Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Music of the 80's and 00's
In my never-ending quest to have both (a) a complete music library and (b) an overly anal music library, I've been busy collecting and rating songs from the 80's, 90's and 00's. I spent months putting together my 90's playlist, which consists mostly of alternative music. (I'm still fine-tuning it because I keep finding songs from the 90's that I completely forgot about.)
I just finished tackling the 80's. I went through every year and listened to the top 100 songs. Then I rated them on a 5-star scale. I'm a tough grader. To be a 5-star song, it has to be one of the best songs I ever heard. That said, I have about 3-400 5-star songs. Still, to be a 5-star song, it has to make me go "Yes!" and maybe even pump my fist in the air. "Love Shack" is a perfect example. (Okay, that's a lame example that just shows that for every "Fabricoh" (by the Archers of Loaf), there's a "Love Shack" or a "Bust a Move.")
1-star songs are equally rare. My rationale for 1-star songs is that they will be the first ones deleted from my iPod (or computer) when I start hitting memory limits. Thus they have to be truly terrible or completely foreign to me. (There are actually quite a few songs from 1980 that I'd never heard of. And there were way too many that I wish I'd never heard in the first place. Which reminds me, why does anybody like Barbara Streisand? What is her appeal? If I live 1000 years, I'll never figure that out.)
I had quite a few dilemmas as I went through the 80's, rating all the songs. There were some songs that I thought should be 1's, but I just didn't have the heart to make them delete-able. I mean, who knows when I'll have a Linda Ronstadt fan over to my house.
When I finished rating 1989, I headed right into 2000. That was quite a culture shock for me. I'm starting to understand why Europeans (who are just now getting music from 1990) have such a hard time adjusting in America. The music could not be more different. In 1989, New Kids on the Block were just taking off. In 2000, 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, and Backstreet Boys ALL had hits. It's enough to make a guy want to hang himself. Shockingly, I've found that I'm being a lot more liberal with my 1's. And sadly, I'm less optimistic about my ratings as I get further into the 00's. I think this might truly be a sign that I'm getting old. That and all the gray hair.
I just finished tackling the 80's. I went through every year and listened to the top 100 songs. Then I rated them on a 5-star scale. I'm a tough grader. To be a 5-star song, it has to be one of the best songs I ever heard. That said, I have about 3-400 5-star songs. Still, to be a 5-star song, it has to make me go "Yes!" and maybe even pump my fist in the air. "Love Shack" is a perfect example. (Okay, that's a lame example that just shows that for every "Fabricoh" (by the Archers of Loaf), there's a "Love Shack" or a "Bust a Move.")
1-star songs are equally rare. My rationale for 1-star songs is that they will be the first ones deleted from my iPod (or computer) when I start hitting memory limits. Thus they have to be truly terrible or completely foreign to me. (There are actually quite a few songs from 1980 that I'd never heard of. And there were way too many that I wish I'd never heard in the first place. Which reminds me, why does anybody like Barbara Streisand? What is her appeal? If I live 1000 years, I'll never figure that out.)
I had quite a few dilemmas as I went through the 80's, rating all the songs. There were some songs that I thought should be 1's, but I just didn't have the heart to make them delete-able. I mean, who knows when I'll have a Linda Ronstadt fan over to my house.
When I finished rating 1989, I headed right into 2000. That was quite a culture shock for me. I'm starting to understand why Europeans (who are just now getting music from 1990) have such a hard time adjusting in America. The music could not be more different. In 1989, New Kids on the Block were just taking off. In 2000, 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, and Backstreet Boys ALL had hits. It's enough to make a guy want to hang himself. Shockingly, I've found that I'm being a lot more liberal with my 1's. And sadly, I'm less optimistic about my ratings as I get further into the 00's. I think this might truly be a sign that I'm getting old. That and all the gray hair.
