Day 27: A song that calms you down

Spring Ain't Here by The Mighty Pat

Anyone who can't grasp the exquisite chill-out groove of this number is best off just not talking to me, I guess....

Day 25: A song you love but...
...would be embarrassed if it started playing loudly from your laptop at a coffee shop. (You could call this a "guilty pleasure" but I dislike that term.)

...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears

In principle, I despair of this song. It was originally The Spice Girls that struck me as the greatest existential threat to rock music by virtue of their extremely phenomenal popularity, but for a while there it looked like they might be a fluke. But then Britney showed up with this, and music that sounds basically like this has remained The Sound of Pop Music for over twenty years since. My lifetime of Popular Music = Rock suddenly came to an end here.

And yet, in its own way, the wave of Young Girl Pop that started here was great, and deeply appealing. I objected more to what it represented, but enjoyed hearing it, at least in those early days of it. Still, I feel like liking this sutff gives people the wrong idea about me.

[I was very tempted to choose Sugar Baby Love by The Rubettes for this day because that is a song I really really love, but I wouldn't be at all embarrassed or guilty to be overheard listening to that one!]

Day 23: A song you love that's an opening track on an album

We Are the Lucky Ones by The Flys

So many I coulda gone with, since so many bands are smart enough to start strong and open with a great track. A major contender here was Delivering the Goods by Judas Priest, a song that gives me chills it's so well done. But once again I opt to give a bit more exposure to the more obscure, and I never met anyone else who ever heard of British band The Flys. We Are the Lucky Ones was the opening track on the North American release of their eponymous debut album (and only album over here, at least that I ever saw). There were lots of good songs later in the album as well, but nothing else I ever heard from them approached the towering achievement of this one.

Day 21: A song you like with a person's name in the title

Elenore by The Turtles

My first impulse was to go with Ella James by The Move, cuz it's one of my Desert Island Songs®, but I already mentioned The Move in this list on a previous day, and I have this urge to spread it around a little. And I do love The Turtles' singles. There were bands that had more hits, but there were very few whose hits were consistently so great, appealing, uplifting, and well crafted.

Day 19: A song you'd play for your haters 

New Song by Howard Jones 

This was an odd one for me. I'm not actually aware of any haters. Therefore no idea whom to address a song to. But I thought about it and figured that, if anyone were going to hate me, most likely it would be because they don't understand me. (I can't see anyone understanding me and then hating me, somehow.) So I thought of a song that might help to promote understanding, and I chose this one because of the lines in its chorus:

See both sides
Throw off your mental chains

I dunno, maybe if I had haters, they might need to hear that?
 

Day 18: A song you like from the year you were born

Little Rain by Jimmy Reed

What I love most about this number is its raggedness. I’ve heard clearer remasters of it since, but the sonic murkiness of the reverb they threw on or whatever it might be, is for me a major part of its lo-fi charm. Also, Reed was hammered when he recorded this (as usual), and I get such a kick out of how he insists on cutting the first line of each vocal verse short, throwing off the rest of the band, with his second guitarist audibly stomping on the floor trying to get Reed back into time with everyone else… such a strange mood to it, when all is said and done.

Day 16: A song that's fun to scream along to.
(Note: NOT just "sing a little bit loud". I mean scream. The singer doesn't have to be screaming but you do.)

Walk Like a Man by The Four Seasons

For me, this one is a screamer because I can't hit those notes quiet. The only way I can push my range up there is to hit it hard and loud.

Day 14: A song you like that uses an unconventional instrument

The Minister by The Move

Seems to me that it's unusual to use an oboe in a guitar-rockin' tune like this one, but it was not unusual for The Move to do this...

Day 12: A song you like to sing at karaoke

Sour Suite by The Guess Who

This song was actually a hit single (in my region, at least), but today I am surprised by how few of my fellow Canucks remember it. But I always had a special fondness for it, it touched me deeply, and it was one I loved to sing – in the shower, around the house, whatever.

A few years back was the first time I was ever invited to karaoke, and I wasn’t sure if I felt like participating or not… but I decided that if they had Sour Suite, then I would take it as a sign. I went. They had it. I did it. I loved it – a great moment!

Day 10: A song you like that tells a story

She's Got Medals by David Bowie

from Bowie's first album, pre-stardom, when he was oddly under the sway of Anthony Newley - fun song, odd story, epic bassline, classic use of oboe