I picked this CD up last night with much anticipation and listened to it today on a long drive. 

It started strong, quickly soared to awesome, and then made a meteoric descent to absolutely awful and only recovered marginally after that point.  *sigh* Too bad.  I admit, that by track 3 I was beginning to wonder if we had another Ray of Light on our hands.  Things stumbled a little in the fourth track but came back strong for tracks five and six.

Then came track 7--the inexplicably named song Incredible.  The only incredible thing about this song is that it came from Madonna.  I'm sorry to say it is the worst song she's ever created.  Dischordant, screwy pacing, strange change-ups, and just an all around mess.  This one song utterly destroyed the mood and made it hard for the album to come back, which wasn't helped by the fact that the next 3 songs were mediocre at best.  I have no interest in hearing any of them again.  Madge, you can do better.

The mixing on tracks 9 and 10 was also pretty poor.  Madonna's voice was often drowned out or subdued against the music.  I understand it's supposed to be dance music but her voice is way too strong to be so downplayed.

Track 10 was the best of the mediocre songs, but Spanish Lesson is no La Isla Bonita... far more cheesy and contrived.  I may listen to Spanish Lesson again... I have a feeling it might grow on me.

Thankfully, the tail end of the album was saved by track 11 The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, definitely an awesome number that I'll be putting on my new MP3 player whenever I can afford to buy one.

Track 12 Voices had a good sound but pretty silly lyrics.  I got the impression Madonna was trying to do a sort of "haunting" piece, like perhaps Frozen--but the lyrics were too weak for me to enjoy it.

Obviously I hold Madonna to a pretty high standard, let's face it--7 good songs on a 12-song album makes it a good album.  And this really is a good album--in fact if it had been an 11-song album minus Incredible, I probably would have enjoyed the later tracks more.

So here's what I recommend to people who buy this album and who loved Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor.  Listen to the tracks in this order:

2. 4 Minutes
3. Give It 2 Me
6. She's Not Me
5. Miles Away
1. Candy Shop
4. Heartbeat
11. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

After that, stop and leave the other tracks until your next listen.  And I recommend just skipping Incredible forever.

Hard Candy is an awesome album.  It is almost another Ray of Light, and once again Madonna rocked my world.  Get the album and dance your ass off.

---

EDIT: After several more listens I have to say this album seems increasingly more kickass.  There's no hope for track 7, and track 10 doesn't stand up to a second listen, but track 8 Beat Goes On was much better than I originally thought.  On a second listen I enjoyed it much more and I think the first time through I was just so disappointed by Incredible that when the next song came on I was already soured on the experience.  So add track 8 to my list of good tracks above.  I'm going to be listening to this album constantly for awhile... and "4 Minutes" is frigging huge.

Kicks ass.

Weird video though.

So it's been awhile since I've posted a summary of the indie music I am listening to. As you know I follow 3Hive, GigaTracks, and also Obscure Sound to find out about new small independent bands and get some of their music. I check these sources every few months and backtrack through the posts to see if there is anything good. Usually, I like very little of what I hear, and that which I do like is merely "passable".

Well this time I waited over six months, and let me tell you my favorite source (3Hive) has been positively dry... dry dry dry. But even when it's dry you can usually find a few things, and some of these are quite fun. There's been a dearth of kickass dance music lately though, and I would say only one song in this list (Duality by The Martial Arts) qualifies as a song you could dance to.

Anyway, I've got most of this stuff on a mix disc and I'm listening to it in the car these days to get a feel for which bands I might want to purchase a CD from. There's definitely a couple I would like to hear more from. Anyway, throw on your headphones and have a listen... I don't think anything here will knock your socks off (there's no Afroganics or Aviatics in this bunch) but you may find something you like here.

1. Christine Fellows
    
   3Hive describes Fellows as "Experimental Pop"--but I'd simply describe this as thoughtful acoustic music. The only song available via 3Hive is "Advice" which is a beautiful piece advising young people not to be in a great hurry to find love, or at least to "give themselves away". I find it quite pleasant.
    
