Name your top 10 most played bands/artists on iTunes/FM/music player, etc., then answer the questions.
Hm. As far as I can tell, there's no simple way to count up all of the playcounts of all of a band's individual songs to create one number, so this will have to be the bands that have the highest-ranked songs. That strikes me as unscientific, but I guess it's the best I can do.
1. Fountains of Wayne
2. R.E.M.
3. Modest Mouse
4. Harvey Danger
5. The Judybats
6. They Might Be Giants
7. Aimee Mann
8. U2
9. Camper Van Beethoven
10. Elvis Costello
1. What was the very first song you heard by 6? (They Might Be Giants)
"Don't Let's Start," when they showed up on MTV very late at night soon before their first album was released. (Back in the days when MTV not only played music, and not only played good music, but actually managed to get out in front of things now and then.)
2. What is your favorite album of 2? (R.E.M.)
Reconstruction of the Fables is probably more consistently strong, but I come back to Lifes Rich Pageant more often.
3. What is your favorite lyric that 5 has sung? (The Judybats)
"And I want to be good/but good is being simple/simple is forgetting/I simply can't forget." from "Being Simple"
4. How many times have you seen 4 live? (Harvey Danger)
Never; I haven't seen anyone live in years. I have children.
5. What is your favorite song by 7? (Aimee Mann)
Usually, "It's Not." Except when it's "The Moth."
6. What is a good memory you have involving the music of 10? (Elvis Costello)
Just this evening, on the way home from Red Lobster (where we went to celebrate Thing 1's birthday today), myself and the two boys were singing along to "Peace, Love & Understanding."
Also, "I Want You" played a significant part in my love life at one time, but I can't explain any further...
7. Is there a song of 3 that makes you sad? (Modest Mouse)
Strangely enough, for a band where my favorite songs are called things like "March Into the Sea" and "Satin in a Coffin," nothing of theirs makes me sad.
8. What is your favorite lyric that 2 has sung? (R.E.M.)
All my favorite R.E.M. lyrics make no sense at all, but here's something in between -- not quite one of my absolute favorites, but lovely and actually intelligible:
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend
I don't care if you're not here with me
'Cause it's so much easier to handle
All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
But something better happen soon
Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back
Don't go back to Rockville
Waste another year
From "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville," of course.
9. How did you get into 3? (Modest Mouse)
I think I just bought a copy of Good News For People Who Like Bad News (cheaply) after hearing "Float On" once or twice, and reading reviews that made it sound like my kind of thing.
10. What was the first song you heard by 1? (Fountains of Wayne)
Probably "Radiation Vibe;" I think that was the first single.
11. What is your favorite song by 4? (Harvey Danger)
"Cream and Bastards Rise," with occasional detours to "Pike St./Park Slope".
12. How many times have you seen 9 live? (Camper Van Beethoven)
Never -- mostly because they broke up before I really got into them. (Plus the whole not-going-to-concerts thing.)
13. What is a good memory you have involving 2? (R.E.M.)
I had a gigantic Chronic Town poster in college -- sure, I was about five years late, but it was as quickly as I could get to college...
14. Is there a song of 8 that makes you sad? (U2)
"All I Want Is You" makes me melancholy, which is not exactly the same thing.
15. What is your favorite album of 5? (The Judybats)
I'll say Pain Makes You Beautiful.
16. What is your favorite lyric that 3 has sung? (Modest Mouse)
You were laying on the carpet
like you're satin in a coffin.
You said, "Do you believe what you're sayin'?"
Yeah right now, but not that often.
Are you dead or are you sleepin'?
Are you dead or are you sleepin'?
Are you dead or are you sleepin'?
God, I sure hope you are dead.
From "Satin in a Coffin."
17. What is your favorite song of 1? (Fountains of Wayne)
Favorite up-tempo song: "Bright Future in Sales." Favorite quiet song: "Prom Theme." Both subject to change without notice.
18. What is your favorite song of 10? (Elvis Costello)
The demo version of "Riot Act" from the Rhino reissue of Get Happy!!
19. How many times have you seen 8 live? (U2)
The repeated questions are getting tiresome. Never.
20. What is your favorite album of 1? (Fountains of Wayne)
Welcome Interstate Managers is the most consistently to my tastes.
21. What is a great memory you have considering 9? (Camper Van Beethoven)
Nothing comes to mind, I'm afraid.
22. What was the first song you heard by 8? (U2)
I'm sure it was "I Will Follow," but I can't remember when that would have been.
23. What is your favorite cover by 2? (R.E.M.)
"Draggin' the Line," from one of the Austin Powers movies, is a lot of fun, but their take on Richard & Linda Thompson's "Wall of Death" is possibly even better than the original.
Man, why do I do these things? This was longer than I expected, and I have the sinking feeling that I did a very similar version, if not exactly the same thing, at least once before.
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