Phil’s Faves: Songs, September 25, 2011

This will be a personal weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.

Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.

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Wally Pleasant finally gets knocked out of the top spot of my favorite songs, but it is another quirky adversary that does the deed, and NOT Taylor Swift! Britney’s almost gone, but it was another fun week of musical exploration!
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Top Ten Songs for the Week of September 25, 2011

1. Stairway to Heaven-The Beatnix
2. Stupid Day Job–Wally Pleasant
3. Sparks Fly-Taylor Swift
4. Down at the Plaza-Pat Bergeson featuring Dan Anderson, Tom Roady, and Steve Shapiro)
5. Time Spent in Los Angeles-Dawes
6. Brighter Than the Sun-Colbie Caillat
7. It’s So Easy-Paul McCartney (Alternate take)
8. Knock Three Times-Tony Orlando, Jimmy Fallon, and Will Forte from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
9. 1-800-DONATE CARS (“Heritage for the Blind”)
10. I Wanna Go-Britney Spears

1) “Stairway to Heaven”This song is an Australian oddity from a CD called “Stairways to Heaven.” The album consists of multiple versions of the played-to-death classic. This version has mostly Beatle song segments, and it is awesome! This gem seamlessly puts together pieces of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “La Bamba” (How did that get in here!?), “She Loves You,” “From Me to You,” “Please Please Me,” and “Twist and Shout!”  If you can’t imagine what that sounds like, I can tell you it’s incredible! Try to find a copy if you haven’t, but it’s not easy to locate. I stumbled upon it as an uncredited selection on Dennis Mitchell’s Breakfast with The Beatles, and then went on a scavenger hunt. It is absolutely worth it!
2) “Stupid Day Job”Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, but “Stupid Day Job” still rules at wallypleasant.com!
3) Sparks Fly”—The song is still good, but other songs are catching my attention. I don’t think it’s slipping for good….
4) “Down at the Plaza”—A bonafide “simbie” for me! It’s a creative arrangement that just keeps moving! It sounds like it was a lot of fun to play! 
5) “Time Spent in Los Angeles”—A dark horse that’s coming up strong on the outside and making a run toward the finish line! It is a deserving contender!
6) “Brighter Than the Sun”–-Still like it, but it’s not so shiny anymore…
7) “It’s So Easy” (Alternate Take)—Buddy Holly would have liked this version! Actually, he probably would have liked either version because then he’d still be around! (Sorry for pointing out the obvious…)
8) “Knock Three Times”—In general, I have never liked this song, but now I have enjoyed it at least once when it was performed on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Jimmy Fallon and Will Forte looked like they were having so much fun “knocking on the ceiling” and “banging on the pipes” with Tony Orlando, who looked like he was having a blast himself! This was made even more touching because before and after the song, both Will Forte and Questlove from The Roots had stories from before they had gotten famous about an encounter they each had with Tony Orlando. I thought it was a put on until Will produced a hand written letter from Tony encouraging him to follow his dream. Will had seen him perform at Branson and talked with him. After the commercial break, unknown to even Jimmy, Questlove told a story about how he had met Tony Orlando when he was a kid and Tony once again encouraged him to keep drumming and dreaming and it will happen for him! It’s nice to see and hear about a truly nice guy!
9) “1-800-DONATE CARS”—Still hypnotic…Still catchy…!
10)  “I Wanna Go” —Britney’s almost gone, but I’m sure she’ll reappear somewhere in the future…

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