[stan] 6:34 a.m. - Song

Song: Blackbird
Artist: The Beatles (sung by Sarah MacLachlan)

Why: It's a good thing I had this song on my brain, because it reminded me that we needed to send I Am Sam back to Netflix.

[stan] 6:36 a.m. - Song

Song: Maybe I'm Amazed
Artist: Paul McCartney

Why: This song has actually been stuck in my head every morning for the last week or so. Strange, because by the time I get to work, I've forgotten it was there. And I don't know where it came from. Maybe brushing my teeth evokes it?

Embarrassingly, up until just a minute ago when I looked this song up on Wikipedia, I always thought it was called "Baby I'm Amazed". I guess I should pay attention a little better.

[stan] 2:36 p.m. - Song

Song: Strong Badia National Anthem
Artist: Strong Bad

Why: Thanks, Nicole.

[stan] 2:06 p.m. - Song

Song: Beautiful Mess
Artist: Diamond Rio

Why: Couldn't tell ya. Good song, though.

[stan] 9:22 a.m. - Song

Song: The Flame
Artist: Cheap Trick

Why: I really think I need to stop listening to the radio at lunch time. Or, at least, stop listening to Mike FM. All they seem to play is these bad 80's songs, although I will concede that on a few occasions, they've played songs I actually like. Mike-FM and the lite-rock station (yes, that's l-i-t-e, I think it's required by law to spell it that way) seem to be obsessed with a certain subset of these not-so-great 80's songs. One of those is that creepy song by Benny Mardones, where he sings, "She was sixteen years old/'Leave her alone,' they said." (It's extra creepy because he was in his 30's when he recorded it. Talk about the uh-oh feeling.)

By the way, I'd much rather hear Cheap Trick's remake of "Don't Be Cruel", which was released in the same year. But I never hear them play that. It's 100 times better than "The Flame".

[stan] 9:15 a.m. - Song

Song: Joyride
Artist: Roxette

Why: This song was on the radio on Wednesday at lunch time, and I hadn't heard it in years. I never particularly liked it to begin with - it was not one of Roxette's finest. But this song has literally been stuck in my head for fully three days. Oh, why won't it go away???

[nicole] 1:46 p.m. - Song

Song: Ebony and Ivory
Artists: James Roday and Dulé Hill

Why: I recently received an email from a company with the word "ebony" in it. I was scrolling through my emails, looking for something and when my eyes passed over this email, immediately I heard the "Psych" version of this song in my head!

P.S. If you don't watch "Psych", you are really missing out.

"Side by side on my pýahno"

[stan] 3:32 p.m. - Song

Song: Just What I Needed
Artist: The Cars

Why: It was on a radio, somewhere. Not my favorite Cars Song, especially after being completely ruined by its overuse in TV commercials. (I'm talking to you, Best Buy Circuit City.) No, that honor falls to "Drive".

[stan] 2:15 p.m. - Song

Song: If You Leave
Artist: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Why: It was on the radio behind me. I know this is a repeat, but I had to mention it again, because of the song it replaced: Cher's "Believe". I really don't like that song at all, and I run the risk of getting it back in my head by mentioning it here, but I will stand strong and cling to "If You Leave" if I can. Either that or "Manah Manah".

Yep, that worked like a charm. Manah manah.

[nicole] 9:20 a.m. - Song

Song: Walking in Memphis
Artist: Marc Cohn

Why: I really don't know what triggered it. It just slipped in, and now I'm going to put some other music (read: Mamma Mia!) on to get it out of my head.

[sam] 8:00 p.m. -Song

Song: Mamma Mia
Artist: ABBA

Why: It must be said that I love ABBA and I love this song. However, I dare anybody to tell me that they can't listen to that vibraphone intro and leitmotif and say it doesn't lodge in the head with a straight face.

[stan] 9:58 a.m. - Songs

Song: Mad About You
Artist: Belinda Carlile

Song: Only the Good Die Young
Artist: Billy Joel

Song: Friends in Low Places
Artist: Garth Brooks

Why: These were all in my head for such short periods (all within a couple of minutes) that I didn't want to make a separate post for each. Oddly, only "Friends in Low Places" was one I had just heard on the radio.

[stan] 7:25 a.m. - Song

Song: Goin' Home
Artist: The Acappella Company

Why: I don't know why - it just showed up while I was in the shower this morning.

[stan] 9:15 p.m. - Song

Song: My Patch (links to YouTube)
Artist: Jim Noir

Why: Have I done this one before? It seems like I did, but I searched and found nothing. Anyway. On the way home from the grocery store, Nicole and I started singing this song together. It was fun. We also did a little bit of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations", which was a natural transition since Jim Noir's sound is so similar.

