Here's what I'm listening to on Spotify this month

AC Newman via prettymuchamazing.com

I had pretty much given up on iTunes. I felt guilty too because I know when I buy a song from iTunes the artist gets 10¢ instead of 1¢ when I stream from Spotify.*

But with the advent of the hand-held supercomputer we call iPhone, I don't have a small enough music library or big enough storage capacity to use iTunes on it. So, I drifted to streaming music instead. First it was Pandora. Bleh. If I had saved a nickel for every time Pandora played something in no way relevant to the station I was already listening to, I'd have enough money to buy a monthly subscription to Spotify Premium. So that's what I did. I say "had pretty much given up" because just recently I've been enjoying the new iTunes radio feature.

Still, it's not Spotify. I love Spotify because no where else can I discover new stuff or listen to my tried and true favorites as easily. Where else do I go to find new stuff based on bands I already like? Where can I create playlists called Nostalgia and put any song related to any memory I've had from my entire life in it? Touch of Grey? Yep. Hyperballad? Check. Glory Days? Uh huh. Repeater, Via Chicago, Why Can't This Be Love? Yes, yes, yes. My Lovin'? Shhhhh.

Here are 20 songs in my Starred Spotify playlist that I love:


Hope you enjoy and happy listening!

*These figures are not backed by research. Will you look it up for me?

If You Had to Wake Up to One Song Forever

Scenario: If you had to pick one song that would play to wake you up for the rest of your days, what would you pick?

This morning, my wife and I tried to figure that out for our daughter using Spotify. She has trouble waking up in the morning at times. Here are some songs that we tried, with mixed reactions and results:

• Eye of the Tiger by Survivor: A few measures in, Amelia and I begin a synchronized dance. Nine year-old daughter looks at us horrified. We keep dancing.
• Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n' Roses: At this point my nine year-old daughter left the kitchen, went to her room, and turned off the light. I play air guitar.
• Back in Black by AC/DC
• Wildflower by The Cult: I then yelled to her over Ian Astbury that I had questions about the smoothie I was making for her. So she came back out, cautiously.
• When Doves Cry by Prince: Eye roll.
• Kiss by Prince: A string of eye rolls.
• Raspberry Beret by Prince: Daughter not buying the French angle I'm selling because of her involvement with French Immersion at school. Enough Prince.
• Rain in the Summertime by the Alarm: I don't know. I was reaching. Trying to find common ground.
• You Take Me Up by Thompson Twins
• Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
• Centerfold by J. Geils Band: Success! Nailed it! This is the one she wants to play every morning. Why? Because, "It sounds just like the Marshmallow Song!" I can't find the version she's thinking of anywhere.

I think this will need to be a continuing experiment. I still haven't found my personal wake up song. I think Amelia favors Eye of the Tiger. So, let me ask you, readers, what do you think your morning wake up song should be? You may have some good ideas and, really, I can't have my daughter cheerily waking up to a song about pornography.