Countdown Results For Thursday Evening

Hey everybody it’s Tyler here again. I’m posting John’s portion of the countdown on Thursday.

#812 Fleetwood Mac “Never Going Back Again”
#811 Chicago “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”
#810 World Party “Way Down Now”
#809 Soul Coughing “Super Bon Bon”
#808 B52’s “Roam”
#807 Boz Scaggs “Lowdown”
#806 Pulp “Common People”
#805 The Doors “People Are Strange
#804 Radiohead “High and Dry
#803 Nirvana “Heart-Shaped Box”
#802 Smashing Pumpkins “Disarm”
#801 Garth Brooks “Friends In Low Places
#800 4 Non-Blondes “What’s Up”
#799 Yes “Starship Trooper
#798 Pretenders “Thin Line Between Love And Hate
#797 Pink Floyd “See Emily Play”
#796 Grateful Dead “Direwolf”
#795 James Taylor “Carolina On My Mind
#794 Icicle Works “Whisper to a Scream”
#793 Steve Miller Band “Fly Like An Eagle”
#792 George Harrison “My Sweet Lord”
#791 The Rolling Stones “Miss You”
#790 Jackson Brown “Pretender”
#789 Otis Redding “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”
#788 George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
#787 Joni Mitchell “Woodstock”
#786 The Clash “The Guns of Brixton”
#785 The Beatles “Ticket to Ride”
#784 The Flaming Lips “She Don’t Use Jelly”
#783 Bob Dylan “She Belongs to Me”
#782 Grand Funk Railroad “We’re An American Band”
#781 The Rolling Stones “Loving Cup”
#780 Radiohead “Kid A”
#779 Bo Diddley “Who Do You Love”
#778 The White Stripes “Fell In Love With A Girl”

Chef Duff Knows Cakes and Music!

We love Duff. He's baked us birthday cakes, he jams out, he's even got the hottest show on television! Ace of Cakes is so dang cool! We'd also like to give big props to Mary Alice, who if watch the show, is the woman behind the Baker and often a phone volunteer during our membership drives.

Be sure to tune into Ace of Cakes on The Food Network! And look for the WTMD bumper sticker on the fridge!

Oh...And check out the cakes he's made for WTMD's First and Second Birthday Parties!

Personally picked by the Duff and Charm City Cakes Gang...here are the 10 Greatest Cake Songs!

1. Baker Baker - Tori Amos
2. Cut the Cake - Average White Band
3. Cake - the B-52's
4. If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake - Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
5. I want cake - Los Straightjackets
6. Carrot Cake and Wine - Stereophonics
7. The Baker Man - Beach Boys
8. I will survive - Cake
9. Birthday Cake - Cibo Matto
10. Chocolate Cake - Crowded House

The Midnight Special Lives!!!

I'm normally not one to order those multi part DVD or CD sets you see on infomercials, but I was seduced by the Midnight Special and all the great performances. I used to love making myself stay up till 12:30 to watch some great music. Who knew I would one day want the whole set (hmmm..I think I have a new analogy for the value of a WTMD membership for the Fund Drive!!)

Here's my list of the 10 Greatest All Time performances from the Midnight Special

1. John Denver and Cass Elliott--Leaving on a Jet Plane
2. Donna Summer -- Last Dance
3. Ray Charles -- Georgia On My Mind
4. Doobie Brothers -- Listen to the Music
5. War -- The Cisco Kid
6. Sanford and Townsend -- Smoke From a Distant Fire
7. Chic -- Le Freak
8. Golden Earring -- Radar Love
9. Gordon Lightfoot -- Sundown
10. Red Bone -- Come and Get Your Love

Be sure to vote by 5 pm today, Friday!

Guitar Worlds Top 10 Guitar Solo's

Browsing the internet this morning I stumbled upon Guitar Worlds 100 Greatest Guitar solos of all time, here is their top 10

1. Stairway To Heaven - Jimmy Page
2. Eruption - Edward Van Halen
3. Freebird - Collins/Rossington
4. Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour
5. All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
6. November Rain - Slash
7. One - Kirk Hammet/Metallica
8. Hotel California - Don Felder/Joe Walsh
9. Crazy Train - Randy Rhoads
10. Crossroads - Eric Clapton

Check out the full list here!

The Presidential Top 10

Not George Bush! But our very own President of Towson University! President Robert Caret is an amazing supporter of Rock and Roll, WTMD and, of course, Towson University. In fact, he was among the first to vote in our poll and, given that he's met Bruce Springsteen, we think everyone should see his Top 10!

