Music I’m Listening to.

Music I'm Listening to. I've been enjoying going through all of my old CD's and trying to organize my music on my Zune to see what CD's I've forgotten. I now have 344 albums, 3,498 songs, which takes up just slightly over 22 gigabytes of my Zune. I'm impressed by how much my music player can hold.

 

Here are a few of my favorite songs / albums that I'm enjoying:

 

• Party Starter – 80's Mix. I picked up this little gem at Target. It has a couple of songs from such 80's stalwarts as Katrina and the Waves, the Knack, and Culture Club; But it also has fun party songs like Whip It (from Devo), 867-5309 (Tommy Tutone), and the original Go Go's version of We've the Beat. It also has such classic party stalwarts as Walk Like an Egyptian (Bangles), Everybody Have Fun Tonight (Wang Chung), and Take on Me (Ah-Ha). If you wanted to start with one 80's party CD, a great place to start is this little gem;
  

 

• RCA Records – 1^st Note in Black Music. Wow, only by going through all of my CD's did I realize that I had this great collection. My favorite is the 3^rd CD which starts with Harry Belafonte's 'Day-O', the Isley Brothers' 'Shout!' (now I see why Otis Day and the Knights did their song in Animal House like they did), Nina Simone's 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black', all the way through The Fresh Prince's 'Parents Just Don't Understand'. I love this one!;
  

 

• Anything by Chris Isaak. I picked up 'Heart Shaped World' at Half Price Bookstore for $4. I only had it on cassette before, and having it on CD is like having a new album. But this has caused me to listen to his other great stuff too – love him!;
  

 

• Favorite Song – 'American Storm' by Bob Seger. I also picked up 'Live Bullet', which gave me fond memories of playing cosom hockey in Beanie's basement. But 'American Storm' is something special. Mr. Seger getting socially relevant singing about the California drug culture in the 70's and 80's. Can you beat these lyrics?:
  

 

…You face a wall of mirrors.

You charge them at full speed.

You cover up, you hear the shattering glass,

But you never bleed…

 

• I've also picked up some of the most recent (2007 releases) Christian heavy-weights' albums – Casting Crowns ('Altar and the Door'), Mercy Me ('All That I Am'), and Steven Curtis Chapman ('This Moment'). I love Mercy Me's 'God With Us', but the whole album is so God-glorifying, I give it an unqualified recommendation to anyone. But it was SCC's album that surprised me the most. It is very easy to listen to, catchy, fun. And yes, his Cinderella song makes me get a little misty every time I listen to it. I haven't heard anything on Casting Crowns' album that has struck me yet. Which surprises me, as this was the CD I was most looking forward to when I bought it.
  

 

Anyone else enjoying some good music? I'd enjoy hearing from you.

Latest Update on Free Music?

Here is an article from Sky News (posted 11:00 CST) on the Qtrax attempt to start a free music business with a catalogue of over 25 million songs:

Just hours ago, music download service Qtrax claimed it has brokered an historic deal that, for the first time, would deliver an unlimited supply of free songs to music fans.

But hopes, it seems, have already been dashed as the three of the big four studios allegedly involved have come forward and denied signing any such deal.

Qtrax, which offers a catalogue of 25 million songs to download for free, said today that its service will be endorsed by the biggest powers in the music industry - EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music and Warner Music.

The service was unveiled at the global music industry's largest annual event, MIDEM, in Cannes.

Qtrax chief executive, Allan Klepfisz, said customers expected to be able to get music for free, but didn't want to use illegal sites. "It's been a long trek to this point for peer-to-peer to find its place in a legal world."

He then went on to say that the service would deliver up to 30 million free and legal music tracks for download.

In return for access to the music, users will have to put up with some advertising and Qtrax claimed that Ford, Microsoft and McDonald's have all signed up to advertise.

The files will still contain DRM (Digital Rights Management) software, which means that record companies will be able to keep track of how often their tracks are played and downloaded, and they will be paid in proportion to how popular their music is.

Qtrax says that record labels will also get a cut of the advertising revenue.

Qtrax added there is also plans for an iPod solution as the service is currently not compatible with the Apple device.

But now an Australian news channel is reporting that no such service is on the way and in fact, three of the four record company backers are denying their involvement...

Free Music?

A published web article describes a free music download that is going to provide access to over 25 million free songs! Here is a blurb from the UK Times Online article:

 

From today, feel free to download another 25 million songs - legally

Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent, in Cannes

After a decade fighting to stop illegal file-sharing, the music industry will give fans today what they have always wanted: an unlimited supply of free and legal songs.

With CD sales in free fall and legal downloads yet to fill the gap, the music industry has reluctantly embraced the file-sharing technology that threatened to destroy it. Qtrax, a digital service announced today, promises a catalogue of more than 25 million songs that users can download to keep, free and with no limit on the number of tracks.

