My Bestest Pal "tagged" me, as the Blogerati say, with this "meme." A meme is sort of like a chain letter for bloggers, only better, because it gives you something to write about. And with nothing to write about, you'd be forced to, I don't know, spend time with your family, do your job, like that.

Anyway it goes thus:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag other people to see what they’re listening to."

So forthwith, my 7.

"That's How You Know," Amy Adams, from Enchanted. We bought the Enchanted DVD for my daughter at CostCo, and within 3 days she was singing this one all over the place, and of course, because it is in fact insanely catchy, now I can't get it out of my head. She insists on dressing up as a princess to watch this movie. PS, I've noticed random 4-year-old girls singing this song ins tores and on the street.

"Accidentally in Love," Counting Crows, from Shrek II. My family's theme song. My daughter calls this one "Problem Baby." On the bridge, the linlyrics go, "These lines of lightning mean we're never alone..." I think that refers to wedding bands, which is sweet. When we got our wedding rings, I wanted to get the kind where when you put them together, you turn into superheroes. But apparently Fortunoff's doesn't sell those.

"Waterloo Sunset," Jim Boggia. I've mentioned this here before, I think. Boggia, a Philly singer/songwriter, wanted to "get inside" this Kinks classic, so he vowed to play it at every gig for a year. And as he usually performs solo, he wanted to teach his fans the backing vocals, so he has a podcast where he totally deconstructs the backing vocals and teaches them to you. At the end he runs through the whole song, and I can't get enough of it. Click the link; you can listen to the whole lesson, or else just scroll to the end where he does the song all together.

"Rockin' At Midnight," Honey Drippers. So I just joined a gym, and I actually go. I made a playlist on my iPod with workout songs, and this one proves to be great. (There are two kinds of workout songs: Chuck Berry-style guitar, and disco. I opt for Chuck Berry. Usually.) It's from an EP released circa '85, and the Honey Drippers was Robert Plant and assorted studs (Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page) sitting in. This totally rocks the treadmill!

"Hello Little Girl, Goodbye," Chuck Berry. A song I hadn't heard since the turntable and the LPs went into storage. I spent a half hour trying to download this from the Internet. It was originally on an EP released in, I think, 1973, and it is one of the absolute best Chuck Berry songs ever, it totally rocks and swings. I ended up finding it at some shady download site where you join and download songs for fifteen cents a pop, but when you join you get a fifteen cent credit, so I spent my credit on this. I can't link to it because it isn't online anywhere to stream; I'll upload it in a future post. But when this comes on and I'm on the treadmill, my heart rate goes right into the red zone. "Slow down!" barks the treadmill. But I'm having none of it. "Call 911!" cries the helpful girl at the front desk. "That big guy is coding!!" Yeah... coding like a fox...

"Crystal River," Mudcrutch. We've written about Mudcrutch before, and about this song. Here it is. It has that ephemeral quality that makes you want to sway and wave your lighter in the air. I can't wait to hear it on the beach at about 4:30 PM.

"Who Put the Bomp," Barry Mann. At the spring recital at my daughter's school, they sang doo wop songs. This was my favorite (my daughter's favorite was Yakkety Yak; although like every other kid in her class, she only knows one line to it: "Don't talk back!") "I'd like to thank the guy... who wrote the song... that made my baby fall in love with me..." Turns out this was a novelty song. I loved it as a kid and thought it was drop dead serious.

Honorable Mention: Most of the Ryan Adams catalogue.

Oh, I have to tag someonwe, right? OK then... Patty (no link though), Annie, and, well, anyone else who reads this thing.

Labels: Counting Crows, memes, Mudcrutch, pop culture, The tunes