Never knew it was referred to as...(The Postman Song)

Favorite Michael Jackson Memory

I thought it would be appropriate to share our favorite memories involving Michael Jackson.

When my older sister and I were little kids my mom always used to play music while she cleaned. The music ranged from The Eagles to Billy Joel to Air Supply to the Beatles to James Taylor. As little kids though, our favorite was most definitely the Thriller album by MJ. My older sister and I would dance in the living room while my mom cleaned. I'm surprised we didn't wear it out. I still have the record though. A truly happy memory.

Class Music Video of the Week

Hello. It's been awhile.

So here's a Classic Music Video of the Week!

Incidentially, Nada Surf has some really good albums which people don't seem to check out because they only think of this one hit from the 90s. So check 'em out if you get a chance.

Depression Radio

I went to a local restaurant with my Mother the other night, for a quiet, relaxing dinner. As we walked in, I heard in the background "Back Come Back" by Ace playing. I noted this, since I like this song.

After we ordered our drinks, and were perusing the menu, the sounds of Dusty Springfield lingered in the background with "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." As we wondered where our waitress was, I heard the horrible "plinging" of a piano, and laughed as I realized it was Bette Midler's "The Rose." I commented, "What kind of radio station is this?" Was it overdramatic song radio? It's like those songs that crazy kids on American Idol like to pick to show their "talent."

The other reason I found this amusing was because of the book I've been reading, called I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard. Not only is the book enjoyable, but I tend to agree with most of its picks. And ironically, "The Rose" is one of the 52 I just recently read about (Number 16).

So what should immediately follow after we order our entrees? Well Number 41, "Send In The Clowns" by Judy Collins! I think if it wasn't for the book, I'd be getting depressed by now.

At this point I didn't think it could keep going. It must've been a fluke. But no, in comes "All Out of Love" by Air Supply. Air Supply?! What could possibly be worse than... And then I hear it. Those first few notes... and then, "Looooooooooong agoooooooooo...." Is that Karen Carpenter? It is. It's "Superstar."

I can't hold it in anymore, so when the waitress returns I ask her what kind of music are they piping in here, is it satellite radio? She confirmed it was Sirius Satellite radio, but she wasn't sure what station it was on. I said it must be 70s Suicide Soft Rock, while my Mother stated her conspiracy theory that it was to increase purchases at the bar.

Thinking since dinner was ending, and this streak of songs was way too coordinated, I thought the last song we'd hear would be a change-up. But I hear something familiar again... and as we get up to leave I hear, "Hello, It's Me... I've thought about us for a long, long time." Thanks, Todd Rundgren, thanks.

Eh, I’m Over It

Dating back to James’ post in January To Watch or Not To Watch?, I stated that while American Idol was growing thin on me, I would continue to watch it. But I have to say, I think my fondness of it is over, and for a few reasons.

For one, I’m just bored. No singer is “original” per se, and no one holds my interest. I can’t say I’ve had a favorite the last two years, or even a person I remotely would like to see win. I don’t pretend that I would ever buy a contestant’s CD, but I definitely don’t even try to with this year’s group.

Granted I did make reference to liking Michael Johns, which could be due to the contributing factors of his looks and his accent. Really what struck me about him was his performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" during Hollywood Week.

Since then, I haven’t really felt he did anything spectacular, but it was pleasant enough. But now he’s gone, so I can’t even convince myself to watch for that.

With the remaining contestants… I just really can’t even differentiate them. I just learned that Kristy Lee Cook is gone as of tonight, which is good, as she should’ve been long ago. Syesha is just forgettable to me. Everyone seems to think Brooke is down-to-earth, but I feel she’s smug and thinks she’s better than me (and everyone else). That Jason guy just seems really stoned and out of it all the time, and reminds me of a girl I went to high school with, who also was really stoned and out of it all the time. And there’s also the 80s stylings of the Irish chick.

And this young kid, David Archuleta…why do people love him? I really don’t get it. All I can think of is how Simon loves telling young female contestants how they’re too “precocious.” That’s exactly what this kid is. And he licks his lips way too much.

