Holiday Themed Top Five Number Two

This is the second holiday themed top five, because Christmas day is usually a holiday that supports the birth of Jesus. I made a top five list of songs that in someway mention Jesus, or are about him.

1. His Eye Is On The Sparrow - Marvin Gaye

2. Touch The Hem Of His Garment - Sam Cooke

3. Jesus Gave Me Water - The Soul Stirrers

4. Jesus - The Velvet Underground

5. Jesus Christ - Big Star

Holiday Themed Top Five Number One

Here is the first of two holiday themed top fives. Top five songs about Christmas.

1. Back Door Santa - Clarence Carter

2. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon

3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love

4. Marry Christmas Baby - There are two really good versions so I posted Both - Ray Charles - Otis Redding

5. Christmas In Hollis - Run DMC

What, My List Is Over And It's Not Christmas Yet You Say?

Alright, so I'm doing a late night post. It's kind of in between days so it's like I'm getting two birds with one stone. I don't have a lot to say for this post.

I just want to point out that my list is over and it's not Christmas yet, and that I knew that would happen early on in the list. I might be a CreComm, but I'm not that bad at math. I was only off by a couple of days in my calculation of by how many days I'd be off. So I figure that's pretty decent. For anyone who is not in CreComm, Creative Communications, there is an on going joke in the program that none of us are good a math. Yeah, I know.

Okay, so anyway. I'm gonna do two more top fives one on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas. They will be holiday themed lists.

Getting to the last thing I wanted to have in this post. This old china plate I know from England named Ed recently made a mix CD and asked me to post it on my blog. So there you go. As far as plates go Ed has very good taste in music and has, in the past, made some well put-together mixes. So check it out.

Here's the playlist. It's a direct copy of what he sent me.

1. Sidra's Theme - Ronnie & Robyn
2. The Mexican - Babe Ruth
3. Early Morning - Fontan
4. Time Marches On - Foetus
5. Girls It Ain't Easy - Honey Cone
6. Hung My Head - Johnny Cash
7. Clones (We're All) - Alice Cooper
8. Too Late - Larry Williams & Johnny Watson
9. The Lady Came From Baltimore - Scott Walker
10. Classical Gas - Mason Williams
11. Dead Funny - Archie Bronson Outfit
12. So Sad About Us - The Who
13. You Look Great When I'm Fucked Up - Brian Jonestown Massacre
14. Palaces Of Montezuma - Grinderman
15. This Magic Moment - Loud Reed
16. Monk Time - The Monks
17. Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire

...and the incidental music? you'll have to guess.

I don't know what he means by guessing. Maybe it's something he's recorded.

And, because I didn't fit it into any top fives.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #12 Top Five Songs With A Girl's Name In The Title

Today, Day twelve in the twelve top fives of Christmas, I decided to make the top five list the top five songs with a girl's name in the title. I hope that’s not a let down for anyone. Maybe, some one had their hopes up for some super special top five and all this got was this one. Well I’m sorry; this was really all I could think of this morning. Anyway, here’s the list.

1. Dear Prudence – The Beatles
2. Gloria – Them
3. Mini Skirt Mini – Wilson Picket
4. Visions Of Johanna – Bob Dylan
5. Christine’s Tune (Devil In Disguise) – The Flying Burrito Brothers (Gram Parsons)

I picked these really quickly, because I’m always running out of time. I have to go somewhere soon so I can’t just sit around and blog all day, which I have done in the past while working on this list of top fives. Anyway, I picked them based on badassness and goodness.

1. Dear Prudence: This is my favorite song, that’s how it got to the top of the list. Self-indulgent? Maybe a little.

2. Gloria: this song rocks so hard. I don’t know if I need to say more.

3. Mini Skirt Mini: This song also rocks so hard. It was really a toss up between it and Gloria. I couldn’t decide I put Gloria first because I like that name better.

4. Visions of Johanna: I don’t really know how to describe this one, it’s kind of long but it’s just really well written. It’s a really, really good song.

5. Christine’s Tune: this song is great the guitar sound in it is fantastic. I like it a lot.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #11 Top Five Songs Of A Political Nature

Day eleven. I was thinking about what I should do for today’s list, and last night I decided to make it the top five songs of a political nature. So I thought about it for a bit and this is what I came up with.

1. A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
2. Revolution – The Beatles
3. Only A Pawn In Their Game – Bob Dylan I couldn't Decide Between This and With God On Our Side
4. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield This video is kinda cool, but for the full song.
5. Student Demonstration Time – The Beach Boys

This list might have been a little bit rushed, so I don’t know if it’s the best possible one I could have come up with but I think it’s satisfactory. Maybe I should have had Monk Time on it. That’s political right? Oh and maybe I should have put What's going on? or Mercy Mercy Me on too. Oh well.

