What an amazing playlist!!! I love this so much. (I hope you poke around in The Weeknd's song list a bit. He's a much better artist than I realized at first, too.)
I wonder how many artists recorded a tune called "Less Than Zero"? You mentioned two, and I know Nine Inch Nails has a good track with that name, too.
And since I'm sure you're waiting for me to tie it back to Rush--I haven't found a single Rush or Rush-adjacent song with "zero" in the title, although "The Body Electric" has a pretty rad chorus involving lots of zeroes!
Yes! I will expand to lyrics for the "alternates playlist..." Someone already said that Elton John's "Rocket Man" came to mind (She packed my bags last night pre-flight/Zero hour 9 a.m.).
Of course I did look for Rush Zero songs as well. I'm kind of surprised there aren't any!
Awesome idea, and awesome list! 💡🎶 massive amount of songs completely new to me, and I love it. Did a quick search through my Spotify library and it turned out that I have only 3 songs saved with "0" in title, and absolutely none with a word "zero"
I think you meant to say absolutely zero with the word “zero”!😜 I can’t help myself from pointing out missed opportunities for including a bad pun! I’d be interested in what songs stood out for you, Stygi, when you get a chance to listen to some of them. thanks so much for reading!
Some real gems in here Steve! Every once in a while I forget how absolutely amazing Aimee Mann is. She’s just a treasure and I love seeing that track on here.
That 1996 Schoolhouse Rock compilation was incredible! I was a huge fan of Blind Melon’s version of ‘Three is a Magic Number’
Was wondering if I’d see the Smashing Pumpkins track and glad to see you found a spot for it.
A fantastic Zero song is the obscure track ‘Absolute Zero’ from Hoover, which appeared on the 2019 crate-digging compilation (along with an entire batch of incredible obscure and mostly unheard songs) Sad About the Times. Give it a listen, would love to hear your thoughts: https://open.spotify.com/track/04Ant5Uogcp9acKuPRmOm6?si=ElkNnyb1TPKRYDT584EDbg
Yes! Thanks, Mark! I’m building up a nice “Zero” alternates playlist from the readers! Never heard of Hoover, but I love the name. I have a ginormous playlist on iTunes (I can’t call it Music), of bands that played SXSW from I think 2005-2015, most of them that never reached beyond obscurity. You seem like one person who might recognize many of them. Some bands went on to great popularity and success and it’s always fun to go back and revisit these playlists. I have them separated by year. I forget which website used to share a link to the songs. Maybe it was even from SXSW itself.
Love this! Big fan of the Aimee Mann song and have it on one of my playlists. I think we also have that School House Rock cover album you mentioned, because I often get the Three Is a Magic Number song stuck in my head.
Thanks, Michael. I almost included this one. It's on my longer playlist. And as I begin assembling "One" I am considering both the Three Dog Night and Aimee Mann versions of "One."
What a great idea, Steve!! Already thinking of what the “One” and “Two” songs might be! Fabulous! But also I’ve got to get your great idea out of my head now….😂🤣🤪
I'm a particular fan of One (both the Three Dog Night and Aimee Mann versions), 7 Days to Change Your Life by Jamie Cullum, 2AM by Bear Hands, The One by Datarock, and A Thousand Beautiful Things by Annie Lennox. Otherwise this is a great list!
It's great and, in the close-ups of Elton John I find myself watching his eyebrows. He isn't mugging for either the camera or the audience. It's a fairly internal performance, but his eyebrows act as a bit of a metronome for the moments of the song he's focusing on.
That Bettye Lavette cover is phenomenal but I’m glad you chose the original. I included the Lavette track on Week 8 of Alphabet Soup. Researching that article took me to the Armatrading album. I never thought I liked her music but turns out I just hadn’t really been exposed to it.
Yes, I remember you including it on your playlist. Bettye is one of the great interpreters. A throwback to the time when that was a common thing, like Sinatra and those great singers who didn’t write new material but instead could reimagine songs from the songbooks of others. I particularly love Lavette’s Fiona Apple cover “Sleep to Dream.”
Yeah that ‘Sleep To Dream’ cover is phenomenal. I’ve been doing some song selections for future editions of Alphabet Soup the last couple days and came across a bunch of those singers that used to reinterpret each others’ songbooks. One is probably coming in week 18 (I can never tell until I get to the sequencing which of the list of tracks is gonna make the cut)
I never heard of Stigmata, but Patricia Arquette is one of my top 3 favorite actors, so I’ll check it out. I love how these comment threads are branching out in all directions! One of my favorite Patricia Arquette films is Human Nature, directed by the great Michel Gondry. Do you remember it? Starring Rhys Ifans and Tim Robbins. Written by Charlie Kaufman. It was the first Gondry/Kaufman pairing. It didn’t fare as well as Eternal Sunshine, but had its own charms and quirkiness.
Never heard of Human Nature but I’ll look into it. I also think Patricia Arquette is fantastic. From the moment I saw her in True Romance with Christian Slater I’ve been a fan. She had a phenomenal turn on the Showtime series Escape at Dannemora. I’ve got High Desert queued up to watch but haven’t got there yet.