So whom are we left with? I guess David Cook. He seems deserving enough. Even if some of his rock-covers creep me out, like Lionel Richie’s “Hello” and Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby”, still others seem to love it.

Lastly, I know some people have felt the group song sang on the Idol Gives Back special was controversial. Personally I just don’t like listening to a group of reality show contestants singing a Christian song; not really my form of entertainment. I will leave it to others to debate whether it’s inappropriate or not. Is it the main reason that I’ve stopped watching American Idol? Not really. But it really didn’t help matters.

I guess bottom line is, I’m through. I’m just not entertained anymore, not even on a level of a guilty pleasure. I’ll read online who gets voted off and who wins, and then that person will be forgotten about and they’ll do it all over again next year. I love you dearly Simon Cowell, but your snarkiness alone isn't enough for me anymore.

Childhood Flashback Moment of the Day

So I was doing some cleaning on this snowy Saturday afternoon, listening to my Beatles playlist on iTunes. The track "You Really Got A Hold On Me" from the Live At The BBC album came on and triggered a pop culture moment that laid deep in the recesses of my mind. I'm talking something I clearly haven't thought about in years.

Maybe I repressed this memory due to its disturbing nature? All I remember is the song, and some large red puppety thing being very clingy. A feeling of being trapped came over me. I needed air. What could this be?!

A quick consult of YouTube found the answer for me...it wasn't all just a dream.

Upon watching I thought maybe it wasn't as disturbing as I thought it was as a child. I can say maybe it's not, but it's still kind of creepy.

The Inevitable Oscar Post

So it is that time of year where the film industry steps back to congratulate itself in the ultimate form. As someone who probably takes films too seriously, I also tend to give major importance to the Oscars as well. At their best, I see the Oscars as an opportunity to recognize the year's greatest artistic achievements in film. At their worst, they can be decided merely because of money spent on campaigns or "entertainment" value. Despite these hopes the show is usually filled with many disappointments. Thankfully, with John Stewart hosting once again, that aspect will keep me amused.

I think that this year I am pretty well prepared. I have seen a majority of the films in the major categories. Unfortunately I have not yet seen In the Valley of Elah, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or I'm Not There.

Best Picture: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood
What will win: As much as the Academy sometimes likes to throw in a surprise, No Country For Old Men seems destined for victory here. It has won too many other awards and has too much buzz up to this point to be denied.
What I want to win: I am really torn with this year's choices. It was a great year for films. I personally would be very happy to see either Juno or There Will Be Blood win. They are both flawless films.

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Viggo Mortensen
Who will win: This is a lock. Daniel Day-Lewis
Who I want to win: All respect to Viggo who gave an amazing performance, but Day-Lewis could be one of the best ever at his craft.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Laura Linney, Ellen Page
Who will win: I think at this point Julie Christie is a pretty solid lock, but keep on the lookout for a surprise.
Who I want to win: Marion Cotillard was flat out brilliant. I don't know how that performance can be denied. Although I can't say I'd be terribly upset if Christie won as she was amazing. Here's hoping some Academy asshole loses their job for not nominating Angelina Jolie. Her performance in A Mighty Heart was gut-wrenching. She deserved at least a nom.

Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Tom Wilkinson
Who will win: Again, I think this is another lock. Javier Bardem, like his character, is unstoppable.
Who I want to win: I can't help but be sentimental here. Can anyone honestly say that seeing Hal Holbrook win wouldn't be one of the greatest moments in Oscar history? I'm still digesting his performance from the shamefully under-nominated Into the Wild.

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton
Who will win: This is probably the toughest race to call of the night. I think Amy Ryan will ride enough buzz to the win.
Who I want to win: I didn't see Cate so it is hard to judge, but my favorite performance was Tilda Swinton's.

Best Director: Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman, Tony Gilroy, Joel and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
Who will win: The Coen Brothers will probably take this as long as their film wins best picture.
Who I want to win: Anderson is one of my favorite directors. So I would be immensely psyched to see him finally win an Oscar for his brilliant work.

