plays per band

So this is the bands that apparently I listen to the most. I have listed the amount of times a song by a particular artist has played on my Itunes since January 2007. Allow me to mention a few points that should accompany this:

• It is COMPLETELY linear. What I mean by that is there is no adjusting for bands with only 1 album, or the Beatles entire catalog. Quite simply, the more songs you have put out, the better chance you have of one of them being played.
  
• The plays ONLY go back 2.5 years. Which means bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Sublime, bands I listened to constantly before this time are less played.
  
• Bands that are stilla ctive (putting out new albums) have a distinct advantage. I devour new music, so when Conor Oberst puts out two new cds in 1 year, he gets a ton of play, while the Strokes have not put out a record during this time. Does that mean I like Conor more than the Strokes, no, but it means I listened to those albums more.
  
• I have worked in several restaurants and ran the music. I created mixes that worked, and mixes that didn't. The mixes that worked got a lot of play, and hence some songs got a SHIT TON of plays. That factors into this.

OK here is the list
comment if you dare

Also: please don't think this is an accurate portrayal of who I like more than who. Of course I don't like the Old 97s more than the Chili Peppers, but in the last 2.5 years, the Chili Peppers have released 0 records, and the Old 97s 1. I have seen the Old 97s in concert, as well as front man Rhett Miller. RHCP have not toured. This is why these numbers are higher!

1. Beatles – 1642

- when you have rubber soul, Help, Abbey Road, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper - I'm going to go to you a lot. They are the kings, and probably always will be.

Most played song - I've Just Seen a Face (29)

2. Old 97s – 1397

- my favorite guitar band. I love to listen to them. I love Rhett's lyrics. They make great driving music. They put out one of my favorite live CDs ever, and every one of their albums rocks. I don't know how they made it up this high, but they're always an easy pick when I'm bored. Saw them June 2008 and saw Rhett March 2009

Most Played song - Victoria (57)

3. Elliott Smith – 1388

- He's Elliott Smith. That simple. I've probably listened to Either/Or all the way through 30 times. I lived in Silver Lake and listened to him every day. He remains the dead musician I'd kill to see more than any to this day (sorry Jimi), and I love his guitar work.

Most played song - Alameda (44)

4. Wilco – 1186

- Count their live album Kicking Television, and all seven albums have a shit ton of play. At gunpoint, they're my favorite band ever. Everything they've ever done holds a place in my heart, and at certain moments, all their albums were at one point my favorite. YHF remains the best album of this decade. Seeing them June 2009.

Most played song - Either Way (40)

5. Jack Johnson – 1124

- I don't know how he snuck up, because the year and a half before this tally started, he's ALL I listened to. All three of his first three albums were CONSTANTLY on. Somehow he made it up. It helps that I saw him live and he put out a new record. My favorite American songwriter alive, and one of my favorite concerts. Saw him live October 2004 and September 2008.

Most played song - Inaudible Melodies (49)

6. Shins – 1090

- Spent a lot of time as "my favorite band." Chutes Too Narrow is in my top five records of all time. And Wincing the Night Away came out 2 weeks before this list started and was played CONSTANTLY when it came out. Also, Australia might be my favorite song and is the most played song on my cpu. Saw them live April 2007 and May 2009.

Most played song - Australia (80)

7. Jayhawks – 925

- I actually thought they'd be higher. I feel like other than Elliott Smith, they are my goto when there's nothing else to listen to. I adore everything they've ever done. I've still never seen them live, and pray I will (at least Mark and Gary).

Most played song - Stumbling Through the Dark (49)

8. Ryan Adams – 874

- Didn't include Whiskeytown or his numbers would be higher. It's easy to get this high when you have like 300 studio albums. Ryan Adams is the man. Plain and simple. I love his work, and appreciate his quantity and quality. I'm sure he's got more for us in the near future. Also, unbelievable show. Saw him live January 2008.

Most played song - A Kiss Before I go (32)

9. Tom Petty – 859

- He's fucking Petty. Nuff said. He's like my fav. I have everything he's ever done (thanks O-Face) and he will always be a part of my life. Saw him live like 6 times.

Most played song - I Won't Back Down (20)

10. Weezer – 849

- Another band I thought I played more before the list. They did put out a new record which pretty much ruled my life last July. Also, there was the concert at the Forum, and the fact that Pinkerton pretty much owns me. Saw them live August 2002 and August 2008.

