One Year of Music on the New Computer

On June 14, 2009, I loaded my music collection onto my new computer and started listening to songs in my random and seemingly aimless fashion. It took until December 2, 2009, to listen to every song at least once.

While I have a trouble-free, mostly random and constantly replenishing playlist that I use most of the time, I still listen to catchy songs whenever the spirit grabs me and I occasionally listen to albums or special playlists. That drives up the playcounts on some songs. In a moment, we'll take a look at the most often played songs for the past year. But first, let's do some numbers.

Songs loaded one year ago:  9574
            Current song count: 10151

Most recently added song: The Look of Love by Beverley Staunton. It's a cover of the 1967 Dusty Springfield song, from Beverley's 2001 jazz album. You may not know the name Beverley Staunton, but if you watch Dancing with the Stars, you've heard her voice. She's incredibly versatile and sings about 3/4ths of the female-lead songs on that show. I looked for music from her but could only find the 2001 album. You can bet that if she had released more albums, I would buy them.

The top three songs as they were moved from the old machine:

3) Kay Hanley - Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?) -- 41 plays
2) Debbie Gibson - Only in My Dreams -- 46 plays
1) Jim Capaldi - That's Love -- 53 plays

As of June 14, 2010, Debbie Gibson's Only in My Dreams is one of six songs tied for 7th place, with eight plays.

Three songs are tied for 4th with nine plays. They are Save it for a Rainy Day by The Jayhawks, Cherry Bomb by The Runaways, and What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? by Joan Osborne. The playcount of Cherry Bomb jumped when The Runaways movie came out a few months ago. The Joan Osborne song will be featured in The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 3.

And how consistent am I?

3) Jim Capaldi - That's Love -- 12 plays
2) Kay Hanley - Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?) -- 17 plays
1) Kay Hanley - Tell Him No -- 27 plays

(To see more about Jim Capaldi's song, see my recent post on the The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1. To see more about Kay Hanley and especially about Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?), see my post on Cherry Marmalade)

I bought Kay's latest album, Weaponize, on September 18, 2009, so Tell Him No's 27 plays happened in only nine months. Weaponize is a decent album but only Tell Him No grabbed me viscerally. It's a peppy, guitar-laden song that feels like it's moving at 90 MPH. I'm not sure what the song is really about but I enjoy the heck out of it.

Weaponize also featured Don't Drop a Bomb, a duet with a female rapper, which was not to my taste, so I edited out the rap. The result is actually pretty good and doesn't sound too choppy. My edit of Cobra Starship's Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) is pretty choppy, but the song is so good, I put it up with it. The rap in both Don't Drop a Bomb and Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) makes them unlistenable otherwise, so editing is a requirement. And truth be told, fun.

Where will I be at this time next year? Who knows, but I'm sure I'll bore you at that time with more details than you could ever want to know.