I'll also mention her amazing turn in Boyhood, and she was fantastic in The Act, as a mother who convinced her daughter she was handicapped and sick, based on true story. And also, she's great (and creepy) in Severance. Been waiting for season 2 for years.
Thanks, Beth! I am unfamiliar with Remy Zero, but I like it! Has a very late ‘90s alt-rock vibe. The song started with so much energy I thought it was gonna be funky or punky, and then it strips back down, with elements of U2 and someone else I’m not able to place. Anthemic.
Zero the Hero by Black Sabbath is the only other one that came to my mind.
Ha- I thought of that but the song was so bad it would be a disservice to Sabbath. Even they hate it.
And yet perhaps it seeped into the unconsciousness of GnR. How about Jethro Tull's "One White Duck / 0^10 = Nothing at All"?
Love this list! The first one I thought of was “Saved By Zero” by the Fixx, so glad to see it made the list!
What an amazing playlist!!! I love this so much. (I hope you poke around in The Weeknd's song list a bit. He's a much better artist than I realized at first, too.)
I wonder how many artists recorded a tune called "Less Than Zero"? You mentioned two, and I know Nine Inch Nails has a good track with that name, too.
And since I'm sure you're waiting for me to tie it back to Rush--I haven't found a single Rush or Rush-adjacent song with "zero" in the title, although "The Body Electric" has a pretty rad chorus involving lots of zeroes!
Yes! I will expand to lyrics for the "alternates playlist..." Someone already said that Elton John's "Rocket Man" came to mind (She packed my bags last night pre-flight/Zero hour 9 a.m.).
Of course I did look for Rush Zero songs as well. I'm kind of surprised there aren't any!
Awesome idea, and awesome list! 💡🎶 massive amount of songs completely new to me, and I love it. Did a quick search through my Spotify library and it turned out that I have only 3 songs saved with "0" in title, and absolutely none with a word "zero"
I think you meant to say absolutely zero with the word “zero”!😜 I can’t help myself from pointing out missed opportunities for including a bad pun! I’d be interested in what songs stood out for you, Stygi, when you get a chance to listen to some of them. thanks so much for reading!
Some real gems in here Steve! Every once in a while I forget how absolutely amazing Aimee Mann is. She’s just a treasure and I love seeing that track on here.
That 1996 Schoolhouse Rock compilation was incredible! I was a huge fan of Blind Melon’s version of ‘Three is a Magic Number’
Was wondering if I’d see the Smashing Pumpkins track and glad to see you found a spot for it.
A fantastic Zero song is the obscure track ‘Absolute Zero’ from Hoover, which appeared on the 2019 crate-digging compilation (along with an entire batch of incredible obscure and mostly unheard songs) Sad About the Times. Give it a listen, would love to hear your thoughts: https://open.spotify.com/track/04Ant5Uogcp9acKuPRmOm6?si=ElkNnyb1TPKRYDT584EDbg
Yes! Thanks, Mark! I’m building up a nice “Zero” alternates playlist from the readers! Never heard of Hoover, but I love the name. I have a ginormous playlist on iTunes (I can’t call it Music), of bands that played SXSW from I think 2005-2015, most of them that never reached beyond obscurity. You seem like one person who might recognize many of them. Some bands went on to great popularity and success and it’s always fun to go back and revisit these playlists. I have them separated by year. I forget which website used to share a link to the songs. Maybe it was even from SXSW itself.
Would love to see that playlist sometime!
I’ll figure out how I could possibly share it with you. I might be able to export a spreadsheet.
Love this! Big fan of the Aimee Mann song and have it on one of my playlists. I think we also have that School House Rock cover album you mentioned, because I often get the Three Is a Magic Number song stuck in my head.
Great idea, great playlist. Aimee Mann, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello - and others - yay.
‘Hero Ground Zero’ by The Who is worth a listen (from the WHO album).
Thanks for the pick, Ian! I'm adding to my alternate playlist!
Oooh, I wouldn't have thought of "Ground Zero" but that also gives us "Christmas At Ground Zero" by Weird Al -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t039p6xqutU
Wow - I never heard that before! Great video for it.
Imagine Dragons “Zero” (2018)
“One” was written by Harry Nilsson (made famous by Three Dog Night).
Thanks, Michael. I almost included this one. It's on my longer playlist. And as I begin assembling "One" I am considering both the Three Dog Night and Aimee Mann versions of "One."
IMHO this is the best, by the master:
https://youtu.be/haT8g7oKnns?si=NBbl3VFcJ4vHmUFV
I'll just say that an album of the month discussion group sounds like a great idea.
if you are interested in joining, Rick, let me know. I can send you info in DM.
What a great idea, Steve!! Already thinking of what the “One” and “Two” songs might be! Fabulous! But also I’ve got to get your great idea out of my head now….😂🤣🤪
Even ideas can be earworms!😜
I'm a particular fan of One (both the Three Dog Night and Aimee Mann versions), 7 Days to Change Your Life by Jamie Cullum, 2AM by Bear Hands, The One by Datarock, and A Thousand Beautiful Things by Annie Lennox. Otherwise this is a great list!
