SONG #28: Vigilantes of Love - Skin

Inducted on December 2, 2014

Younger Millenials would be confused with my last entry when I mentioned the BMG Music Club. Back when music was on a round shiny thing called a CD, you could be part of these mail order clubs that sent you CDs. They'd hook you in with a mailing that said you could get 5 CDs for 1 penny each, but when you looked at the fine print you'd find that you'd have to buy 2 or 3 more at regular club price (within the next year or whatever it was). As you could probably guess, regular club price was ridiculous.. somewhere between $19-$25 per cd. It still worked out to be a pretty good deal, but after a while you'd find that their selection wasn't the greatest. There was definitely some music you'd recognize, but then there was a whole bunch of "say what??" albums. Each listing only had a short paragraph describing the album. Well, there wasn't a whole lot available in the Christian music section, so I took a flyer on this album and band, having no idea what they were about.

When I first listened to the album I was blown away. It wasn't my typical style of music. Guitar-driven Americana Rock was not something I was really into. Additionally, his voice really threw me off at first. After a few listens, though, I was pretty hooked.The music was catchy, but it

Back in 2006, Paste Magazine ranked the top 100 living songwriters, and Mallonee came in 65th (higher than Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, and Fleetwood Mac!). That's quite an honor.. one that truly reflects the depth of Mallonnee's talent. I don't think you can find a better example of this than with "Skin". Personally I'd call this song Mallonee's best work. It's all about Vincent Van Gogh.
Now I haven't quite figured out if it's fatalistic, hopeful, or a little of both. Regardless, it screams of depth both lyrically and musically.

"Sometimes you can't please everyone
Sometimes you can't please anyone at all
Sew your heart onto your sleeve
and wait for the ax to fall."

What I love:
- The pedal steel guitar parts.
- The line "When talking about sin and redemption, you better wear your thickest skin".
- The closing instrumental part, around 45-50 seconds long.

SONG #27: Scatman John - Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)

Inducted on November 9, 2014

"Trance Hits Volume 2" is not the first dance compilation I ever got. No, that would be "Club Cutz" in the Mid-90s. I can't remember if I got it from the BMG music club, or if it was from a store, but this album was significant in helping to shape my musical interests for a long time. I believe I bought the album for "The Macarena", as it was incredibly popular at the time. However, by the time I listened through Club Cutz a few times, The Macarena was the one of the last of the songs that I'd listen to.

When I put the CD in for the first time and hit play, the first thing I heard was something I had never heard before. "Sca-ba-da-ba-doo-be-dobalkbeaoidhoaeijdoeijaodijeoaij". Okay, that's not exactly how it goes, but I was not familiar with "scat singing" and I definitely hadn't heard it layered over a dance beat. I remember playing this song for people, including my friend Andy, and asking if the singing was the real deal or if it was computerized somehow. I just couldn't understand how somebody could make those sounds with their voice.

The song is typical of 90's dance songs - a lot of repetition in the chorus, a lot of synth, and a punchy beat with fake claps. What sets this song apart is the scatting, and the fact that it's an older man singing (Although, it was older men who sang the Macarena, too). Once I dug deeper and learned about the man, Scatman John Larkin, this song's theme resonated even louder for me. Larkin was a stutterer from his childhood. This led him to seek solace through alchohol. However, the very thing he considered to be a weakness became his strength. His stuttering allowed him to vocalize in ways that other people cannot. This eventually led to his all too short career in Dance Music (he passed away shortly after finding success). After learning his story, his point of view had more impact, and his words "As a matter of fact, don't let nothing hold you back, if the Scatman can do it, brother so can you" gave me a lot of hope in high school.

For some reason I associate this song with bandcamp, although I don't have anyy specific memories about it. Anyway, later on in college, in the age of Napster, I rediscovered Scatman to my roommate Miah's chagrin. Sorry Miah.

http://www.amazon.com/Club-Cutz-Various-Artists/dp/B000002WV7

SONG #26: Darude - Feel The Beat

Inducted on October 1, 2014

I don't know where I picked it up, but I ended up getting this album called "Trance Party Volume 2".
It became my saving grace when I moved to Adrian for my first ministry position at St. John's and started training (half-heartedly) to run a marathon. Like many of my goals (just being honest) the marathon never happened, but I was running pretty consistently for a large part of my four-year stay in Adrian. The whole album is fantastic from the Bryan Adam's cover "Heaven" (DJ Sammy) to "I See Right Through To You" (DJ Encore).. and many more. They were all good, but I found that I always seemed to get a very tangible pick-me-up whenever I got to track 7 and  voice belting out "I can feel the beat, feel the beat, feel the beat". That song gave me an incredible adrenaline rush, and I'd often use that song to break into a full sprint.

