Britney Spears Top Ten #1

Welcome back to my music mix tape as today I go through my first top ten of my favorite Britney Spears songs. Now I can hear some of you groan even though you did click on this to view it so I assume if you don't like Britney you were just curious. I will admit that when she first came out I didn't care much for Britney Spears but after awhile damn it if her catchy pop didn't grow on me! When Britney started going through her problems and had a lot of people backlash at her or scrutinize her, I could actually sympathize with what she was going through and gained a whole new perspective of her as a person and a new found respect. It's the old adage that a person's not so bad once you get to know them and even if not on a personal level like you actually know the person but on a musical level. I don't think there is anything wrong with still loving pop music at my age and if Britney (who is two years older than me) is going to continue to make it then I will always give it a shot. One fun little fact for you before we get started is the song Sometimes became a favorite of my mom since it played on our soft rock/ lite pop station so in the car I would become subjected to it which is probably why I ended up eventually liking Britney Spears so again my mother is the reason why I like some of the stuff I do. On that anecdote, here is the first of my top ten favorite Britney Spears songs...

#10. Toxic from the album In The Zone

This song grew on me after I heard a girl singing it constantly at the movie theater job I had way back when this song came out. I have to admit that the chorus is catchy and I actually like those high-pitched strings as they kind of remind me of Psycho and I never thought I would hear surf guitar in a Britney Spears song but it actually kind of works! The title of the song pretty much spells out the lyrics that the man you are with is literally like drugs: you're addicted to him and he's poison: not good for you at all. The video is interesting with Brit playing on every male fantasy as a stewardess, sexy spy and diamond covered, naked woman? Oh well more power to her as the closest I get to wearing diamonds is on my ears...

#9. Womanizer from the album Circus

Another song by Britney that just got stuck in my head after hearing someone (this time my best friend Amy) playing it in her car and then I'm humming that hook and chorus like crazy that I went out and bought the album just to have it! It certainly will draw in your attention with that siren-klaxon at the beginning and then that robotic-synthesizer beat that drives the song has me bobbing my head and grinning like an idiot as I listen to it in my car (seriously because Amy's copy of Circus got stuck in my CD player and is still there!) Again there isn't any over interpretation of the song based on it's title: it's about a womanizer. A different woman for every day of the week this man thinks he can get what ever girl he wants but there are some out there who won't be fooled and can call him out on his Lothario ways.

#8. Radar from the album Blackout

A good song always will get you with that first note and when a song called Radar opens with little sonar pulses it will either drive you crazy like a bat or get your attention! That sexy come-hither tone Spear uses to sing the song makes me think of some sexy secret agents playing a game of cat and mouse with the female agent intrigued by her male counterpart and the 007 not knowing that he is being followed...or maybe he does know the intentions of our Charlie's Angel. That's my own interpretation of the lyrics as I do like the video posted above for its subtlety and its sexy, posh love triangle and find it to be a very mature Britney we are dealing with!

#7. Do Somethin' from the album My Prerogative: The Greatest Hits

Guitars, bass and dance-pop...not possible is it? Yep it is in this energetic number credited to Britney's alter-ego Mona Lisa that we get that triple combo in a fun song about just going out and having fun no matter what anyone says! I know I use to get looks from others and even my own friends when we would go out to clubs and dance because frankly I have no sense of rhythm and would just dance however I felt to the beat whether I looked stupid or not as it was a way to just unwind. People can give you looks when all they are doing is sitting there sipping on drinks so it always takes one person and one song to get people up and moving...in the club it would be me and this song!

#6. You Drive Me Crazy (The Stop Remix)

The original version is from Spear's debut album ...Baby One More Time and to tell you the truth I have never liked that one...but I love this version! The first time I heard this and got to the part where Brit goes "STOP!" and the music just abruptly does as she says made me smile just like she does at that part in the video. The energy of this version is less bubblegum than the original but still full of teen pop that is dance club ready and there's even a little cowbell thrown in there for you! This version appeared on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Drive Me Crazy which is why Melissa Joan Hart is in the video and who's that guy? Yep it's a young Adrian Grenier from Entourage (he was in the movie too!). Also I like Brit's green top and her cute yet dorky waitress character (she's like a nerdy Pink Lady from Grease!)

