My Life Playlist, Part Three (Please scroll down to see Parts One and Two)

This is the final installment for my list. Thanks all for playing! Carla will be reviewing your stories over the weekend, and we’ll post the winner on Monday!

Dancin’ In The Streets:
The Reflex (Dance Mix), Duran Duran and
Straight Up (Ultimix Mix), Paula Abdul (If I had the room, I would have added “Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol here. You see, I had a closet fixation with dance music, but I could not, in any way, dance. If you have seen the Seinfeld episode where Elaine dances, then you can get a mental picture of just how wretched my writhing was on the dance floor. I’m not exaggerating. I was once kicked off a dance floor by some woman in a dark red skirt at a place called Rascals, now a stately Hooters restaurant/bar in Towson. With that said, I got wonderful vibes from some of the remixes of the top pop hits of the eighties. Two of them were The Reflex and Straight Up, which later became workout songs (yeah, that’s right. I used to work out). Last autumn I put together a reunion slide show with songs from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. When I revisited these songs, I could feel the urge to dance rising through me. Luckily, I was home alone, and no damage has been inflicted on my wife or any of my children. I plan on keeping it that way, too.)

NOTE: I’m going to post the rest of the songs now, with a few more annotations. I hope to return to them in future posts to tell you the stories behind these songs. I don’t want to leave you hanging with my 99, though, for the next three weeks. So here they are….

Just Rus: (These songs have helped define who I am today)
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John/Bernie Taupin
Vincent, Don McLean
Roxanne, The Police
Pictures of You, The Cure
Fade Into You, Mazzy Star
Sweetness Follows, R.E.M.
Break It Down Again, Tears For Fears
The Impending Death of the Virgin Spirit, William Ackerman
Silent All These Years, Tori Amos
The Promise, Tracy Chapman
I Will Not Take These Things For Granted, Toad the Wet Sprocket
Orion in the Sky, Shawn Colvin, with David Crosby, Live
Donizetti-L’Elisir d’Amore-Una Furtiva Lagrima, Aria performed by Tito Schipa, from the Lorenzo Oil soundtrack
Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel, George Winston
All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow
Principles of Lust [(A) Sadeness, (B) Find Love, (C) Sadeness (Reprise)], Enigma
Prologue, John Williams, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Sugaree, Grateful Dead, 4/30/77
Dear Prudence, Jerry Garcia Band, 2/29/80

Walkin’ Man: (I section-hiked much of the Appalachian Trail and spent a year on a farm and another two years in a log cabin before I met my wife. The songs that follow chronicle those years after college.)
You Can’t Always Get What You Want, The Rolling Stones
Appalachian Morning, Paul Winter, Songs for the Earth
We, The Roches
Tweeter and the Monkey Man, Traveling Wilburys
Gaia, James Taylor
Proud Mary, Credence Clearwater Revival
The End of Innocence, Don Henley

Stage Center: (Theater has always been an important part of my life, from playing vinyls of Andrea McArdle on my sister’s player to writing full-scale productions for a k-12 school, I’ve done and enjoyed it all.)
Maybe, Andrea McArdle, Annie
Comedy Tonight, Jason Alexander and Company, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Magic to Do, Ben Vereen and Players, Pippin
What I Did For Love, Original Cast, A Chorus Line
Moonshine Lullaby, Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun
Prologue, Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Phantom of the Opera
Prologue, Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story
For Good, Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked

Road-Trips with T-Light: (We drove north on two-lane roads looking for bullfrogs and all-night diners; we taped the various sounds of zippers by ponds at 4 in the morning; and we sought out the greatest duck-crossing sign in the mid-atlantic and brought it home, fearing the entire ride back for the lives of the little duckies that no longer had the protection to cross safely. Our road trips were unique, spontaneous, and always adventurous. How we have lived to tell their stories still baffles my mind.)
Suite-Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby, Stills & Nash
American Pie, Don McLean
If You Leave, O.M.D. (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark)
Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Tears for Fears
My Generation, The Who, Live at Leeds
Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves

