mouth with a 2001 remake of "I'm a Believer". It's a little more up-tempo than The Monkees' version, but it really doesn't add much musically. It does bring back some '60s organ. 4,100.
Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You" from 2004. It's kind of a love song, and not one of her best, but she sure can sing. 4,275.
Three Doors Down, "Here Without You", 2003, I believe. I'll pump it up a bit to 4,050 in honor of M-Tex because they put some strings in there.
Flo Rida/T-Pain, "Low" from '08. I'm going 1,900 on this one. I've written about it on another blog as a song that helped the Tampa Bay Rays come together when they became a good team. The song always seemed to be on in the visitors' clubhouse when they came to Arlington. It's kind of catchy: "Shawty got low, low, low, low ..."
Santana/Michelle Branch from 2002 with "The Game of Love". Not the original, but a different song with the same title. I would have expected a better collaboration from the two stars. Carlos' guitar was much better than Michelle's singing on this one, but it's also possible it's just not a very good song.
19 songs. That's a better pace.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
21st-century music?
On Tuesday, I went back to the American Airlines Center, listening to Sirius XM Channel 10.
Drove home after midnight, really too tired to work on anything that required thought.
Spent a lot of today resting and fighting a headache.
So here are the Tuesday results:
Christina Aguilera, "Keeps Gettin' Better" from 2008, but it doesn't. 4,550.
Green Day, "Wake Me Up When September Ends", 2005, 3,950.
Justin Timberlake, "Rock Your Body", '03. 4,700.
Nelly Furtado, "Say It Right", '06, 4,375.
Aerosmith, "Jaded", 4,100. Not one of their best. I'll have to check the year.
Outkast, "The Way You Move", '03. 4,050.
Crazy Town, "Butterfly", '01. It's about one step removed from standard-issue rap or hip hop. 4,800. Crazy Town tried to step out with lyrics about Sid and Nancy, but it was more dated than edgy.
Enrique Iglesias, "Be With You", 2000. Kind of standard-issue dance music, 4,850. Part of it reminds me of a better song, but I can't remember which one. I'll keep it in the back of my head and if I do hear that song, I'll mention it.
Evanescence, "My Immortal", '04. I'll slide this one up to 4,400 in honor of Allie, a woman I knew back in those days. I remember one time she was sitting in the driver's seat of her car and some Evanescence song came on the radio, don't think it's this one, and she starting singing it while I stood outside the car window. She called them Evan-sense. Kind of a weird moment, and I'm not sure what she meant by it, but it was memorable.
Backstreet Boys, "The One", '01. I'll go 4,980. There might be 20 worse than this one.
Just 10 songs? The traffic wasn't bad.
Drove home after midnight, really too tired to work on anything that required thought.
Spent a lot of today resting and fighting a headache.
So here are the Tuesday results:
Christina Aguilera, "Keeps Gettin' Better" from 2008, but it doesn't. 4,550.
Green Day, "Wake Me Up When September Ends", 2005, 3,950.
Justin Timberlake, "Rock Your Body", '03. 4,700.
Nelly Furtado, "Say It Right", '06, 4,375.
Aerosmith, "Jaded", 4,100. Not one of their best. I'll have to check the year.
Outkast, "The Way You Move", '03. 4,050.
Crazy Town, "Butterfly", '01. It's about one step removed from standard-issue rap or hip hop. 4,800. Crazy Town tried to step out with lyrics about Sid and Nancy, but it was more dated than edgy.
Enrique Iglesias, "Be With You", 2000. Kind of standard-issue dance music, 4,850. Part of it reminds me of a better song, but I can't remember which one. I'll keep it in the back of my head and if I do hear that song, I'll mention it.
Evanescence, "My Immortal", '04. I'll slide this one up to 4,400 in honor of Allie, a woman I knew back in those days. I remember one time she was sitting in the driver's seat of her car and some Evanescence song came on the radio, don't think it's this one, and she starting singing it while I stood outside the car window. She called them Evan-sense. Kind of a weird moment, and I'm not sure what she meant by it, but it was memorable.
