Hey friends: In 2018, I’m planning to occasionally spotlight a “song of the day.”
Here are all the postings, starting with most recent.
Overview
For each song I spotlight, I will write a brief description of the song and my reaction to it. The songs will not necessarily be my favorite songs, but they will generally be songs that I like. I will try to select a wide variety of songs to cross-section my taste in music. Accompanying write-ups will vary from a couple sentences to a few paragraphs.
For each song I will plan to embed a YouTube video of the song so you can listen while you read. In addition, I will plan to update the Spotify playlist lower on this page to include every song I highlight that is available. I won’t “sticky” every song spotlight to the top of the front page, but I will keep this page stickied.
Important rule: One song per artist, and not necessarily my favorite song for each artist
Songs of the Day
I will periodically update this list to include every song I spotlight.
- January 1: “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies
- January 2: “I Don’t Care” by Fall Out Boy
- January 3: “Gold Trans Am” by Kesha
- January 4: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who
- January 5: “Oblivion” by Grimes
- January 6: “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” by Neil Young
- January 7: “What You Do To Me” by Teenage Fanclub
- January 8: “Shine” by The Newsboys
- January 9: “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
- January 10: “No Rain” by Blind Melon
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Music From My Favorite Shows
- January 11: “Forever” by Chris Brown (The Office)
- January 12: “Big Brown Eyes” by Old 97’s (Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide)
- January 13: “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail (Community)
- January 14: “Only You” by Yazoo (The Office UK)
- January 15: “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams (The Simpsons)
- January 16: “La Vie en rose” by Édith Piaf (How I Met Your Mother)
- January 17: “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers (The Wonder Years)
- January 18: “Come Sail Away” by Styx (Freaks and Geeks)
- January 19: “April Come She Will” by Simon and Garfunkel (Parks and Recreation)
- January 20: “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” by Tammy Wynette
- January 21: “Asleep” by The Smiths
- January 22: “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by The Ramones
- SM: “Folsom Prison Blues (live)” by Johnny Cash
- January 23: “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis
- January 24: “Love is a Losing Game” by Amy Winehouse
- January 25: “Scotty Doesn’t Know” by Lustra
- January 26: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
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A Cappella Week
- January 27: “In the Still of the Nite” by Boyz II Men
- January 28: “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots
- January 29: “Folgers” by Rockapella (*)
- January 30: “Wonderful Tonight” by Hullabahoos (*)
- January 31: “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin
- February 1: “I Thought She Knew” by *NSYNC
- February 2: “Not the Same” by Ben Folds Presents: The Spartones from Greensboro, NC
- February 3: “Lollipop” by Mika
- February 4: “San Diego Super Chargers” by Q.B. and the Big Boys (*)
- February 5: “Video Games” by Lana Del Ray
- February 6: “Levels” by Nick Jonas
- February 7: “I Melt With You” by Modern English
- February 8: “Piece of My Heart” by Big Brother & the Holding Company
- February 9: “I Try” by Macy Gray
- February 10: “Walkie-Talkie Man” by Steriogram
- February 11: “We Are The World” by U.S.A. for Africa
- February 12: “New Slang” by The Shins
- February 13: “Touch Me” by The Doors
- February 14: “Always Something There To Remind Me” by Naked Eyes
- February 15: “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger
- February 16: “Promised Land” by Chuck Berry
- February 17: “This Time Around” by Hanson
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Adam Schlesinger Week
- February 18: “Mexican Wine” by Fountains of Wayne
- February 19: “Just the Girl” by The Click Five
- February 20: “King of a Girl” by Tinted Windows
- February 21: “This is the Day” by Ivy
- February 22: “All Work” by Fever High
- February 23: “What’ll It Be (Demo)” by Adam Schlesinger
- Febraury 24: “That Thing You Do!” by The Wonders
- February 25: “One Headlight” by The Wallflowers
- February 26: “Linoleum” by NOFX
- February 27: “Lovebug” by The Jonas Brothers
