goodyk
goodyk
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Indisputable evidence

Posted almost 5 years ago
I'm reading a book by John Sellers, "Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life":http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Now-Indie-Rock-Saved/dp/0743277082, which is amusing and kind of fun in that makes-you-want-to-listen-to-music way.But there's something in the early going that really intrigued me. Sellers to his surprise discovers his obsession with Guided By Voices (eh, OK, never fully got it, whatever) mathematically, when he discovered that he could list songs on his iTunes by play count.So I bit. What the heck. A quick click reveals ... no big surprise at No. 1. In a recent post at my other "blog":http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/BillGoodykoontz/1752, in which I ranked what I thought were the top 25 songs of all time, I put No. 13 Baby at the top. And indeed, it's there at No. 1 on iTunes as well.But No. 2 surpised me, a lot. Honky Tonk Women, by the Rolling Stones. Huh? When? Now, granted, I listen to songs on my iPod when I run, set on shuffle, so all manner of things come up. (Plus, I listen to Rhapsody a lot more than what I have stored on iTunes.) But I've listened to this more than anything but my beloved Pixies song?Jimmy's Fantasy by Redd Kross at No. 3 isn't a big stretch. After a certain number of beers it's practically required listening. But Anne Richmond Boston's cover of Neil Young's When You Dance I Can Really Love at No. 4? Wow. I don't think that can possibly be true.And yet it obviously is.What a bizarre experience. I know that (Believed You Were) Lucky by 'Til Tuesday (great song, really, don't be fooled by Amy Mann's former hairdo) comes up a lot (No. 14), because it's at the top of a couple of playlists I've made. But if I had to guess a Sparklehorse song I'd heard most, it would have been Heart of Darkness, not Someday I Will Treat You Good (No. 6). Same for Elvis Costello. I would have thought I'd listened to Beyond Belief, one of my all-time favorite songs, a lot more, but it's hovering down at No. 21, while Alison sits there at No. 16. Go figure.Interesting exercise. No accounting for tastes, as they say. But you'd think I could account for my own.Anyway, without further ado, the 20 songs I've evidently listened to most:1) No. 13 Baby, The Pixies2) Honky Tonk Women, Rolling Stones3) Jimmy's Fantasy, Redd Kross,4) When You Dance I Can Really Love, Anne Richmond Boston5) No Better Place, Fountains of Wayne6) Someday I Will Treat You Good, Sparklehorse7) Special One, Ultra Vivid Scene8) Clocks, Coldplay9) Mexican Wine, Fountains of Wayne10) Something Becomes Nothing, Matthew Sweet (another stunner; I'd have guessed about 15 other Matthew Sweet songs before this)11) Corduroy, Pearl Jam (I am not sure how this happened)12) Please Return It, The Posies13) New Slang, The Shins14) Stacy's Mom, Fountains of Wayne (big hit with my kids)15) (Believed You Were) Lucky, 'Til Tuesday16) Heroes, David Bowie17) Alison, Elvis Costello18) Zero, Smashing Pumpkins (again, I can't quite figure this out)19) One, U220) Roses Are Free, Ween (I like the guitar solo)
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Comments (5)

  1. annnna
    annnna says I get surprised at what I listen to most too. Last.fm has The Mountain Goats- Dance Music. I don't think Itunes is the best counter because it only lists a song as played when the whole song is through, and sometimes I skip through the last five seconds of silence at the end of a song.
    Permalink posted 07/14/2007
  2. hontzd
    hontzd says Love the concept - but my data's screwed. My computer is only a few months old, and I've been listening to mostly new stuff since I got it. By looking at my current list, you'd think I'd listened to only Amusement Parks on Fire, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Silversun Pickups and Nine Inch Nails. You know what would be interesting? Some algorithm that comes up with a magic rating based upon number of times played and number of songs from an artist in your library. You'd get some sort of rating for consistency - great (you buy the artist's music, and you listen to it a lot) or disappointing (you buy a lot of the artist's music, but you end up not listening to it much). I wish I could see info on every song I've listened to for the past 20 years -- who pops up, fades away, then comes back over time. Pixies are always around. Catherine Wheel was big, then disappeared, and now they're back in my mix. Alas, Ministry was huge but there hasn't been a single spin for them in eight years.
    Permalink posted 07/14/2007
  3. dermahrk
    dermahrk says For one reason or another (new computer, other screwup) I have to re-load my iTunes tracks every few months and, since the "data" including plays, ratings, date added and date last played, seem to be stored on the iPod and not with the songs, I lose all the data periodically. Sigh.... Still, 3 FOW songs? The Posies? Matthew Sweet? Aimee? Elvis C? Your tastes and mine are running on the same track, my new friend.
    Permalink posted 07/14/2007
  4. goodyk
    goodyk says I like the idea of something that combines your listening with your loyalty, though they're probably pretty close to one and the same. That's why this was fun, and interesting - while your top 20 or whatever might not be 100 percent reflective of your tastes and whatnot, and again, I listen more to Rhapsody at work, at home, whatever, you can't deny that you have indeed listened to the songs it spits out. Of course now I feel like I need to go boost the numbers for Matthew Sweet and Wilco....
    Permalink posted 07/14/2007
  5. Girlcrawl
    Girlcrawl says Like the tunes you are listening to!
    Permalink posted 07/14/2007

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