Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Great Music Challenge

Since I've known him, my friend The Canadian has called me "Miss [Berrie], if you're nasty." I thought it was kind of weird but supposed it was a reference to something I hadn't heard and wasn't really curious about. But finally, a couple of weeks ago, I said, "What IS that?" He stared at me in disbelief for a second and said, "'Nasty Boys'? The Janet Jackson song?" I simply shrugged, and he shook his head in exasperation. This led to a conversation about how I don't really pay attention to music and artists, but how even if I don't listen to music often, there are some things I should know in order to be "a well-rounded person." Thus began The Great Music Challenge.

The deal was that if I listened to a list of 100 songs, hand-picked by The Canadian, he would read a Harry Potter book. (Another thing about The Canadian--since I've known him, he has been staunchly anti-Harry Potter.) I thought he'd never agree to such a thing, so I eagerly took the deal. A few days later, I had my assigned list of 100 pop songs. I think it's a pretty good assortment, and I feel better-rounded already! I haven't listened to them all yet, but here are the first 51:

Elton John

  1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  2. Benny & the Jets
  3. Crocodile Rock
  4. My Father’s Gun
  5. Tiny Dancer

Gladys Knight & the Pips

  1. If I Were Your Woman
  2. Heard it Through the Grapevine
  3. Midnight Train to Georgia

Michael Jackson

  1. Billy Jean
  2. Thriller
  3. Man in the Mirror
  4. The Way You Make Me Feel
  5. Black or White

B-52’s

  1. Rock Lobster
  2. Love Shack
  3. Roam

Madonna

  1. Material Girl
  2. Holiday
  3. Like a Prayer
  4. Vogue
  5. Ray of Light

Janet Jackson

  1. Nasty Boys
  2. Rhythm Nation
  3. Escapade
  4. Doesn’t Really Matter
  5. Together Again

Marvin Gaye

  1. What’s Going On
  2. Gotta’ Give it Up
  3. Aint No Mountain High Enough (with Tammy Terrel)

Red Hot Chili Peppers

  1. Under the Bridge
  2. Give it Away
  3. Dani California

No Doubt

  1. Just a Girl
  2. Don’t Speak
  3. Simple Kind of Life
  4. Hella Good
  5. Underneath It All

Tracy Chapman

  1. Fast Car
  2. Give Me One Reason
  3. I Am Yours

Blondie

  1. Heart of Glass
  2. The Tide is High
  3. Rapture
  4. Call Me
  5. One Way or Another

Bangles

  1. Walk Like an Egyptian
  2. Eternal Flame
  3. In Your Room

Boyz II Men

  1. Motown Philly
  2. It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye To Yesterday
  3. On Bended Knee
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4 comments:

The Former 786 said...

Those are good songs! The Canadian has good taste in music.

Now how many of those have you heard before? And how many are completely new to you?

March 10, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Miss Berrie said...

I'll answer that once I finish the whole list and give my feedback to The Canadian. Stay tuned!

March 12, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Anonymous said...

I'll sing Boyz II Men if you want. :-)

March 13, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Miss Berrie said...

Ok, I've updated the list. The ones in orange are songs that I have heard before. Most of them were in movies, commercials, or Divine Comedy shows. There were very few that I was able to associate with the artist.

March 17, 2009 at 2:10 PM

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