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!
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