Best Animated Film: Persepolis, Ratatouille, Surf's Up
What will win: Ratatouille
What I want to win: Persepolis was fantastic and should have been up for best foreign language film. However, I have no faith in the Academy to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to choose this film to win.

Best Writing Adapted: Atonement, Away From Her, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Who will win: I think as goes best picture and best director, so goes this category. The Coens will win again.
Who I want to win: I want Anderson to win for TWBB but I would also be happy to see a surprise victory for Sarah Polley and Away From Her.

Best Writing Original: Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, The Savages
Who will win: This race could definitely be interesting. My guess is either with of Diablo Cody of Juno or Tony Gilroy of Michael Clayton.
Who I want to win: I would be very happy if either Cody or Tamara Jenkins of The Savages won.

Best Music: The Academy did its best to screw up both of the music categories this year. I am boycotting the Best Score category because of the lack of a nomination for Jonny Greenwood in There Will Be Blood. His score helped make that film what it was. The Best Song category could be even more ridiculous. 3 nominations for Enchanted? Really?? Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova better win for "Falling Slowly" from Once or something will be thrown at my television.

So those are my picks for the main awards. Please comment if you agree or disagree. And what I love best about the Oscars is that it pushes people to at least go out and watch some of the best films cinema has to offer.

Classic Music Video of the Week

Good morning! And happy day off to teachers, bankers, and other government workers. To the rest of you, I'm sorry.

20 years ago today, the number one song on the Billboard Charts was...

Yes, that's right... "I've Got My Mind Set On You" by George Harrison. I vaguely remember two seperate versions of this video playing on VH1 back in the day, but this one is the most "popular." Those moving animals and sitting room objects get me everytime (especially the squirrel playing the "pipe"). But the dancing George stunt double is so, so cheesy.

So that's your CMVotW! Enjoy, and Happy MLK Jr. Day!

Classic Music Video of the Week

It's Christmastime, so it seems appropriate to use a holiday song for this week's CMVotW!

This week we are featuring one of the oddest duets...Mr. Bing Crosby and Mr. David Bowie. The stellar acting in the beginning is so convincing.

Recorded in 1977 for Bing Crosby's Christmas Special, this was one of his last recorded appearances and songs before his death in October of that same year.

So Happy Holidays, and enjoy!

Favorite Song of 2007

It’s that time of year again…the local Indie station’s annual vote for the favorite song. Last year’s winners included “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap and “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley.

Out of all the choices listed here for 2007, my top 5 votes are:

1. “Running Up That Hill” by Placebo
2. “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles
3. “Back In Your Head” by Tegan And Sara
4. “Realize” by Colbie Caillat
5. “You Know I'm No Good” by Amy Winehouse

So what are your thoughts and picks, dear readers?

Classic Music Video of the Week

Good morning, Pop-Pop-ers.

Sorry I've fallen off the face of the earth lately, I just went through a move! But now that the dust and items are settling, I hope to get back in the swing of things full force.

But for now I have limited time, so I'll go with an easy one for this week's Classic Music Video...

I don't know about you, but I can't hold still whenever I hear this number one hit from 1983. But what else makes this a classic? Let's see, the moonwalk, the lit-up tiles and the fact that its heavy rotation music video on MTV made him the first black artist to find stardom on the channel.

So friends, just remember, be careful of what you do, 'cause the lie becomes the truth.

Happy Friday.

Classic Music Video of the Week

I love the 80s. I love them more than I probably should.

One of the things I love most about the 80s is New Wave. No, I'm not referring to the beautiful coifs people sported (although there were some sweet waves of that kind, too). I'm referring to the music that sounded like nothing before it, the music that explored the glory of the synthesizer.

I don't have much of a set-up for this video, other than the fact that I simply think it's a great song. The video creates a bit of chaos, which adds to the message of the lyrics. It almost made me wish I had grown up on the other side of town. Almost.

I can also say that Flight of the Conchords truly captures the essence of this CMVW in their song and video for "Inner City Pressure."
Since I find FOTC to be musical geniuses, I think it's a great compliment that they came as close as they could get (without copying) to this week's Classic Music Video of the Week.

