Usually the last day of November is the first day of the Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown. I share stories about the previous years, look back on the Countdown from the year prior and share 5 songs that almost made it. The first 20 days of December would get a song per day, along with a blurb about the song, artist, album, and anything else I felt necessary writing about. I am changing things up slightly this year, and I will go into further details below...
For what it's worth, the first J1 Countdown was done in 2009. It was as loosely done as you can imagine, and honestly ended with me just throwing songs out and that being that. In 2010 I decided to keep a record of new songs released, what I was listening to throughout the year and put together the first actual countdown on Xanga. The first two or three years (I honestly don't remember or have the records), I just shared 5 songs a week until the end of the year and not much else other than their order. For the last decade, the Countdown looked pretty much the same, with the song and album, a YouTube link, a blurb about each song, and a listing of prior years. 2013 was the first year I moved things over to Blogspot - you can see the first #1 here.
Realistically, things ran fairly smoothly in the early years. I'd have the list done by mid-November, write most (if not all) of the blurbs by the end of the month, and share from there. As work and life obligations piled up, it became apparent that the original model wasn't sustainable, and it got to the point in 2017 and '18 that I was only a few days ahead as I wrote each blurb. It got to the point where I was asking myself: is this even worth it any more?
But by then, I was using Last.FM and Spotify fairly religiously. It was easier than ever to keep track of what I listened to and find new releases from all around the world. The Countdown in 2009 was just songs I heard on the radio, from artists I already knew/followed on MySpace/Facebook, and songs I'd hear on the muzak at work. In 2021 I had entire playlists devoted to new music and new releases from across the sonic landscape, and it seemed like it would be too easy to just keep going until I could write no more.
And suddenly, I couldn't write anymore. December 1st of last year, I sat down to get ahead and write a few blurbs, and I felt zero motivation. And on the 2nd, 3rd, and beyond. It wasn't until two weeks into December that I realized I had to make a choice - either figure out a solution, or scrap the entire event and just give it in a list format. Things ended up looking a little... different... last year, and by the end I truly considered ending the Countdown at 13 lucky years.
Well, here we are. Year 14. I've decided to streamline things just a little - I'll still do a song per day (for my sanity) but it'll only be a paragraph about each, and I'll continue to add my favorite lyric(s) from each as well. Why? Because deep down, I honestly love writing about music, even if I've lost a lot of the passion I had the last decade and a half. Also, I've stared at a list of over 50 songs from 2022 for the last month trying to figure out just what order they could possibly fall in. It's been a GREAT year for new releases, and I can't wait to share my favorites with you for the next month!
See you tomorrow!
