What I learned from doing 30 songs in 30 days.

 

Here’s what I learned from my 30 songs in 30 days:

  1. Doing 30 songs in 30 days is hard.  For me it was more like 30 songs in 75 days.  That said, in the process of this project I interviewed for four jobs.  I started and quit a full time job.  Accepted a part time radio job.  Accepted a full time radio job.  Started to plan a move.  Had dental surgery.  Cleaned the bathrooms.  Visited family before they moved to Texas.   And watched a lot of TV.
  2. Radio consultant Lee Abrams has a theory that people’s musical tastes are formed during their teen and college years.  Based on the amount of 80′s music included in this challenge I’d say he’s right.  That’s not to say I stopped liking music at a certain age, but the music that resonates with me is from my youth.
  3. The events and the people in my life that surrounded the music is just as important in why I selected the songs / artists I did.  In many cases it was a deciding factor in choosing the songs.
  4. I’m a pop music junkie above all else.

Finally, thank you for taking time out to read this blog.  I appreciated being able to share some music and stories with you.  I hope you enjoyed reading and listening as much as I did doing it.

 

2011
09/08
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day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year

My favorite song at this time last year was California Gurls by Katy Perry

In the summer and fall of 2010 you couldn’t escape this song.  It was almost everywhere.  If there’s one thing this project has probably proved, I’m a big pop music guy.  It’s my favorite kind of music.  Katy Perry is just really good at pumping out infectious, cool, pop music.  It’s not overly weird, or trying to push the envelope.  It’s just good pop music.  Her stuff would have hit it big in the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s or even the first part of the Aughts.  In it’s own way it has a timeless quality.

2011
09/08
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day 29 – a song from your childhood

A song from my child hood is I Love A Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbit

This is such a broad prompt it could almost be anything.  It could be Heat Of The Moment, Steppin’ Out , Eye Of The Tiger, Pee Wee’s Dance or any one of a zillion songs or videos I saw in my youth.  However, I’m going to interpret this prompt as an actual song from my child hood.

When we first moved to Chicago we only had AM Radios in our cars.  The station my parents listened to was 67 WMAQ, which at that time played country music and White Sox games.   They just listened to WMAQ a lot, and this is one of the first songs I remembered hearing that I like.

2011
09/08
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day 28 – a song that makes you feel guilty

A song that makes me feel guilty is Touch Me (I Want Your Body) by Samnatha Fox.


What wouldn’t make a teenage boy feel guilty about listening to this song? What doesn’t make a grown man feel guilty about once having really liked this song?  Yet I bought the 12 inch single complete with the extended mix including lots more groans than made the single.  I also bought the album, which actually had some OK disposable pop on it.  Oh yeah, I also bought this poster and hung it in my room……

For some reason my mother didn’t complain about this poster like she did a Madonna poster I got during the Who’s That Girl tour.  Go figure.

2011
09/08
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day 27 – a song that you wish you could play

A song that I wish I could play is Layla by Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton is my original guitar hero.  When I started to play I wanted to play like him.  Well not really because I was always scared of actually trying to learn leads and solos, but he’s the guitar player’s guitar player.  I probably could play the lead riff of Layla if I tried, but the solos, well that’s another story.  Clapton is just amazing.  My favorite Clapton show occurred last summer at Verizon  Wireless Music Center in Indianapolis.  It was a great show that focused on Eric’s guitar work.  One of the best I ever saw.

2011
09/08
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day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument

A song that I can play on guitar is Who Will You Run To by Heart.

This will probably surprise most of the friends I played with in high school and college.  Why?  We never played this song.  However, one afternoon I went over to jam with my friend Brian’s brother Jeff.  We ended up popping this song in the cassette player and just jammed out to it a bunch of times.  There’s just something about the rhythm guitar and the drums with this song that just rocks.  It’s one of the most fun songs I ever played.    I will admit, I probably was much better at playing Mellencamp or my own stuff, but I just remember just rocking out to this cut.

2011
08/30
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day 25 – a song that makes you laugh

A song that makes me laugh is Sweep The Leg by No More Kings.

A song that makes me laugh is Sweep The Leg by No More Kings.  More to the point, it’s a very fun video.  I personally think it’s a strong fun song with a good hook, but the video–reuniting a lot of Karate Kid cast members always makes me laugh.  The video by the way was written and directed by William Zabka.

2011
08/30
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day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral

A song that I want played at my funeral Make Me Smile by Chicago.

For this I come back to my favorite band Chicago.  I can’t think of a song that would express the sentiments I would want to send from the grave to my family and friends better than Make Me Smile.  Sure it’s a love song, and I think very appropriate.  Because if you care enough to show up at my funeral,  you’re probably someone whose friendship I value and love.   Anyway, this entry is creeping me out, so I’m going to move on now!

2011
08/30
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day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding

A song that I want to play at my wedding is none.  I’m already married.  That said the song Kathy and I played at our wedding was From This Moment On by Shania Twain.

Looking back my wife Kathy would have preferred we chose a song that was more timeless.  Something like Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight.  That would have been cool too.  I’m OK with the Shania Twain song because I think it represents the music of the era when we were courting and when we got married.  For those that are wondering the rest of our wedding music was mostly high energy 80′s pop spun by my buddy Pete who kept the dance floor packed!  The wedding cake was yummy too!

2011
08/30
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day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re sad

A song I listen to when I’m sad is “Yankee Rose” by David Lee Roth

I don’t generally listen to music when I’m sad and want to feel sad.  Music to me is more about being happy.  Celebration.  Fun.   There are songs that lyrically or musically make me sad.  Those are the songs I avoid like the plague when I’m sad because I don’t want to be so sad I’ll bury my head under the covers for a week straight.  There are songs from certain periods of my life that I associate with sad things, but they’re not exactly what I want to listen to when I’m sad.

No, by the time I turn on the radio or start listening to music when I’m sad, it’s to break out of the funk or the sadness.  I think 80′s hair rock does a great job at doing that for me.  And the song that puts me in a better mood almost every time is “Yankee Rose.”  The best is watching the video with the absurd skit at the beginning.  “Gimme a bottle of anything…..and a glazed donut….to go!”   The spanish version of the song works just as well.

2011
07/28
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