And I know Brian Wilson wasn’t a huge fan of Student Demonstration Time and I think I’m correct in saying he didn’t even want it on the album, but I like it. Oh yeah, I think I heard Brain Wilson was coming to town. Just saying.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #10 Top Five Female Vocalists

Alright, so it’s day number ten. I was kind undecided on what to do for today’s top five. I have a few ideas, but I just kept bouncing them around in my head unsure of which to use. I ended up deciding that I should do a top five of female singers since I said I would after the list of male singers. So here’s the list of top five best female vocalists, based on how good I think they are.

1. Aretha Franklin
2. Gladys Knight The sound gets a little weird at the end the that video. It's still good though. I posted this second one mainly because of this guy dancing behind the stage in a blue leisure suit. It's amazing.
3. Martha Reeves
4. Diana Ross
5. Barbara Lynn

That was actually a really tough list to compile. In the end I Had a pretty hard time choosing who should be on the list and who left off, but anyway that’s what I ended up with. Okay, I also just wanted to add Betty Davis, she couldn’t really make the list as far as singers go just based on what I was looking for in my list, but she’s super badass.



In Hindsight I probably should have put her on top front men, on day five. Oh well. Anyway, I’ll have list number eleven tomorrow.

Also, I just thought of this while I was adding the links. For Aretha I used her version of Respect, which is a reply to Otis Redding's Respect which was on his album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. I had known about Aretha's version for years and had first heard it as a young kid. I had kinda of written it off for some reason. Then much later in life I came across Otis's. Once I found his version I was like oh man this is way better than the Aretha version. Sometime after that I heard Aretha's again, and then realized that it's better. It's close, but Aretha's gets the nod, simply because of how badass she comes off in the delivery of her retort. Otis's version is badass. It's just that whenever I listen to Aretha's version I imagine that she was sitting at home one day and Otis's Respect came on the radio. I just imagine her face kinda tightening up and her saying, "Oh no he didn't" then going down to the studio and laying down her version of the track.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #9 Top Five Songs About A Train

Well, it looks like I’m posting top five number nine a little bit later than usual. That’s mainly because I slept in and then went out and watched a movie, but it’s still day number nine. So I might be later than usual, but I’m still not quite late. You know what else usually isn’t late: trains. That’s why today’s list is the top five songs about a train.

1. All Down The Line – The Rolling Stones
2. It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes a Train To Cry – Bob Dylan
3. One After 909 – The Beatles
4. 5:15 – The Who
5. Let It Rock – Chuck Berry

I also decided to list a few of the runners up since there ended up being a couple. These are in no particular order.

• Down Bound Train – Chuck Berry
• Mystery Train – Elvis Presley
• Love In Vain – The Rolling Stones
• Outside the Trains Don’t Run On Time – Gang Of Four
• Night Flight – Led Zeppelin
• Train Round the Bend – The Velvet Underground
• Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 – Wilson Pickett

Okay, I’m going to stop there. There really are a lot of songs about trains. Who would have guessed? I kept some off that could have been on like Midnight Special because it was on another list. Come back tomorrow for list number 10.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #8 "I'm Sorry Baby I'll Never Do It Again" The Top Five Songs Asking For Forgiveness

Alright, so yesterday we had our mid-list crisis, and we ended up going out and doing something bad. Now it’s the next day and we’re in trouble. So because of that, today’s top five, number eight in the twelve top fives of Christmas, is the top fives songs asking your wife or girlfriend for forgiveness and or trying to get them back if they’ve left. Wow, that’s a bit of a mouthful.

1. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg – The Temptations
2. Give Me Another Chance – Big Star
3. Good Bye My Love (Parts 1 & 2) – James Brown
4. Everybody Makes A Mistake – Otis Redding so this is another one that I couldn't find online, I'm gonna have to figure out some way to get the files uploaded or linked or something.
5. You Like Me Too Much – The Beatles

Okay, so that’s my list, I don’t really think these ones need too much explanation. I’ll be back tomorrow for day number nine.

Also I figured I'd link I Need You as a runner up and just for fun.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #7: Top Five Songs About Being A Badass

Well, it’s day number seven in the twelve top fives of Christmas. I’m starting to feel like I’m having a bit of a mid list crisis so I figured the best thing to do would be to have a top five most badass songs. These songs are first and foremost about being a badass. The basic idea is “I’m a badass and I gotta tell everyone, so here’s my song.” This kind of song is one of my favorites so here’s my list: top five songs about being a badass.

1. Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones (Here's a live version.)
2. Search and Destroy – Iggy and The Stooges (Live)
3. It’s Hard to be a Saint in The City – Bruce Springsteen
4. A Man and A Half – Wilson Pickett I couldn't find an online version of this one. I know I have found one before so I don't know what happened to it. I tried to upload an audio file of it but it didn't work. I have to go, so I'll try it again later when have time.
5. Whore Hoppin’ – The Eagles of Death Metal (Live)

Okay, so this list was pretty tough. I had a hard time deciding where each song should go. They are all pretty much on equal playing field. This is how I decided.
I put sympathy first, because, really when it comes down to it, what can be more badass than outright declaring that you are the devil and not just out right declaring, but making people guess for the first half of the song. It’s a game just like the devil would play. You can’t really get more badass than that. Once in 1969, I believe, A guy was even murdered while the band played this song. That's Badass. Needless to say the Stones stopped preforming the song Live. It wasn't until recently that it once again added to their set list.

Search and Destroy made it a close number two simply because the delivery and conviction of Iggy’s performance, as well as the accompanying guitar solo. You really believe the desperation. He really needs someone to save his soul.

It’s Hard to be a Saint came in at number three, because I think the writing in this song is amazing. “I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra. I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova. I could walk like Brando right into the sun, dance just like a Casanova.” That is a badass list. Damn. A supernova is when a star dies. That’s a big explosion. It’s hard to deny how badass that is. This song paints a picture of what life in Jersey was like in the early 70s. Back before the guys all just did sit up all day and the girls punched each other in the eyes for breakfast.

Number four, Wilson Picketr - A Man and A Half. This really could have been number one. A song telling all the ladies that you’re packing a little bit extra. He’s not just a man, he’s a man and a half, and every other man envies him for it. This song is fantastic. It’s only number four because of how close the list competition was and based on the logic I was trying to use I couldn’t really put it any higher.

Whore Hoppin’, number five. This song is great fun. It’s about being a badass picking up girls, and being related to the devil. “I can’t lose, cause I’m the devils favorite son.” That’s pretty damn badass. This song is about being a man.

There are some other songs that probably could have made the list too.

The Yardbirds – I’m a Man. Clarence Carter – Looking for a Fox.

Anyway, I’ll be back tomorrow with list number eight.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #6: Top Five Songs About Jail

Day number six, it’s the half way mark. So in trying to keep up with trying to relate each of my top fives to the corresponding lyric of the song, I tried to come up with a few ideas for geese laying eggs. I thought about trying to do a list of best catalogues or best one hit wonders or notably bad songs by bands that normally put out good stuff, but in the end I decided I didn’t like any of those ideas. So I just abandoned it for now. I decided to do the top 5 songs about being in jail.

1. The Midnight Special – Lead Belly (The CCR version is better known so I’m linking both.)
2. Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
3. Borstal Boys – The Faces
4. Care of Cell 44 – The Zombies
5. Jailbreak – Thin Lizzy

Care of Cell 44 more about knowing someone in jail and Jailbreak is about breaking out of jail, but I still counted them.

Five Of Twelve: Five Golden Gods

Today is day number five in my holiday extravaganza that is the twelve top fives of Christmas. Today’s top five is the five golden gods. For this list I’m basically using two criteria. The first part is best front man, and the second is best dancer. So those who make the best of these two criteria combined, are going to be making the list.

1. James Brown
2. Mick Jagger
3. Michael Jackson
4. Elvis Presley
5. Wilson Picket

So again it’s about the two criteria combined, that’s why even though Michal was a better dancer then Mick, Mick is still higher up.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Christmas #4 Top Five Smooth Voices

I went to sleep last night, and woke up this morning, which means only one thing. Today is day number four in the twelve top fives of Christmas. Yesterday, while I was working on coming up with my top five, I received a suggestion. It was simple. I should try to relate all of my lists to the lyric to the song the twelve days of Christmas. I had planed to do that with day number five. You’ll see what I mean tomorrow. Anyway, I decided that I would give it a try. I don’t know if I’ll keep it up for all of the remaining days, and that’s just because I don’t know if I’ll be able to make a connection from the lyric to the list every time. There are also a few lists I already have planned and I’m going to use those ones even if I can’t make a connection. Okay, so I better get to the list. Because day four is four song birds singing I decided to make the list the top five smoothest male singing voices. I picking only male voices because that narrows it down a bit. I’ll try to fit female voices in somewhere later on. Anyway, here it is the top five smoothest male singing voices.

