Nowadays when you mention the iPod, people view it as the equivalent of MySpace. Or perhaps AOL or even Blockbuster. But it's not really fair to do so.
Nonetheless, Apple announced it will no longer produce the iPod Touch, the final model of these mp3 players that took the world by storm some twenty years ago. The most recent model came out in 2019, and at the time, I had blogged about how important to me that the iPod was and is and making a case for its raison d'etre. You can read that blog right here:
 |
| Two of my Apple iPod devices. At left is the original classic c from 2007. My most recent version, the 2019 Touch is on the right. Apple recently announced it was retiring the iPod and has stopped production. |
So, why is the iPod going away? Well, a few reasons. Apple has the iPhone, which not only holds music, but also does all the things a smartphone does. You have access to everything all in one place. The storage is much bigger, and the iPod pretty much is similar, except of course for the phone. And the other reason? Streaming. It's "where it's at" these days, with up to 80 million or so songs to choose from, while the iPod, in its original form, held only one thousand, although in its later editions could hold about 20,000. My recent iPod (the last of three I had gotten), the one from the final generation in 2019, has about 9500 songs on it; and slightly more than half capacity.
But, for me, I have several reasons to continue using mine:
1. To be honest, I had waited decades for a device like this to come out. I grew up in the vinyl age, followed by cassettes and CD's, and in all cases, you listened to ten songs in the same order, while flipping it over (vinyl and cassettes) to hear the rest. Of course, with cassettes, you can make you own mixed tape, with a variety of songs on it, but again, always in the same order. With the introduction of mp3's and the iPod, not only you can create many playlists, but you can use the shuffle feature and have them played randomly. Technically you can do that with CD's, but unless you had one of those super systems that you can put 10, 30 or even 50 discs in it, you were confined to just the one album. In that arena, I did burn CDs with a mixture of songs; that is, until the iPod came along.
2. It was the iPod that inspired writing my blog in the first place. I started this in August of 2010. The device was at its peak popularity at the time, and I created a "currents" playlist which was updated every week to reflect my SNS 100 list that continues to its current day. The iPod and mp3 still remains the standard here, with the requirement that the digital download (or other configurations that could be uploaded) be made available.
3. Several times I had considered streaming, but there are reasons why I haven't. While yes, more songs are made available through services such as Spotify, as well as both Apple and Amazon Music, you're less in control of what you listen to. While yes, you can make your own playlists and many songs are available, if something happens with a particular artist, songs can be pulled from the database, as we experienced earlier this year with Neil Young. Mp3's are already purchased, and they're yours to keep. Besides, there are canned and suggested playlists on these streamers, and in my opinion, this is responsible for what passes as pop music on the Billboard Hot 100 these days. Young listeners eliminate the need to go out and dig deeper into quality music that is out there just waiting to be discovered.
4. Back in the day, we had vinyl record players, including those that played 45s where you can stack a few and make your "playlist" of a few songs as it flipped down each record after the previous one played. Walkman's and Discmans, both from Sony, make it easier to take the music with you on the run when you played cassettes and CD's, respectively. The iPod is like that as well, with the aforementioned features of shuffling and choosing different playlists available, without doing anything. Unlike the IPhone, the iPod, for me is a music player, a standalone one at this, which you can play at parties and other get-togethers, and not have it interrupted by say, a phone call. With the aid of a Bluetooth device, of which I have several, you can blare out the music over a wide area.
5. Finally, while artists on social media constantly tout streams and consider that the standard for popularity, especially with radio's narrowing the number of new songs it plays, these acts get a small percentage of compensation for music that is being played. While yes, there is an advantage to streaming in that it accurately gages current popularity (as opposed to purchasing mp3 or physical media, which is only counted once when you buy it), songs stay on the charts far longer and preventing more new releases from getting recognition.
While the iPod has been discontinued, there is an abundant supply of them out there that are still being sold, and there are still updates to the existing models. And without a doubt they will be available on places like Craigslist or eBay that people are selling who no longer need it.
So, how does it affect my blog, which, as stated earlier is still the "standard" to which my playlist is based on? Several times, I had thought of discontinuing the blog and new music, and a couple years ago I had looked into streaming services. Again, should I continue this blog into 2023, I may look into streaming with all its pros and cons. But again, I love to control what I listen to.
