And the beat goes on. Previously, I covered #'s 00-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40 and 41-50. These are tweet-style to keep it concise, and emphasis is given to guys whom I watched play.
#51, Jerod Mayo. Apologies to: Julian Tavarez. He slumped a little in his 2nd year due to injury, but Mayo will spread it on again next yr.
#52, Carl Corazzini. Apologies to: Stojko Vrankovic, Ted Johnson, Mike Boddicker. Cheating a bit, this was Captain Carl's # on Bruins.
#53, Chris Slade. Apologies to: Joe Kleine, Tomo Ohka. His 51 sacks are 3rd on Pats all-time. Slade had 4+ sacks in all 8 seasons w/Pats.
#54, Tedy Bruschi. Apologies to: Ed Pinckney. Always better player in minds of Pats fans than he really was but we don't care. We love Tedy.
#55, Willie McGinest. Apologies to: Eric Williams, Tim Lincecum. McGinest always forgotten when people talk about diff btw new & old Pats D.
#56, Andre Tippett. Apologies to: Franklin Morales. W/ McGinest, only Pat w/ more sacks than Slade, Tippett had name a child could remember.
#57, Calvin Pickering. Apologies to: Steve Nelson. My friend @harding_at_mlb stumped for Nelson, but big Cal was just too much fun to watch.
#58, Jonathan Papelbon. Apologies to: Matt Chatham. I actually don't much like Paps & his absurd poor man's Rocker-tude, but I respect him.
#59, Roosevelt Colvin. Injuries prevented him from being an A+ signing, but Rosey was a hard worker who was effective when healthy.
#60, Hanley Ramirez. Unfortunately, he only had 2 PA w/ Sox, but I'll always root 4 him. Sox got '07 WS, but would have had more w/ Hanley.
This post marks the end of consecutive #'s. As I get into the 60's, I mean I could keep offering players for each number, but it wouldn't be genuine. It would be naming them just to name them. Two posts to go!
Next Up: #'s 61-82
We're not actually halfway through the numbers, obviously, as we're only to 41, but in actuality we are. With many of the higher numbers I don't have a favorite player because once we reach the high 50's we shift almost exclusively into football numbers, and most 60's and 70's for football numbers are of course, offensive linemen. And there are not a lot of offensive linemen with whom you form an emotional connection, am I right? Most of the time, when you notice an offensive lineman, it's because they just f****d something up. But I digress. Here are #'s 41-50. You can find the first four posts here, here, here and here.
#41, Jason Allison. Apologies to: James Posey, Ugueth Urbina. Had 83, 76 & 95 pt years 4 B's, but injuries ravaged him. He was done @ 30.
#42, Jackie Robinson. Apologies to: Chris Ford, Ronnie Lippett, Mo Vaughn. If not 4 Joe Cronin, Jackie & Willie Mays may have been Red Sox.
#43, Kendrick Perkins. Apologies to: Alan Embree. The only thing more fun than watching Perk play is listening to him be interviewed.
#44, Danny Ainge. Apologies to: Orlando Cabrera. What, you thought I was going to pick Marion Butts?
#45, Pedro Martinez. Apologies to: Otis Smith. My favorite baseball player ever. Watching him pitch was/is like watching Picasso paint.
#46, Bob Stanley. Apologies to: Jacoby Ellsbury. Was Game 6 the Maine native's fault? The wild pitch didn't help, but no, not his fault.
#47, Bruce Hurst. Apologies to: Robert Edwards. I don't really know what to say about Hurst. He was always just kind of there.
#48, Tully Banta-Cain. Apologies to: Tony Fossas. 1 of many examples of player that is best in Pats system, TBC had good sense to come back.
#49, Tim Wakefield. Apologies to: Joey Juneau. Likely the last of his species to have impact at MLB level, we'll never forget about Timmy.
#50, Mike Vrabel. Apologies to: Eddie House, Mike Timlin. All 3 were role players who stepped up in clutch, but for time, Vrabel was more.
Next Up: #'s 51-60.
Here's the first three posts - #'s 00-10, 11-20 and 21-30.
#31, Kieran Millan. Apologies to: Cedric Maxwell, Brandon Meriweather, Jon Lester, Sean Fields. His great play helped BU to the 08-09 crown.