#5. Cinderella from the album Britney

I actually heard this song because again my friend Amy had this CD and we would listen to it in her car until it got replaced by whatever new CD she bought after that! Being that I love fairy tales, it's very easy to see why title wise I found interest in this song and sometimes how you use that as a title to fit the lyrics is interesting to hear. Rule of thumb, ladies: if your boyfriend calls you Cinderella...it's likely not a cute nickname. Especially if you are a girlfriend like me who is not forced but chooses to do things for her man and does them with at least some respect from him but if you do everything for your man and get opposite results...it's time to ditch that glass slipper because you have running to do! Despite going off on another tangent of over-analyzed lyrics, that pop beat is still present on an album focused with maturity, sexuality and being an adult. I don't think anyone's life is a happy fairy tale unless you're actually married to a prince and Britney makes that very clear...you have to make it one on your own.

#4. Stronger from the album Oops I Did It Again!

Another instance of where a video is the first exposure I got for a certain song and after seeing this video I had to go out and buy its parent album! I like the dark atmosphere that was way different from the videos before it and showed a very empowered and maturing Britney. If you are a woman who has ever been treated like property by your man  or has been made to feel like you can't do anything for yourself...Britney is the one to tell you how to be your own woman! Sometimes security is nice but if you aren't being appreciated or being used then it's time to go it alone and even though it may seem scary at first...you'll make it! On a purely off-hand point, I love Brit's outfit and I want that sweet Mustang of hers!

#3. Everytime from the album In The Zone

I've heard it said that this is one of the best songs Britney Spears has ever written and sung and I have to be one to agree! That music box melody is so sad and a representative of real heartache and pain because to me music boxes are things of the past that are long gone and nothing besides the loss of a family member is as painful as losing someone you loved whether through means of your own or not. Sometimes you say things you don't mean, or you cheat on them in moments of weakness or hit them in moments of anger and begging for forgiveness from any of those things may never be given because you wait too late. There are rumors that this song is about her break-up with Justin Timberlake but again rumors so only Britney knows for sure but still it comes from a place of regret and pain. I've also heard things about the video and my interpretation is that it was a morbid fantasy that became an almost eerie coincidence mirroring Britney's future struggles. For someone who has had depressed, self-harming thoughts in the past I think the suicide theory of the video at that present time is irrelevant. The smile at the end is not laughing it off as a dream... it is a smile of someone grateful to be alive.

#2. If U Seek Amy from the album Circus

Veering off from a very serious and almost downer direction, let's go back to the poppy, cheeky Britney Spears that I've come to adore! Since I am much older now listening to music it did not take me as long to find the double meaning in the lyrics I was hearing and apparently, I wasn't the only one as most parents were in an uproar about their kids going around singing a song with the dread F word in it and finding out it was a Britney Spears song! It's phonetically implied to be that word but again people hear what they want to hear and can turn a good song into something nasty but as for me I just love that head bobbing beat as I always do but I can appreciate Brit's little naughty side, Amy obviously being another alter-ego a little more sexy and saucy than her "Mona Lisa" persona from Do Somethin' which in no way is a bad thing! It's lyrically about finding a celebrity or person of nearly-famous status in local circles by one of many idolizing sycophants in almost a sexually, obsessive way or as the video shows quite literally: what really goes on behind closed doors stays behind those doors and the image we present in public may be for your own good.

So out of all the Britney Spears songs to make this first Top Ten installment...which one is my top pick? Well not only is it this list's number one but it is probably my favorite song released by Britney...ever! What is it you ask?...

#1. Break The Ice from the album Blackout

I first heard this song on the radio probably a couple of months after it was released and that first synthesizer beat with its electronic, R&B groove immediately made my ears perk up like a dog hearing kibble hit the bowl! With Brit's breathy vocals and that interlude in the middle seems to culminate to what the steamy lyrics are leading up to and when I finally saw the video, my inner geek just exploded because...ANIME!! I love anime and to see Brit in Japanese animation style back in her sexy spy role was just the cherry on on a triple sundae of lyrics, visuals and sound. Everyone knows what it means to break the ice but in this song I think it's more like melting the ice...because you're having sex on it! I'm trying not to get too vulgar but that's what the song makes me feel by the lyrics I have heard so many times! You look up those lyrics and tell me you don't see a hot, steamy night of passion instead of a little candlelight dinner date! Remember how I said Radar reminded me of two secret agents playing a romantic game of cat and mouse? Break The Ice could be either the prequel or sequel to that scenario if you ask me...that's a lot of seduction if you ask me. Oh Britney you are such tease with the to be continued on this video...making us want more as always!