   • Advice
    
2. Club 8
    
   I have a soft spot for Swedish bands, but I would love this duo even if they weren't Swedes. Lovely soft-pop with lots of acoustics and simple vocals that you can sing along with. It isn't dance music… in fact, it's Christian music. Strange that an atheist would enjoy Christian music? It's just words folks, and I can sing them and enjoy them without believing them. Maybe you can too.
    
   • Jesus, Walk With Me
   • Heaven -- I particularly like this one… very happy.
   • Spring Came, Rain Fell
   • What Shall We Do Next? -- Less acoustic, more poppy.
    
3. Colour Revolt
    
   This band from the deep American south makes a good attempt at wailing guitar rock with "Naked and Red". It's also a bit of a refresher after the happy spirituality of Club 8. The song opens with a line about God swinging from the "licker tree" and it only gets weirder from there but ties up its interesting message with the idea that "Eden is a hell of a place." I'm glad somebody noticed!
    
   • Naked and Red
    
4. Elk City
    
   I seem to be on a spiritual kick lately, because Elk City also serves up a religious offering with "Los Cruzados" (The Crusaders) -- I'm a sucker for a good hallelujah chorus, and Los Cruzados delivers. 3Hive has another song by them available which I didn't enjoy but you may. Check them out.
    
   • Los Cruzados -- Hallelujah… hallelujah… my wife heard me singing some of these Christian/spritual songs and asked "Are you having second thoughts?" Hee hee hee.
    
5. Empty Rooms
    
   Sombre and haunting, I'm not sure how to characterize this rock band. In some ways they remind me of Duran Duran, and in some ways they remind me of The Fixx, but their sound is definitely their own. I'm linking two songs here, there's a third on 3Hive that I didn't particularly enjoy.
    
   • Off with His Head
   • Try Again
    
6. Hasch'm'Méneum
    
   Is it electronica or jazz? It makes me tap my toes and rock my head whatever it is. Unfortunately some of the available tracks seem to cut a little short… probably because the band wants you to buy their CD… well I'm considering doing just that. If you like chirpy electronica with a comical side to it, this may be the blurps and bleeps for you. There are no vocals, or at least no lyrics... it's all instrumental.
    
   • Christerium -- This song is a little funny. Something about it makes me smile. Sadly it is cut short.
   • Heliotrope -- This piece is more meandering and contemplative… it would make great background music to read to or engage in some other mental activity.
   • Red Sniper -- Stronger rhythm track and a hint of some sort of illicit activity going on in the mood of the music. This would make a good movie soundtrack for a montage where a character is putting his evil plan into action.
   • Slide -- Probably my favorite song by Hasch'm'Méneum, this one is goofy and fun. It's another one that makes me tap my toes. Alas it is also cut short. :-(
    
7. The Heavy Circles
    
   I have to see if I can find some more music by the Heavy Circles. This pop piece definitely sticks in my head and includes some great whirling sound.
    
   • Henri
    
8. The Hermit
    
   Some songs are background music, some songs are dance music, some songs you sing along with, and some you just want to close your eyes and slowly rock from side to side. "Wonderment" is onesuch with its sweeping poppy electronic sound and gently echoing vocals.
    
   • Wonderment (Affekt remix)
   • Flutterbye (Sputnichek remix) -- Faster paced than wonderment.
    
9. The High Water Marks
    
   Squelchy retro guitar beach music... at least that's what it feels like to me. 3Hive has three of their songs up. The only one I've included here is "The Leaves" although I felt that "Queen of Verlaine" was passable.
    
   • The Leaves
    
10. The Martial Arts
     
    Okay, this is another group I need to find more music by. This is great summer music--even beach music perhaps. Music you can sing along with and even dance to, which makes it a little unusual because this latest 3Hive dump doesn't include much in the way of dance music.
     
    • Duality -- Probably my favorite song of all the songs listed here today.
     