Backstreet Boys, "The One", '01. I'll go 4,980. There might be 20 worse than this one.
Just 10 songs? The traffic wasn't bad.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
A nice mixture of reverence and skepticism
On today's trip to the American Airlines Center for Celtics vs. Mavericks, I was back on Sirius XM Channel 9 and '90s music.
Sponge, "Plowed", 1995, 4,300.
Salt-N-Pepa, "Shoop", from 1993, 3,100, no make it 3,400.
Joan Osborne, "One of Us", a nice mixture of reverence and skepticism: "What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us." and "Nobody calling on the phone. 'Cept for the pope maybe in Rome." 1,900. I forget to record the year but I'm pretty sure it was 1995 or later.
Fatboy Slim, "Praise You", 1999. 3,200. It had some good keyboards and a lot of engineering effects, probably too many. The producer pretty much had his way with it.
Roxette, "Dangerous", 1990. I don't know much about Roxette. They were around for a while, so they must have something going for them. I don't think "Dangerous" was particularly their best, I'd say on the low side of 4,500.
From '94, "Tootsie Roll" by 69 Boyz. 4,000. It's kind of catchy. In later years, the same idea kind of morphed into the one that had "cha cha real slow now." Looked it up; it's "Cha Cha Slide".
Duran Duran, "Come Undone Breath After Breath", 1993. Not one of their best efforts. 4,800.
The Real McCoy, a 1995 remake of "Come and Get Your Love," and not a very good remake. I don't think Luke McCoy would be beaming with joy. 4,750.
Extreme, and this is their greatest hit, "More Than Words" from 1991. It's a ballad with acoustic guitar and pretty good lyrics. 2,100.
Montell Jordan from 1995, "This Is How We Do It." 4,150, no 3,950. It's not just the same old beat and the same old rap, he actually sings some of it.
The Cure, "Friday I'm in Love" from '92. I never got into The Cure. I think Philip kind of liked them, but about the only time I paid attention to them was when Robert Smith was on "South Park" fighting the giant Barbra Streisand robot that threatened the earth. 4,200.
Eleven more. I have to pick up the pace. Maybe not drive home when I'm too tired to listen.
Sponge, "Plowed", 1995, 4,300.
Salt-N-Pepa, "Shoop", from 1993, 3,100, no make it 3,400.
Joan Osborne, "One of Us", a nice mixture of reverence and skepticism: "What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us." and "Nobody calling on the phone. 'Cept for the pope maybe in Rome." 1,900. I forget to record the year but I'm pretty sure it was 1995 or later.
Fatboy Slim, "Praise You", 1999. 3,200. It had some good keyboards and a lot of engineering effects, probably too many. The producer pretty much had his way with it.
Roxette, "Dangerous", 1990. I don't know much about Roxette. They were around for a while, so they must have something going for them. I don't think "Dangerous" was particularly their best, I'd say on the low side of 4,500.
From '94, "Tootsie Roll" by 69 Boyz. 4,000. It's kind of catchy. In later years, the same idea kind of morphed into the one that had "cha cha real slow now." Looked it up; it's "Cha Cha Slide".
Duran Duran, "Come Undone Breath After Breath", 1993. Not one of their best efforts. 4,800.
The Real McCoy, a 1995 remake of "Come and Get Your Love," and not a very good remake. I don't think Luke McCoy would be beaming with joy. 4,750.
Extreme, and this is their greatest hit, "More Than Words" from 1991. It's a ballad with acoustic guitar and pretty good lyrics. 2,100.
Montell Jordan from 1995, "This Is How We Do It." 4,150, no 3,950. It's not just the same old beat and the same old rap, he actually sings some of it.