Please enjoy "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys. The 80s are gone, but this song will always live in my cold, cold heart.

Rock of Ages

Since anything I've written over the past couple of months has been garbage and unworthy of this venerable blog I thought I would ease back into posting with a good old fashioned concert review. Since I was in high school concerts were always my favorite activity. They were the one place I could go and completely release and just have a good time. During my college years, which was my concert-going peak, I was attending on average about 1 show a week. All together I would say my total concert tally is somewhere in the range of 200 to 250 shows. I always told myself that as I grew older I would continue this passion and someday take my future older children to shows as well. Sadly this has not been the case in recent years. The past few years I have seen at most probably 2 or 3 shows per year. As is the case with many enjoyable activities as you get older, a decline in disposable income, time and energy combined with the ridiculous increase in ticket prices and gas for travel greatly restricted my ability to go to shows.

Due to this decline I've had to choose what shows I do go to more carefully. I've had to take a pass and move on from some groups that I've seen 20 times or more. Over the past few months I saw two concerts. Both of which had artists I had seen previously once, but i considered well worth the time and money to see again. The first show was August 25th in Wappinger Falls, NY near Fishkill. The Counting Crows, a favorite group of mine, were embarking on a summer tour in minor league baseball stadiums. I was fortunate enough to have seen the Counting Crows previously one year at SUNY Geneseo. With them on this current tour were two other great bands from the 90's, Live, who I also saw once previously, and Collective Soul.

I felt this would be a great way to reminisce of the glory days of 90s rock. Like many shows, the crowd itself was a very amusing mix. Surprisingly the age range was quite large. I expected the majority of people to be near my age from 25 to 35. However, there were a considerable amount of people both older and younger. I was pleasantly surprised at the younger crowd as many were unborn or newborns when these bands were in their heyday. Add to that the expensive price of the ticket and it was nice to see younger kids are still going back and immersing themselves in older music like I did as a kid with classic rock of the 60s and 70s.

Collective Soul played first and received a pretty decent overall reception. They mostly played their hits and had a decent amount of energy. Surprisingly, Live did not get as big of a crowd response as Collective Soul. Perhaps they are one of those bands that people know the songs but not who is performing them. Their set was adequate, though not as high on energy as when I previously saw them. Finally the Counting Crows ended the night with what was a fairly mellow set. Their song choices had a solid mix of hits and new material, but most were on the low key side. Although not as memorable as their set at SUNY Geneseo, I still found it very enjoyable. The drunk man behind kept screaming for Adam to pick up the pace. This strategy proved unsuccessful, but the imbecile continued his cry unrelentingly. Overall it was a solid show. It was definitely overpriced, but these days it is hard to find a good bargain when it comes to concerts. I was pleased to once again see Adam Duritz perform, who I consider a modern poetic marvel one notch below Bob Dylan.

This leads to my second show. On October 6th in Albany I was fortunate to see Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee perform. I saw Dylan previously at RPI in Troy, NY in 1998, I believe. Going to see Dylan is an interesting experience. One of the main reasons to see him is to be, for one night, in the presence of music royalty. To see one of the greatest songwriters in modern music history is quite a thrill.

However, as he has aged, his voice has declined making it harder to understand what he is singing. Nevertheless, he still puts on a good show and his band are extremely talented. They have involved into more of a jam band, stretching out songs when they hit a particular groove. Although when I saw him previously he put on a tremendous show, I felt that his opening act, Natalie Merchant, brought her performance a level above his. As a result my respect for her grew tenfold. I was curious to see if this show would prove to be the same.

Amos Lee opened up first and delivered a bluesy set with his highly southern accented voice. I was impressed by him and so was the majority of the crowd. i doubt he will find mainstream success, but he could easily attract quite a following. Next up was the artist I was most excited to see that night, Elvis Costello. He doesn't seem to hit upstate NY very often but after seeing him that night I will make a point to travel to see him if he is nearby. He came out on stage, the lone troubadour, with an acoustic guitar and immediately kicked into his set with high energy. He played a great mix of classics and new material, all of which was fantastic. Such hits as "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes", "Veronica", "Oliver's Army", "Radio Sweetheart" w/ Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said" as a melody, and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" all brought big cheers from the crowd. His new material was equally full of quality. Costello received many standing ovations and the crowd surely wouldn't have complained had he decided to extend his 45 minute set. It would be nice to see him headline a theatre tour and come to upstate cities.