11. Oslo
     
    This is darker stuff. Sometimes when you are disgusted with the state of the world, it's cathartic to listen to something dark--or at least therapeutic. Rise and Fall of Love and Hate is about divisiveness and how we are taught to be divisive. Sure touches a nerve with me, because I am fed up with all the demonizing I see going on these days.
     
    • The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate
     
12. Sittser
     
    If 3Hive has been dry, GigaTracks has been postively barren, but this one piece makes up for all that. It sounds like of a great 80's guitar ballad.
     
    • Losing My Fear of Heights
     
13. Sneaky
     
    So if you took Indian music and set it to a funk track and built in a solid driving whorling drone and a lot of repetition you would probably get a hypnotic piece just like this one. Excellent driving music this. I dig it. Purely instrumental.
     
    • Beduija
     
14. Spitzer
     
    Okay, I was iffy on including this piece by the French group "Spitzer". This is definitely electronic, like Trash80-style electronic. No vocals and very very synthy, but it has a good beat and it gets the head bobbing and the fingers tapping. Give it a listen... come on... you know you can't pass up a song called DISCO BISCUITS.
     
    • Disco Biscuits
     
15. Wojtek Godzisz
     
    I'm not sure what to make of this artist. 3Hive refers to this as "theatrical pop" which as good a way as any to describe it. They listed three songs but this was the only one I enjoyed.
     
    • Light Over Dark Earth

Hope you enjoyed at least some of these... I'll keep trolling the intertubes for good indie music... check back in 3 months!! :-P

---

Okay, here's a bunch of little things I want to talk about.  None of them really deserves its own article but I want to share it anyway.  I suppose I should caution you that I am on percoset right now, so I am a little loopy... I apologize if this is a scatterbrained.

Eating

I still can't chew, and won't be able to for another week at least.  So I am exploring different things that I can eat without chewing.  Stuff that has worked out well has been jello, applesauce, soup broth, rice in thick gravy, spagettios, small bits of bread soaked in broth, yogurt, pureed fruit mixed with yogurt and juice, and so forth.  Pureed baked beans is really grainy, and I don't like it.  Gonna try baked beans again sometime soon where I just try to swallow the beans whole, unchewed.  I've found I can eat Italian Ices, but all the acid in fruit juice is making this bothersome.

All this nigh-liquid food combined with drugs that mess up my sleep schedule, and amoxicillin (to avoid infection) is making my stomach pretty upset.  But I'll get through.  (It's not like I have a choice!)

NPR Podcasts

When I go to bed I like to listen to music or speech on my MP3 player.  I find that listening to the same stuff every night helps me sleep.  But eventually I get tired of the same stuff.  The NPR website has always been a great place to go to stream shows you've missed, but at some point they began offering these shows as podcasts.  (The difference, from my perspective, is that you can download old shows as MP3 files, drop them on your MP3 player or your computer, and listen to them anytime.)  You guys were probably aware of that, but to me it's big news... streaming is great, but it is much nicer to grab the last few episodes of my favorite NPR program and listen to it whenever (in my case, when I go to bed.)  NPR has a huge podcast directory with shows from all their member stations.  Here's a link to the directory... you can subscribe to these shows as feeds in Google Reader or just hit the URL directly and save the MP3 files.

The podcasts (shows) that I am most interested in are:

• NPR Science Friday with Ira Flatow
• On Point with Tom Ashbrook
• Car Talk
• Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, The NPR News Quiz

Stem Cells

So I was listening to one of those podcasts of NPR Science Friday where the topic matter was stem cell research. A guy called in who equated a 14-day-old blastocyst with a person. He was in the crowd that considers a fertilized human egg to be a human being, what he framed as "life begins at conception".  Obviously holding that view, there was no way he could get behind stem cell research since it involved killing embryos.

Then one of the guest experts offered the caller a challenge which I committed to memory because I never wanted to forget it:

Imagine you are a fireman dealing fighting a fire in a fertility clinic.  You enter a room and find in it a six year old girl, and a tray with 20 frozen embryos.  You can either save the girl or the tray of embryos.  Which one do you choose?

