Elie's Expositions

A bereaved father blogging for catharsis... and for distraction. Accordingly, you'll see a diverse set of topics and posts here, from the affecting to the analytical to the absurd. Something for everyone, but all, at the core, meeting a personal need.


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Monday, September 14, 2009

Musical Monday #110

Welcome to the 110th edition of Musical Monday, the weekly quiz that Soccer Dad and I alternate hosting. As always, the challenge is to identify the title and artist of each song quote below, as well as the common theme of the entire set of songs.

It's a somewhat super-sized edition this week, one of those themes that grew in the researching. Thought there is a single theme, the breaks between groups of songs will become clear once it is ID'ed. A couple of additional guidelines: In every case, I'm looking for one particular version of the song, usually but not necessarily the most well-known. Also, you may ignore the definite article in all cases.

1) "Then she did a dip, almost broke my hip"
2) "The boy whose name is Nicorino"

3) "Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife"
4) "And not some puppet on a string"
5) "Thunder is your night light, magic is your dream"
6) "You say you're love is bona fide"
7) "Until happiness is just an illusion"
8) "That don't matter, he said, 'cause it's all the same"
9) "These four walls are closing in, think of the fix you put me in"
10) "And I always carry a purse"
11) "Well I'll be damned, here comes your ghost again"
12) "I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky"
13) "Over silbury hill, through the solar field"
14) "Take my tears and that's not nearly all"
15) "It was the same old song, with a melancholy sound"

16) "In a world of persecution, that is burning in its greed"
17) "To see the total eclipse of the sun"
18) "You are the reason I've been waiting so long"
19) "We were young and wild and free"
20) "And I should've been gone, after all your words of steel"
21) "He misses a step and cuts his hand"
22) "Mommy served in the WACS in the Philippines"
23) "It's an enemy to all mankind"
24) "Love is a banquet on which we feed"
25) "You don't know what you been a-missin'"
26) "A Cadillac a-rollin' on an open road"
27) "Bing bang, I saw the whole gang"
28) "Why can't he see, how blind can he be?"
29) "Like sugar and spice, so nice, so nice"
30) "You'll never be mine, I'm wasting my time"
31) "Forget about the past and all your sorrows"
32) "It controls me, makes me do all the things I do for you"
33) "It suits me fine that you treat me like a child"
34) "In the shape of an 'L' on her forehead"
35) "She said I was the tiger she wanted to tame"
36) "There's no way they could have made two"
37) "We've known each other since we're nine or ten"
38) "...can do the boogaloo like I do"
39) "Steam in the subway, earth is afire"
40) "I see us on the shore beneath the bright sunshine"
41) "Could it be finally I'm turning for home?"
42) "Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky"
43) "Worry, why do I let myself worry?"
44) "It's a long way down, and it's a leap of faith"
45) "If you want my future forget my past"
46) "Remember dancing at the high school hop?"
47) "You can stretch right up and touch the sky"
48) "Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun"
49) "I know you've been taken, afraid to hurt again"
50) "You like the movies, and I like T.V."
51) "You have won all my money, and my brand new Stetson hat"
52) "We were cruisin' home from the Beatles concert"
53) "I got no natural rhythm"
54) "Is this Nutsy land so good?"
55) "White sugar don't touch my lips"
56) "And there I stood with a arrow in my back"

57) "Thirteen month old baby"
58) "I should have changed that stupid lock"
59) "You like to think that you're immune to the stuff"
60) "If you're not into yoga"
61) "Your mama and daddy say it's a shame, it's a downright disgrace"
62) "Sitting on the doorstep of the house I can't afford"
63) "Maybe I'm an open book because I know you're mine"
64) "Maybe I didn't hold you all those lonely, lonely times"
65) "I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay"
66) "I'll love you 'till the clover has lost its perfume"
67) "My one and only prayer is that someday you'll care"
68) "At first she's gonna come on strong"

69) "The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear"
70) "But I had to do some breakin' through"
71) "She wants to return those things I bought her"
72) "Walking fast, faces pass, and I'm home bound"

73) "And my soul has been psychedelicized"

Good luck and enjoy!

