Category / Music

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iTunes Top 200: #167 Part The Third

itunes_image3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 songs in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, expanding out the field to the top 200 songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2016.

After a brief hiatus, we continue today with the third grouping of 10 songs tied for 167th place with 17 plays apiece since late 2007, 2 more than what would have qualified for the top 100 3 years ago.

#167: The Donnas – Take It Off
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/16/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The lead single from the band’s major label debut.

#167: Elton John – Tiny Dancer
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/4/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

Peaking at #41 on the Billboard charts in 1972, the song experienced a renaissance after being featured in Almost Famous.

#167: Eric Cartman – Come Sail Away
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 11/7/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

This cover of the classic Styx hit was featured in a second season episode of South Park.

#167: Fiona Apple – Shadowboxer
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/3/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

Apple’s debut single, it spent 6 weeks on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, peaking at #34.

FooFighters#167: Foo Fighters – Times Like These
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 9/10/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

A live version of the 2003 hit from the band’s 2006 concert in London’s Hyde Park.

#167: Garbage – Breaking Up The Girl
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by admin

iTunes Top 200: #167 continued

itunes_image3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 songs in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, expanding out the field to the top 200 songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2016.

Today, we continue with the second grouping of 10 songs tied for 167th place with 17 plays apiece since late 2007, 2 more than what would have qualified for the top 100 3 years ago.

#167: Garfunkel and Oates – I Would Never (Dissect a Ewe)
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 11/17/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

A parody of another song on this album brings the comedy stylings of Garfunkel and Oates to this list for the first time.

#167: Goops – Build Me Up Buttercup
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 4/3/2014
Previous ranking: #76

A cover of the Foundations hit, the song was included on the Mallrats soundtrack in 1995.

#167: Green Day – American Idiot
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 9/28/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The title track from Green Day’s 7th studio album.

#167: Hole – Malibu
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/3/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The final hit from Hole peaked at #81 on the Billboard Hot 100.

#167: Ice Cube – It Was A Good Day
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 8/26/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

Ice Cube’s ode to a random day in the hood, considered one of the top hip hop songs of all time, was the second single from his third solo release.

#167: James – Laid
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by admin

iTunes Top 200: #167

itunes_image3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 songs in my iTunes library.  Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact.  So, I figured it was time to take another look, expanding out the field to the top 200 songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2016.

We kick things off today with the first 13 songs tied for 167th place with 17 plays apiece since late 2007, 2 more than what would have qualified for the top 100 3 years ago.

#167: The McCoys – Hang On Sloopy
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 9/30/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

A #1 hit in October of 1965, this, for some reason, is the official rock song of Ohio.

#167: Mexican Cheerleader – Do The Stanley
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 5/30/2014
Previous ranking: Unranked

An impressive showing for the local punk band’s ode to Paul Stanley.

#167: The Monkees – I’m A Believer
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 12/11/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The song, composed by Neil Diamond, spent 7 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts between 1966 and 1967

#167: The Moopets – Rainbow Collection
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 9/9/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

This version of the Muppets classic, featured in the film The Muppets, features Fozzie Bear pushing the virtues of a casino.

#167: Neil Diamond – Cherry, Cherry
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 7/10/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

Neil Diamond’s first big hit, peaking at #6 on the charts in October of 1966.

#167: Neil Sedaka – Calendar Girl
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Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart

scott-weilandThe polite thing to say would be that the world was shocked when news broke Friday morning that Scott Weiland, former lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, had died.  But the shock was not so much that Weiland had died, but that he had somehow managed to survive this long.  Weiland was 48 when he was found dead on a tour bus in Bloomington, Minnesota last week, with cocaine found near the body.

Weiland became a superstar in the early 90s as Stone Temple Pilots rode the wave of grunge with their hit albums Core and Purple.  His subsequent drug abuse led to rocky relations with his band mates and numerous arrests, causing numerous break-ups.  During one of those, he joined with former members of Guns N’ Roses to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver, before leaving the group to rejoin with STP.

Weiland leaves behind two children, who seemingly had no relationship with the singer, and a musical legacy marred by the demons that ultimately took his life.

