94: Floating In a Most Peculiar Way

94. "Space Oddity" by David Bowie {#124 in 1969, then #15; 1/73} [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Not exactly. But there is this oddity: Space Oddity.}

"Ground control to Major Tom."

Adam Sandler has made some great movies. Really. Of course, Adam Sandler has also made a lot of pretty forgettable movies. One such movie was Mr. Deeds. I saw Mr. Deeds in the theater. I can only remember four things about this movie:
     1) Winona Ryder played Sandler's love interest.
     2) The bad guy kept getting hit with tennis balls.
     3) One of Sandler's friends had some kind of weird, inexplicable foot fetish.
     D) There was a scene on an airplane with a big sing-along to "Space Oddity."

This song has a science fictiony vibe to it. (I like science fiction.) It also has a bit of that "dentist's gas" feel. ("I'm floating in a most peculiar way.")

And, although this song first charted in 1969 and was a Top 20 hit in 1973, I wasn't familiar with it until 1990 when I got "ChangesBowie: David Bowie's Greatest Hits" as one of my Columbia House cassette tape choices. I feel bad that I missed out on all those years of enjoying its spaced out goodness.

This is my favorite David Bowie song. Here's a quick list of my next favorite Bowie songs:

2. "Ziggy Stardust"--Great guitar riff.
3. "Modern Love"--Excellent concert video: Modern Love. (Not many people can rock a yellow suit.)
4. "Let's Dance"--Without a doubt the best song to sing using an Elmer Fudd voice.
5. "Fame"--The first Bowie song I knew.
6. "China Girl"--Sung by Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer. (See, I told you Adam Sandler made some great movies!)

(And, in regards to "Space Oddity" I can tell you this: If there's a better song about an astronaut named "Tom" who happens to be a major…well, I'd like to hear that song!)

COMING UP NEXT: Good advice from a man who's made mistakes.

95: Who Is That Woman, Anyway?

95. "Information" by Dave Edmunds [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Information. I had never seen this video before. Upon seeing it, I'm reminded of the old "If They Mated" segment on Conan O'Brien's show. In this video, Dave Edmunds looks like a cross between Joe Piscopo and Bryan Adams. (With maybe just a dash of Huey Lewis thrown in for good measure.)}

Ah, Dave Edmunds! Yes, back in the old high school days (and high school nights) I used to suffer with what I called the "Dave Edmunds Mood." This was the love-sick, heart-sick, unrequited-lovedness feeling that would swarm over me. Mostly concerning one specific girl that I had a big crush on during those high school years. (An account of my first date with this girl can be found here: Gawkward Date with the Mystery Girl.) (Maybe you are familiar with the story.)

Dave Edmunds put out a couple of albums in 1983 and 1984 that were wholly or partially produced by Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra. Being a big ELO fan, this got my attention. So, I bought both of these albums, "Information," and "Riff Raff." "Slipping Away," the first song off of "Information," made the Top 40, but the second release off the album "Information," which was the song "Information," didn't make a dent on the charts. It's too bad, because it's an awesome song.

Why did I call those love-sick times "Dave Edmunds Moods?" Well, it's because on those two albums there was a plethora of unrequited, love-sick, heartbreak songs, like "Information," "I Want You Bad," "SOS," "Busted Loose," "Something About You," "Steel Claw," "How Could I Be So Wrong," "What Have I Got to Do to Win," and "The Watch On My Wrist."

Any, most, or all of those songs would keep me in that love-sick funk, and that's really what I wanted, isn't it? I certainly didn't want to actually do anything about my unrequitedness, because if I actually put myself out there, I might get hurt. So, instead of doing anything, I sat back and festered in the self-pity pool of my Dave Edmunds Moods. (I've always been fine with soaking in the pools. That's what happens when you grow up near Lava Hot Springs. And don't know how to swim.)

COMING UP NEXT: Astronauts! (In space!)

96: Smell the Desperation

96. "Overkill" by Men At Work {#3; 4/83} [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Overkill.}

Wow, I didn't realize how much I liked Men At Work until I started writing up this list. Off of only two albums (that I'm familiar with) they got four songs on the HondoJoe Top 200. That's as many as Styx and Journey…combined. It's as many as The Cars, Journey, Tom Petty and Weezer combined. That's a pretty good showing for Colin Hay and his mates.

But, this is the last time we'll be hearing from Men At Work on the list. Wait, where's "Down Under," you ask? It's probably the most well-known song by Men At Work, and was their biggest hit. Which is probably why it's not on the list. It's a little too popular. And I usually prefer a blaring saxophone to a flute.

That's not to say I don't like "Down Under." I do. Just not as much as the other songs on the list. (If I were making a list of best songs to feature the word "vegemite," it would definitely be at the top of that list.)