67 Comments:

At 9/14/09, 10:13 AM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

3) Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Phil Rizzuto
5) Undercover Angel - Alan O'day (wasn't he one of the Merry Men?)
7) Reach out I'll be there (?) -The Four Tops (I'm embarrassed that I don't remember for sure which song it is.)
9) Since you've been gone - Head East (Which I wouldn't know without my "More Cowbell" anthology.)

21) Yankel the one handed Mohel. (just joking)
24) Because the night - Patti Smith Group, 10,000 Maniacs (co-written by Bruce Springsteen)

 
At 9/14/09, 10:27 AM, Blogger SJ said...

I don't know all the artists, but...

6. Cruel to Be Kind - Nick Lowe
19. Heaven
27. Splish Splash
34. All Star - Smash Mouth
45. If You Wanna Be My Lover - the Spice Girls
58. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
60. Escape (If You Like Pina Coladas)
72. A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton

 
At 9/14/09, 10:27 AM, Blogger Gail said...

SoccerDad #21 - - Thanks for the laugh!

4. I Just Want to Be Your Everything - BeeGees
6. Cruel to Be Kind -
14. Tainted Love -
16. Not sure which song but I think it's by the Moody Blues
17. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
27. Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
30. Midnight Confessions -
38. Nobody...?
41. You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
58. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

 
At 9/14/09, 10:30 AM, Blogger Gail said...

57. Superstition - Stevie Wonder

 
At 9/14/09, 10:49 AM, Blogger trn said...

3) Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, Meatloaf
10) Draft Dodging Rag, Phil Ochs
14) Tainted Love
18) The next line is something about somebody holding the key?
24) Love Hurts?
25) Oh Boy, Buddy Holly
50) Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
58) I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
60) The Pina Colada Song

 
At 9/14/09, 10:50 AM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

18. Can't find my way home--Blind Faith
22. Surrender--Cheap Trick
23. War--Edwin Starr, Temptations
26. I found out from another MM that there is a song with a line like this that isn't Maybelline.
38. It's called "Nobody"? The group is the Human Beinz, something like that?
51. Stagger Lee--LLoyd Price and a host of cover versions
54. Der Fuhrer's Face--Spike Jones
73. Time has come today--Chambers Brothers (I think)

 
At 9/14/09, 11:01 AM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

SJ there's an 80's song "Heaven" by a group called Warrant. Is that the singer in this case?

Wasn't Splish Splash Bobby Darin?

TRN - Tainted Love was done in the 80's by a group called Soft Cell and segued into their version of "Where did our love go?" But the original Tainted Love, I think, is also a Motown song. I forget by whom.

And 60 is Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes.

Gail - Midnight confession is by the Grass Roots
(and Yitz) Nobody but me is by the Human Beanz (sp?)

 
At 9/14/09, 11:29 AM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

31) It don't come easy - Ringo Starr
61) I think If loving you is wrong (I don't want to be right) - Luther Vandross (?) Barbara Mandrell et al.
66) Twelfth of Never - Johnn Mathis, Donny Osmond
36) I can't figure out. I've got the tune in my head but can't get any more of the lyrics. It "sounds" like an early 70's soul song.

 
At 9/14/09, 12:37 PM, Blogger LEL said...

3.Paradise by the Dashboard Lights-Meatloaf
4.I Just want to be your everything-Andy Gibb
14.Tainted Love
22.Surrender-Cheap Trick
23.War-Bruce Springsteen
25.Oh Boy-Buddy Holly
58.I Will Survive-Gloria Gaynor
67.It's Only Make Believe-

 
At 9/14/09, 12:40 PM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

Now that I think more about it, 26 is, in fact, Maybelline by Chuck Berry.

 
At 9/14/09, 12:44 PM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

69 is "Beat it" by Michael Jakcson

 
At 9/14/09, 12:52 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

I finally figured out 36.
36) You'll never find - Lou Rawls.

So it was mid to late 70's soul. Not early 70's like I first thought.

What a voice.