The Cure, "Friday I'm in Love" from '92. I never got into The Cure. I think Philip kind of liked them, but about the only time I paid attention to them was when Robert Smith was on "South Park" fighting the giant Barbra Streisand robot that threatened the earth. 4,200.
Eleven more. I have to pick up the pace. Maybe not drive home when I'm too tired to listen.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
The first 2 days
I actually finished the first post on Nov. 1, but Margaret and I rushed off to a movie before I had published the post. So I didn't actually post it until I woke up Sunday morning.
Here's what I've listened to the last 2 days.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Strange Magic" (1991), first one. I'll go about 2,900.
Luther Vandross, I Don't Want to Be a F (1991). I was driving Samantha's car, in which a long song name doesn't scroll across the display. Based on the lyrics, it's actually "I Don't Want to Be a Fool". I gave it 4,800, but based on what I heard today, I'd move it up to about 4,400. I didn't know that Luther was deceased until I heard Downtown Julie Brown say he was.
Naughty By Nature, "O.P.P." from 1991. 4,950.
Also from '91, Jesus Jones or Haysus Jones, "Real Real Real". 4,900 on this one. At least it has some music. Downtown Julie pronounced it Jesus.
She was running down the Back in the Day Replay for 1991 on Sirius XM Channel 9. She made a joke when she said, "This is Downtown Julie Brown with big hits. I said big HITS."
Number 6 actually was recorded in 1990 according to the Sirius information. It was not Extreme's greatest hit, but rather "Hole Hearted". I said 4,700, but later moved it up to 4,200 because I like the lyric "There's a hole in my heart that can only be filled by you."
No. 5, Bryan Adams, "I Can't Stop This Thing". 4,300.
Natural Selection, "Say Anything". A generous 4,700, which means it should be 4,700 and something.
Mariah Carey was No. 2 with "Emotions". About 4,250. She had that ridiculous high-note thing going for her.
Karyn White, "Romantic", who knows? 4,220 to get it ahead of Mariah.
On Sunday, I listened to Sirius XM Channel 10 on the way to Texas Motor Speedway.
The Raconteurs, "Steady As She Goes". Never heard it before, give it about 4,650.
Howie Day from '04 with "Collide". About 4,800 with that one. It has some promise but is very repetitive.
From '09, Taylor Swift with "You Belong with Me"-Ee-Hee. In honor of Samantha, I'll give that 2,900. She and I would sing it together if it came on the radio while I was driving her to middle school.
Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, I think it's from '03, and it's not Flo Rida's "Low" but "Get Low", and it's 4,700.
From 2002, No Doubt and "Hella Good". But it wasn't. In order to be hella good, it would have had a lot more Gwen Stefani and a lot less techno music.
From '06, John Mayer, "Waiting on the World to Change". I started at 3,100 and went on to 3,200 and 3,300. If I heard it more, I might even drop it down farther.
Beyonce, "Single Ladies", '08. Women like it, so in honor of them I'll give it 4,500. I just remember M-Tex singing, "If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it," before we were married.
Bon Jovi, "Who Says You Can't Go Home". A little bit country, and my Bon Jovi feelings are a little lukewarm anyway. I'll go 4,800.
Lady Gaga -- speaking of lukewarm or less -- and "Paparazzi". It's got some musical merit. I'll go 4,100.
2000, Matchbox 20, "If You're Gone". Sounds pretty sappy. I'm going 4,850.
Jay-Z, '04, "99 Problems". Make it 100 problems. 4,900. Or perhaps off the top 5,000 list. It's not musical, and the message isn't positive. More like how not to get arrested, or how to get off if you do.
From '06, Jack Johnson. Give him 3,900 for Erin. She was a big fan. I think she saw him perform in New York, maybe at the time she saw Nick Lachey's brother. Thinking of that instance reminds me of how her cousin's best friend's stepsister's boyfriend, or something like that, was the ugly guy from 98 Degrees.
From '05, Kanye West with "Gold Digger". It's quite a bit better than "99 Problems," so around 4,650.
