First, I should explain that my iTunes library is really freaking organized. Like every song has album artwork and all the tags are complete. And just about every song has a rating. My rating system is as follows:
* Songs that should be deleted
** Songs that are okay enough to keep, but I don’t ever really listen to them
*** Songs that are good but I wouldn’t listen to every day
**** Songs that I would (and usually do) listen to every day
***** Songs that I love and could listen to on repeat
So when I download new music, I usually make sure all the tags are complete (artist, album name, etc). And if the music is new to me I’ll let it stew for a while before I rate it. But here’s the problem: I am the one that created the rating system; I am the one that rated the songs; why then can’t I drop the music I don’t want?
Right now I have about a dozen songs in my iTunes library that are rated “*” and should go now. But I’m worried that I maybe didn’t give them enough of a chance. What if they are like one of those songs that you didn’t know you loved until you heard it twenty times?
I just need to let go…but…well
One major advantage of being extremely anal about your music rating is that you can create a smart playlist that will automatically add anything that you rate “****” or higher. Which on my ipod includes 62 songs.
And my organization has made it easier to listen to songs that I want to listen to with a simple click of the ipod click-wheel ®.
In order of the number of plays, here is my list of top 25 songs played on my iPod (Don’t make fun):
25. Where Did My Baby Go – John Legend
24. Maxine – John Legend
23. I’m A Good Man – Philip Ray
22. To Sir With Love - The Cast of Glee
21. Dinner At Eight - Rufus Wainwright
20. Green Light – John Legend [Featuring Andre 3000]
19. Beautiful – Carole King
18. One Man Guy – Rufus Wainwright
17. If You’re Out There – John Legend
16. Lean On Me – The Cast of Glee
15. Smile – The Cast of Glee [Charlie Chaplin Version]
14. Smile – The Cast of Glee [Lily Allen Version]
13. What it Feels Like For A Girl – Madonna
12. Surviving Twin – Loudon Wainwright III
11. Wake Up Everybody – John Legend [Featuring Common]
10. Good Morning – John Legend
9. I Feel The Earth Move – Carole King
8. Pokerface – Lady Gaga
7. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free – John Legend
6. Don’t Rain On My Parade – The Cast of Glee
5. Love Profusion – Madonna
4. Living Alone - Loudon Wainwright III
3. Moon Safari – Air
2. Maybe This Time – The Cast of Glee
1. Speechless – Lady Gaga
I wasn’t shocked that Speechless was my most played song. It’s one of the handful of songs that I’ve rated “*****” so I knew it’d be up there. I was kind of surprised that Maybe This Time was second. I’ve played the fuck out of that song in the last year [Everybody loves a winner...so nobody loves me] but I didn’t know that it’s out played Air. It’s also interesting to see how much John Legend made the list.
With a few edits, here is a Facebook message I received from an ex-boyfriend last week:
Hey. I know it’s been awhile, but just wanted to say hi. I thought of you this morning as I purchased tickets to the midnight screening of Rocky Horror for tomorrow night. You popped my Rocky Horror cherry on your living room floor many Octobers ago. I think of you every time I watch it. I remember thinking it was ‘alright’ after that initial viewing, but it’s definitely become a favorite over the years. And now I’m popping my boyfriend’s Rocky Horror cheery tomorrow night! Hope you’ve been well. I check out your blog occasionally. Maybe one day we’ll hang out if you’re ever in LA or if I ever find myself out in Arizona.
First up, if you’re reading…Hi David.
What joy this gives me. You know, as my late husband, Ephraim Levi, used to say, “Knowledge of kitschy musicals, pardon the expression, is a lot like manure. It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.”
This was a LONG time ago. He’s talking about the fall of 2000. And I was such a different guy then. But the fact remains that I’m the kind of person that likes to expose people to classics. In the last few months I’ve forced…well, encouraged Drew to watch Waiting for Guffman and Hello Dolly both of which he said he enjoyed. Meanwhile, Drew forced…encouraged me to watch The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and some Zombie movie and I fell asleep during both! I’m a jerk, right?
But it is Rocky Horror season. I’ve googled around and I can’t seem to find anywhere in the PHX area that screens it. Unfortunately. At least I have the Rocky episode of Glee in a couple of weeks.
I started listening to Pandora in the car when I was driving 1 million miles every day for work (give or take 999896 miles). So the list started getting more and more refined, and it now knows me really well. (If you don’t know how Pandora Radio works, I’d suggest you read this article.)
