The JayTunes Jam

This was a tough task.  Over the past 10 years, I have selected 160 of my favorite songs.  How was I supposed to whittle them down to my Top 10?  Sure, there were a couple artists in there that I rarely listen to anymore (Macy Gray, The New Pornographers, Yolanda Adams), but I still enjoy almost all of them.  I decided [...]

Still building to the end of the current decade… The 1990s saw a large portion of my discretionary income go into CDs and stereo equipment.  My musical tastes also expanded from pop into folk, a cappella, alternative, and funk.  Here are my top 10 songs of the 1990s: Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might [...]

Since the end of this decade is rapidly approaching, I thought I’d reflect back upon my three decades of serious musical listening.  The easiest of the three is the 1980s due to my limited budget and difficulty in getting to the record (cassette) store.  Here are my top 10 songs of the 1980’s: Baby Grand by [...]

You may have already guessed it, but I’m not really much of a hip-hop afficionado.  However, there was a time when rap music was upbeat and fun where nerdy white guys like me didn’t feel too embarrassed about ‘cranking’ our boom boxes.  One of the groups that brough rap to the our world was Run DMC.  In honor [...]

Hey, Beyonce… how’s it going?  Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that a while back I posted a list of my Top 20 Favorite Songs of 2007.  Yeah, it’s pretty sweet and the best part is that you’re on it.  In fact, you’re “Irreplaceable”.  Get it?  That’s the name of your Grammy-nominated song.  [...]

When I look back at my favorite songs from 2006, I find an surprisingly good variety of music.  As usual, the acoustic guitar is well-represented with tracks by KT Tunstall, Rogue Wave, Erin McKeown, and (if you can get them) the superior acoustic versions of the hits by Corrine Baily Rae and Daniel Powter.  Also featured are nice pop tracks [...]

As I approach the current year in my journey through my favorite songs of the last 20 years, it’s not surprising that a lot of the songs are still in regular rotation on my iPod.  In 2005 I newly discovered favorite artists Kings of Convenience, The Bills, Girlyman, and Michael Buble.  I also found great [...]

The Athens Olympics.  Dubya defeats Kerry.  The Darkness rocks the world with “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.”  That pretty much sums up the year, right?  I’m sure a few more important things happened, like Grammys being awarded to personal favorites Norah Jones and Ray Charles (Record of the Year – “Here We Go [...]

Today I continue remembering my favorite songs from years past.  I can’t even guess how many mix tapes and CDs I made, but these lists were taken from those recordings.  My kids were born in these two years, which may explain the movement toward the adult contemporary songs (Norah Jones, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, James [...]

It’s the new millenium!  After recovering from the Y2K disaster, I was lucky enough to find time to listen to some music.  While I did enjoy some folk music from Nickel Creek (pictured), John Gorka, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, it appears that I spent most of my time listening to pop [...]