songs in my rotation, that should be in yours. Videos begin in June 2006 Archive... Video killed the MTV star!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Billboard

Crazy busy for the last couple of weeks. I finally managed to finish collecting the Billboard Top 100 songs from 1980 - present. Now I can't say I'm the biggest pop fan there is, but it does play a role. We all know them, and it does bring back memories. Songs I may not have liked back in the eighties are not palatible. So the next series will be my top pop picks for each year starting with 1980:

US Boycotts the Moscow Olympics
Namco releases Pac Man
Ronald Regan is elected
John Lennon is shot dead

#1 Hit: Blondie - Call Me

My Picks: well already listed Gary Numan's Cars earlier.

1)Lipps, Inc - Funky Town
"Gotta Move On" very symbolic of the end of the disco era. Still holds up well and isn't often directly associated as the best of disco but unique with the electronic distortions. Funky

2)KC & The Sunshine Band - Please Don't Go
Wasn't a big KC fan, and have you seen him lately? Yikes. But this is easily my favourite KC song. Later retaken and made into a dance hit by Double You

3)Dan Fogelberg - Longer
Okokok.. The bookmakers takes a beating on this one. Yes "Longer" is ultra cheese fromage ballad. But it gets onto to the list because of the "it's so bad it's good". This and Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" will either have you laughing or crying. Listening to this right now is already making me giggle. Let me go find Minnie now... La la la la la - doo'em doo do do doooo..

4) Smokey Robinson - Crusin
Ok back to a real pick. This is also the end of the motown generation from the 50s & 60s. The commodores have a last couple of hits before Lionel takes a solo career. But that rich soulful sound begins to disapear from pop music, and is probably finally taken away with Marvin Gaye being shot.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Songs to Drink to...

My "drinking days" were short, but they were sure memorable, wait, or were they unmemorable? Huh. But no matter sober or stinking loaded, songs of drunken stupor have always been appreciated.

1) Beastie Boys – Brass Monkey
License to Ill – probably my favourite album of all time! This is what white rappers are supposed to sound like. Come to think of it though, I’ve never had a Brass Monkey. A Brass Monkey is a cocktail consisting of equal parts vodka, rum, and orange juice. It is thus essentially a screwdriver with rum added.

"Monkey tastes Def when you pour it on ice
Come on y'all it's time to get nice"

2) Tone Loc – Funky Cold Medina
Retro category… Songs that started off popular, got overplayed and then many (many many) years later is a novelty to hear again. No better song to represent back in 89! And NO, the Macerana, Achey Breaky Heart and Who Let The Dogs Out do not or ever will qualify.

This brother told me a secret on how to get more chicks
Put a little Medina in your glass, and the girls'll come real quick
It's better than any alcohol or aphrodisiac
A couple of sips of this love potion, and she'll be on your lap


3) Dean Martin – When you’re Drinking
Simple:

When you're drinking, when you're drinking
The show looks good to you.

When you're drinking, you get stinking
it helps you're point of view.

But when you're sober, the skies all seem grey -
When you're sober, life's a pain in the...

So keep drinking, that's what I'm thinking-
'cos it's what I like to do.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

See it, feel it, hear it, technoligic

Playing around with the digital cable today, discovered that Roger's Video on Demand (if you're in Canada - Channel 100) has a large collection of videos from Independent Artists. This included the previously mentioned Leslie Feist, works from Delerium and Broken Social Scene.

1) Broken Social Scene - Cause = Time
This Canadian indie Super Group includes Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and a host of local Toronto indie scene artists such as Leslie Feist and K-OS. I've never heard so much hype about a band I've barely heard much about! They seem to be on the list of every indie music junkie. I can't say I quite understand it, but I'll post them up and let you decide. All their songs seem to be like jam sessions but lacks that hook for my taste. Hmm maybe that's their appeal?

2) Malajube - Le Robot Sexy
Sticking with the Canadian Indie theme today, this Montreal Punk Scene Band (didn't even know Montreal had a punk scene) scores a hit with this song for being something different. It's about Sexy Robots, what else needs to be said? Don't know much about the group. Another interesting jam like song includes "Fille a Plume". Zoot alors et c'est tabarnac!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Vroom Vroom

So I had Jesus Built My Hotrod as music for when you're experiencing a little road rage, and if Drowning Pool's Bodies happens to have kicked in on the MP3 player, look out and get out of my $#%$@ way.

Now in all reality, I need some music to put me in that happy spot, or calm me down a little without putting me to sleep when I'm behind the wheel. Here are my picks:

1) Iggy Pop - The Passenger
This is just a great happy song that puts me in that happy zone. Great upbeat guitar riff with Iggy's twangish voice. This was probably Iggy's best work. He remained unstoned just long enough to come up with this, but most people know "Lust for Life" from the movie Trainspotting.

2) Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel/Route 66
The bookies take a beating, as they wouldn't have figured for me to be on the 7th blog to name a DM Song. Route 66 is great example of cover of the Nat King Cole hit of the same name. The 1986 Album Music For The Masses which this song resides, may represent DM's peak synth pop success.

3) Gary Numan - Cars
How can you not listen to this classic late 70s electro pop hit while on some long road trip to no where? Probably the first synth pop superstar, he paved the way for the new generation of 80s new wave artists. This song was later sampled by Euro DJ sensation Armand Van Helden in the 2000 hit song Koochy and also covered by Fear Factory (with Gary on Vocals) in 1999.

4) Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
This hypnotic three octive songstress could probably mellow out Mike Tyson. This song is my favourite in a long line of wonderful songs from her. "Running" beats out "Wuthering Heights" in my books for being a little more memorable and less Bjorkish.

5) Death Cab for Cutie - I'll Follow You Into The Dark
I'll have to admit, I don't know much about this 2005 surprise hit group. They've been highly exposed having tracks on hit shows like The O.C., Six Feet Under and the movie Wedding Crashers. Nice little diddy, and interesting lyrics.

6) Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice
Normally I'm not much of a fan of the instrumentalists, but this mostly instrumental song from the Scottish post-rock genre band should chill you out in your moment of rage. FYI, Mogwais are named after the critters from the movie Gremlins. Huh, how bout that? Now take a toke.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

6th Ro - Klinck Clank Clunk

I remeber the good 'ol days on boxing day where Mr. Industrial Head would bring me downtown to the line up at the record shops. He'd be heading straight to the industrial section (some days I swore he was German) while I'm looking through the top 40 stuff, possibly some classic house and hell even some freestyle (I'm not ashamed to admit that... maybe I'll have to bring it up in the future).

Fully admiting that I know very little (especially in comparison to Mr Indy Head) about Industrial Music and it's many bastards, I am surprised some of the following were left out:

1) Cabaret Voltaire - I want you
Classic, original, something you can somewhat understand and contains a dance factor in it.

2) Throbbing Gristle - United
The ultimate grand -daddy of Industrial. Weren't they the group that invented the term Industrial? I picked United only cause thats the only thing I could remember from them that actually had lyrics.

3) Apoptygma Berzerk - Until The End of The World
Again, not that I'm familar with the category, but easily my favourite EBM/Synth/FuturePop (whatever category they fit under). Imagine Depeche Mode if they stayed the same in the 90s.

4) My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult - Sex On Wheels
The only song out of all of everything listed that had any commercial success I think. This song was off the "Cool World" soundtrack. Hmm another movie where the soundtrack probably faired better than the movie. However, that was one of the best soundtracks ever. What an awesome lineup: David Bowie, Thomson Twins, Ministry, The Cult, Moby, Future Sound of London, Brian Eno. I hope I can find that tape somewhere. Then I'd have to find a tape deck!

5) Front Line Assembly - Mind Phaser
Sound German to me. Klink Klink Clunk? Are you ready to dance Franz?

6) 1000 Homo Djs - Supernaut
"Practially every one of the top 40 records being played
on every radio station in the United States is a communication
to the children to take a trip, to cop out, to groove. The
psychedelic jackets on the record albums have their own hidden
symbols and messages as well as the lyrics to all the
top rock songs and they all sing the same refrain: It's fun
to take a trip, put acid in your veins."

Yup.
Ok, enough clanking for one night, my head hurts. I'll have to take two asprins and call it a day. I have a party to plan for, I'm inviting Rudy Ratzinger, Robert Smith and Morrisey. That should be fun!

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

5th Go - Sampling

Many of the previous mentioned songs all have been sampled, or have sampled something from somewhere. There is definitely a list of songs that made good use of sampling, and then there are the bad. Here are some songs that used good sampling (not that I necessarily liked them all) and the corresponding original:

Janet Jackson featuring Q-Tip: "Got 'Til It's Gone" from Joni Mitchell: "Big Yellow Taxi"

Notorious B.I.G.: "Mo Money Mo Problems" from Diana Ross: "I'm Coming Out"

The Prodigy: "Firestarter" from Art of Noise: "Close (to the Edit)"

PM Dawn: "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" from Spandau Ballet: "True"

Montell Jordan: "This is How We Do It" from Slyck Rick: "Children's Story"

Bad Sampling:

