Sounds of Sunday – 30 songs, week 8

This is the end of this, finally. It was a smart idea to pile a bunch of challenges into each week rather than stretch it out any more. Last week we visited moods, including weddings and funerals. This time it’s leftovers.

Challege 26: a song I can play on an instrument. Well, that’ll be anything I know the tune for, really. Not that I can perform it in a stellar fashion, but with practice it’s certainly going to be recognizable. I still have a clarinet here, a recorder, a couple tin whistles, my guitar (at some point will need to string that properly) and even a harmonica although I don’t know why I hang onto something I have no clue how to play. Same goes for my accordion, but I know why I have each. The harmonica has been in my possession since I was a kid and my Grandpa gave me the button accordion for some reason. Maybe I was the only one in the family who appreciated the sound of it?

I used to have a couple organs, too; one was an ’80s Bontempi that might have been worth selling as a collectable before it broke. Alas. I used to have something very similar to this blow organ, too. I expect it got tossed out or given away. I used to have a plastic xylophone in the shape of an orange dog but it’s gone to the same mysterious toy heaven. Mostly I rememeber how much noise it’d make just by me carrying it around. The metal bars were really loose so they’d clank and rattle every time I shook the thing.

Challenge 27 is a song I wish I could play. Well, I know I’d like to play a lot of songs better, but I’m not a performer by nature so it doesn’t matter if I can’t get a handle on chords or key changes. That said, it annoys me on some level to only be able to play half of “Rainbow Connection” on my guitar. For some reason I never sorted out the key change for that one. Someday maybe. It’s not like I don’t have chord books. Cripes. Kermit the Frog could play the bloody thing and he’s a puppet…

Challenge 28: a song that makes me feel guilty? Weird. Maybe something from my Napster days? What do I still have from then? A few things by Army of Lovers, Dust Rhinos, Tangerine Dream, Bluetones, Sammi Cheng, Millencolin and the Saragossa Band. Hardly anything to lose sleep over.

I didn’t know “Zabadak” was that old a song.

I like Agadou and Big Bamboo, too.

What’s up with the Blackface dude though? Really.

Challenge 29: a song from my childhood. Oh, so many to choose from. I’ve mentioned “Quackamoobacluckaphobia” before, and “The Little Red School House” (but not by that performer). The Smurfs All Star Show “really was the greatest” which is why I shudder at the thought of the bloody reboot. There was another album called Nutty Numbers that I’ve mentioned before, full of strange novelty tunes (some of which were questionable for young ears) and I had a thing for jukebox albums back then, too, so “Rock Around the Clock” and “Teen Angel” and “Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat” are old faves. “Rockin’ Robin,” too. I also liked Stompin’ Tom Connors and the Mom and Dads, which were a polka/waltz group. Oh yeah, Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” has to go in here, and “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller Band and “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. Oh, the memories.

Last challenge finally, my favourite song this time of year last year. Not really sure. Going by iTunes, by then I’d found: Amy McDonald, Camera Obscura, Ben Kweller, Ben Folds, the Pipettes, Jason Mraz, Matt Costa, Zero 7, Stabilo, the Kooks, Jazzamor, Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, the View, Santogold, Arctic Monkeys, Mason Jennings and Volcano Choir, A Hawk and a Handsaw, and Owl City to name quite a few. For a favourite out of all of those, it might be Amy McDonald’s “A Wish for Something More.” Maybe Jem’s “Wish I” could tie that. It’s still a favourite, too.

That wraps up this of Sounds of Sunday series. I’ll set this music thing aside for a while again now. Maybe some other music theme will occur to me worth a few weeks of posts but it’ll probably be a while.