Friday, September 02, 2005
That Darn Music MEME
As usual, I'm the last one on the bus.
Here are the rules for this music MEME, which everybody else has already done:
A.) Go to musicoutfitters.com
B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don't remember (or don't care about).
I think Jerry had a good idea with regard to changing the font color, so I'm gonna steal that.
Green will indicate a song that I particularly enjoy. If a song is
I also want to point out that my masked pal with the hidden blog graduated the same year that I did (1987), and he had the unmitigated audacity to mark both U2 songs off the list. I'm mostly doing this MEME so that I can, in turn, highlight both U2 songs as favorites, and thereby bring balance to the force.
Here ya go. Keep in mind that a regular font indicates that I have no emotional reaction to the song at all:
1. Walk Like An Egyptian, Bangles
2. Alone, Heart
3. Shake You Down, Gregory Abbott
4. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Whitney Houston
5.
6. C'est La Vie, Robbie Nevil
7. Here I Go Again, Whitesnake
8. The Way It Is, Bruce Hornsby and the Range
9. Shakedown, Bob Seger
10. Livin' On A Prayer, Bon Jovi
11. La Bamba, Los Lobos
12. Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Wang Chung
13. Don't Dream It's Over, Crowded House
14. Always, Atlantic Starr
15. With Or Without You, U2
16. Looking For A New Love, Jody Watley
17. Head To Toe, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
18.
19. Mony Mony, Billy Idol
20. At This Moment, Billy Vera and The Beaters
21. Lady In Red, Chris De Burgh
22. Didn't We Almost Have It All, Whitney Houston
23. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2
24. I Want Your Sex, George Michael
25. Notorious, Duran Duran
26. Only In My Dreams, Debbie Gibson
27. (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
28. The Next Time I Fall, Peter Cetera and Amy Grant
29. Lean On Me, Club Nouveau
30. Open Your Heart, Madonna
31. Lost In Emotion, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
32. (I Just) Died In Your Arms, Cutting Crew
33. Heart And Soul, T'pau
34. You Keep Me Hangin' On, Kim Wilde
35. Keep Your Hands To Yourself, Georgia Satellites
36. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), Aretha Franklin and George Michael
37. Control, Janet Jackson
38. Somewhere Out There, Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
39. U Got The Look, Prince
40. Land Of Confusion, Genesis
41. Jacob's Ladder, Huey Lewis and The News
42. Who's That Girl, Madonna
43. You Got It All, Jets
44. Touch Me (I Want Your Body), Samantha Fox
45. I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett
46. Causing A Commotion, Madonna
47. In Too Deep, Genesis
48. Let's Wait Awhile, Janet Jackson
49. Hip To Be Square, Huey Lewis and the News
50. Will You Still Love Me?, Chicago
51. Little Lies, Fleetwood Mac
52. Luka, Suzanne Vega
53. I Heard A Rumour, Bananarama
54. Don't Mean Nothing, Richard Marx
55. Songbird, Kenny G
56. Carrie, Europe
57. Don't Disturb This Groove, System
58. La Isla Bonita, Madonna
59. Bad, Michael Jackson
60. Sign 'O' The Times, Prince
61. Change Of Heart, Cyndi Lauper
62. Come Go With Me, Expose
63. Can't We Try, Dan Hill
64. To Be A Lover, Billy Idol
65. Mandolin Rain, Bruce Hornsby and the Range
66. Breakout, Swing Out Sister
67. Stand By Me, Ben E. King
68. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Genesis
69. Someday, Glass Tiger
70. When Smokey Sings, ABC
71. Casanova, Levert
72. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine
73. Rock Steady, Whispers
74. Wanted Dead Or Alive, Bon Jovi
75. Big Time, Peter Gabriel
76. The Finer Things, Steve Winwood
77. Let Me Be The One, Expose
78.
79. Diamonds, Herb Alpert
80. Point Of No Return, Expose
81. Big Love, Fleetwood Mac
82. Midnight Blue, Lou Gramm
83. Something So Strong, Crowded House
84. Heat Of The Night, Bryan Adams
85. Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, Glenn Medeiros
86. Brilliant Disguise, Bruce Springsteen
87. Just To See Her, Smokey Robinson
88. Who Will You Run Too, Heart
89. Respect Yourself, Bruce Willis
90. Cross My Broken Heart, Jets
91. Victory, Kool and The Gang
92. Don't Get Me Wrong, Pretenders
93. Doing It All For My Baby, Huey Lewis and The News
94. Right On Track, Breakfast Club
95. Ballerina Girl, Lionel Richie
96. Meet Me Half Way, Kenny Loggins
97. I've Been In Love Before, Cutting Crew
98. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party, Beastie Boys
99. Funkytown, Pseudo Echo
100. Love You Down, Ready For The World
I remember every song on the list except for "Right On Track" by the Breakfast Club. At this point, I associate almost all of those songs with K-Mart and Burger King background music, and I have no reaction to them at all. Honestly, who at this point really feels anything at all when they hear, for instance, "Meet Me Half Way" by Kenny Loggins?