In my opinion, the caller chickened out.  He said something like "that would be a call I would have to make as a fireman... it would depend on who was closest to the door and who was most likely to survive."  I felt his answer betrayed that he couldn't really equate 20 embryos with 20 people... if  he could, the decision should have been both straightforward, and patently ridiculous... as if anyone could ignore a 6 year old girl screaming for rescue from a fire and instead choose a rack of test tubes.

Although it isn't clear exactly when an embryo becomes a person, it seems downright obvious that a 14-day-old blastocyst is far less a person than a six year old girl.  I'm going to remember this challenge.  It really made me think.

Birdies

I've been feeding the birds in my yard again lately.  I stopped many years ago, but started up again after my Dad passed away.  It's funny, I sort of got him interested in birds and birdfeeding years ago, and now he has sort of gotten me back into it.  Things haven't changed much.  Regular wild bird food doesn't have enough millet in it, and has some other seeds that most of the birds don't eat.  So I went back to one of my old recipes and it worked like a charm, but it involves buying parakeet food and mixing that into the seed, which is expensive.  I have to find a place where I can get millet cheap.  Anybody know a place?

Dawkins Discussions... on Amazon?

I've been following some discussions on Dawkins which are popping up on Amazon.  Apparently any product for sale on Amazon gets its own discussion forum.  So at the bottom of the amazon page for The God Delusion are the hot forum topics related to that book.  It's amazing what lengths some people will go to in order to discredit Dawkins.  Check it out, if you dare.  This is where I found out about the "Dawkins Pause" video... this particular discussion links to the video (it's something of a relief to see that the theists seem to be in the minority on this forum.)

If you need more Dawkins, here's a feed for RichardDawkins.net which you can drop in your news aggregator.

I'm about halfway through The God Delusion myself.  Having trouble reading it right now... mostly because of the percosets.

Topix.Net

Don't know if I've recommended this before, but topix.net is a nice source for regional newsfeeds for small towns.  They incorporate feeds for local newspapers and blogs, and all you do is enter the zip code of the town you are interested in, and topix.net will generate a feed for that town that you can plonk into a feed reader like bloglines, Google reader, and so forth.  (It's my understanding that IE7 has a feed aggregator built right in.)

My Shared Shite

I've been regularly flagging articles in the feeds I read as shared so that other people can enjoy them.  You can access the GoogleReader page devoted to my shared articles here.

3Hive Decency

Some fairly decent stuff has cropped up on 3Hive since my last article about indie music.  I recommend The Autumn Defense and Lymbyc Systym.

It's been awhile since I blogged about my latest finds at 3Hive (a great source for downloading tracks from terrific indie bands.) The pickings have been pretty slim over the last 4 months, and though I have grabbed some things I liked, I haven't found anything that blew my mind.  This is what I've heard recently that I enjoyed (in chronological order)...

1. Tom Rothrock
   Track: Darker Blues
   
   Like the title says, this isn't just the blues, but has a darker bent to it. A piece like this would make fine theme music for the life of a criminal. Thanks Tom for this bit of darkness.  
    
2. Kama Aina
   Track: Hotaru
   
   It's not clear where this piece of meditative slowcore by the Japanese artist Takuji Aoyagi is going, but as it draws me in with it's rhythms I slowly lose interest in the destination and simply enjoy the journey. It makes me think of water gardens and zen gardens as it works through its progressions.
    
3. L.A.O.S.
   Track: Drowning Deep Inside Your Soul
   
   And from Japanese acoustical meditative music, we move to Finnish electronica meditative music. L.A.O.S. (Large Amounts of Soul) may inspire you to move as much as Kama Aina inspires you to sit still, and yet I can't help feeling that there is something common between the two pieces. A word to those who are not broadbandy -- this is a "Large Amount Of Music"... it's approximately a 15Mb download. So if you aren't huge on funky electronica, you may want to give it a pass.
    
