Not Another Top Five List

The latest addition to this website is the inclusion of "MC Fro's Top Five Tunes" on the sidebar. I had to resort to doing things the old-fashioned way, that is writing a bunch of code, though I was hoping I could find a computer application that would insert the images and data, and update the webpage automatically. I was not so lucky. A number of programs do exist that could accomplish what I wanted, but there were a few problems. First of all, sometimes these programs would not display images, others created their own formatting that would have not have worked well with this site, and lastly, nearly all of them required that I have access to some FTP server, and that is something I do not have at this time.

So it looks like I am going to have to update my top five list manually for the time being.

My "top five tunes" are simply the five most played songs in my iTunes library. Once I looked at the playlist, I was a little surprised at the results. First of all, the playlist has only been active since I purchased my computer, which was sometime in October. Other playlists that I have had on other machines would have registered completely different results.

I am also in the process of a massive purge of unwanted music on my computer. Out of a playlist of some 2500 songs, nearly half of them have not been listened to. I might end up finding a real gem that I cannot stop listening to. When this happens, it tends to skew the validity of my "top five tunes" playlist. In addition, I have only managed to encode about half of my CD collection, and I know that there are some really cool songs that aren't in my iTunes Library yet. It is going to take a number of months, but I foresee the top five tunes playlist making some interesting changes in the future.

I thought I might make a few comments about the songs that made the top five, which might provide some insight as to why they made this weeks' list.

1. I Can't Tell You Why - The Eagles. I love this tune. My parents used to play The Long Run album incessantly while I was a little kid. Though this song is a little depressing, there is some wonderful performances on this track. Don Henley's voice is slick jumping to and from falsetto, which is not an easy task for any singer, and I can't seem to get enough of that THC-influenced guitar solo at the end of the song. I listened to this song a number of times while I was learning to sing it -- so I wouldn't have to ruin the song if (and when) I decided to sing it at karaoke. That would probably explain why this song made it to number one.
   
2. It's My Life - No Doubt. I'm surprised this song made the list, as I like the Talk Talk version better. Actually, I'm not that big of a No Doubt fan in the first place. This song resides in a few playlists, including one I made specifically for parties. It's a playlist that contains only top-forty singles, thus almost anybody could enjoy the music, and would (ultimately) prevent me from incessantly skipping songs.
   
3. What Do You Need? - Goo Goo Dolls. I discovered this song by chance, and when I first heard it, I knew I found a keeper. I have a few albums by the Goo Goo Dolls, though I find their music is hit-and-miss. They have written some wonderful songs that have unique hooks to them (Naked comes to mind), although I find a lot of their b-sides boring to listen to.
   
4. You're Still The One - Headpins. If you are from Western Canada, and you have never heard of the Headpins, then you might have been living under a rock. This is the only Canadian rock band that I can think of that had a Gold record before being given a record deal. The Headpins managed to sell 50,000 copies of their debut album Turn It Loud from the back of their tour van. Originally began as a side-project for Chilliwack band members Brian "Too Loud" McLeod and Ab Bryant, the Headpins quickly rose to the top of the Vancouver music scene. In fact, these guys were so loud, they were louder than The Who!
   I have shared the stage with the Headpins on at least half a dozen occasions. They are one of the hardest-working Canadian bands out there. Next time they come your way, be sure to check them out. They are well-worth the price of admission.
   
5. If I Had a Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockburn. Every time I drive, I am singing this song. I never expected a beatnik like Bruce to have such a dark side to him, which is probably why I love this song so much. I can't help but smile when I hear him sing the final line with such vengeance: "If I had a rocket launcher / some son of a bitch would die!"

I think updating my Top Five Tunes weekly is a little ambitious. I will monitor and see if the list changes by next week. If not, I may have to resort to updating the list monthly.