I Want My Music Television: 2/18/2014

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Invincible – U2


U2 seemed a little too adamant that Invisible is NOT the first single of their yet to be announced next album (which looks like will not be coming out until summer now). Instead it was just released to remind people they are still around. Um, you guys just released a song for the Mandela soundtrack late last year. It was almost like Bono was saying, if you do not love this song, do not worry, there is a better song coming. It is wise because this would be a fairly uninspiring first single. But the light show going on the background of the music video is pretty cool.


Everything Is AWESOME!!! – Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island


When you are on The Lego Movie Soundtrack, Tegan and Sara pretty much had to have a Lego themed music video. Though just putting Legos on pencils, that is a bit too lazy especially when you compare it to the Lego heavy White Stripes video for Fell in Love with a Girl.


L8 CMMR – Lily Allen


This is the weakest of the new songs we have gotten from Lily Allen over the past two months. Hopefully it is on the Girls Soundtrack because it just is not good enough to make it on her upcoming album. But as disappointing as the song is, the 8-bit themed lyrics video more than makes up for it.


I Need My Girl – The National


I probably should like The National more than I do, they are from Ohio and specialize in the sad bastard songs that I like to put on repeat. I think maybe the singer is just not palatable to me. But they have been putting out some interesting music videos lately. The most recent is for touching I Need My Girl which was appropriately released on Valentine’s Day.

The 14 Events That Will Make 2014 Awesome

2014 may be less than a week old, but in no way means it is too early to do a Best of 2014. Here are fourteen events that will hopefully keep us entertained over the next twelve months.

14. Detox – Dr. Dre: Let’s start off the list as I always do by suggesting this may very well be the year we get to hear Detox. Hey, maybe Dre will launch it with his Beats Music Service which is supposedly going live sometime this month as a rival to Spotify (YouTube’s music service is also due this month). But where Spotify is made by software engineers, Dre has teamed up with Trent Resnor and legendary record executive Jimmy Iovine. Though it will not be in use until a still unspecified date earily in 2014, grab your Beats Music username now.

13. The End of How I Met Your Mother: Okay, the show has not been great for a while (I would argue the show started going downhill right after Victoria left for Paris) and the last season has been as I expected considering it takes place over one weekend (and that is not very), but it is an end of an era when the show comes to a close after nine seasons this spring. Well that is until it is replaced with the rumored How I Met Your Father next fall.

12. Frank Miller on Screen: For the very small niche of Frank Miller fans who hate reading, 2014 will be a good year for them because two of his graphic novels will once again be given the big screen treatment. First up in March is 300: Rise of an Empire, a prequel to the original focusing on those evil Persians. Then in August Sin City a Dame to Kill For will get its long delayed release bringing back Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, and Josh Hartnett in four segment, two straight from the Frank Miller graphic novel and two original stories for the film.


11. World Cup: Real football fans rejoice, it is World Cup time and it is back in the Western Hemisphere for the first time in twenty year. Sure Brazil and soccer has been in the headlines recently because of referee beheadings, but that is juts minor considering the controversies surrounding the other major sporting event this year. There should be less refereeing complaining this time around because this will be the first World Cup with goal line technology. Also new this year: vanishing spray for referees to mark the ten year mark which disappears a minute after application. Oh technology, what will they think of next. The World Cup kicks off June 12 on ABC and ESPN, while America starts off June 16 against Ghana who has beaten the USA at the last two World Cups.

10. The Strain: I have been on a vampire moratorium since the series finale of Angel but it may be time to lift that because of The Strain. The show was created by Guillermo de Toro who knows a thing or two about creepy storytelling, just check out Pan’s Labyrinth for proof. Just like The Walking Dead, The Strain is based on a graphic novel but hopefully del Toro can avoid the pitfalls Frank Darabount did when he tried to adapt The Walking Dead. We do not have any footage of the series just yet (there is a viral marketing video featuring rats) but expect the show to debut sometime in July on FX.

9. Penny Dreadful: If that is not enough supernatural being for you, or fears that even basic cable will not be able to go there, there is Penny Dreadful which was picked up by Showtime. The show will weave together the origins of literary horror characters, such as Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster, Dorian Gray, and Count Dracula, as they grapple with their monstrous alienation in Victorian London. And the cast boasts Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, and Billie Piper while the show is executively produced by Sam Mendes director of the Daniel Craig era James Bond films. No premiere date other than “spring” but I am guessing it will be the week after the Shameless season finale, so sometime in early April.


