Music Monday: Oldies but Goodies

Blogging, lessons learned, music, rankings 1 Minute

Maybe it’s the pandemic, or maybe it’s just the fact that good music has staying power.

Pop Vortex publishes a list of the top100 songs on iTunes, and the latest list, from just about an hour ago, includes six songs from the last century in its top 20.

Here are those songs, with their ranking and year of release:

  • Number 6: Dreams by Fleetwood Mac (1987). This had a big resurgence last year thanks to the skateboarding video that went viral.
  • Number 7: Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams (1984). Apparently Bryan was only nine years old in the summer of 69…
  • Number 13: Zombie by The Cranberries (1994). Seems like an appropriate song during a pandemic lockdown. This is the one song on the list I am not familiar with, despite the video having more than 1 billion views.  I’ll admit that there are huge gaps in my musical background. It’s a bit embarrassing not knowing The Cranberries, given that they are from Ireland…
  • Number 16: Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum (1969). Seems like another pandemic relevant song.
  • Number 17: Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks (1971). That’s two for Stevie, since she was the lead singer on Dreams.
  • Number 19: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls (1998). I have to admit I did not recognize this song by its title, but as soon as I played it, I knew it.

In trying to decide which song to play in this post, Dreams was eliminated since I already had a post which featured it.

My favorite song on the list is probably Spirit in the Sky, but I assume it is a song everyone knows, and if you feel like listening to it, you will.

So I went with Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, assuming that perhaps you are like me and you don’t recognize the name of the song, but maybe you’ll recoognize it once you hear it.

Enjoy. And let’s keep that nice mix of oldies in the top 20!

 

 

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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36 thoughts on “Music Monday: Oldies but Goodies”

  1. Oh my, yes I did not recognize the song Iris by its title, but I knew it as soon as it started playing! Gotta love the oldies! My favorite in your list was Summer of 69, but this would be the next one. 🙂 Its so common for me not to know titles of songs. LOL!

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  4. The story behind Iris is quite fascinating. The lead singer to the Goo Goo Dolls (John Rzeznik—yes, that’s how he spells his name 🤣) got writer’s block for a long time and couldn’t pen anything to the point he wondered if he’d ever write another song. This finally evolved, and a huge weight was lifted from his shoulder. I like them all, but I’d pick this one and the Summer of 69 as my favorites.

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  5. i have to say i remember all of these and each brings back another memory, fun to think about them. ‘iris’ was in a movie i promoted in my advertising days, ‘city of angels’ with nicholas cage back in the 90s, and i remember crying when this song came on and the movie took a very sad turn.

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  6. Just goes to show that great music never really gets old. I am glad you picked the Goo Goo Dolls. For the few years I lived in Buffalo, NY, these guys were hometown heroes. It is just hard to think of these as “oldies” when they still sound like hits today. Fun and enjoyable post, Jim!

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  7. A good set of songs. I knew all except this one – both Summer Of ‘69 and Dreams have featured in my posts. But is it just me, or is this a total ripoff from Billy Joel’s Piano Man?

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      1. I’ve never really listened to them, tbh. To me they are just another rock band. It’s the tune – if you listen to Piano Man it is clear that they have stolen it!

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      2. I don’t think I know any of their other music except this one. I have trouble hearing the similarity to Piano Man, but I checked online, and many other people make the same claim. Maybe I should get my hearing checked…

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      3. It was the first thing that came into my mind as I listened to it. I’m not surprised others think that way. I’m sure your hearing is fine 😉

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  8. “Zombie” is the only one I don’t know, too. But “Iris” has one of my favorite lines in it, so I recognized it by its title immediately.

    I didn’t realize Bryan Adams was only 9 in 1969. That’s pretty funny.

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  9. The kids today like their music old. My son, 15, primarily listens to radio rock from the 60s and 70s and punk rock from the late 70s. Zombie has been my #1 earworm for 2021, getting stuck in my head four times… probably five now.

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