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For my own reference, let's see how the top 20 of the past year compares to the year before.

1) Eels (from 9) ^ 8
-rose because I bought
Useless Trinkets and put it on my pc. The sheer number of songs makes it a new favourite for the shuffle. However, I also love this collection. Eels' b-sides are possibly more brilliant gems than the hits, because they're even more quirky, and quirkiness has always been the main strength of E's songwriting.

-I have grown a bit fonder of Eels than I used to be. But in essence not that much has changed. There was simply too little Eels on my pc before.

-Eels will sooner or later be the number one of all time. Unstoppable essentially.

2) The Beatles (from 2) -
-unchanging. The Beatles forever? In a word: yes. I've heard 11-year olds this year discussing whether a song was onRubber Soul or Revolver. Even Elvis seems to be waning in popularity now, and Bob Dylan is still famous but not as famous as he used to be. …

Listing stuff I like makes me smile, so that's what this is! Those preceded by a * are ones that broke my mind in half, and a ~ is indicative that it's my favorite release of the band/artist in question . It starts in 1966 'cause short of maybe some Tom Lehrer and Sam Cooke there isn't much before Revolver that gets many plays from me. Will be updated and altered at whim.


1966
Revolver - The Beatles

1967
Absolutely Free - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Strange Days - The Doors

1968
~* We're Only in It for the Money - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
The Beatles - The Beatles

1969
Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
Abbey Road - The Beatles
~ Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

1970

1971

1972
Sail Away - Randy Newman

1973
Closing Time - Tom Waits
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

1974
Good Old Boys - Randy Newman

1975
…

(music type- Big Band/Swing/Rat Pack type music)
Opened the set with Micheal Buble's 'Song for you' followed by Tony Bennett crooning 'If I ruled the world'. Just to open the night and set a mood. Quickened the pace somewhat with Jelly Roll Morton's classic 'Georgia Swing', some epic modern covers with the Puppini Sisters version of 'Mr Sandman',and more Buble- this time with Nelly Furtado and 'Quando, Quando,Quando'.
The excellent Diana Krall was played next ('Pick yourself up'), followed by Bette Midler andLINDA RONSTAND singing their cheeky version of 'Sisters' and carried on with the great females of big band with some Peggy Lee singing 'I wanna be around'.
Decided it was time for some mambo- so inflicted Earl Grant's groovy 'House of Bamboo', Chuy Reyes and His Orchestra singing the wonderfully silly 'Oink oink Mambo',Dean Martin's 'Mambo Italiano' and Nat King Cole's 'Papa loves mambo'.
Played some more Dean-O with his classic version of 'That's Amore' and more Peggy Lee, with her sultry version of 'Let there be love'. …

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.

1. Sparks (5)
- OMD
- The Associates
- Klaus Nomi
- The Human League
- Ultravox

2. The Shangri-Las (3)
- The Cookies
- The Exciters
- The Dixie Cups

3. The Cars (2)
- Ric Ocasek
- Wang Chung

4. Lesley Gore (6)
- Diane Renay
- Gary Lewis & The Playboys
- The Toys
- Little Peggy March
- Jay & The Americans
- Petula Clark

5. Carpenters (8)
- Karen Carpenter
- Barry Manilow
- Olivia Newton-John
- Captain & Tennille
- Barbra Streisand
- Carly Simon
- Bread
- Helen Reddy

6. Squeeze (5)
- Joe Jackson
- Marshall Crenshaw
- Chris Difford
- Aztec Camera
- Ian Drury & The Blockheads
…

Put your iTunes/Winamp/Windows Media Player/whatever on Shuffle and list the next thirty songs that come up. No cheating to make yourself look cool!


