My Top 20 Songs: 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Top 20 Duets

For the purposes of this list, a duet is a collaboration between two artists who usually don't record together. These are my Top 20 best duets.

01. Meat Loaf & Ellen Foley - Paradise By the Dashboard Lights

02. Olivia Newton John & John Travolta - Summer Nights

03. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure

04. Sarah Brightman & Jose Carreras - Amigos Para Siempre

05. Miguel Bose & Ana Torroja - Duende

06. Bonnie Tyler & Todd Rundgren - Lovin' You is a Dirty Job

07. Prince & Sheena Easton - U Got the Look

Prince Sheena Easton U Got the Look
Cargado por docfromcpt. - Videos web independientes.

08. Sarah Brightman & Steve Harley - The Phantom of the Opera

09. La Ley & Ely Guerra - El Duelo

10. U2 & Green Day - The Saints Are Coming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seGhTWE98DU&feature=related

11. Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole - Unforgetabble

12. Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson - Say Say Say

13. Elvis Presley & Lisa Marie Presley - In the Ghetto

14. Tom Jones & The Cardigans - Burning Down the House

15. Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings - Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

16. Enrique Bunbury & Miren Iza - Frente a Frente

17. Frank Sinatra & Bono - Under My Skin

18. Joaquin Sabina & Fito Paez - Llueve Sobre Mojado

19. Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

20. Bono & Andrea Corr - When the Stars Go Blue

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Top 20 Songwriting Duos

Words and music. Many chart-topping songs and award-winning stage productions are the results of creative collaborations among brilliant composers & musicians. This week, I want to celebrate songwriting tandems that have produced hit after hit after hit. These are my Top 20 Songwriting Duos.

1. John Lennon & Paul McCartney

2. Bernie Taupin & Elton John

3. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice

4. David Gilmour & Roger Waters

5. Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

6. Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker

7. Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus

8. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards

9. Steve Tyler & Joe Perry

10. Don Henley & Glen Frey

10. Donald Fagen & Walter Becker

11. Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller

12. James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich

13. Gerry Goffin & Carole King

14. Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe

15. WS Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan

16. Barry Mann & Cinthia Weil

17. Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora

18. Daryll Hall & John Oates

19. Joe Strummer & Mick Jones

20. Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Top 20 Charity Singles

Every once in a while, a group of famous musicians comes together to record a special song for a charitable cause. The results are usually amazing although not always - I guess it all depends on the caliber of stars that sign up for a specific cause. Of course, it is not the same to donate talent, time and voice for earthquake relief than for chicken pox relief - for instance. Any way, at the end of the cause causes are what matter. These are my Top 20 Charity Singles of all time.

01. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

Year: 1984
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Bob Geldof
Supergroup: UK Artists > U2, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, George Michael, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Bananarama, Heaven 17, etc.

02. Northern Lights - Tears Are Not Enough

Year: 1985
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Bryan Adams, David Foster
Supergroup: Canadian Artists > Bryan Adams, Loverboy, Rush, Anne Murray, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Corey Hart, Gordon Lightfoot, The Guess Who, etc.

03. USA for Africa - We Are The World

Year: 1985
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones
Supergroup: US Artists > Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Steve Perry, Ray Charles, James Ingram, etc.

04. Hear'n'Aid - Stars

Year: 1985
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Ronnie James Dio
Supergroup: Heavy Metal Artists > Dio, Quiet Riot, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Dokken, WASP, Blue Oyster Cult,etc.

05. Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts

Year: 2010
Cause: 2010 Haiti Earthquake Relief
Organized by: Simon Cowell
Supergroup: World Artists > Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, Robbie Williams, Kyle Minogue, Mariah Carey, Westlife, Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, etc.

06. Peace Choir - Give Peace a Chance

Year: 1991
Cause: Gulf War
Organized by: Yoko Ono
Supergroup: World Artists > Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Petty, Little Steven, Cyndi Lauper, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Little Richard, etc.

07. United Artists Against Apartheid - Sun City

Year: 1985
Cause: Apartheid
Organized by: Little Steven Van Zandt
Supergroup: World Artists > Little Steven, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Ringo Starr, Ruben Blades, U2, Keith Richards, Pat Benatar, The Ramones, etc.