Here is a good video someone took at the Albany show of Elvis performing Red Shoes:


The living legend closed the night with a rollicking set that picked up steam as it went along. You could tell that as Dylan's set wore on, he was getting more into it. It didn't seem as if he wanted it to end. Most of his classics were reworked in ways that made them almost unrecognizable yet still memorable. He played "Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright", "Simple Twist of Fate", “Highway 61 Revisited” and the new classic "Working Man Blues #2". He finished the night with an encore and unique version of "All Along The Watchtower", which brought the crowd to it's feet.

A video someone took of Dylan doing Watchtower in Albany:


Overall, they were two shows that I can't complain about. Although I feel the Dylan/Costello show is one I will remember for quite some time. I might actually see a few more shows this year. One of my favorite bands, Boy Hits Car, is touring the northeast for the first time in many years in November so I will probably go to at least a couple shows. My goal next year is to increase the concerts I attend but it still seems to get harder and harder.

Artists I have yet to see live that I desperately want to see:

Cream - I have a better chance of winning the lottery than Cream reuniting, but I hold out hope.
Doves
Radiohead
Silverchair
the Shins
Schuyler Fisk
Stevie Wonder
Pearl Jam

6 Degrees of CMVW

Happy Columbus Day, Pop-Pop'ers!

Maybe it's because I'm in thinking mode, being one of those people that has to work today, but I thought I'd use a little Six Degrees of Separation to bring you this week's Classic Music Video of the Week. Are you sure you're ready for this? Then let's do this thing:

1) Today is Columbus Day. I like to think that the man who made America popular dreamed that one day he would be mentioned in a pop culture blog. Today's your lucky day, Mr. Columbus. However, he's not to be confused with...

2) Chris Columbus, an American writer, director, and overall "known" name in movies. He directed a little movie known as...

3) Home Alone. But who was that cute young actor in that gem of a Christmas movie?

4) Macaulay Culkin. And I seem to recall this little lad in a music video...what was it? Oh yes, that's right. It was...

5) Black or White by Michael Jackson. World travel, snow globes, a rapping Macaulay, and faces eerily changing from one to another. (Of course the original airing contained Michael Jackson beating the crap out of a car, too.) There's also a strong irony that the title of the song is a question often asked about the King of Pop. All of these things make it classic. Add in the fact that MJ is providing a commentary on the different cultures of the world (which Christopher Columbus sailed and partially "discovered") and you've got a little circle of pop culture and history.

Here's your Columbus Day Classic Music Video of the Week:



Hey, look at that. I did it in five. *Wink.*

Classic Music Video of the Week

It’s that time kids! This week, let’s be really cheesy about it. And mildly disturbing.

Oh Lionel, please stop stalking the blind girl who is making that creepy bust of you in sculptor class.

This is also my message to you my contributors and readers. “Hello, I've just got to let you know…'Cause I wonder where you are…"

Classic Music Video of the Week

Sorry, Pop-Pop-ers, looks like we've fallen a bit behind on the "of the week" part of the "Classic Music Video of the Week." That's what happens when you can't post during work hours anymore.

So hopefully this will make up for lost time. This week's video comes to you from The Talking Heads, with "Once in a Lifetime." I remember this video from TV, and the strange multiple David Byrnes dancing about. Apparently, this video is also exhibited in MoMA.

I also have the childhood recollection of Kermit the Frog's version as well.

So again, sorry for the wait. Here's this week's video. Have a good Labor Day Weekend!

Pop-Culture Annoyances, Part One

Per Eileen’s previous request, here are the beginnings of a list. So, in no particular order:

Pop-Culture Things That Make Me Want To Crash My Car Into A Building, Part One:

1. That "Delilah" Song

God that song is so whining and annoying. And everyone seems to love it. Oh it’s so sweet and romantic and…good God, there’s blood pouring from my ears! Make it stop!