The service has been endorsed by the very same record companies - including EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music – that have chased file-sharers through the courts in a doomed attempt to prevent piracy. The gamble is that fans will put up with a limited amount of advertising around the Qtrax website's jukebox in return for authorised use of almost every song available.

The service will use the "peer-to-peer" network, which contains not just hit songs but rarities and live tracks from the world's leading artists…

 

 

Qtrax's website can be found at: http://www.qtrax.com

 

Does anyone know anything about this, and what is going on?

Top 19 Songs of the 1980's

19. Soft Cell Tainted Love; REASON: It is listed in Wikipedia as one of the top 10 selling songs of the decade.

18. Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun/or Time after Time; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks, and became an anthem for women/girls until this day.

17. Blondie Call Me; REASON: #1 for 6 weeks; Blondie melded disco and New Wave to make the Club Scene cool again.

16. Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child of Mine; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks; GNR’s album was the 4th best-selling album of the 1980’s

15. Dire Straits Money for Nothing; REASON: an incredible video. Album Brother’s in Arms was the #9 top-selling album of the decade.

14. George Michael/Wham Careless Whisper; REASON: #1 for 3 weeks. This song was the 7th top selling single of the decade. Throw in his ownership of the top of the charts in 1986, and I can easily be talked into move George up.

13. Whitney Houston How Will I Know?; REASON: #1 for 2 weeks. Part of a string of #1 songs for Whitney. Her sell-named album was the 5th best selling album of the decade (14.2 million units sold!)

12. USA for Africa We are the World; REASON: #1 for 4 weeks. A good case can be made that this song is the top song of the decade. It is far and away the top-selling song of the decade with OVER 20 million units sold.

11. Def Leppard Pour Some Sugar on Me; REASON: a top 3 best video of the decade by VH-1; Hysteria was the 10th best-selling album of the decade.

10. Prince When Doves Cry; REASON: #1 for 5 weeks; Prince put Minneapolis on the musical map; Purple Rain was the 7th best-selling album of the decade.

9. Living on a Prayer Bon Jovi; REASON: #1 for weeks; #1 video of the decade by VH-1.

8. Born in the USA Bruce Springsteen; REASON: Wow, the 1980’s were the Boss’ decade, President Reagan used his song for his campaign – sheesh! Bruce’s album sales in the 1980’s were the only one’s to rival Michael Jackson, with Born In the USA the 3rd best-selling album of the decade with 15.9 million units sold, and his live album the 8th best-selling album of the decade with 13.1 million sold.

7. AC / DC You Shook Me All Night Long; REASON: This album and song were played constantly in Tom’s basement for years. Back in Black was the SECOND best-selling album of the decade with 19.1 million units sold (!!! – wow), and the video was fantastic, for AC/ DC that is. And kids are still wearing their t-shirts. They did something right, and remember this was AFTER they changed their lead singer, having Bon Scott departing on his Highway to Hell. An amazing story of success.

6. Walk this Way Run DMC / Aerosmith; REASON: this song gets in purely for cultural influence. The song was a double winner – it revived the sagging popularity of Aerosmith, and their strong rock, with rap. This was rap’s first entry into real popularity in video, and white people’s CD players. This song helped to put rap music at the top of album sales from 1990 and on. A truly important song from the 1980’s.

5. Like a Virgin Madonna; REASON: Did someone mention cultural importance? Madonna turned a legion of girls into similar make-up/wardrobe/hair style. #1 for 5 weeks. This was also one of a number of songs that topped the charts for the now-spiritual Ms. Madonna.

4. With or Without You U2; REASON: #1 for 3 weeks. U2 is the one band that has survived after the 1980’s to keep cranking out, relevant, good music. And Bono’s relevance on a world stage, where he can talk to the Pope, the President, and kids about third world hunger and third world debt, makes this band a social icon of the Western culture.

3. Addicted to Love Robert Palmer (and the hot babe band behind Mr. Palmer); REASON: #1 for 5 weeks. And Mr. Palmer’s ownership of MTV during the 1980’s. Yes, this is where I am going to tell you I had been cranking his music for years before he released this album. And I still do, the real test of good music!

2. Billie Jean Michael Jackson; REASON: Michael Jackson redefined music in the 1980’s, and his string of #1 songs in the 80’s all could be in the top-10 list. Yes, this song was #1 for an incredible 7 weeks. The album was by far the top-selling album of the decade with over 29 million units sold. His videos made Weird Al Yankovic popular? Enough said!

1. Every Breath You Take Police; REASON: #1 for 8 weeks (bested only by Olivia Newton John’s Physical which was on top for 9 weeks in the musical wasteland of 1981). The haunting lyrics, the cool three person band, the burning cigarette in the ash tray of the video, all make this the best song of the 1980’s. Yes, it was the only true single on the best-selling singles of the decade (#6 behind a song like Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger! Yikes! The Wolff has spoken.)