Donnon, Just Exactly Perfect: (a wonderful spirit and friend named Donnon died on March 17, 2002, and when I went to his viewing a few days following, four of his friends went up to his casket and sang “We Bid You Goodnight” by the Grateful Dead. It was one of the most touching tributes I have ever seen. The next day, I went to Record and Tape Traders and found Nightfall of Diamonds, which had a recording of this song. I took it home and played it over and over, cherishing Donnon’s memory. I tried to listen to other songs from this band I knew nothing about (my roommate fifteen years earlier absolutely loved them, but I paid no attention at the time), but I just didn’t get it. Then, in 2003, I met another teacher, K-Man, who was into the Dead as much as Donnon was. He tried to turn me on to a few cds, but I still didn’t get it. Then, in 2005, he came into my room telling me about Jerry just tearing it up on Truckin’. He played the Estimated > St. Stephen > Truckin’ > Around & Around run, and I was hooked. Donnon is with me for every show I download and buy, and he’s helped me find a part of me that Kurt first led me to a long time ago when I was in high school. One final note about Donnon: On the six-year anniversary of his death, I went to his grave site to visit him and tell him how grateful I was for him, then and now. I got out of my jeep and let my iPod continue to play, even though I had turned off the ignition. I left Donnon a single Rose and a note that said, simply, Not Fade Away. I spent about 25 minutes at the stone, and when I returned to my Jeep, that very song was playing when I turned on the ignition. Do I believe in signs? You bet.)  
We Bid You Goodnight, Grateful Dead, 10/16/89
Estimated Prophet > St. Stephen > Truckin’ > Around & Around, Grateful Dead, 11/2/77
He’s Gone, Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, Disc 4, October 1974
Estimated Prophet > St. Stephen > Not Fade Away > Drumz > St. Stephen > Terrapin Station > Sugar Magnolia, Grateful Dead, 6/9/77

Writer’s Song: (The soundtracks that have shaped my writing)
Telegraph Road, Dire Straits
The Passion of Christ Soundtrack
Lorenzo’s Oil Soundtrack
Cristofori’s Dream, Lanz
Eleanor Rigby, The Beatles
Postcards from Carraway Station Soundtrack

Songs of Love: (The cornerstone of what I am all about; more on these later.)
Moonlight Sonata, Adagio Sostenuto, Beethoven
Borderline, Madonna
Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Meatloaf
Right Here Waiting, Richard Marx
On Your Shore, Enya
The Water Is Wide, James Taylor
Moondance, Van Morrison
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, The Police
I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
Watershed, Indigo Girls
Peaceful, Easy Feeling, The Eagles
Dawn, Pride and Prejudice soundtrack
Amie, Pure Prairie League
Melting, Tristan Prettyman
Turn On Your Lovelight, Grateful Dead, Ladies & Gentleman, April 1971
The Love Each Other, Grateful Dead, 6/9/77
All You Need Is Love, The Beatles

Ode To My Family (doo-doo doo-doo…): (Two sections here: one with Mom and Dad, ending with January Stars, which I played for Mom’s funeral, as well as for her sister’s a few years back. The second section is my family with my wife and children. I look forward to bringing these songs to life soon, as well.)
Pennsylvania 6-5000, Glenn Miller Band
These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, Nancy Sinatra
Harper Valley PTA, Jeannie C. Riley
I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Frank Sinatra, Live at the Sands with Count Basie
Spring Cloudburst, Dan Gibson, Harmony
January Stars, George Winston

A Whole New World, Brad Kane & Lea Salonga, Aladdin
Brown-Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
You’ll Be In My Heart, Phil Collins, Tarzan
Swept Away, Yanni, Live at the Acropolis
Shepherd Moons, Enya
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Sarah McLachlan and BareNaked Ladies
Baby It’s Cold Outside, Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone, Elf Soundtrack

