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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This is a transition week for listening to music. It will be the last one for holiday songs. I have become emotionally attached to the new No.1, and I guess it’s only fitting that Paul McCartney would be the one to knock “Santa You Can Drive My Sled” out of the “topper of the poppermost spot–a nice Beatles reference,” which is how Pat Woodward of The Fab, Beatles Tribute Band from Las Vegas, referred to it in his e-mail to me! Gear! Fab!
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Top Ten Songs for the Week of January 1, 2012
1. Best Love—Steve Martin with Paul McCartney
2. Chiron Beta Prime—Jonathan Coulton
3. Santa You Can Drive My Sled—The Fab (Beatles Tribute Band from Las Vegas)
4. Lonely Boy—The Black Keys
5. Arbolito—Tish Hinojosa
6. The Afterlife—Paul Simon
7. 7th Galaxy—Dennis Coffey
8. Mosquitoes—Joanie Leeds and The Nightlights
9. In Your Arms—Kina Grannis
10. One Day After Christmas—Da Yoopers
1) “Best Love”—I originally heard this song when Steve Martin’s “Rare Bird Alert” came out. I thought it was OK but nothing special. But that’s how music works. Just like “(I Want To) Come Home,” by Paul McCartney, the song worked it’s way into my subconscious. So when I started working on compiling my year end lists, when I heard it again it exploded in my brain. The melody is a beautiful haunting bluegrass love song, and Paul gets to expand into a different area! I can’t get this simbie out of my head!
2) “Chiron Beta Prime”—My family and I had way too much fun reliving this song during this week! I haven’t checked out the video yet……………..
3) “Santa You Can Drive My Sled”—Well, it looks like the run is finished for now, but I predict that this song will emerge from hibernation every year around the end of November!
4) “Lonely Boy”—A welcome return for this ultra cool song!
5) “Arbolito”—Another week on the list for a family favorite! The little bell as the last note at the end of the song reminds me of Clarence getting his wings in “It’s a Wonderful Life!”
6) “The Afterlife”—Another year end memory of a very good song from an excellent album, “So Beautiful or So What” by Paul Simon! It’s a song with a lot rhythm about what happens after you die. Apparently, there’s a lot of paperwork……………………..
7) “7th Galaxy”—Dennis Coffey has been a guitar hero in the Detroit area for decades. This instrumental demonstrates why! Dennis updates his sound to line up better with probably where he learned to play— from the future, in the 7th Galaxy, of course! Way coooooooooool!
8)“Mosquitoes”—Yes, I know it’s the wrong time of the year for this song, but when played together with The Decemberists’ “June Hymn,” it can feel like summer all over again! This is a very fun pop/rock song! It’s also supposed to be for “young listeners,” but it can stand right up there with Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers’ “Hey There Little Insect!” A true, fun, gem of a song!
9) “In Your Arms”—A nice folk pop tune in a Colbie Caillat kind of vein! That’s a good thing! It kind of caught me by surprise and pulled me back into listening to more current music. Thank you Kina!
10) “One Day After Christmas”—This is my favorite post Christmas song! There really aren’t too many to choose from, but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t stack up against other competition! It would not be post Christmas without it! This is from a CD called “One Can Short of a Six Pack,” but there are only 3 Christmas songs on it. Each one is its own gem! It’s set against a slow blues melody and you get to connect the dots on this one where the singer is hoping that his relatives will leave soon because “The toilet bowl won’t flush/And I can’t find the cat!!???” Now, that’s my kind of Christmas song!
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