Songs About Superman

It's a bird… It's a plane… Nope, it's just a bunch of songs with "Superman" in the title, several of which are actually about the Man of Steel. Amazingly enough, there were quite a few songs to choose from. Check out which ones made the cut. Oh, yeah...and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Daughtry  ~  "Waiting For Superman"

2)  Joe Brooks  ~  "Superman"

3)  Five For Fighting  ~  "Superman (It's Not Easy)"

4)  Bon Jovi  ~  "Superman Tonight"

5)  Crash Test Dummies  ~  "Superman's Song"  (Probably the best song this ever band ever did. Which isn't saying much, really, but this song actually is quite good.)

6)  Snoop Dogg ft. Willie Nelson  ~  "Superman"  (Despite the singular reference to pot – not a big shocker considering the parties involved – this is a surprisingly good collaboration between two of the unlikeliest of artists.)

7)  R.E.M.  ~  "Superman"  (No official music video here, but a good song nonetheless.)

8)  Lazlo Bane  ~  "Superman"  (Fans of "Scrubs" might be interested in finally hearing the full version of that show's theme song.)

9)  The Big Pink  ~  "Hit The Ground (Superman)"

10)  Black Coffee ft. Bucie  ~  "Superman"

11)  The Spankers  ~  "Superman"  (If the band's name isn't enough to scare you away, I should warn you that the video also involves a large group of people in superhero costumes dancing to reggae music.)

12)  Donovan  ~  "Sunshine Superman"

13)  The Flaming Lips  ~  "Waitin' For A Superman (Is It Gettin' Heavy?)"

14)  Alison McCallum  ~  "Superman"  (Never heard of this lady before, but she's got a raw but powerful, Janis Joplin-like vibe to her voice.)

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpcFK50ZbXw

15)  Dio  ~  "Sunset Superman"

16)  Big Head Todd & The Monsters  ~  "Resignation Superman"

17)  Barbra Streisand  ~  "Superman"

18)  Alanis Morissette  ~  "Superman"  (Here's Alanis Morissette like you've never heard her before. And probably never will again! As a teenager in the very early-'90s, Alanis was making cheesy pop music that sounded like…well, all the other cheesy pop music back then. Let's just say I much prefer the direction she ended up taking with her music.)

19)  Kevin Costner & Modern West  ~  "Superman 14"

20)  Our Lady Peace  ~  "Superman's Dead"  (Oh well, I guess that's that, then.)

Songs By Artists With Rhyming Names

Here's that blog post I asked for your help in compiling a few days ago. If I didn't pick your band/singer or your song, there was probably a good reason for it. But don't worry – I still love you. At the very least, I still like you as a friend. Commentary is included for each song, for those of you to whom it matters. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Lynyrd Skynyrd  ~  "Simple Man"  (No, it's not "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Free Bird," but I've posted both of those here before, and this one never made the blog. But it's way awesome, so here it is.)

2)  Oingo Boingo  ~  "Weird Science"  (Admit it, guys, you had a crush on the "Weird Science" girl when you were a kid. And if you're a girl, you probably tried to look like her so guys would crush on you, too.)

3)  Ace Of Base  ~  "Don't Turn Around"  (Nothing says kitschy-cool like Ace of Base. I used to love them back in the day. I still have a healthy appreciation for their classic pop gems.)

4)  Tina Arena  ~  "Chains"  (This lady was way more popular in her native Australia than she was in the States, but this song charted here and still gets occasional airplay.)

5)  Milli Vanilli  ~  "Girl, You Know It's True"  (Oversized suit jackets with huge shoulder pads paired with skin-tight leggings…what were we thinking, '80s babies?)

6)  Right Said Fred  ~  "I'm Too Sexy"  (This song is ridiculously bad, and the video is even worse. But what OTHER Right Said Fred song would I include here? I mean, really!)

7)  Tears For Fears  ~  "Advice For The Young At Heart"  (This might be one of TFF's lesser-known songs, but it hasn't been too many months since I posted "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," so there you go. Besides, people should know this band had more than one good song worth listening to.)

8)  Slick Rick  ~  "Children's Story"  (If I were a kid, I don't know if I could sleep after hearing this story! LOL! On a side note, this beat sounds remarkably similar to the "Fresh Prince" theme song. Who sampled who?)

9)  U2  ~  "Window In The Skies"  (I've posted a lot of U2 songs here and on my original blog, but never this one. I don't know why not, because the song is excellent and video's even better!)

10)  Chumbawamba  ~  "Tubthumping"  (Hands down, one of the catchiest hooks in a song in the past twenty years. If it's stuck in your head the rest of the day, don't blame me! Well, I guess you could blame me. Just don't HATE me!)

11)  Enuff Z'Nuff  ~  "Fly High Michelle"  (This is one of those rare bands that I somehow managed to not realize existed until I started compiling songs for this post. Apparently, this was one of their biggest hits. Anyone else remember these guys?)

12)  Believin' Stephen ft. Calm One  ~  "Teddy's Story"  (Y'all know I gotta sneak in some Christian rap whenever I get a chance, right? So check it, check it, check it out!)

13)  Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs  ~  "Li'l Red Riding Hood"  (Had to throw in a "golden oldie" in here. It's a good one, too!)

14)  Scritti Politti  ~  "Perfect Way"  (Here's another band I'd never heard of before, but they're not too shabby. This signature synthpop song is very much of its time – mid-1980s – but still manages to look and sound fresh. Neat trick, that.)