Why do I like "Overkill" so much? I'm not sure. It's a good sing-along song, at least up until the last verse when Colin goes up a key or two and starts singing notes too high for me to reach.

Perhaps another reason I like this song so much are the goats. I'm not sure why, but every time he sings "Ghosts appear and fade away," I change it to "Goats appear and fade away." I don't know why I do this, but I do it every time, and it never ceases to amuse me. Apparently, goats are funnier than ghosts.

COMING UP NEXT: Dial "0."

97: Just Nod If You Can Hear Me

97. "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd [iTunes? Yes] {Official Video: nope}

I've never been high. I've never smoked the weed, danced with Mary Jane, passed the Dutchie, grabbed the ganja, purchased legal pharmaceuticals in Colorado, or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days.

The three time I came closest? A) I was offered something that was being passed around between my cousins in Virginia while there on a visit. 2) A second-hand high from breathing the tainted air in our nosebleed seats at the Mini-Dome for the Journey/Bryan Adams concert. And, 3) Getting the gas at the dentist.

That said, there is a certain type of song that I really, really like. It's the kind of song that I think I would enjoy even more if I actually did get high. These are songs that bring to mind the flying, floating, dreamy, not-a-care, dare I say numb feeling from the dentist's gas.

"Comfortably Numb" is one of those songs.

It's got that tripping-on-the-dentist's-gas kind of feel to it. A floaty, flying, feel. (There are going to be a lot more of these "dentist's gas" songs on the list from here on out. Just sayin'.)

This song should really be higher on this list, but it's got a serious problem. It's got the super-long-guitar-solo-fade-out problem.

"Comfortably Numb" lasts for six minutes and twenty-four seconds. The last time a human voice is heard is at the 4:25 mark of the song. That means the last 1:59 of the song is taken up entirely by the super-long-guitar-solo-fade-out. That is much too long for a guitar-solo-fade-out. (In my opinion, anything longer than 30 seconds is too long for a guitar-solo-fade-out.)

This is not to say that I hate all long fade-outs. I'm actually a very big fan of a long "na-na" or "la-la" fade out. Songs like "Hey Jude," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Don't You Forget About Me," and "Centerfold" have awesome super-long-na-na-fade-outs. In those cases, I'm all for the long-fade-out!

But, there's something about instrumental long-fade-outs that annoy me. Instead of saying, "Hey, sing 'na-na' with me for a while," they seem to be saying, "And now you will listen to how wonderful I am with my musical instrument for a while." Condescending pretension.

The worst culprit of the way-too-long-fade-out genre? "Layla" by Eric Clapton. After the lyrics end it goes on forever and ever. "Hotel California" by the Eagles is another serious offender. It goes to show how much I love the first four and a half minutes of "Comfortably Numb" that I am able to look past this major problem and rank it so high on the HondoJoe Top 200 list.

COMING UP NEXT: Why don't we all f-f-f-fade away?

98: Smell the Cat Food In Your Bank Account

98. "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Don't Let's Start.}

This song introduced the band known as They Might Be Giants to much of the world. Not me. This song came out in 1986, and at that time I was living the life of pernicious asceticism as a Mormon missionary in wild, wonderful West Virginia.

(That's not to say I didn't hear any new songs while I was on my mission, just not this one because it wasn't a big enough of a hit. I did hear other songs from that time frame, like "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood, although because I was only hearing bits and pieces of the song in stores, on the street, or at people's houses, I thought the lyrics were "bake me a pie of love." Similarly, I heard "Hip To Be Square" by Huey Lewis and thought it was "Fit To Be Squared.")

As such, I didn't actually "discover" They Might Be Giants until their hit "Istanbul" in 1990. But, I liked them so much then that I went back and bought their earlier albums, which included this great song.

When most people think of They Might Be Giants, words like "fun," "quirky," "nice," and "happy" are often used. That "fun" can be seen in lyrics from this song like:

"When you are alone you are the cat, you are the phone, you are an animal. The words I'm saying now mean nothing more than "meow" to an animal. Wake up and smell the cat food in your bank account. And don't try to stop the tail that wags the hound."

Fun, right?

And then there's more "fun" lyrics like:

"No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful."

Wait….was that "fun?"

How about:

"I don't want to live in this world anymore. I don't want to live in this world."

Ummmmm…. Okay, maybe they aren't "fun" all the time. But they're still quirky, right?

Nice hats.     THANKS!

Yup. Quirky.

COMING UP NEXT: A trip to the dentist.

99: Why Was He So Nervous?

99. "Question" by Rhett Miller [iTunes? Yes] {Official video: nope}

This is a song about a marriage proposal. "Someday somebody's gonna ask you, a question that you should say 'yes' to once in your life. Maybe tonight I've got a question for you." I put this song on the second mix-tape I made for my wife (the first one I made for her after we were engaged.) The song was also used in an episode of Scrubs, where Turk proposes to Carla.