8. Live Television: Whenever something is successful, expect more of it. Yeah The Sound of Music Live! Go panned, but it went head to head with ratings champ The Big Bang Theory. So expect more scripted live events this year. I was hoping NBC would do a live adaptation of A Christmas Carol but the network has already tasked the producers behind The Sound of Music revival to do another musical. The next beloved music would probably be West Side Story. Is Selena Gomez as Maria too obvious? Sure the internet will probably like that casting as much a Carrie Underwood but at least Selena can act (though she does not have as good a voice as Carrie). Then for Tony, let me suggest Jason Street. Then much like The Sound of Music Live! Fill out the rest of the cast with actual Broadway veterans. Well, and have Neil Patrick Harris and Bill Hader make a cameo as Lieutenant Schrank and Officer Krupke. Granted if I ran NBC (or any other network getting into the Live television game), I would throw all the money in my coffers at Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to star in a live adaptation of Guys and Dolls in the rolls of Sister Sarah Brown and Sky Masterson.

7. More Marvel Movies: Marvel is going to dominate the movie theaters this year with sequels to Captain America (April 4), Spider-Man (May 2), and an X-Men (May 23) movie that bridges the 00’s trilogy and the most recent prequel. Oh yeah, and the studio is also launching a new property Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1) which features a gun toting raccoon and a talking tree. Meanwhile over at DC, there are no movies on the docket for this year, but…

6. DC on TV:.. by this time next year there could be as many as five DC comics based shows on television. Right now there is only Arrow on The CW based on Green Arrow but the show is developing a spin-off based on The Flash. And apparently The CW is beginning to realize that only targeting teen girls is a bad strategy because they have yet another funny book adaptation in development with Hourman, a pharmaceutical analyst who discovers that the visions that have plagued him since childhood are actually glimpses of tragic events occurring one hour in the future. Now if only the network would hire real actors instead of Ambrocrombie models and became a superhero only network (aside from a Veronica Mars reboot of course), it may become watchable. Meanwhile over on Fox they have already picked up Gotham to series based on James Gordon in a pre-Batman city (granted the last Batman-less Batman show Birds of Prey did not do very well). Then over at NBC, they are developing a show based on Constantine comic (last seen come to life in the Keanu Reeves movie). And this does not even include the long gestating Wonder Woman television show that almost made it to air a couple seasons ago on NBC and has long been in development as a origin story for The CW but never made it to the Pilot phase at the network.

5. New Music from U2: It seems like there has been a rumored U2 album coming soon ever since the release No Line on the Horizon was released back in 2009. Though those albums never materialized, the band wrapped up recording of their latest with Danger Mouse (who will have his album with Broken Bells out this year, and if you believe TMZ ambush interviews will be re-teaming with Cee-Lo Green for a new album in the new year) producing just prior to the holidays. And where Beyonce just airdropped her latest album out of nowhere, rumor has it U2 will go the completely opposite direction and will make their announcement for a new album during a Super Bowl commercial. Unless of course that commercial announces you can get the album starting at the end of the commercial on iTunes which may be the only way anyone could ever out-Beyoncé Beyoncé.

4. Untitled Cameron Crowe Project: Not much is known about the next Cameron Crowe (writer / director of Singles and Jerry McGuire) project but all I need to know is that it reunites Zombieland costars Emma Stone and Bill Murray. Throw in Rachel McAdams (who is due for a career resurgence) and you have a movie that you cannot miss.

3. Interstellar: Another movie shrouded in mystery. It supposedly has something to do with wormholes, but the recent teaser which was basically just Matthew McConaughey driving a beat up truck down a dirt road like he was in a country music video. But the movie comes from Christopher Nolan who messed with everyone’s heads on Inception and had fanboys everywhere geeking out with his Batman trilogy. Go ahead and mark November 7 on your calender now.


2. Winter Olympics: Curling enthusiast rejoice because the sport is coming back to television when the Olympic hit Sochi, Russia starting February 7. Sure no one watches any of these sports when not played under the Olympic flag besides hockey (though now that NBC has its own sports network, I do not see why they do not start airing curling league games). Still I will watch all that I am able to be it biathlon (Skiing! Shooting! All in one silly event) or luge. Sure there are some political aspects that could put a damper on the games be it Chechen terrorists or that Johnny Weir could be arrested right off the plane and shipped to Siberia just for being who he is.

1. Veronica Mars: Almost ten years after it debuted on television, Veronica Mars will hit the big screen March 14 with Neptune’s finest returning for a class reunion with all the major castmembers returning along with fan favorites like Vinnie Van Lowe, Amanda Sinclair, and Leo D’Amato making an appearance. Oh year, and the official trailer hit the internets recently, take a gander below.