Vanilla Ice: "Ice Ice Baby" from Queen: "Under Pressure"

Madonna: "Sorry" from Jackson 5: "Can You Feel It"

MC Hammer: "You Can't Touch This" from Rick James: "Superfreak"

Mario: "Just a Friend 2002" from Biz Markie: "Just a Friend"

Frequent Sampled Songs:

Isley Brothers - "Between The Sheets"
[Stefani, Gwen: "Luxurious"
The Notorious BIG: "Big Poppa"
Whitney Houston: "One of those Days"
Ashanti: "Foolish"
Jim Jones: "Summer Wit' Miami"
Skee-Lo: "Superman" ]

Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
[Blackstreet & Mya featuring Ma$e & Blinky Blink: "Take Me There (Jacksons Remix)"
Jay-Z: "Izzo (HOVA)"
Lil' Romeo: "My Baby"
Rappin' 4-Tay: "A Message for your Mind"]

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

4th Rotation - Feeling Raunchy

There are times you just feel a little raunchy, raw, and in the mood (and not just the James Moody kinda way). Here are some picks just for those moments:

1) Nine Inch Nails - Closer
I wanna F*U like an animal. Does it get any more raw than that? Reminds me of those nights hanging out at the Phoenix Nightclub in Toronto. Friday nights practically sitting in the bass bin @ the Bovine Sex Club in the early 90s.

2) Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
I can't believe this hit was off the film Empire Records from 1994 . It just didn't seem that long ago. That was probably one of the first movies to have the soundtrack commercially do better than the movie. This song is one of my all time favs, and Edwyn's voice spews raunchiness. I understand that Edwyn had a severe brain haemorraghe last year and is recovering in rehab.

3) Ministry - Jesus Built My Hotrod
Cowritten by Gibby Hanes from the Butthole Surfer (Look dad, Todd's [or Rod's] a surfer). Great tune to get the juices flowing. Though this song also fits in my "Driving with Road Rage" category. My Hotrod was probably built in Asia. ;)

4) The Cardigans - My Favourite Game
This swedish group ain't your mamma's Abba. This song also is nothing like their popular hit "Love Fool". It was just very strange to have that softpop song get so big. They were a metal band. This song is also on my all time favourite list. There's something about Nina Persson's voice that does something to me. Especially when accompanied by a raunchy guitar riff.

5) Al Green - I'm Still in Love With You
Not to get him confused with the Democratic Congressman. This was another song that had a huge revival because of Pulp Fiction. He's from the same cut as James Brown or a Sam Cooke. Soulful and playful song that will help you get it on.

6) Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On
Speaking of getting it on. This song completely speaks for itself. No way you're gonna turn off the lights without turning on some Marvin Gaye.

Monday, March 06, 2006

3rd Rotation - Dawgs turn

Ok Dawgs turn:

1) Fatboy Slim - Wonderful Night (featuring Lateef)
What do you get when you take a Cali Gangsta and mix in the best electronic producer in the world? The best song of 2004 that no one in North America knows about. Fatboy Slim AKA Norman Cook AKA Quentin Leo Cook, has been producing hits since the 80s ala Housemartins (Caravan of Love) then Beats International (Dub Be Good To Me) and then finally some North American Recognition with the memorable video "Praise You" in the guise of Fatboy Slim (An amateur looking dance troop dancing in front of a movie theatre).

2) Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
Misirlou. You know it. At least the Dick Dale version. The song from Pulp Fiction? Bellydancing surfing sound. It was weird, my dad had a record that had all these surfer instrumental music that had Misirlou and Apache (Jerry Lordan - The Shadows hit that topped the UK chart in 1960). I always wanted to take these songs and remix them, but once Misirlou got popular because of Pulp I kind of dropped the idea. The BEP version makes good use of the sample and will be a sure fire hit in 2006.

3) James Moody - Moody's Mood For Love
Listening to this song makes me feel sophistimacated. It's sassy Jazz that only really sassy people should be listening to. It's not me, but during the moment, I too feel like I could be Bond. It makes me feel... like an adult. Then the song ends, and I'm listening to Pump It.

4) David Bowie - Space Oddity
Easily the single greatest work of art of all time. There is no way this song could be made today. The song tells the haunting story of Major Tom taking a space flight and things start to go wrong. The fact that it tells a story, and uses the instrumental to end the story just couldn't happen today. It captures the moment of the era and is just brilliant.

5) Bootsy Collins - The Joker (Fatboy Slim Mix)
This is a cover of the Steve Miller Band version. Now usually I'm against cover songs that don't do much to the original, but just because it's Bootsy Collins shizzle fizzle nizzle baby! It makes the lyrics that much more believable! I'm a lover, I'm a sinner, I'm a joker, a shizzle fizzle dizzle midnight toker.