4. Missing Numbers
   Track: The Real Realizer
   
   Darker than Darker Blues, this piece will make you feel the power of the drone. It took all of a few seconds of the throaty saxophone at the beginning of this song to make me sit up and pay attention.  The music runs thick with coarse gritty cynicism and the disturbing taste of exhaust fumes. When I close my eyes with this song playing, I can't help seeing a man in a dark trench coat, wearing a fedora, and walking through a dark alley in a city at night. Steam billows from the grates behind him as he stops to consider the bum sitting on the sidewalk and holding out a cup for change, and then just walks away.
    
5. Money Mark
   Track: Pick Up the Pieces
   
   Okay, I'll be honest and admit up front that this song is fairly mediocre in my opinion. I liked it enough to not throw it away while I was looking for something better to download. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with the execution. It's decent filler in your background music... not necessarily something you would actually want to pay attention to. But, maybe you'll like it more than I do. It would make decent music for a video game like The Sims.
    
6. Reutschle
   Tracks: (1) Can You Remember?, (2) Don't Turn Around
   
   This pop band comes from Dayton, Ohio, and although I would hardly call these tracks "deep" I would definitely call them "fun". This summery stuff strikes me as both corny and goofy, but if I just let it play I find myself smiling and wanting to clap along. I am not a music afficionado by any standard, so I couldn't even begin to tell you what influences this group, but their music simultaneously reminds me of the Beach Boys and the Partridge Family. Have a listen and make your own determination. There are actually more tracks available for download than these, but I didn't check them out.
    
7. Bee and Flower
   Tracks: (1) Don't Say Don't Worry, (2) Riding on Empty
   
   Of the four tracks available for download, I only liked these two. The vocalist has a great voice and the music is moody and beautiful, but ultimately depressing. If you are in an angsty mood, this might be something you would enjoy. This is not happy music, but instead a wretched downward spiral... particularly Riding on Empty.
    
8. Buildings Breeding
   Track: Emma Wood
   
   I place this piece in the same bin as Pick Up the Pieces by Money Mark, which is to say "well... I didn't delete it." This is background music for sure. There were two other tracks by the same band available, but I actively disliked them.
    
9. The Expos
   Track: Little Red Hook
   
   Now this is a fun piece of music if you like ska. I hear a lot of stuff on 3Hive which is described as ska, but when I hear it I find myself saying "this is ska?" Not so this piece. This gets my head bobbing... the singer notes "I've got a little red hook" and he has caught me with it.
    
10. The Red Button
    Track: She's Going Down
    
    3Hive describes this piece as a "sleepy little pop song". I agree wholeheartedly--what a fun, pleasant little tune. This is music to listen to while you and someone you love cuddle in a hammock and laugh a sunny summer afternoon away.
     
11. Sister Vanilla
    Tracks: (1) Jamcolas, (2) Can't Stop the Rock
    
    Not my typical fare. It's still pop, but it's pop flirting with grunge and a little punk. Sister Vanilla wouldn't sound too out of place in a mix that included Billy Idol, Nirvana, and Garbage. I like both of these tracks. Jamcolas is more on the punky side, and Can't Stop the Rock is more on the grungy side.
     
12. The Bird and the Bee
    Track: I Hate Camera
    
    Here's an interesting song. I definitely want to hear more from The Bird and the Bee. I love eccentric lyrics and eccentric music. One thing is certain in this song, she hates that camera and doesn't want her picture taken. This piece has a retro element to it and also sounds like it incorporates music from old video games in spots.
     
13. Luz Mob
    Tracks: (1) The Selector, (2) Ella Se Fue
    
    What strange mix of styles! When Selector starts, I'm thinking, okay some kind of mellow electronica funk. But then the second layer of music kicks in and I'm listening to the sort of reggae I would expect from The Police. And as I wonder if I'm going to be Walking on the Moon the horns begin. Horns? Is that... jazz? I don't really care for jazz, and I suspect a hardcore jazz fan might not call this jazz, but it sounds like jazz to me... uh, set to a reggae beat with electronic undertones. So then I switch over to Ella Se Fue and I'm bathed in a distinctly latin tune being belted out in goofy synthetic cherps. And there go those horns again.
    
