The Worst Songs of all Time

(or at least since 1955)

I came across this on CNN.com. It hit everything from the predictable Macarena to the recently popular Holla Back Girl. I don't think I saw Don't Worry, Be Happy in there, which would easily be in the running for my vote. For the full article click here. For the meat of it, the 5 worst are below:

5. "Seasons in the Sun," Terry Jacks (No. 1 for three weeks, 1974): "A melody you couldn't play for your dog combined with inane lyrics" (Chris K.); "An all-time piece of dreck" (Darrell); "Having to listen to it is a season in hell" (Bonnie D.).

4. "I've Never Been to Me," Charlene (No. 3, 1982): "I want to punch out my radio when it comes on the air" (Larry W.); "Even the mush department at Hallmark would puke" (Eric and Linda); "I'm thinking that in her case, 'Me' probably wasn't such a fun place to go to" (Brenda K.).

3. "You Light Up My Life," Debby Boone (No. 1 for 10 weeks, 1977): "How can anything so insipidly slow light up anything?" (Bob B.); "[It] sounded like it was thrown together on a rainy afternoon by a lovestruck adolescent" (Jan R.); "The musical equivalent of being keel-hauled" (Michael R.).

2. "Muskrat Love," The Captain and Tennille (No. 4, 1976): "A song about aquatic rodents doin' the wild thing? Eeeeeew!" (Garland E.); "The name says it all" (Stacy D.); "I would pay good money to have its lyrics, tune, and even the fact of its existence erased from my memory" (Dave C.).

And the No. 1 worst song as voted on by CNN.com users:

1. "(You're) Having My Baby," Paul Anka (No. 1 for three weeks, 1974): It wasn't even close; Anka's hit beat out "Muskrat" by more than 50 votes, a veritable landslide under the circumstances. As our correspondents raved: "How can a person not be annoyed by lyrics like, 'You're a woman in love and I love what it's doin' to ya'?" (Shauna M.); " 'What a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me' -- If that isn't the most egocentric solipsistic revolting line of all time" (Stu S. and Andi S.); "I don't know a woman alive who doesn't cringe when it comes on the radio. I'm sure it's banned in most countries around the world" (Gord P.).

Countdown to Coachella - 4 days to go!

I just got my tickets at work today and was thrilled to receive VIP wristbands, too! I wasn't expecting those - and honestly, I probably won't get much use out of them, as I'll be running from one photo pit to another for the duration of the festival. They also clash with one another. But who cares, right? They're VIP. They're rad!

Fortunately the acts I have to see and the ones I want to see are pretty much the same. Who am I most excited to shake my bootie to? I'm so glad you asked! On Saturday I'll be looking forward to TV on the Radio, Eagles of Death Metal, Common, Living Things, and Nine Black Alps. On Sunday I'm expecting the highlights to be Madonna, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gnarls Barkley, and Art Brut. Many others will be great, too, but what am I supposed to do? Name the entire roster in the name of diplomacy? Those are my faves, plain and simple.

If you're going, I just saw the list of artists doing signings in the Virgin Megastore tent. It's a cool way to get close to some of your current obsessions if you're that kind of fan. Get Jessie the Devil to sign your sunburn! He'll be there Saturday at 3pm. For the complete schedule check you Myspace bulletin board - it's being posted from the Coachella profile.

I get why the young'uns like the She Wants Revenge

I like Joy Division, too.

Saving the Earth, One Band at a Time

Recently, a cool guy at Subpop sent me a package of new releases. Among them was a beautifully packaged CD by Kelley Stoltz. It sounded great, too, but I was completely smitten with the presentation. When I told the good folks at Subpop that I intended to one day rip their packaging off, they sent me the press release behind the CD. Here it is, straight from the rocker's mouth (scroll to the end for a selection from the CD!):


SUB POP RECORDING ARTIST, KELLEY STOLTZ,
IS SINGING THE “GREENS”

Created Using 100 Percent Renewable Energy,
New Album is First to Sport the Green-e Certified Label

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 6, 2006)-- The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), together with the Green-e program of the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced today that recording artist Kelley Stoltz’s newest album, titled Below the Branches, is the first album to incorporate the Green-e label on its product packaging. The logo explains to consumers that the album was recorded using 100-percent renewable energy. While Stoltz hopes the album will have a positive impact on listeners, he is proud to know that the energy used in its creation had only a minimal impact on the environment.

"I've never been one to write a political song, but I can let people who buy my album know that I care a lot about the environment and possibly influence them to think about what they can do by labeling my album with the Green-e logo,” said Stoltz. “Using renewable energy to offset the electricity I needed to power my guitar amps and my recording machines was a simple and effective way for me to do something about my impact on the environment. Green-e certifies that I am buying 100 percent renewable energy. Hopefully, people will see their logo; check into what they do, and make renewable energy a part of their lives, too."

Green-e is the leading voluntary certification program for green power products in the U.S. Similar in concept to the “organic” label informing consumers that certain types of products meet stringent guidelines as set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), products bearing the Green-e logo and “Made With Renewable Energy” label immediately informs consumers that the product was manufactured using an environmentally friendly source of energy. This labeling concept is applicable to any product or service that meets the Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program guidelines.

