LIST-en up...I love lists

I've been listening to podcasts lately, which, salty humor notwithstanding, have given me much to laugh about and ponder in my driving time.

If I had a podcast, it would be "Deb Loves Lists."  My podcast would be coming up with ideas for lists, listing the things that might fill those lists, and, perhaps, in a fit of ecstasy, listing the lists in preferential order.

If I watch VH-1 for any length of time, it is because they are showing one of their incomparable list shows, like I Love the '70's, I Love the 80's, the 100 Greatest Songs of the '90's, I Love Toys, the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, I Love the '90's...you get the idea.

The format for the list show is simple:

1. Think of something awesome, like "Rock music" or "1984."  (The year, not the book.)
2. Hire a bunch of comedians, musicians, and "personalities" to discuss what was awesome and/or memorable, like, to use the 1984 example, Mary Lou Retton or crack cocaine.
3. Repeat

Most recently, VH-1 has been disappointing me with their choice for the top of these lists.  (SPOILER ALERT! I'm about to tell you what tops several of these lists.)  For example, when choosing the number one song of the 1980's, they chose "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi.

Really.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great song about teenage love and/or pregnancy, right up there with "Don't Stop Believin'" or "Jack and Diane" or "Baby Got Back." It just doesn't scream "1980's" at me, tight pants and enormous hair notwithstanding.  They didn't even wear makeup, for cryin' out loud.

Then, in the 100 Most Shocking Moments in Music History countdown, the number 3 event was the suicide of Kurt Cobain.  "Huh," I thought.  "I guess John Lennon's death is number 1, but what would beat Kurt Cobain's suicide for number 2?"

Number 2: the assassination of John Lennon.  "Huh," I thought.  "What event in recent music history would be more shocking than that?"

I should have known.  The number 1 most shocking moment in music history, according to VH-1, is the death of Michael Jackson.

"Our number one event," intoned Chris Jericho, the host, who proves wrestlers can also be inarticulate and utterly without irony, "is so shocking, I'm sure we can all remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news."

Chris, I hate to tell you, but we can all remember where we were and what we were doing because it happened six months ago.  I'm sorry, but the death of Michael Jackson, while tragic, was the other shoe dropping on a train wreck of a life.  The assassination of John Lennon, on the other hand, was completely shocking and caught the entire world by surprise.  I was five years old when it happened, and I remember it clearly.  What were they thinking?

In my podcast, VH-1's Most Shocking Moments in Music History would not be on my list of Best Lists. We would need to really get into it and reorder it, put some stuff in different places, really dissect the thing and make it work for us.

Then, after my show listing the best list shows, I would do a summary show about all of my favorite summary shows (which is pretty much The Soup, since they canceled Best Week Ever.  Boo.)  Then I could do a reality show with a behind-the-scenes look about the making of reality shows.  It's endless.

It sounds like so much fun!  It's gold, I tell you.

Gold!