Harold alerted me to the back page of "EW", whereupon Stephen King holds forth on popular culture once a month. This week, he lists his REAL Top 20. Not what he thinks is hip, his posture for the community, which he recently did, but what his iTunes library says he played most.

Pretty surprising.

Especially number 13: "If You Wanna Get To Heaven". By the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. I bought that album, JUST FOR THAT SONG!

Number 2 is the original "Going To A Go-Go", by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. He downloaded it after hearing the Stones’ cover… SO DID I!

He’s got Ryan Adams at #16, with "La Cienega Just Smiled". And Pat Green with "Wave On Wave" at number 14… I love both of those too… Even though other tracks of theirs are my favorites.

And number one… TUBE SNAKE BOOGIE! By ZZ Top. I’m sure Billy’s gonna love that one.

But what was surprising was the low number of plays. "Tube Snake" has only been spun 59 times. "La Cienega" 25. I’ve got tracks played over 200 times… On my old computer. I made a playlist of those, my Top Fifty. My all time most played track was Eels’ "Jeannie’s Diary". Then Dido’s "Sand In My Shoes". But neither is the most played in THAT playlist anymore… Number one from the old computer, having wiped the slate clean and restarted the count on this Mac Pro in September 2006, is…Boston’s "Hitch A Ride".

I’d tell you I don’t need to hear "More Than A Feeling". That my favorite cut on Boston’s debut is "Foreplay/Long Time". But it’s "Hitch A Ride" I’ve played most. Shit, I’ve even played the DEMO 14 times, and it sounds like it’s being played on an AM radio three houses away… It’s just a bit different. Same tune, but different lyrics. It’s entitled SAN FRANCISCO DAY!

Why do I love "Hitch A Ride"? It’s the MOOD! It’s like someone’s opened a door to a room in your house you didn’t know existed, and Brad Delp is sitting on a couch in front of the stereo with a babe grooving on the tune. You could say I’ve played "Hitch A Ride" so much because he took his own life, but that wouldn’t be true… There’s no song I sing in my head more.

Number two most played from the OLD computer, with 46 plays on my NEW computer, is the acoustic version of James McMurtry’s "We Can’t Make It Here"… Funnily, I found out about it from Stephen King, in "Entertainment Weekly"! It’s all about a trusted source… And I’m not a huge fan of his novels, but I know Steve loves AC/DC… I’m always interested in what he’s got to say about music.

I could continue to cruise the old playlist, to show my bona fides, but I’m just gonna do what Mr. King did, list my Top 20. From this Mac Pro, starting on 9/11/06.

In case you don’t know, iTunes only registers a complete play. The icon has to go all the way from left to right. So, a partial play doesn’t count. And, of course, even though I sync multiple iPods to this computer, the plays on those devices don’t count either.

Here goes:

20. "Stay" Little Big Town" (44 plays)

From their debut, which got no traction. Oh, you’ll love this. The intimacy of a Stevie Nicks number without sounding like a Fleetwood Mac rip-off.

20. "The King Must Die" Elton John (44)

I used to say my favorite album was "Tumbleweed Connection". But I play the first more. Oh, what a sound… Like it’s cut in a CATHEDRAL!

18. "Cast Your Soul" Wendy Waldman (45)

I wrote about "Restless In Mind" on Friday… This is the other track that was on my Nano.

Doesn’t sound ANYTHING like what’s on the radio today. Sounds like MUSIC! What you’d expect to hear on a blustery day on your iPod at the top of a mountain.

17. Rascal Flatts "Still Feels Good" (46)

Oh does it feel good!

If you’re a sixties/seventies rocker, you MUST hear this. Crosby, Stills & Nash with optimism. Check it out!

17. "We Can’t Make It Here" James McMurtry (46)

From the aforementioned playlist from the old computer.

The BEST twenty first century protest song. Written for the 2004 campaign, it’s the essence of THIS campaign.

Unfortunately, now you can only get this version P2P. This acoustic take was cut in a hurry for release. The urgency and intimacy are superior to the studio take, which is good, but not BRILLIANT!

James used to give this away free on his site. But he likes the studio take better. Guess that’s his prerogative…

If you listen to ONE track from this list, make it THIS!

15. "Where I Stood" Missy Higgins (47)

14. "14" Paula Cole (49)

It’s almost like this album didn’t come out.