The Spiritual Quest: (I am an extremely spiritual person who can’t nail down a single darned belief. These songs have helped define that rocky spiritual journey, one that I’m still on, trying to find my corner of the sky. Exactly twenty years ago this week I became a born-again Christian. Well, somewhere around 1998 I died again, and I’ve been struggling ever since with Christianity (Please God, let me heed the signs you’ve been sending me….). I end with Christine Kane’s “(You Don’t Have To) Say Goodbye” simply because it seemed like the perfect bookend to Donnon’s “We Bid You Goodnight.” That’s where I am in my life, feeling a change in the seasons, in this cycle. It’s exciting and terrifying, all in the same breath. But that’s where I am, and so I keep walkin’, I keep walkin’. . . .
Day By Day, Stephen Schwartz, Godspell
Corner of the Sky, John Rubenstein, Pippin
Life In One Day, Howard Jones
Secret O’ Life, James Taylor, Live
Summer Solstice, Susan Ashton
More Than Words, Extreme
With Imagination (I’ll Get There), Harry Connick, Jr.
All I Ever Have To Be (Live), Amy Grant
I’ll Lead You Home, Michael W. Smith
Wondering Again What’s Behind the Eyes, William Ackerman
Earthrise, Steven Halpern, Chakra Suite
Ripple, Grateful Dead, Reckoning, October 1980
(You Don’t Have To) Say Goodnight, Christine Kane, Live, 2000

My Life Playlist, Part Two (please scroll down to see Part One):
Wicked, Dude; Wicked
Like A Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan (These two junior-senior years in high school, 1981-1983, were wicked wonderful. I met a guy named Kurt through our theater program. Every third word was “Wicked,” followed almost always by a chuckle or some term of endearment that was not far from “dude,” if ever. He wore this floppy, pre-Indiana Jones leather hat with tie beads and a small feather tucked in the side. He was thin, terribly thin, always wearing long sleeves, jeans or dark cords with a stringy hemp belt that hung down his side like the tzitzis that Jewish men wear. And he helped me break free (a little) from that pressure to be somebody I’m not. We spent hours and hours in his bedroom, with psychedelic lights, hip music from the sixties and early seventies, talking about acting, life, love, and the endless pursuit of peace. On Christmas Eve 1981, I wrapped presents in my attic bedroom alone, listening to the last track on my Bob Dylan Greatest Hits vinyl, vol. I, side 1, track 5. Dylan sang through the scratched track of “Like A Rolling Stone” as I cried. I don’t know what it was. A longing for this feeling of peace to last beyond the night and the early morning? Or was it the realization that I was growing up and becoming aware of the hatred in the world? We had just finished a run of 24 shows in 25 days at various hospitals and nursing homes. We called ourselves The Smile Merchants, and we did our best to bring a little love and peace to children with terminal illnesses who would not be coming home for Christmas; to abandoned mothers and fathers in nursing homes who cried when they saw us—and sometimes not because we had made their holiday but because we reminded them of where they were in their lives, and that this might just be their last Christmas shared with anyone. It tugged at me that night, made me feel thankful and selfish and grateful and sad, emotions like the strings on Kurt’s belt, tangled and vulnerable, dangling there with nowhere to go. That night I got Bob Dylan, and I let him get me. Makes my holidays a little more important these days.)

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy), Simon and Garfunkel (One of the many songs Kurt and I listened to. Our theater coach tells me that Kurt is very sick, and putting this list together makes me think that I should find out where he is. Let him know I’m thinking of him and hoping he’s okay.)

Little Deuce Coupe, The Beach Boys (Ah, yes. My first car. The Little Deuce Coupe was my 1968 Ford Falcon, sold (given?) to me by my brother Jim when I turned 16. The Smile Merchants used it for all their shows. I had replaced the factory-installed radio with a Panasonic boom-box system with bookshelf speakers in the back window. I also had to throw it in Park whenever we stopped at a red light to avoid stalling the car. With my foot on the gas pedal, I would drop it into Drive when the light turned green; most times, we made it through without stalling. This was particularly challenging after one of our holiday shows at Hopkins Children’s Hospital, where we then got lost in Baltimore City and drove for 2 hours, or 67 miles, if you prefer, before we reached the county line (a city driver I am not). One of the Smile Merchants, Faith, brought Deuce to life every season, decorating the interior (and sometimes the exterior too) with hearts, signs, Christmas ornaments, you name it. She’s a great spirit, Faith. I miss her terribly. Perhaps I’ll give her a call, too.)

