A Man, His Songs and Sobbing to Sarah McLaughlin. Top 10 Songs by Peter Fragola

Written by Peter Fragola. Peter is a husband, dad, writer, principal and music enthusiast who probably has a talent of rap battling. 

People ask me all the time how both my brother and sister are such great musicians and I can’t carry a tune in a paper bag. I was the athlete in the family and am the furthest from a musician my family has ever seen. We had a beautiful antique piano that was passed down through many generations, my parents paid for instrumental lessons and I was encouraged to join the school band. Unfortunately, that lasted all of two months. With all that being said, music has played a vital role in my life. It has helped me through some tough times, pumped me up for big sporting events, and provided the soundtrack to many
occasions.

Therefore, I put together a list of the TOP TEN most important songs of my lifetime:

10. Beastie Boys, Sure Shot (1994)
One of the first albums I bought with my own money. No one can argue the Beastie Bys’ place in music, but I remember playing this particular song loud and proud on the bus ride home from our school field trip to Boston on my Pioneer Discman (with shock protection). I felt like the “baddest” 7 th Grader on the planet that day.

9. Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
The song that blew up the world. The song that defied all rules about how music worked and came so close to getting me to play the guitar. I joined a band (a bunch of kids who lived on my street). I believed we named ourselves PLO-17 and I was going to be the bass player and lead singer. Problem was, I couldn’t play bass guitar or sing. So that dream went down the tubes rather quickly, but the song itself led the way to my interest in other bands like Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

8. MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This; (1990)
I was convinced I was going to be a backup dancer for Hammer. I owned many pairs of Hammer Pants. I performed in a talent show lip-synching this song. I still get made fun of it by my friends almost 30 years later.

7. John Denver and Plácido Domingo - Perhaps Love; (1982)
Yup, Placido and JD are on my list. This song was sunny, summer, weekend mornings. The calm before the storm. The time where we’d sit as a family and have pancakes and everyone was pleasant to be around… then it was time for chores and yard work. The day went downhill quickly after “Perhaps Love” played on the speaker system.

6. Britney Spears – Baby One More Time (1998)
Any male who does not have this on their list, or acknowledge this song and more
importantly the video for this song is a low-down dirty liar. I have nothing else to say, except go watch the video.

5. Redman – “Tonight's Da Night” (1992)
This is the song that got me into rap music. I listed to this song warming up for a basketball game and had to get my own cassette tape from The Wiz the next day. (PS: Nobody Beats the Wiz!)

4. Poison – Every Rose Has its Thorn (1988)
Who knew 80s Hair Bands had so much depth! The philosophical Bret Michaels taught me so much about love while I practiced my multiplication tables.

3. Sarah McLachlan – Angel (1999)
This song (much later after it debuted in the late ‘90s) I attribute to the ASPCA. It is literally the one song I cannot listen to without sobbing uncontrollably…It is the antithesis of fond memories and is the lone song on this list that has impacted my life by making me feel horrible for those poor animal shelter dogs. If I had the money, Id adopt every shelter animal and run my own dog farm somewhere in North Dakota.

2. Bryan Adams – Heaven (1984)
Our wedding song… enough said. (PS we actually used the Candlelight Remix of this song by DJ Sammy for its powerful ballads over a romantic acoustic version of the song… just kidding we just really liked the version). But nothing beats the original, Bryan Adams at his best!

1. Warren G and Nate Dogg - Regulate (1994)
No song in the history of songs gets me pumped up like I do when I hear…
“REGULATORSSSSS… MOUNNNNT UP!” I can’t relate personally to the internal
and external struggles that Mr. G and Mr. Dogg face during this unparalleled tale of friendship, love and betrayal, but I do know all the words and is the only song I can listen to on repeat without getting a headache!