1. Mouthwash // Kate Nash
2. Hugging My Grudge // The Boy Least Likely To
3. Everyday Normal Guy // Jon Lajoie
4. Yummy Down On This // Bloodhound Gang
5. Cold Dark World // Weezer
6. Jeg Snakker Med Mig Selv // Ann-Mette Elten
7. Hjerte Af Is // Malurt
8. Jens Med Fanen // Kinski
9. Groove In the Heart // Dee-Lite
10. One Day At A Time // Yusuf Islam
11. All Around My Hat // Steeleye Span
12. Detlef Schremps // Band of Horses
13. No Water // Bob Matley & The Wailers
14. The Human Hosepipe // Harry and the Potters
15. The Folk Song Army // Tom Lehrer
16. Talking All the Time // Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
17. I Won't Hold You Back // Toto
18. Fantastiske Mandag // Thomas Buttenschøn
19. Mine Your Own Business // Honeybunch
20. It Covers The Hillside Midlake
21. Detresse // Moi dix Mois
22. Louise Siger // Jens Unmack
…

1. What's your favorite song by 14? Red Hot Chilli Pipers
Flower of Scotland.

2. How did you get into 20? Voivod
Introduced to their awesomeness by none other than Calla.

3. Who is your favorite member in 8? Black Sabbath
They're all amazing. Not Bill Ward, his shorts scarred me for life... Tony Iommi then.

4. Whats your favorite lyric bit by 29? KLF
DOCTOR WHO... HEY! DOCTOR WHO. DOCTOR WHO... HEY! DOCTOR WHOOOOoooo. DOCTOR WHO.

5. Have you ever seen 22 live? Iron Maiden
Alas and Alack, nay.

6. What's your favorite album from 10? Wishbone Ash
Argus or Wishbone Ash.

7. Do you own any merchandise from 3? Pink Floyd
Aye, a t-shirt from The Wall. WITH NAZI HAMMERS OF DEATH.

8. What is a good memory you have of 7? Anthrax
Nearly getting run over whilst listening to Among the Living.

9. Is there a member of the same age as you in 2? Rammstein
Ah well, No.

10. When did you first get into 1? Metallica
…

For all top 15 artist, which track:
a) did I hear first
b) made me love the artist
c) is my favourite track of that artist right now

1) Tom Lehrer
a) Wernher Von Braun
b) Send The Marines
c) The Subway Song

2) The Beatles
a) Yesterday
b) Strawberry Fields Forever
c) Lady Madonna

3) Bob Dylan
a) Blowin' in the Wind
b) Blowin' in the Wind
c) Love Minus Zero/No Limit

4) De Mannen van de Radio
a) 3000-Delig Zakmes
b) 3000-Delig Zakmes
c) Oorlog

5) Eels
a) Novocaine For The Soul
b) Last Stop: This Town
c) Dog's Life

6) Dire Straits
a) Telegraph Road
b) Telegraph Road
c) Tunnel of Love

7) Tom Waits
a) Ol' 55
b) Pony
c) The Fall Of Troy

8) Leonard Cohen
a) Suzanne
b) Hallelujah
c) The Stranger Song

9) Dan Bern
a) Chelsea Hotel
b) Jerusalem
c)Albuquerque Lullaby

10) Donovan
a) Universal Soldier
b) Mellow Yellow
c) you know what? I don't really like him right now

11) Hans Teeuwen
…

Yes, I thought I'd have a go at this as well. Why do all the artists I listen to most actually suck? Why is none of them more than a guilty pleasure or a snobby badge of intellectualism?

20) Simon & Garfunkel

Ah, yes. The folk "duo" that got immortalized by making just one good album. "Duo" because it's really just Paul Simon who decided to give his background singer an equal role. Well, officially. In a duet with Joan Baez he actually says "way better than Artie". But that's not because Baez is good, just that Garfunkel is unbelievably bland. And that's basically what Simon & Garfunkel boils down to. Sound of Silence? Heck, compared to that song silence is a rollercoaster ride. John Cage writes more catchy tunes. Bridge Over Troubled water is vaguely obscene, but that's about it. Singing a song slower doesn't make it better, it just makes you zone out.



19) Moxy Früvous

Seriously? Moxy Früvous. …