At one of my 2 jobs, the radio is on pretty much constantly, and the usual default station is classic rock, (which I have no problem with; classic rock is probably my 2nd favorite format, after hip hop/R&B). Lately, though, the people I work with have been switching over to the "mix" station, which as far as I can tell can be aptly described as Top 40 minus most rap and country (notably, the exception to both rules is the Nelly/Tim McGraw song). This is mostly the kind of stuff I'm only ever exposed to otherwise when I'm channel surfing on VH1 (and I apologize in advance for repeatedly invoking Video Hits One, but it would be difficult to talk about this music without referring to it). Here are some of the things I think about when I'm forced to hear these songs twice an hour for a whole shift:

Bowling For Soup - "1985"
After being propelled out of obscurity by an unexpected Grammy nomination, these guys seem to be using that attention as a springboard to become this year's Barenaked Ladies (I might say this year's Fountains Of Wayne, but FOW managed the unlikely hat trick of VH1 saturation without losing critical darling status). I think what bothers me most about this song is how far off the mark most of their references are. Most of the artists they mention did peak in the mid 80's, but 3 of the 4 acts referred to as being "way before Nirvana" in the chorus -- Springsteen, Madonna and U2 -- have all remained plenty popular since the 80's (the other one is Blondie). And when are people going to stop using Limp Bizkit as shorthand for 'what the kids are listening to today' -- they peaked in popularity 5 fucking years ago!

Gavin Degraw - "I Don't Wanna Be"
There was something very disheartening about seeing this video creep from VH1 rotation onto MTV's playlist lately. MTV should be playing their own kind of crap and leave their sister station to make its own mistakes. The riff on the verses reminds me of STP's "Vaseline", but the lyrics are so awful it almost makes me yearn for Weiland.

Goo Goo Dolls - "Give A Little Bit"
The only thing sadder than that weird career purgatory where a band has to cover something from the 70's to get a hit is when they do same while also cashing in on their involvement in a Gap ad campaign from 3 Christases ago. Between this and the "Crime of the Century" sample in the current Fabolous single, there's kind of a secret Supertramp revival happening on the charts right now.

Kelly Clarkson - "Breakaway"
My friend Jeffy made up a rumor that the reason Kelly Clarkson always wears turtlenecks and scarves is to cover up her Adam's apple. I think she kinda cute, though, and in the realm of post-Whitney oversinging white girls, she's more restrained and less skeevy than Xtina or Mariah. I like this song ok, it kinda reminds me of "I'm With You", which I used to regard as the weak link in Avril's initial chain of hits, but has grown on me over time.

John Mayer - "Daughters"
If I had a Pazz & Jop ballot I'd form a voting bloc with Anthony to rally around "Clarity", which has been otherwise sadly slept on. This is pretty good, too. I love how it's got like the most gentle and good-natured way of basically saying "man I'm sick of all these girls with daddy issues".

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 21, 2004 at 7:27 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.