The Den of Ubiquity

http://games.usvsth3m.com/the-theme-tune-of-your-life/ offers to tell me what the hit songs were on various of my birthdays.  Though I've long since stopped following the hits, I still confess a certain fascination for charts.  So let's see what we've got...

British charts, 0th birthday: "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle of The Road.  Interesting...I just rediscovered this song a year or two ago, courtesy of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue--it sounded instantly familiar, and I was compelled to buy it on iTunes out of sheer nostalgia.

American charts, 0th birthday: "It's Too Late" by Carole King.  I'm fond of the "Tapestry" album, but this song was never a standout for me.

British charts, 12th birthday: "Baby Jane" by Rod Stewart.  I don't think that I've even heard this one, but maybe I have.  At this point I was probably still avoiding Rod Stewart because I hated his voice.

American charts, 12th birthday: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police.  This one I definitely recall, which probably isn't that surprising.  My brother was a bit fan of The Police, so I heard a fair bit of them.

British charts, 14th birthday: "Frankie" by Sister Sledge.  Wow.  If possible, I think it's even less likely I heard this one than the Rod Stewart one.

American charts, 14th birthday: "A View To A Kill" by Duran Duran.  Ah, yes, definitely.  I first started getting into music in a big way in the summer of 1984, mostly via Duran Duran, so this was the first new track of theirs to come out after that time.  Just as the band was fragmenting, so this might even be their jump-the-shark moment.

British charts, 16th birthday: "It's A Sin" by Pet Shop Boys.  A big hit of my MuchMusic video-watching years, definitely quite familar, though never quite my favourite either.

American charts, 16th birthday: "Alone" by Heart.  This song is always tied, in my mind, to my high school crush...not to mention my crush on Nancy Wilson.  So, you know, memories, nostalgia...

British charts, 18th birthday: "Back To Life" by Soul II Soul.  I was without cable for a year or two when I was at university, so I have a bit of a gap in my musical awareness, but this was one of the songs I recall from that period.  My friend/roommate Jeremy wasn't that fond of it, though.

American charts, 18th birthday: "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals.  Also not my favourite track of theirs, but I certainly remember it quite well.

British charts, 21st birthday: "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail.  I definitely remember this song, though it was years before I got my own copy of it.  I mostly remember Jimmy Nail for singing "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (I still think of it as principally a Madonna song, though).

American charts, 21st birthday: "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot.  I never got that heavily into rap music, and certainly by this time I was actively avoiding it as much as possible.  I don't know if I've ever heard the original of this one, though the Jonathan Coulton cover version is perfectly fine.

Yeah, ages 14-17 were my main immersion in mainstream pop music, as you might be able to tell.  Now it's rare for me to hear a song the year it's released.  I try not to stay stuck in the past, but I don't shun the music of my childhood either...

A music meme courtesy of planetalyx:

1. Go to this site:
2. In the search box in the upper right hand corner, enter the year you graduated from high school.
3. The first item returned should be the top 100 songs from that year. Cut and paste them into your journal.
4. Bold the ones you like, underline your favorite, and strike through the songs you loathe.
(And, optionally, italicize the ones you haven't heard, if any.)

( Greatest hits of 1987! )

I was watching Veronica Mars last night, and they had an 80's theme dance at their high school. Of all the songs they played, only one was from as late as 1985, though there was a mention of "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". I may be a bit oversensitive to these things, but it always bothers me when 90% of the songs which are supposedly reminiscent of the entire decade come from the first four years of it. Though the above list is not particularly inspiring, there's plenty of good music from the last half of the 80's, and it's probably when most of my favourite songs come from. Maybe someday I'll get some stats to support that.

I have finally finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Not to imply that I didn't enjoy it, which I did, mostly, but it was long, and it was physically thick and heavy. I got tired of stuffing it into my backpack to take to work, which didn't leave much room for things like my lunch and my CDs and tapes to listen to.

It was a decent book, and probably a good candidate for the World Fantasy Award, if not the Hugo, but I can't say that it'll become one of my favourites. It could have been shorter, being very slow at the beginning and middle, and it took a long time for the plot to become clear. But it had a great sense of place and time, of early 19th century England(and bits of the rest of Europe), and obviously Susanna Clarke put a lot of thought into the history of magic in England, at least. (Though not outside of it, for some reason. But that kind of Anglocentrism is also in keeping with the times.)

Now I have to move on directly to the Peter Watts book(Behemoth, Part One: β-Max), since it and Jonathan Strange are both due back on Saturday. At least this one, having been split in half, is only 300 pages. Less than half of Jonathan Strange. Boy, those publishers sure love their midlist authors!

I'm also reading Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts/Private Stories, for which I swear I've been waiting for two years to come in at the library. It's amusing so far, at least. I keep neglecting The Descent of Woman, though every time I do pick it up(it made a better book to sneak into the bathroom at work than Jonathan Strange, for instance)I enjoy myself reading it.

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This evening I went to start up Winamp, and it told me a new version was available. I decided to upgrade, since I had a story to read for the Cult of Pain meeting(on a Wednesday this month). Unexpectedly, with the free upgrade was a free 50 MP3s to download from eMusic! So I happily used those up with the rest of my evening.

Of course, like all legitimate music-download sites, the selection was limited and quite scattered. However, I was able to find enough. Firstly, I remembered that They Might Be Giants' "Long Tall Weekend" had been available from eMusic, so I downloaded that one. Then I found not one but two(!) Miranda July albums. After that it was a little bit harder, but I decided to go for a Glenn Tilbrook solo album(whose title I've forgotten). The remainder were mostly single tracks--a couple of Peter Himmelman, some Stereolab and Negativland, one by the Lilac Time(I was thinking of Stephen Duffy because he's a good friend of Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies), and I tried a couple of new bands, In Itself and Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Now I just need to get some more CD-Rs so I can burn some of this stuff. I like the physical backup.