The 20 Greatest Charity Supergroups of All Time

In honor of one of the most charitable Super Bowls ever where the referees gave the championship to the Baltimore Ravens in the second most lopsidedly officiated Championship Game in my lifetime (the first being the Steelers over the Seahawks which gives me a little satisfactions that the refs love the AFC North so much if the Browns miraculously ever make a Super Bowl appearance in my lifetime). More on the game in my Best of the Week roundup on Saturday. As for the Greatest Charity Supergroups of All-Time, unfortunately there are not a lot of them; I found a little fewer than thirty. Seriously, why there are not more of them, there should be one after every tragedy in addition. And I am sure there is still plenty of famine still left in Africa, where half of these charities went to, a favorite cause in the eighties which kicked of the charity supergroup trend. Oh well, here is my list.

1. We Are the World – USA For Africa (1985)
Raised Money For: Famine relief in Ethiopia
Best Line: Bruce Springsteen singing the chorus
Weirdest Transition: Dionne Warwick to Willie Nelson
Who Invited: Dan Aykroyd


2. Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid
Raised Money For: Famine relief in Ethiopia
Best Line: Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you - Bono
Weirdest Transition: Sting and Simon LeBon
Who Invited: Spandau Ballet


3. Just Stand Up – Stand Up 2 Cancer
Raised Money For: Stand Up 2 Cancer (2008)
Best Line: You don’t gotta be a prisoner in your mind, you can live your life (yeah) let your heart be your guide – Mary J. Blige
Weirdest Transition: Beyonce to Carrie Underwood
Who Invited: Miley Cyrus


4. We’re All in the Same Gang – West Coast Rap All Stars
Raised Money For: Promoted an anti-violence message
Best Line: Don’t you know we got to put our heads together – Michel’le
Weirdest Transition: N.W.A. to Young MC
Who Invited: Humpty Hump


5. What’s Going On – Artists Against Aides Worldwide (2002)
Raised Money For: AIDS programs in Africa and other impoverished regions, 9/11 Relief
Best Line: Oh my father, father, we don’t need to escalate – Nora Gaye
Weirdest Transition: Gwen Stefani to Aaron Lewis
Who Invited: Fred Durst… rapping

6. Voices That Care – Voices That Care (1991)
Raised Money For: U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm
Best Line: You are the voice and the guiding light. Feel in your heart how our love burns bright – Warren Wiebe
Weirdest Transition: Ralph Tresvant to Randy Travis
Who Invited: Mike Tyson (seriously, who put him next to Debbie Gibson)

7. Stars – Hear n Aid
Raised Money For: famine relief in Africa
Best Line: The epic guitar solos as a whole
Weirdest Transition: None, a very homogeneous group
Who Invited: Spinal Tap

8. Wavin’ Flag – Young Artists for Haiti (2010)
Raised Money For: People of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake
Best Line: If you weren't involved before it's never too late to start - Drake
Weirdest Transition: Drake to Nicki Yanofsky
Who Invited: Tom Cohrane

9. Self Destruction – The Stop the Violence Moment (1989)
Raised Money For: National Urban League
Best Line: I never ever ran from the Klu Klux Klan and I shouldn’t have to run from a black man – Kool Moe Dee
Weirdest Transition: Ms. Melodie to Doug E Fresh
Who Invited: Tone Loc

10. Give Peace a Chance – The Peace Choir (1991)
Raised Money For: In response to the imminent Gulf War
Best Line: Liberation ahhhhhhhhhh – Rev Run
Weirdest Transition: LL Cool J to Iggy Pop
Who Invited: Dweezil Zappa

11. Sun City – Artists United Against Apartheid (1985)
Raised Money For: protest apartheid in South Africa
Best Line: We’re stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back – Bruce Springsteen. Bono
Weirdest Transition: George Clinton to Joey Ramone
Who Invited: The Fat Boys (did one of them seriously get kissed by Bono?)

12. Across the Universe – 2005 Grammy’s
Raised Money For: Tsunami Relief
Best Line: Something’s gonna change my world – the choir
Weirdest Transition: Alicia Keys to Scott Weiland
Who Invited: Steven Tyler’s maracas

13. Give a Kidney – Kidney Now (2009)
Raised Money For: National Kidney Foundation
Best Line: Listen, when someone starts talking in the middle of a song, you know it’s serious – Elvis Costello
Weirdest Transition: Wyclef Jean, Steve Earle, and Michael McDonald
Who Invited: Clay Aiken

14. Do They Know it’s Hallowe’en – The North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative
Raised Money For: UNICEF
Best Line: Don’t know
Weirdest Transition: Take your pick
Who Invited: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

15. Sing – Annie Lennox featuring Various Artists (2007)
Raised Money For: HIV/AIDS
Best Line: Sing my sister sing – Annie Lennox
Weirdest Transition: None because of only two lead vocals
Who Invited: Madonna

16. Tears Are Not Enough – Northern Lights (1985)
Raised Money For: famine relief in Ethiopia
Best Line: It’s the time to take our message everywhere, ya know! – Cory Hart
Weirdest Transition: Cory Hart and the French people
Who Invited: Eugene Levy