 
At 9/14/09, 1:09 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

8 - I Love Rock 'n Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
15 - The Break-Up Song - The Greg Kihn Band

16 - Question - The Moody Blues
21 - Young Americans - David Bowie
53 - Dancin' Fool - Frank Zappa
55 - Junk Food Junkie - Larry Groce
56 - Please Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

59 - Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
62 - Valotte - Julian Lennon
64 - You Were Always on My Mind - Elvis, Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias

 
At 9/14/09, 1:15 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

11 diamonds and rust joan baez

 
At 9/14/09, 1:28 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

There was, I think, a version of "Since You've Been Gone" (#9) in the 80s by Rainbow. Was it a cover?

 
At 9/14/09, 1:29 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

LEL,

It's only make believe is, I think, Conway Twitty. If not him, it's some classic country singer.

David

 
At 9/14/09, 1:31 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Clayton,

I'm not familiar with Rainbow's version and I don't even remember "Since you've been gone" by Head East. But if it's the same song then the 80's version is the cover version; Head East existed in the 70's.

 
At 9/14/09, 1:42 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Great response so far, folks!

I'll admit that the overall theme here is rather more sensitive than usual to the "precision" of the individual song IDs. So I will advise re-looking at the artists for #36 and 61. Also, spelling counts!

And in terms of songs with multiple remakes (e.g., 64), to clarify/correct my initial instructions, I am looking for a given version of each song, which could be the original and/or the most famous such. I.e., I'm looking for the version that fits the theme! :-)

 
At 9/14/09, 2:02 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

37 sounds like "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks... confirmation anyone?

 
At 9/14/09, 2:08 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

You're right Clayton,

Good bye to you my trusted friend,
We've known each other since were 9 or 10
Together we climbed hills and trees
Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.

I loved that song when I was younger. I memorized it. Really.

 
At 9/14/09, 2:11 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Whoops, 36 is not Lou Rawls, but Barry White - You're my everything.

And at this point I can't even rethink 61. I'm pretty certain about the song, though I'm less certain about the singer.

 
At 9/14/09, 2:33 PM, Blogger SJ said...

The version of 'Heaven' (#19) that I know was done by DJ Sammy about 6 or 7 years ago, but I think it was a cover.

 
At 9/14/09, 2:47 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Is the singer for 61 James Ingram and not Luther Vandross?

I know we've had the song in MM before ....

 
At 9/14/09, 3:15 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Elie mentioned that spelling is important, and there is one thing that I have noticed. There are quite a few artists with double letters in their names (ie. Andy Gibb, Joan Jett, Soft Cell), some titles (Since You've Been Gone, Surrender) and a couple with both (Valotte by Julian Lennon, Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price).

There are many that don't fit that pattern as well, so I don't know if this has anything to do with the theme. But it seemed like there were too many to be a coincidence.

 
At 9/14/09, 3:49 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Clayton,

You're probably on to something, but it's clearly not the whole answer.

Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf and Cruel to be Kind by Nick Lowe serve as counterexamples.

David

 
At 9/14/09, 4:43 PM, Blogger trn said...

Though, Soccer Dad, as your original comment indicated, Phil Rizzuto is featured in the Meatloaf, er, Meat Loaf song.

But there are many songs that as they are currently identified don't fit that criteria and don't have, or seem to have, alternatives like that.

But Clayton is right, there are too many for it to be nothing.

I have a feeling that the relationship between song and artist might matter, that, say, it wasn't just that any song could be picked to represent an artist with a doubled letter, but I really have no idea.

We still don't know why the ignoring of definite articles is important.

I can't help but think that the theme might relate to Rosh Hashanah, so that the first things we might notice are only part of a much greater puzzle. Something is spelled out?

There are seven sub-groups, which could just be how many there are or could be significant in relation to the holiday. Also, the titles and artists that fit the pattern Clayton noticed don't seem to be categorized according to the sub-groups.

Perhaps there is some other kind of doubling for each sub-group, and the plentiful double-lettering throughout is just a hint.

Elie, does the order of the listing of the songs hold any significance?

Soccer Dad, maybe Yankel's son is Binyamin.

 
At 9/14/09, 4:54 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Sorry TRN, it's not a Rosh Hashanah theme. I actually had one two years ago - wow have I been doing these that long???

The order of the songs in each group does not matter to the theme, although for fun I did put similar styles of song together (e.g., humor in 53-56).