Like Britney I'll leave you hanging on any future Spears Top Tens so until then...which genre or artist will we tackle next?...

Gloria Estefan Top 10 #1

So now I am ready to talk about Gloria Estefan whom I absolutely love! In the beginning of the 80s she was apart of the group Miami Sound Machine as their lead vocalist but soon got pushed to the foreground where they started to be marketed as Gloria Estefan And The Miami Sound Machine. Toward the end of the 1980s and early 1990s she became more of a solo artist and returned to her Cuban musical roots and became more of a dance-disco diva than pop singer. On March 22nd of 1990, Gloria Estefan was severely injured in an accident involving her tour bus where her spine was fractured and about an inch away from leaving her completely paralyzed for the rest of her life but she went through surgery and therapy to come back stronger than ever! I view Gloria Estefan as one of the pop singers and rock stars that I looked up to as being a positive role model for young women due to her determination, talent and her beauty. Another thing I admire Gloria for is that she has been married to her husband Emilio Estefan Jr. for 35 years and he was her first and only boyfriend! He has produced her albums and they love each other so much that I call that a true power couple! Praise aside, I owe discovering Gloria Estefan mostly to my half-sister Tamara as she did so with many other musical artists sometimes in a combined effort along with my mom and I am always appreciative of that. So today let's take a look at the first of my ten favorite Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine songs.

#10. Here We Are from the album Cuts Both Ways

This is probably the song you think of first when you hear Gloria Estefan's name or maybe it's just me because this is a very sweet yet sultry ballad...pure romance for a person like me! The bass guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and percussion makes a great combination with Estefan's vocals and the song is about finding love, being with that person, later becoming only friends but never forgetting the special times you shared. Inside you know you still love them but to the rest of the world you have to hide it especially the person who still has your heart even if they don't know it.

#9. Betcha Say That from the album Let It Loose

I saw this video when I was really young and thought that Gloria Estefan was so beautiful and that it looked like she and the Miami Sound Machine had so much fun together! I think the infectious pop beat is why I like this song because of course a young kid may not have any idea about what the song is truly about. With new knowledge, it's a song about falling in love with a guy who uses cheesy lines, innocent manipulation and probably has broken the hearts of many girls in the past. The man in question doesn't seem to do so maliciously but he just happens to be a big flirt and it probably pushes some girls away and wraps others around his finger until the feelings gone and he skedaddles (probably afraid of commitment...I know a man like that...) Then the day happens that he truly does fall in love and wants to settle down but the girl in question knows about his past and isn't sure if she can believe him. Now that I think about it I like the song because I kind of relate to it now...is that really a good thing?

#8. Bad Boy from the album Primitive Love

There are actually two videos to this song but the one above is the version I saw first and yep you guessed it besides the members of Miami Sound Machine in one part...most of those actors playing cats are actually from Cats. Again this shows me how a good band can even stand dressing up to make a memorable video and well Gloria does have a velvet voice like a cat's purr so I guess it fits. There's really no deep reasoning behind the lyrics it's simply being in love with a bad boy maybe not a criminally bad boy or a dangerous one unless that just happens to be your type (I'm not judging anyone!).

#7. Reach from the album Destiny

Gloria Estefan is a powerful singer when it comes to ballads and when she is given a song to sing by master songwriter Diane Warren and it also happens to be chosen as an Olympic anthem, you know chills will be going down your arms in goose bumps! When the Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta back in 1996 who better to sing your official song of the games than a woman who knows what it is to fight like Gloria Estefan! Her accident and her parents escaping from the Cuban regime under Castro to come to America you know that she can push the power of her emotions into her voice. As the title states, it's about reaching for your dreams no matter what and we all have dreams we want to achieve no matter how impossible they may seem. I think anyone can do this as long as they are within realistic limits and I may still be chasing some of my dreams but I'll keep on reaching thanks to Gloria and this song...

