Can you name a top ten song this week?

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When I was a kid, Summer meant long hours of listening to top 40 AM radio on the beach. We carried those radios with us where ever we went. As a teen, I could list the top 10 songs in any given month. Knew all the artists, knew all the words. Somehow, in the past 20 years, even though I listen to the radio whenever I'm on my car or at the beach, I have no idea what 8 of the top 10 songs this week are. How many of these do you know? Be honest!

1. ''Be With You,'' Enrique Iglesias. Interscope.
2. ''Try Again,'' Aaliyah. Blackground.
3. ''I Turn To You,'' Christina Aguilera. RCA.
4. ''I Wanna Know,'' Joe. Jive.
5. ''The Real Slim Shady,'' Eminem. Web/Aftermath.
6. ''Everything You Want,'' Vertical Horizon. RCA.
7. ''It's Gonna Be Me,'' 'N Sync. Jive.
8. ''Breathe,'' Faith Hill. Warner Bros. (Nashville)
9. ''You Sang To Me,'' Marc Anthony. Columbia.
10. ''There You Go,'' Pink. LaFace. (Gold)

The only one I am famaliar with is Vertical Horizon, really. My son listens to MTV enough that I also know Eminems song, but thats where it ends for me. Am I out of it, or did someone just make the rest of these up?

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), June 24, 2000

Answers

Well, I know 7,8 and 9 well enough to hum along now and then, but the rest are completely unfamiliar (at least by title). If I didn't have a teen and an almost teen, I probably wouldn't even know those. Then again, I didn't know them in my teens, either. On the other hand, I can name a piece of baroque music more often than not, and am more often right than wrong when guessing the composer of some piece of classical music heard by chance :-)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), June 25, 2000.

I wonder about this too. There's no doubt that top40music now is totally shite compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Way back then, you might have Beatles, Hendrix, James Brown Beach Boys and CCR in the charts - all enduring artists of very high quality. Now? Bleaugh!! Nothing that is ANY good! It could be that chart music is now only stuff that appeals to 12 year olds because that is the only market that they can keep homogenous and centralised...beyond that age people start to arrive at more diverse and individualistic tastes.

Looking only at the top 40 you could be forgiven for believing that there were basically NO good new musical artists during the 80's and 90's. (IMHO...for eg, Mudhoney, Primus, Aphex Twin, NOFX, Beastie Boys...none exactly household names.) But I'm sure there were a few good ones here and there. You could also argue that Pop and even Rock have pretty much run their course, and nothing new and good is to be expected.

Or you could say that the serious decline in popular music is a direct result of the stifling and purely commercial mentality of the lumbering mega-corps which control the distribution channels. Long live Napster and/or Gnutella.

-- number six (!@!.com), June 27, 2000.


have any of you ever listened to a band called "sparks"?
two brothers......ron and russel mael

they started out in 1970 or 1971 or thereabouts as "half nelson"......then changed the name to "sparks"

hyper eccentric rock......with a touch of queen and a touch of jazz and a touch of gershwin (or something like that.....heh)

you would love their lyrics........very witty and poetic




(a snip)

It's winter, it's raining
You're tired, she's fainting
You're bitter, she's brooding
But don't be disenchanted
'Cause you can barely stand it

The sweep and the grandeur
The scope and the laughter
The future, the future!
The future's got it covered
With what will be discovered

In the future fun is fun
In the future, lots of sun
I'll be there, it's up to you
You'll be there if you
don't do nothing foolish



-- mebs (mebs@joymail.com), June 27, 2000.

I'll look them up on Napster, mebs, and give them a listen.

Six, nail on the head, music today is not like it was. Even the top forty bubblegum pop of my youth endured much longer than the flash in the panners of today. I guess I listen to alternative music stations mainly now, which is why I don't know most of these top 40 songs, but I can't stomach rap.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), June 27, 2000.


Loved Sparks!

{so much that I find your description sacrilegious!}

{Thanks for the reminder}

It Ain't 1918

-- flora (***@__._), June 27, 2000.



Not only do I not know any of the songs, I've never heard of any of the artists. But then, they've probably never heard of me, either. And, no, I do NOT listen to that strange guy with the orchestra who's on PBS every Saturday night. You know, the one who goes, "And a-one and a-two. . . ."

I still like ELO, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, Clapton, Blue Oyster Cult, etc., and of course the Stones and Beatles. I really like Joe "King" Carasco, who plays nuevo wavo music--what a hoot! I'm also very partial to New Orleans treasures like Dr. John, Prof. Longhair, Lil Queenie and the Radiators and the Neville Brothers. Also Beau Soleil, a Cajun band. I have a secret liking for Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and any good bagpipe music. And I'm partial to some classical piano pieces, although my favorite record is of the Albert Hall 1812 with gen-you-wine cannon.

I miss the old piano-player in the Bayou Bar at The Pontchartrain Hotel, who always played "As Time Goes By" whenever I walked in, the Irish band at the 600 Club that always played rebel songs whenever they saw me, and the ancient and slightly off-key eastern European chanteuse at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop who often accompanied my Irish coffee nightcap. And I REALLY miss the jukebox at the Half Moon, with its astonishing mix of Mario Lanza, Elvis, Engelbert, Kingston Trio, Bing Crosby, Stones and Beatles. (And the signs on the bar mirrors that said "No cussing.")

I guess it's a strong sign of getting old when you no longer keep up with modern music and get maudlin about music from the "old days."

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 27, 2000.


... my music poscard from the road is the sound of a churchful of folks who I barely remember & shocked that they remember me, singing Rock of Ages and Beautiful Dreamer to a guitar accompaniment.