Clayton's guess is not it either - but maybe seeing the ones gotten so far, a la one of his famous summaries, will help someone get a brainstorm!

 
At 9/14/09, 5:12 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Well Elie at 52 weeks a year (and maybe only 47 - 48 weeks when we actually have MM) 110 is more than two years. I think it actually started May 25, 1997. Thanks for sharing the hosting duties, as there's no way I could do this every week!

 
At 9/14/09, 5:15 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

One of the problems is that I see Paradise by the Dashboard Light and Undercover Angel together and I think the theme is teenage makeout songs. (OK I'm being tame here.)

When I see Greg Kihn and Joan Jett together I think of artists who are from Maryland.

And then it seems a number of the artists had careers as DJ's. (I think.)

But from Elie's written the titles or names are what are important. Too much going on. Brain freeze. phhht....

 
At 9/14/09, 5:19 PM, Blogger trn said...

Aw, so sweet. (May 25, 1997?!)

I'm looking over my list, and I've got nothing.

 
At 9/14/09, 5:23 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Don't strain the brains guys, it's simpler than you think!

One more small hint: Think about the relative sizes of the sets of songs (largest in the middle), and whether any previous MMs had a pattern like that.

 
At 9/14/09, 5:25 PM, Blogger Elie said...

I think my estimable co-host meant May 25, 2007. An important day for other reasons - my son Ben's 18th birthday!

 
At 9/14/09, 5:35 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Actually I was off by 10 years and 3 days. May 28, 2007.

Very embarrassing.
:-(

 
At 9/14/09, 6:27 PM, Blogger LEL said...

24.Because the Night-Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen

 
At 9/14/09, 6:29 PM, Blogger LEL said...

27.Splish Splash-Jerry Lee Lewis

 
At 9/14/09, 7:54 PM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

Is the idea two-word artists?
So the correct artist for Splish Splash, Bobby Darin, works, but not Jerry Lee Lewis. And that is why definite articles would need to be ignored. And that is why spelling would matter.

 
At 9/14/09, 8:02 PM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

And that would be why there aren't any Beatles songs. Are the groups without a definite article listed together: Cheap Trick, Smash Mouth, Head East, Blind Faith? We could use a round-up of the guesses so far.

 
At 9/15/09, 12:32 AM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Let the brainstorming begin! :)

1) "Then she did a dip, almost broke my hip"
2) "The boy whose name is Nicorino"

3) Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf
4) I Just Want to Be Your Everything - Andy Gibb
5) Undercover Angel - Alan O'Day
6) Cruel to Be Kind - Nick Lowe
7) Reach Out (I'll Be There) - The Four Tops
8) I Love Rock 'n Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
9) Since You've Been Gone - Head East, Rainbow
10) Draft Dodging Rag - Phil Ochs
11) Diamonds and Rust - Joan Baez
12) "I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky"
13) "Over silbury hill, through the solar field"
14) Tainted Love - Soft Cell
15) The Break-Up Song - The Greg Kihn Band

16) Question - The Moody Blues
17) You're So Vain - Carly Simon
18) Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith
19) Heaven - Warrant, DJ Sammy
20) "And I should've been gone, after all your words of steel"
21) Young Americans - David Bowie
22) Surrender - Cheap Trick
23) War - Edwin Starr, The Temptations
24) Because the Night - Patti Smith Group, 10,000 Maniacs, Bruce Springsteen
25) Oh Boy - Buddy Holly
26) Maybelline - Chuck Berry
27) Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
28) "Why can't he see, how blind can he be?"
29) "Like sugar and spice, so nice, so nice"
30) Midnight Confessions - The Grass Roots
31) It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr
32) "It controls me, makes me do all the things I do for you"
33) "It suits me fine that you treat me like a child"
34) All Star - Smash Mouth
35) "She said I was the tiger she wanted to tame"
36) You're My Everything - Barry White
37) Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
38) Nobody - The Human Beanz
39) "Steam in the subway, earth is afire"
40) "I see us on the shore beneath the bright sunshine"
41) You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
42) "Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky"
43) "Worry, why do I let myself worry?"
44) "It's a long way down, and it's a leap of faith"
45) Wannabe - Spice Girls
46) "Remember dancing at the high school hop?"
47) "You can stretch right up and touch the sky"
48) "Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun"
49) "I know you've been taken, afraid to hurt again"
50) Let's Call the Whole Thing Off -
51) Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price et al.
52) "We were cruisin' home from the Beatles concert"
53) Dancin' Fool - Frank Zappa
54) Der Fuhrer's Face - Spike Jones
55) Junk Food Junkie - Larry Groce
56) Please Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