THE CURRENT SNS 100: The Black Keys hold off a charge from Train to continue at the #1 spot for a third week. Helping it maintain the top position is its dual #1's on both Billboard's Alternative chart (for a second week) and returning to the pole position on the Triple-A chart, in its fourth non-consecutive week. Train's "AM Gold" is still close behind at #2, but up and coming are Deb Browning & Six Piece Suits "Take Me By the Hand" and Curtis Harding's retro-soul "I Won't Let You Down" at #3 and #4 respectively. Any of the top four could take the top spot next week. David F. Porfirio's "Dreamscape" drops slightly to #5 and Florence + the Machine's "My Love" holds at #6 but points-wise it is very strong. Tim Izzard's "Glam Rock Star (Tribute)" is still impressively gaining points to land at #7 and LP's "Angels" is still very strong at #8.
But the big news is Deb Browning's latest "3 More Minutes" with a 38-9 jump to land Impact honors, giving her two songs in the Top 10, and still five overall. Anna Lavigne, My Morning Jacket (its strongest since 2020's "Feel You"), Hegazy and Lesa Hudson make good moves in the 11-20 spots.
NEWBIES: Three more beach music songs, one beach/country hybrid, a lead singer from a late 1960's acid rock band, a former 1980's teen singer, an alt-rock-country band and 2010-era pop diva make debuts this week.
Last week, Jerry Powell who leads The Carnival Band personally contacted me via email and suggested that I check out their song "Merry-Go-Round", which was released last summer but is still high on many of the beach music charts. Powell hails from Mobile, Alabama and his band has been around for several years. The song is sort of a beach music/early disco hybrid in the same lane as Dr. Victor's recent "Got to Be You", both in that Lou Rawls "You'll Never Find a Love Like Mine" groove. Featuring Dave Sandy, this is a very bouncy, soulful, good-feeling romp. The harmonies in the chorus are awesome as well, with much ambience going along with it. I want to thank Jerry for suggesting this song for me; I love it when artists contact me to hear their music. The Carolina Beach Music scene seems to be a great community where all artists support each other. Living in Jersey, I often romanticize life on the Grant Strand.
Another beach music artist, Tim Sidden of the Cat5 Band, still rising with "Ain't Nothing Better" (at #22 bullet this week), provided myself and area DJ's with several of their songs. With this band, they have so many releases out there that it's difficult to pick just one; however, I am going with their newest, "Drive" right now. Another winner; this one has a bit of a rock edge with the guitars meshing in with the horns, with the occasional keyboard, and a strong vocal. This one captures the beach essence perfectly, evoking good times.
And then we have Teddy Swims' "Blowin' Smoke". Swims, whose real name is Jaten Dimsdale hails from the Atlanta area and was the lead song of a band called WildHeart. He has ventured in many styles. This one is pure soul with a dash of country thrown in. This is another proven beach music hit and is poised for a good run on my playlist.
I've pretty much ignored the country artists lately, with the notable exception of Christina Taylor, and while beach music takes its history from rhythm and blues, country artists can get a piece of it as well, as shown by Zac Brown Band's "Old Love Song" still moving up my list. Thus, I add Sam Hunt's "23". This was already a country hit but has recently been adopted by the beach music community. Straddling both the country and beach lanes, this is a palatable song, very pleasurable to listen to. Hunt had four blog songs on my playlist between 2015-17, his best being "Body Like a Back Road" which peaked at #21 in 2017; "23" being his first added since then and could be his first top 20 here.
OK, getting off the shag wagon now, there are other adds this week, most notably Wilco's "Falling Apart (Right Now)". The Chicago-based band has had two #1 blog songs, most recently "Love is Everywhere (Beware)" in 2019, a "comeback" of sorts here. The new one is a nod to their alt-country past from their new release Cruel Country. It has a touch of rockabilly added but is a great example of alt-country.
Lady Gaga returns with a song from the current Top Gun: Maverick movie, "Hold My Hand". The singer has come a long way from the gimmicky days of fancy costumes and face paint. This is a heartfelt performance, and the video is awesome. Gaga lets her true self hang out here, and is the perfect movie theme. Definitely here best since the #6 "Shallow" from another movie, A Star is Born.
Anyone remember Mark Stein? 1960's rock fans will remember him as the lead singer of the band Vanilla Fudge, best known for their slowed-down cover of The Supremes' 1966 #1, "You Keep Me Hanging' On", itself landing in the Top 10 in 1968. Vanilla Fudge has come together several times for reunions, and I had learned that his latest solo album was engineered by Stephen DeAcutis who had recently formed August Rage that features Emily MacMahon. The Fudge was one of my favorites back in the day, thus I figured I'd check this one out. A mid-tempo rock piece but Stein's distinctive voice is still intact.