17. H.E.A.L. Yourself – Human Education Against Lies (1991)
Raised Money For: H.E.A.L. Project
Best Line: Before you’re a color, first you are a human – KRS-One
Weirdest Transition: None, a very homogeneous group
Who Invited: Freddie Foxxx

18. Perfect Day – BBC (1997)
Raised Money For: Children in Need
Best Line: Just a perfect day, drink sangria in the park – Lou Reed
Weirdest Transition: Tammy Wynette to Shane MacGowan
Who Invited: the dude from Fun Lovin’ Criminals

19. Beds Are Burning (TckTckTck) – Time for Climate Justice (2009)
Raised Money For: Climate Change
Best Line: Now this village lives and breathes in forty five degrees – the dude from the Scorpions
Weirdest Transition: pretty much everyone in the Hodge podge of world artists
Who Invited: Talia al Guil

20. What More Can I Give - Michael Jackson and Friends
Raised Money For: Victims of 9/11
Best Line: We should give over and over again - Michael Jackson
Weirdest Transition: Reba McEntire to Aaron Carter
Who Invited: Billy Gilman


Honorable Mention
Let It Be - Gylne Tider: This did not make the list on account that it is not an actual charity single, but some Norwegian television hosts that tricked a bunch of long forgotten stars into thinking they were recording a charity single. No “Who invited…” because I would just end up writing every name of everyone involved.


Dishonorable Mention
We Are the World 25 – Arists for Haiti: Just a complete abomination

The Thirteen Events That Will Make 2013 Awesome

Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number, but there are a few things worth looking forward to the thirteenth year of this decade.

13. Detox – Dr. Dre: It is becoming an annual tradition to start off this list by saying this may be the year Dr. Dre finally releases Detox, but considering he was not able to get it out before the Mayan apocalypse, I think it is a safe bet to take the over on the release of Detox compared to any other event, be it the Cubs winning the World Series, a Veronica Mars movie, or Hayden Panettiere winning an acting award. It does not help that last year 50 Cent said that Dr. Dre is no longer interested in Detox (much like the general public) and it may just be released as an EP at some point.

12. The Mayans Were Wrong (Probably): Sure we are in the unlucky thirteen year, but hey, we are still here. Unless of course you did not think the world was going to explode in mid-December and instead the world would die slowly and we were too busy looking for some big apocalypse we missed the small catalyst that will being on the end of the world as we know it. Since you are still alive, make sure you go out and enjoy life this year. I would say that you only live once, but I do not want to get sued by Drake. Plus Nancy Sinatra is significantly better than Drake and she said you only live twice.

11. Sequels That Won’t Suck (Hopefully): The Last Exorcism 2 (March 1), Kick-(Expletive Deleted) 2 (June 28), Grown Ups 2 (July 12), RED 2 (August 2), Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters (August 16), Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (October 4), and Thor: The Dark World (November 8) all had entertaining to great original films and statistically speaking a couple of the seven will probably have a good serial. Okay I do not have high hopes for the second The Last Exorcism because, well, it is an oxymoron but hopefully the other live up to the first movies or at the very least half of them do.

10. S.H.E.I.L.D. the TV Series: Joss Whedon back doing television would be awesome enough, but continuing his work in the Marvel universe makes this doubly awesome. The only way it could have been more awesome is if Lizzy Caplain, who starred in the Item 47 short film, would have continued her character on the new show (she is otherwise busy, but more on her later). No superheroes on the television show (unless you count the reanimated corpse of Phil Coulson) and a cast of unknowns but I have full faith in Whedon. Hopefully the show will be ready by the fall and does not flutter out like the Wonder Woman reboot that never ended up making it to air.

9. No National Elections: I am sure most of those that live in the United States do care either way, but for those of us living in swing states, no political ads or robocalls are very welcome in this off election year. Unfortunately it looks like 2016 will be worse than last year because Sheldon Adelson, who may have been the biggest loser after backing numerous losing candidates with what is believed to be over $100 million (almost a dollar for every vote cast), plans to double down in the future.

8. Man of Steel: I am still cautiously optimistic about the latest Superman reboot. Zack Snyder’s last movie was so poorly received that there was a groundswell to kick him off the movie. I love Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, but as executive producer of the movie I fear he may make Superman more serious than he should be. But on the flipside, it cannot possible be worse than the Krypton in the Atlantic Ocean plot from Superman Returns. Can it? We will find out June 28.

7. A New U2 Album: Ever since U2 released No Line on the Horizon in 2009, the group has been teasing that the session had enough songs for another new album which they even dubbed Songs of Accent. That album has yet to materialize but the group, but their record company announced that they would be releasing a new album this year. No word on if the album will be Songs of Ascent, work they have done with Danger Mouse, or a dance album they have also supposedly been working on.