08. Latin Artists Tribute - El Ultimo Adios

Year: 2001
Cause: 9/11 Relief - American Red Cross, American Way
Organized by: Gian Marco, Emilio Estefan
Supergroup: Latin Artists > Ricky Martin, Shakira, Thalia, Chayanne, Alejandro Sanz, Marc Anthony, Juan Luis Guerra, etc.

09. Voces Unidas por Chile - Gracias a la Vida

Year: 2010
Cause: 2010 Chile Earthquake Relief
Organized by: Beto Cuevas
Supergroup: Hispanoamerican Artists > Beto Cuevas, Fher, Miguel Bose, Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Shakira, Laura Pausini.

10. Various Artists for Children's Promise - It's Only Rock'n'Roll

Year: 1999
Cause: Children's Promise / SOS Villages
Organized by: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Supergroup: World Artists > Keith Richards, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Lionel Richie, The Cranberries, Bon Jovi, Crissy Hynde, Mick Jagger, etc.

11. Two Tone AllStars - Starvation

Year: 1985
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Zarjazz Records
Supergroup: Two Tone Artists > UB40, The Pioneers, Madness, General Public, The Specials

12. Artists for Haiti - We Are the World 25 for Haiti

Year: 2010
Cause: 2010 Haiti Earthquake Relief
Organized by:Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Wyclef Jean
Supergroup: World Artists > Justin Bieber, Janet Jackson. Barbra Streisand, Miley Cyrus, Pink, Celine Dion, etc,

13. Ferry Aid - Let It Be

Year: 1987
Cause: Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster
Organized by: The Sun Newspaper
Supergroup: UK-US Artists > Paul McCartney, Boy George, Kate Bush, Kim Wilde, Mark Knopfler, etc.

14. The Crowd - You'll Never Walk Alone

Year: 1985
Cause: Bradford City Valley Parade Football Disaster
Organized by: Gerry Marsden
Supergroup: UK Artists > Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Rolf Harris, The Nolans, Smokie, Motorhead, etc.

15. Voces Unidas - Cantaré Cantarás

Year: 1985
Cause: Famine in Ethiopia
Organized by: Albert Hammond, Juan Carlos Calderón, David Foster
Supergroup: Hispanoamerican Artists > Julio Iglesias, Roberto Carlos, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Jose Feliciano, Emmanuel, Jose Jose, Menudo, etc.

16. Voices That Care - Voices That Care

Year: 1991
Cause: Operation Desert Storm
Organized by: David Foster
Supergroup: US Artists > Peter Cetera, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Michael Bolton, Randy Travis, Will Smith, Little Richard, etc.

17. Various Artists for Children in Need - Perfect Day

Year: 1997
Cause: BBC Children in Need
Organized by: BBC
Supergroup: World Artists > Lou Reed, Bono, Elton John, David Bowie, Tom Jones, Suzanne Vega, etc.

18. Stand Up to Cancer - Just Stand Up!

Year: 2008
Cause: Cancer Relief
Organized by: LA Reid & Babyface
Supergroup: Female Artists > Sheryl Crow, Rhianna, Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Fergie, Mariah Carey, etc.

19. Hurricane Relief - Come Together Now

Year: 2005
Cause: Hurricane Katrina
Organized by: Sharon Stone, Mark Feist, Denise Rich
Supergroup: US Artists > Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, Joss Stone, John Legend, Ruben Studdard, Wyclen Jean, etc.

20. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?

Year: 2008
Cause: Darfur (Sudan) Relief
Organized by: Bob Gildof, Midge Ure
Supergroup: UK Artists > Bono, Dido, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, All Saints, etc.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Top 20 Spanish Rock from the 80's

Tjhe 80's were quite a decade for music. In the world of Spanish Rock, I would say they were the Golden Age. In the 80's, Spanish Rock exploded throughout the world with flagship groups from Spain, Argentina, Mexico, and even countries like Guatemala. These are my top 20 Spanish Rock from the 80's.

