I got an iPod a few months ago for my birthday, and it maintains a count of how many times a particular music file is played. It even has an automatic playlist of the top 25. So, after about three months of usage (mainly hooked up to my car stereo), here’s what’s in my Top 25. (The number in parentheses is the play count.)
- “Blue” — Angie Hart (33)
Chances are you’ve never heard of Angie Hart. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t even released a full album. But she sings a song that was featured in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Conversations With Dead People,” and I happen to like the song a lot. - “We Belong” — Pat Benatar (22)
This was my favorite song for a while back in the ’80s. I still love it. - “Interludio” — Rondó Veneziano (22)
Most of you have probably never heard of Rondó Veneziano, either. They’re an Italian instrumental group that plays sort of chamber music plus synthesizers and drum machines. - “Jelly Head” — Crush (18)
This is one of those meaningless pop songs that has an infectious beat. - “Stupid Girl” — Garbage (18)
This isn’t even my favorite song by Garbage, but it climbed up the playlist because I only really grew to like it after getting the iPod, so I played it more often. - “Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer’s Day)” — Erasure (15)
Possibly my favorite Erasure song. - “Music Box Dancer” — Frank Mills (14)
For some reason, I’ve liked this piece for over 20 years even though the only place I can really remember hearing it was on commercials for Frank Mills albums. But I didn’t own it until just recently, when I bought an album called “Hard to Find Pop Instrumentals.” - “The Trick Is to Keep Breathing” — Garbage (14)
One of my favorite Garbage songs. - “On and on and On” — ABBA (13)
Another song that I grew to like recently, which is why it ended up high on the list even though there are other ABBA songs I like better. - “The World Is Not Enough” — Garbage (13)
My favorite Garbage song, and the best eponymous movie title song. - “Tanz Brüderchen (Trance Version)” — Hyperactive Featuring Ivan Rebroff (13)
Ivan Rebroff is a singer of Russian folk songs. Hyperactive is (I believe) a German techno band. This song is a techno remix of the Russian folk song “Polyushke Polye,” although this particular track (Trance Version) lacks the Ivan Rebroff singing. I first ran across this music as part of the background music for the flash animation film “A Frightened Boy” by Joel Veitch. - “Giardino Incantato” — Rondó Veneziano (13)
- “We Like To Party (Extended)” — Vengaboys (13)
A song with a relentlessly happy beat. - “Super Trouper” — ABBA (12)
Probably my favorite ABBA song. - “The Day Before You Came” — ABBA (12)
This song is fascinating from a story-telling perspective, because the lyrics are about boring, ordinary life as a prelude. The music continues to build throughout the song, as if it, too, is only a prelude to something far grander. - “Masquerade” — Berlin (12)
This was my favorite song for a while back in the 80s, and I still like it a lot. - “#1 Crush” — Garbage (12)
The crazy stalker song. - “Push It” — Garbage (12)
Can you tell I like Garbage? - “If You Leave” — Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (12)
This was my favorite song when I left on my mission, so it stayed my favorite song for over two years. - “We Used to Be Friends” — The Dandy Warhols (11)
A chopped-up version of this song is the theme to Veronica Mars. - “Hung Up” — Madonna (11)
A good dance song off Madonna’s latest album. It uses a sample from an ABBA song as a background. - “It’s a Sin (Disco Mix)” — Pet Shop Boys (11)
The disco mix of this song improves an already great song. - “Boy (DJ Irene Rockstar Mix)” — Book of Love (10)
This is an interesting remix, which gives the song quite a different sound from the usual Book of Love. It’s up this high mainly because I recently downloaded it from iTunes. - “Lullaby” — Book of Love (10)
My favorite Book of Love song, it was my favorite song for a while back in the late ’80s. - “Bring Me To Life” — Evanescence (10)
I kept hearing this song all over the place, until I finally had to ask my sister Carolyn to identify it for me so I could buy it. (She also identified “#1 Crush” for me.)
So, now I’m resetting the play count on my iPod, and in another few months we’ll see what rises to the top.