57) Superstition - Stevie Wonder
58) I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
59) Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
60) Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
61) If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right) - James Ingram, Barbara Mandrell
62) Valotte - Julian Lennon
63) "Maybe I'm an open book because I know you're mine"
64) You Were Always on My Mind - Elvis Presley, or Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias
65) "I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay"
66) Twelfth of Never - Johnny Mathis, Donny Osmond
67) It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
68) "At first she's gonna come on strong"

69) Beat It - Michael Jackson
70) "But I had to do some breakin' through"
71) "She wants to return those things I bought her"
72) A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton

73) Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers

 
At 9/15/09, 12:50 AM, Anonymous Clayton said...

63 - For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton

 
At 9/15/09, 1:12 AM, Blogger LEL said...

32.I think I'm in Love-Eddie Money

 
At 9/15/09, 3:21 AM, Anonymous Clayton said...

29 - I Feel Good - James Brown

 
At 9/15/09, 9:25 AM, Blogger Elie said...

Thanks for the summary Clayton! Some notes/corrections that may help:

#9, 23, 24, 66: The 1st artist/version listed is the one I intended.

#64: The 2nd artist listed is the one I intended

#19, 61: Right titles, none of the artists are correct (or at least not the ones I had in mind)

#50: Song not correct

 
At 9/15/09, 12:54 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

I think that if you rearrange the letters in the titles of the songs in group 3-15, you get the first paragraph of the Gettysburg Address. Perahps other groups can be rearranged to get the first paragraph of other famous speeches.

Hey I'm trying to be creative. Nothing else is working. :-)

 
At 9/15/09, 5:03 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

I don't know how relevant this is but I recall that Conway and Twitty were names of two towns in Texas that the singer picked to use for his name. I don't recall if it was random or not.

 
At 9/15/09, 5:11 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Without giving too much away, I will say that Yitzchak's guess at 7:54 pm last night was somewhat on the right track. But consider also the breakdown into groups...

 
At 9/15/09, 5:45 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Aha...

Eliminating excess wordage, you get two-word artist names in all cases so far.

Group 2 - each of the two words is 4 letters.
Group 3 - 5 letters.
Group 4 - 6 letters.
Group 5 - 7 letters.
Group 6 - 8 letters.

I'm not sure what the significance of the size of each group is.

 
At 9/15/09, 5:51 PM, Blogger Gail said...

43. Crazy - Patsy Cline

 
At 9/15/09, 6:33 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

I worded that a little oddly. What I meant was, as Yitzchak pointed out all the artists are two-word names, if you just use (for example) Joan Jett instead of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

 
At 9/15/09, 6:40 PM, Blogger Gail said...

47. In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry (or at least I think that was his name)

 
At 9/15/09, 6:44 PM, Anonymous ral315 said...

12) St. Elmo's Fire, John Parr
19) Heaven, Bryan Adams
20) Oh Sherrie, Steve Perry
42) How Do I Live, Leann Rimes

 
At 9/15/09, 6:50 PM, Anonymous ral315 said...

71) Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, Herman's Hermits

 
At 9/15/09, 8:11 PM, Blogger trn said...

Hahahahaha Soccer Dad and well done Yitzchak and Clayton.

Why did I think there were seven groups? Anyway, I guess the first group is three letters for each word.

 
At 9/15/09, 8:57 PM, Blogger trn said...

The more songs there are that fit the criteria for a group, the larger that group will be?

Sounds tautological, but Elie had said the order of songs within each group wasn't significant to the theme, indicating that the order of the groups in fact was, and urged us to look at the pattern of the sizes, which consistently grew then shrunk.

