Favorite 31 Songs by US Artists According to a Bunch of Middle-Aged Dummies (2 Viewers)

[Pip's Invitation]

What's Going On -- Marvin Gaye (Just Win Baby)
Reelin' in the Years -- Steely Dan (Zegras11)
Reach Down -- Temple of the Dog (Manster)
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love -- The Spinners (Eephus)
Take Five -- Dave Brubeck Quartet (Rockaction)
Tutti Fruitti -- Little Richard (Don Quixote)
Strawberry Fields Forever -- Richie Havens (Krista4)
Operator -- Jim Croce (Zegras11)
Bernadette -- The Four Tops (Binky)
Crazy on You -- Heart (Val Rannous)
Oh Girl -- The Chi-Lites (Simey)

One of these things is not like the others for me.

Are we talking jazz vs. non-jazz or grunge vs. music even older than that?

 

[jwb]

New-to-me favorites from #19:

California Love (Just Win Baby) -- 2Pac with Dr. Dre and Roger Trautman (Just Win Baby). Fun and bumpin'.

OK, now it's my turn to say "Seriously?"

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

Note: I still have this issue today with a lot of country music - I hear that accent/twang and I want to check right out. I should know better but it's hard to overcome.

 

[scorchy]

Here's a cool cover of Ball of Confusion.

Anthrax - Ball of Confusion

ANTHRAX RULES!!!

youtu.be

I am also fond of the Tina Turner version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9sruij8Srg and the Undisputed Truth version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnRVAZPC1m4

Just glad no one has highlighted the Duran Duran version from their horribly cringey covers album.

 

[Manster]

Here's a cool cover of Ball of Confusion.

Anthrax - Ball of Confusion

ANTHRAX RULES!!!

youtu.be

I'm big on the Love and Rockets version. I'm sure no one will be shocked when I say I didn't know it was a cover until I discovered the internet.

Ha! Yea, when the Anthrax version was released I did not know it was a cover either! Cool song that has crossed over into different genres......I think it's the biggest form of flattery to the original artist .

 

[Pip's Invitation]

New-to-me favorites from #19:

California Love (Just Win Baby) -- 2Pac with Dr. Dre and Roger Trautman (Just Win Baby). Fun and bumpin'.

OK, now it's my turn to say "Seriously?"

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

I was kind of in this boat too. As a high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Are we talking jazz vs. non-jazz or grunge vs. music even older than that?

Let's go with the "grunge" option

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Here's a cool cover of Ball of Confusion.

Anthrax - Ball of Confusion

ANTHRAX RULES!!!

youtu.be

I am also fond of the Tina Turner version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9sruij8Srg and the Undisputed Truth version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnRVAZPC1m4

Just glad no one has highlighted the Duran Duran version from their horribly cringey covers album.

I had forgotten that existed, and now wish I didn't.

 

[simey]

jwb Keep it Comin’ Love – KC and the Sunshine Band - I'm picking my own because nobody else is going to pick KC and the Sunshine Band and that makes for a sad gloomy world!


Responding to jwb's post above:
At the new record store I went to Friday, they had KC and the Sunshine Band in "R&B." I found that...odd. They're a fun band and this is my favorite of theirs. I think simey is a fan of the band, too.

I am a KC and the Sunshine Band fan. I like "Keep It Comin' Love" a lot, but it isn't my favorite. I have two favorites (a fast one and a slow one). I am probably not going to put it in my Top 5 favorites cause there are some songs on the 31 list that I like better, and I'm gonna feel guilty about that. I mainly hope Harry Wayne Casey doesn't find out, cause he might kick me out of the fan club.

 

[scorchy]

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

I get it. I'm totally oblivious to most pop music that's come out in the last 10 years. The main reason for my surprise is that California Love has been used as bumper music for pretty much any broadcast of LA/SF/Oakland NFL games this century.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Speaking of grunge, we have two Mark Lanegan but no Screaming Trees yet. Lanegan's solo stuff is pretty much the diametric opposite of grunge.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

California Love has been used as bumper music for pretty much any broadcast of LA/SF/Oakland NFL games this century.

If so, it never registered to me that that's what it was.

 

[scorchy]

I was kind of in this boat too. As I high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

Yeah, we've talked about our widely different high school experiences before. My school was evenly split between black kids and white kids in the late 80s so I got the full old-school hip hop experience. Still bummed that my favorite rap song ever (Doug E. Fresh's The Show) wasn't eligible for the Top 31 because Slick Rick was born in London.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

New-to-me favorites from #19:

California Love (Just Win Baby) -- 2Pac with Dr. Dre and Roger Trautman (Just Win Baby). Fun and bumpin'.

OK, now it's my turn to say "Seriously?"

