Day 685 - Sugababes - Overload

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 685
Sugababes - Overload
From "One Touch"
Year: 2000



Years ago I heard this song at my job, loved it, and didn't have a clue who the artist was. Then I forgot about it for a while.

Months later, the song came on again. This time I tried to catch as many of the lyrics as I could, and I typed them into a Google search. Success!

While virtually unknown in the United States, the group has been very successful. They've sold over 5 million albums worldwide, and 16 of their 23 singles have hit the top 10 in the UK. The Sugababes have been named the UK's most successful female act of the 21st century.

Click here to watch the music video on YouTube.

Click here to listen to the song on Blip.fm

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 684 - Survivor - Is This Love?

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 684
Survivor - Is This Love?
From "When Seconds Count"
Year: 1986



Look up "Survivor" on Amazon.com and half of the first ten links are related to the TV show.

When people think of the BAND Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger" is almost certainly going to be the song that comes to mind. It is an example of a song that is so huge that it almost overshadows the band, because it makes you forget that they had other hits.

When it comes to other hits, Survivor had a string of them. Songs like "High on You", "Burning Heart", "The Search is Over" and "I Can't Hold Back" were unavoidable radio staples at the time of their release.

"Is This Love?" is quite possibly my favorite Survivor song that isn't "Eye of the Tiger". Of course, I associate that song with a Starbucks commercial for reasons that should prove obvious.

Click here to watch the music video on YouTube.

Click here to listen to the song on Blip.fm

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 683 - Add - Locked Box

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 683
Add - Locked Box
From "Please Let Your Faith and Patience Be Mine"
Year: 2003



I had forgotten just how much I adore this song. I heard it yesterday, and it was like seeing a good friend after years of not keeping in touch.

Cut off my hands for stealing your heart.

With lyrics that good, how on Earth is this man not signed to a label?

You might notice that this has the same song title as yesterday's choice. There is a reason for that.

Here's the explanation in Add's own words:

Made in late 2002 and early 2003, this was an unrealistic project undertaken by me and some of my Song Fight friends. We came up with 12 titles by secret ritual and then attempted to each write and record songs for all 12 titles within a month. We gave up that deadline in favor of making more polished work, which I think is for the better. The companion albums for this are Frankie Big Face’s Smile If You Absolutely Have To and John Benjamin’s Feel Things Deeply.

All three albums are full of fantastic material. You might consider ordering a set of 3 while you still can.

Listen to "Locked Box" on thesixtyone.com

Listen to all of "Please Let Your Faith and Patience Be Mine" on Add's website

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 682 - Frankie Big Face - Locked Box

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 682
Frankie Big Face - Locked Box
From "Smile If You Absolutely Have To"
Year: 2003



My friend Pat asked me to come up with a list of my 120 favorite songs, and we've been counting down that list on his cleverly named KYRS radio show; "Battle Star Eclectica".

If you would have tuned in this evening, "Locked Box" is one of the songs you would have heard on the show. It's number 67 on the list. I set my computer up to capture this evening's show, but the hard drive ran out of space, so it did not record. Sad.

This song was conceived as part of an "Albumfight" between
some of the most consistantly great songwriters to participate at songfight.org; The John Benjamin Band, Add Music and Frankie. Each artist wrote 12 songs around the same titles. The musical output was exceptional. I was later inspired to use the same 12 titles for my "Greenwood Cemetery" album in 2004.

Listen to "Locked Box" on thesixtyone.com

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 681 - Huey Lewis and the News - Doin' it All for My Baby

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 681
Huey Lewis and the News - Doin' it All for My Baby
From "Fore"
Year: 1986



Happy VD! Oh, wait... that didn't sound right.

"Doin' it All for My Baby" was the fifth top-ten hit from "Fore". It reached number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making Huey Lewis and the News the first group to have five top-ten Hot 100 singles from the same album.

The music video for this song might be right down your alley if you're among those who find love to be scary. The whole thing is done in a tribute to classic monster movies.

