Earvana

I've always considered myself a man of fine taste. I feel like my musical taste is an odd syncretism of heavy chunks of my father's fancies, those of my generation and scattered bits and pieces of nostalgia from the easy listening stations my mother tended to frequent.

With a music collection that includes Barry Manilow, Anne Murray and old George Jones, it's hard for others to view me as a music snob. However, I do find most of today's mindless drivel to be anathema. If you look at the popular music that dominated the ariwaves 25-40 years ago, you'll find your standard love songs and trippy attempts at abstract songcrafting. The overarching standard for music used to be melody. If a song had a catchy melody, you could almost guarantee a hit.

Used to be, you could find sad songs decades ago, which are now almost as archaic as songs without a drum machine or sample. Some examples: Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally," the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin," The Allman Brothers Band's "Melissa," ELO's "Can't Get it Outta my head," Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love this Way Again" and Bread's "Lost Without Your Love." Today you find music in which braggadocious courting and self-aggrandizement make up the "lyrics." I guess this might have something to do with the undeniable success of hip-hop music. The result has led to execrable "songs" such as these: The Black-Eyed Peas "My Humps," Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back," T-Pain's "I'm In Love With a Stripper" and Gwen Stefani's "Wind it Up." I am convinced the most heated battle being waged in music right now is for "Artist Doing The Most To Destroy Music." The frontrunners are the ubiquitous Fergie (from the aforementioned womb of inanity that is The Black-Eyed Peas), who carries on about her "London Bridge," and Stefani, who first found fame with the overrated but tolerable No Doubt and now yodels (poorly) and spells about how her (scatological expletive) is b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

Most of today's music is also b-a-n-a-n-a-s. I've got a new word for today's artists to spell out in song: C-A-C-O-P-H-O-N-Y.

Fortunately there is help. Thanks to online music sites such as iTunes, classic gems (and the few newer diamonds in the very rough state of today's music) are only a click (or 30-second snippet) away.

Here's my current top 125 list to help you get through the mumbo. Take a listen, some of these might surprise you.

Beauchamp's Top 125 Favorite Songs (order is not particular)
1. "Blue in Green" - Miles Davis (in fact, buy the album "Kind of Blue")
2. "A Long December" - Counting Crows
3. "#41" - Dave Matthews Band
4. "Time" - Pink Floyd
5. "Yesterday" - The Beatles
6. "Hey Jude" - The Beatles
7. "It Never Entered My Mind" - Miles Davis
8. "Raining In Baltimore" - Counting Crows
9. "Two Step" - Dave Matthews Band
10. "Easy Way To Cry" - David Gray
11. "As I'm Leaving" - David Gray
12. "Lately" - David Gray
13. "Now And Always" - David Gray
14. "Shiver" - Coldplay
15. "Sparks" - Coldplay
16. "This Year's Love" - David Gray
17. "Clocks" - Coldplay
18. "Careful Where You Stand" - Coldplay
19. "Here, There and Everywhere" - Belarus
20. "I Will Follow You into the Dark" - Death Cab for Cutie
21. "Scattered Black and Whites" - Elbow
22. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - Elton John
23. "Come Down in Time" - Elton John
24. "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" - Elton John
25. "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
26. "Kissing a Fool" - George Michael
27. "Two Points for Honesty" - Guster
28. "These Days" - Jackson Browne
29. "Highway Song" - James Taylor
30. "Long Ago and Far Away" - James Taylor
31. "Carolina in My Mind" - James Taylor
32. "Something in the Way She Moves" - James Taylor
33. "Copperline" - James Taylor
34. "Sullivan Street" - Counting Crows
35. "Butterfly in Reverse" - Counting Crows
36. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" - Counting Crows
37. "You and I Both" - Jason Mraz
38. "Sleep All Day" - Jason Mraz
39. "Work" - Jimmy Eat World
40. "3x5" - John Mayer
41. "Stop this Train" - John Mayer
42. "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" - John Mayer
43. "Split-Screen Sadness" - John Mayer
44. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Band
45. "Golden" - My Morning Jacket
46. "Lay Low" - My Morning Jacket
47. "My Name is Jonas" - Weezer
48. "The Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash
49. "On A Day Like Today" - Keane
50. "Try Again" - Keane
51. "Haven't We Met" - Kenny Rankin
52. "Blackbird" - Kenny Rankin
53. "All These Things That I've Done" - The Killers
54. "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks
55. "Going To California" - Led Zeppelin
56. "When the Levee Breaks" - Led Zeppelin
57. "Truly" - Lionel Richie
58. "My Love" - Lionel Richie
59. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" - Madeleine Peyroux (download this now, trust me)
60. "Blinded by the Light" - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
61. "Human Nature" - Michael Jackson
62. "The Long and Winding Road" - The Beatles
63. "For No One" - The Beatles
64. "Penny Lane" - The Beatles
65. "The Question" - The Moody Blues
66. "Nights in White Satin" - The Moody Blues
67. "From the Beginning" - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
68. "I Am...I Said" - Neil Diamond
69. "Adelaide" - Old 97s
70. "Selfless, Cold and Composed" - Ben Folds Five
71. "Sweet Afton" - Nickel Creek
72. "Talking Old Soldiers" - Elton John
73. "My Love" - Paul McCartney and Wings
74. "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" - Paul Simon
75. "Slip Slidin' Away" - Paul Simon
76. "Speak to Me/Breathe" - Pink Floyd
77. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (complete)" - Pink Floyd
78. "Wish You Were Here" - Pink Floyd
79. "Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd
80. "Break on Through" - The Doors
81. "Nightswimming" - R.E.M
82. "Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead
83. "Sulk" - Radiohead
84. "Creep" - Radiohead
85. "Street Spirit" - Radiohead
86. "Let Down" - Radiohead
87. "A Beautiful Morning" - The Rascals
88. "Trouble" - Ray Lamontagne
89. "Shelter" - Ray Lamontagne
90. "Jolene" - Ray Lamontagne
91. "Empty" - Ray Lamontagne
92. "Tear" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
93. "Scar Tissue" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
94. "More Adventurous" - Rilo Kiley
95. "Wonderwall" - Ryan Adams
96. "Bring it on Home to Me" - Sam Cooke
97. "Love's Divine" - Seal
98. "Bleecker Street" - Simon and Garfunkel
99. "Song for the Asking" - Simon and Garfunkel
100. "Only Living Boy in New York" - Simon and Garfunkel
101. "1979" - Smashing Pumpkins
102. "Run" - Snow Patrol
103. "Baker Street" - Gerry Rafferty
104. "Deacon Blues" - Steely Dan
105. "Peg" - Steely Dan
106. "Take it to the Limit" - The Eagles
107. "Overjoyed" - Stevie Wonder
108. "Fields of Gold" - Sting
109. "Vicarious" - Tool
110. "Plush" - Stone Temple Pilot
111. "Machinehead" - Bush
112. "Everything Zen" - Bush
113. "Prizefighter" - Bush
114. "Comedown" - Bush
115. "Sweet Thing" - Van Morrison
116. "Moondance" - Van Morrison
117. "Caravan" - Van Morrison
118. "Into the Mystic" - Van Morrison
119. "Tupelo Honey" - Van Morrison
120. "She's Not There" - The Zombies
121. "Time of the Season" - The Zombies
122. "Tell Her No" - The Zombies
123. "The Way I Feel Inside" - The Zombies
124. "Last Nite" - The Strokes
125. "The Boxer" - Simon and Garfunkel