1. Born in the USA - Springsteen
2. Light My Fire - The Doors
3. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
4. Can't Get No Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
5. Hey Jude - The Beatles
6. Johnny B Good - Chuck Berry
7. Let's Spend the Night Together - The Rolling Stones
8. Proud Mary - CCR
9. Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
10. Blowin in Wind - Bob Dylan

Not a bad list! About 10% of WTMD's members are Towson Alums and we're all glad great music and great radio play a big part of the University's mission.

Be sure to vote for the 897 Greatest Songs of All Time--You only have till Friday at 5pm!

Phantom News

The Shins keep getting themselves hooked up with the most interesting people!


First Zach Braff and his first movie soundtrack and now ABC News!?!? Somebody at the network must have a cool kid whose into music.
Click on the picture to check out this post about The Shins video for 'Phantom Limb'.

What the Hell Are They Talking About?

Aside from Jimi Henrix's PURPLE HAZE ("'scuze me while I kiss (this guy?) the sky"), there's a ton of songs whose lyrics are a bit hard to discern...and still more tunes where you're left wondering: just what the hell where they talking about? I still can't wrap my arms around Manfred Man's BLINDED BY THE LIGHT ("wrapped up like a," what...exactly?). Here are my top 5 "What The Hell Are They Talking About?" songs.

1. The Kingsmen- Louie Louie (click on the song for one person's fun interpretation of the ultimate "What the Hell?" song).
2. REM- Wendell Gee (take your pick of the intoxicatingly mumbly early Michael Stipe litter, but this one always befuddled me).
3. Manfred Mann- Blinded By the Light
4. Elton John- Solar Prestige' a Gammon (such delicious non-sensical excess on CARIBOU- this song is, perhaps, BernieTaupin's most bizarre lyrical moment).
5. Cocteau Twins- Caroyln's Fingers (would fit in well with the gibberish of the fake Cirque de Soleil language.

Don't forget to vote for the greatest songs of all time. You have till 5 pm Friday.

Concert Report: Camera Obscura/The Essex Green

Had the good fortune to catch Merge Records acts Camera Obscura and The Essex Green last night at the 9:30 Club. All in all a very chill evening—this was a crowd that came to listen, not dance—in a surprisingly packed room for a Monday night. By now most of you all know CO's "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken," which they of course delivered. "Let's Get Out of This Country," the most recent album's title track, was even better, and their live version of "Suspended From Class" reminded me why I so enjoyed 2003's Underacheivers Please Try Harder.

I was really there, though, for the twee openers, The Essex Green, who I've had an ear out for since their Kindercore days. Though they're not a platter WTMD regularly spins, you've probably still caught them on a few of our shows, especially New Music Tuesdays, Altered Fridays, and World Café. Out of Brooklyn, TEG were an Elephant Six band that only now is getting the attention they deserve (it's not easy sharing the spotlight with Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Dressy Bessy, Elf Power, Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, and of course, the incomparable Neutral Milk Hotel). Though they broke my heart by not playing the duet "Penny & Jack," I'm hoping the jangly "This Isn't Farmlife" and other tracks from The Cannibal Sea won them some new fans last night.

I found myself sitting next to TEG's Sasha and Chris during CO's set. I asked, perhaps overeagerly, when the next record was dropping; they laughed and said, "We have to start it first. Maybe 2008?" So you (tentatively) heard it here first.

(Remember that a lot of 9:30 Club shows get recorded live for NPR. Go to our All Things Music page and click on the NPR link for shows from Death Cab, Ray LaMontagne, Regina Spektor, and more.)

There is more to the OC than rich kids as the TV Drama comes to an end

Well this post is probably surprising to most because I'm a young single guy who actually watches and enjoys The O.C. despite being hassled by the roommates for doing so. However, there is more to this show than just some rich Orange County kids. I don't know if you caught this but two weeks ago, The Shins "Wincing the Night Away" was the O.C. featured album.

Forget about the plotlines and 25 year olds playing 17 year olds, forget about the kids surfing before and after school, think about the music you might of heard while watching the show.

In the short lived life of The O.C. they have unleashed a horde of artists climbing the charts, Death Cab For Cutie, Alexi Murdoch, Goldspot, Zero 7, Modest Mouse, Secret Machines, La Rocca, Keane, The Pogues, and many more!