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

Note: I still have this issue today with a lot of country music - I hear that accent/twang and I want to check right out. I should know better but it's hard to overcome.

reaction.

guilty ...but I never came around to it.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I was kind of in this boat too. As I high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

Yeah, we've talked about our widely different high school experiences before. My school was evenly split between black kids and white kids in the late 80s so I got the full old-school hip hop experience. Still bummed that my favorite rap song ever (Doug E. Fresh's The Show) wasn't eligible for the Top 31 because Slick Rick was born in London.

While my school was 95% rich white kids, some of them (and some of the nonwhite kids) did like and listen to hip hop, so it was less lack of opportunity than willful ignorance on my part.

 

[simey]

Then I gave a clue that simey picked up on knowing Yankee is the biggest Billy Joel fan around (though I personally still would not have gotten it from that).

I immediately knew it once you hinted the clue had to do with Yankee. Yankee=Billy Joel, and I happen to be a fan of Joel's Turnstiles album, and Miami 2017 is on that album.

 

[jwb]

reaction.

guilty ...but I never came around to it.

I still don't "get" the love it all received (and right at this moment I probably couldn't tell a Tupac song from a Biggie one), but I definitely wasn't the core audience. I can appreciate some of it more than I did though. And I do like some of the more R&B-flavored offerings that aren't straight up rap.

 

[worrierking]

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

I was kind of in this boat too. As I high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

We all have some of that. I was a Rock fan who hated Disco and Country in my high school days (77-81), and certain popular but overrated bands in the Rock genre like REO Speedwagon, Kansas and Styx. I've gotten over some of that, but like others I didn't have time for a new genre like rap/hip-hop and have never gone back and explored it. I have explored Alt Country/Americana in recent times, but I mostly have continued to mine the Rock stuff, digging deeper into catalogs of unpopular acts and lost artists rather than trying out entirely new genres like Rap, Techno, Emo etc. I haven't listened to any Pop music since the mid 90s. My list reflects all this. I won't disparage the other genres, but they won't make my list.

 

[krista4]

Speaking of grunge, we have two Mark Lanegan but no Screaming Trees yet. Lanegan's solo stuff is pretty much the diametric opposite of grunge.

Trees will be screaming 'round here.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

I was kind of in this boat too. As I high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

Yeah, we've talked about our widely different high school experiences before. My school was evenly split between black kids and white kids in the late 80s so I got the full old-school hip hop experience. Still bummed that my favorite rap song ever (Doug E. Fresh's The Show) wasn't eligible for the Top 31 because Slick Rick was born in London.

While my school was 95% rich white kids, some of them (and some of the nonwhite kids) did like and listen to hip hop, so it was less lack of opportunity than willful ignorance on my part.

same.

even Todd dabbled in hip/hop interjections in a few of his songs in the early-mid 90s that I didn't care much for - but put up with for the music and melodies in-between them.

like this one - "World Wide Epiphany" - inspiring, soaring, repeating riffs that have always sent chills up my spine. The hip/hop/rap doesn't start until after the 3 min. mark (a 2nd song starts around the 5min mark)

the album "No World Order" tour where this song appeared was unique - he had very small, round stage, decked out with tv screens wrapped above him and a couple dancers (one them his wife, Michelle) on the floor in front of him. The crowd was 360 degrees and mixed right in with the dancers. Pretty cool. Unfortunately I didn't get to one of these ...

round stage tour

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I was kind of in this boat too. As I high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

Yeah, we've talked about our widely different high school experiences before. My school was evenly split between black kids and white kids in the late 80s so I got the full old-school hip hop experience. Still bummed that my favorite rap song ever (Doug E. Fresh's The Show) wasn't eligible for the Top 31 because Slick Rick was born in London.

While my school was 95% rich white kids, some of them (and some of the nonwhite kids) did like and listen to hip hop, so it was less lack of opportunity than willful ignorance on my part.

same.

even Todd dabbled in hip/hop interjections in a few of his songs in the early-mid 90s that I didn't care much for - but put up with for the music and melodies in-between them.

like this one - "World Wide Epiphany" - inspiring, soaring, repeating riffs that have always sent chills up my spine. The hip/hop/rap doesn't start until after the 3 min. mark (a 2nd song starts around the 5min mark)

the album "No World Order" tour where this song appeared was unique - he had very small, round stage, decked out with tv screens wrapped above him and a couple dancers (one them his wife, Michelle) on the floor in front of him. The crowd was 360 degrees and mixed right in with the dancers. Pretty cool. Unfortunately I didn't get to one of these ...

round stage tour

That tour was actually the one time I saw him live.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Number 18:


neal cassady:

Simple Twist of Fate - Bob Dylan


shuke:

Reelin' in the Years - Steely Dan


Val Rannous:

Crazy on You - Heart


Hov34:

Unbelievers - Vampire Weekend


landryshat:

Cure For Pain - Morphine

My favorite known-to-me for this round. Waiting Room would've been top 5 but I've already listed it at least one other time, maybe 2?