When I was in college, I actually loved another song by Darude called "Sandstorm". It was popular for a small period of time, and it shares many similar elements with Feel the Beat. But "Feel the Beat" is the song that makes it into the Hall of Fame because of the connection to Adrian and my running hobby.

Dance/Trance music has always resonated with me. I love the constant beat that moves the music forward, the frequent use of synthesizers, and the dramatic flare that the singers generally have with this particular genre. In my next entry, you'll hear a little more about how my love for dance music started.

(Link to Trance Party, Volume 2)http://www.amazon.com/Trance-Party-Volume-VARIOUS-ARTISTS/dp/B000068FVK

SONG #25: a-ha - Take On Me

Inducted on September 13, 2014

Some songs need no explanation. While this isn't a "universal" song, anyone with an affinity for the '80s knows this song, as well as the award winning video. I actually don't have a whole lot to share about this song. No major memories, although I'm sure I watched the video over 4-5 dozen times on VH1 when I was younger. I was blown away by how they did the video.

What I like:
- The lyrical inversion in the refrain - "Take on me.. Take me on... I'll be gone.."
- The opening synth hook is timeless..
- Morten Harket (lead singer) starting low on the refrain and then building to his falsetto.

I love 80's music. A-Ha may technically be a one-hit wonder in America, but their one hit truly reflected everything good about their era of music. And I'm actually listening to their new album "Cast in Steel".. not bad at all.

SONG #24: Linkin Park - In the End

Inducted on August 2, 2014

My good friend and former college roommate Miah has been a huge influence on me musically. He's thrown out many recommendations over the years. I remember specifically giving me a heads up on this new band called "Linkin Park". Well, he nailed that one. Their album Hybrid Theory was the best selling debut album of the 2000s, and in my book one of the best albums I've heard from top to bottom.

"One Step Closer" and "Crawling" we're the other songs I truly loved from this album, but "In the End" had everything I liked in a song during my college years. A little piano hook at the beginning, a cool beat, great vocals, and lyrics that kind of fed into the "coming of age" experiences I had at college. I was a junior at the time, coming off my summer experience at Focus on the Family. My first ever relationship had officially ended for good that summer, and I was struggling to move onto whatever was "next" for my life. I started my junior field work, which was another challenge in my life.

Long story short:
All of my life I have HATED making phone calls. Lol. In hindsight maybe that's why I didn't cultivate many friendships in junior high/high school. I even hated it when my parents would ask me to do things like call the pizza place and order a pizza (you'd think I would have enjoyed that more since I'm obsessed with pizza). Well, for my first semester junior year project, I was supposed to call up local churches and rally support for my internship site. I would spend an hour before each phone call. My hands would shake, and I would practice each call over and over and over again. The funny thing is, when I actually would dial the digits, I'd usually get a voicemail. I don't know how I passed that internship... I was terrible. You could definitely say God used the experience to stretch me, but I probably could have used more stretching in that area.

What does that have to do with this song? HA! I trolled you. Nothing. When I was initially recalling this story I was pretty sure that I'd come back to campus and listen to this song, but the timeline doesn't matchup. That's the crazy thing about memories. Anyway, this is the type of song I'd listen to when I felt pretty much like a failure at that internship site. Lol. Oh well. At least the entry is nice and long.

So yeah, the song.. It's one of my faves. I'll just leave it at that.
You'll see a few more Linkin Park songs on the list as we move along. Thanks Miah.

Do you remember this song? Do you like it? Any Linkin Park fans out there?

SONG #23: Fastball - Out of My Head

Inducted on July 2, 2014

Did I mention I'm a sucker for anything with piano in it? Yes? No? Well, I am. Now throw in a Hammond organ and a catchy chorus and you're basically guaranteeing your spot in my Hall of Fame. While Fastball is more famous for "The Way", I enjoy this song so much more. It's got sort of a gospel feel to it (mainly because of the Hammond), I also love the economics of this song. Say what?? Well, it only has one verse and it's a whopping 2 1/2 minutes long. Now, most of the time you want a catchy song to last forever, but the shortness of this song truly plays in its favor. This song seems to be an apology, and shouldn't our apologies be short and sweet?   "Don't matter what I say, only what I do, I never mean to do bad things to you..".

Other things I like:
- The guitar solo is simple by poignant.
- The backup harmony on the last chorus.
- The ending chords.