I wonder why people even make records. There’s no video play. AAA does not have the traction its adherents say it does… Check this out. Forget the underarm hair, what you’ve read in the press…this is more magical than anything on Bruce Springsteen’s new album.

13. "Secrets" Van Halen (50)

I binged and downloaded everything Van Halen had ever done with Dave. I didn’t know this.

Eddie is not a one note bludgeoner. This is lyrical, it dances. (And you will too when you hear it…)

13. "Raining On Sunday" Keith Urban (50)

My friend Eric Garland thinks this is sacrilegious. He can only listen to the rendition by the writer, Radney Foster…but I’ve only played that all the way through twice. Same song, different vibe. And I heard Keith’s take first!

11. "So Little Time To Fly" Spirit (51)

Just go out and buy "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus". On faith. You’ll love that so much you’ll be dying for more. Start here!

10. "I’m With The Band" Little Big Town (52)

Wrong first single. This wasn’t made for country radio, this was made for CONCERT! When they hit the stage and start singing this a cappella, the world fades away, all you can do is point your head towards the heavens and sing along like a coyote!

9. "Wrapped" Pat Green (54)

I can’t tire of this.

9. "Stupid Boy" Keith Urban (54)

This is the track that single-handedly got me into country music. With the long, moody instrumental coda.

I love this, but I’m no longer sure it’s my favorite.

There’s the aforementioned "Raining On Sunday". The satellite radio country staple "You’ll Think Of Me" (number 25 with 41 plays) and number 22, with 43 plays, "Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Me". Download ALL of these and tell me you HATE COUNTRY!

7. "Boondocks" Little Big Town (56)

What can I say, I love ’em!

6. "Don’t Waste My Time" Little Big Town (58)

This is also from the ignored first album. I love the band so much, I had to download it. Funny to find such magical tracks.

I’m waiting for the kind of love
That is strong enough
To walk through anything
So don’t waste my time!

5. "Never Be Lonely" The Feeling (58)

Didn’t like the new album much, but the stuttering here will close you.

Meanwhile, sitting at number 23 is my favorite track from "Twelve Stops And Home", "Sewn", with 41 spins. THIS kind of shit should be played on Top Forty radio!

4. "Live With Lonesome" Little Big Town (61)

A bittersweet walk down a country lane. Utterly FANTASTIC!

3. "Bones" Little Big Town (63)

The Fleetwood Mac soundalike that got me into the band. It only took one listen, it’s THAT GOOD!

2. "Hitch A Ride" Boston (73)

1. "Wrapped" Walt Wilkins (90)

Yes, the exact same song as #9 above. Pat and Walt co-wrote it. But whereas Pat’s take is sung in a raucous bar, Walt’s is performed in an almost empty roadhouse deep in the heart of Texas where no one knows his name. He gets in his car, driving hours to the next gig, but as this song runs through his head, thinking of his love, he’s got a smile on his face, he’s in a good mood.

Now I’m gonna mention one more. Because I want to.

Number 21 is Jack Ingram’s cover of Hinder’s "Lips Of An Angel". This song is so good, it can be done in a country fashion and still be JUST AS EFFECTIVE! The Hinder original slid right by me… Now I know why that album was so big. Hell, I’ve played the Hinder original 23 times now too…

"It’s funny that you’re calling me tonight
And, yes, I’ve dreamt of you too"

Last week I fired up my e-mail after a long day at Musexpo and in my caffeine haze I saw a name I recognized. She was talking about Petty, who we got into together. Actually, she was writing to ask if she’d ever told me she’d seen him in Gainesville, before we lived together.

Years had gone by. But it was like we were still living together. Those memories fade away, but they’ don’t disappear.

Music when done right, is life itself. Doesn’t matter the style, when the writer nails it, it’s pure truth.

I just wanted to mention "Lips Of An Angel" because hipsters deride Hinder, they need to be into something edgier, more flavor of the moment, less meat and potatoes. But "Lips Of An Angel" is the best pure songwriting on this list (or off it, as the case might be…) It could be covered ten years from now, even twenty, and be just as poignant.

Not that any of these tracks are of the moment, soon to be forgotten. I can’t imagine passing on a gig by any one of these artists in the future. I need to go hear these songs that I know so well, that are part of my life, that are my life.