You’ve Got A Friend, James Taylor and Carol King, Live (Brad, my best friend, gave me James Taylor’s Greatest Hits for Christmas in 1982. He signed, in blue ballpoint pen, “To Rus, My Best Friend. Love, Brad” in the top left corner. We met in Mr. Dwyer’s math class in our junior year, and immediately we became inseparable. Theater, music, show choir, we did it all together. We’re still extremely close today, despite a few arguments that left us in silence for varying periods of time. It doesn’t matter. We’ll never change, and we’ll always know that we’ve got a friend in each other. The version that I’ve chosen for my life playlist is one that I found rather recently on iTunes. It’s older than the version on the album Brad gave me, but it better reflects who I am now. Plus, it’s live. And by now you know that, for me, live is always better.

Imagine, John Lennon (I don’t think I could get through this one without losing it. This song, more than any other, has made such a profound impact on my life. The story I wish to share here (it is one of many throughout my life) is the one-year anniversary of John Lennon’s death. On December 8, 1981, the Smile Merchants all wore black to school with black carnations. We stuck together, pinned peace symbols and “Give Peace A Chance” to our clothes and bookbags, and played John Lennon whenever possible. We had a show that night—I can’t remember exactly where, but when I drove up to Faith’s house, “Imagine” came on the radio, and I lost it. The anger, the injustice, the killing, the everything that I was realizing about this world. Faith held me longer than the song, and it was many minutes later that I felt like I could make it home. By that time the rains had come, and I drove home in silence, wearing my black on black, not wanting to grow up anymore.)
Part Three will be posted soon!

Introduction to my life playlist:

Selecting the songs that define my life was much harder to do than I could have ever imagined. I decided to limit my choices to the songs on my iPod (about 10,000), and I was thrilled when my first round of choices narrowed the list to 353. From that playlist, though (titled “my99 possibles”), it seemed nearly impossible to cut 250 songs from that playlist. I felt as if I were excluding defining moments of my life, somehow negating their importance in the making of me. What made it even worse was, in the process of making those difficult choices, I thought of other songs that “absolutely” had to be on my life playlist. It felt as if the pool of choices never diminished, despite my final playlist creeping toward that magical number of 99.

After I selected my songs, I moved them over to a Word document and started arranging them in categories, or themes. The list that follows is the result of that arrangement. As “final” as I believe this list to believe, I look forward to revisiting it in a year to see what revisions I might make, or what new themes might emerge.

One final note: For the most part, the arrangement of the themes, as well as the songs that are listed within each theme, is intentional. The greatest surprise, I think, was that when I finished, I realized that I opened as most stories end, and ended as most stories begin, reminding me that the journey is not about beginnings and endings but about seasons and cycles, defining who we are along the way.
One song that didn’t make my final 99 was “Love the One You’re With”; maybe it’s the most important one to keep in mind for ourselves, though, because we must love ourselves, as no one else has been with us through all of those cycles and seasons.

Enjoy. I’m interested in hearing how many of my songs are on your life playlist!

The Origin of Rus:
Over The Rainbow, Judy Garland (Music has always been a part of my life, and I think it all started with Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz. Those days in the early 70’s, before the invention of any kind of made-for-home video product (tape or digital), we had to wait for the classics to come on TV, and the biggies like Oz only came on once a year. It was such a big deal in our house. We all gathered together—even my father—and we made popcorn (yeah, over the stove; what in the world is a microwave???) with real butter melted and poured over top of it, still steamy in the big orange bowl.