6. Warm Bodies: After Zombieland I declared the 10’s (the tens? The teens? What exactly are we calling this decade?) the decade of zombies. Since then there has been numerous movies, even the kids in The Cabin In The Woods ended up summoning zombies, The Walking Dead is crushing cable ratings records, and thanks to the bath salt epidemic that created actual living zombies. Of course there would eventually be someone who would come along and bastardize zombies with a crappy Twilight with zombies type movie. At least that is what I thought Warm Bodies was going to be until I saw the trailer and, surprise, not only did it not look painfully bad, it actually looked like it will be good. Warm Bodies, coming February 1, is not the only major zombie movie making its way to theaters this year as the oft delayed Brad Pitt World War Z is set to premiere this summer.

5. The Evil Dead: Does the world need a reboot of The Evil Dead? No. Even if Sam Raimi is involved? Not really. Does it need one where Ash is a chick? Goodness no. Even if it is the chick from Suburgatory? Probably not. Will I get excited if this movie leads to Tessa Altman vs. The Army of Darkness? Frack yes!

4. More From The Black Keys: The duo just released El Camino thirteen months ago but it does not sound like we will have to wait very much longer for the next album as the band expects it to be done by the end of Spring. It seems like only Rihanna releases as much music (seven in eight years), but where a Rihanna album is lucky to have one to three catchy songs, The Black Keys always release great albums. No word yet if the album will again be produced by Danger Mouse, who did two of the band’s last three albums.

3. Gangster Squad: After watching Crazy, Stupid, Love, I decreed that every movie should star Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Apparently someone was listening because the duo will be playing opposite each other in the period piece set to hit theaters next week. I am sure the duo could even make an Innerspace reboot awesome (McLovin of course would then play Martin Short, make this happen Hollywood).


2. Grand Theft Auto V: After all the massacres, people wondered if the upcoming Grand Theft Auto will be the last of its kind. It is doubtful as long as there is money to be made. And it is always cheap to blame entertainment for society’s ills when it is the parents that should be accountable for letting their kids to watch or play such violent games. I have played all four GTA games released on the two Playstation games and remain fiercely anti-gun. Plus the games are not all bad, you can also steal ambulances and cop cars and do good through the city. GTA V takes the game out west to San Andreas for the first time in modern times and the first modern game to take place outside of Liberty City. Little else is known about the game except it is supposed to be even bigger than the fourth installment and it is expected to be released sometime this spring.


1. Masters of Sex – Seriously, Lizzy Caplan is starring in something entitled Masters of Sex. The show cannot premiere soon enough (but will probably hit Showtime no sooner than April).

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Power Ballads of All Time

When you say “Power Ballad” most people conjure up hair bands from the eighties usually with black and white videos with slow motion synchronized guitar moves. But if you flip the words and think powerful ballads that can encompass many different genres and time periods. And that expanded definition was the basis of my list of The 100 Greatest Power Ballads of All Time which I am sure many of the younins have heard lately in the middle of prom season. Many may not think there is a connection between White Lion, Lauyrn Hill, and Kelly Clarkson, but they have all recorded soft ballads that build to a crescendo of guitars, pianos, choirs, or a combination of the three. Here is a look at the list by the numbers.

Songs by Genre
Alternative Rock - 25
Adult Contemporary – 24
Hard Rock – 22
Rock - 21
R&B - 6
Country – 2

Songs by Decade
60’s – 2
70’s – 5
80’s – 30
90’s – 37
00’s – 23
10’s – 3

Artists with Multiple Songs
U2 - 4
Coldplay – 3
Guns N' Roses – 3
Snow Patrol - 3
Aerosmith – 2
Bonnie Tyler – 2
Foreigner – 2
Green Day – 2
Hootie & The Blowfish – 2
INXS – 2
Journey – 2
Oasis – 2
Ozzy Osbourne - 2
Phil Collins – 2
Poison – 2
R.E.M. – 2
Radiohead - 2


Year with Most Songs – 1988 (8)
Songs with Rain in the Title – 3 (All in the top 10)
“Love Theme” from a Movie – 3

The 100 Greatest Power Ballads of All Time

1. Love Song - Tesla

2. Purple Rain - Prince and The Revolution

3. Heaven - Warrant

4. Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison

5. I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins

6. All I Want Is You - U2

7. I'll Be There for You - Bon Jovi

8. Home Sweet Home - Mötley Crüe

9. November Rain - Guns N' Roses

10. Without You - Harry Nilsson

11. Silver Springs (Live) - Fleetwood Mac

12. No More Drama - Mary J. Blige

13. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

14. The Scientist - Coldplay

15. I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner

16. What It Takes - Aerosmith

17. Bright Lights - Matchbox Twenty

18. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

19. Faithfully - Journey

20. I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) - Meat Loaf

21. Against All Odds - Phil Collins

22. How to Save a Life - The Fray

23. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS

24. Wind of Change - Scorpions

25. Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.