 

[krista4]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:

Bernadette - that bass line
My Autumn's Done Come - deliciously off-kilter and haunting
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) - rocked my face off (and also had the best title)

 

[falguy]

I added a few tabs to the spreadsheet for some advanced stats. These are a bit of a work in progress. If you see anything wrong let me know. The data can be tricky - spaces before or after songs and artists can cause me grief as can differences in spellings . I'm trying to clean these up as I go. Hopefully by the end it'll be correct

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Krista asked for this version to make the playlist.

Actually I'm looking at this, and I messed up. The one I linked in my post is what I wanted - and what @Hawks64 added - but it is the Paris live version rather than Santa Monica. All is good, and thanks for looking out.

Thanks for the clarification, I was a bit since I grabbed the link you posted.

Yeah sorry I just knew that album she named and what you linked wasn’t from it. I never clicked on her link. I’m maybe more confused now.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:

Bernadette - that bass line

I am amused, in a non-judgmental way, that you hadn't heard this before.

 

[MAC_32]

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there.

**nods head**

I might not have more than a handful of rap songs on my shuffle after 2007, which coincides with when I graduated college. I just stopped being exposed to it and didn't seek it out on my own once migrating to my life as a middle class schnook.

 

[MAC_32]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:

Bernadette - that bass line
My Autumn's Done Come - deliciously off-kilter and haunting
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) - rocked my face off (and also had the best title)

Ooooooo...now I wonder if we can get Krista into the Deftones. Let's try...My Own Summer, Headup, and 7 Words.

 

[AAABatteries]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:

Bernadette - that bass line

I am amused, in a non-judgmental way, that you hadn't heard this before.

I’m not shocked that there is a participant who wasn’t familiar but I am surprised it’s krista. It’s a great song.

 

[jwb]

Ooooooo...now I wonder if we can get Krista into the Deftones. Let's try...My Own Summer, Headup, and 7 Words.

My Own Summer = first heard that as music on All Pro Football 2k8. Instantly liked it.

In fact, there's been a decent amount of "new to me" music/bands that I first heard on video games.

 

[simey]

Favorite Five from round #18

Love Child
What's Going On
Bernadette - Could It Be I'm Falling In Love (couldn't break the tie)
Luckenbach Texas
Operator
Red Headed Stranger

Those are more than 5, but one is on my list. There are some others I could switch out with the above.

Favorite instrumental - Take Five written by the late great Paul Desmond

Repeat favorites - Waiting Room and Reelin' In the Years

Favorite new to me song(s)

My Autumn's Done Come
Real Wild Child (Wild One) - This one was new to me in scorchy's thread, and so I still consider it new to me.
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:


My Autumn's Done Come - deliciously off-kilter and haunting

Lee Hazlewood was a national treasure. He wrote and produced many of Nancy Sinatra's and Duane Eddy's hit songs but his true genius was in his own albums-----country, lounge, pop, spoken word, country-rock. Sometimes kitschy? For sure. But some great albums from the early 60s to the mid 70s.

 

[simey]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:


My Autumn's Done Come - deliciously off-kilter and haunting

Lee Hazlewood was a national treasure. He wrote and produced many of Nancy Sinatra's and Duane Eddy's hit songs but his true genius was in his own albums-----country, lounge, pop, spoken word, country-rock. Sometimes kitschy? For sure. But some great albums from the early 60s to the mid 70s.

I almost put a Lee and Nancy song on my list, but I didn't. I'd say what it is, but I don't know if it is on someone's list.

 

[krista4]

Ooooooo...now I wonder if we can get Krista into the Deftones. Let's try...My Own Summer, Headup, and 7 Words.

I will put these on my "new-to-me" listening plan for tomorrow!

I’m not shocked that there is a participant who wasn’t familiar but I am surprised it’s krista. It’s a great song.

I'm surprised, too. I saw the name and the artist and thought, surely I know this, but it didn't sound familiar at all. I must have heard it somewhere along the way but forgotten it.

 

[krista4]

Here's a guessing game that involves very little math: of the consensus top 10/15 songs, how many have we yet to see on the countdown?

ETA: I had this first as 10 and then as 15. Guess one or the other or both, if you wish.

 

[Val Rannous]

Oooo. I'd say not a lot, actually. Maybe 33% at best, so 5 out of 15?

 

[krista4]

Oooo. I'd say not a lot, actually. Maybe 33% at best, so 5 out of 15?

