PLAYLISTS—I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to work this, but here’s a start. This is the as yet incomplete playlist of eclectic rock/pop I listen to as I’m writing. I’ll add my Classical music playlists in due time.
My aim here is to offer you some of the music that I listen to as I write. Some of it is referenced in “Karen and Laci”, but not all. (I’m trying to find a reader kind enough to volunteer to go through the entirety of K&L and list all of the song/musical works referenced in the story, which I can then turn into a master list, complete with comments on why I used it -- There are clues in them thar songs. So far, no one has stepped up, and I’m not actually foolish enough to think anyone will.) There’s no larger point to the project, just something to work on when I need a break from the story, or I’m wrestling with Writer’s Block (Trust me, it’s a real phenomenon, one I know only too well).
I absolutely LOATHE iTunes and I will not use it – or any other Apple app (IMO Apple is overrated garbage pumped out by an organization with an outstanding PR department). That doesn’t leave many options. The easiest is Windows Media Player, which is fine for basic organizing and playing, but it doesn’t have a way to export the contents of a playlist to an Excel or Word file. There’s a way, but it involves fooling around with stuff from the C:\ prompt, and I’m not about to touch that with a 49 ½ foot pole.
I’m giving Media Monkey a try. It’ll export an incomplete listing to Excel, but again, it’s incomplete. Plus, the interface is incredibly busy and over-detailed. It isn’t really meant for casual listeners, but it does do a good job of playing the music once you figure out the basics.
The only other option I have is manually entering the titles, and that my friends is a tedious task I don’t relish. SO, for the time being, the list is going to remain a work in progress. In time, I’ll do a different page for my Classical Music playlists. I’m adding comments to some of the titles, but not all, just thoughts that come to mind when pondering the song(s) in question.
So for now, here’s the start of my basic Pop/Rock playlist. I’m giving it the same title I’ve given the actual playlist, which is…
Basic Writing Pop/Rock
A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran --This is one of those songs from my teen years. Readers around my age will probably remember the MTV video of this song, and the singer with the bizarre hairdo. It’s actually not a bad song, with lyrics that are actually fairly intelligent.
Abba – Waterloo -- What can I say? It’s a guilty pleasure
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat -- I love the imagery of this song’s lyrics – they create such a vivid picture in my head. The opening few lines, “On a morning from a Bogart movie/In a country where they turn back time/You go strolling through the crowd/Like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime,” draws a crystal clear mental image. I absolutely love the similie in the lines “She comes out of the sun in silk dress/Running like a water color in the rain” that, too me, is nothing short of brilliant. I can only dream of having the skill to come up with such a wonderful bit of imagery. I was so impressed, I used it in Chapter 13. I think Al Stewart is a much better lyricist and singer than he’s given credit for.
Aldo Nova – Fantasy – This is another of those songs from my youth. I’d forgotten all about it until I stumbled across it searching for something else on YouTube. It brought back warm memories. It’s an outstanding example of the hard, techno-rock so popular in the 80’s.
Badfinger- Baby Blue
Badfinger - Day After Day
Beastie Boys – You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party – This came out in my senior year of high school, so of course it became our party anthem. I still like its hard, driving sound.
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire
Blue Oyster Cult -- Godzilla -- BOC did some really good stuff besides their bigggie, “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” The “Godzilla” movies were before my time, but you could still catch them on the late night Creature Double Features. The song is a bit cheesy, but I like it anyway
Blue Öyster Cult- Don't Fear the Reaper
Buggles - Video killed the radio star
Cheap Trick - Surrender (At Budokan)
Cheap Trick- I Want you to want me
Def Leppard - Photograph
Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me
Def Leppard - Rock of Ages – I’ve been a fan of Def Leppard since I first heard them. This was party music for me in high school. Your humble authoress was known to toss back her share of red Solo cups filled with adult beverages, and smoke both legal and extralegal substances. Those were the days when, for better or worse, keg parties were just a normal part of the teenage experience. As long as we showed up in school sober on Monday, no harm, no foul.
Devo - Whip It – Bizarre song that just sticks in my head. Very techno mindlessness.
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
ELO - Roll Over Beethoven – given my love of Beethoven, how could I not like this song? I’m not an especially big fan of ELO except for this song. The opening is actually a pretty creditable take on the first few bars of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. I like the Chuck Berry and Beatles versions, but not as much as this one.
Elton John –
Levon
– Bernie Taupin, this song’s writer, was known as one of the best pop rock lyricists of the 70s and 80s. This song was released long before I even entered elementary school, but I’ve liked it ever since I first heard it. Elton John was still at the top of his game when I came of age. If you want to have a taste of one of the alternate life-options Laci may have followed, listen to “All The Young Girls Love Alice.” It’s a gritty, incredibly sad song.
Focus - Hocus Pocus – This is a really bizarre song from my youth. I can’t describe it – a blend of hard rock with yodeling. If you’ve never heard it, track it down on YouTube. There’s something about that
Gary Numan - Cars
Harry Nilsson - Spaceman
Joy- Apollo 100- 1972
Led Zeppelin - In The Evening
Men At Work - Down Under – I’m on an all-things-Ozian of late, including this song. One of my Australian readers has turned me into a Tim-Tam fanatic, and she even got me to order some Vegemite online and give it a try. The Ozians love the stuff, but Vegemite is the definition of “Acquired Taste.” It’s made from the yeast slag left over after beer is brewed. It tastes about like you’d expect it to. Ozians like to think of themselves as a few degrees off true north, and this stuff goes a long way to proving it.
Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime – this is a cool 60’s song I found when looking for some Janis Joplin music.
Ozzy Osbourne - Perry Mason - This is just hard driving rock as only the Oz-Man can do it.
Paul Simon - Kodachrome
PINK FLOYD - Learning To Fly – I am a Pink Floyd nut. I love all of their music, My two all-time favorite albums are “Welcome to the Machine” and “The Wall”, and “Dark Side” ain’t bad either. Given its focus on the Moon, it’s no wonder I used a brief line from that album to head a chapter.
PINK FLOYD - The Wall
PINK FLOYD - Wish You Were Here
PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon
Tears For Fears - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" -
The Alan Parsons Project – SIRIUS – I didn’t know until a few years ago that Alan Parsons actually engineered “Dark Side of the Moon.” His own stuff isn’t half bad.
The Alan Parsons Projec t- May Be A Price To Pay
The Doors - The Doors
The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe – There’s something lyrical I like about this song. The Hollies are another of those 60s-70s bands that don’t get the credit they deserve for their music.
The Moody Blues - I Know You're Out There Somewhere
The Moody Blues - The Voice – I’m a fan of most of the Moody Blues’ music. I love the melodies and harmonies of their poppier stuff. There prog rock stuff, like “Nights In White Satin”, is something I like when I’m in the mood to listen to an entire album.
The Moody Blues- Question
The Moody Blues- Your Wildest Dreams
Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line
Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care – What an incredible cast of musicians! Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne! Just incredible, and it shows in their music. They were together for only two albums, but I’m thankful they got together at all. The music world is a much better place because they did.
Uriah Heep - Easy Livin' – A fine example of hard 60s rock. It holds up well nearly 50 years on.
Warren Zevon - Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner – Another of those wonderfully whacked-out, slightly twisted Warren Zevon offerings I just like for some reason. It was a sad day when he died.
Classical
Beethoven, Ludwig van - Symphony No 9, Proms 2012, Barenboim conducting
Beethoven, Ludwig van - Symphony No. 5 Berlin Philharmonic, Thielman conducting
Mozart, Wolfgang A. - Piano Concerto No. 21 "Elvira Madigan"