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 2010 In Music

Well, I've done all the accounting -- or, to be accurate, iTunes kept track of the totals -- and will reveal shortly my Top 25 Most Played Songs of 2010 (since I've reset the count to zero for the new year). First, I'd like to tell you about my top 10 albums of 2010. The problem with that is...I don't have one. I only bought 16 new albums all year, and if you take out greatest hits collections and albums released before 2010, that number drops to 11 -- and two of those were Christmas albums, so they don't really count.

(By the way, it seems weird to refer to "albums" when vinyl albums as we know it hardly exist anymore. There are music purists who prefer vinyl, thus allowing a certain number of releases in vinyl, but the vast majority of new releases -- and certainly everything I've gotten in at least the last 15-20 years -- are strictly CDs or digital downloads. But it's easier to refer to them as albums.)

Perhaps more will come into my hands in the future, but for now, here are the nine non-Christmas 2010 albums I bought:

Vampire Weekend – Contra
Glee cast - Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
Kele – The Boxer
Scissor Sisters – Night Work
soundtrack – Despicable Me
Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite
Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns
Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. - Record Collection

I will say that, except perhaps for the Linkin Park album,

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 Summer Listening (And Maybe Yours) Part 2

Mmmmmm...deep-fried Oreos: another great idea for summer!

And now, the dramatic conclusion of "Joe's Big-Ass Crazy Summer Playlist!" (Here's Part 1, in case you've forgotten...)

Who's That Girl - Madonna (1987) There are lots of Madonna songs that would feel right for this list, but this was actually a hit during the summer, it has that pop candy feel, and July 11, 1987 was the first time I saw Madonna in concert, as the "Who's That Girl" tour hit the Vet. What vexed me, though, is that when the tour was announced I had read that Bronski Beat was going to be her opening act, but was replaced by Level 42, since the singer who took over when Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat took a powder as well.


My Arms Keep Missing You - Rick Astley  (1987) This is a stretch in that it wasn't released in the U.S. or during the summer, and has no summer-type lyrics. It was the B-side of "When I Fall In Love" (cover of the Nat King Cole song), which was released at the end of 1987 in the UK and was trying to be the "Christmas No. 1" -- it's really a big thing over there. The B-side became a dance hit in Europe, and eventually got radio airplay here the following year. The thing that ties it to summer for me is the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul (which actually didn't begin until September 17). I had this little portable hand-held TV and I would watch the late-night coverage while in bed -- thanks to the time difference a lot of late-night stuff was live -- and listen to music (either a radio or a cassette with my then-favorites, taped from the radio or from my 45s or 12-inch remix singles). This was one that I loved at that time, and eventually bought the 12-inch import (for $7.49 -- I think U.S. 12-inch singles were $2.99 or $3.99 at the time).  Here's a link to listen -- and no, this is not an attempt at RickRolling.

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