Five that we have not yet seen, correct?

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Here's a guessing game that involves very little math: of the consensus top 10/15 songs, how many have we yet to see on the countdown?

ETA: I had this first as 10 and then as 15. Guess one or the other or both, if you wish.

Ima gonna guess we haven't seen 7 of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Oooo. I'd say not a lot, actually. Maybe 33% at best, so 5 out of 15?

Five that we have not yet seen, correct?

I don’t remember how the top 15 is determined but if songs ranked in higher rounds receive more points then I think we have yet to see 9 of our top 15.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My guess is we have not seen 8 of the top 10 and 12 of the top 15. Some major, major songs still out there.

 

[rockaction]

I won't go into the "favorites to me" gig today, but I will say that I used to know the exact pause between the silence and screaming during the Deftones song. I loved it that much at the time I was listening to it.

eta* And I had a Deftones record in my collection I forgot about, or another screamer might have made my list off of their self-titled album.

 

[krista4]

if songs ranked in higher rounds receive more points

Well...yeah.

 

[krista4]

Should I give the answer, or is that too spoiler-y?

 

[Pip's Invitation]

New-to-me favorites from today:

My Autumn's Done Come -- Lee Hazlewood (Marco). I don't know what he did to get that vibe, but this is absolutely mesmerizing.
Damn Good -- David Lee Roth (Sullie) -- Dave plays it straight and evokes the pensive side of Zeppelin. A big surprise, as I think of his solo stuff as brash and kind of silly.
Luckenbach Texas -- Waylon Jennings (Uruk-Hai) -- A hell of a story.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Should I give the answer, or is that too spoiler-y?

What do Eephus' dice say?

 

[krista4]

New-to-me favorites from today:

My Autumn's Done Come -- Lee Hazlewood (Marco). I don't know what he did to get that vibe, but this is absolutely mesmerizing.
Damn Good -- David Lee Roth (Sullie) -- Dave plays it straight and evokes the pensive side of Zeppelin. A big surprise, as I think of his solo stuff as brash and kind of silly.
Luckenbach Texas -- Waylon Jennings (Uruk-Hai) -- A hell of a story.

I'd meant to mention that I was pleasantly surprised by the DLR song as well.

That Hazlewood one is so compelling. I could never accurately predict where it was going to go. Mesmerizing is a good description.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Doug B:

Love Alive - Heart

Yet another album track that I have heard once before thanks to my aforementioned Heart binge. It has a similar vibe to Mistral Wind despite being from a different album.

 

[KarmaPolice]

New-to-me favorites from #19:

California Love (Just Win Baby) -- 2Pac with Dr. Dre and Roger Trautman (Just Win Baby). Fun and bumpin'.

OK, now it's my turn to say "Seriously?"

Nah, I didn't know it either. Here's the thing with anything Rap: as much as some people loved it, there were plenty of people (me, etc) that weren't remotely interested and tuned it all out. Just a few years in age could make a big difference there. So basically this "rock-first" guy lumped every single rap song made after Blondie's Rapture into the same "don't care" barrel. I've come around to it and like it a lot more now than I did then.

I was kind of in this boat too. As a high schooler in the 80s, I didn't really get it at all and tuned it all out. It wasn't until the emergence of Public Enemy that I connected with it in any way. And since then, I've sought out and liked a few things but haven't gone out of my way to really explore the genre. This countdown is helping.

It's a wide open genre too. I generally like a bit of rap, and I have 4-5 songs in my top 20, but oddly enough I haven't really loved a lot of what has been taken in the genre so far. Different strokes and all.

 

[Val Rannous]

Oooo. I'd say not a lot, actually. Maybe 33% at best, so 5 out of 15?

Five that we have not yet seen, correct?

The other way around, actually. I think we've only seen 5 of the top 15, with 10 still to be revealed.

 

[KarmaPolice]

My new-to-me favorites of the #18s:

Bernadette - that bass line
My Autumn's Done Come - deliciously off-kilter and haunting
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) - rocked my face off (and also had the best title)

I have to say, I am very pleasantly surprised by that last one. I wasn't sure if Deftones would click for people if they haven't heard them before AND especially if they don't typically gravitate to the genre.

 

[KarmaPolice]

A special shout-out today to @Hov34 - so far it's the first time I've been mad (I actually swore in the car when the song came on) that I forgot a band/song that would for sure have cracked my top 20. Vampire Weekend and Unbelievers was a huge miss for me, love the song.

Other stand outs for me were the Dolly song, Bernadette (I am with @krista4 and hadn't heard this one before), and Little Feat for reminding me of wikkid.

I also would have had some Bruce in on my list, but I was too high and thought I had to figure out and research everybody in the E Street Band.