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.
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