And the Hits Don't Stop Until We Get to the Top

In addition to my regularly posted glance at 10 songs that my music player played sequentially on Friday, let's analyze what are my de facto favorite songs.

First, the random songs from Friday past:

Pat Benatar - Its a Tuff Life
Joni Mitchell - You Turn Me on I'm a Radio
Fats Domino - I Hear You Knocking
Pink Floyd - The Dogs of War
Dana Glover - It is You (I Have Loved)
    From the harsh, operatic Pink Floyd tune to Glover's super-syrupy ballad.  Jolting on paper.  Harder on the ears.
Kathy Mattea - Give It Away
Bangles - Stealing Rosemary
George Benson - Jamaica
Charley Pride - Is Anyone Going to San Antone?
Reba McEntire - I'm Not That Lonely Yet


I built a new computer two years ago this week.  I loaded a fresh version of iTunes and imported all my music with playcounts of 0.  Most of the time, I listen to a playlist that plays songs at random, excluding songs that have been played in the past four months or so.  To listen  to a song again, I would have to play it as part of an album, select it manually or drop it into a special playlist. Manual is work - I select songs to replay  infrequently.  Most songs in my collection have 4 or 5 plays.  You can see which songs I've chosen to listen to manually because they have higher counts and sometimes quite a bit higher.  Now, two years later, we can see some definite trends about what I like to listen to based on playcounts above the random baseline.   And I'm surprised by the results - no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no Boston, nothing that would be considered "classic."

Four songs tied for 13th place with 13 plays.
Bering Strait - Porushka-Paranya
Natasha Borzilova - Real Fight
   Natasha was one of the two singers for Bering Strait.  Just a coincidence that she has two songs back to back.
Pink Martini - Lilly
Shannon Curfman with Joe Bonamassa - The Core
   I've mentioned Shannon before.  This is a remake of the 1977 Eric Clapton - Marcy Levy song.

Two songs tied at 11th place with 14 plays.
Jim Capaldi - Love Hurts
Sarah Shannon - What's Mine
   Every song I have of Sarah's has a higher-than-average play count.  I wish I had more of her than just 24 songs.

Two songs with 15 plays come in at number 9.
Debbie Gibson - Only in My Dreams
The Jayhawks - Save it for a Rainy Day
   The Jayhawks are from Minnesota.  I also have an acoustic version of Save it for a Rainy Day with four plays, so maybe they get extra credit.

Another pair tied for 7th with 16 plays.
Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
  Another Minnesota band
Kay Hanley - Satellite
   I've also mentioned Kay before.  Her voice is amazing.  Of the 16 plays for Satellite in the past two years, probably 12 came in the past 12 days.  I remember listening passively at work about two weeks ago and hearing a really fabulous song.  When I got home, I played Satellite again and realized I had never really listened to the song before, not fully.  I don't understand how that one got by me - I've had the album for over three years - but now that I'm aware of it and truly appreciating it, I'm going to listen to it over and over and over.

6th place, 17 plays
Amanda Abizaid - A Place in Time
   This is the theme song to the TV show The 4400.  It's only one minute long but it's pretty much perfect.  It's just over too soon.

In 5th place with 19 plays...
Alison Scott - Smash and Grab
   From Ali's most recent album, which I bought on September 1, 2010.

4th place, 21 plays
Jim Capaldi - That's Love
   This was my most listened to song before I built the new computer.

3rd place, 23 plays
Alison Scott - Crazy Game
   One year ago, I had not heard of Alison Scott.  In the past 360 days, I've met her, purchased all of her music, and spent many hours enjoying listening.  Crazy Game is the first song of hers that I heard and still my favorite, if I had to choose.

2nd place, 31 plays
Kay Hanley - Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?)
   Plus two live versions with a combined 12 plays.  That pushes Mean Streak up to 43 total plays, but not quite enough to hit number 1...

1st place, 44 plays
Kay Hanley - Tell Him No
   Last year, when I did a one-year update, these two songs were also 1-2, and by about the same ratio.  Again, I'm being consistent.  I will ponder to myself whether I'm too consistent.  I just love Kay's voice and her phrasing.  I don't love every song of hers but isn't that how it goes with art?

I find it interesting that only four of the 16 songs mentioned ever hit the Top 40 and only one was a top 10 hit.  Don't know what it means but I find it interesting.

Now that I've got this post out of the way, I wonder what I should do with the rest of the day?  Maybe I'll listen to some music.