This is the introductory text of this mix, which, before listing the songs (below), offers a few facts about them, such as the sad truth that the Free Design (track 3) had only one moderate hit, “Kites are Fun” (#33 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary charts, and #114 on the pop charts), or the happy fact that there are three Monty Python-affiliated songs here, one (8) from Monty Python’s Contractual Obligation Album (itself a “meta” title), another (20) from Monty Python Live! At City Center, and yet another (24) from the Original Broadway Cast of Spamalot. These sentences might also point out that since all “Python” tunes feature different performers, the three songs do not violate the mix-maker’s unwritten rule of never including two songs performed by the same artist. However, the rather dull nature of this observation renders it unlikely for inclusion here. Of perhaps greater interest might be the information that the Beatles’ (16) publishing company was “Northern Songs Ltd.,” and that George Harrison wrote this one. Or that, while not actually the shortest song in the universe (12), the track by that name appears on Sandra Boynton’s book-and-CD combo Rhinoceros Tap.
Update, March 2019: since we’re no longer allowed to post mp3s via an interface, I have mostly recreated this mix on Spotify. (It is nearly all of the original mix plus several additional tracks – most of which are mentioned in the paragraph [scroll down!] acknowledging omissions.) Here’s the new version, followed by the original track listing.
Original track listing below:
1) Title of the Song DA VINCI’S NOTEBOOK (2000) 4:27
2) Gotta Sing High KENNY WHITE (2010) 4:47
3) 2002 – A Hit Song THE FREE DESIGN (1969) 2:43
4) Hit Song DJ FORMAT featuring ABDOMINAL (2003) 4:45
5) Overnight Sensation RASPBERRIES (1974) 5:37
6) Top Forty MOSE ALLISON (1987) 4:23
7) A Happy Song  MICHAEL FLANDERS & DONALD SWANN (1959) 2:01
8) One of Those Songs THE KING’S SINGERS (1980) 2:20
9) The Hut-sut Song THE MERRY MACS (1941) 2:35
10) Happy Working Song AMY ADAMS (2007) 2:10
11) The Shortest Song in the Universe ADAM BRYANT & MICHAEL FORDÂ (1996) 0:47
12) Bass Man JOHNNY CYMBAL (1963) 2:32
13) Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)? BARRY MANN (1961) 2:47
14) Number Three THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (1986) 1:28
15) Only a Northern Song THE BEATLES (1969) 3:25
16) Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma MELANIE (1971) 4:03
17) The Folk Song Army TOM LEHRER (1965) 2:12
18) How to Write Ultimate Protest Songs CITIZEN FISH (1990) 2:54
19) Protest Song NEIL INNES (1975) 4:10
20) A Road Song FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE (2011) 3:04
21) Fountains of Wayne Hotline ROBBIE FULKS (2005) 5:29
22) Velvet Underground JONATHAN RICHMAN (1992) 3:29
23) The Song That Goes Like This CHRISTOPHER SIEBER, TODD ELLISONÂ & SARA RAMIREZ (2005) 2:54
24) Atheists Don’t Have No Songs STEVE MARTIN & THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS (2011) 3:51
It’s highly unlikely that any omitted “meta” songs would be mentioned here, in this concluding paragraph, because that would deprive the listener of the fun of pointing out the mix’s inexplicable failure to include the Axis of Awesome’s “How to Write a Love Song,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Song for the Asking,” Howard Jones’ “New Song,” Elton John’s “Your Song,” the Four Tops’ “It’s the Same Old Song,” or Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin’s “Sam’s Song,” to name but a few. It’s much more probable that these words would indicate that “Number Three” (15) appeared on They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants’ first album (also known as the pink album), or that “A Happy Song” (7) is one of three “Songs for Our Time” on At the Drop of a Hat.
Underlined text, indicating that posts below might be of interest:
- First and most relevant post (4 Sept. 2010)
- The second (13 Sept. 2010), third (23 June 2013), and fourth (10 May 2014) posts – all less explicitly relevant than the first one.