Aside from being a wonderfully sappy, romantic song, there are three topics this song brings up that I feel I must discuss:

1) Lead singers of groups who also have solo careers
Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the group the Old 97s. (They were featured on this list way back at #176 with the song "Murder or a Heart Attack.") I think I have four Old 97s albums (two of which I really like) and two solo albums by lead singer Rhett Miller (both of which I like.)

But, neither the lead singer nor the group ever got famous enough for it to be a "Rhett Miller and the Old 97s" situation like it did with "Sting and the Police," "Phil Collins and Genesis," "Lionel Richie and the Commodores," "George Michael and WHAM!," or "Peaches and Herb." Because that's always awkward.

2) When it comes to song remakes, I always like the version I heard first. (Except this time.)
When there is more than one version of a song, I almost always like the version I heard first. The Move (predecessors of ELO) had a version of "Do Ya," but I heard the ELO version first, and I prefer it. I generally don't like "live" recordings, but I prefer every song from Billy Joel's "Songs In the Attic" live recordings to the original versions, partly because I heard the live versions first. And, I don't care how many octaves she can sing, but Mariah Carey can't come close to Harry Nilsson's version of "Without You."

How big of an impact do those first impressions make? Well, generally speaking I love the Beatles and loathe Aerosmith. (The only way Steven Tyler could try to be more like Mick Jagger would be if he actually changed his name to "Mick Jagger.") And yet to this day I still kinda prefer Aerosmith's version of "Come Together" over the original take by the Beatles. And that's because I heard Aerosmith's version first.

This song is the exception to the rule. The song first appeared on the Old 97s album "Satellite Rides." I really liked it. Then a few years later a slightly different version popped up on Rhett Miller's solo album "The Believer." Both versions are sung by Miller, but the newer "solo" version adds 42 seconds (mostly a repeat of the chorus) and is slightly sappier. And I like it better.

C) Album cover that lack creativity
Rhett Miller suffers from "Phil Collins Syndrome."

Album covers can be amazing. There are so many fun and wonderful things that can be done with an album cover. You could put a space ship on it. You could put a futuristic landscape, a beautiful painting, or an interesting photograph on it. You could put a beautiful woman on it. You could put a beautiful woman covered in whipped cream on it. (Thanks, Herb Alpert!) You could even have a bunch of guys pointing at their belly buttons on it (though I wouldn't recommend that.)

Or, you could have Phil Collins Syndrome: "You know what would be great for this album cover? A big, close-up picture of my face! Yup, that's what everyone wants to see!"

For his first solo album, "The Instigator," Rhett Miller went with the Phil Collins approach. Here is the result:

Hi. I'm Rhett Miller. This is a close-up picture of my face.

But, the giant, close-up picture of his face somehow wasn't enough for Rhett. When you pull the cd booklet out of the cd case and unfold it (you remember cd booklets and cd cases, right?) you get this:

So many faces!!!

Just to be clear, each one of these three extra Rhett Miller faces is as large as the picture on the front cover, so if you fold the cd booklet out, accordion-style, you get four huge, close-up pictures of Rhett Miller's face!

Rhett Miller wants you to look at his face! Look at it!!! LOOK AT IT!!!!!

(It's a good thing his songs are so good.)

COMING UP NEXT: Start me up!

100: I Have No Powers, Except Deduction

100. "Super Hero" by Wade Egan [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Nope.}

I went to school with someone named Wade Egan. I am 99.2% sure that the singer of this song is not that Wade Egan. He was a nice guy and a decent trombone player, but I heard him sing on the pep band bus once, and singing was not his calling. (Mine either.)

I found this song a few years back while doing an iTunes store search for songs about Superman. This song came up in the search, even though it's about super heroes in general, not specifically Superman. I clicked on the song to give it a try, and liked it enough from the preview to buy it.

Wade Egan has a nice, deep, baritone voice, the kind that I can sing along with (or at least attempt to sing along with.)

But, what I really like about the song is the lyrics. Mostly it's about a loser with confidence issues who wants to be able to be a super hero. (It hits a little close to home for how I felt for a significant chunk of my life.)

"I get so tired of being ignored. Nobody likes to feel insignificant."
"I'm not much of a fighter, or a lover, either. Not too good looking, I'd have to wear a mask."
"I got a place where I can ditch my disguise. Dun to dun dun, I'm taking to the skies!"

And, my personal favorite:
"With my x-ray vision, and a little time to spare, I'll probably look for some bad guys, and at your underwear."

If you look past the sad desperation of the lyrics from the point of view of the singer, it's a really fun song. (I am, after all, a comic book nerd at heart.)

COMING UP NEXT: I've got a proposal for you.