I’ll probably do “One” for next month, and I can guarantee at least “one” of your picks will be on there!
There's plenty of "One" tracks, Steve. U2, Three Dog Night, Pink Floyd ("One of These Days") ... that will be a fun one to read.
Well done! Great list.
Thanks Glenn!
Wow, that is an impressive list, not only for the quantity of "zero" songs but for having something thoughtful to say about each of them.
Cue Wayne's World "we're not worthy. "
It’s called being a nerd with insomnia and OCD. But thanks, Nick! I fully expect you to find a missing Zero song and cool video to share!:)
I got nothin'
(except for the line, "zero hour, 9 AM" stuck in my head. But I don't think that's the reason I haven't thought of any matching song title)
I can open it up to lyrics! Anything so that Rocket Man can make the list…
Feeling required to listen to the whole song, I ended up on this video of a live performance 2 months before the album release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_QZe8Z66x8
It's great and, in the close-ups of Elton John I find myself watching his eyebrows. He isn't mugging for either the camera or the audience. It's a fairly internal performance, but his eyebrows act as a bit of a metronome for the moments of the song he's focusing on.
An industrial-grade earworm (and a great song).
Love to see Joan Armatrading getting some love!
Also: It’s always a good time to work Fishbone in.
I almost ended the mix with an amazing cover of “Down to Zero” by Bettye Lavette. But decided zero repeating songs.
That Bettye Lavette cover is phenomenal but I’m glad you chose the original. I included the Lavette track on Week 8 of Alphabet Soup. Researching that article took me to the Armatrading album. I never thought I liked her music but turns out I just hadn’t really been exposed to it.
Yes, I remember you including it on your playlist. Bettye is one of the great interpreters. A throwback to the time when that was a common thing, like Sinatra and those great singers who didn’t write new material but instead could reimagine songs from the songbooks of others. I particularly love Lavette’s Fiona Apple cover “Sleep to Dream.”
Yeah that ‘Sleep To Dream’ cover is phenomenal. I’ve been doing some song selections for future editions of Alphabet Soup the last couple days and came across a bunch of those singers that used to reinterpret each others’ songbooks. One is probably coming in week 18 (I can never tell until I get to the sequencing which of the list of tracks is gonna make the cut)
Not a song but a band came to mind- Remy Zero https://youtu.be/LYdCzs5uPrI?feature=shared
OK, I'm in my old 00s playlist and the song I loved was "Fair" by Remy Zero - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbGTzJcyjGI
Big fan of Gramarye by Remy Zero which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1999 film Stigmata (and their own second album Villa Elaine): https://youtu.be/NEEJecwFG0w?si=Hy4cPq228l_hAIkv
A whole realm of pop culture I didn’t even know about! Thanks Mark. “Stigmata”! Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne were both in it. It feels familiar
I recall it being a very good (and scary) movie!
I never heard of Stigmata, but Patricia Arquette is one of my top 3 favorite actors, so I’ll check it out. I love how these comment threads are branching out in all directions! One of my favorite Patricia Arquette films is Human Nature, directed by the great Michel Gondry. Do you remember it? Starring Rhys Ifans and Tim Robbins. Written by Charlie Kaufman. It was the first Gondry/Kaufman pairing. It didn’t fare as well as Eternal Sunshine, but had its own charms and quirkiness.
Not sure how I haven’t seen Human Nature! Huge fan of Patricia Arquette, Tim Robbins, and Charlie Kaufman!
But, LOVE having a new 90s soundtrack to add to my list! Loved Stigmata!
A great soundtrack for sure!
Never heard of Human Nature but I’ll look into it. I also think Patricia Arquette is fantastic. From the moment I saw her in True Romance with Christian Slater I’ve been a fan. She had a phenomenal turn on the Showtime series Escape at Dannemora. I’ve got High Desert queued up to watch but haven’t got there yet.
I'll also mention her amazing turn in Boyhood, and she was fantastic in The Act, as a mother who convinced her daughter she was handicapped and sick, based on true story. And also, she's great (and creepy) in Severance. Been waiting for season 2 for years.
Thanks, Beth! I am unfamiliar with Remy Zero, but I like it! Has a very late ‘90s alt-rock vibe. The song started with so much energy I thought it was gonna be funky or punky, and then it strips back down, with elements of U2 and someone else I’m not able to place. Anthemic.
I hear the U2 comparison. Very much so especially early 00s U2. This song of course brings back memories of “Smallville” for me
You two have my curiosity piqued! The only thing I know about this band is that one of them was once married to Alyssa Milano.
How did I not know this??
Having a mom that subscribed to People & Us Weekly magazines sometimes pays off. :)
Sure, Kevin. Use the ol’ “My Mom subscribes to People and Us magazine- not me!”
Oh, I totally read them!
I mean.
Right there with you. But I didn’t remember this detail!