Blender's top/bottom song lists

Earlier today, The Techer Formerly Known as Gazebo (OK, he's still occasionally known as that) blogged about Blender's list of Top 500 Songs Since You Were Born (referring to people from our era, although I think they really mean their top 500 since I was 3) and their 50 worst songs ever.

I'll comment on Gazebo's specific comments on his blog in a minute, but the top 500 list is unsurprisingly arbitrary. Sometimes they pick just the right song from canonical artists (or at least one of the N reasonable songs to choose), but they often seem to just pull stuff out of their asses, being unable to decide whether they should take deep album cuts or songs with mainstream success... and some of the choices are truly inexplicable. (As Gazebo mentions, I naturally am not expecting my obscure favorites to be on the list.) Some of the background descriptions on the songs were amusing/interesting to read.

Here are a few things Blender got right for their top 500 list:

Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" absolutely should have a lofty place on this list.

"Like a Prayer" is a perfectly reasonable choice as Madonna's top song on the list.

So should "White Lines," although I consider the song to actually be rather annoying. I would like to hear Duran Duran's cover of this, however.

On the subject of the Durans, the choice of "Hungry Like The Wolf" as their top song is reasonable and the placement of "Ordinary World" somewhere on this list is also reasonable. ("Ordinary World" was their comeback song, and it's as absolutely beautiful ballad. It's one of my favorites.)

"Middle of the Road" is a perfectly reasonable choice as the top song by The Pretenders.

"West End Girls" is an absolute must as the top song by the Pet Shop Boys. It's not my favorite song by them (or even close to it), but it is the definitive song by that group, so it deserves the spot it got. (Being Boring was the other Pet Shop Boys' song that made the list. While it is awesome, I would not have chosen this one over, say, "Opportunities," among other songs.)

"Just Can't Get Enough" is a perfectly reasonable choice for Depeche Mode's top song. (Again, it's not close to their best song, but this is justifiable.)

"Losing My Religion" is the song that always comes to mind when I think of R.E.M., although again it's not one of my favorites by the group.

"True Faith" is the correct New Order song to list first. (I do agree with Gazebo's comment, however, because of the choice of other New Order songs.) It was the success of this song (it was the single that came from the "Substance" compilation) that brought increased attention to some of their older 80s work (including Blue Monday and Bizarre Love Triangle) in the first place.

Company B's "Fascinated" certainly belongs on the list somewhere. The entry in Blender discusses this in the context of the kind of Latin/new-wavy brand of music called "freestyle." (There are actually several so-called freestyle bands who have made some truly awesome songs. In particular, several songs by Exposé -- especially "Point of No Return" -- and Sweet Sensation's cover of "Love Child" come to mind. These songs are much better than "Fascinated" in my opinion, but they owe a large debt to it.) "Fascinated" is a cool song, and we (or at least I) enjoyed listening to it on the way to Coachella.

"Nothing Compares to U" absolutely should be Sinéad O' Connor's top song on the list (though again she has better songs). Among her least likely songs is her cover of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina."

George Michael's "Freedom" belongs on the list, though I don't like the song that much.

Lisa Loeb's "Stay" has the honor of being the only #1 hit by a then-unsigned arist. (Again, she has much better songs, but this one is historically significant.)

Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta' Know" (yet another song I don't like that most definitely deserves its spot) was never released as a single but made #1 on the strength of its airplay (and Blender forgot to mention this in their description).

Human League's "Don't You Want Me" is one of the definitive new wave songs and has been one of my personal favorites for a long, long time.

I'll let Lemming and Gazebo comment about Blur's "Girls and Boys." Let's just say it has some personal meaning for them.

"If You Leave" is the correct song by OMD to put here. It is awesome, but they have several better ones. My personal favorite is "Pandora's Box" and I remembering Lemming really likes "Walking on the Milky Way" (which I agree is a sublime song).

They properly put "U Can't Touch This" in the top list rather than the bottom one. "Macarena" is correctly placed here, too, although the version that is entirely in Spanish is the right version rather than the remixed one that became a hit.

Props to Stacey Q.'s "Two of Hearts" (which premiered in an episode of "Facts of Life" --- I remember this episode; that just shows how old I am) is a worthwhile inclusion and Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" is essential.

"Careless Whisper" is annoying, but it does belong here. Too bad Blender thought George Michael recorded it as a single rather than when he was still part of Wham!

"Born in the USA" is the correct Bruce Springsteen song to top his entries and "Call Me" is a reasonable choice for Blondie (although I tend to think of "Heart of Glass" first).

"I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls definitely belongs.

"Rock the Casbah" is the appropriate choice by The Clash and "You Spin Me 'Round" by Dead or Alive obviously had to be included.

I highly suggest you listen to The Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died." It's hilarious.

I appreciate the inclusion of Aimee Mann's "Save Me," although I wouldn't have argued if it weren't there. (This song contains among the best lyrics from an excellent songwriter.)

In a familiar refrain, the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now" is their definitive song but not their best. The same goes for "Every Breadth You Take" by the Police.