2. Sugar Ray

Everything about Sugar Ray bothers me. First of all, their popular songs are crap. I state this because I may cut some slack for their Lemonade and Brownies as opposed to Fly and everything after. But the music is awful, Mark McGrath of Extra is awful, and everyone song is overplayed and annoying. Plus the fact that the lyrics are incredibly ridiculous, and usually about cheating.

3. The Neverending Story

This one doesn’t make me want to crash my car because it’s bad. It just scares the crap out of me. I don’t know why I have an irrational fear of this movie. Maybe all the sad and creepy parts hit me a little hard as a kid. Since I have this terror though, I can’t put a clip up. So here’s a Family Guy-related one instead.

4. Emo

See #1 and the ear bleeding comment. I just don’t get it…I thought there were different eras of this, and it used to just be called depressed adolescence. Or androgynous punk. Or goth. Or just listening to The Smiths or Morrissey. But instead there’s Emo…a great “short” word for Emotional (because it’s so long of a word), which really translates to “sucky music.” This is a good description:

5. Stupid Beer Commercials

Football season is about to commence (not counting pre-season of course). I don’t think I need to elaborate.

6. Beating An Idea to Death (i.e. Penguins)

So first there was March of the Penguins. Then Happy Feet. Now penguins…surfing in Surf’s Up. Okay, we get it. You made money off of penguins. Now let it go. Just go to the Zoo or something.

Classic Music Video of the Week

I don't think this needs a whole lot of introduction. This video of course was filmed during their reunion tour:

Classic Music Video of the Week

Well, I'm a little early on this post. I intended to post on August 1st, but I can tell right now that I won't have the time to put up a new blog tomorrow, so I'm sneaking it in one hour (Eastern Standard Time) before it's the glorious first day of August.

Why does it matter when I post? Two reasons:

1) August 1st is the birthday of one of our contributors. That's right, Ms. Jill will be turning another year older and, if we're all lucky, wiser. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JILL! She is a great person who happens to share her birthday with another birth of sorts...

2) August 1, 1981 marked the beginning of music television as we used to know it. I, of course, am referring to the launch of a little station known as MTV. You've heard of it? Back in 1981, MTV did this crazy thing--they played videos. That's right, a tv station that played music videos! While MTV has recently ventured beyond the 24-hour music format for gems like "Engaged and Underage" and "The Hills," it still cannot be denied that when it began, it was a pretty big deal for music fans of that time period. VJs with big hair, "modern" music, and an overall "damn the man" attitude earned MTV the notoriety it has today. While music, videos, and music television have all changed in the past 26 years, I think it's fair to say that MTV was and is an instrumental piece of the pop culture puzzle.

Without further ado, and hopefully without being TOO cliche, let's give props to The Buggles for this week's Classic Music Video of the Week. Enjoy the very first video to air on MTV: Video Killed the Radio Star.



(And happy birthday, Jill!)

Top Love Songs? You Be The Judge

Entertainment Weekly’s website has been doing more and more lists lately. For those of us who enjoying making these best and worst lists (of all time), it’s an interesting feature to read and critique. In the Best and Worst Songs section they recently did a feature on “Best love songs ever!” in two stints, numbers 50-26 and 25-1.

While I do have about 80% of these songs they’ve selected in my iPod, I can say some I agree with (which are in bold) and some I kind of don’t. So here is the complete list, with some of my minor commentary:

50. ''Be Without You'' Mary J. Blige (2005)

49. ''Fade Into You'' Mazzy Star (1993)
I have always loved this song, and the CD that it is featured on.

48. ''Perfect Day'' Lou Reed (1972)
Good song, but I guess I’ve never really thought of the “love song” side of it, but more jus the heroin side.
47. ''This Will Be Our Year'' The Zombies (1968)
46. ''This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)'' Talking Heads (1983)
45. ''I Want You Around'' The Ramones (1979)
44. ''You Got Me'' The Roots feat. Erykah Badu (1999)
43. ''La La Means I Love You'' The Delfonics (1968)

42. ''Upside Down'' Diana Ross (1980)
Upbeat disco Diana, but again, not really thinking “love.”

