However, 5 days ago, my brother sent me an email telling me that had “won” The Listserve recently. He sent me a copy of the message that was distributed to all 20K+ of you. I thought that the concept was cool (and I thought his entry was very funny) so I signed up myself.
Today is my birthday. It is also my brother’s birthday (we were born on the same day, although I am 3 years older than he is).
Somehow The Listserve gods knew that today was special, and picked me as “winner” of the day.
I’m totally unworthy of this. I’ve paid no “dues”. I’m sure most of you have been signed up for years, waiting to be picked. With the exception of my brother’s contribution, I’ve never even READ a Listserve entry before.
So I’m going to jump right in.
Twice a week, I commute from my home in Baltimore, Maryland to Arlington. Virginia. It often takes more than 2 hours in each direction, and the traffic is horrendous.
To survive the monotony of the commute, sometimes I like to make up a game to keep my mind occupied. Six months ago, I invented a game called “Think of 10 Songs that have a person’s name in the song title. The person’s name has to start with the letter “A”. No duplicate artists. Rank them in favorite order”.
Here’s what I came up with for “A”:
1) Andrew in Drag - The Magnetic Fields
2) Allison - Slowdive
3) Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants
4) Annie's Song - John Denver
5) Angie - Tori Amos (Rolling Stones Cover)
6) Alice's House - Psychedelic Furs
7) Sweet Adeline - Elliott Smith
8) Ballad of Adam and Eve - Moose
9) Alex Chilton - The Replacements
10) Alice - The Sisters of Mercy
I’ve now done the same thing with letters B-E:
1) Buddy Bradley - Adam Green
2) Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
3) Bea - Throwing Muses
4) Dead Billy - Big Black
5) Bob - Weird Al
6) Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
7) Blue Jean - David Bowie
8) Beth - Kiss
9) Ballad of Bilbo Baggins - Leonard Nimoy
10) Batman (Theme Song) - Neil Hefti
1) Taste of Cindy - Jesus and Mary Chain
2) Caroline Says II - Lou Reed
3) Clementine - Elliott Smith
4) Christine - Siouxsie and the Banshees
5) Carolina - Adam Green
6) Calypso - Suzanne Vega
7) Charlotte Sometimes - The Cure
8) Oh Carolina - Shaggy
9) Cybele's Reverie - Stereolab
10) Cactus Man - Eureka Birds
1) Daniel Cowman - Regina Spektor
2) Don, A Man - Slint
3) Beautiful Delilah - The Kinks
4) Don Henley Must Die - Mojo Mixon
5) Ghost of David - Damien Jurado
6) Dazie Mae - John Lee Hooker
7) Lovelee Sweet Darlene - My Bloody Valentine
8) Doreen - Mark Sandman
9) Donna - Ritchie Valens
10) Delores - Th' Faith Healers
1) Eloise - The Damned
2) Elvira -Oak Ridge Boys
3) Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
4) Eddie's Teddy - Rocky Horror Picture Show
5) Evelyn - Pop Will Eat Itself
6) Eric B. is President - Eric B and Rakim
7) Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
8) Erik's Song - Slowdive
9) Emily - Adam Green
10) Eazy Er Said Than Dunn - Eazy E
Parting thought – I think that in football, whoever scores the touchdown should have to kick the extra point.
Paul Tanenholz
Baltimore, MD
[email protected]