"Games Without Frontiers" (an awesome song!) is a reasonable choice for Peter Gabriel, although he's known more for several other songs. (To me, "Sledgehammer" is the one that makes more sense to have a place on the list, though the song they chose is one I like better.)

Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" naturally belongs here.

"I Touch Myself" by the Divnyls' has to be here, and it has a special place in Lloyd House lore---for several reasons (just ask Lemming or Bob Barker).

"Voices Carry" is the definitive song from 'Til Tuesday from back when Aimee Mann had a girl-mullet.

"Whip It" has a deserved spot on the list (although it's waaaaaay too low). It's among my all-time favorites.

Yaz's "Sitation" is also one of my favorite songs ever.

Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" launched (or was at least one of the early songs in) the new wave + haunting female voice genre.

I really appreciate the fact that LaTour's "People Are Still Having Sex" was given a place on the list. There are both censored and uncensored versions of this song, and neither has any cuss words. (The version the radio stations played at first has the line "This AIDS thing's not working." Once the song unexpectedly started having some success, this was quickly changed to "The safe thing's not working." Lame.)



Here are song things Blender got wrong in their top 500 list:

After "Like a Prayer," the particular choices of Madonna songs are extremely odd. Where are "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl?"

There's no way that any song besides "Once in a Lifetime" (which did make the list) should be the top song by Talking Heads. This is their definitive song (one could argue about "Psycho Killer," but that was recorded too early for this list), one of the definitine new wave songs by anybody, and is often considered their most influential song. "Crosseyed and Painless," my ass.

Why is "The Humpty Dance" on this list instead of on the worst list? I admit it's amusing, but it still shouldn't be here.

If they're going to include a song by The Jam, it should be "A Town Called Malice."

The top song by The Replacements makes no sense.

New Order: I indicated that "True Faith" is the right choice for their top song. It's reasonable to put "Love Vigilantes" on the list (what's the name of the upcoming French Revolution movie that I think used this song in the trailer?), but "Temptation" doesn't belong here, and it should definitely not be listed instead of "Blue Monday," "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Regret", "Round and Round," etc.

If they must put a Cher song, "Believe" was not the one to use. That song is annoying.

"Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan is a good song, but "Possession" is the one that always comes to mind when i think of her, and my favorite song of hers (by far) is "Into The Fire."

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" isn't the right Tom Petty song to have as his top selection. "Free Fallin'" (which I don't like that much) is correctly on the list and could have been #1, although something like "Last Dance With Mary Jane" or "I Won't Back Down" would also have been sensible.

Tears for Fears: How can they choose "Head Over Heels" over "Everybody Wants to Rule the World?" Hmph.

Sade's "Smooth Operator" should be in the list of the 50 worst songs ever. I simply hate it. Sade is annoying as all fuck.

"Time After Time" is a very good song, but I just can't excuse choosing this over "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun."

"Roam" is my favorite song by the B-52s, but it's not their definitive song---either "Love Shack" or "Rocjk Lobster" would have been more appropriate.

I don't understand how they could pick the t.A.T.u. version of "All the Things She Said" instead of the original version by Simple Minds.

Where is "Enjoy the Silence?" Where is "One Night in Bangkok?" Where is "Take on Me?" Etc, etc.

Where the fuck is "Tarzan Boy?"



In terms of their choices of the worst songs ever, most songs are either ones where I agree it should be on the list or I object passionately to its place on this list. Unlike Gazebo, I like "We Built This City" quite a lot, but I disagree even more strongly with the place of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night" on this list. (That is an awesome song, and they incorrectly label Hart as a one-hit wonder. Do your research, people! He's not even close to a one-hit wonder.)

The following are songs that I really like that these people mistakenly put on the list: "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” “The Sounds of Silence,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (shame on them for putting this here!),“Cotton Eye Joe,” “Shiny Happy People,” “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” (dissing Deep Blue Something, who most people don't even remember, for this awesome song is just rude), “Superman,” “Sunglasses At Night,” “Broken Wings,” “The Heart Of Rock & Roll”, "Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (putting this as the 3rd worst song ever is sacrilege!), and “We Built This City.” (There are a few other songs I like, though not as much as these, they were also mistakenly branded as among the worst songs ever.)

Then there are the songs that do belong here: "My Heart Will Go On" (the real reason the Titanic sank, according to an Airband skit), “Hangin’ Tough” (I remember my female classmates going gaga over New Kids, and I hated that group so bloody much...), “I Wanna Sex You Up,” “Rico Suave” (why is this only #37? this song is bloody awful), “I’ll Be Missing You” (and they adulerated a very good song!), “Two Princes” (I know there are those who disagree with me here, but the Spin Doctors suck ass IMO), “What’s Up?,” “Ice Ice Baby” (this makes me wonder: why were there no songs by Queen in the top 500? Have they never heard "Another One Bites the Dust?" Criminal!). Some of the songs I don't recognize may also be aweful.

Song that should have been in the bottom 50: The Flying Lizard's version of "Money." Horrible, just horrible.

OK, so I spent way too long on this...