From '04, Sarah Connor, "Bounce". She's got some stuff going on beneath a predictable beat, so I'm going 4,550. And wasn't Sarah Connor in "Terminator"?
Puddle of Mudd, '02, "She Hates Me". There's some rock in it. I was thinking they're a Christian rock band, but probably confused them with Jars of Clay. I'm going to go about 4,600.
That's 24 in 2 days, an average of 12. To get to where I want to be, ranking more than 5,000, I'd need to average 15 or more songs per day. There will be some repeats over the course of a year. I'm thinking there could be cases where my moods could produce significant differences in how I rate the same song at different times. My overall hope is that I'd be fairly consistent if I forget that I've already rated a song several months before.
A note on the rankings. I also have spent time over the past year trying to gauge how high I'd rank songs. So I do have some frame of reference at least in the back of my mind. If I'm going to rank 5,000 songs, each 1% of that consists of 50 songs. I hope to hear more than 5,000, so some of the marginal ones ranked in the low 4,000s will be dropped off the list, mentioned as being worse than the 5,000 or perhaps given a 5,000-plus number.
Here's what I've listened to the last 2 days.
Electric Light Orchestra, "Strange Magic" (1991), first one. I'll go about 2,900.
Luther Vandross, I Don't Want to Be a F (1991). I was driving Samantha's car, in which a long song name doesn't scroll across the display. Based on the lyrics, it's actually "I Don't Want to Be a Fool". I gave it 4,800, but based on what I heard today, I'd move it up to about 4,400. I didn't know that Luther was deceased until I heard Downtown Julie Brown say he was.
Naughty By Nature, "O.P.P." from 1991. 4,950.
Also from '91, Jesus Jones or Haysus Jones, "Real Real Real". 4,900 on this one. At least it has some music. Downtown Julie pronounced it Jesus.
She was running down the Back in the Day Replay for 1991 on Sirius XM Channel 9. She made a joke when she said, "This is Downtown Julie Brown with big hits. I said big HITS."
Number 6 actually was recorded in 1990 according to the Sirius information. It was not Extreme's greatest hit, but rather "Hole Hearted". I said 4,700, but later moved it up to 4,200 because I like the lyric "There's a hole in my heart that can only be filled by you."
No. 5, Bryan Adams, "I Can't Stop This Thing". 4,300.
Natural Selection, "Say Anything". A generous 4,700, which means it should be 4,700 and something.
Mariah Carey was No. 2 with "Emotions". About 4,250. She had that ridiculous high-note thing going for her.
Karyn White, "Romantic", who knows? 4,220 to get it ahead of Mariah.
On Sunday, I listened to Sirius XM Channel 10 on the way to Texas Motor Speedway.
The Raconteurs, "Steady As She Goes". Never heard it before, give it about 4,650.
Howie Day from '04 with "Collide". About 4,800 with that one. It has some promise but is very repetitive.
From '09, Taylor Swift with "You Belong with Me"-Ee-Hee. In honor of Samantha, I'll give that 2,900. She and I would sing it together if it came on the radio while I was driving her to middle school.
Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, I think it's from '03, and it's not Flo Rida's "Low" but "Get Low", and it's 4,700.
From 2002, No Doubt and "Hella Good". But it wasn't. In order to be hella good, it would have had a lot more Gwen Stefani and a lot less techno music.
From '06, John Mayer, "Waiting on the World to Change". I started at 3,100 and went on to 3,200 and 3,300. If I heard it more, I might even drop it down farther.
Beyonce, "Single Ladies", '08. Women like it, so in honor of them I'll give it 4,500. I just remember M-Tex singing, "If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it," before we were married.
Bon Jovi, "Who Says You Can't Go Home". A little bit country, and my Bon Jovi feelings are a little lukewarm anyway. I'll go 4,800.
Lady Gaga -- speaking of lukewarm or less -- and "Paparazzi". It's got some musical merit. I'll go 4,100.
