Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’m a sucker for traditions and one new birthday tradition I’ve started is making an iMix with a song from every year of my sordid life. Each year I try not to duplicate any songs as obviously I have many favorites from each year. So here’s what I came up with for this time round and a few thoughts on why I chose them:
1973: Frankenstein- Edgar Winter: I bought this song back around Halloween for a party bus mix and instantly fell back in love with it. Not only does the song rock but it’s a perfect instrumental mix opener.
1974: Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe- Barry White: While I’ll admit that I wasn’t in my sexual prime at the age of one, Mr. White’s music has certainly influenced me to become the lover I am today. Roarrrrrr!
1975: Mama Mia- ABBA: I can’t look back on my life and not have an ABBA song. This song brings back memories of tanning on my balcony as a junior in college.
1976: More Then A Feeling- Boston: Not only one of the greatest air guitar songs of all time, but also one of the great sing a longs by a highly underrated band.
1977: Turn to Stone- Electric Light Orchestra: Another underrated band that seems to be going through a Journey like renaissance in pop culture.
1978: Just What I Needed- The Cars: One of the first songs I remember from my parent’s car radio. Circuit City almost ruined this track though.
1979: Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough- Michael Jackson: He’s a freak, he’s a perv, he might be evil but I can’t close the door on his music. This song makes me want to dance ‘til I break my ankle, which I think I’ve done before.
1980: Call Me- Blondie: One great band, one of many amazing songs, one brilliant memory of seeing Debbie perform for free at Taste of Minnesota.
1981: Down Under- Men at Work: Who would’ve guessed Colin Hay would still be around and that Men at Work’s music is less of a joke now then it was back in the 80’s.
1982: 1999- Prince: The song that introduced me to my first case of musical fanaticism. To this day Prince is one of my favorite artists and it all dates back to a song about a date.
1983: Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun- Cyndi Lauper: This one’s a little more audio/visual because a lot of my love for the song stemmed and stems from the great video.
1984: Jump- Van Halen: Despite the craptacular Van Halen incarnations that many people choose to remember with Sammy Hagar or Gary Cherone, I’m strictly a Roth era guy and this song still makes me strut like Diamond Dave himself.
1985: You Spin Me Round- Dead or Alive: Truly a timeless track. It could be released tomorrow and be the number one song in any club in the country.
1986: Walk This Way- Run DMC: Man I hate Aerosmith but I can’t argue with the impact the first rap/rock collaboration made on my musical future.
1987: Never Gonna Give You Up- Rick Astley: My current karaoke weapon of choice and a lost hit from the 80’s brought back to the forefront thanks to Family Guy.
1988: Mr. Brownstone- Gun’s N Roses: I remember listening to this album in 8th grade and feeling like I had discovered something all my own. Plus there was the subversive fun of listening to swear words on your headphones in class.
1989: Wild Thing- Tone Loc: I’ll admit at the time I found this song overplayed and annoying but maybe nostalgia has gotten the better of me as I truly enjoy the raspy musings of Mr. Loc these days.
1990: Poison- Bell Biv DeVoe: This cassette tape was always within reach during my bus rides to my first real job. It foreshadowed my continued love of fluff pop.
1991: Hunger Strike- Temple of the Dog: Yes I know this song wasn’t big until after the whole grunge thing hit but I actually heard this on an indie release from a friend who had his hand on the pulse of music to come. Also introduced me to Nirvana too.
1992: Welcome to Paradise- Green Day: Freshman year of college and an introduction to another band that would stick with me the rest of my life.
1993: Insane in the Brain- Cypress Hill: By no means one of my favorite bands but there are a few tracks that just make me go…well…insane.
1994: Supernova- Liz Phair: Chicks rock…nuff said.
1995: Only Happy When it Rains- Garbage: Chicks rock even hard when uber producer Butch Vig is backing them up.
1996: Lovefool- The Cardigans: Between 90210 and Romeo & Juliet I couldn’t help but have this song burned into my head for the rest of my life.
1997: Hypnotize- Notorious BIG: The greatest rapper ever and one of the best opening tracks on an album, back when people actually listened to albums in order.
1998: Like a Friend- Pulp: One of the most cinematic songs ever. To this day it makes me want to proclaim my love in the rain or run after a moving train.
1999: Guerilla Radio- Rage Against the Machine: Cause even at 34 I still like to throw my fist in the air and testify.
2000: Suckers International Has Gone Public- Dillinger 4: One of my top 5 songs by one of my top 5 bands. Please make more new music you assholes!
2001: Wild Rover- Dropkick Murphys: Okay so the song itself is old because it’s a cover but after seeing these guys live for the umpteenth time a couple of weeks back I can truly say they’ve made it their own.
2002: Get Ur Freak On- Missy Elliott: No she’s not on here cause we share a name (her’s is misspelled by the way), she’s on here because she’s the most gifted female MC of all time and one of my favorites no matter the gender.
2003: Crazy in Love- Beyonce: Try as I might I can’t hate on her music and this first solo track still gets my ass dropping and heart pumping especially Hova’s fill line.
2004: Pain- Jimmy Eat World: A highly underappreciated band (their new album is one of the best of the year) who transcended their emo label and just make great rock and roll like this track.
2005: Helicopter- Bloc Party: This has become the most played track on both my iPods and I can’t give you a definitive reason why. There are no other tracks by the band that I really enjoy, there’s no sing a long ability that often seduces me, there’s just a really great song that reminds me why I love music. How awesome is it that you can play this on Guitar Hero III!
2006: Don’t Cry Out- Shiny Toy Guns: Since I didn’t hear it until 2007 I wasn’t able to name this the best song of 2006 even though it was. The euro pop/disco mix of this band certainly makes me think of some great old music but its still fresh all by itself. Plus it helped endear me to my current lady friend.
2007: Gimme More- Britney Spears: She’s back musically even if the rest of her life spirals downward. This first single really brought her back to relevance at least for a couple of weeks when it declared…”It’s Britney bitch.”
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