01. Soda Stereo - La Ciudad de la Furia

02. La Union - Lobo Hombre en Paris

03. Mecano - Aire

04. Duncan Dhu - En Algun Lugar

05. Los Prisioneros - Estrechez de Corazon

06. Heroes del Silencio - Heroe de Leyenda

07. Alux Nahual - Fabula del Grillo y el Mar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV_KUYQuhN4&feature=related

08. Enanitos Verdes - Guitarras Blancas

09. Hombres G - Devuelveme a mi Chica

10. Radio Futura - Veneno en la Piel

11. Tino Casal - Eloise

12. Miguel Mateos - Cuando Seas Grande

13. Manuel Mijares - Soldado del Amor

14. Como Pudiste Hacerme Esto a Mi? - Alaska & Dinarama

15. Tequila - El Rock del Ascensor

16. Charly Garcia - Nos Siguen Pegando Abajo

17. Baron Rojo - Casi Me Mato

18. Angeles del Infierno - El Principio del Fin

19. Miguel Rios - No Estas Sola

20. Alejandra Guzman - Reina de Corazones

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Top 20 Greatest Song First Lines

Traditionally, the first line of a song either sets the where and when of the storyline ("On a dark desert highway", "Cold late night, so long ago, when I was not so strong, you know") or introduces a character ("Her name was Lola"). However, the best songs grab us instantly by triggering our most powerful emotions from the very first line. Here is when you say "OK, I'm listening...". These are my top 20 best song first lines.

1. I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand walking through the streets of Soho in the rain

2. Please, allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

3. I really don't mind if you sit this one out

4. I am an Antichrist

5. The world is a vampire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxNX_PRqhCQ

6. On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

7. When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all

8. You know the day destroys the night, night divides the day

9. This bed is on fire with passionate love, the neighbors complain about the noises above, but she only comes when she's on top.

10. In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream, at night we ride through mountains of glory in suicide machines.

11. A candy-colored clown they call the sandman tiptoes to my room every night just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper "Go to sleep, everything is alright"

12. On a morning from a Bogart movie, in a a country where they turned back time, you go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime.

13. So ya thought you'd like to come to the show to feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow.

14. I was dreaming when I wrote this, so forget me if it goes astray

15. Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train and I was feeling nearly as faded as my jeans

16. You'll take my life, but I'll take yours too; you'll fire your musket, but I'll run you through.

17. Jeremiah was a bullfrog; he was a good friend of mine, never understood a word he said but I helped him drink his wine.

18. Close the city and tell the people that something's coming to call; Death and darkness are rushing forward to take a bite from the wall, oh

19. You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you; I picked you out, I shook you up and turned you around into someone new.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arUqoKjU3D4

20. Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road; time grabs you by the wrist and directs you where to go.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Top 20 Songs from All Female Bands

Ok.. Let's not get confused here. An all-female band is not a girl group. The basic different is that the women in all-female band play all the music (meaning the instruments), whereas a girl group the members are solely vocalists and do not perform any of the music. Clear? Therefore, no Spice Girls, Desitny's Girl or Pussycat Dolls here. These are my Top 20 Songs from All Female Bands.

01. The Runaways - Cherry Bomb

02. The Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter

03. The Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed

04. Dixie Chicks - Long Time Gone

05. Bond - Explosive

06. SheDaisy - Lucky For You

07. Josie & The Pussycats - 3 Small Words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWRs5DuTEY&feature=related

08. Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine

09. The Donnas - Take It Off

10. Babes in Toyland - Ripe

11. Belle Stars - Iko Iko

12. Splendora - You're Standing on my Neck

13. The Slits - Typical Girls

14. Girlschool - Emergency

15. Klymaxx - I Miss You

16. Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIAAx2vAxic

17. Vixen - I Want You To Rock Me

18. L7 - Pretend We're Dead

19. Sleater Kinney - You're No Rock'n'Roll Fun

20. Las Chicas del Can - Waka Waka

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Top 20 Saddest Songs

Spinner wrote "There's no shortage of sad songs about rainy days and lovers who don't bring flowers. And then there are songs that truly bring the pain -- songs so despairing they can make us wonder why we even bother". This goes out to everyone out there who is really in pain... these are my Top 20 Saddest Songs.