#32, Kevin McHale. Apologies to: Don Sweeney, Antowain Smith, Derek Lowe. Every NE kid used to stand under his hoop & mimic McHale's moves.
#33, Larry Bird. Apologies to: Anson Carter, Kevin Faulk, Colin Wilson. Only athlete who could intrigue me enough to read 2 autobiographies.
#34, Paul Pierce. Apologies to: Byron Dafoe, Kevin Turner, David Ortiz, Rich Garces. The Truth is the only player of whom I own 2 jerseys.
#35, Reggie Lewis. Apologies to: Andy Moog, Patrick Pass, Rickey Henderson. Taken too soon, he was nearing Jordan/Drexler/Miller status.
#36, Lawyer Milloy. Apologies to: Tom Gordon, John Curry. Who is the best Pats safety ever, this guy or the next guy? Could be a fun debate.
#37, Rodney Harrison. Apologies to: Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Both Milloy and Rodney appeared in 2 Super Bowl's as Pats, but Rodney won both.
#38, Ubaldo Jimenez. Apologies to: Tyrone Poole, Curt Schilling. Tough call, but Ubaldo is great guy while Schilling is pompous windbag.
#39, Mike Greenwell. Apologies to: Sam Cunningham. My first Red Sox poster as a kid was of "The Gator." So underrated. Had 6+ 3B 5 times.
#40, Dwight Evans. Apologies to: Dino Radja, Mike Haynes. I'm cheating here, as Dewey only was #40 for 2 years, but I wanted to pick him.
Check out the first two posts here and here.
#21, Mike Eruzione. Apologies to: Bill Sharman, Randall Gay, Roger Clemens, Eric Young. BU/Miracle on Ice captain or "Texas Con Man?" Tough!
#22, Dave Meggett. Apologies to: Wily Mo Pena. Had 3 of 4 best seasons as a Patriot & was Pro Bowler during the '96 Super Bowl season.
#23, Michael Jordan. Apologies to: Frank Ramsey, Antwan Harris, Luis Tiant. Do I even need an explanation?
#24, Manny Ramirez. Apologies to: Terry O'Reilly, Sam Jones, Ty Law, Dwight Evans, Dexter Fowler, Travis Roy. Toughest #. All great choices.
#25, Hal Gill. Apologies to: K.C. Jones, Troy O'Leary, Kenny Magowan. Hard to beat O'Leary's '99 ALDS Gm 5 heroics, but enjoyed Gill era.
#26, Wade Boggs. Apologies to: Glen Wesley, Raymond Clayborn, Jeff Francis. End was bitter, but only Teddy better pure hitter w/ Red Sox.
#27, Carlton Fisk. Apologies to: Danny Fortson, Terrell Buckley, Bryan Ewing. Ah, Carlton Fisk Day, when NPD's & my dad shouted @ strangers.
#28, Michel Larocque. Apologies to: Tony Delk, Corey Dillon, Curtis Martin, Doug Mirabelli. My first yr @ BU, he was 17-4-1. I was hooked.
#29, Ricky DiPietro. Apologies to: Pervis Ellison, Keith Foulke, Jorge De La Rosa. His 3 line passes were legendary. Wish he stayed longer.
#30: Mosi Tatupu, Patriots: Apologies to: ML Carr, C's; Sam Horn, Sox; Jim Craig, BU. Mosi still my all-time favorite Pats special teamer.
Next up: #'s 31-40
Let's keep this train rolling. To recap, these are my favorite players by jersey number, and I'm doing it tweet style to keep it short and sweet. Check out the first post here.
#11, Drew Bledsoe. Apologies to: Dana Barros, Bill Mueller, Dan Spang. Drew's comeback in PIT in '01 one of most moving performances ever.
#12, Tom Brady. Apologies to: Adam Oates, Pumpsie Green, Ellis Burks, Mike Grier. He's fading now, but after 3 rings he could only go down.
#13, Dan Marino. Apologies to: Delonte West, John Valentin, Nick Bonino. My first Halloween sports "costume" was a teal Marino jersey.
