Day 20: Paul Simon

Today's Artist Spotlight is Mr. Paul Simon. I don't know what else to say. In my opinion he is the best American songwriter. This list contains a lot of popular songs; but that's a testament to how great his songwriting is. Not only could he write incredible lyrics, but his music was radio-friendly and easily accessible for everyone. Enjoy!

YouTube!
(All songs by Paul Simon, Some performed by Simon & Garfunkel, noted with "*")
01. American Tune
02. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
03. Cecilia*
04. Something So Right
05. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
06. Kodachrome
07. Mrs. Robinson*
08. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
09. The Boy in the Bubble
10. The Only Living Boy in New York*
11. Still Crazy After All These Years
12. America*
13. Rene and Georgette Magritte with their Dog After the War (N/A)
14. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)*
15. The Boxer*
16. At the Zoo*
17. April Come She Will*
18. You Can Call Me Al (Maybe the best lyrical pop song of all time)
19. Late in the Evening
20. Slip Sliding Away
21. Adios Hermanos (N/A)

imeem: External:

Day 20: Paul Simon

Adios Hermanos,
Erik

Bonus Videos!:


AND!


(Image by Evert-Jan Hielema, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 19: Smokey Robinson

Today is "Mr. Motown," Smokey Robinson's 68th (!) birthday. I originally was just going to put together a Soul and R&B list in his honor. But, instead, I think I'm going to put together a shorter list of some great songs that he wrote. A lot of his work was done with The Temptations and his group, The Miracles, but there are some classics he wrote for other groups as well. Enjoy this list from the man who Bob Dylan called, "America's Greatest Living Poet."

YouTube:
01. Marvin Gaye - Ain't That Peculiar
02. The Temptations - Don't Look Back
03. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears
04. The Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game
05. Smokey Robinson - Let Me Be the Clock
06. The Temptations - The Way You Do the Things You Do
07. Smokey Robinson - Daylight and Darkness
08. The Supremes - Automatically Sunshine
09. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Ooh Baby Baby
10. The Supremes - Your Heart Belongs to Me
11. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Baby Don't You Go
12. The Temptations - Get Ready
13. The Temptations - No More Water In The Well

imeem: External:

Day 19: Smokey Robinson

Live and Love,
Erik

Bonus Video!:


(Image By jcrawford3505, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 18: Wildcard (4)

Let this round of Wildcard begin. I've got a mixed bag of treats here for you. With some very new gems. Also, as a note: I'm thinking about doing Tuesday/Thursday Wildcards and leaving Wednesday for Day-Inspired lists. We'll see. It's still in the rumination process.

YouTube:
01. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
02. Outkast - Gasoline Dreams
03. N.W.A. - Gangsta Gangsta
04. Jurassic 5- Swing Set
05. Of Montreal and Jon Brion - First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix of An Eluardian Instance) (Unavailable on YouTube)
06. Aesop Rock - Coward of the Year (Remix only for some reason)
07. Coheed & Cambria - The Willing Well II: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
08. Kansas - Point of Know Return
09. Vampire Weekend & Chromeo - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (Remix)
10. Ben Folds - Sentimental Guy
11. Jens Lekman - A Postcard to Nina
12. The Bird & The Bee - Tonight You Belong To Me
13. Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna
14. Can - Vitamin C
15. Lyrics Born - I Changed My Mind
16. Dr. Octagon - Blue Flowers
17. Beirut - Mimizan (Unavailable on YouTube, but go HERE)
18. Wire - Mannequin
19. Everything - Hooch
20. Coldplay - Fix You

imeem: External:

Day 18: Wildcard (4)

Be Safe Out There,
Erik

Bonus Video!:


(Image By phonogalerie.com, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 17: Michael Bay

As everyone knows, on this day in 1965, Hollywood icon/director/producer Michael Bay was born. In honor of some of his work (Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys, Armageddon...) I have decided to compile a list of incredibly shallow songs that either cover up or celebrate their shallowness through distraction in melody or guitar riff or nice beats. Now, don't get me wrong, some of these songs are great, proving that artistic value can be salvaged out of piss-poor lyrics. And, some of these songs are just plain dumb. Catchy... perhaps. But dumb. Most of them are just victims of style over substance.

Without further ado...

YouTube:
01. Metallica - Fuel
02. Black Sabbath - Iron Man
03. Foreigner - Hot Blooded
04. Journey - Any Way You Want It
05. Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar on Me
06. Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
07. Puff Daddy - It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)
08. Cash Money Millionaires - #1 Stunna
09. Jay Z - Big Pimpin'
10. Linkin Park - Paper Cut (Ironically a coincidence that these two songs were matched up for the Jay Z/Linkin Park CD)
11. Good Charlotte - Girls & Boys
12. Jonas Brothers - Burnin' Up
13. Fastball - The Way
14. Duran Duran - The Reflex
15. Kanye West - Coldest Winter
16. Queen - Killer Queen
17. The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches
18. Kid Rock - Bawitdaba
19. Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
20. Poison - Unskinny Bop
21. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
22. B52's - Rock Lobster
23. Jimmy Buffett - MargaritaVille
24. Toto - Africa
25. The Beatles - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (Unavailable on imeem)

imeem: External:

Day 17: Michael Bay

And, of course, Henry the Horse dances the Waltz?
-Erik

Bonus Video, Collision Course!!!


(Image by Steve Rhodes, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 16: Classic Rock Radio (Round 1)

This week's genre tour is Classic Rock. I realize how broad that spectrum is, so I'm just going with the most generally accepted Classic Rock powerhouse groups. In most cases these aren't my favorite songs by these bands, but, these are probably the most likely songs to be heard on Classic Rock radio across the country (generally speaking)!

YouTube:
01. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
02. Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away
03. Jimi Hendrix - Bold as Love
04. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
05. Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb
06. The Eagles - In The City
07. Steve Miller Band - Take the Money and Run
08. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Listen to Her Heart
09. Boston - More than a Feeling
10. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
11. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
12. REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You
13. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
14. Journey - Lights
15. The Beatles - A Day in the Life

imeem: External:

Day 16: Classic Rock Radio (Round 1)

Stay Classic,
Erik

(Image by leogetz, Licensed Under Creative Commons)