26. Set the Fire to the Third Bar - Snow Patrol and Martha Wainwright

27. Will You Be There - Michael Jackson

28. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2

29. My Immortal (Band Version) - Evanescence

30. You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones

31. Why - Annie Lennox

32. She Talks to Angels - The Black Crowes

33. Patience - Guns N' Roses

34. Ex-Factor - Lauryn Hill

35. Alone - Heart

36. Dreaming With a Broken Heart - John Mayer

37. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

38. Boston - Augustana

39. My Heart Will Go On - Céline Dion

40. Far Behind - Candlebox

41. Don't Cry - Guns N' Roses

42. Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Oasis

43. Fix You - Coldplay

44. Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) - Cinderella

45. Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner

46. With or Without You - U2

47. Tuckers Town - Hootie & the Blowfish

48. The Stairs - INXS

49. Better Man - Pearl Jam

50. Close My Eyes Forever - Lita Ford and Ozzy Osborne

51. Hey Jude - The Beatles

52. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler

53. Poison and Wine - The Civil Wars

54. Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis

55. Sister Christian - Night Ranger

56. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel

57. We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) - Tina Turner

58. (Everything I Do) I Do It for You - Bryan Adams

59. Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day

60. Let Her Cry - Hootie and the Blowfish

61. Angel Eyes - The Jeff Healey Band

62. Hero - Enrique Iglesias

63. Creep - Radiohead

64. Run - Snow Patrol

65. Linger - The Cranberries

66. Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

67. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

68. Listen to Your Heart - Roxette

69. Don't Follow - Alice in Chains

70. One - U2

71. She's Gone - Hall and Oates

72. Keep On Loving You - REO Speedwagon

73. Take My Breath Away - Berlin

74. Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

75. Nothing Else Matters - Metallica

76. Silent Lucidity - Queensrÿche

77. When the Night Comes - Joe Cocker

78. Somebody to Love - Queen

79. The Cave - Mumford and Sons

80. I Remember You - Skid Row

81. Open Arms - Journey

82. Angel - Aerosmith

83. Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osborne

84. It's All Coming Back to Me Now - Céline Dion

85. Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me - George Michael and Elton John

86. A Long December - Counting Crows

87. When the Children Cry - White Lion

88. Glycerine - Bush

89. Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots

90. Existentialism On Prom Night - Straylight Run

91. Lonely Road of Faith - Kid Rock

92. Strange Currencies - R.E.M.

93. Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler

94. Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

95. Trouble - Coldplay

96. Is This Love - Whitesnake

97. The Mountains Win Again - Blues Traveler

98. Sober - Kelly Clarkson

99. A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers

100. Something to Believe In - Poison

Best of the Week - 3/17/12

Quote of the Week: Now I am off to lead a pack of tiny testosterone animals to victory. Got to warm them up and give them my best Friday Night Lights speech about hearts or eyes or some (expletive deleted). (Steve, Shameless)

Song of the Week: King of Rock – Run-DMC (Happy Endings)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: It’s March Madness Baby!: The first round is less about how many games you won but how many teams you have going deep in your bracket still around. And when one half of your Final Four is out on the first day really is not a good sign. Thanks Missouri and Duke. But like it is the last couple years, the big story is Barack Obama’s bracket which surprisingly is not completely chalk this year and even has an eleventh seed in the Sweet Sixteen. Sure his other three regions are pretty much chalk and has the overall top two teams in the finals.

Preview Picture of the Week:

Pretty Little Liars Season Finale

Most Worthless The Walking Dead Character of the Week: T-Dogg (so when they are rounding up a posse to hunt down an armed dude, they choose the ten pound Asian Glen who got trigger shy a couple episodes back over T-Dogg; which begs the question, who else is above T-Dogg in the hunting queue? Maggie? Hershel? Carl?)

Free Download of the Week: Beautiful Day - U2 (Google Play)

New Album Release of the Week: Tuskegee - Lionel Richie

New DVD Release of the Week: The Muppets

Video of the Week: I gave up on spoilers almost a decade ago after finally realizing they were ruining my television experience, but the one concession I make is that I still watch the promos that follow the shows which are like my nicotine patch that keeps me from spoiler site. Granted I should just turn off my television when the credits run because the promos routinely spoil the show anyway or are just misleading. With all the crap I do give to the promo monkeys, the promo for next week’s Justified is the single greatest promo ever in the history of television. “Why wait?” More like “Can’t wait!”