#14, Bob Cousy. Apologies to: Sergei Samsanov, Steve Grogan, Jim Rice, Carl Corrazzini. The definition of crotchety, old, yet beloved, man.
#15, Tom Heinsohn. Apologies to: Dustin Pedroia, Rick Meagher, Kevin Millar. Yes he's a homer, but he was once CBS' color guy for reason.
#16, Peter McArthur. Apologies to: "Satch" Sanders, Jim Lonborg. Not best group, so I'll go with guy I saw play, even if he never won.
#17, Todd Helton. Apologies to: John Havlicek, Dick Radatz, Jack O'Callaghan. Hard. Met Helton & Radatz, respect both & other 2 true champs.
#18, Chris Drury. Apologies to: Dave Cowens, Reggie Jefferson. We used to have saying: Jack Parker is God, & Chris Drury is Jesus. Go BU!
#19, Joe Thornton. Apologies to: Tom Tupa, Fred Lynn, Josh Beckett, Chris Bourque. Essentially stopped caring for NHL after B's traded him.
#20, Barry Sanders. Apologies to: Ray Allen, Gino Cappelletti, Kevin Youkilis, Chris Iannetta. Once went to Lions-Pats preseason just 4 him.
Next up: #'s 21-30.
Whenever I go to places like Noodles & Company, where they give you a number while you wait for your food, I always try to think of athletes who have that number. I know, I'm a dork. But it got me thinking recently - what are my favorite athletes by jersey number? Well, I got curious, and whenever I get curious, as my wife so often reminds me, I make a spreadsheet. So that's what I did. I made a spreadsheet with my favorite Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, Rockies and BU ice hockey players by number, with a column for other random players as well. And since there's obviously a lot of numbers, we're going to do this twitter style - every number spelled out in 140 characters or less, complete with runners-up (runners-up will be listed in that same order - Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, Rockies, Terriers, random). Tonight - #'s 00 through #10.
#00, Robert Parish. "Chief" was showstopper, from his rainbows, to decking Laimbeer, to having a lb. of weed shipped to his house.
#0, Walter McCarty. Apologies to: Leon Powe. I still love Waltah, but Leon Powe "Da Monstah" may have trumped him had he stayed.
#1, Bobby Doerr. Apologies to: Reggie Lemelin, Jamey Carroll. Loved reading about him in "The Teammates," req. reading 4 Sox fans.
#2, Troy Tulowitzki. Apologies to: Doug Flutie, Carl Everett, Eric Gryba. Fun to watch in the field & at the plate. Future MVP.
#3, Dennis Johnson. Apologies to: Stephen Gostkowski, Jody Reed, Eric Young, Jr., Tony Amonte, Ryan Whitney. "Fiddlin & diddlin!!"
#4, Adam Vinatieri. Apologies to: Bobby Orr, Sherman Douglas, Jackie Jensen, Sean Sullivan, Chris Webber. Adam edges Orr slightly.
#5, Nomar Garciaparra. Apologies to: Kevin Garnett, Carlos Gonzalez, Tom Poti. Nomar never won it all but he captured post-strike RS Nation.
#6, Bill Russell. Apologies to: Gord Kluzak, Johnny Pesky, Brian Collins. Only way to top a Shrewsbury native is to have 11 rings.
#7, Trot Nixon. Apologies to: Phil Esposito, Dee Brown, Dom DiMaggio. The original Dirt Dog was as New England as a Carolina boy can be.
#8, Antoine Walker. Apologies to: Cam Neely, Carl Yastrzemski. I'll never forget 'Toine b*tch*ng out the tm in Gm 3. Best. Comeback. Ever.
#9, Ted Williams. Apologies to: Rajon Rondo, Vinny Castilla. Not only greatest hitter ever, but smart enough to write a good book about it.
#10, Rich Gedman. Apologies to: Dmitri Kvartalnov, JoJo White, Dante Bichette, Dave Silk. Worcester native & the Rocket's catcher.
Next Up: #'s 11 through 20.