Click here to watch the music video on YouTube

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 680 - John Benjamin Band - What We Need More of is Science

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 680
John Benjamin Band - What We Need More of is Science
Songfight Entry
Year: 2003



I hope to finish this top 10,000 list before I die, but that's not going to happen if I don't start updating things on a more regular basis.

Enter Blip.fm. I recently set up a profile on the site, and I've been linking to the songs that I can find. It's working out to be a great way to remind people of songs they might not have thought about for a while, or to introduce them to material they haven't heard.

Tonight's choice is a Songfight classic. It's an unwritten rule that John Benjamin must perform this song if he is present at a Songfight Live event. This year the big live fight will be happening on Friday July 17th and Saturday July 18th at the Empyrean in Spokane!

It is going to be called "Songfight Live: Rock and Rocker!"

Click here to watch a live performance from Songfight Live: High and Dry [2006]

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 679 - Eminem - My Name Is

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 679
Eminem - My Name Is
From "The Slim Shady LP"
Year: 1999



It was a late night in 1999 when I saw an outrageous video on MTV featuring Dr. Dre and some white rapper dressing up like President Clinton and Marilyn Manson, but I didn't catch the artist's name that first time. I thought his name started with an E, but I couldn't be sure. I was hoping that I'd catch the video again so I could figure out who he was.

Of course, MTV started playing the hell out of "My Name Is", and it didn't take long for Eminem to become a bit of a household name.

The primary beat that propels "My Name Is" is a song by Labi Siffre from 1975 called 'I Got The', which is sometimes incorrectly labeled as "I Got the Blues". Labi has been quoted as saying that the extended song title would be "a cliché too far". Perhaps even more interesting, is how Labi Siffre had direct input on how this track turned out! Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:

"Producer Dr. Dre wanted to use a sample of Labi Siffre's "I Got The ..." for the rhythm track; however, as revealed in the sleeve notes of the re-mastered CD of the source album, Remember My Song, Siffre stated, "attacking two of the usual scapegoats, women and gays, is lazy writing. If you want to do battle, attack the aggressors not the victims." Eminem made lyric changes and Siffre cleared the sample."

Click here to watch the music video on YouTube.

Click here to listen to the studio version of "I Got The" by Labi Siffre on YouTube.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 678 - Q-Tip - Johnny is Dead

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 678
Q-Tip - Johnny is Dead
From "The Renaissance"
Year: 2008



I've been listening to 'The Renaissance' a lot over the last couple of days, and the album is growing on me more with repeat listens. The first four tracks strike me as instant classics, and 'Johnny is Dead' was a superb choice for the album opener.

I love how this track takes on a few twists that I didn't expect the first time I heard it. I'm particularly fond of the switches in time signature, Tip's vocals on the chorus, and the way the first verse takes off in unexpected directions. The beat goes just long enough to make you think it's going to keep going on for a while before the verse starts, but then it doesn't. Then the full groove starts in a similar surprising manner.

Click here to listen to the studio version on YouTube.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.

Day 677 - Ruby Andrews - You Made a Believer Out of Me

For those who don't know, I am listing my 10,000 favorite songs in this blog. This will take just under 30 years from start to completion. This blog can be found at Blogger, Livejournal for your convenience.

DAY 677
Ruby Andrews - You Made a Believer Out of Me
From "Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)"
Year: 1969



Q-tip recently sampled this song for his track, 'Won't Trade', which is one of my favorite tracks on his new album 'The Renaissance'.

That makes this the second song choice in a row that I may have never heard if it hadn't been sampled.

Click here to listen to the studio version on YouTube.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

Go see what Andy chose today
Go see what Heuristics Inc. chose today
Go see what Max chose today
Go see what Niveous chose today
Go see what prayformojo chose today
Go see what Rabid Garfunkel chose today
Go see what Rachael chose today
Go see what Susana chose today
Go see what Tuuur chose today
Go see what William chose today
Go see what Woordenaar chose today
Here's my choices sorted by Artist, by album cover, and by year.