Next Week Pick of the Week: Pretty Little Liars, Monday at 8:00 on ABC Family: Monday is the big day when we will finally learn who A is on the season finale of Pretty Little Liars. Check out my odd of who is behind the texts here: Oddsmakers: Who Is A?

I Want My Music Television - 8/10/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Cry Baby – Cee-Lo Green



My favorite part of the new Cee-Lo video: when not-Laura Winslow gets a befuddled, why did Urkel just break out in song and choreographed dance with a street full of people face.


Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera



When I first heard this song by Maroon 5 I thought do any chivks really want a dude with moves like Jagger? I always though why chick went for Mick Jagger was because he was rich and famous. I don’t Bob the bus driver who can move like Jagger is not getting many more chicks because of it. But anyway. For all the pervs out there that would get excited over a couple half seconds of naked women, there is an unedited version of this video.


Rise Above 1 – Reeve Carney featuring Bono and The Edge



The U2 Spiderman musical has been universally panned but you would figure at the very least the music would be good, but I am not sure if their collaboration with Spiderman himself Reeve Carney is even good enough to be on the Pop album. Hopefully their album with Danger Mouse comes out sooner than later so I can forget about this song.


Comeback Kid (That's My Dog) - Brett Dennen



Is it too late to nominate Comeback Kid by Brett Dennen the song of the summer? It is absurdly catchy and the video even features baseball. Plus how can you not get behind a white dude with thick read hair who turns That’s My Dog into a catchphrase?

Breaking Down the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00’s

Back in 2006 someone asked me what I thought was the best song of the year was and I responded that Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy wasn’t just the best song of the year, but it was the greatest song of the decade. It was at that moment I thought about doing a Greatest Songs of the 00’s list and started a playlist that ended up with around 1400 songs four that I then widdled down to my favorite even thousand. If you have not done so yet, head over to The 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00’s for the complete list. Here is how the list broke down by the numbers. Now if excuss me, I need to get started on my list of the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 10's.


Artist with Double Digit Songs:
Kanye West - 22
Jay-Z – 17
U2 - 17
Coldplay – 16
John Mayer (Trio) - 15
Alicia Keys - 14
Dixie Chicks – 13
Dave Matthews (Band) – 12
Snow Patrol - 12
Jack Johnson – 11
Michelle Branch (The Wreckers) – 11
Nelly Furtado – 11
Beyoncé (Destiny's Child) - 10
The Roots – 10
Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs) – 10


Songs by Genre
Pop - 204
Rock- 191
Rap – 159
Alternative - 155
Adult Contemporary – 142
RnB - 97
Country – 40
Electronic – 12

Songs by Year
2000 - 91
2001 – 94
2002 – 96
2003 – 77
2004 – 96
2005 – 91
2006 – 90
2007 – 116
2008 – 124
2009 - 125


Top 100 by Year
2000 – 12
2001 – 12
2002 – 11
2003 – 10
2004 – 11
2005 – 9
2006 – 9
2007 – 8
2008 – 11
2009 – 7

Top 100 by Genre
Adult Contemporary – 28
Alternative – 19
Rap – 19
Rock - 12
Pop – 8
RnB - 8
Country – 5
Electronic - 1


Most Songs in top 100 – The Killers (5)
100’s – John Mayer (5)
200’s – U2 (3)
300’s – Jack Johnson, Jay-Z (3)
400’s – Alicia Keys (5)
500’s – The Roots (4)
600’s – Coldplay (3)
700’s – Dixie Chicks (4)
800’s – Kanye West (4)
900’s – LeAnn Rimes (3)

Artist with 1 Song: 201

Number of Cover Songs: 34
Number of 00’s Cover Songs: 6
Television Theme Songs: 4

Shortest Song: Fell in Love with a Girl (1:50)

Longest Song: I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie (8:36)

Time it would take you to listen to the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00's: 2 days, 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 46 seconds.

11 Events That Will Make 2011 Awesome

Listening to DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2010 (Can’t Stop the Pop) I came to the realization that last year kind of sucked. But fret not, pop culture is looking up for 2011 because we need to party it up before the world ends next year (or so the Mayans and John Cusack would have us to believe). Here are eleven events to look forward to next year.

11. Detox – Dr. Dre: Sure we have been waiting for Detox to be released for most of the last decade, but a single, Kush, and accompanying video was released late last year singling that me may actually get the whole thing sometime in the next twelve months and as soon as February. But much like Chinese Democracy, I’ll believe it when I see it in iTunes. I’d suggest Dr. Pepper speed up the process by giving everyone a free can if Detox drops this year, but I still haven’t received my free promised when Axl Rose deliver his album on time (yes I am still bitter).