Re-reading my post from yesterday, I realize I could have done a better job enunciating why I am devoting a couple of different posts to Dr. King. As one of my friends reminded me last night, Dr. King didn't produce any movies or television shows. But without his influence and the influence of others during the Civil Rights Movement, our nation and world would be profoundly different, and not for the better. However, since I'm not a history professor, I don't want to pretend that I know the most important ways our world has changed as a result of the Civil Rights Movement. But one thing is near certain - without the Civil Rights Movement, many of the fine movies, television shows and music that the African-American community has produced would not be openly appreciated the way it is today, or may never have seen the light of the day at all. So that's why I thought I would compile these lists in tribute to Dr. King.
Like the movies, I have seen plenty of predominantly African-American TV shows. However, I can't say that I have followed them all fervently. That's just the nature of television, you can't watch everything. And especially as a kid, in a land without DVRs, DVDs, On Demand or Hulu, it was even tougher. Once again with this list, I had to make a couple of judgment calls, the most notable of which was whether or not to include music shows like "Yo MTV Raps!," "106 & Park" and "Rap City". I decided ultimately not to include them, although "Rap City" would have surely made the list had I included it. Along the same lines, I couldn't include comedy/variety shows like "The Arsenio Hall Show," "In Living Color" and "Chapelle's Show," because I didn't watch them with even semi-regularity. I also have never seen many of the great African-American shows of the '70's like "Sanford and Son," "Good Times" and "The Jeffersons." Other shows that I have watched over the years but that didn't make the cut include "Amen," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Family Matters," "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," "Method & Red," "Moesha," "New York Undercover," "Roc," "Sister, Sister," "The Bernie Mac Show" (RIP) and "The Cleveland Show."
5. (Tie) "Martin" / "A Different World" - I'm cheating a little bit here. These shows share some of the same characteristics for me in that I watched them both pretty straight through the first couple of seasons, but then fell out of habit, and would catch them at the intersection of they're on and I'm home. I also was probably a little young to understand a lot of what was going on in them, even if I think I did. The Notorious B.I.G. guest appearance on "Martin" (one of Biggie's only two TV show appearances ever along with an episode of "New York Undercover") has to be one of the greatest guest appearances ever.
4. "Out All Night" - I loved this show, and was pretty upset when they canceled it after only one season. Vivica A. Fox was one of my early crushes (still is, really), and the rest of the main cast - Morris Chestnut, the great Patti LaBelle and Duane Martin were all more than solid. Oh well.
3. "The Cosby Show" - I still have fond memories of the episode where Claire made Theo put on a coat to go outside and play football in the cold and Theo shoved it in the mailbox because he didn't want to wear it. I was the same way...though my coats were usually too puffy to jam into the mailbox.
2. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" - As soon as I see the words, I immediately start humming that theme song. Much like The Barbershop, this show incorporated life lessons without shutting off the funny. And has there been a funnier foil than the one Carlton provided Will all those years? Doubtful. And if that isn't enough, the show gave Tyra Banks her big break, which isn't a bad thing.
1. "The Wire" - My wife objected to this selection. "The main character's white," she protested. True, he is. But most of the rest of the cast is African-American. Looking at the show's main iMDB page, 20 of the main 29 characters listed are African-American, and that's not even counting the kids from season four, or other notable characters like Prop Joe, Cheese, Mayor Royce and his aide Norman, and of course, D'Angelo Barksdale. Sure, there were segments of the plot that focused on McNulty, the mainly caucasian employees of the docks and even eventual mayor Carcetti, but for my money this show did more to highlight the plight of young men and women in the ghetto than any other song, movie or TV show ever has. And it's also arguably the best show in television history.
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to create some lists honoring African-Americans in pop culture, and I figured I would start with movies. In trying to run down this list, I was tabulating all the movies I've seen that are predominantly African-American, I realized I've seen a lot more than I thought I had. And I haven't even seen Precious yet. And frankly, I've enjoyed nearly all of them. There were some judgment calls that I left off, movies like Jackie Brown, White Men Can't Jump and Mr. 3000, whose casts probably can't be classified as "predominantly African-American." There are also tons of movies that I've never seen or never seen in full, like Do The Right Thing, Juice, New Jack City and Trespass. And finally, there are a lot of movies from before my time from the heydey of blaxploitation that I haven't seen, like the original Shaft, Super Fly, Foxy Brown and Dolemite. But I've still seen my fair share. So with my apologies to Above The Rim, Ali, Belly, Boyz n The Hood, Dead Presidents, Deliver Us From Eva, First Sunday, Friday After Next, Harlem Nights, Next Friday, Notorious, Poetic Justice, Ray, Shaft (2000), The Ladies Man, The Nutty Professor (I & II), The Wood, Who's The Man? and probably a bunch of other movies I've forgotten, here are my five favorite movies with a predominantly African-American cast:
5. Barbershop - This flick manages to impart important lessons about community without stemming the flow of laughter. A true ensemble cast, Ice Cube disappears from the screen for long stretches and it seems natural. Anthony Anderson, Eve and Cedric the Entertainer all steal scenes, and I love that I still see Leonard Earl Howze (Dinka) popping up in commercials these days.