In my opinion the kids of Orange County have a good taste in music, for those of you who don't watch the show it seems that Seth, the comic book kid, identifies most with the music. Sometimes the artists are live at the local club, but most of the time the music is describing the tone of the show. To me I think it's awesome hearing bands that I thought only a few people knew being played on The O.C. because that turns the wide range of viewers onto discovered and most importantly emergings artists.

Now I ask you, does hearing an emergining artist on a popular TV show makes you consider them a "sell out" or a "pop" artist? Or is it just another way for them to get heard.

So the next time you are watching a TV show think about the music played throughout the show, who knows maybe you'll discover a new artist or music style that you enjoy.

Catchya on the flipside!

Send me your thoughts!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Top 6 "Dance" Songs
1. Limbo Rock - Chubby Checker
2. The Twist - Chubby Checker
3. The Hustle - Van McCoy
4. Electic Boogie - Marcia Griffiths (The Electric Slide Song)
5. Do the Funky Chicken -- Rufus Thomas
6. The Bird - Morris Day

Don't Worry, The Madison Time is on a list....just not this one!

Songs of the Apocalypse

Cheery, I know....but, did you hear about the Doomsday Clock? They just moved it two minutes forward because of the threat global warming has posed. So, having come of age during the super-sized cold war 80's (remember Reagan on during a radio interview- he didn't realize the tape was rolling when he quipped..."we begin bombing in five minutes." I was truly scared. Add THE DAY AFTER to the mix, and I truly was a child of apocalyptic angst. Here are my top 10 tunes that fueled the fear.

1. Nena- 99 Luftballoons (I'm with Patchen on this one- the German version rules)
2. Tears For Fears- Famous Last Words (sip your last glass of wine with someone special)
3. Sting- Russians (Trudy Styler gave birth to this song- at least in the Blue Turtles doc)
4. Men At Work- It's A Mistake ("We'll not fade out too soon. Not in this finest hour")
5. The Fixx- Stand Or Fall (""Crying parents tell their childrenIf you survive don't do as we did")
6. The Smiths- Ask ("If it's not love, than it's the bomb that will keep us together")
7. Bruce Cockburn- If I Had A Rocket Launcher (in a sort-of reverse, ironic way)
8. Ultravox- Dancing With Tears In My Eyes (see video below)
9. The Clash- London Calling ("A nuclear era, but I have no fear")
10. U2- Seconds - ("Push the button and pull the plug, say good-bye, uh-oh-oh")

Planes, Trains and More

Top 5 Transportation Songs
I got to do some traveling and I got to thinking about how getting from one place to another turns up in great songs all the time. Here's a list I came up with. We're just a little over a week away from the end of voting....so make sure you cast your thoughts for the Greatest 897 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1. Midnight Train to Georgia-Glades Night and Pips

2. Leaving on a Jet Plane- Peter, Paul and Mary

3. Highway to Hell - AC/DC

4. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel

5 . Tunnel of Love - Springsteen

Patchen's Top Ten

Hey all! It's your Saturday Guy here, reminding you to get your Top 10 Greatest Songs of All Time votes in.

My list may come as a shock to those who think of me as a straight-ahead indie and folk rocker. I am, but that doesn't mean I don't like big ballads or musical proficiency. And part of what makes indie vital and necessary is the long shadows cast by some of these artists. Needless to say, this music (and the bushels of songs I was forced to leave out) just thrills me.

Honorable Mentions: It causes me physical pain not to have Jane's Addiction’s "Been Caught Stealing" and anything—anything—by Smashing Pumpkins on the following list (especially since Stephen Perkins and Jimmy Chamberlin are among the best drummers of all time, behind Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Rush’ s Neil Peart).

10. "King of Carrot Flowers" – Neutral Milk Hotel
The sweetness and rawness of indie rock in one lovely three-movement piece that starts soft, becomes a prayer, and then cascades into rock. Let this song stand in for indie rock, especially all the Death Cab for Cutie that should be on this list.

9. "One Night in Bangkok" – Murray Head
Great ’80s music and even a proto-rap. I stop whatever I'm doing when this song comes on. If I see the Chess soundtrack on a friend's shelf, I commandeer their stereo. I'll also let this song stand in for Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Who's Tommy. I love rock opera with a shameful, burning passion.

8. Pictures at an Exhibition – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Can an album be a song, since all the individual songs are really movements? ELP does Mussorgsky with superhuman proficiency. Let this song also stand in for "Karn Evil 9," Iron Butterfly’s "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," and anything by Mozart, Beethoven, or Shostakovich.

