Get This Party Started, Pink

The perfect summer song. Too bad it came out in November -- otherwise, it would fall under the 'perfect summer song' category.

Like A Feather, Nikka Costa

Which came first -- the Prince, or the protége?

Cities In Dust, Siouxsie & The Banshees

When the bogus memo was circulating the Internet about songs that Clear Channel radio stations were banned from playing after the September 11 bombings, I was amazed this one wasn't on it. After all, it is more relevant than "Imagine," for Christ's sake. I amused myself by imagining bin Laden singing this song in a cave somewhere.

Name Of The Game, Crystal Method

It won't get nearly as much airplay / mindshare as "Busy Child," but it's still as infectious. You have to wonder what the creative process is like for musicians like Crystal Method, the Chemical Brothers, or Armand Van Helden. Do they noodle around in their studios, hopped up on goofballs, playing around with loops and sequencers until they hit upon that perfect beat?

Rock DJ, Robbie Williams

While in New York in February for the Internet World Wireless show (before AYG went under for the second time), we would go to a small Irish pub called the Blarney Rock. For whatever reason, I played this song each night we would go there, and the waitress would come over and hug me each time. She was a honey.

Rockin' The Suburbs, Ben Folds

Ben Folds curses in context better than any of the gangsta rap acts working today. In addition, he is more self-deprecating than anyone outside of Ani DiFranco. Or maybe Stroke 9's singer.

Kick Some Ass, Stroke 9

This was the lead single of the soundtrack to 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,' and I had never heard of the band before. There goes Kevin Smith again, getting me to discover new schtuff.

Fat Lip, Sum 41

Just so you know, the band's name comes from the total age of the four members of the band. You have to love the fact that the kids are living the American dream, getting to be rock stars before they can drink. It's a good thing these guys are good, or I would hate them more than the Backstreet Boys and all of their ilk.

Hey Pretty, Poe

The remix of this song is alright, and I suppose her brother is the big counter-culture hero these days, but I think the original song is vastly better. If I still had sex, I would say this is a great sex song. Ah, memories.

Short Skirt, Long Jacket, Cake

I will always think of Jill Storie when I hear this song, for reasons I cannot divulge...

Gorgeous, The Start

Just when I think M2 has become irrelevant and trite, they go and show me yet another new band.

Surrender, Cheap Trick

This might be the third or fourth year-end wrap-up that this song has appeared in, but there's a VERY good reason for it this year. While in Chicago for our yearly pilgrimage to Wrigley Field (where the cover photo comes from), Marty, Cohe, Tom and I ended up at a bar down the street from our hotel called the Lakeview Landings. We intended to make it a pub crawl, but we stayed here, mostly because of a great '70s cheese cover band named Something For Joey.

Tom noticed that a couple of audience members were invited up on stage to sing with the three-piece outfit, and approached one of the singers. Seems the lead singer wasn't there, for whatever reason, and they needed all the help they could get.

Tom asks her, "Do you think they know any Cheap Trick?"

Meanwhile, Marty is getting melancholy about missing a family member on this trip (Howard, who had passed away some years ago, would have loved to have been out with us). He looks up, asks Cohe, "Where's Tom and Devin?"

At that exact moment, Something For Joey tears into "Surrender," with Tom and me singing the song. We rocked the fucking house. Marty and Cohe shot a roll of film just on us, because without it, no one would have believed the story.

In retrospect, rather than leaving the stage immediately after the song, I should have asked if they knew any Queen.

Monkey Developers, Digital Droo

The story goes like this: Steve Ballmer, excitable Microsoft CEO has a little problem. He resembles a Silverback Ape whenever he gets excited, and people who aren't drinking the Redmond Kool-Aid love to get their hands on footage of Steve doing his thing. This track, mixed by the MacAddict musical scribe, takes two of Steverino's best hits and mixes them together with a killer dance beat. If I ever get the nerve, I'll play this one night when I'm DJing.

Wade In The Water, Ramsey Lewis

With all of the jazz I listened to this year, I had to put at least one jazz composition in the soundtrack. Ramsey Lewis' music is all distinctively his, and his stamp is on a lot of Blue Note recordings. He's not one of the more known Golden Age of Jazz artists, and definitely deserves a discovery or three.

Start The Commotion, Wiseguys

Yes, kids, it's that song. Leave it to Mitsubishi to resurrect the career of a band who had gone under years ago with a snippet of a song that didn't even chart in America when it was released in 1998. I want to be in the car with the three black chicks. They look like they're having the most fun. I would have even pumped the gas.

Weapon of Choice, Fatboy Slim

Another case of the video killing the radio star. Christopher Walken's dancing in the video overshadows another killer Fatboy Slim track, but the dancing shouldn't surprise anyone. He does it all the time on Conan O'Brien's show.

The Work (Pt. 1), Prince

Glad to hear Prince is listening to his James Brown records again. This song was actually downloaded from Napster, when Prince sanctioned the release of the song through the service, about a month before the final boom was lowered on Shawn Fanning's baby. Yeah, Gnutella is a more comprehensive solution, but I miss Napster. A lot.

Take California, Propellerheads

Another song given second breath by a commercial -- this one appears in the ad for Apple's killer device, the iPod. If any of you loved me even a little, you would buy me an iPod for my birthday.

Fired, Ben Folds

A couple more gushes about Ben Folds. First, he's one of the best songwriters working today, and he's able to write an amazing love song, a bittersweet breakup ballad, or a weightless piece of pop fluff and make them all sound effortless. Finally, when I couldn't figure out how to end this soundtrack, this song jumped out at me. You can hear why.