    What the hell do you call this?
    
    Luz Mob, apparently!
     
14. Vapnet
    Tracks: (1) Färjemansleden, (2) Thoméegränd
    
    I'm only 25% Swedish, but I have a soft spot for Swedish bands, and Vapnet actually sings in Swedish (an incredibly beautiful language which I have never been able to master.) This is the second time today I am going to mention the Partridge Family, except in this case it would really be the "Rapphöna Barn". It isn't awesome music, but it is very gentle, and if I allow it, Färjemansleden and Thoméegränd buoy my soul, swaddle me in melody, and carry me away.
    
    Tack så mycket, Vapnet. 

Sadly missing from today's lineup of songs is any really good driving music, except perhaps for Darker Blues or Real Realizer. Hope you enjoy at least some of this music, and BTW if you know any good sources for downloading free indie music (legally), please share them.

---

Stay indoors please, the coldmeister is on a rampage.  Wind chill temps reported this morning were -17°F in Fitchburg, and -21°F in Worcester. ::everyone who uses Farenheit goes BRRR!::  For you Celsius types, that's -27°C and -29°C. ::everyone else goes BRRR!:: 

I'm sorry I didn't write anything all week.  Work has been alternatively crazy and dead (my project is in it's final throes, where I am officially off the project, but as last-minute issues are found, I get pulled back in.)  At present there is no new project to put me on so I am on the bench.  Which is sometimes good and bad.

On Wednesday for example I had a whole bunch of things I wanted to write about.  I had my downed trees removed, some politicial issues had me pissed off, I had some xbox games I wanted to post reviews for, some new Indie music to talk about, some movies to talk about, and some other random items.  I was completely unassigned at work so I figured that I would write a bunch of things.

But I barely had my desk cleaned off when I got one of those emergency calls and I was sucked back in.  When I was finally freed up again, I simply was in no mood to write.  Everything I had wanted to talk about seemed unimportant and all I wanted to do was relax.

Blogging doesn't relax me, apparently.

Then on Thursday my kid woke up sick and so I've been looking after her between handling issues for work and working out of the house.

Anyway, I hope things will settle down soon, and I apologize to anyone who was disappointed that I hadn't added anything.  My good friends have been busy on their blogs, so I invite you to peruse my blogroll at left and read examples of interesting content, rather than my rambling pointless blather.

Best thing I read all week was an article by an atheist mother on the wonderful blog Atheist in a Mini Van.  Her daughter was annoyed by a teacher who gave her class a ten-minute "pop essay" assignment.  The assignment was "What do you want for Christmas?"

Why would she be annoyed?  Well duh, not everyone celebrates Christmas, and it's presumptuous of the teacher to just ask all the students in the class (including the Muslims, Jews, and atheists) to write about what they want for the teacher's religious holiday.

So that is what this young girl wrote about, that and her own atheist leanings, and the sad state of the poor.  It was a wonderful essay, remarkable for the kid's age, and I encourage you to read it.  Needless to say, a number of wacko fundies have commented on the article to communicate their Christian love for the atheist Mom and her daughter, by telling them they are going to Hell and whatnot.  Assholes, the lot of them.

The teacher is definitely a mixed bag.  She had the sensitivity at least to recognize that this young lady is observant and talented, and gave her an A+ on the essay.  On the other hand, though, after class she told the girl that she couldn't possibly be an atheist because the ability to care for other people's feelings was not an atheist trait, but instead was a Christian attitude.  So the teacher's both presumptuous and ignorant.  Not an atheist trait... what a nitwit.

---

James posted a meme on his blog which he picked up from somewhere else (which is the nature of memes, innit?)  So I've decided to participate.  Here are the instructions for this meme:

Go to popculturemadness.com and select the year you became 18 [from the "Hits" list on the left]. Snip the top 50 songs from the list and paste it in your journal. Bold the ones you like and strike the ones you dislike, italic the ones you know but neither like nor dislike, and the ones you don't know will stay in normal text.