#6. Dr. Beat from the album Eyes Of Innocence

Another fun video that is enough to attract a young child's attention and as the word is in the title, also the beat which is dancey and infectious like a musical ear worm is meant to be! It's self-explanatory that once music gets into your head you can't get rid of it but then when it moves to your feet that you can't stop dancing maybe you should consider visiting a real doctor but until it becomes a fatal emergency...you can dance as much as you like!

#5. I See Your Smile from the Greatest Hits album

You should know by now that I am a lover of ballads and when Gloria Estefan sings a ballad, it can really hit you where you live or at least bring a tear to your eye or a crack in your heart. From the moment I heard this song I was in love with it and when I learned it was written by Jon Secada I realized why it was so lyrically beautiful! It's a song about loving someone who brights up the day with their smile and makes your life easier through all the rough patches but then suddenly not having them anymore due to distance or maybe even death. They may be the one who got away in the romantic sense but as a friend they still remain in your heart even if separated by distance.

#4. Can't Forget You from the album Into The Light

I wasn't lying when I told you I love Gloria Estefan ballads now was I? The first time I heard this song is when I saw the video on VH1 and of course fell in love with it. By now you know I love songs about well...love in all its forms: positive or tragic. Sometimes you don't appreciate the love you have until it is no longer in your life especially when you are the one that walked away. Maybe you were confused or just too young to understand the good thing you had especially where love is concerned but now it hurts not to have that love anymore. It's even more difficult when you can't forget that person and then try to bring that love back by maybe trying to get back together and it is now too late.


#3. Don't Wanna Lose You from the album Cuts Both Ways

This was the first Gloria Estefan song and video I ever saw which began my full blown love of Gloria Estefan and let me explore everything that came before this. I like the simplicity of the video in its sepia tones and how Gloria is wearing little or no makeup and still looks so gorgeous! Everyone knows what it is like to love someone and how you want that person to love you for just being yourself and there are some of us who just where our hearts on our sleeves so that we are always open and vulnerable to the pain that comes with love. Sometimes it's tough not to fight with each other but you don't want it to get so bad that you end up walking away from each other but if you did end up saying good-bye would you lose apart of yourself as well...watching the other half of you walk away?

#2. Can't Stay Away From You from the album Let It Loose

From that first opening note, I was hooked on this song and I like how the tone is more pensive than sad and even though very adult contemporary I don't really think of it as a ballad. Yes it is slow to be considered a ballad but I find it more of an emotional plea from the heart that is just too powerful to be labeled a ballad because too people who don't appreciate this type of music could put the word sappy in front of it and I don't like that. I think maybe I relate to the lyrical content of the song too much is why I can't see it as a ballad because believe me I have been in a situation similar to this! Sometimes you will love someone and that love is not reciprocated because the other person only wants to be friends or maybe they are pining for someone else and you feel like you may just be the last resort. You know that maybe you need to just walk away and try to find love somewhere else but you don't want to lose this person as a friend. You know you can't stay away from people you care about but in the long run I've found sometimes you do and it's all for the best. 

So which hit is this list's top pick? It just happens to be one of my favorite ballads and even though the live version is best the album one is too...

#1. Words Get In The Way from the album Primitive Love

This was I believe on a collection of Gloria Estefan videos my sister recorded for me when I was little after I discovered her for the first time and the video above was how I heard the song until I found it on her greatest hits album in its original album/studio version. It's always good to hear performers sing live without all the studio sound behind it because it proves just how powerful some singers really are and Gloria Estefan sounds beautiful live! Being in a friendship that was once an old relationship can be hard if you have to watch your former flame or crush be with someone new and you will hate the day when they come to tell you that they are falling in love. It's going to be especially hard because you have been trying to get your courage together to tell them how much you love them and now you know before your heart becomes broken further you just have to walk away. This song is not the object of your affection getting a wake-up call and realizing they have loved you all along but you being strong enough to admit you may never fall in love again they way you hope and being the one to walk away before any pain is caused.

So are you a little impressed by how much music I like and how many different artists I love? Well even if you aren't  I'm still not going to stop talking about my large music collection! So what artist will I talk about next or are we going to get some more randomness? I hope you come back and see!