41. ''Love Will Keep Us Together'' Captain and Tennille (1975)
I think we all know what I’m thinking of here…

40. ''A Case of You'' Joni Mitchell (1971)
39. ''There Is a Light That Never Goes Out'' The Smiths (1986)

38. ''Chasing Cars'' Snow Patrol (2006)
No, no, no. And it’s all Grey’s Anatomy’s fault.

37. ''Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)'' Bruce Springsteen (1973)
36. ''If I Ain't Got You'' Alicia Keys (2003)
35. ''Midnight Train to Georgia'' Gladys Knight & the Pips (1973)
34. ''You're All I Need to Get By'' Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige (1995)
33. ''I Melt With You'' Modern English (1983)
32. ''Yellow'' Coldplay (2000)
31. ''Maps'' Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)

30. ''You're Still the One'' Shania Twain (1997)
I wonder just how many weddings this was played at. It makes me want to crash my car into a building.

29. ''Cherish'' The Association (1966)
Love, love, love this song. I don’t care if it’s simplistic or cheesy, I’ve always had a soft spot for it since I was little.

28. ''The Look of Love'' Dusty Springfield (1967)
27. ''More Than This'' Roxy Music (1982)
26. ''No Ordinary Love'' Sade (1992)
25. ''Just Like Heaven'' The Cure (1987)
24. ''As'' Stevie Wonder (1976)
23. ''Purple Rain'' Prince (1984)
22. ''Your Song'' Elton John (1970)

21. ''Time After Time'' Cyndi Lauper (1984)
I always have this music video stuck in my head. My sister and I still sometimes instinctively hold up our hand to the nearest window when we hear this song.

20. ''If Not for You'' Bob Dylan (1970)
19. ''Ain't No Mountain High Enough'' Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell (1967)
18. ''Crazy in Love'' Beyoncé (2003)
17. ''Unchained Melody'' The Righteous Brothers (1965)

16. ''These Arms of Mine'' Otis Redding (1962)
15. ''You Send Me'' Sam Cooke (1957)
14. ''At Last'' Etta James (1961)
I had to group these last three with a yes, yes, yes. Amazing vocals and emotion.

13. ''When a Man Loves a Woman'' Percy Sledge (1966)
Eat your heart out, Michael Bolton.

12. ''Ring of Fire'' Johnny Cash (1963)
Great song, what else is there to say?

11. ''Maybe I'm Amazed'' Paul McCartney (1970)
I know, I know, even though it is Paul McCartney I’m still going to have to agree. I do like this song for its humility.

10. ''In Your Eyes'' Peter Gabriel (1986)
We all know it’s only because of Say Anything…

9. ''All I Want Is You'' U2 (1988)
This makes my own top 10 love song list. But as with many of these, instantly a movie comes to mind…

8. ''Sweet Child O' Mine'' Guns N' Roses (1988)

7. ''Wild Horses'' The Rolling Stones (1971)
Again on my own top list. And none of the cover versions either. Guess I have a soft spot for love songs about loving someone you shouldn’t.

6. ''I Will Always Love You'' Whitney Houston (1992)

5. ''Let's Stay Together'' Al Green (1971)
Probably number one or two on my list. Amazing vocal. How can you not want to dance to this song?

4. ''(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'' Aretha Franklin (1967)
3. ''Something'' The Beatles (1969)
2. ''Can't Help Falling in Love'' Elvis Presley (1961)

1. ''God Only Knows'' The Beach Boys (1966)
I’ve always liked this song because it’s honest: “If you should ever leave me, Well life would still go on believe me.” Yes, that’s realistic. Except in romance movies where the old married couple dies one day apart from each other, the world does not explode when your heartbreaks. So even with the line “I may not always love you,” I still think this is a good pick of love song.

So what do you think of EW’s list? Thoughts, questions, comments, concerns?