Personal Picks Episode Sixteen - New Year's Resolutions

 

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. 2020 has been something so let's give it the middle finger and focus on 2021. This week's Personal Picks offer some resolutions via song. See if you figure out what each song is telling you to do. Some are far more obvious than other.

1. Take This Job And Shove It - Johnny Paycheck 

2. She Never Spoke Spanish To Me - Texas Tornados

3. Ode To My Family - The Cranberries

4. Peaches - The Presidents Of The United States

5. Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood

6. Learning To Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

7. Parachute - Something Happens

8. On The Road Again - Bob Dylan

9. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

10. Change The World - Eric Clapton

Recommended viewing: Office Space

Here's the Office Space version of the first song:

Personal Picks Episode Fifteen - Night

 

Shadows are falling.

Beware of darkness.

Look to the night sky.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. As it is Christmas Eve, it is all about the man in red tonight so I decided to go with the theme of "Night". I'm pretty happy with the selection and I think I'll have it on rotation for a while. One Direction's song in particular has become an ear worm but in a good way. Lots of my favourites made the list too. First up are my favourite super group singing about last night.

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Last Night - Traveling Wilburys

2. Not Dark Yet - Bob Dylan

3. Beware Of Darkness - George Harrison

4. Here Comes the Night Time - Arcade Fire

5. Dancing In The Dark - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Von Smith

6. Nightswimming - R.E.M.

7. Because the Night - Bruce Springsteen

8. Night Fever - Bee Gees

9. Night Changes - One Direction

10. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie

Recommended reading: 30 Days Of Night

Recommended viewing: Night Watch

Personal Picks Episode Fourteen - Irish Acts Through The Years

 

Oh me oh my!

I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I don't have to let it linger though.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. We are in that nostalgic time of year so I decided to pick some Irish songs from throughout the years. It was nice to rediscover some of these songs and I'll probably revisit the Irish in a later round of picks. Anyway, enjoy the nostalgia. 

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. You're A Good Looking Woman - Joe Dolan

2. Wednesday Week - The Undertones

3. Banana Republic - The Boomtown Rats

4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2

5. This Is - Aslan

6. Orinoco Flow - Enya

7. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinéad O'Connor

8. Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello (Petrol) - Something Happens

9. Linger - The Cranberries

10. Me And My Love - David Kitt

Recommended reading: At Swim Two Birds

Recommended viewing: Breakfast On Pluto, Handsome Devil

Personal Picks Episode Thirteen - Home

 

I've traveled that well worn track

I'm tired of the road.

I guess I'm going home.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to this edition of Personal Picks. This time of year, a lot of us get nostalgic for home so that's where we are headed this week. I could have very easily found ten songs called "Home" but I wanted a little variety. I always try to find stuff by artists I enjoy and some songs I like. Luckily a lot of my favourites have songs that fit the bill so this one is a mix of favourites and songs I discovered when searching Spotify and doing some googling. I never thought that I'd have a One Direction song on one of my list but I enjoyed their particular Home. A happy rediscovery was the Dusty Springfield song, Goin' Back, that Irish people may remember was used in an advert around this time of the year. 

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

2. Home - David Byrne

3. Home - One Direction

4. Home - Westlife

5. Our House - Madness

6. My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen

7. Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel

8. Goin' Back - Dusty Springfield

9. Goin' Home - TOTO

10. N17 - The Saw Doctors

Recommended reading: We3

Recommended viewing: Homeward Bound 

Personal Picks Episode Twelve - Must Be Christmas

 

(Art by Ruairí Coleman) 

The nights are getting longer.

The Toy Show has been and gone.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to our festive edition of Personal Picks. I decided to do it this week to give people a chance to try the songs out. I think it is a nice mix of famous artists and novelty picks. I discovered that a lot of artists I enjoy have Christmas songs / albums. There's also some that feel quite random. Here's ten Christmas albums you may or may not know exist:

• Elvis' Christmas Album - Elvis Presley (1957)
• Christmas Album - Jackson 5 (1970)
• Once Upon A Christmas - Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers (1984)
• Happy Christmas - Boney M. (1991)
• Snowed In - Hanson (1997)
• Songs For Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (2006)
• Christmas In The Heart - Bob Dylan (2009)
• Imagene Peise - Atlas Eets Christmas - Flaming Lips (2014)
• Kylie Christmas - Kylie Minogue (2015)
• Happy Xmas - Eric Clapton (2018)

Dylan's album has been on my list for years but I have now have new favourite songs that include performances from Angela Lansbury, Dolly Parton and Cyndi Lauper. Well here's the songs I picked:

(You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - Sufjan Stevens

2. White Christmas - Eric Clapton

3. We Need A Little Christmas - Angela Lansbury, Donald Pippin, Frankie Michaels, Jane Connell, Sab Shimono

4. Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton

5. Little Drummer - The Jackson 5

6. A Christmas Duel - The Hives, Cyndi Lauper

7. Christmas In Heaven - Monty Python

8. Christmas Tree - Dustin

9. Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen, The E Street Band

10. Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan

I'm off to eat something healthy ahead of my annual feast. Here's some festive flicks to watch.

Recommended reading: Hmmm dig out a comic book annual

Recommended viewing: Home Alone, Miracle On 34th Street, Santa Claus: The Move