4. The Best Man - Taye Diggs tries to manage all the crazy around him, and survives intact except for a black eye in this story about losing, finding and keeping love in your life.
3. Menace II Society - One day when I was in high school, I went to the video store and was going to rent this or Boyz N The Hood. The box for Menace had a quote from a critic that read something like "even better than Boyz N The Hood." So I rented Menace. And agreed. "You know you done fu**ed up now, right?"
2. Coming To America - "This is beautiful. What is that? Velvet?"
1. Friday - Fun fact: "Tiny" Lister has more items on his iMDB page than Samuel L. Jackson. And despite memorable performances in The Fifth Element, The Dark Knight and others, he will ALWAYS be Deebo. My best friend and I have been relentlessly quoting this movie about a day in the life of two good friends for the past 15 years. It's one of my favorite movies of all-time, and taught me, among other things, that you can get fired on your day off, that it's tough to sell weed if you smoke it and that you can make a lot of money for a slip and fall in a store!
Acquired from Seattle by the Red Sox in the Casey Kotchman deal, Bill Hall has been in the Majors full-time since 2004, and debuted in 2002. The Red Sox are his third team, and he has spent most of his career in Milwaukee. Here are the five most interesting facts I could dig up about Hall's statistical resume:
1. Hall played 100+ games in the field at three different positions in three consecutive seasons - 127 games at shortstop in 2006, 130 games in center field in 2007 and 113 games at third base in 2008. I don't have a good way to look that up, but that has to be pretty rare, especially in modern times (post World War II).
2. Hall's batting average has declined for four straight seasons since his career high AVG of .291 in 2005, and his on-base and slugging percentages have declined for three straight seasons after he posted career highs in OBP (.345) and SLG (.553) in 2006.
3. Last season, Hall ranked tied for 139th in equivalent base running runs (EQBRR) when you combine his time in Milwaukee and Seattle. It's a solid but not spectacular rank in a season with 846 different player-team combos (as in, some players, such as Hall, are listed twice, as they played on different teams during the season). The bad news is that it was the first season in Hall's eight year career that he finished with a positive EQBRR score at all and also the first time he finished among the top 500 players. Going backwards from 2008 to 2002, he finished with the following ranks: 525, 795 (out of 854), 854 (out of 861), 630, 820 (out of 833), 631 and 558 in his cup of coffee in '02. For his career, Hall has been "worth" -13.6 EQBRR. Or to put it more simply, he has taken more than a win away from his team on the bases during his career.
4. For the past three seasons, Hall has been essentially a replacement player or worse - in all three seasons, he has been within one win of replacement level. In 2007, his WARP1 was .6, in 2008 it was -.1 and last year, cumulatively, it was -.5. Any positive value that Hall has maintained has been in his glove, as his EqA has not crossed the positive side of the league average .260 threshold, and his combined VORP the past three years is -13.1.
5. Hall has had very little success outside of Miller Park. For his career at Miller Park, he has hit .266/.320/.491 (an .811 OPS) in 1,482 plate appearances. Outside of Miller Park, he has hit .236/.299/.396 (a .695 OPS) in 1,586 plate appearances. For those scoring at home, that's an OPS drop off of 116 points for Hall once he leaves the great city of Milwaukee. His line isn't much better in AL parks either: .238/.290/.383 (.674 OPS) in 273 PA. A decidedly smaller sample, but still not very positive.
Next Up: I haven't decided, but I'm leaning towards Boof Bonser. Maybe if the Celtics make an acquisition, I'll go that route...