2000, Matchbox 20, "If You're Gone". Sounds pretty sappy. I'm going 4,850.
Jay-Z, '04, "99 Problems". Make it 100 problems. 4,900. Or perhaps off the top 5,000 list. It's not musical, and the message isn't positive. More like how not to get arrested, or how to get off if you do.
From '06, Jack Johnson. Give him 3,900 for Erin. She was a big fan. I think she saw him perform in New York, maybe at the time she saw Nick Lachey's brother. Thinking of that instance reminds me of how her cousin's best friend's stepsister's boyfriend, or something like that, was the ugly guy from 98 Degrees.
From '05, Kanye West with "Gold Digger". It's quite a bit better than "99 Problems," so around 4,650.
From '04, Sarah Connor, "Bounce". She's got some stuff going on beneath a predictable beat, so I'm going 4,550. And wasn't Sarah Connor in "Terminator"?
Puddle of Mudd, '02, "She Hates Me". There's some rock in it. I was thinking they're a Christian rock band, but probably confused them with Jars of Clay. I'm going to go about 4,600.
That's 24 in 2 days, an average of 12. To get to where I want to be, ranking more than 5,000, I'd need to average 15 or more songs per day. There will be some repeats over the course of a year. I'm thinking there could be cases where my moods could produce significant differences in how I rate the same song at different times. My overall hope is that I'd be fairly consistent if I forget that I've already rated a song several months before.
A note on the rankings. I also have spent time over the past year trying to gauge how high I'd rank songs. So I do have some frame of reference at least in the back of my mind. If I'm going to rank 5,000 songs, each 1% of that consists of 50 songs. I hope to hear more than 5,000, so some of the marginal ones ranked in the low 4,000s will be dropped off the list, mentioned as being worse than the 5,000 or perhaps given a 5,000-plus number.
The Days the Music Lived
Here's the reason for this blog.
Like many, quite possibly most, people, I have spent a lot of my life listening to music. For this blog, I'll be writing about rock, popular, contemporary, alternative, soul, some rap and even bubble gum music. Radio music. Album music.
The music we've listened to in our spare time, occasionally even on someone else's time and dime. The music that in part defines our lives, but which definitely has shaped our lives.
I tried a number of other names for this blog -- Music of Our Lives, Music of My Life, The Best Music -- but all were already taken. That tells me that a number of people have had similar ideas for blogs.
So far there has been only one Day the Music Died, and that was a sad day indeed. On every other day of our lives, the music also has been alive. Let's celebrate it.
Here's how I'd like this celebration to go. I'll listen to music as I go about my days. Mostly, that will be during time in the car while I'm driving to assignments. Most of those are drives of half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, even more if I'm stuck in Metroplex traffic.
I will document what I've heard. Through the magic of Sirius XM radio, I'll be able to listen to a variety of formats at different times. Before long, I'll have set up a schedule to make sure I give myself exposure to any format I can find on the satellites.
As I listen, I'll record notes to myself about what I've heard. Then I'll give each piece of music a number from 1 to 5,000. By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have a 1 to 5,000 listing of the favorite songs of my life in a database full of album-liner-type information and possibly in book form.
It doesn't all have to be my ratings. I welcome input from family, friends, anyone else who happens to read this. And I would incorporate that additional input into my ratings. So it will be the music of our lives and not just the music of my life.
I have started that database, in an attempt to make it easier to find information about the music. As a framework, I began about a year ago to enter Billboard Hot 100 lists beginning with 2012. I realize the Hot 100 is just a slice of the musical spectrum, and there will be a number of different types of music, album cuts, etc., added to it. Ideally, I'll end up with a chronological database as well as the 1-5,000 list.
The data entry has been stop and go as I've had other things to work on or music to listen to. So I've barely made it back into the '80s.
