Top 100 Favorite Songs: 90-81

#90: "Left of Center" by Suzanne Vega (Album: Pretty in Pink Soundtrack, 1986)

My favorite song by Suzanne Vega, this is also my favorite song from one of the best soundtrack albums from the Eighties; Pretty in Pink is filled with a plethora of alternative gems.

#89: "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin (Album: A Few Small Repairs, 1996)

Some of the best songs are the ones that tell a complete and coherent story, and Shawn Colvin's folk-tinged ballad about a girl's revenge via arson is not only compelling, but her lovely voice makes it resonate with depths of emotion.

#88: "Hysteria" by Def Leppard (Album: Hysteria, 1987)

Throughout the late Eighties and early Nineties, this was easily my favorite song of all time. While other, more mature selections have pushed this song toward the bottom of my list, it's still a source of nostalgiac happiness for me.

#87: "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling (Album: Error in the System, 1982)

German vocalist Peter Schilling picks up the story of David Bowie's doomed astronaut Major Tom where "Space Oddity" left off and brings him back home in a New Wave techno classic. This song is a maximum volume sing-along for me: 4...3...2...1...

#86: Time (Clock of the Heart) by Culture Club (Album: Kissing to be Clever, 1982)

This has been my favorite Culture Club song since my first listen to their debut album, and having seen Boy George and the remaining members of the band last fall, it's still just as wonderful as ever. I especially love the use of the bell chimes in the last chorus; it's such a beautiful touch. Say what you will about BG, but the man can flat-out sing.

#85: "Take On Me" by a-ha (Album: Hunting High and Low, 1985)

An infectiously catchy synth melody, impossibly high lyrical vocals (you know you tried to hit those high notes as you sang along), and still one of the most eye-popping videos ever made make this Scandinavian band's biggest U.S. hit an all-time classic.

#84: "She-Bop" by Cyndi Lauper (Album: She's So Unusual, 1983)

The best song ever about female masturbation (yes, I'm including Divinyls "I Touch Myself"), I'm still not sure how this song ever got any radio or MTV airplay, especially when the subject matter became part of the discussion. My initial omission of this song was so egregious I removed "You Can't Hurry Love" by Phil Collins out of the #90 spot (I love his version of the song, especially the syncopated backbeat) and moved Cyndi to this spot. Consider Phil part of the HM list now.

#83: "Love Shack" by The B-52s (Album: Cosmic Thing, 1989)

The ubiquitous party anthem of the early Nineties, if you can't sing and dance along with this one, you should probably check your pulse and blood pressure.

#82: "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds (Album: Rockin' the Suburbs, 2001)

I sang this song to my wife, Amy, at our remarriage ceremony last October. I can't do justice to Folds' voice, but the sentiment of the lyrics is spot-on for our continuing journey through life together. Many thanks to Steve Lewis for introducing me to this beautiful love song.

#81: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay (Album: Viva La Vida, 2008)

Another contribution to my collection from Steve Lewis, this is the title track for the album of the same name. I wrote most of the second half of my most recent novel with this album playing in the background, so it's like it's a part of my identity now. Anyone who thinks they don't like Coldplay (like I used to...) should listen to this album; it will change your mind.

Top 100 Favorite Songs: 100-91

100. “My Sharona”—The Knack (Album: Get The Knack, 1979)

That infections drum-and-bass beat sets the tone, and the earworm chorus is almost ubiquitous, but it's the guitar solo, so good you can't believe it—almost like it belongs to another song, that makes this song an all-time classic.

99. “American Pie”—Don McLean (Album: American Pie, 1971)

Is there anyone alive who can't sing along with this chorus? I've had every word of this song memorized since I was aged in single digits. This song about "The Day the Music Died" will never die.

98. “Here’s Where the Story Ends”—The Sundays (Album: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, 1990)

A favorite of mine to write with on the stereo, this British alternative band is distinguished by the innocent-sounding but wisdom-wielding vocals of lead singer Harriet Wheeler. I particularly like that she keeps her British accent as she sings.

97. “Am I Wrong”—Love Spit Love (Album: Love Spit Love, 1992)

Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler formed this group in the mid-nineties; I'm a fan of the Furs and Butler's rich baritone. I feel like they might have had more success with a better name for the band. I never get tired of this song.

96. “California Love”—Tupac w/ Dr. Dre (Album: All Eyez on Me, 1996)

That beat! OMG that beat! I can never get enough of that wicked beat, not to mention Dr. Dre's lyrically tricky raps. The essence of cool drips from every note of this song.

95. “Buddy Holly”—Weezer (Album: Weezer, 1994)

Weezer is one of the most divisive bands when it comes to musical opinions, but I think most people would agree that this song is simply amazing, as is their seamless integration into a Happy Days episode. The Fonz approves!

94. “Allentown”—Billy Joel (Album: The Nylon Curtain, 1982)

A prescient protest song about how unions and the working class are getting royally screwed by the company owners, Joel's combination of anger and sadness perfectly captures how I've felt about capitalism for the past thirty years.