10. Lights Out: FX debuted the two best new shows of 2010 (Justified and Terriers) so hopes are high that their boxing drama will carry on that tradition. Lights Out premieres next Tuesday at 10:00.

9. The Avengers: No, not the movie that features all of the superheroes, that won’t be released until next year, but two members will get their own vehicles this year. Thor will be released in May while Captain America: The First Avenger is set to hit theaters in July. Now I am more of a DC guy, but I was never really was a fan of Green Lantern or of Ryan Reynolds for that matter and the trailer really didn’t get me excited. While the Thor trailer did pique my interest and I have a curiosity of how Captain America can translate to children of the 21st century because the goody two shoes acts didn’t work very well for the Superman reboot.



8. Watch the Throne – Kanye West and Jay-Z: If a drunken Kanye is to be believed, we can expect this collaboration next week, but I have a feeling we may have to wait a bit longer. Maybe next week we will just get another sneak peak (possibly a G.O.O.D. Friday track) to add to the already leaked, La Roux infused That’s My (Expletive Deleted).

7. Your Highness: Can the guys that made action movies hilarious with Pineapple Express do the same for a historical movie? The trailer looks like that will be a resounding yes. And Danny McBride, James Franco and director David Gordon Green will be joined by Natalie Portman in her first comedic role since, um, does the Walmart baby movie count? Your Highness arrives in theaters April 8.



6. 2012 Elections: Sure we will have to wait until November of next year to learn the results, but the primary campaigning will start any day night. And we may get the odd situation where the Tea Party and liberals will be rooting for the same candidate: Sarah Palin. She and none of the other Republican front runners have officially thrown their hats into the ring but also-rans Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul are likely to take on popular governors Haley Barbour (Mississippi), Mitch Daniels (Indiana), and Tim Pawlenty (of Minnesota who famously shaved off his mullet only not to get picked by McCain as his running mate). Oh and Donald Trump wants to run. Also registered Democrat and former the Rent Is Too Damn High Party candidate Jimmy McMillian has announced he will be seeking the Republican nomination. More interesting will be if any Democrat challenges Barack Obama. As much as the far right likes to label him a socialist, he has governed very far to the right than the liberals that elected him over Hilary Clinton had hoped for: he continued Bush’s foreign policy, and arguably has been more aggressive. And the much maligned health care reform looks like it was written more by insurance companies than a Kennedy, and looks a lot like the reforms that Romney enacted in Massachusetts and Bob Dole proposed in the nineties. No matter who runs, here’s hoping for a full stale of YouTube debates this year.

5. Falling Skies: Forget that his other sci-fi show hitting this year, Terra Nova that will be either in Fox’s death slot and / or canceled by 2012, the Steven Spielberg show to keep your eye out for this year is TNT’s Falling Skies. Sure Noah Wiley may make for the most unrealistic action hero since, I guess Adrian Brody in Predators wasn’t that long ago, but the promo makes the show look epic (even if it blew is load too early by letting us getting a good look at the invading aliens). Falling Skies is set to debut in June.



4. Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee pt. 1 was supposed to drop in 2009 but was delayed to Adam Yauch’s battle with cancer. MCA is doing better now and not only will we likely see part 1 this year; part 2 is actually scheduled to be released sometime this spring.

3. U2: Two Beastie Boys albums in one year don’t wet your pallet enough. How about the possibly of three U2 albums this year? First there is Songs of Ascent featuring songs from the No Line on the Horizon which was supposed to be released back in 2009 but keeps being pushed back. The band is also working with Danger Mouse for new songs which should be awesome and is slated to be out the first part of this year. They are also working on a dance album similar to the u2 Remixes of the 90’s which may also see the light of day this year.

2. Sucker Punch: How can Zach Snyder possibly outdo the testosterone awesomeness of 300 and Watchmen? Continue the comic book look to his films but switch out buff dudes for hot chicks. Snyder describes Sucker Punch as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.” I can’t wait. You can expect the movie on March 25.

1. Friday Night Lights: The best show returns to terrestrial television sometime this summer (hopefully sooner).

They're Singing Deck the Halls but it's not Like Christmas at All

And really, it is not like Christmas at all if I do not hear Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Where most Christmas tunes are of a more cheerful variety, Christmas was one of the first heartbreaking holiday song for those that do not have anyone to kiss under the mistletoe during the wintery months. Whether it be the original with Darlene Love backed by Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound, or U2 with Bono in full Elvis mode, more the more melancholy version utilized by Death Cab for Cutie, I cannot go a December without hearing multiple versions of Christmas (Baby Please Come) which is what makes it this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame. Below you can watch their versions of their song and click on the artist names to buy the song on iTunes, or you can head over to RCRD LBL to download the version by Slow Club for free.

Darlene Love




U2




Death Cab for Cutie