Top 10.....

For some reason last night I was thinking about how we always like to make lists or rank things or group things...I've recently been playing iTunes 5-star rating system, and also their "grouping" system, which is nice because it lets you label things beyond just a single "Genre" (e.g. for my salsa band music, it's all in the "Salsa" genre, but I like to label them according to songs we do and don't know how to play).

From a young age I was always fascinated by "Top 40" music charts, Billboard Magazine, American Top 40, and the many other countdown shows out there. (I even created databases on my Apple IIGS with song/chart information - yes, I was destined for geek-dom from birth) But one of my favorite things to "chart" (and my sister and my friends usually made their own lists with me) was to categorize our top 10 favorite songs "of all time", or maybe in a specific category.

So...today I decided to try and rank my top 10 again - songs that were released during my pop musical lifetime anyway, based on what I just keep listening to for years and years. At age 33, I now have more data to draw on...

1. (1987) Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys (with apologies to Willie and Elvis - you guys weren't from "my time" and the Pet Shop Boys did it the way I like it)
2. (1992) Walking on Broken Glass - Annie Lennox
3. (1988) Make Me Lose Control - Eric Carmen
4. (1988) Nobody's Fool - Kenny Loggins (yes he did do something besides "Footloose"!)
5. (1988) She Wants to Dance With Me - Rick Astley
6. (1986) Kyrie - Mr. Mister
7. (1996) The Earth, The Sun, The Rain - Color Me Badd
8. (2007) Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
9. (1997) To Love You More - Celine Dion
10. (1999) There She Goes - Sixpence None The Richer

And I have to give a few honorable mentions:

1. The entire "Tom T. Hall Greatest Hits Volume 2" album - the 8-track tape that I had in my grandma's car growing up, and finally now have on CD - I can only imagine how many thousand times I listened to those songs.
2. The entire "You Can Dance" album by Madonna - my first album with all dance mixes on it, I got it when I was like 13 or 14, and realized that I loved Madonna and dance mixes :)
3. "Pink Cadillac" by Natalie Cole - as my sister can attest to, I played this OVER and OVER when it came out, to the point where everyone else hated it (but I don't listen to it anymore - I must have worn myself out on it too).
   
4. "The Saga Begins" - Weird Al Yankovic - quite possibly the best humor song ever made, especially if you're a Star Wars fan
5. "The Ringa-Ding-Dong Song" - Passion Fruit - doesn't really fit in the "regular" music category, and really discovered this one too late in life to be ranked, but it's the ultimate happy song.
6. "Walking In Memphis"- all 3 versions (Marc Cohn, Cher, and Lonestar) - proof that a good song can be done by anyone