Most played song - The Good Life (32)

11. Ben Kweller – 805

Saw Him Live October 2008

Most played song - Penny on the Train Track (57)

12. Red Hot Chili Peppers – 630

Most played song - Wet Sand (42) thanks Brown

13. Tom Waits – 595

most played song - Long Way Home (36)

14. Strokes – 573

Saw them live April 2006

Most played song - Heart in a Cage (31)

15. Silversun Pickups – 554

Saw them live October 2007

Most played song - Well Thought Out Twinkes (72)

16. Kings of Leon – 538

Saw them live October 2008

Most played song - Knocked Up (28)

17. Vampire Weekend – 472

Saw them Live September 2008

Most played song - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (51)

18. Mike Doughty – 460

Saw him live April 2008, April 2009, May 2009

Most played song - The Only Answer (35)

19. Death Cab – 458

Saw them Live August 2006

Most played song - Marching Bands of Manhattan (45)

20. Pearl Jam – 405

Most played song - Cordoury (19)

21. Lily Allen – 385

Saw her live April 2007

Most played song - tie Smile, LDN (45)

22. Mason Jennings – 373

Saw him live November 2008

Most Played song - Crown (39)

23. Conor Oberst – 370

Saw him live September 2008

Most played song - Cape Canaveral (37)

24. Grateful Dead – 368

Most played song - Ramble on Rose (30)

25. Flaming Lips – 344

Saw them live August 2006

Most played song - The Yeah Yeah Yeah song (30)

26. Band of Horses – 300

Saw them live September 2007

Most played song - Ode to LRC (40)

27. Led Zeppelin – 291

Most played song - tie Achilles's Last Stand, What is and What Should Never Be (13)

28. Matt Costa – 291

Most played song - Sweet Rose (39)

29. Notorious B.I.G. – 284

Most played song - Things Done Changed (20)

30. Albert Hammond Jr. – 277

Most played song - 101 (32)

31. Fratellis – 295

Most played song - For the Girl (36)

32. Rolling Stones – 247

Most played song - Gimme Shelter (10)

33. Radiohead – 235

Saw them live July 2001

Most played song - 15 Steps (19)

34. Otis Redding – 233

Most played song - That's what My Heart Needs (9)

35. Rhett Miller – 220

Saw him live March 2009

Most played song - Our Love (34)

36. Beck – 211

Most played song - Earthquake Weather (14)

37. Neil Young – 210

Most played song - Walk On (13)

38. Cold War Kids – 205

Saw them live April 2007, September 2008

Most played song - We Used to Vacation (32)

39. Sublime – 199

Most played song - tie 40 oz. to Freedom, Don't Push (10)

40. Golden Smog – 196

Most played song - 5-22-02 (32)

41. Portishead – 196

Most played song - Silence (18)

42. A Tribe Called Quest – 191

Most played song - tie Buggin' Out, Butter (14)

43. My Morning Jacket – 188

Saw them Live September 2008

Most played song - Dondante (Live) (14)

44. Clap Your Hands Say yeah – 186

Most played song - Details of the War (16)

45. MGMT – 185

Saw them live September 2008

Most played song - Time to Pretend (28)

46. Arcade Fire – 184

Most played song - tie, Neon Bible, Intervention (24)

47. Belle & Sebastian – 184

Most played song - tie Piazza, New York Catcher, Step into my Office Baby (23)

48. Kooks – 180

Most played song - She Moves in Her Own Way (30)

49. Drive By Truckers – 177

Most played song - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife (18)

50. Ben Harper – 171

Most played song - Burn One Down (16)

51. Jackson Browne – 169

Seen him live a ton of times

Most played song - Late for the Sky (20)

52. Postal Service – 168

Most played song - The District Sleeps Alone tonight (29)

53. Rivers Cuomo – 167

Most played song - Longtime Sunshine (13)

54. Cowboy Junkies – 156

Most played song - Misguided Angel (22)

55. White Buffalo – 156

Seen him live 5 times in the last year

Most played song - Love Song #1 (39)

56. Bob Dylan – 147

Most played song - My Back Pages (14)

57. Dispatch – 147

Most played song - The General (25)

58. The Virgins – 147

Saw them live May 2009 (last concert!)

Most played song - Fernando Pando (20)

59. Decemberists – 145

Most played song - The Sporting Life (16)

60. Pixies – 144

Most played song - I Bleed (10)

61. Black Keys – 142

Most played song - All You Ever Wanted (16)

62. John Fruiscante – 138

Most played song - Omission (11)

63. Art Brut – 130

Most played song - Moving to LA (34)

64. Massive Attack – 130

Most played song - Protection (16)

65. Ramones – 122

Most played song - tie, Sheena is a Punk Rocker and KKK took my Baby Away (9)

66. Foxboro Hot Tubs – 122

Most played song - Mother Mary (28)

67. TV on the Radio – 120

Most played song - Dancing Choose (16)