15)  Haysi Fantayzee  ~  "Shiny Shiny"  (What the heck did I just watch? And why did I include it here? I don't have an answer for either.)

16)  Quiet Riot  ~  "Stay With Me Tonight"  (Ah, '80s "hair bands"! How much do we miss you? Answer: Not all that much, actually.)

17)  Shaquille O'Neal ft. Fu-Schnickens  ~  "What's Up, Doc (Can We Rock?)"  (OK, so the Fu-Schnickens TOTALLY steal this song from Shaq with their rapid-fire, hip-hop delivery. But for the 30 seconds of the song where he is rapping, the Big Guy actually does pretty well. To listen to a pretty decent Shaq solo song, click here.)

18)  Tower Of Power  ~  "What Is Hip"  (Every so often, it's nice to hear a good band with a bunch of horn players in it. Today must be "every so often.")

19)  The Nice Device  ~  "Innocent"  (This song is what is known in the music industry as a "filler." Basically, I wanted to include 20 songs here, and I was one short. So I found a song by a band that neither I nor anyone else has ever heard of but that fit my criteria and was decent enough to be included here. And it serves its purpose. Be nice, and give it a listen, 'kay?)

20)  a-ha  ~  "Take On Me"  (It seems this post has been a bit heavy on '80s songs. So why not end it off with a classic pop song from that most unique of decades!)

Songs By "Magic"-al Artists

My son is going to a magic show at the library today with his daycare. In honor of that (and also because I really wanted to post the first song in this list), here's a small collection of songs by bands with the word "Magic" in their names. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  MAGIC!  ~  "Rude"  (This song is all over the radio right now, and for good reason. It's quite infectious!)

2)  Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band  ~  "Sure 'Nuff 'N' Yes I Do"

3)  Blue Magic  ~  "Sideshow"

4)  Ministry Of Magic  ~  "This Town"  (You'd have to be oblivious not to catch the multiple Harry Potter references in this song, as well as in the band's name. Apparently, this falls under the category of "Wizard Rock," a sub-genre of rock-n-roll consisting entirely of songs about the Harry Potter universe. Brilliant!)

5)  Young Magic  ~  "Sparkly"

6)  Here We Go Magic  ~  "How Do I Know?"

7)  Yellow Magic Orchestra  ~  "Firecracker"

8)  Computer Magic  ~  "The End Of Time"

9)  Monkey Majik  ~  "Together"  (This is a unique band, Comprised of two Canadian guys and two Japanese guys. The two Canadian lead singers sing two-thirds of the lyrics in Japanese and the rest in English. The strange thing is, it works quite well. They sound awesome! Go figure..)

10)  Magic Wands  ~  "Space"

11)  The Magic Numbers  ~  "Love Me Like You"  (The members of this band are not traditionally beautiful, and they aren't skinny little waifs or svelte model types. They just play music really well. And they have more than half a million views on YouTube! Maybe there's hope for the music industry after all!)

12)  Magic Sam  ~  "All Your Love" / "Lookin' Good"  (Here's two classic blues numbers for the price of one. Don't say I never gave you anything!)

13)  Magic Dirt  ~  "All My Crushes"

14)  Magic Dick ft. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers  ~  "Whammer Jammer"  (Despite his laughably inappropriate name, this guy can play the mess out of a harmonica!)

15)  Magic Bullets  ~  "Yesterday's Seen Better Days"

"Human" Songs

I recently posted a bunch of songs with "People" in the title, so I figured why not a collection of "Human" songs as well. Besides that, one of my new favorite songs is called "Human" and I was actively looking for an excuse to post it here. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Christina Perri  ~  "Human"  (Here's the song that inspired this post. And it's simply gorgeous!)

2)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Human Nature"

3)  Björk  ~  "Human Behavior"  (Call me a dork, but I love Björk!)

4)  The Killers  ~  "Human"

5)  ILSE  ~  "I Am Human"

6)  Kamelot  ~  "The Human Stain"  (I'm including this one for my friend Don, who's a big Kamelot fan. But also because it's a really good song!)

7)  Regina Spektor  ~  "Human Of The Year"  (I love, love, love Regina Spektor's music! That is all.)

8)  Jon McLaughlin  ~  "Human"

9)  Nico Vega  ~  "Human Animal"

10)  Manafest  ~  "Human"

11)  Ellie Goulding  ~  "Human"

12)  Billy Joel  ~  "You're Only Human (Second Wind)"  (If you ever feel like jumping off a bridge, Billy Joel will be there to talk you down.)

13)  Skye Sweetnam  ~  "Human"

14)  The Human League  ~  "Human"  (Here's one of those ubiquitous songs we'll still be hearing in fifty years.)

15)  Divinyls  ~  "Human On The Inside"

16)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  "Human Touch"

17)  Beauty And The Beast Cast  ~  "Human Again"  (Apparently, this song was cut from the original film, but was later restored for either DVD or Blu-ray.)

18)  Scorpions  ~  "Humanity"

19)  Lady Sovereign  ~  "So Human"

20)  Sam Roberts Band  ~  "Human Heat"

21)  Seal  ~  "Human Beings"

22)  Civil Twilight  ~  "Human"

23)  Jason Mraz  ~  "Only Human"

24)  Switchfoot  ~  "New Way To Be Human"

25)  Betty Boop  ~  "Be Human"  (As if one cartoon song wasn't enough for one post…here's another. Apparently, Betty Boop was a card-carrying member of PETA. LOL!)