Lust for Life

Today I'll be telling you all about the Happy/Party CD that Loopy sent me.

She starts off with Iggy Pop which is all good in my book. The song she chose, Lust for Life, I used to absolutely love, but the recent use of it for Carnival Cruise Lines has left me less than enamored with it. It's sad that a great song can be ruined by a commercial. Go here to watch a video of Iggy on the David Letterman Show. He apparently has issues with shirts, I don't think I've ever seen him in one! And I think the Iggster was pretty excited because he shook Dave's hand for a while at the end of the video.

Next up is Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz. I'm liking this song a lot!!! And all I know about Gorillaz is that their videos are all cartoon-ish. It makes me dance in my seat. After reading the review of Demon Days (the album I think this song came from), I'm tempted to pick this CD up.

The third song is Karma by Alicia Keys. Normally I don't go for soul/R&B, but I enjoy this song. I like the opening sequence and she has an attractive voice. I think it's a bit hip-hop/rap-esque or at least there's a portion of the song where she reminds me of Eminem, and I actually like that part, as well as the chorus.

Loopy included another Jack Johnson song for me and it's good for getting more of a feel for his music. This time it was Mudfootball (for Moe Lerner) off his first album Brushfire Fairytales. This song is a tad reggae-ish, I think. It was smart of Loopy to include two songs of Jack's, as I'm more inclined to consider buying one of his albums after hearing two songs than if I just heard one.

Song #5 is an oldie, but goodie, at least in my world. Just Like Heaven by The Cure. The Cure, along with a number of 80s English New Wave bands, will instantly take me back to my college days.

I instantly loved song #6, mostly because of the singer's voice. I can definitely see me picking this CD up! The song is a little not overly adventurous lyrically, but I think this guy could sing the Yellow Pages and I'd like it. Oh, yeah, song is The Pied Piper. Oh sure, it's a guy from the 1960s. Bloody hell. Crispian St. Peters is the guy in question. Betcha the damn CD is out of print.

Loopy hits her Pop stride with the next few songs:

She Bop from Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual. A reminder that I need to pick this album up.

Billy Joel follows Cyndi and I hate to say that it's probably my least favorite Billy Joel song ever. In fact, the day I got these CDs, I was going out to Ann Arbor with Ursamajor and when it got to this song, Ursa expressed her dislike for the song and would I mind please turning it off. Not a problem. I think the song is tolerable but have trouble getting past the counting exercise with which the song opens. I try to remember to hit the Pass This Song Up button before I hear it.

Tracy Chapman is next with She's Got Her Ticket off her first album. Another reminder to put her CDs back into my rotation.

I know the next song in that I can sing along and know all inflections, but couldn't have told you who sang it or the name of it. No Myth by Michael Penn. Damn, is everybody in that family talented? Although this song doesn't make me race out to buy the CD, the reviews at allmusic.com make me consider picking his stuff up. Gotta ask my music friends what they think.

Freedom by Wham! has me tapping my feet and wondering why I haven't picked up one of their CDs before. Another take me back to my college days band!

The Gentleman Who Fell by Milla Jovovich follows George Michael. I wonder if Loopy was trying to say something here. ;-) The reviews at allmusic.com are quite favorable and I would have to say that Milla's style fits in with the style of female performers I prefer.

Woohoo!!! She included Erasure. I love this band! I have a number of CDs by them and if I hear an Erasure song in a bar, I'll be on the dance floor in about a millisecond. They just make me dance. A Little Respect is all good in my book. And when in the car listening to this CD, I will sing every single solitary time!!! I think Andy Bell sings in my key! ;-)

Superdrag follows the extremely pop-synth duo with Sucked Out. I definitely knew this song which is good in my book since I haven't listened to any sort of popular radio in years. I like the song.

I'm completely in love with the next song. It makes me laugh, but I'd say it's also sing-along-able as well as danceable. I'm torn between this song and The Pied Piper as my favorite song on this CD. The song is Coin Operated Boy by Dresden Dolls. I'm definitely looking into getting a CD of theirs.

Loopy can definitely make me CDs anytime she wants to as the next song is by The Dead Milkmen. I actually have the song Punk Rock Girl on my Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the 80's Underground box set. Another sing-along and dancing song! LOVE IT!!!

OAR (Of The Revolution) is next up singing their song Night Shift. Another song which would induce me to dance. Of course, any song that includes the words "I want to go bed" works for me as I'm always tired!

I've heard of Ben Folds many times usually with the word "Five" following, but have never really been sure who or what Ben Folds was, so I'm glad Loopy included the song Army although I think it is Ben Folds Five doing this one and not just Ben Folds. Either way I want the album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner just for the title alone! I have a number of books about/by Reinhold Messner who was the first man to climb Everest without oxygen. Back to the song, Army, any song that includes a reference to Chik-Fil-A is right up my alley!

There's zero information at allmusic.com on the next band, Girlyman. The pictures of the album look like they're from the 60s, but it's apparently from 2003. I liked Postcards from Mexico. Catchy tune and lyrics.

And last, but not least, my first The Flaming Lips song, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I'm sure a number of my friends have a CD of The Flaming Lips I can borrow. I liked this song and the style, but for some reason I remember others of their songs not appealing, so either my musical tastes have grown up or I just liked this song even though it's not really danceable.

All in all, I would say that Loopy is either very good at CD mixes or we have very similar musical tastes (guess we'll find this out if she reviews the CDs I just sent her). And I hope people are clicking the links since I spent a boatload of time finding them and HTMLing all over the place!!!