“It’s fair to say that most of us don’t consider the impact we have on future generations in our day-to-day activities. Flipping on a light switch draws electricity from the grid that in all likelihood is generated by a finite, non-renewable source,” added Sarah Krasley, communications and marketing coordinator at CRS. “The same was true for the energy powering Kelley’s microphones, eight track recorder and amplifiers, except that for this project, Kelley tracked his energy use and offset all of it through the purchase of CoolerFuture(tm) Green Tags from BEF. This ensures that every kilowatt-hour of electricity drawn from the grid to power Kelley’s equipment is replaced with an equal amount of non-polluting renewable energy.”


About Green-e and the Center for Resource Solutions
Renewable energy use is the next generation of distinction for consumer products, taking its place alongside other consumer labels such as those for recycled products, organic content, and energy efficiency. The Green-e symbol is administered by the Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program, a national independent consumer protection group. The symbol signifies that companies are using certified renewable energy resources to power their businesses and offset the electricity needed to manufacture products. Founded in 1997, Green-e is the nation's leading certification symbol for high quality renewable energy. Over 100 providers offer Green-e certified energy and over 115 consumer products feature the logo to certify that "We Buy Green-e Certified Renewable Energy". For more information, please visit: www.green-e.org/PLI.

Green-e is a program of the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a national nonprofit organization that makes it easier for people and organizations to use renewable energy. CRS designs and operates national and international programs that support the increased supply and use of renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and low-impact hydroelectric power. To learn more about CRS, visit: www.resource-solutions.org.


About BEF
The Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in 1998 to restore watershed ecosystems and further the development and use of new renewable energy resources. Through revenues generated from the sales of green power products, BEF funds projects that restore damaged watersheds and support new renewable energy projects from solar, wind and biomass. BEF pioneered the sale of Green Tags in 2000 and has helped establish national standards for certification and trading. Created by regional environmental groups and the Bonneville Power Administration, the Foundation operates collaboratively with but independent of both. More information is available on the web at www.b-e-f.org.

###

Kelley Stoltz, Memory Collector

Creative Commons 101

[from digitalmusicnews.com, by Jonny Evans]

In a fresh move for the underground remix and mash-up culture, David Byrne and Brian Eno have just invited fans to slice-and-dice two of their tracks. The songs come from their highly influential album, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and are being made available under a Creative Commons license. The artists are making the songs, and all the constituent tracks, available as free downloads that fans and artists can alter. "This is the first time complete and total access to original tracks with remix and sampling possibilities have been officially offered online," a website dedicated to the album and concept states.

The artists are also opening an area online that will allow remixers to post their new creations. The move comes alongside a re-release of the album by Nonesuch Records and EMI, scheduled to hit retailers on April 11th. The updated version has been remastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound (Interpol / Kings Of Leon), and features eight bonus tracks. The extra tracks are outtakes and ideas from the album’s sessions in 1979 and 1980, and have been specifically chosen by David and Brian.


[check out the official site for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts]

I saw you [and him] walking in the rain...

Actually, I saw no such thing, cuz visibility totally stinks today. Did I move back east and forget? Two weeks ago I was loving the rain - staying in with the dogs, curling up with a good website, listening to the tapping on the roof... Now I'm completely over it. Where's my sunny California?

I thought that for sure I'd have dozens of great mp3s to share with you by now. Sadly... let's just say I've received several new CDs, and what I've heard so far has fallen way short of my expectations. First of all, The Coup (on Epitaph) sounded like a cool punk band - based on the name alone. Or at least emo/Warped-ish something-or-another. It's hip-hop. I gave up after a very quick scan. Sonically it was unremarkable, however I did catch a couple of interesting political statements in there that I will go back and listen to more closely when I'm in a sunnier mood. Maybe I'll turn around on that one.

The third release from The Streets, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, had me quite enthused, as well. Original Pirate Material was a lot of fun, but his sophomore effort fell a little short. But doesn't that always happen? Then they bounce back and hit us with a redemption CD better than the first. That's just how the story goes, and so expectations were high. And completely unmet. Bummer, Skinner. I'm giving you one more try to shake my booty, then you're getting erased from the little black book. Sorry, that's just the way it goes!

Oh... wait! Got a good one here! "Krakow, Poland! Krakow, Poland!" It's Pope John Paul off of The Lovely Feathers' Hind Hind Legs, and it's bringing a smile to my face. Nice! Catchy little tune with a rowsing chorus to my grandfather's (dziadziu's) home town. I'm down for that. Check the mp3 below.

And I'll leave you with one more goodie. It's from the return of The Red Krayola. Don't worry if you don't know what they're returning from. I wouldn't either, except that once upon a time I went to art school and I had the wonderful opportunity to take a class taught by Mayo Thompson. He was one of the most inspiring, interactive, and open-minded instructors I had. And awfully eccentric for someone who looks as much like a suburban fifty-something as my dad. I researched my professors (cuz I was geeky like that), and I learned that he was a member of The Red Krayola - since 1967! They've been around forever, and they're as relevant as ever. It's definitely time more people caught on. It takes a certain sense of humor (and raunch in many cases) - try it out and see if it suits you...

The Lovely Feathers, Pope John Paul

The Red Krayola, Puff (yes, it's the dragon!)