1. Sam Cooke
2. Marvin Gaye
3. Smokey Robinson
4. Morrissey
5. Gram Parsons

I know it’s kind of harder to do just names, so I’ll try not to do it too much. I just picked random songs to put with them. Basically, what I was looking for in the smoothest voices was just for lack of a better word smoothness. Comment and let me know what you think. Who do you think should make this list? What’s your top five? I thought of putting Michael Jackson on this list, but in the end I didn’t his voice is pretty smooth. Well, don’t worry Mike, there’s still quite a few top fives left.

Day #3 Top 5 Songs Driven By A Guitar Solo

It’s time for the third top five of Christmas. Today, I’m doing top five songs driven by a guitar solo. So the criteria break down I’m going to use is this. The song has to driven by a guitar solo and it has to be long. For this list I’m saying longer than seven minutes, and that’s on the studio release. No live versions. I almost made it upwards of ten minutes, but I decided there were some in the seven minute range that I deserved to be on this list. Because of this a lot of great solos are getting over looked by this list, but I do still have nine list to go, so don’t fret. I’m planning on doing a best guitar solos ever recorded. Also you may have noticed I only do one band or artist per list. So even if that band has two or three really good ones I only pick their best and the other spots go to another of the same caliber. Anyway, I’ll get to the list now.

1. Cow Girl In The Sand – Neil Young
2. Maggot Brain – Funkadelic
3. Oh Sweet Nuthin’ – The Velvet Underground
4. Little Johnny Jewel (Parts 1 & 2) – Television
5. Five Long Years – Buddy Guy

That’s my list. I know, I know. There are a lot of others that could have made it. Like Voodoo Chile. The fifteen minute one off of Electric Lady Land. I even thought about using Since I’ve Been Loving You, but like I told you, I just had to tell myself. There will be other top fives.

The Twelve Top Fives Of Chirstmas #2: Top Five Songs About A Car

Today an idea came to me. It’s directly related to the top five I posted yesterday. I can’t really explain how the idea popped into my head. One minute I was writing text messages to the tune to The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll and the next the idea was there, bouncing around my head. It a simple idea, and for the most part a silly idea, I thought I should do another top five. And then, I thought well I can’t just start doing top fives that has no purpose, but then I thought, wait, I can make a theme. I’ll do the twelve top fives of Christmas. So that’s my idea. And here’s top five number two: top five songs about a car.

1. Road Runner – The Modern Lovers
2. Thunder Express – The MC5
3. You Can’t Catch Me – Chuck Berry
4. Ramrod – Bruce Springsteen
5. Little Duce Coupe – The Beach boys


I tried to keep it songs about cars that involved driving the cars. It was actually kind of tough. There were a few songs that mentioned cars that I would have liked to have used but I just didn’t think they were enough about the car. Anyway, anyone who wants to should post their suggestions like on the last top five.

Top 5 Sad Songs

Holy smokes, it’s my last blog post of the term. Wow, that went by fast. Okay, so I need to keep this one short. I can’t go over 200 words. I don’t have enough short ones for the assignment. Okay, that doesn’t matter to anyone but me, so I’ll get on track.

I planed to do a top five of the saddest songs for this post, but because of other assignments and deadlines I some how managed to neglect the idea enough that I don’t think I’ll be happy with the finished product, so I’ll probably amend it in the future. Anyone who wants to should post their own top five or just suggest songs they think should be on it. Here’s what I have.

1. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll – Bob Dylan
2. Slim Slow Slider – Van Morrison
3. Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing – Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young)
4. Atlantic City – Bruce Springsteen
5. Everybody’s Been Burned – The Byrds

Like I said, I might amend this one, and I am. I won't change the list, but this should have been number one. I don't know how it slipped my mind.

The Replacements - You're Getting Married

PS. Don't mind the name of the youtube video. They got it wrong, but it had the best audio. Also the version on the CD I have is better and sounds sadder, just saying.

I Digress

Well, I’ve been a bit off topic for the last couple of posts. This is because I was trying to get all caught up on assignments and I wanted to get all of my blog assignments out of the way, before they were due. I’ve really been neglecting the blog over all though for the past few weeks, and it’s really just because I’ve been so busy with school work, I never seem to be able to find the time to sit down and blog.

I’m gonna get back on track, back on topic and back to where I belong (groan). I’m trying to fill my quota of short blog posts so I’m gonna try to keep this one short.

I figure since this is about the sound track of my life, I’ll talk about what has been dominating my playlist lately. Mainly I’ve been listening to a lot of things; I’ve had my iPhone on shuffle. Marvin Gaye is on the list of artists that come up frequently, the song that stands out is called His Eye is on the Sparrow. Today, I stopped on the Faces and Rod Stewart as well. One song that has been stuck in my head for a few weeks now is a song called, She by Gram Parsons. I’m trying to keep this a short post so I’ll stop here. I do want to follow up with another post about Gram Parsons at some point though. So watch for that.