I want to point out, by the way, that in 1987 I was listening heavily to Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, etc... the songs I really enjoyed that year never got played on top 40 radio.
Permalink -- Posted by Darrell at 09:58 
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Nothing personal. I struck them out because I think musically that U2 completely sucks!!!!!!!!!!!
Their music all sounds the same to me, and it is extremely simplistic. I would say that they are one of the most overrated bands of the 80's and 90's.
Their music all sounds the same to me, and it is extremely simplistic. I would say that they are one of the most overrated bands of the 80's and 90's.
I'd defend U2 by saying that they are my generation's Rolling Stones, but I'm afraid that doing so would actually support your assertion that they're overrated. If you look up "overrated" in the dictionary, you see a picture of Mick Jagger leaning on the corpse of Keith Richards.
Having an early background in music theory, I guess I look at music a bit differently than most people. I just can't get past the simplistic bass that U2 uses in every song. Every measure is made up of quarter notes of the same note repeated once.
C-C-C-C C-C-C-C G-G-G-G G-G-G-G F-F-F-F F-F-F-F B-B-B-B B-B-B-B
I just can't get past that! It sounds HORRIBLE!!! And it jumps out and beats you over the head song after song after song!!!
Now that I have pointed that out, none of you will ever enjoy a U2 song again, as it will always be brought to your attention! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!
C-C-C-C C-C-C-C G-G-G-G G-G-G-G F-F-F-F F-F-F-F B-B-B-B B-B-B-B
I just can't get past that! It sounds HORRIBLE!!! And it jumps out and beats you over the head song after song after song!!!
Now that I have pointed that out, none of you will ever enjoy a U2 song again, as it will always be brought to your attention! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!
U2 rocks. Always have. Always will. Things don't have to be complicated to be good.
Except the Zoo TV tour. That sucked.
Except the Zoo TV tour. That sucked.
The Unknown Dude Said: Having an early background in music theory, I guess I look at music a bit differently than most people.
"I know,
It's only rock and roll,
but I like it,
LOVE IT,
YES I DOOOO!!"
I have a buddy who's a musician, so he's a music elitist, too. You guys kill me. You take all that time to learn about music and it ends up taking all the fun out of it. Then again, maybe it's just that rock can't reach your ears with your noses so high in the air. I dunno... all I know is, I hope I never learn enough about "proper" music to take the joy out of U2 for me. You guys can have Andre Segovia. I'll stick to The Edge.
Lorna: There's a rumour giong around that you don't like SURVIVOR? Care to comment on that?
If I were stuck in a room with Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, and the lead singer of Survivor... and I had a gun that only had three bullets in it... I'd put all three bullets in the lead singer of Survivor.
Kristine: Except the Zoo TV tour. That sucked.
AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!
You come here to defend me from your buddy with the gauze on his head, and you stab me in the heart! I have been to Pittsburgh exactly once, and that was to see U2 at 3 Rivers on the Zoo TV tour, and to this day it remains my favorite concert experience ever. Second place was the show I saw one week later, Tori Amos in Charlottesville on the Little Earthquakes tour. Slayer and AC/DC are tied for third. But these are other stories.
In closing, I rebuke all of you who don't think exactly as I do about the music of U2. Back, foul fiends!
"I know,
It's only rock and roll,
but I like it,
LOVE IT,
YES I DOOOO!!"
I have a buddy who's a musician, so he's a music elitist, too. You guys kill me. You take all that time to learn about music and it ends up taking all the fun out of it. Then again, maybe it's just that rock can't reach your ears with your noses so high in the air. I dunno... all I know is, I hope I never learn enough about "proper" music to take the joy out of U2 for me. You guys can have Andre Segovia. I'll stick to The Edge.
Lorna: There's a rumour giong around that you don't like SURVIVOR? Care to comment on that?
If I were stuck in a room with Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, and the lead singer of Survivor... and I had a gun that only had three bullets in it... I'd put all three bullets in the lead singer of Survivor.
Kristine: Except the Zoo TV tour. That sucked.
AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!