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20 Years Queer

garbage-riv20 years ago, on August 15, 1995, the self-titled debut album from Garbage was released, starting an odyssey that would encompass 5 studio albums, 1 greatest hits package, and 1 live DVD concert video.  To celebrate, the group scheduled a small tour for this fall, called the 20 Years Queer tour, where they would perform the first album in its entirety along with other B-sides and rarities from that era.  Saturday night, that tour rolled into Chicago.

The show was at the Riviera Theatre, which was the site of my first Garbage show all the way back in 2002.  To gear up for the show, I listened to a recent Nerdist podcast with singer Shirley Manson, which got me in the mood without having to listen to the same songs I was about to hear.  The opening act was Torres, a band I had never heard of before.  Shockingly, I actually liked some of what I heard, so I may try to listen to their music going forward.  To date, though, I haven’t found a playlist from them, so I don’t know which songs I enjoyed.

The Garbage portion of the show started with a short video, with accompaniment by the B-side Alien Sex Fiend, projected on the curtain, followed by a mixture of songs from their debut album.  The order was mixed up, mostly, I would assume, to avoid burning through the hits halfway through the show.  The main portion of the show ended with a rendition of #1 Crush, from the William Shapespeare’s Romeo + Juliet soundtrack.  The encore consisted of 2 more B-sides, including a cover of a Vic Chestnut classic, followed by later hits Cherry Lips and, to close the show, Push It.

This was my 5th Garbage show, and my first since 2012.  Rumor has it that they are also working on a new album due out next year, so they may be coming through town again next year.  Assuming my poor feet recover from the experience, I hope to be there to see them again.

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We Salute You

acdcThe whole starting point of this Toronto trip was the AC/DC concert Thursday night at Downsview Park.  I’d be lying if I said that seeing AC/DC was at the top of my to-do list musically speaking.  In fact, they are playing Wrigley Field this week and I had passed on the chance to get tickets.  But, as a wise man once said, you only live once, and, seeing as this is likely their last go-around, I guess you can say that I’m glad to have seen them.

Thanks to traffic, we completely missed the opening act, who I had never heard of.  It actually turned out pretty well, as we got in to the show just as AC/DC were starting.  The show itself was both good and bad.  The songs are what you expect, but there was no real flow to the show, probably due to the band’s conditioning, or lack thereof.  After each song, the lights went down and there was a brief break before the next song would begin.  The net result of this was a disjointed experience, where each song stood on its own without there being any coherence in the set.

Years from now, I’m sure I’ll be happy to say that I saw AC/DC at some point, even if it was near the end, so I guess it was worth it.  After 40 years of rock and roll that has been the soundtrack of a generation, they deserve to go out on their own terms.

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Historical iTunes Top 10 Albums

itunes_imageI recently came across an iTunes Music Library XML file from an old computer that covered some time frame between 2003 and 2007.  I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 785 songs I had listened to in that timeframe and, eventually, incorporate some of those numbers into my current library.

Today, we will look at the top 10 albums, in terms of total listens, from this iTunes library.  My initial observations are, again, that these totals are completely out of whack.  When I last looked at the album totals for my current library, Bon Jovi’s greatest hits collection came in at #60, with only 6 more plays than they have here, where they are by far the leaders.  So, without further ado:

#1: Bon Jovi – Cross Road
iTunes stats: 48 plays
An abnormally large total for the first greatest hits package from the boys from New Jersey

#2: The Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Once More, With Feeling
iTunes stats: 39 plays
The soundtrack album to the musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which took home the top spot last year in my current library, has a strong showing here.

#3: The Cast of Sesame Street – Sesame Street Platinum: All-Time Favorites
iTunes stats: 35 plays
The best tunes from Sesame Street got a lot of plays back when Angelina and Danny were younger, enough to take the third slot here.

#4: Bon Jovi – VH1 Storytellers
iTunes stats: 25 plays
A bootleg album of the band’s performance on the afore-mentioned VH1 Storytellers.

#5: Various Artists – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
iTunes stats: 18 plays
The soundtrack album to Buffy The Vampire Slayer proper makes the top 5 after finishing tied for 34th in my current library.

#6: Avril Lavigne – Avril Live: Try To Shut Me Up
iTunes stats: 15 plays
Live versions of Avril’s hits, including a cover of Green Day’s Basket Case, place her in the top 10.

