Play that funky music, brown boy!

A couple of days ago I was minding my business when a friend of mine came up to me and gave me a flash drive filled with songs of his liking and asked me to check them out. As I eagerly dug into them hoping to find some obscure Sabbath or Zeppelin masterpiece that I probably forgot about I realized that he was in fact a closeted pop-lover who never came out :P. His entire collection was filled with Avril Lavignes, Celine Dions, Kelly Clarksons, Elton Johns and the like.
Nevertheless I kept the collection and in the next few days discovered quite a few songs that I had once listened to passionately but until then had completely forgotten about. As I dug up more and more pop/techno/non-rock songs from everywhere I realized there are a few songs that have a very very high repeat value for me. These are the songs that I could listen to over and over again and probably never get bored. And then I thought to myself, “You know what...there are people out there who would love to read a list of your favourite non-rock songs”. Then reality hit me hard, just like the way the truck hits the kid’s bed in “Enter Sandman” video. I realized I was kidding myself. Still to re-quote one of my favourite quotes “To inflict such misfortune upon mankind isn’t my style”...so whether you like it or not and just because you are here and also because I like writing useless stuff about music, you are doomed to read...

“Ro’s amazing top 10 list of non-rock songs (with very high repeat value)”
in no particular order
except that the numbers are ascending :P

1) I want you - Savage Garden:
From what I know this was the song that put Savage Garden on the map. The melodious chorus is excellently complemented by the almost rappish way Darren Hayes sings the verses. Their next album was also quite good and I remember liking all the songs. But somehow “I want you” remains up there. The lyrics are fun to sing along to...but one thing that always puzzled me was as to why he sings “shaggy yeah” right in the middle for no reason! This song's got a cool video too.

2) Kiss from a rose - Seal:
I don’t know of any other song by Seal except this one. But I think I can safely say this is his best song. Seal’s melodious voice, excellent lyrics and captivating music gives this song a very ballad sort of feel. All in all one amazing song...and very well complemented by Nicole Kidman in the video! :)

3) Jam - Michael Jackson:
Michael Jackson was the first artist whose albums I collected, back in the pre-mp3 cassettes and cds days. I would love to listen to any MJ song any day but ‘Jam’ has to be my fav and one of his best. I could never understand what he sang without reading his lyrics and singing his songs phonetically was good fun (“...aint yet, too much, it aint too amuchforme to JAM”). Michael Jackson was called the king of pop...but I would say he (or whoever wrote his music) also pioneered a lot of unconventional (techo-ish) sounds too. And the video of Jam has Michael Jackson dancing and Michael Jordan dribbling in it. Was enough for me to get hooked onto it for life!

4) Come undone - Duran Duran:
What a song! This is only one of the couple of Duran Duran songs that I’ve heard of but nevertheless I’m convinced of their musical prowess. With absolutely awesome lyrics, I feel the song gets its charm mainly from the way it’s sung. The mix of the “Can I forgive u for falling apart” part and the “Who do you need, who do you love, when you come undone” makes this song a masterpiece. Heck I feel like listening to it while I am typing this!

5) That thing you do - Fountains of Wayne:
As I found out from the very friend I was talking about at the beginning, I learnt that this is actually a Fountains of Wayne (remember Stacy’s Mom) song and in fact launched their career. FoW had made this song for the movie for a contest and they sure did a good job. The most captivating thing about this song is the casual way it’s sung and its simple yet rhythmic drum pattern. I might even add, at one point of time I even knew all its lyrics!!!

6) The Mission Impossible theme – Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton:
This has to be the mother of all themes. I don’t know how to describe it. If you haven’t listened to it there’s something you are missing. I haven’t seen the original TV series so I have no opinion about it but the music perfectly captures everything the movie is about. Even Limp Bizkit’s rendition is quite addictive! :)

7) Breathe - Prodigy:
Scary guys with heavy makeup + alligators + some very cool techno music = awesome song with awesome video. Prodigy has made some very good techno music and ‘breathe’ is one of their best. I know many people who’ve been repulsed at the thought of listening to techno music when I suggest Prodigy. Agreed its not conventional music which can be played live on instruments but what the heck! Whatever prodigy does, it does good. They have quite a large range of sounds and they do a good job of putting everything together. So yeah...don’t shy away from techno. Just breathe with them.

8) Staying alive - Bee Gees:
“If you can tell by the way I use my walk
I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk”
Tell me how times you must have heard this song pop out of nowhere and immediately felt a need to sing along and groove with it. The typical Bee Gee’s falsetto in which it is sung makes it very appealing and the music taunts you to try and stop yourself from moving! Definitely one of the most popular songs in the world...and deservingly so.

9) How deep is your love - Take that:
They say first impressions last the longest. Applies very well in this case. I loved this song when I saw ‘Take that’ sing it on MTV but when I heard the Bee Gee’s original later it came nowhere close. I found the way ‘Take that’ sings the chorus much more appealing than the original. It has really nice lyrics and Take that’s video of this song (showing a girl torturing and ultimately drowning the four band members tied to chairs) is simply superb.
The above line makes me sound like a sadist! :D

10) She’s got the look – Roxette:
Again, maybe just one of the 2 or 3 songs of Roxette that I know. But I am pretty sure this is their best (and most popular) one. This probably is the first song that I’ve listened to amongst all the songs on this list and I remember liking it so much that I even wanted to sing to some girl I liked at that point of time. However I never could muster up the courage to do it (maybe it happened for my own good :)). Never mind the lyrics cuz they are sung very nicely. I remember having a discussion with Sidney about the different ways the line “Loving is the ocean, kissing is the wet sand” can be interpreted!(The things I used to do :() Nevertheless, a very catchy song that has stuck to be one of my all time favourites.

That’s the end of the list folks.
See how I managed to waste a precious 5 minutes of your life making you read about stuff that is not going to be useful in any conceivable way! Yeah...I have a knack for such things. So don’t be surprised if in the future you’ll be reading about “Ro’s amazing top 10 things to do while you are taking a dump”.
Until then...I suggest you put your time to good use.
Tata