For that reason, my initial listening will be heavy with '90s and 21st-century music, whose titles already have been entered into the chronological database. I'll adjust the schedule so that I won't be listening to those decades as much -- or the '80s, which should all be entered within the next week.
I started my listening today on my drive to Dallas for a high school football game. Sirius XM Channel 9 had Downtown Julie Brown counting down the Back in the Day Replay for 1991.
I remember recently entering 1990 and '91 and thinking what a musical wasteland the early '90s were. There were a lot of 4,000-plus ratings for the music I heard today.
My method of recording my thoughts will be refined over time. I was using the voice recorder on my phone, but it was cumbersome to make a short recording, turn it off and then get back to it after my phone's screen had gone dark while I was waiting for the next song. That while making sure to drive safely.
I'll either get better at that, or use a small digital recorder. Something to make it more efficient to make my observations.
From time to time, the music will raise questions. Any questions I raise in the daily blog would be addressed in the resulting book.
I'm charging my phone now. Later, possibly after midnight, I'll post the thoughts from today's listen.
Like many, quite possibly most, people, I have spent a lot of my life listening to music. For this blog, I'll be writing about rock, popular, contemporary, alternative, soul, some rap and even bubble gum music. Radio music. Album music.
The music we've listened to in our spare time, occasionally even on someone else's time and dime. The music that in part defines our lives, but which definitely has shaped our lives.
I tried a number of other names for this blog -- Music of Our Lives, Music of My Life, The Best Music -- but all were already taken. That tells me that a number of people have had similar ideas for blogs.
So far there has been only one Day the Music Died, and that was a sad day indeed. On every other day of our lives, the music also has been alive. Let's celebrate it.
Here's how I'd like this celebration to go. I'll listen to music as I go about my days. Mostly, that will be during time in the car while I'm driving to assignments. Most of those are drives of half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, even more if I'm stuck in Metroplex traffic.
I will document what I've heard. Through the magic of Sirius XM radio, I'll be able to listen to a variety of formats at different times. Before long, I'll have set up a schedule to make sure I give myself exposure to any format I can find on the satellites.
As I listen, I'll record notes to myself about what I've heard. Then I'll give each piece of music a number from 1 to 5,000. By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have a 1 to 5,000 listing of the favorite songs of my life in a database full of album-liner-type information and possibly in book form.
It doesn't all have to be my ratings. I welcome input from family, friends, anyone else who happens to read this. And I would incorporate that additional input into my ratings. So it will be the music of our lives and not just the music of my life.
I have started that database, in an attempt to make it easier to find information about the music. As a framework, I began about a year ago to enter Billboard Hot 100 lists beginning with 2012. I realize the Hot 100 is just a slice of the musical spectrum, and there will be a number of different types of music, album cuts, etc., added to it. Ideally, I'll end up with a chronological database as well as the 1-5,000 list.
The data entry has been stop and go as I've had other things to work on or music to listen to. So I've barely made it back into the '80s.
For that reason, my initial listening will be heavy with '90s and 21st-century music, whose titles already have been entered into the chronological database. I'll adjust the schedule so that I won't be listening to those decades as much -- or the '80s, which should all be entered within the next week.
I started my listening today on my drive to Dallas for a high school football game. Sirius XM Channel 9 had Downtown Julie Brown counting down the Back in the Day Replay for 1991.
I remember recently entering 1990 and '91 and thinking what a musical wasteland the early '90s were. There were a lot of 4,000-plus ratings for the music I heard today.
My method of recording my thoughts will be refined over time. I was using the voice recorder on my phone, but it was cumbersome to make a short recording, turn it off and then get back to it after my phone's screen had gone dark while I was waiting for the next song. That while making sure to drive safely.
I'll either get better at that, or use a small digital recorder. Something to make it more efficient to make my observations.
From time to time, the music will raise questions. Any questions I raise in the daily blog would be addressed in the resulting book.
I'm charging my phone now. Later, possibly after midnight, I'll post the thoughts from today's listen.
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