[sam] 3:26 PM- Comedy Bit

Artist: Jim Gaffigan
Word or Phrase: Hooot Pooockets! 

Why: Curse those darned YouTube videos! When I first saw Gaffigan's signature "Hot Pockets" riff I thought he hit it out of the park, and funny ... you bet! But now it won't get out of my head, and I wander around work murmuring things like the jingle with the words "Caliente ... pockets!" so much that I think my cow-orkers think I'm demented. Possibly with some actual brain damage!

Ironic thing? I love Hot Pockets!

[stan] 2:00 p.m. - Song

Song: Sherry Fraser
Artist: Marcy Playground

Why: I don't know. In fact, I have not thought about this song in probably seven or eight years. Funny how they just come out of the woodwork like that.

[stan] 8:18 a.m. - Song

Song: Stay (I Missed You)
Artist: Lisa Loeb

Why: I thought I heard it on the radio a minute ago, but it turned out to be a different song. A song I really didn't like. So I forced "Stay" to...stay. And that itself was hard to do, because as I have probably said before, songs that are barely audible, once recognized, have this magical ability to become much louder.

[nicole] 3:43 p.m. - Song

Song: Honey, Honey
Artist: Amanda Seyfried

Why: I just bought the new Mamma Mia! soundtrack, so every day I wake up with a different song in my head!

[stan] 3:26 p.m. - Location

Location: Corner of S. River St. and W. Fairview Ave., Carthage

Why: Not sure. Although I will be near there tonight (that's right where the church is).

[sam] 12:53 pm - Song

Song: Hey, Deanie
Artist: Eric Carmen

Why: Just like "Make Me Lose Control" (see the last entry), this song (as arranged and performed by Carmen, not the version did by Shaun Cassidy back in the 70s) is just fun and hook-y and bouncy, which is strange, because if there's one musical trend that makes me wish for plainchant it that trend during the 70s of faux-50s "malt shop" songs done by polished teen-idols, and this song comes right out of that wave.

[sam] 12:47 pm - Song

Song: Make Me Lose Control
Artist: Eric Carmen

Why: The chorus mostly. The song is done in that breezy, echo-y 80's style during the verses which leads up to this crashing, anthem-like chorus with the bass doing more than just providing rhythm but this real cool thumping-puncutation.
This is what they called a hook. I am the quintessential pop music consumer; I like my songs hook-y, catch-y, and about three minutes long.

[stan] 2:36 p.m. - Song

Song: Rhythm of the Night
Artist: El DeBarge

Why: It was playing softly over the PA here at work. So guess what, it was the elevator music version. Pardon me while I dry heave a little bit.

Mercifully, my brain was able to reconstruct the original song from memory, although I don't think it's that much better.

[stan] 7:45 a.m. - Song

Song: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
Artist: Russ Taff

Why: Completely out of left field, this one.

[stan] 3:36 p.m. - Song

Song: You Belong to the City
Artist: Glenn Frey

Why: This is one of the prime examples of absolutely horrendous 80's music. Is there any instrument that screams out "BAD 80'S MUSIC" more than a saxophone? Kenny G, I am talking to you.

[stan] 12:57 p.m. - Song

Song: That's What Friends Are For
Artist: Dionne and Friends

Why: It was on the radio at lunch time, part of an apparent "Crappy Music 10 in a Row", except that it probably was more like 100 in a row. Ugh, lite rock.

It boggles my mind that according to Billboard, "That's What Friends Are For" was the most popular song of 1986. All this time I thought it was "Rock Me Amadeus".

[jana] 10:57 p.m. - Song

Song: Over the Moon
Artist: Rent (Original Cast)

Why: Because it just sticks. Especially the "bee dee bong."

"Cuz who'd want to leave Cyberland, anyway?
Walls ain't so bad
The dish and the spoon for instance
They were down on their luck
They'd come knocking on my doghouse door
and I said, 'Not in my backyard, utensils!
Go back to China!' [Bee dee bong]

'The only way out is up," Elsie whispered to me.
"A leap of...faith."

[stan] 3:20 p.m. - Song

Song: Chicago (links to YouTube video)
Artist: Sufjan Stevens

Why: I realized yesterday that I hadn't kept up with Sufjan's 50 states project, where he plans on releasing an album for each of the 50 U.S. states. He's done them for Michigan and Illinois, the latter released in 2005, so I wondered if there had been any more states released since.

Chicago is one of my favorite tracks on the Illinois album.