Mix Tape Monday – Best of 2003

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

I’m guessing this disc dates to late 2003 and includes some of the new songs from the previous disc along with anything else that came out throughout the year that I may have somewhat enjoyed.

Evanescence – Bring Me To Life

The first single that broke for Evanescence is the only song of theirs I’ve ever heard of.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 9/7/2011

The Donnas – Take It Off

A big hit from their major label debut.

iTunes stats: 13 plays, most recently on 5/30/2012

Tatu – All The Things You Said

I have not listened to this in the 2 weeks since it last appeared on one of these discs.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 8/10/2011

The Ataris – Boys Of Summer

The Don Henley cover is likely the only song of theirs anyone knows, much to their chagrin.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 7/25/2012

50 Cent – In Da Club

This song has not held up at all.

iTunes stats: Never played

Foo Fighters – Times Like These (Acoustic)

The acoustic version of the Foo Fighters hit.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 11/27/2010

Liz Phair – Why Can’t I

The first single from Liz Phair’s deliberate attempt to become more pop-oriented.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 8/30/2011

Kelly Osbourne – Shut Up

Kelly’s attempt to turn the success of The Osbournes into a recording career kind of sputtered after this.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 5/8/2012

Tegan And Sara – I Hear Noises

My introduction to the band that would become one of my favorites.

iTunes stats: 20 plays, most recently on 9/21/2011

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Mix Tape Monday – December 2002

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

Christmas time has come in the year 2002, and for some reason I celebrated by slapping 6 Run-DMC and Kool Moe Dee songs to the end of this CD, which also featured new songs by Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Eminem.

Puddle Of Mudd – She Hates Me

This song became Puddle of Mudd’s second single to sell over 500,000 copies in the United States.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 9/30/2011

Soul Asylum – Somebody To Shove

The debut single from Grave Dancer’s Union.

iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 5/25/2012

The Breeders – Divine Hammer

The second hit for the Deal sisters.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 12/18/2012

Nirvana – You Know You’re Right

The final song recorded by Nirvana.  Courtney Love fought for years to block its release.

iTunes stats: 3 plays, most recently on 3/29/2012

Foo Fighters – All My Life

Meanwhile, Dave Grohl has this side project he’s been working on…

iTunes stats: 13 plays, most recently on 9/26/2012

Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand

The hit from the Cable Guy soundtrack featured a sample of B.B. King.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 5/25/2012

Urge Overkill – Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon

The cover of the Neil Diamond hit was featured in Pulp Fiction.

iTunes stats: 9 plays, most recently on 10/16/2012

The Wonders – That Thing You Do

The big hit for the faux-60s rockers from That Thing You Do.

iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 7/25/2012

PJ Harvey – This Is Love

The song, featured on the Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back soundtrack, earned Polly Jean a Grammy nomination.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 5/26/2012

Christina Aguilera – Dirrty

Christina Aguilera returns to prove she’s no longer the squeaky clean teen pop-star from her debut album.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 11/29/2012

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Mix Tape Monday – September 2002

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

This CD was likely the first one I burned here in the (then) new house, which is now just the house.  It includes the latest from Eminem, Pink, and Avril Lavigne.

Eminem – Cleaning Out My Closet

Eminem’s latest is another ode to all of the bad things that happened to him growing up.

iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 10/23/2012

Whale – Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe

The first single from the Swedish pop group reached #24 on the US Modern Rock charts.

iTunes stats: 3 plays, most recently on 3/31/2012

Pink – Just Like A Pill

The third single from Missundaztood was Pink’s first number 1 single in the UK.

iTunes stats: 3 plays, most recently on 5/14/2012

Bjork – Big Time Sensuality

The fourth single from Bjork’s first post-Sugarcubes solo album.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 11/19/2012

Avril Lavigne – Sk8r Boi

The second single from the debut album from the Canadian pop punk princess.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 11/9/2012

Weezer – Keep Fishin

The video for this remix featured the Muppets.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 9/27/2012

Me First And The Gimmee Gimmees – The Rainbow Connection

Speaking of the Muppets, this punk cover of Kermit’s big hit is from the group’s second album.

iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 11/23/2011

The Hives – Hate To Say I Told You So

Originally released in 2000, this signature hit for the Swedish garage band was re-released in 2002 and became a hit.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 7/30/2012

Sponge – Plowed

Rotting Pinata first charted on the Billboard 200 nearly a year after its release thanks to this song.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 9/27/2012

Nirvana – Verse Chorus Verse

A hidden track from the AIDS-benefit compilation No Alternative that apparently should have been called “Sappy.”

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 10/16/2012

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Mix Tape Monday – June 2002

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

This CD has a crazy mix of songs used as part of talk radio shows and odd live cover versions of songs along with the latest releases from Eminem, Abandoned Pools, and reality TV star Kelly Osbourne.

Soup Dragons – Running Wild (edit)

This edit of the Soup Dragons song was used as the opening theme of the old Q101 morning show hosted by Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff.