93. “Private Eyes”—Hall & Oates (Album: Private Eyes, 1981)

This song came out when I was in junior high, and oh my goodness, how we all went bananas for the syncopated rhythm and sing-and-clap-along chorus. To date, my favorite H&O tune of them all.

92. “Bust a Move”—Young MC (Album: Stone Cold Rhymin', 1989)

My kids didn't believe me last year when I claimed I could karaoke this song word for word. I wish they had made a cash wager...but since it's my kids, I would have had to loan them the money to pay off. Too many people don't remember how much fun Eighties rap could be.

91. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”—Cyndi Lauper (Album: She's So Unusual, 1983)

I have professed by eternal love for all things Cyndi Lauper many times before in this blogspace, so it's fitting that the song that catapulted her to the top of American pop culture rounds out the first ten. Despite being at the bottom of this chart, these are all songs I deeply love, and have for years.

Top 100 Favorite Songs: Introduction and Honorable Mentions

Summer vacation. I've spent most of my life either going to school or teaching at one, and those are still two of the most wonderful words in the English language. In kindergarten through tenth grade, it meant playing baseball, swimming, riding my bike to the movies or the library, and vacations in St. Louis. After I turned 16, it meant sleeping late every day and summer jobs. Today, it means teaching online and being free to plan more time with family and friends.

And in each instance, it meant music. Listening to my dad's record player, making mix tapes from 45 singles and 12-inch albums, driving around with the windows down and the stereo turned all the way up...music is the universal soundtrack of our American lives.

At the college where I teach, we have ten more days of classes until finals week, then twelve glorious weeks of summer vacation. In anticipation of this much-anticipated event, I'll be spending the next ten weekdays, from April 29 through May 10 (no weekends!), blogging my 100 favorite songs of all-time, ten at a time each day.

This is in response to the challenge from my Blog Club comrade Steve Lewis, who has been making these amazingly intricate and difficult-to-compose lists for many years now. I've spend the past month sifting through online and physical music collections, collecting about 150 songs, then paring them down and ranking them all the way to the top.

I've never really considered more than my top ten in the past. Several songs on my list used to be in my top ten, but they've fallen considerably through the years. Some former favorites didn't even make the cut. Most of the music is from my youth, the seventies, eighties, and nineties. A few are more recent, and some of them might even surprise you.

Almost every song has a story attached, and for the top 100, I'll give you a snippet of why I love the song, why it resonates with me, and why you should listen (it will include a YouTube link for that very purpose). Before we get started with my initial ten selections, I wanted to list the 20 songs that didn't quite make the cut but still matter enough to me to include in this blog series. These will only get a single sentence of explanation, but these Honorable Mentions deserve to be part of my list. I hope you'll join me for this walk through my musical memories.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (#101-#120)

101. “All Through the Night”—Cyndi Lauper 

One of my favorite tracks from her debut album

 

102. “Centerfold”—J. Geils Band

The video, racy for its time, now seems quaintly innocent

 

103. “Mickey”—Toni Basil

That rachety percussion beat gets me every time

 

104. “Mr. Roboto”—Styx

One of the most amazing introductions of any song

 

105. “Safety Dance”—Men Without Hats

 Sheer, silly, synthesizer-driven fun

106. “Never Let Me Down Again”—Depeche Mode

A chilling song from their masterpiece album Music for the Masses

 

107. “All I Want”—Toad the Wet Sprocket

Still one of my favorite CDs from the Nineties

 

108. “Somebody to Love”—Queen

I also love George Michael's version at the Freddy Mercury tribute concert

 

109. “Peace, Love, and Understanding”— Elvis Costello

One of the often-overlooked geniuses of Eighties alternative music

 

110. “All Along the Watchtower”—Jimi Hendrix

My love for the Battlestar: Galactica reboot drove my affinity for this song

 

111. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”—Charlie Daniels Band

I'm not much for country music, but does anyone not think this is a great song?

 

112. “One”—Metallica

I never paid any attention to the speed metal masters until this bleak rocker hit MTV

 

113. “Rainbow Connection”—Kermit the Frog

Don't laugh—go listen to it and you'll find yourself singing along!

 

114. “Hot for Teacher”—Van Halen

Teachers who looked like this would have done wonders for high school attendance...

 

115. “Basket Case”—Green Day

This song demands that you turn it up and shout along with them

 

116. “Something About You”—Level 42

One of my favorite one-hit wonders from the Eighties

 

117. “Funny You Should Ask”—Front Bottoms

An indie band that my son Scott turned me on to...this is my favorite of theirs

 

118. “Every Day I Write the Book”—Elvis Costello

Most of his songs tell a great story; this is no exception

 

119. “Car Radio”—twenty one pilots

Another contribution from Scott; this song must be played at maximum volume

 

120. “Stricken”—Disturbed

Awesome metal tune I first heard on Guitar Hero video game—I also like that in the video, the drummer plays Pearl drums with Sabian cymbals...just like me!