It's another meme from Neil! And this one has a potential embarrassment factor of 9.9! What could it be? Why, it's the Music Shuffle Meme!

The rules are rather straightforward, kind of scary, and basically ask you to put iTunes (or whatever music software you use) on shuffle, then reveal the first ten songs that show up... without skipping any of them! I have some hugely humiliating music lurking in the 4667 songs I've got on my PowerBook, so this could be devastating (though, about 1000 of them have only 1 star and won't be played). To add some fun and excitement to the meme, I am going to just hit "play" and write about each of the titles as it plays...

1. Fernando by ABBA. And of course the first song is potentially the most embarrassing (but hey, there's nine left to go!). Actually, I kind of like ABBA, though Fernando is probably one of my least favorite songs just because it's kind of sappy. The Name of the Game, Supertrooper, and (of course) Dancing Queen are all classics.
2. Freek-A-Leek by Petey Pablo. Holy crap! This is what I get when I let my nephew buy songs off of the iTunes Music Store? Bust this: "Sniff a little coke, take a little X, smoke a little weed, drink a little bit. I need a girl that I can freak wit, and wanna try shit, and ain't scared of a big dick. And love to get her p#$$& licked, by another bitch, cus I ain't drunk enough to do that." In Petey's defense, the beat is slammin' tight on this track! "Tell me what you want, do you want it missionary with your feet crammed into the headboard?"
3. All She Wants Is by Duran Duran. I have to admit, Duran Duran is a guilty pleasure of mine, and this song is one of their better ones because it's not so obviously bubble-gum pop. My favorite D2 album would have to be their self-titled 1993 release (more commonly referred to as "The Wedding Album"), which has Ordinary World, None of the Above, and the beautiful Come Undone.
4. You Are the Voice (live) by Heart. Oooh... I was at this concert in Seattle (Heart's home town!) where this song was recorded from their 1990 "Brigade" tour. In retrospect, this track isn't that great but, whenever I hear it, I remember being there and it's all good. The audience participation, while weak in the recording, was deafeningly cool in person.
5. Home and Dry by The Pet Shop Boys. I am a huge Pet Shop fan and not ashamed to admit it because I find many of their lyrics to be brilliant and enlightening. This track happens to be one that I like but, of the 158 Pet Shop Boys songs I own, I will say that there are about half I'm not overly fond of.
6. Walking in My Shoes by Depeche Mode. YES! I would have been gravely disappointed if my favorite band didn't make an appearance, and here they are with a killer track! I actually look at Depeche Mode as two bands... there's the synth-pop Depeche Mode from the 80's, and then there's the grittier Depeche Mode from the 90's... both equally amazing, but in different ways. The best way to hear the band is live, as they sound even more amazing in concert (which leaves me hoping that they tour for the new album their working on next January).
7. I Love N.Y.E. by Badly Drawn Boy. An achingly beautiful musical interlude from the amazing About a Boy movie soundtrack. I remember leaving the theater after having watched the movie and immediately going to the music store to purchase this CD. It is absolute magic, and highly recommended whether you liked the movie or not (but, seriously, how could you not like this film?). This particular track (short for "I Love New Year's Eve") is from when Hugh Grant's character was falling in love with the beautiful Rachel Weisz's character, and literally made you feel what love is like when it played. If you have access to the iTunes Music Store, go listen to this song preview immediately, then buy the album because you love it so much.
8. Robert De Niro's Waiting by Bananarama. Oog. Well that's a bit embarrassing isn't it? Bananarama actually has a few good songs in their catalog, but I'm not sure this is one of them. A bit catchy though.
9. Back Here by BBMak. Oh my. And here I thought that ABBA and Bananarama were about as humiliating as it was going to get. Sadly, I really do like this piece of poorly rendered pop trash.
10. Take a Picture by Filter. At least I am (somewhat) redeemed by the last song on the list. I purchased this rather excellent CD after this song had been played at a party I attended. I remember almost nothing about the party, but this song sticks vividly in my mind for some reason.

And there you have it, for better or worse (and yes, it could have been much worse). This was a pretty great idea for a meme I must say!