So, we perhaps could have seen that the theme involved groups based on criteria that was the same throughout except for a numerical variable that was consistently increasing or decreasing, which could prompt the curve we have, rather than groups based on different types of criteria, whose sizes wouldn't reflect anything statistical like this except by random coincidence.

I think the previous Musical Monday in question paired titles and artist names that had the same number of letters, or something like that, where it too was less common to find eligible songs for the groups of very few letters or very many.

 
At 9/16/09, 12:40 AM, Blogger Yitzchak Goodman said...

The Teardrop Explodes could have been in the last category, but I don't know any of their songs.

 
At 9/16/09, 3:31 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

TRN there was a previuos MM where the song title and group both were a single word.

There was another where the song title had fewer than 5 characters.

Were you referring to one of those?

 
At 9/16/09, 5:02 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Clayton is correct on the theme, and Soccer Dad correctly identified the previous MM with a similar pattern, namely word-group sizes that grow with word sizes. Here, we saw the group sizes grow as the words got larger but then shrink again. Of course, as TRN surmises, this pattern is not part of the theme itself, I just found it interesting. There's probably some math behind this, but I'm a bit rusty on my Statistics!

 
At 9/17/09, 11:16 AM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Do you realize that if Donny Osmond spelled his name with an "ie" instead of a "y" there'd be 2 answers for 66?

Would 10 CC have fit or was the name 10CC?

I've been trying to think of names for the first two. Some good 3 letter words would be "New," "Old," "Red," "Bob," "Sue," and "Ann." Don't if any of those words/names are correct, but perhaps that's a starting point. One name that occurred to me was L'il Kim, though I suppose that she's too contemporary.

Oh wow I just realized

Run DMC, could 1 be "Walk this way?"

 
At 9/17/09, 11:33 AM, Blogger Elie said...

10cc spells their band name as all one "word" so they wouldn't qualify. Similarly I didn't use Run-D.M.C or other groups with connected single word-names (AC/DC, etc.). Given those restrictions, I was surprised how few three-letter options I was able to find.

Clues:

#1 is a 70s semi-novelty song.
#2 has versions in two different languages, with the non-English version actually better known.

By the way, note from the ID of song #15, that the theme definition above can be slightly generalized.

 
At 9/17/09, 12:33 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Isn't there a singer named Joe Tex? Is he in the first group?

 
At 9/17/09, 3:36 PM, Blogger Soccer Dad said...

Is #2 the girl from Impetega? (or however it's spelled?)

I don't remember a Joe Tex but it's certainly possible.

David

 
At 9/18/09, 6:57 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Here's an updated summary...

1) "Then she did a dip, almost broke my hip"
2) "The boy whose name is Nicorino"

3) Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf
4) I Just Want to Be Your Everything - Andy Gibb
5) Undercover Angel - Alan O'Day
6) Cruel to Be Kind - Nick Lowe
7) Reach Out (I'll Be There) - The Four Tops
8) I Love Rock 'n Roll - Joan Jett
9) Since You've Been Gone - Head East
10) Draft Dodging - Phil Ochs
11) Diamonds and Rust - Joan Baez
12) St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr
13) "Over silbury hill, through the solar field"
14) Tainted Love - Soft Cell
15) The Break-Up Song - Greg Kihn

16) Question - The Moody Blues
17) You're So Vain - Carly Simon
18) Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith
19) Heaven - Bryan Adams
20) Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
21) Young Americans - David Bowie
22) Surrender - Cheap Trick
23) War - Edwin Starr
24) Because the Night - Patti Smith
25) Oh Boy - Buddy Holly
26) Maybelline - Chuck Berry
27) Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
28) "Why can't he see, how blind can he be?"
29) I Feel Good - James Brown
30) Midnight Confessions - The Grass Roots
31) It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr
32) "It controls me, makes me do all the things I do for you"
33) "It suits me fine that you treat me like a child"
34) All Star - Smash Mouth
35) "She said I was the tiger she wanted to tame"
36) You're My Everything - Barry White
37) Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
38) Nobody - The Human Beanz
39) "Steam in the subway, earth is afire"
40) "I see us on the shore beneath the bright sunshine"
41) You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
42) How Do I Live - Leann Rimes
43) Crazy - Patsy Cline
44) "It's a long way down, and it's a leap of faith"
45) "If you want my future forget my past"
46) "Remember dancing at the high school hop?"
47) In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
48) "Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun"
49) "I know you've been taken, afraid to hurt again"
50) "You like the movies, and I like T.V."
51) Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price
52) "We were cruisin' home from the Beatles concert"
53) Dancin' Fool - Frank Zappa
54) Der Fuhrer's Face - Spike Jones
55) Junk Food Junkie - Larry Groce
56) Please Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