When I got to the office yesterday I flipped on my Pandora Playlist which I’ve called Mike’s Musicals and kind of laughed at the first few songs that came on. “Is this a 29-year-old man’s playlist, or the playlist of a 12-year-old girl?” I thought to myself. No joking, these are the first few songs I heard:
*”Defying Gravity” by Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel & Company (http://bit.ly/dAwgEX)
*”A Brand New Day” from The Wiz (Original Motion Picture Cast) (http://bit.ly/b44TDT)
*”It’s The Hard-Knock Life” from Annie (30th Anniversary Cast) (http://bit.ly/aA40l1)
*”Dreamgirls (Finale)” by Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Sharon Leal & Anika Noni Rose (http://bit.ly/9bJiM7)
Aladdin? Rent? Glee? Okay, I’m not ASHAMED…but maybe I’m a bit guarded about who I tell about my musical preferences.
I’ve written about this before, but my musical preferences are closely connected to my sexual identity. As a child I was (unintentionally) made to feel ashamed of my musical preferences…I was supposed to like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, not the original Broadway Cast Recording of Starlight Express. And as an adult I know that I have no reason to be ashamed of the music I like, but it’s hard to come out of that closet.
Years ago I used to have specific playlists in my iTunes library that didn’t contain any “gay” music. I remember blushing when two different versions of “Bali Ha’i” from the musical South Pacific came on back-to-back once when I had company.
Do you guys have “butch” or “gay” playlists? Do you “straighten-up” your musical library for mixed company? Or am I totally nutso?
While watching Glee last night I almost peed myself when Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele) started singing my all-time favorite showtune. It’s “What I Did For Love” from the show A Chorus Line.
I was at Drew’s place, and we were on the couch…his head on my chest. And when Rachel sang the first words “Kiss today goodbye” I gasped and said “Oh god!” Drew jumped up and thought I had seen an intruder or something.
And since I’m so in love with the song, I of course, have a few points of criticism about the Glee version. Here’s the video from Glee.
My main point of criticism is that the Glee adaptation removed one of the most moving parts of the song – when the entire chorus line backs Diana up with the chorus. Here is the version that most people are familiar with from the 2006 revival cast recording (the part I’m talking about is just past 2:40).
Anyway, I totally musical nerded-out yesterday during Glee (a somewhat common experience; does anyone remember the “Defying Gravity” episode…hello?), and I’m so glad the fall TV season is back.
When this song came on Pandora this past week I couldn’t help but tap my foot and walk around for the rest of the day like I had oil wells pumping in my living room.
Do you have any songs that just bring you to a good place? For the longest time, this song did it for me:
After the recent Grammy Nominations, I’ve heard a bit of criticism about Beyonce’s Single Ladies getting nominated. The primary criticism is that her song Get Me Bodied from the album B’Day is too similar to Single Ladies. If you don’t know the song, here’s Get Me Bodied:
And here’s Single Ladies:
There’s definitely a similarity. It’s all hand claps and “post-breakup sass” as Entertainment Weekly said. And Allmusic said that Single Ladies is a “dire ‘Get Me Bodied’ retreated.”
And Frank DeCaro said that the two songs are so similar that Beyonce doesn’t deservea Grammy for Single Ladies. Which I don’t agree with. I guess that DeCaro’s opinion is that Single Ladies is a second chance. But I don’t care how many tries it took her, Single Ladies stands on its own. It’s catchy. The theme of female empowerment (which Beyonce does so well…to the left, to the left) has people comparing this song to Aretha’s RESEPECT and Gaynor’s I Will Survive. And the music video…hello? That choreography is responsible for the first huge “dance craze” of the internet.
Rolling Stone called this song the #1 song of 2008, and MTV called it #2. Who cares about Get Bodied. This song deserves a Grammy.
I was about 11 years old when the movie Aladdin came out. And around that time my dad used to take us to the Tower Records on Beach Boulevard in Anaheim every few weeks and allow us to spend a few bucks on cassette singles.
My sister picked out November Rain by Guns N’ Roses, and I picked out The Whole New World from the Aladdin soundtrack.
And my sister started making fun of me.
To be honest, I could have picked out anything and my sister, who was 15 at the time, probably would have found something to mock…but for some reason that ridicule stuck with me.
“Why do I want something from a musical, and not Nirvana’s Nevermind?”
Since then, my taste in music hasn’t changed too much. I like musicals.
For some reason, however, I’m still kind of embarrassed of enjoying this “genre.” See…I even quotation mark it to denote that it’s not a true genre.
When I’m listening to the Wicked soundtrack in the car, it’s usually played a little lower than the normal radio. What if someone pulls up next to me and hears?
I caught the young receptionist listening to Glee Cast Radio on Pandora the other day, and we bonded over our love of all things…well, dramatic. We both like the music of musicals, and will do what we can to obtain the latest versions of our favorite shows when they are revived on Broadway. This weekend she plans on having a Disney movie marathon at her house. And it felt good to find something that was like me.
So, this is a declaration. I like musicals. Fuck you.
I like gay music. And I’m not talking like a high school boy…as in “Fucking Mike likes gay music.” I mean that my taste in music is quite homosexual. I think this fact has been pretty established with posts like 
