SHIN SPLINTS REDUX – Audio Profile

This new series is guest blogged by Doug Logan.

Doug Logan is an Adjunct Professor of Sports Management, at New York University.

He was the CEO for USATF from 2008 until September 2010.

He was also the CEO, President and Commissioner for Major League Soccer from 1995 to 1999.  To read more about his background and involvement in Track, Soccer, Rugby and the Music industry, read my Freelap Friday Five Interview

This is his 22nd article. Click here for his entire series.

SHIN SPLINTS REDUX

Audio Profile

The other night I was watching Charlie Rose on PBS and his guest was Daniel Boulud, the famous chef and New York restauranteur. Their discussion was related to the premise “…you are what you eat”. This led me to remember something I said to my Human Resource Management class at NYU recently. We were discussing interviewing techniques and I told them that I can tell a lot about a person if I know the titles of the stack of books on their bedside table. [If they have no stack that tells me a lot, too!]

I also believe you can learn about someone by knowing what songs they listen to. In the cause of complete transparency I am going to give you a deep peek into my soul. I have selected fifty of my favorite songs and let you play the interviewer. I picked songs that had an emotional tug or that were representative of an era in my life. They are in no particular order, nor are they my only favorite songs.

Here we go:

1. Nature Boy by Nat [King] Cole
2. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkle
3. Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones
4. Lagrimas Negras by Bebo y Sigala
5. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills and Nash
6. Miss You by The Rolling Stones
7. Long Train Running by The Doobie Brothers
8. A Song for You by Leon Russell [also like the Whitney Houston version]
9. Imagine by John Lennon
10. Welcome to the Jungle by Guns ‘n Roses
11. Cuando Ya No Me Quieras by Eliades Ochoa
12. Dies Irae by any good Gregorian Chant Choir
13. Runaround Sue by Dion [after the Belmonts]
14. I Am, I Said by Neil Diamond
15. Que Murmuren by Cuarteto Patria
16. Yesterday by The Beatles [I remember playing this song 25 times in a row on a jukebox in a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1967 while on R & R from Vietnam]
17. First of the Gang to Die by Morrissey
18. Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed
19. Lady Marmalade by Labelle [also like the cover with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink]
20. Careless Whisper by Wham
21. Say You, Say Me by Lionel Richie
22. Enter Sandman by Metallica
23. I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen
24. Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin
25. Just a Friend by Biz Markie
26. Human by The Killers
27. Red, Red Wine the UB40 version
28. Trading Places by Usher
29. Ay Dios, Amparame by Los Van Van
30. Bright Lights by Gary Clark Jr.
31. Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top
32. Dear Avery by The Decemberists
33. I Want You To Want Me by Cheap Trick
34. All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan
35. Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas
36. Ohio by Neil Young
37. Everybody Talks by The Neon Trees
38. Alleluia by Jeff Buckley
39. Under The Bridge by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
40. Diplomat’s Son by Vampire Weekend
41. Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash
42. Sex Machine by James Brown
43. Seventeen by Janis Ian
44. Sugar on My Tongue by Talking Heads
45. Little Red Corvette by Prince
46. Roxanne by The Police
47. Another Brick in The Wall by Pink Floyd
48. My Baby Just Cares For Me by Nina Simone
49. Got My Mojo Workin’ by Muddy Waters
50. Blues in the Night by Mel Torme

Any surprises? No Elvis, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Ray Charles or Bruce Springsteen. No Arrowsmith, The Who, The Doors or Elton John. No Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Carly Simon or Norah Jones. Very few political or protest songs. No Free Bird. No American Pie. And, no Sinatra.

There, you have it. A distillate of over a half a century of losing myself in song. Once I finished the list I thought of another bunch I could have added. I have no idea whether you can tell more about me after reading this but it was a lot of fun compiling and reminiscing.

Be well.