I believed in every word Judy sang, I hid my head when Mrs. Gulch turned into the Wicked Witch while in the twister, and I cried when she melted at the end of the movie. I remember thinking that, for anybody to die in such a way, no matter how good or evil, was a horrible thing. Over the years, “Rainbow” has come to mean different things to me: hope, belief, and most importantly, love. it served as the lifelong catalyst for my already-strong optimistic outlook on life, and I’ll never stop believing that life and love are always possible, even in the darkest moments.)

Dream On, Aerosmith (When my oldest brother came to live with us when he was having troubles with his wife, he slept on the other side of the attic. Each morning, when his alarm went off, “Dream On” woke us both. To me, it was the theme song for both of us for where we were in our lives, twenty years apart from each other, but still dreaming of better days to come.)

Crocodile Rock, Elton John (My sister Cindy gave this song to me for Christmas one year, along with a black and white case to hold 45 singles. It was my first-ever 45 (that’s vinyl, for you younger ones), and I played it on this blue and white plastic turntable that, even at my young age, looked very, very old. It was one of the greatest gifts a big sister could ever give her baby brother—she knew how important music had already become in my life.)

I Think I Love You, The Partridge Family (I loved their bus more than their music.)

Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding), Elton John (When this double album came out and my sister bought it, I used to play the songs non-stop on her (better) turntable in her room. I remember listening to the music through her oversized Pioneer headphones (my goodness did the music sound unbelievable), looking at the words to each of the songs and the somewhat risqué artwork that accompanied the lyrics.)

Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet, Paul McCartney & Wings, Wings Over America (This was our concert album that I played air guitar with and sang into tin-foil microphones with my neighborhood friends Bruce and Timmy. It was also my first introduction to live music, and I fell in love with the spontaneous sound and the love that flowed between the players in the band with the audience in the stands. I attribute this show to my lifelong love for the concert over the studio recordings.)

Black Dog/Whole Lotta Love/Rock n Roll, Led Zeppelin (The walls in my room in the attic were lined with posters of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page playing in a wash of oranges and reds, of Boston guitars in spaceship form taking off to unknown lands. I was never a 98 Rock kind of kid, but I loved the music of Zeppelin, Boston, Foreigner, Styx in my Junior High years. Absolutely loved all of it.)

Killer Queen, Queen (Simply this: Listening to music on WLPL, 92.3; this was always my favorite song to listen to.)

Jamming, Bob Marley (When I was 16, my parents allowed me to drive to Ocean City, MD to work the week before (and the weekend of) Labor Day at the Family Fish House. My brother was there on his vacation, and I was staying in a hotel room all by myself. To say the least, the trip was an initiation into adult living. This song played often that week after the dining rooms shut down and we cleaned up for the night. I had never heard of Bob Marley or reggae until then; now, it is a part of my life.)

For Unto Us A Child Is Born, Handel, Messiah (So many of my memories in high school and college (and beyond for another five years) were made with my best friend Brad, who opened his house to me even when I didn’t need it. We spent so much time there watching movies, ordering pizzas after midnight, and being loved by his mother and father in ways that were different from my own parents. I never saw them as replacements to Mom and Dad; they were my “second set” away from home, and I loved them both dearly. Brad’s father is still alive, but Mom passed away a few years ago. Brad was and still is passionate about classical music, and he had several variations of Handel’s Messiah. Each version, though, played this song beautifully. It transcended me in a very personal and spiritual manner that I never shared with him. The reason why I’ve listed it under this theme is because that transcendence could have never happened without his love or the love of his family. His parents planted a seed of faith in me that despite my greatest attempts at times, will just not stop growing inside of me. One Christmas Eve service at his church, Pastor Maack asked volunteers to join the choir in singing this song. I went, and my own mother was so proud to see me singing this song. The energy, the spirit that moment filled in me is still with me today.)

Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal), Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Just like the Wizard of Oz, A Charlie Brown Christmas was an annual event at our house. Such a celebration for a 25-minute animated show! However, it carried the same theme as Oz did, with a dash of spirituality thrown in. It was the best of all combinations for me as kid and now, as I look back on it, as who I am today. When I first started teaching, so many of my students shared their love of life with me. Two in particular would draw me a rainbow stemming from a cloud with the following quote: Keep Dreaming, Keep Believing, Keep a Rainbow in Your Heart.” Good words to live by twenty years later.)
Part Two will be posted soon!