Eminem – Without Me

The latest smash hit from the non-Vanilla Ice.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 5/30/2012

Kelly Osbourne – Papa Don’t Preach

Fresh off the surprise reality smash of the year comes Ozzy’s youngest daughter.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 9/7/2011

Abandoned Pools – The Remedy

The debut single from a band that was never heard from again.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 7/30/2012

Garbage – Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)

The unofficial third release from Beautiful Garbage was a number 1 hit in Australia.

iTunes stats: 11 plays, most recently on 8/2/2012

Dave Grohl – TIny Dancer (Live)

This live performance of the Elton John hit comes from the old Craig Kilborn show.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 3/13/2012

Ednaswap – Torn (Acoustic)

This live performance by the original performers of the Natalie Imbruglia hit comes from the Howard Stern show.

iTunes stats: Never Played

Pink – Janie’s Got A Gun (Live)

Pink’s cover of the Aerosmith hit comes from a performance on MTV.

iTunes stats: Never Played

Weezer – American Gigolo

Another in a long line of Weezer songs that I had completely forgotten about.

The Strokes – Hard To Explain

The first UK single from The Strokes was their third in the US.

iTunes stats: 12 plays, most recently on 5/25/2012

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Mix Tape Monday – January 2001

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

The first CD I burned, in January of 2001, had multiple versions, and this is the one I kept for myself.  It contains a mix of current and old hits, along with some radio bits.  Of course, my song selection was limited at the time to the CDs and few MP3s I had on hand.

Offspring – Original Prankster

The latest hit from the Offspring kicked things off for this disc.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 4/25/2011

Soul Coughing – Super Bon Bon

A minor hit from 1996 for the band from New York.

iTunes stats: 3 plays, most recently on 9/24/2012

Mexican Cheerleader – Our Party

This tune was included to introduce my friend Scott to some local punk music.  I don’t think it did much for him.

iTunes stats: 13 plays, most recently on 9/17/2011

Howard Stern Show Parody – Dancing In Their Sheets

There was a song parody contest on the Howard Stern Show in 2000 and this ode to racism was one of the finalists.

Crew Cuts – Sh-Boom

Seeing as how I just bought this song from the iTunes store last week, I have no idea where I had gotten it from nearly 12 years ago.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 11/5/2012

Faith Hill – Breathe

Country’s cross-over into pop was big early in the century, and this was one of the bigger hits.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 5/26/2012

The Corrs – Breathless

The lasses from Ireland had their first big American pop hit at the time.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 11/9/2012

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Goodbye, iPhone 3G – Music Edition

As I wait for tomorrow’s delivery of my new iPhone 4S, it is time to say goodbye to the 3G that has been my trusty companion for nearly the past 3 1/2 years.  We’ve traveled the world together (well, at least Canada and the UK) and have listened to a lot of music.  Here is every song (all 1597 of them) I’ve listened to on the phone, with some (ok, very little) bonus commentary!

He’s a Pirate Klaus Badelt Pirates of the Caribbean (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) 100
Gordon Beckham Intro 91
Let’s Go-Go-Go White Sox Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers 87
Thunderstruck AC/DC The Razors Edge 84
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Steam Billboard’s Top Rock ‘n’ Roll Hits: 1969 83
sox05_montage 75
We Are The Champions Queen Queen: Greatest Hits I & II 73
Boom P.O.D. Satellite 70
Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey Journey’s Greatest Hits 69
2008 White Sox Central Division Champs Montage Chris Tannehill WSCR 670 The Score 65

No surprise that the top 10 are all part of (or were part of) my White Sox victory playlist.  This gets played on the way home from every White Sox winner, plus the occassional ride to a game.  Continue reading →

Retro (Un)Playlist

I recently came across my old, second generation iPod.  40 gigs of tiny, black and white screened goodness.

Here are the songs that never got played over nearly 4 years worth of listening, in iTunes alphabetical order.

Dude (Looks Like A Lady) Aerosmith O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (Disc 1)
Thank U Alanis Morissette Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Flavor Of The Weak American Hi-Fi American Hi-Fi
Little Bastard Ass Ponys Electric Rock Music
California Girls The Beach Boys The Greatest Hits – Volume 1
Twist And Shout The Beatles Please Please Me
Can’t Buy Me Love The Beatles 1
Help! The Beatles 1
Mony Mony Billy Idol Greatest Hits
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2010 Review – Movies

A likely part of the reason I only made it through 8 books last year was the 119 movies I saw, making it the 5th most prolific year of my life.

Amy Adams, Mila Kunis, and Nicolas Cage each starred in 4 films I saw, tying for the yearly lead.  Bruce Willis starred in 2, giving him the all time lead with 27.

For fun, here’s a quick review of the films and what recollection, if any, I have of them.  They are listed in the order I saw them.

District 9 (2009)

Aliens invade South Africa.  One of the surpise hits of ’09.

Extract (2009)

Mila Kunis works with Jason Bateman at a spice factory.

Moving McAllister (2007)

Mila Kunis is some muckety-mucks daughter and some dude helps her move to get in good with the dad.

Welcome (2007)

Streak (2008)

Spleenectomy, The (2008)

Three shorts I downloaded from iTunes.  Anna Faris pretended to be a doctor in the last one.

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Friday’s Drive Home

From about 5:00 – 6:50

I’m On A Boat (ft. T-Pain) The Lonely Island Incredibad
Breakout Foo Fighters There Is Nothing Left To Lose
Lose Yourself Eminem 8 Mile (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Here & Now Letters To Cleo Aurora Gory Alice
Fallen Angel Poison Poison’s Greatest Hits 1986-1996
Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang Dr. Dre Feat. Snoop Dogg The Chronic
Ernieshirt Mexican Cheerleader Mexican Cheerleader
Continue reading →