Again.. I wouldn't say there are a lot of memories attached to this song, Scratch that. I went with a friend from Ann Arbor to Pierre's in Fort Wayne to see Collective Soul & Fastball play together. I had never been to a club before so that's where I learned there was such a thing as jello shots.. oh you sheltered Concordia student, you (not really). Anyway, it was a good time to connect with one of my few friends from high school, and I got to hear two of my favorite bands at the same time.

Do you remember this song? If not, take a listen - do you like it?

SONG #22: Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Inducted on June 5, 2014

I'm playing catchup, and hopefully will get to the point where I'm writing an entry on the day that I actually induct a song. But as of now the Hall of Fame has 42 songs in it, so I'm 20 behind. No worries.. I'm plugging along. Anyway, of the 42 songs inducted.. only three bands have more than one Hall of Fame song. I think that's an indicator of my love for such a wide variety of artists and genres.

"Viva La Vida" is Coldplay's second song in my list and by the time I take my last breath, they'll probably have 4-6 songs on the list. I have a strong connection to their music.. as do so many other people. They are my generation's U2, both in style and scope (I'm sure some U2 fans are thinking "not even close", but hey it's my blog.. I can make whatever comparisons I want to make!).

Anyway, this song is catchy from the opening hook to the final, haunting "ooohs" (which I don't believe are on the radio edit). The rhythm to start the song sucks you in, and quickly moves you to the opening lyric "I used to rullllle the world"..

While the music is fantastic, I think the real shining point of this song is the story it tells. I was never very good at interpreting poetry, and sometimes music lyrics can have the same effect on me. But with this song, it doesn't take more than a listen or two to come up with a strong interpretation of what's happening. A "king" (real or figurative) has lost his kingdom, and he's reminiscing what he had and mourning(?) what he's lost. The "king" could have been a real jerk but as the listening I can empathize with losing something that you once had. Great concept here.

I don't have any particular memories about this song, although it was released during the summer we bought our house, and I remember getting excited every time I heard it.

By the way, the church bell in the refrain of this song may very well be the best use of non-drum percussion since "Don't Fear the Reaper's" cowbell.

SONG #21: The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight

Inducted on May 8, 2014

Another High School/College song, this first came out in 1996, similarly to "A Long December". I've got to confess, the first thing that hooked me in was the music video. The mid-90's was truly a glory-period for MTV, and the video for this song is one of the best of that era. Every good video reflects the spirit and themes of the song, and they pulled off with this one.

As for the song itself, the music is like something from the movies, with its beautiful opening arrangement. Then it transitions with the simple guitar and drum clicks, only to build back up again later. Although some may say Corgan's voice is grating, I think this song shows his versatility. He knows when to amp up the angst and when to lay back. Combine this with the "beautiful" arrangement (more on that in a minute), and you've got a unique blend of sounds.

This was another song that I listened to a lot in college. Just like a particular scent will take you back to a specific moment in time, this song takes me back to an infamous weekend during my freshman (?) year at college. A few friends were going to Toronto for the weekend and a space had opened up so they invited me to come along. You have to understand that awkward people are always playing "catch-up" with everybody else. I didn't have any experience taking a trip like this, and so my social anxiety was flaring up to a hot 450 degrees. I WANTED to go, of course, but I was so concerned about what they thought of me, and how I would act, etc. etc. So, in the end, I ignored the "you only live once" advice I got from other people when I started college and I faked an illness. I realize how that only continued the process of being socially stunted, but the anxiety was overwhelming at the moment.

Anyway, the entire weekend I sulked in my room, and I remember this song being in heavy rotation. Talk about fueling the drama.. I'm not sure if a song can be any more dramatic.

Take away the personal connection I have to the song - from just a musical prespective, it is one of the most "beautiful" rock songs I've heard. I'm not sure if they would take it as a compliment, but I certainly mean it as such.

SONG #20: Counting Crows - A Long December

Inducted on May 8, 2014

I'll be honest.. "Mr. Jones" really didn't do much for me. It was a smash hit with constant airplay on the local radio stations, but I was pretty ambivalent to the song and the band. Then they released their next album with this song on it, and I was instantly hooked.

This fits the profile of the type of song I liked in high school and college.. melancholy with a twist of hope:
                        "A long december and there's reason to believe,
                          maybe this year will be better than the last"

Like I've mentioned with previous songs, high school was not my favorite stretch of time. I was still figuring out who I was, and I didn't really connect with a whole lot of the people around me. So many of my hours were spent in front of the television. I can't count the number of times I heard the song / watched the video.

Obviously I love the use of the piano, as well as Adam Duritz lazy vocal style, and the "Na, Na, Na, Na, yeeeeaah" parts.