Yikes!

Never realized how tough (and fun!) this is to select those top 99!

And how to arrange them! By year? Subject or theme? Emotion?

Oh, dear.

I may very well be posting my 99 on Friday as one big batch. Or my353…..!!!!

Hope you are all having as much fun as I am…Be sure to check the comments section of the original my99 post for those who are posting their lists already….. :)

Thanks to all for playing!

The Great my99 Challenge: Selecting the top songs of your lifeIN A BLOGSHELL:Who: You! Finally, a countdown that matters to you
What: Challenge to post your lifelong top 99-song playlist, with accompanying anecdotes that tell the story behind some of your selections
When: Postings should be on July 3 and 4, before 9 p.m.
Where: Post on your blog and leave a link to your posts in the comments section of this post
Why: Lots of reasons, like having your lifestory compiled in song, telling stories about those memories, and WINNING A FREE iPOD!
How: It’s all below!I started to play around with the 10,000-plus songs on my iPod and realized that, if I had to choose my top 99 favorite songs, there would be very strong reasons why they would make the cut. There are stories behind these songs that make them my favorites, the ones I go back to time and time again when I am sad, when I feel the need for energy, when I feel on top of the world.Here’s what I’m doing: I’m building a playlist on iTunes of all the songs that rightfully qualify to be deemed important in my life. Then, I’m moving the top songs from that playlist into my final my99 playlist to create the most significant soundtrack of my life.Ranking them will be a challenge, but this is where the stories come in, I think. Did this song elicit a stronger emotion than this other tune? Does it signify something that is more important in my life right now? These are the stories that will be begging to be told. What part of you is being bottled up in those three minutes and 41 seconds of music?To put it simply, my 99 songs are the stories of my life. I bet yours are, too.So I introduce to you: The First Annual my99 ChallengeOn the mornings of July 3 and 4, I will post my countdown in two batches of 49 and 50, respectively, along with a few stories about those songs that made it into my final 99. I’m challenging you to do the same. If you break it in two batches like me, then on July 3, you’ll post your songs counting down from 99 to 51; on July 4, you’ll post the final top 50. For both days, choose at least one song to share a story of how that song fits into your life, your history. Bring your my99 to life for you and for the rest of us.Don’t want to break it into two posts? No problem. If you want to list your my99 in one blog entry, go for it. Just make sure your entry is posted by the time the fireworks are lighting up our skies, and don’t forget to leave a comment on this post telling us that your my99 are up.These songs can come from anywhere—whether you find them on your iPod or in your stack of old 45’s in the basement, any song is fair game. Don’t own the song? No matter. Throw it in the mix anyway.Feel free to give as much info about the song (in addition to the title) as you want—group, year released, year memory made—it’s up to you entirely. Any stories you wish to tell—long or short—about the songs can be embedded right into the countdown.

Also, feel free to offer an intro about how you narrowed it down to the top 99 and how you ranked them. Did you base your decisions on emotions? experiences? lyrics? melody?

Oh yeah…The Prize: Free iPod?
Yep! When I moved up to my 150-gb iPod a few months ago, I had to retire my older iPod. So…The best storyteller online gets my 15-gb iPod, complete with docking station and charger! All you have to do is leave a link in the comments section of this post to your my99, and as long as you complete your countdown and tell a few stories along the way, you are entered to win the iPod!

Stories will be read by the acclaimed editor of Maryland Voices, the lovely Carla (a blogger-to-be), who will judge your stories on originality, believability, and sheer likeability! The winner will be posted on Monday, July 7 at rusvw.net.

Finally, there’s this: Invite your friends to join along. Spread the word far and wide about the my99 Challenge. I guarantee we’ll learn more about each other—and ourselves—in sharing our playlists and our stories.

Good luck…and have fun! If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me off-blog: theoldmanse (at) gmail (dot) com.