You come here to defend me from your buddy with the gauze on his head, and you stab me in the heart! I have been to Pittsburgh exactly once, and that was to see U2 at 3 Rivers on the Zoo TV tour, and to this day it remains my favorite concert experience ever. Second place was the show I saw one week later, Tori Amos in Charlottesville on the Little Earthquakes tour. Slayer and AC/DC are tied for third. But these are other stories.
In closing, I rebuke all of you who don't think exactly as I do about the music of U2. Back, foul fiends!
NH, you're insane. I've been around musicians my whole life. My dad is a bass player, and I grew up hearing bass lines to songs being played over and over and over. So the bass line is always the first and main thing I hear in a song. And the level of complexity doesn't matter so long as it works in the song. Matter of fact, there are plenty of songs with complicated bass lines that completely ruin the song. And I usually prefer the complicated stuff!
So, you don't like U2, but my point is that we probably have very similar ways of listening to music, and I think there's nothing wrong with the U2 songs on this list.
So, you don't like U2, but my point is that we probably have very similar ways of listening to music, and I think there's nothing wrong with the U2 songs on this list.
As you can see from my list, Darrell, I do not have "high falutin'" taste in music. U2 is just plain bad, in my all knowing opinion.
;)
;)
I've been a musician for twenty years now, 2/3 of my life. I found that music theory really can sap the emotion of music by reducing all notes to the component mathematical equations. Music IS based in math and it's an important core component, but to me it's the difference between painting something in Photoshop or writing lines of code in something primitive like Logo to achieve the same result. And one thing many of my music teachers agreed upon was that it's harder to write a SIMPLE, original song than something complex. I challenge any composer to write the equivalent simplicity of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and have it sound original.
And now, thanks to this list, "Here I Go" by Whitesnake is now looping in my brain. I'll have to rise up, maybe go back on the street, do my time and take my chances, you know? I'll go the distance and get back on my feet, be just a man with my will to survive...
(I like at least one song by Survivor)
And now, thanks to this list, "Here I Go" by Whitesnake is now looping in my brain. I'll have to rise up, maybe go back on the street, do my time and take my chances, you know? I'll go the distance and get back on my feet, be just a man with my will to survive...
(I like at least one song by Survivor)
Sorry about the ZooTV crack, Darrell! I was there, too. Maybe you were the dude who spilled beer on me! That's be JUST like you. LOL
For the record, I play drums, guitar, Irish low whistle, and yes, a Slovenian button box accordion. I dabble with the piano. U2 still rocks.
When I'm strumming a song on the acousitc guitar, I always throw in a little U2 because I like to sing it, and the melodies are lovely.
My cousin has been playing guitar for over 25 years. He's a veritable virtuoso, and knows more music theory than you can shake a stick at. He still likes U2.
Ditto my friend who went to Julliard. Case closed.
For the record, I play drums, guitar, Irish low whistle, and yes, a Slovenian button box accordion. I dabble with the piano. U2 still rocks.
When I'm strumming a song on the acousitc guitar, I always throw in a little U2 because I like to sing it, and the melodies are lovely.
My cousin has been playing guitar for over 25 years. He's a veritable virtuoso, and knows more music theory than you can shake a stick at. He still likes U2.
Ditto my friend who went to Julliard. Case closed.
Kristine: I play drums, guitar, Irish low whistle, and yes, a Slovenian button box accordion.
YOU play the Slovenian button box accordian? WOW! I ALSO play the Slovenian button box accordian!
Wait, that's not what I meant to say. I meant to say:
WOW! I don't even know what a Slovenian button box accordion IS!
I'm really impressed by the list of things you play... and I'm convinced that our hidden friend's dislike of U2 comes down to a simple matter of personal taste in music, regardless of his high-minded nose thumbing. ;)
YOU play the Slovenian button box accordian? WOW! I ALSO play the Slovenian button box accordian!
Wait, that's not what I meant to say. I meant to say:
WOW! I don't even know what a Slovenian button box accordion IS!
I'm really impressed by the list of things you play... and I'm convinced that our hidden friend's dislike of U2 comes down to a simple matter of personal taste in music, regardless of his high-minded nose thumbing. ;)
Darrell, the button box is actually really cool. It's an accordion, but no piano-type keys, just a weird diatonic system of buttons. (Whereas a concertina is chromatic. You need that for the sea shanties!) It plays in three keys, C, F, and Bb, which is traditional to Slovenian music. Add a G, and you've got the Austrian type. Change the keys completely, and you can have a Cajun or Mexican one. It VERY old and traditional. Think a cozy sidewalk cafe. You're having a lunch of wine, bread, and cheese. The alps are towering in the background. I love it.
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