57) Superstition - Stevie Wonder
58) I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
59) Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
60) Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
61) If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right) -
62) Valotte - Julian Lennon
63) For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton
64) You Were Always on My Mind - Willie Nelson
65) "I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay"
66) Twelfth of Never - Johnny Mathis
67) It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
68) "At first she's gonna come on strong"

69) Beat It - Michael Jackson
70) "But I had to do some breakin' through"
71) Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman's Hermits
72) A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton

73) Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers

 
At 9/22/09, 2:05 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Is #70 possibly by Whitney Houston?

 
At 9/22/09, 6:13 PM, Blogger Elie said...

Is #70 possibly by Whitney Houston?

No, but that's a good artist I missed! 70 is by a group, most popular in the later 70s.

 
At 9/23/09, 3:47 PM, Anonymous Clayton said...

Not sure about this one, but...

65 - Ode to Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry

 
At 10/18/09, 11:42 AM, Blogger Elie said...

Fabulous job, all! Here are the long-overdue answers:

Theme: Singers or bands with two (or more) word names, each word the same length. Sort of fit the pattern of the number "110" was my thinking.

Full set of quote IDs (spread over three comments):

1) "Then she did a dip, almost broke my hip"
- "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", Joe Tex
2) "The boy whose name is Nicorino"
- "Macarena", Los Del Rio

3) "Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife"
- "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", Meat Loaf
4) "And not some puppet on a string"
- "I Just Want To Be Your Everything", Andy Gibb
5) "Thunder is your night light, magic is your dream"
- "Undercover Angel", Alan O'Day
6) "You say you're love is bona fide"
- "Cruel To be Kind", Nick Lowe
7) "Until happiness is just an illusion"
- "Reach Out I'll Be There", The Four Tops
8) "That don't matter, he said, 'cause it's all the same"
- "I Love Rock n Roll", Joan Jett
9) "These four walls are closing in, think of the fix you put me in"
- "Since You've Been Gone", Head East
10) "And I always carry a purse"
- "Draft Dodger Rag", Phil Ochs
11) " Well I'll be damned, here comes your ghost again"
- "Diamonds & Rust", Joan Baez
12) "I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky"
- "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)", John Parr
13) "Over silbury hill, through the solar field"
- "1000 Oceans", Tori Amos
14) "Take my tears and that's not nearly all"
- "Tainted Love", Soft Cell
15) "It was the same old song, with a melancholy sound"
- "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)", Greg Kihn Band

16) "In a world of persecution, that is burning in its greed"
- "Question", Moody Blues
17) "To see the total eclipse of the sun"
- "You're So Vain", Carly Simon
18) "You are the reason I've been waiting so long"
- "Can't Find My Way Home", Blind Faith
19) "We were young and wild and free"
- "Heaven", Bryan Adams
20) "And I should've been gone, after all your words of steel"
- "Oh Sherrie", Steve Perry

 
At 10/18/09, 11:43 AM, Blogger Elie said...