1. Over the past three seasons, Adrian Beltre had the third best defensive plus/minus rating in the Majors at +66, trailing only Chasey Utley (+82) and Albert Pujols (+71). In 2009, he was the sixth best overall.
2. Beltre has had a WARP1 higher than 3.1 twice in his career. The last time was in 2004, when he was worth 10.1 WARP1. In the five seasons since, he has been worth 10.6 WARP1 cumulatively.
3. Beltre's on-base percentage against right-handed pitching has gone down for three consecutive seasons, from .321 in 2006, to .314 in 2007, to .290 in 2008 and .271 in 2009. His .290 OBP in '08 was the 17th lowest in the Majors, and his .271 OBP in '09 was the fifth-lowest in the Majors (min. 250 PA vs. RHP).
4. Beltre is one of 17 third basemen in Major League history to win consecutive Gold Gloves.
5. In 2009, Beltre's Speed Score was the sixth best among third basemen (minimum 80 games started at third). His Speed Score of 4.3 is tied for 43rd all-time among third basemen (min. 6,000 PA), though only three of the players ahead of him on the list are still active - Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen and Alex Rodriguez. Beltre's Speed Score was better than all three of them in '09.
BONUS - Beltre is one of just 88 players to accumulate more than 6,000 plate appearances and primarily be a third baseman. Beltre is not thought of as old because he is still just 30 (2010 will be his age 31 season), but he has played in the Majors for 12 seasons.
1. Vazquez returns to New York a more consistent pitcher than when he left. Here is how Vazquez's quality start percentage breaks down:
Yrs.....QS%
'98-'03.....53%
'04.....50%
'05-'09.....57%
What's even more striking is that after a down year during 2006, his first in Chicago, he has posted even better numbers - 61% quality starts from 2007 to 2009. Here's how he stacks up against the other pitchers the Yankees have under contract for 2010 that started for the Yankees in 2009:
Pitcher.....QS% '07-'09
Sabathia.....69%
Burnett.....61%
Vazquez.....61%
Pettitte.....58%
Gaudin.....46%
Chamberlain.....44%
Mitre.....33%
Hughes.....32%
In other words, Vazquez should be a huge step up in consistency from the back-end options the Yankees were going to have available to them in 2010.
2. He has the right stuff. Starting in 2005, Vazquez has had an average Stuff score of 29.8, and an average Stuff rank of 12.8 (minimum 100 innings pitched). In the past three years, he has ranked fifth, 12th and seventh (again, minimum 100 innings pitched) among all MLB pitchers.
3. Vazquez fields his position well. He came in 14th in the 2009 Fielding Bible Awards for pitchers, and over the past three seasons he ranked seventh among pitchers in terms of fielding runs saved (10 runs) and eighth among pitchers in fielding plus/minus (+9).
4. Vazquez has tossed a lot of complete games, but he is not as efficient at it as some. With Randy Johnson retiring, Vazquez is now 11th in complete games among active pitchers, but he is also ninth among active pitchers in games started.
5. Vazquez has ranked 9th, 94th, 33rd, 93rd and 78th in ERA the last five years (minimum 100 innings pitched). Looks like one exceptional year, one very good year and three slightly above average year, yes? But his FIP ranks paint a different picture - 3rd, 31st, 26th, 23rd and 53rd.
Next Up: Adrian Beltre
Quick note - This is a little later than I anticipated putting this together, but I had a friend come into town last week unexpectedly, so this piece got bumped a bit.
For the fourth consecutive year, I put together two different mix CD's just before the holidays to mail to some good friends, and also for myself. The idea behind them is to put together mixes that give the best representation of the year possible, according to my tastes. They also serve as my version of a "best of the year" list. One of the mixes is the Underground Mix, and is made up almost entirely of underground hip-hop songs. Once in awhile, one of them will blow up and become a big hit. The best example of that is in 2007, when I included M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" two months before it showed up in the trailer for Pineapple Express. At the end of the underground mix, I add a bonus holiday song or two. While I send this mix to everyone, I make it mostly for myself. I only know a couple of people who like underground hip-hop as much as I do. Most people like the second mix better. It's what I call the "Aboveground Mix." As in, the exact opposite of the Underground Mix. Whereas with the Underground Mix I look to include songs that were not chart toppers at all, the Aboveground Mix has evolved to become a mix that only includes songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, or a like-list if the song is British or Hispanic, etc. In this way they really become a good representation of the year in music, and while I started the mixes on a whim, now I spend a ton of time on them each year and try to do the best job I can. Outside of this basic framework, I have some simple guidelines:
1. Make sure the songs flow together. At this point in time, I realize most people I send these to are just uploading them into iTunes and don't listen to them in the order I lay them out in the CD, but some people, including myself, listen to them in their car, so I want to make sure that the CD flows properly.