Finally, a young singer who had a couple of number 1's in the late 1980's, Debbie Gibson returns with her new song, "Me Not Loving You". The song, set to a western-type video, is a rather soulful ballad that encompasses many of her past styles but at the same time is rather unique and grandiose. She uses her voice here to full advantage. Ms. Gibson hit #93 with her "Girls Night Out" a couple years back, but this one should easily top that (she already has, debuting at #91). Oh, and she's 51 now. Boy, do I feel old!!!
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
May 15, 2022 (week ending May 21)
|
This
Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks
on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: Dropout Boogie (3 weeks at #1) |
10 |
|
2 |
2 |
9 |
|
|
3 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
|
5 |
3 |
11 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
9 |
|
|
7 |
9 |
6 |
|
|
8 |
7 |
16 |
|
|
9 |
38 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  (Single Only) |
2 |
|
10 |
11 |
10 |
|
|
11 |
13 |
11 |
|
|
12 |
15 |
7 |
|
|
13 |
21 |
5 |
|
|
14 |
19 |
4 |
|
|
15 |
17 |
9 |
|
|
16 |
20 |
5 |
|
|
17 |
8 |
9 |
|
|
18 |
10 |
11 |
|
|
19 |
12 |
16 |
|
|
20 |
14 |
11 |
|
|
21 |
26 |
7 |
|
|
22 |
25 |
12 |
|
|
23 |
16 |
11 |
|
|
24 |
30 |
5 |
|
|
25 |
28 |
10 |
|
|
26 |
27 |
6 |
|
|
27 |
18 |
12 |
|
|
28 |
29 |
22 |
|
|
29 |
32 |
6 |
|
|
30 |
36 |
5 |
|
|
31 |
35 |
5 |
|
|
32 |
22 |
13 |
|
|
33 |
23 |
8 |
|
|
34 |
37 |
8 |
|
|
35 |
24 |
16 |
|
|
36 |
39 |
8 |
|
|
37 |
40 |
19 |
|
|
38 |
41 |
7 |
|
|
39 |
34 |
15 |
|
|
40 |
33 |
15 |
|
|
41 |
31 |
13 |
|
|
42 |
44 |
5 |
|
|
43 |
46 |
13 |
|
|
44 |
62 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  "Change" Album: I Don't Live Here Anymore |
2 |
|
45 |
42 |
8 |
|
|
46 |
51 |
3 |
|
|
47 |
49 |
4 |
|
|
48 |
69 |
2 |
|
|
49 |
53 |
10 |
|
|
50 |
56 |
4 |
|
|
51 |
57 |
6 |
|
|
52 |
71 |
2 |
|
|
53 |
61 |
4 |
|
|
54 |
58 |
5 |
|
|
55 |
50 |
8 |
|
|
56 |
54 |
10 |
|
|
57 |
45 |
18 |
|
|
58 |
60 |
36 |
|
|
59 |
66 |
3 |
|
|
60 |
65 |
4 |
|
|
61 |
43 |
14 |
|
|
62 |
47 |
15 |
|
|
63 |
73 |
2 |
|
|
64 |
68 |
3 |
|
|
65 |
52 |
23 |
|
|
66 |
64 |
7 |
|
|
67 |
82 |
2 |
|
|
68 |
83 |
2 |
|
|
69 |
67 |
5 |
|
|
70 |
48 |
7 |
|
|
71 |
74 |
4 |
|
|
72 |
76 |
3 |
|
|
73 |
78 |
3 |
|
|
74 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  JERRY POWELL and THE CARNIVAL BAND featuring DAVE SANDY (Single Only) |
1 |
|
75 |
70 |
6 |
|
|
76 |
55 |
7 |
|
|
77 |
75 |
4 |
|
|
78 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
79 |
80 |
4 |
|
|
80 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
81 |
63 |
10 |
|
|
82 |
85 |
2 |
|
|
83 |
84 |
7 |
|
|
84 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
85 |
59 |
10 |
|
|
86 |
77 |
11 |
|
|
87 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
88 |
72 |
14 |
|
|
89 |
87 |
2 |
|
|
90 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
91 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
92 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
93 |
79 |
26 |
|
|
94 |
81 |
8 |
|
|
95 |
89 |
28 |
|
|
96 |
88 |
30 |
|
|
97 |
86 |
16 |
|
|
98 |
90 |
20 |
|
|
99 |
91 |
14 |
|
|
100 |
92 |
7 |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week. ●
Songs with
25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲ Songs with 50 or more plays.
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