Pump Up The Volume

A good blogging friend recently challenged us to come up the one song that really gets you going when you need it - your personal Pep Song. Rocky always had a great one, but I had trouble doing this. I narrowed it to two possibilities and responded with that, but it's too narrow for me. I scanned my iTunes files (over 6000 songs) and found well over a dozen that all served to put me, as she wrote, "in a positive and 'watch-out-world-I'm-so-ready-for-you' mood"

One thing that did occur to me as I scanned those songs was music's inherent ability to control my mood. It didn't matter what mood or emotion I wanted to dial up - I easily could find an artist or a series of songs that woud get me there.

But back to my Pep Song. Er, Songs. It was a struggle; I had sixteen. I chopped four by restricting artists to only one song in my list and chopped three more because they just didn't quite measure up to the others from the perspective of "pump-me-up-ability" - not that I don't love the songs though.

Here are my top nine and in roughly this order, but the order could easily be different tomorrow.

1. John Fogerty - Centerfield

2. The Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane

3. Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop

4. Dire Straits - Walk of Life

5. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Old Time Rock and Roll

6. The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

7. The Doobie Brothers - China Road

8. Shania Twain - Rock This Country

9. Huey Lewis and the News - Heart of Rock and Roll
(takes about a minute to get rockin')

The three that almost made it are: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama; Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Love the One You're With; and The Who - Who Are You.

And the doubles I arbitrarily chopped: Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way; Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Rock and Roll Never Forgets; The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction; and The Eagles - Take It Easy.

Don't mess with me - I'm pumped, world.

TGB