2. Don't go too heavy on more than one-two artists. I like spreading the love around and giving a broad mix, but sometimes one or two (or three) people just have an outstanding year and deserve that recognition.
3. Try to lead off with a bang. I like to try and work in up-tempo songs at the start of each mix and get people in the groove early. I guess that's just the DJ in me, I'm always trying to get the party started! If I don't lead off with a bang, I try to start with a statement/tribute song.
4. On the underground mix, I try to find as obscure songs as I possibly can.
5. All of the songs had to be released for sale during 2009. I'm kind of a stickler about that, and end up leaving some songs off as a result. One example from this year would be Lady GaGa's "Just Dance," which was very popular in 2009 but was actually released in 2008.
The first three guidelines are guidelines that I try to use with any mix I make, and I make a lot of mix CD's, but they are heightened for the holiday mixes.
For the 2009 Aboveground Mix, I knew right off the bat that I was going to lead off with a Michael Jackson song. He was/is my favorite artist of all-time, and I thought that would be a nice tribute. Overall though, the Aboveground Mix was a bit tougher this year because of the presence of the Black Eyed Peas. Anyone that knows my music tastes know that I can't stand the Black Eyed Peas because of how callously and shallowly they transformed themselves. When people talk about selling out, they can look to the Black Eyed Peas as the textbook definition. And since they had the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 26 straight weeks from April 18 to October 10, I had to work a little harder to find songs I liked. Here's the lineup, with Hot 100 rankings as of early December when I made the mix:
1. Michael Jackson and The Jacksons - This Is It (N/A)
2. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - (9)
3. La Roux - Bulletproof (UK Singles Chart: 1)
4. Ke$ha - TiK ToK (10)
5. Jay-Z - Run This Town f/ Kanye West & Rihanna (2)
6. Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite (3)
7. Alicia Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything (60)
8. Lily Allen - The Fear (80)
9. Mariah Carey - Obsessed (7)
10. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up (20)
11. Don Omar - Virtual Diva (U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs: 10)
12. Eminem - Crack A Bottle f/ Dr. Dre & 50 Cent (1)
13. Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA (2)
14. Rihanna - Russian Roulette (9)
15. Shakira - She Wolf (11)
16. Keri Hilson - Knock You Down f/ Kanye West & Ne-Yo (3)
17. Drake - Best I Ever Had (2)
18. The Fray - You Found Me (7)
19. Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (1)
I started with more of a statement/tribute than starting with the bang. When the King of Pop passes away, it's really the right thing to do. The song itself didn't chart on the Hot 100, but the album hit #1 the first week it was out, and since it's MJ, I made the exception. I "started" with a bang on track two. Not only does this song pop the top off the adrenaline lid, but Lady GaGa is definitely in that Michael Jackson/Madonna mode of the outlandish pop star from who we have come to expect the unexpected, and it seemed only fitting that she would follow Michael. And while "Paparazzi" may have shown the artistic side to Lady GaGa and proved she was a serious artist, I'll be honest - I just want to dance. Along with GaGa, there were several other newcomers who made the cut - La Roux, Ke$ha, Kid Cudi, Keri Hilson and Drake. They combined with mainstays like Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Shakira and Rihanna to make a delicious mix. You may notice that I have the tendency to favor songs sung by women, and when it comes to popular music, that is definitely true. Guys like Flo Rida, Sean Kingston, Kevin Rudolf and Pitbull didn't ultimately do it for me. I would have included a Kings of Leon song, but technically "Use Somebody" was released in 2008, and guys like Akon and Linkin Park put out singles in 2009 that sounded remarkably like singles they put out in 2008 or 2007. That aside, it was an uncommonly good year for the ladies. Mariah had maybe the last good auto-tune song ever, "Russian Roulette" was Rihanna's defiant cry, "Party in the USA" showed that Miley Cyrus is more than just the cute kid from Hannah Montana and "She Wolf" is Shakira at her finest - witty but popular. "Feeling a little abused like a coffee machine in an office," might be the line of the year, and something I would expect to hear in a rap song, not a slinky pop song where the star dances inside an animal cage. The mix ends beautifully with the song that capped the year, "Empire State of Mind." It is about New York, but it's still an incredible anthem.
