My 2012 In Music

Last year at this time I was lamenting the lack of new music (as in, new in 2011 or new to me) added to my iTunes library. I figured that 2012 would be better since I had gone back to work. Since May I've been out of work but at least I got some unemployment out of it. So, indeed, my 2012 acquisitions are up. (A note, which is mainly for my own reference: the figures below include a couple of CDs I got during 2012 but only got around to adding to my iTunes tonight, so I need to remember for next year's wrapup not to include them again.)

I added 567 tracks to my collection by my count (it's a complicated story but I may be off by one or two because of duplicates), compared to 271 last year. Christmas music comprised 26 of those 567 songs. There were a lot of downloads of individual songs, as well as the first song in my next project - converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format. I have maybe a few dozen 45s and many more 12-inch dance remixes, probably in the hundreds. I'm so excited about this.

Beyond that, I got some free downloaded samplers and mixtapes (which is such an odd term to use for mp3 downloads, but...):

Will Sheridan – G.I.A.N.T. Sampler
DJ ShyBoy presents the RuPaul Mixtape (RuPaul songs mashed up with other songs)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 2: The Mixtape
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 3: The Mixtape
Dangerous Muse – Red
Slaves to the Rhythm – Pride 2011 Sampler

And then there were the albums that were released prior to 2012:

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
Discovery – LP
Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Jody Watley – Midnight Lounge
Paul McCartney – All The Best
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money
Elton John – Rocket Man - Number Ones
Steely Dan – The Definitive Collection
The Gap Band – The 12” Collection and More
Nona Hendryx – Nona (as I mentioned here, the first full-length album I transferred from vinyl to mp3)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream-The Complete Confection (this is the re-released version with bonus tracks -- the original was out in 2010 so I don't feel right counting it as a 2012 album)

In 2011 I got only four albums that were actually

Summer Playlist Update

For reference, here's a link with links to the other posts on the topic. I've made a few more additions to my big ol' summer playlist, including "I Wish" by Skee-Lo that I previously mentioned. In addition I added James Brown's "Living In America," which is really more of a July 4th song. (Which reminds me, I'm overdue for a post with some pics I took on the 4th during my ice cream dream day.) And I suddenly remembered Erasure's version of Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot" from the "Red Hot + Blue" Porter tribute, so that's on the list.

Finally, it seems that a Kelly Rowland song is becoming a tradition. Instead of David Guetta, this year she collaborated with another DJ/producer, Alex Gaudino, for "What a Feeling" (not the "Flashdance" song), which was released in the spring but I somehow neglected to hear until recently...



We're up to 105 songs total, and I still want to add more. Suggestions welcome, particularly for 2011 music. And do I add Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" or some other song from her album?

My Summer Playlist Needs 2011 Additions

Welcome to summer, even if it's actually going down to the low 50s tonight (after we just had a heat wave end). That means it's time to start listening to my playlist of summer music. You may remember from my posts last year that I have some rules, and each song has to adhere to at least one of them. First and foremost, they include only songs that are in my iTunes library. In addition, they either had to be released during the summer, be popular during the summer, have a title and/or lyrics referring to summer, sun, heat, etc., just sound summery, or I identify them with summer in my mind for some reason.

To refresh your memory, here are my original posts: Part 1 and Part 2 are the original list, and here's my followup that gave me an even 100. Sometime after that, I actually added a 101st song: a track from the "Despicable Me" soundtrack called "Fun, Fun, Fun" by Pharrell Williams.

With a new summer upon us, I'd love to add more songs. Suggestions for songs from the past that aren't on my list are welcome. (I thought I had some comments on those posts that gave me some possible additions, but nothing's there.) I also have to decide what 2011 releases can go on the list. The last two years featured collaborations by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta ("When Love Takes Over" and "Commander") so perhaps I need to find out what Kelly and/or David have got for me for this year. There are certainly some tracks from the new Lady Gaga album that will go on, although I'm not sure which ones just yet.

This is your chance to sell me on some artists and/or songs that you think would be ideal for my summer playlist. I thank you in advance. (That's Mark Salling of "Glee" in the photo above, by the way. A nice summery photo, don't you think?)

My Summer 2010 Song (So Far)

Last year it was "When Love Takes Over." Now Kelly Rowland and David Guetta may have provided me with my song of the summer for the second year in a row, with "Commander." Right now I command you to...DANCE!



It's been added to my summer playlist on my iPod already.

My iTunes Top 25 for 6-6-10

Since I just synced my iPod with my most recent downloads into iTunes, I thought I'd share my Top 25 most played tracks so far in 2010, with total plays for each (I cleared the totals at the start of the year.) Still clinging to the top for now is the song used in "Ugly Betty" during the scene where Justin first kisses his boyfriend. I'm not playing it much lately, so it surely will be dethroned. Also, there seems to be lots of Lady Gaga. Actually, there are six CDs with multiple songs on the list -- 20 of the 25 songs come from those six CDs. (This also kind of indicates that I could use some more new music. I haven't bought many new albums recently.)

Valium In The Sunshine - Maps 64
Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)- Lady Gaga 61
Meet Me Halfway - Black Eyed Peas 53
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga 53
Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend 46
Bad Romance (Rauhofer Anthem) - Lady Gaga 41
Cousins - Vampire Weekend 39
A Beautiful Mine - RJD2 38
Dance In The Dark - Lady Gaga 37
Poker Face - Lady Gaga 34
Sure Fire Winners - Adam Lambert 33
Vogue - Glee Cast 33
Paparazzi - Lady Gaga 32
Celebration - Madonna 31
If I Had You - Adam Lambert 29
When Love Takes Over (Featuring Kelly Rowland) - David Guetta 28
For Your Entertainment - Adam Lambert 24
Sexy Bitch (Featuring Akon) - David Guetta 24
Missing You (Featuring Novel) - David Guetta 24
4 Minutes - Glee Cast 24
Alejandro - Lady Gaga 24
Monster - Lady Gaga 24
So Happy I Could Die - Lady Gaga 24
Teeth - Lady Gaga 24
Memories (Featuring Kid Cudi) - David Guetta 23