Since the list given on popculturemadness is 75 songs long, James decided to include all 75, so I've done the same here. Also, as he did, I've chosen to gray out the songs I can't remember. So the list will follow these conventions:

• I like the songs in bold.
• I dislike the songs with strike-through.
• I'm neutral about the songs in italics.
• The songs in gray text are the ones I don't know.

---

---

1. We Built This City - Jefferson Starship
2. Smooth Operator - Sade
3. The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
4. Sea Of Love - Honeydrippers
5. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
6. Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
7. Into The Groove - Madonna
8. You Are My Lady - Freddie Jackson
9. Crazy For You - Madonna
10. The Bird - The Time
11. Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
12. Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
13. Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
14. I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreignor
15. Careless Whisper - Wham!
16. Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer
17. Material Girl - Madonna
18. Roxanne, Roxanne - UTFO
19. All She Wants To Do Is Dance - Don Henley
20. Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
21. You're The Inspiration - Chicago
22. Through The Fire - Chaka Khan
23. Heaven - Bryan Adams
24. Freeway Of Love - Aretha Franklin
25. Jungle Love - The Time
26. All I Need - Jack Wagner
27. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
28. Small Town - John Cougar Melloncamp
29. Meeting In The Ladies Room - Klymaxx
30. Take On Me - A-Ha
31. Dancing In The Street - Mick Jagger & David Bowie
32. The Old Man Down the Road - John Fogerty
33. Just A Gigilo - David Lee Roth
34. New Attitude - Patti LaBelle
35. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
36. Centerfield - John Fogerty
37. Lovin' Every Minute Of It - Loverboy
38. People Get Ready - Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart
39. Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
40. Rockin' At Midnight - The Honeydrippers
41. You Give Good Love - Whitney Houston
42. Dress You Up - Madonna
43. Cool It Now - New Edition
44. In My House - Mary Jane Girls
45. California Girls - David Lee Roth
46. Treat Her Like A Lady - Temptations
47. And We Danced - Hooters
48. Basketball - Kurtis Blow
49. Solid - Ashford and Simpson
50. Invincible - Pat Benatar
51. Wake Up (Next To You) - Graham Parker and the Shot
52. Your Love Is King - Sade
53. I Would Die 4 U - Prince
54. And She Was - Talking Heads
55. Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
56. Everyday - James Taylor
57. Money For Nothing - Dire Straites
58. Jesse - Julian Lennon
59. You Spin Me - Dead Or Alive
60. All You Zombies - Hooters
61. (Don't You) Forget About Me - Simple Minds
62. Some Like It Hot - Power Station
63. The Heat Is On - Glenn Frey
64. The Oak Tree - Morris Day
65. Fresh - Kool and the Gang
66. Dancing In The Key Of Life - Steve Arrington
67. Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
68. Can You Feel The Beat - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force
69. Suddenly - Billy Ocean
70. Kayleigh - Marillion
71. Voices Carry - 'til Tuesday
72. Lover Come Back To Me - Dead Or Alive
73. Oo-Ee-Diddley-Bop! - Peter Wolf
74. One Night In Bangkok - Murray Head (or Robey)
75. We Are The World - USA for Africa

---

Going over the hits of that year was a pleasant trip down memory lane I suppose. The real interesting thing is seeing where your likes and dislikes match up with or deviate from your friends'.  1985 was a good year for me.  I met James in 1985, as I recall, having graduated from high school that year and bumped into him my first week at UMass North Dartmouth that year (then known as Southeastern Massachusetts University.)  We seem to agree on more than we disagree on, which I suppose makes sense.  James was always very nice about putting up with my music later in life when we worked together.  Obviously not everyone turned 18 in the same year, but you can still run down the list and compare their tastes to yours.  Pretty fun!  Thanks James!

If anyone else wants to try this meme but doesn't have a blog, feel free to post your list in a comments.

---