68. Good the Bad and the Queen – 111

Most played song -History Song (22)

69. Lykke Li – 104

Saw her Live February 2009

Most played song - Dance Dance Dance (14)

70. Uncle Tupelo – 103

Most played song - No Depression (14)

71. Ryan Bingham – 102

Saw him Live April 2009

Most played song - Bread and Water (13)

Next Year, again

When I was growing up, Cleveland tragedies happened in an instant. Whether it was Rich Karliss's kick sailing through the January chill at Cleveland Stadium, Earnest Byner meeting Jeremiah Castille at the 2 yard line, Michael Jordan, John Elway, Jose Mesa – it was always a case of "oh so close" but so far away. But in recent years, the tragedies have come not with a bang, but with a whimper.

The 2007 NBA Finals were never a series. Even with two kinda close games at home, we never really got too excited. Duncan, Ginobili, and especially Parker, made it clear from the outset that this was about them.

Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS – while a little drama was conceded earlier in the week, game 7 was never REALLY in doubt. Fans point to Joel Skinner's decision to hold Kenny Lofton at third in a one run game, but even fixing that error would only have delayed the inevitable. Just like the NBA Finals, at some point well before the last pitch, the fan's mindset changed from "we have a realistic chance of winning," to rationalizing about how a comeback wouldn't be the most incredible thing in baseball history. It's a comforting feeling, but also one that is looked back on as naïve and stupid. When my team is winning by 4 runs late in a game, I'm not thinking about ways the other team can come back, I'm thinking about winning.

And now this. A series that included two one-point games, an overtime game, and another game not decided until the final minute. A series that could have been considered on of the best ever had it gone to a seventh game. It ends with the greatest whimper yet. The game was decided early. The half-time deficit was 18 (19 if you count the tech), we never got the lead below 10 in the second half. The rationalizing started early. And when the final buzzer sounded, and Lebron untucked his jersey and walked off the court, it was hard to be depressed. It was hard to be angry. In fact, the angriest I got on Saturday night, was when TNT dusted off the tri-yearly Cleveland sports misery montage. The montage that only seems to get longer as we become more and more sick of it. Unfortunately for the montage gods, this series will have a tough time making it onto that montage. There was no defining moment in Game 6, there was no instant of heartbreak, or calamity of spirit.

Which hurts all the more.

After game 4 I stayed up thinking. What if Rashard missed. What if Varajau tipped in that missed free throw that mercifully went in. Then we win. But behind all of my misery and pain, I thought that we can still win this series, 3 in a row is not impossible.

But after game 6, there was no loss of sleep. There was no "what ifs" or "second guesses," the lack of a moment to point to and ask yourself why wasn't there. There was no Jose Mesa, no Elway, or Castille. No Pedro, no Jordan, no Tommy Maddox. Just a team, considered by most to be the best in the NBA, going down to a team that was simply better in all facets. No blown calls, no cruel twists. Just a more cohesive group, better coached, better prepared, and able to catch one or two more breaks over 6 games.

The pain won't come from game 6, but from game 1 – what if Delonte hits that three in the corner, what if Rashard can't hit that miracle over Andy, what if Lebron doesn't dribble into the corner? And game 4 – what if delonte gets that rebound?!?! Sure, Mo had a bad series, Delonte lost a step, and Z was absolutely a disgrace – but in my memory, and all of our collective memories, we won't have an image. The image we'll have is Lebron, standing 25 feet away from the hoop with 6'10" Hedo Turkoglu's arms outreached, and the ball on its way into history. We will all remember where we were on Friday May 22, we will always have that, but beneath that memory, and forever, we'll remember only one other fact. We lost.

We won't remember why. We won't remember how. We will simply remember that the greatest image in Cleveland sports, from the greatest player in Cleveland Sports was ruined 8 days later in the most lobsided playoff defeat in three years. We had no answer for them, and they were the better team. End of another chapter in the tragedy that keeps on writing itself. Curses? Falling out of favor with the Gods? An inferiority complex born upon the shores of Lake Erie? Believe whatever you will. But what's important is not why this is happening, but the fact that for some indescribable reason our lives as sports fans remains defined by failure.

Another season has passed. Since December 1964, 125 Cleveland sports seasons have started, 1 ended 65% through the season. 39 have gone to the playoffs. 0 have ended with a championship. By October, that number will be 126, and certainly by January it will be 127. Next year at this time is our next hope. We will see the same montage, we will hear the same stories. But next June, maybe that image of Lebron standing triumphantly, arms raised in the air, and elation flooding his face, will not be the memory of a game 2 victory, but the final lasting image of this never-ending story.

Hate to say it, but for the 125th time in the last 45 years: "we'll get them next year."