And an old friend spinning, for my musician kid, the solo for 'Lover Man' by Charlie Parker as he was descending into his devastating nervous breakdown, which landed him handcuffed to a prison bed before he was committed to Camarillo Hospital. If you get a chance to hear that solo from that session, don't pass it up...

-- flora (***@__._), June 27, 2000.


OG,

"........ and any good bagpipe music."

Isn't that an oxymoron????

(Just kiddin', you know I'd love to go to the Edinburough Tatoo someday.)

I just spent seventeen days in a motorhome with the Temptations, Buddy Holly, Del Shannon, and about thrity other 50's icons. Kit doesn't know what's popular, but he knows what he likes!

Oh, yeah, throw in a little cowboy yodeling by Don Edwards, and you've got a movable music feast fer sure.

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-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), June 27, 2000.


Oh,

for you guys with napster/macster hookups, try these two selections. They were surprizing to me (I think they are great):

Coco Lee, "Longing To See You" (Chinese version)

Jewel, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

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-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), June 28, 2000.


I guess it's a strong sign of getting old when you no longer keep up with modern music and get maudlin about music from the "old days."

Surely its growing up rather than getting old, its only the BBs that started the trend of perpetial adolescence, can't imagine the current generation still listening to the same pop music in 2030

-- richard (richard.dale@onion.com), June 30, 2000.



When I was a child, I would sleep over at my grandmother's house. She had an old radio, and always kept it on a station that played nothing but music from the 20s, 30's and 40's. To Me it was like some kind of time warp. She knew about as much about my music as I knew of her music. I wonder if someday my grandchildren will sleep over at my house, and hear music from the 50's, 60's and 70's...and find it as awful and boring as I found her music? You never hear music from the 40's on the radio. Golden oldies now mean the 70's and 80's. Will 50's music EVER go out of style? I can't imagine it!

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), June 30, 2000.

So. Do y'all ever wonder if the nursing homes for your own age group will be belting out Stones songs on a Saturday night? Will there be aging rockers to entertain my contemporaries, long grey hair (what's left of it) flying around as they boogie across the stage (if they can)? Will I be trying to moonwalk with some equally ancient resident? I've already told everyone around me that when I get ga-ga, they're to ship me to a New Orleans nursing home, 'cause the ones here won't put up with me.

By the way, I hear Charlie Watts is in rehab again, drying out to ensure he's in good shape for the Stones' next tour. THEIR NEXT TOUR??? Yup. Charlie is the Stone who built a pub at the bottom of his garden so he didn't have to drive home drunk.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 30, 2000.


Well, there's a new definition of "drinking responsibly" :-)

-- Tricia (jayles@telusplanet.net), July 01, 2000.

Is Casey Kasem still hosting American Top 40? Tells you how out of touch I am :-)

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), July 04, 2000.

You mean he's not dead yet? LOL..he's got to be as old as Dick Clark! Actually, yeah, I heard him a few months ago doing American Top 40 still. AND he still is the voice of Shaggy in the Scooby Doo cartoon.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), July 04, 2000.


I always wondered how Shaggy and his friends were able to roam around the country in the Mystery Mobile. Were they all independently wealthy, or was it just Daphne paying the bills and the rest were along for the ride?

Either that, or they were pulling down some serious bucks solvin' those mysteries.

Will be interesting to see what happens when Casey passes on. Wouldn't be surprized if we saw Shaggy shrines popping up everywhere :-)

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), July 05, 2000.


I think I recall them getting reward money when they turn in bad guys. $5,000 here and there can add up I'm sure. The idea of a Shaggy shrine seems feasile in this day and age...as nostaligic as we all are.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), July 05, 2000.

By the way, I hear Charlie Watts is in rehab again, drying out to ensure he's in good shape for the Stones' next tour. THEIR NEXT TOUR??? Yup. Charlie is the Stone who built a pub at the bottom of his garden so he didn't have to drive home drunk.

CW is already past retirement age

-- richard (richard.dale@onion.com), July 06, 2000.


I can picture us 6eing wheeled to Stones concerts in our wheelchairs, or pushed on a gurney...IVs dangling from our arms. Mick will ho66le out slowly, firmly holding a walker..then toss it aside and give us ten full seconds of his famous chicken walk, 6efore falling to the ground. First aid personal will rush up with the defi6ulators, and give his heart a good shock, upon which Mick jumps 6ack up, and gives us a rousing rendition of "Jumping Jack Flash!"

I like the idea of 6eing in a nursing home that ROCKS..heh. Me an OG will dance the night away while the staff tries to keep us from eating the 6rown acid..LOL. The Woodstock generation will 6e happy to take their medicine...as long as you roll it up and smoke it..heh.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), July 06, 2000.


i know 8 out of 5these ten i dont think thats sad i love this music so does all the youngsters

-- michelle (michelle_jo1@yahoo.co.uk), May 30, 2001.

hi, Michelle. It's nice to see a new name here. You say you're a youngster, and your address says UK. Folks around here would always be interested in a perspective other than that of an old geezer down on the bayou. Do you lurk around this forum often? and how did you find this old thread?

Anyway, welcome, and stick around, it's not always as quiet as it's been lately.

----------------------------------------------------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), May 31, 2001.


"The Real Slim Shady"

-- joshua jacobs (lil_dude_6954971@yahoo.com), January 13, 2003.

Happy Birthday to You?

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (cook.r@talkradio.cantsing), January 13, 2003.

I'm juet trying to find out the name and artist of the song that the radio stations are playing all the time - you would think they would say the title, but they never do. It is a female and some of the words are: "wake me up again....."

-- J. Kirkpatrick (copurchasing@icsicontrols.com), April 14, 2004.

Is this the song you're wondering about?

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/evanescence/bringmetolife.html

-- Bring (me@to.life), April 20, 2004.


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