21) "He misses a step and cuts his hand"
- "Young Americans", David Bowie
22) "Mommy served in the WACS in the Philippines"
- Surrender", Cheap Trick
23) "It's an enemy to all mankind"
- "War", Edwin Starr
24) "Love is a banquet on which we feed"
- "Because The Night", Patti Smith
25) "You don't know what you been a-missin'"
- "Oh Boy", Buddy Holly
26) "A Cadillac a-rollin' on an open road"
- "Maybellene", Chuck Berry
27) "Bing bang, I saw the whole gang"
- "Splish Splash", Bobby Darin
28) "Why can't he see, how blind can he be?"
- "To Know Him Is To Love Him", The Teddy Bears
29) "Like sugar and spice, so nice, so nice"
- "I Got You (I Feel Good)", James Brown
30) "You'll never be mine, I'm wasting my time"
- "Midnight Confessions", The Grass Roots
31) "Forget about the past and all your sorrows"
- "It Don't Come Easy", Ringo Starr
32) "It controls me, makes me do all the things I do for you"
- "Think I'm In Love", Eddie Money
33) "It suits me fine that you treat me like a child"
- "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy", Sammy Hagar
34) "In the shape of an 'L' on her forehead"
- "All Star", Smash Mouth
35) "She said I was the tiger she wanted to tame"
- "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)", Billy Ocean
36) "There's no way they could have made two"
- "You're the First, the Last, My Everything", Barry White
37) "We've known each other since we're nine or ten"
- "Seasons In The Sun", Terry Jacks
38) "…can do the boogaloo like I do"
- "Nobody But Me", Human Beinz
39) "Steam in the subway, earth is afire"
- "Hungry Like The Wolf", Duran Duran
40) "I see us on the shore beneath the bright sunshine"
- "I Like Dreamin'", Kenny Nolan
41) "Could it be finally I'm turning for home?"
- "You Light Up My Life", Debby Boone
42) "Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky"
- "How Do I Live", LeAnn Rimes

 
At 10/18/09, 11:43 AM, Blogger Elie said...

43) "Worry, why do I let myself worry?"
- "Crazy", Patsy Cline
44) "It's a long way down, and it's a leap of faith"
- "Once In A Lifetime", Keith Urban
45) "If you want my future forget my past"
- "Wannabe", The Spice Girls
46) "Remember dancing at the high school hop?"
- "Beach Baby", The First Class
47) "You can stretch right up and touch the sky"
- "In The Summertime", Mungo Jerry
48) "Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun"
- "Itchycoo Park", The Small Faces
49) "I know you've been taken, afraid to hurt again"
- "Goodbye Girl", David Gates
50) "You like the movies, and I like T.V."
- "Opposites Attract", Paula Abdul
51) "You have won all my money, and my brand new Stetson hat"
- "Stagger Lee", Lloyd Price
52) "We were cruisin' home from the Beatles concert"
- "I Want My Baby Back", Jimmy Cross
53) "I got no natural rhythm"
- "Dancing Fool", Frank Zappa
54) "Is this Nutsy land so good?"
- "Der Fuehrer's Face", Spike Jones
55) "White sugar don't touch my lips"
- "Junk Food Junkie", Larry Groce
56) "And there I stood with a arrow in my back"
- "Mr. Custer", Larry Verne

57) "Thirteen month old baby"
- "Superstition", Stevie Wonder
58) "I should have changed that stupid lock"
- "I Will Survive", Gloria Gaynor
59) "You like to think that you're immune to the stuff"
- "Addicted To Love", Robert Palmer
60) "If you're not into yoga"
- "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)", Rupert Holmes
61) "Your mama and daddy say it's a shame, it's a downright disgrace"
- "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", Luther Ingram
62) "Sitting on the doorstep of the house I can't afford"
- "Valotte", Julian Lennon
63) "Maybe I'm an open book because I know you're mine"
- "For Your Eyes Only", Sheena Easton
64) "Maybe I didn't hold you all those lonely, lonely times"
- "Always On My Mind", Willie Nelson
65) "I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay"
- "Ode To Billie Joe", Bobbie Gentry
66) "I'll love you 'till the clover has lost its perfume"
- "The Twelfth Of Never", Johnny Mathis
67) "My one and only prayer is that someday you'll care"
- "It's Only Make Believe", Conway Twitty
68) "At first she's gonna come on strong"
- "She'll Leave You With A Smile", George Strait

69) "The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear"
- "Beat It", Michael Jackson
70) "But I had to do some breakin' through"
- " He's So Shy", The Pointer Sisters
71) "She wants to return those things I bought her"
- "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter", Herman's Hermits
72) "Walking fast, faces pass, and I'm home bound" – "A Thousand Miles", Vanessa Carlton

73) "And my soul has been psychedelicized"
- "Time Has Come Today", The Chambers Brothers

 

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