Lame Duds:
Bubba Sparxx - Ms Booty
Bubba give it up already.. you had your one hit wonder. Stay on the farm and stay ugly.

Theory of a Dead Man - Better Off
Oh so forgettable song. It's so mediocre, I don't even remember what I don't like about it. We're better off without it, thanks!

Gary Glitter - Rock 'N Roll Part 2
You might collect royalties everytime this is played in some sports stadium somewhere, but it'll be pretty hard to do anything with it from your vietnamese jail cell (for child molestation). As Homer Simpson would say - nah nah nah nah hey nah nah nah

Sunday, March 05, 2006

2nd Rotation - Chicks - Love'em Hate'em

Next picks:

1) Jack Off Jill - Love Song
Last blog, I had The Cure's original version on the list. Jack Off Jill's version is what a cover should be. They took the song and punkified it. They maintained the pain of Robert Smith and added a touch of Marilyn Manson. Hmm scary new beast.

2) Feist - Inside Out
Ok.. mellowing out here a little. My first CanCon addition. Leslie Feist, former punk rocker got the 2005 Juno for new artist of the year. This is an awesome track laid over a mellow pop-hop beat. Love the false turn table mix at the end & the synth hook.

3) Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Record On
In the style of Norah Jones / Macy Gray, this song should get her on the hit list for 2006. It's a simple basic, pretty track that focuses on her vocals. Not enough of a hook to make this a smash hit. Her and Natasha Bedingfield should be battling it out the next little while. MMmmm... Natasha and Corinne in the same room. (*sigh*) Oh no, I think hear Daniel (Natasha's pop singing brother) coming over to kick my ass.

4) Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi
I think, the album "Miles of Aisles" may have been the only English "tape" that my mother ever bought. As a kid, I played that song over and over and over on a cheap broken down tape deck till it finally got chewed up in the machine. Then I cried. But as far as I remember, it may have been the first English song that wasn't on Sesamee Street that I can recall. I do remember that listening to Joni laugh at the end of the song always made me giggle. It still does.

5) Rihanna - SOS (Rescue Me)
Good use of the Tainted Love hook. When you take a classic riff like that, it can come out horrible on new remixes (i.e. half of hip-hop now a days). Led by Jay-Z, we'll see how she fairs in 2006 after a good start in 2005 with Pon De Replay. Not bad for just turning 18.

Lame:

Saving Jane - Girl Next Door
Ok this is what bad teenage angst is all about. She blurts out everything a 15 year old girl would fear on a lame track. Boo-hoo, cry me a river. Go listen to Wheatus (Teenage Dirtbag) and maybe you'll feel better: I do have two tickets to Iron Maiden baby, would you like to join me maybe? Well too bad, I'd be arrested in most states for that!!

Pussycat Dolls - Beep
Please! Like kids, they should be seen not heard.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

myRotation - First Rotation: Lots of Love - Who knew?

Stuff that I think you should have on your MP3 Player, or atleast have listened to once. 1) You have to love music 2) You really have to love music. This should span genres and time. If you havn't heard these, go get'em.

So my first 4 picks:

1) Stevie Wonder - If You Really Love Me.
Oh man.. Motown.. Stevie.. A song that was never overplayed! Tempo changes, simple message. Wham! It has you shaking baking and then sitting down. I found it on a 45 in the 80s and just played it over and over.

2) The Cure - Love Song
They just don't make teenage angst the same anymore. Song still holds up in a different era, where the genre hardly exists. I think I nearly jumped off the roof several times after listening to this in my youth. It had the opposite effect of Stevie. Feel Robert Smith's pain. He knows how you feel!

3) Bob Sinclair - Love Generation
Current uber-catchy hit. Bob Marley flair on a good poppy dance hook, great guitar riff. Nice production, not overdone. Gets you up and won't let you down. Favourite song of '05-'06 so far. It's been on some charts for 20+ weeks.

4) British Whale - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us
The song's a genre on to it's own. PunkOpera is my best description. I know, not for everyone, but it's got to be heard atleast once. Very original and I can't get the riff out of my head. We'll see if the town can fit one more.

Songs I'd like to derail:

Shakira - Shake my Hips. Oh God, this is the perfect song for that old MAD TV skit. Wyclef, why'd you have to be a feature on this? She better be gettin you some!

Gwen Stefani - Crash. I love Gwen, but oh lord this song is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

All American Rejects - Move Along. Yes listen to their advice. Move Along, nothing to hear here.

 
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