- February 28: “Telstar” by The Tornados
- March 1: “Time” by Pink Floyd
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Some Covers I Like
- March 2: “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
- March 3: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Sara Bareilles
- March 4: “My Heart Will Go On” by Mykal Kilgore and Postmodern Jukebox
- March 5: “Game of Thrones Theme” by Swamp Donkeys
- March 6: “The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk Railroad
- March 7: “Mad World” by Gary Jules
- March 8: “I Can Be Your Friend” by The O.C. Supertones
- March 9: “The Boys of Summer” by The Ataris
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Novelty, Comedy, and Sketch Songs – Topic Spotlight
- March 10: “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits (“Second verse, same as the first”)
- March 11: “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV (Variable-frequency oscillator)
- March 12: “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” by Allan Sherman (Public domain, fair use, and parody)
- March 13: “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley (Bizarre #1 hits from 1958-1972)
- March 14: “I’m on a Boat” by The Lonely Island, feat. T-Pain (Things that make me feel old)
- March 15: “Lunchlady Land” by Adam Sandler (Chris Farley)
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Revisiting Brian’s Reviews
- March 16: “Oscar Mayer Wiener Song” (*)
- March 17: “Thneedville” from The Lorax
- March 18: “I See the Light” from Tangled
- March 19: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by The Mystic Moods Orchestra (*)
- March 20: “The System is Down” by Strong Bad (*)
- March 21: “8 Awesome Angles of YouTube” (*)
- March 22: “Nasty Dan” by Johnny Cash
- March 23: “The BBQ Song” by Rhett and Link (*)
- March 24: “We Are Number One” from Lazytown (*)
- March 25: “Saying Goodbye” from Muppets Take Manhattan (*)
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Letters to Brad
- March 26: “I Want More” by Suburban Legends
- March 27: “Everlasting Love” by Carl Carlton
- March 28: “Notre Dame Victory March” by the Notre Dame Marching Band
- March 29: “13.4 Miles” by The Homecoming Queens (*)
- March 30: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” by The Highway Jazzmen (*)
- March 31: “Barkley Kong 64” by Quad City DJ’s vs. Grant Kirkhope (*)
- April 1: “Katamari Nah-Nah” from Katamari Damacy (*)
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Songs That Aren’t “Goodbye Stranger”
- April 2: “My Sharona” by The Knack
- April 3: “Goodbye To You” by Michelle Branch
- April 4: “Don’t Bring Me Down” by Electric Light Orchestra
- April 5: “4’33” by John Cage
- April 6: “Nowhere With You” by Joel Plaskett Emergency
- April 7: “Thank You For Being a Friend” by Andrew Gold
- April 8: “Goodbye Stranger” by Supertramp
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Japanese Songs… Guest Week: Will
- April 9: “Nagareyuku sekai no naka de” by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
- April 10: “Mitakunai mono” by KANA-BOON (*)
- April 11: “Lady Blues” by Lucky Tapes
- April 12: “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Shione Yukawa (*)
- April 13: “Ikari Wo Kureyo” by Glim Spanky
- April 14: “Killer Ball” by Gesu No Kiwami Otome (*)
- April 15: “Tranciever” by Itsue
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Iconic Covers and Overshadowed Originals
- April 16 / 17: “Respect” by Aretha Franklin / Otis Redding
- April 18 / 19: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper / Robert Hazard (*)
- April 20 / 21 / 22: “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor / The Family / Prince
- April 23 / 24: “Torn” by Natalie Imbrauglia / Ednaswap
- April 25 / 26: “Feelin’ Good” by Nina Simone / The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd
- April 27 / 28: “Crazy” by Patsy Cline / Willie Nelson
- April 29 / 30: “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston / Dolly Parton / Dan S.
Spotify Playlist
Glossary
- STATMYALTIYCHBBITGSOAT: Song that, at the moment you are listening to it, you can’t help but believe it’s the greatest song of all time
- TPOFUTYUOIT: The paradox of feeling utterly timeless, yet undeniably of its time
- Influencer Reduction Paradox: When something is unique and great, it influences future artists. Then, a lot of later things resemble that thing, perhaps refining the originals’ technique or formula. The result is that the original Influencer now seems a lot less unique and great… specifically because it was unique and great.