2009 Underground Mix:
1. Fresh Daily - Video Gamin'
2. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers f/ Ghostface Killah, Method Man & Inspectah Deck
3. Capone 'n' Noreaga - Wobble f/ Mobb Deep
4. Dead Prez - Summertime
5. Superstar Quamallah - California Dreamin'
6. D-Block - Get That Paper
7. Edo G. & Masta Ace - Little Young
8. DJ JS-1 - Like This f/ Large Professor
9. Raekwon - Legacy f/ Xzibit & Murs
10. Jadakiss - Kiss My @$$
11. Dela - Long Life f/ Talib Kweli
12. Nas - If I Ruled The World '09 f/ Marsha Ambrosius
13. Wale - Shades f/ Chrisette Michelle
14. Clipse - Popular Demand (Popeyes) f/ Cam'ron & Pharrell
15. Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap Remix f/ Busta Rhymes & Raekwon
16. Mos Def - Supermagic
17. Ghostface Killah - Guest House f/ Fabolous
18. Method Man & Red Man - City Lights f/ Bun B
19. BeKay - Brooklyn Bride f/ Masta Ace
20. Reflection Eternal - Back Again
21. Cage - I Never Knew You
22. BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK: Keyshia Cole - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Quick aside: A long time ago, I started listening to acts like Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the Notorious B.I.G. My father questioned these music selections, so as any good Christian boy would do, I sought the counsel of my priest. He told me that as long as I was treating the music as entertainment, the same way we treat movies like Goodfellas as entertainment, and not as a way to live my life then it was okay. I mean, I loved Goodfellas, but that didn't mean I wanted to join the mob and rob Lufthansa airlines after I saw it. The same goes for hip-hop.
I absolutely loved Video Gamin'. There have been many songs to incorporate video game sounds, but this one does so seamlessly, it never feels forced or gimmicky. And with the Biggie sample for the chorus, it's gold Jerry, pure gold! Though i started with Fresh Daily, 2009 was really Raekwon's year. His comeback album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II, dominated the underground scene, and though I only included one track off that album, I included two other hard-to-find cuts with the Chef on it. The first, "Legacy," was a cut off the Ninja Assassin soundtrack, a movie destined to move onto my list of "songs I liked from movies I've never seen" along with movies like Bulworth, Ghost Dog, High School High, Panther and Ride. Then there was "Renaissance Rap Remix," which is presumably a remix from Q-Tip's The Renaissance album, though there wasn't actually a track on it called "The Renaissance." Some of my other favorite cuts off this mix were the delightfully saracastic "Little Young," "Kiss My @$$" and "Popular Demand," as well as the creepy, melancholy "I Never Knew You," which really showed off Cage's maturity as an artist. It's still as haunting as his early work, but in this track he paints a vivid story rather than just dropping anecdotes (not that I don't love me a good anecdote). Finally, there is "Shades." There have been many deep songs about race, even by Wale himself (last year's "The Kramer"), but this one really touches on something that can go unnoticed by someone such as myself. Elsewhere, the album was choc full of mainstays like CNN, NaS (with a delightful remake of "If I Ruled The World" that was released only by Smirnoff in a half-baked attempt to seem cool), Method Man & Redman and Mos Def, who proved with The Ecstatic that he's still got his fastball (thank goodness). And newcomer BeKay had what I like to think of as the underground version of "Empire State of Mind" with his "Brooklyn Bridge" track.
Overall, I thought both mixes came out great, and as usual I got a lot of compliments on them. I can't wait to see what 2010 brings!