1. Johnny Cash - Hurt

What have I become, my sweetest friend, Everyone I know goes away in the end, and you could have it all, my empire of dirt, I will let you down, I will make you hurt

2. REM - Everybody Hurts

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long, When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on, Well, everybody hurts sometimes,everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes

3. George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today

He stopped loving her today, they placed a wreath upon his door, and soon they'll carry him away, He stopped loving her today

4. Judy Collins - Send in the Clowns

Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer, Losing my timing this late in my career? And where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns. Well, maybe next year.

5. Leonardo Favio - Abuelita Zenaida

Abuelita: no se apene cuando usted lea esta carta yo habré salido a Miami en un barquito de carga a buscar otro destino quiero ver como sacarla de este tugurio del rancho porque a mí me parte el alma
verla ya tan viejecita salir todas las mañanas a vender frutos maduros por las calles bogotanas

6. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven? I must be strong and carry on, 'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven

7. Don McLean - Crying

I thought that I was over you but it's true, oh so true, I love you even more than I did before
but darling, what can I do? oh you don't love me and I'll always be crying over you, crying over you

8. Dan Fogelberg - Go Down Easy

And it’s hard to go down easy; And it’s hard to keep from cryin’; And it’s hard to lose a lover in the early part of autumn.

9. John Michael Montgomery - The Little Girl

She said I know that man up there on that cross I don't know His name But I know He got off Cause He was there in my old house and held me close to His side As I hid there behind our couch The night that my parents died

10. Nazareth - Love Hurts

Some fools think of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness, some fools fool themselves, I guess
They're not foolin' me, I know it isn't true I know it isn't true, love is just a lie made to make you blue, love hurts

11. Eric Carmen - All By Myself

Hard to be sure, sometimes I feel so insecure, and love's so distant and obscure, remains the cure, All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself, anymore

12. Gary Jules - Mad World

And the tears are filling up their glasses, no expression, no expression, and in my head I want to drown my sorrow, No tomorrow, No tomorrow

13. Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

I've never seen a night so long when time goes crawling by, The moon just went behind a cloud to hide its face and cry

14. Elaine Page - Memory

Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then, I remember the time I knew what happiness was, let the memory live again

15. The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

And you cant fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of the truth in your lies, when everything feels like the movies, yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive.

16. Martina McBride - Concrete Angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night, the neighbors hear but they turn out the light, a fragile soul caught in the hands of fate, when morning comes it will be too late

17. The Smiths - I Know It's Over

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head, and as I climb into an empty bed, oh well. Enough said, I know it's over - still I cling, I don't know where else I can go

18. The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name, nobody came, Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave, No one was saved, all the lonely people, Where do they all come from?

19. Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father

If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him, I'd play a song that would never ever end, how I'd love love love to dance with my father again

20. A Chorus Line - At The Ballet

Life with my dad wasn't ever a picnic, more like a "Come as you are, when I was five I remember my mother, dug earrings out of the car, I knew they weren't hers, But it wasn't, something you'd want to discuss. He wasn't warm. Well, not to her. Well, not to us. But everything was beautiful at the ballet...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Top 20 Songs on First Name Basis

One of my best friends challenged me to come up with a list of songs with first names in their titles. Never one to back away from a challenge, I rolled up my sleeves and proceeded to answer to her request. Here are my conditions: First names are just one word. Two word first names or two first names are not allowed. Therefore, Billie Jean, Barbara Ann or Bobby Sue became inelegible. Also, I'm not counting songs written for pets with human names. So, no Mandy or Ben here. Also, I'm not accepting full names (first name + last name), which leaves out Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift, for example. Finally, I'm not accepting songs that mention a first name as part of their title. I want songs that the first name is the title, not part of it. Get it? Then, no Arthur's Theme, or Alice's Restaurant or even Hey Jude or My Sharona. Ufff!!! So, finally... Here are my top 20 songs using a first name as their title: The Top 20 Songs on First Name Basis.

1. Van Morrison / The Doors - Gloria