7. "Magic Man" – Heart
The female Led Zep.

6. "99 Luftballons" – Nena
In German. I cannot stress this enough. If I hear it in English I actually get upset, except as part of the amazing Jay-Z/Nena mashup "99 Luft Problems." Let this song stand in for all of '80s pop.

5. "Carrie-Anne" – The Hollies
Let this track stand in for all of '60s pop. A coy, charming tune. (If I had room on this list for '60s psychedelica, Donovan’s "Epistle to Dippy" would be somewhere near here, too.)

4. “What I Got” – Sublime
I was a senior when this song almost became the next "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It helped launch a ska/punk craze the took the industry by surprise for the next few years (note how without Sublime 311 and No Doubt might have been one-hit wonders with "Don’t Stay Home" and "Just a Girl"; instead they were putting out singles like "Down," "All Mixed Up," and "Spiderwebs" a year later). If the greatness of a band could be measured by the number of its imitators, Sublime would top The Beatles.

3. "Over the Hills and Far Away" – Led Zeppelin
Of course I almost typed "Stairway to Heaven." It’s a toss-up. Start soft and folky, then explode: the formula for outstanding rock.

2. "F--- and Run" – Liz Phair
A splash of cold water in the face of male rock. Phair delivers the "shocking" (please note the ironic quotes) revelation that women have an interiority, too.

1. "Molly’s Lips" – Nirvana
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" may be one of the most important songs of all time for changing the musical landscape. But "Molly’s Lips" is the greatest. Nirvana takes an already spare Vaselines song and pares it down even further. The result is rock haiku where an entire story takes place in a mere two lines and a refrain:

She said, she'd take me anywhere, she'd take me anywhere, as long as she stays with me / She said, she'd take me anywhere, she'd take me anywhere, as long as I stayed clean / Kiss kiss Molly's lips (x4)

This song is delightfully plastic: it can clock in at under a minute, or repeat ad infinitum, getting more raw and desperate each time. Pure poetry.

Thanks for reading! And don’t forget to vote…

Meet Mika

You'll probably be seeing & hearing a lot from this artist this year...click the link below to learn about the Freddie Mercury comparisons, his childhood & his soon to be hit single "Grace Kelly"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdegmowOq5Y

Andrew's Top 10 Songs

hey everyone,
when making this list I decided to go with my personal all time greats from my time, I do have knowledge and love for music made before my time but I didn't know how to include songs that should be an all time great when I couldn't really vouch for. But maybe some of these songs are an all time great because despite being from before my time they still make my list. With that said here's my top 10

1. Dave Matthews Band - "Ants Marching"
As a follower of DMB it was hard for me to pick my favorite song, however since I was 12 years old I have been listening to this song consistently. Experiencing this song live a few years back was an all time high. DMB is also one of my all time greatest live experiences as well, seeing them 12 times now each show is unique and provides a natural high.

2. Third Eye Blind - "Semi-Charmed Life"
This song came out when I was in middle school and hasn't stopped, I heard it again at my high school dances and still today in college.

3. Sublime - "What I Got"
This song takes me back a few years to high school, off-roading and wheeling in my buddys Jeep Wrangler with the top down in the Maryland humid heat.

4. Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here"
Of the numerous Pink Floyd songs "Wish You Were Here" is my personal all time great.

5. Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
I debated between a Foo song and a Nirvana song, I went with my personal favorite, the Foo Fighter's. Having just listened to the new live semi-acoustic version of this song it is simply incredible.

6. Jane's Addiction - "Jane Says"
This song has been a favorite of mine for years, and a favorite of my friends, apparently there is a game played when hearing "Jane Says"...when Perry says "she can't hit" you apparently punch your buddy three times in the arm, not that I'm encouraging violence.

7. Jimmy Buffett - "Margaritaville"
Who doesn't love Margaritas? I experienced Buffett Live for the first time this summer twice in one week, what a colorful experience. Oh ya, and who doesn't love cheeseburgers?

8. Sister Hazel - "All For You"
One of my middle school love songs...definitely an all time great in my book. This is a song that I can relate to and I think other guys can as well.

9. Aersomith & Run DMC - Walk This Way
The combination of rock and hip hop has come a long way since this song came out. For the initial start of this combination this song wins a vote in my top 10!

10. Barenaked Ladies - "One Week"
When I first got hooked on this band I was in middle school, like most of my all time greats, and I couldn't stop listening to it for years. BNL ended up being my first concert unsupervised and first band to see numerous times in a short span of time.