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Historical iTunes Top 16 Artists

itunes_imageI recently came across an iTunes Music Library XML file from an old computer that covered some time frame between 2003 and 2007.  I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 785 songs I had listened to in that timeframe and, eventually, incorporate some of those numbers into my current library.

Today, we will look at the top 16 artists, in terms of total listens, from this iTunes library.  My initial observations are that these totals are completely out of whack.  When I last looked at the artist totals for my current library, Bon Jovi came in at #21, with only 10 more plays than they have here, where they are the leaders.

 

Artist Play Count
Bon Jovi 103
Garbage 60
Liz Phair 39
The Cast Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer 39
Avril Lavigne 31
No Doubt 21
AC/DC 18
Elvis Presley 17
Foo Fighters 15
Aerosmith 13
Def Leppard 11
Pearl Jam 11
Alanis Morissette 11
Tee Vee Toons 10
Gin Blossoms 10
Christophe Beck 10
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Fighting Foo

FooFightersThe Foo Fighters finally invaded Wrigley Field last night, in a show that was nearly a year in the making.  Dave Grohl put together a lineup, consisting of local bands Urge Overkill, Naked Raygun, and Cheap Trick, that influenced him as he was growing up and becoming the rock star that he is today.

Urge Overkill opened the show at 5:30 sharp, playing a quick 25 minute set that included an uneven rendition of Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon, their contribution to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack and their only song that I know.  They were followed by local punk veterans Naked Raygun, whom I was familiar with by name only.

Cheap Trick was up next, and their short set was also short on hits, outside of a few of their 70s standbys.  Having seen them previously, I was hoping to hear them break out their version of the theme to That 70s Show, but that was not to be.

Finally, the Foo Fighters took the stage, with Grohl, having broken his leg in June, sitting in an electric throne that could bring him out in to the crowd thanks to an extended stage.  They wasted no time in getting things started, blowing out Everlong and Monkey Wrench straight out of the gate.  2 and a half hours later, they closed down the joint with a rousing rendition of Best Of You.  In between, they put on a hell of a show, featuring their own hits along with some snippets of hits from Van Halen, Yes, and Alice Cooper.

It had been a while since I went to a full-on rock and roll show, and this one delivered the goods.  It won’t be long before my next, and if it is half as good as this one, it will be a good time.

by admin

Historical iTunes – Top 24

itunes_imageI recently came across an iTunes Music Library XML file from an old computer that covered some time frame between 2003 and 2007.  I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 785 songs I had listened to in that timeframe and, eventually, incorporate some of those numbers into my current library.

Today, we will look at the top 24 songs, in terms of total listens, from this iTunes library.  My initial observations are that all of these songs were either ripped from CDs or bought from the iTunes store.  Any MP3s don’t seem to be well represented in this library.

 

Close Your Eyes (Buffy/Angel Love Theme) Christophe Beck Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album 10 11/23/2006 10:53 AM
Sk8er Boi (Live) Avril Lavigne Avril Live – Try to Shut Me Up 9 2/28/2006 3:26 PM
Why Can’t I? (Live) Liz Phair Why Can’t I? (Sessions@AOL) – Single 7 8/5/2004 10:12 PM
Living In Sin Bon Jovi New Jersey 7 8/28/2005 11:10 AM
In These Arms Bon Jovi Keep The Faith 7 8/28/2005 12:59 PM
Livin’ On A Prayer Bon Jovi Cross Road 7 10/2/2005 10:38 AM
Keep The Faith Bon Jovi Cross Road 7 10/2/2005 10:44 AM
Connecticut’s For F*cking Jesus H Christ and The Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse Jesus H Christ and The Four Hornsmen Of The Apocalypse 7 11/17/2006 11:45 AM
C Is For Cookie Cookie Monster Sesame Street Platinum: All-Time Favorites 7 12/8/2006 9:06 PM
Basketcase (Live) Avril Lavigne Avril Live – Try to Shut Me Up 6 1/25/2004 4:07 PM
Supernova Liz Phair Live from the Chicago Store – EP 6 10/8/2004 8:15 PM
Never Say Goodbye Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet 6 8/28/2005 12:26 PM
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