Instrumania (70 minutes, Very Light) Wogathon

Pace Breakdown

Slow Walk 23:29

Mod Walk 27:48

Brisk Walk 14:28

Slow Jog 3:48

Mod Jog

Brisk Jog

Run

69:33

Distance: 2.8 to 4.2 miles

Speed: 2.4 to 3.6 MPH

Ave BPM: 105

Jog Beats: 7%

Pace Variability: Low

Who says a song has to have words? Okay, you in the back, I hear you. But the rest of you must agree, then, for pure contemplative walking and jogging, nothing beats a soulful piano riff or flute trill or guitar lick or plucky little banjo pluck or soaring string serenade. This set is almost entirely for walking; the tempo is decidedly slow. So save it for a long, lonely stroll in the hills or along the shore when you want to fine-tune your inner vibes.

Part A: 20 minutes, Very Light (BPM 107, Jog Beats 24%)

Title	Artist	BPM	Time	PC	Comment	Genre	Album/Source
The Lonely Surfer	Jack Nitzsche	106	2:35	5	Not a Beach Bunny in sight	Instrumental Rock	The Lonely Surfer
Wade in the Water	Ramsey Lewis	135	3:48	5	Great piano jazz take on spiritual	Instrumental Jazz	The Best Northern Soul All Nighter... Ever!
Wade In The Water	Harvey Mandel	106	7:51	5	Same song, different approach	Instrumental Rock	Cristo Redentor NADL
Exit	Tangerine Dream	88	5:34	5	Moody number from masters of electronica	Electronic	Exit

Part B: 16 minutes, Very Light (BPM 108, Jog Beats 0)

Title	Artist	BPM	Time	PC	Comment	Genre	Album/Source
Flute Thing	The Blues Project	105	6:03	4	Very long section is slightly off. Also in Flutacious	Psychedelic Rock	Projections NADL
The Brazilian	Genesis	120	4:49	5	One of this Brit rock group’s best instrumentals	Album Rock	Invisible Touch
Love Is Blue	Paul Mauriat	106	2:32	5	Orchestrally lush melody. Short outro	Instrumental Pop	Love Is Blue
Little Martha	The Allman Brothers Band	93	2:07	4	Nice pickin’!	Southern Rock	Eat A Peach

Part C: 34 minutes,Very Light (BPM 103 Jog Beats 0)

Title	Artist	BPM	Time	PC	Comment	Genre	Album/Source
Stranger in a Strange land (instrumental)	The Byrds	117	3:04	5	Roger McGuinn does his thing on guitar	Folk-Rock	Turn! Turn! Turn! bonus tracks NADL
Cry of the Celts	Michael Flatley	125	2:23	5	Irish version of Stomp!	Celtic	Lord of the Dance
(You’re) My World	Joe Satriani	93	3:56	5	Guitar master flings liquid notes	Instrumental Rock	Joe Satriani
Apostrophe’	Frank Zappa	86	5:52	5	Yes, Frank could flat-out rock	Psychedelic Rock	Apostrophe’ NADL
Sirius	Alan Parsons Project	111	3:29	5	Popular NBA intro music	Instrumental Rock	Eye in the Sky
Lucifer	Alan Parsons Project	121	4:12	5	Propulsive orchestra, cool chorus	Prog Rock	Eve
Water Song	Hot Tuna	106	5:18	4	Very nice acoustic guitar	Instrumental Rock	Burgers
Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)	David Crosby	91	6:00	5	Relaxing finish. Short outro	Folk-Rock	If I Could Only Remember My Name....

A New Leaf

Podwogging.com is...not dead, exactly, just full. I've got hundreds of walking and jogging lists on there, and I think to put up any more would require an unjustified retooling of the site and, quite rankly, I've got better things to do. However, I will continue to create woglists, and commencing today will begin posting them here directly on this blog. How this will shake out is a mystery to me, as I experiment with different ways of doing this.

The Pöet
(47 minutes, Vigorous)
Überwog Mix

Pace Breakdown

Slow Walk: 12:04

Mod Walk: 7:12

Brisk Walk: 2:56

Slow Jog: 11:59

Mod Jog: 9:53

Brisk Jog

Run: 2:46

Total : 46:50

Distance: 2.2 to 3.2 miles

Speed: 2.8 to 4.1 MPH

Ave BPM: 121 (slower 117)

Jog Beats: 67% (slower 62%)

Pace Variability: High

Back in the day—like, WAY back in the day—all poems were sung. Poetry has since evolved into a number of different word beasts, but many of the best songs still reflect their poetic roots. Here’s a dozen songs with evocative lyrics to match their musical arrangements. You won’t find any rockers here, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good jogging numbers in this list. So why not transport yourself why burning off a bit of flab?

Title	Artist	BPM	Time	PC	Comment	Genre	Album/Source
Steve’s Song	The Blues Project	109	4:58	3	Project at its flutey progiest	Psychedelic Rock	Projections
Secret Journey	The Police	131	3:34	4	Spiritual and spooky.	80s Rock	Ghost in the Machine
					Very long intro
Staring at the Sun	U2	141	4:37	5	Bono goes blind	90s Rock	Pop
Jersey Thursday	Donovan	103	2:14	4	Short but quite lovely	Singer-Songwriter	Fairytale
Sixty Years On	Elton John	132	4:35	3	Gorgeous strings.	Singer-Songwriter	Elton John
					Long intro
Because	The Beatles	161	2:46	5	Psychedeliclassical.	British Pop	Abbey Road
					Two-Timer
Suzanne	Leonard Cohen	135	3:50	4	Perhaps most poetic song like, ever	Singer-Songwriter	The Best of Leonard Cohen
Late for the Sky	Jackson Browne	83	5:38	5	Rarely has angst been this expressive	Singer-Songwriter	Late for the Sky
Carpet Crawlers	Genesis	145	5:16	4	Quirky rockers at most intriguing	Prog Rock	The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Parasite	Fields	121	2:56	5	Quite poetic, considering the subject matter.	Alternative Rock	Everything Last Winter
					3/4 time, short outro
Summer’s Cauldron	XTC	99	3:20	5	Dreamy, organic and magical.	Alternative Rock	Skylarking
					Long intro, segues into Grass
Grass	XTC	99	3:06	5	Wink, wink.	Alternative Rock	Skylarking
					Long outro

Nightmare on Grammar Street

Hope you had a great Halloween and a greater World Series (sorry ‘bout that, Ranger fans). Now it’s back to school with a wog’s worth of wicked tunes that contain (gasp!) grammatical errors. So if your English teacher looks like he or she is having a Bad Word Day, better refrain from singing one of these songs—or you might be doing the Dunce Cap Dance in the corner. You can find the songs in my Monthly Wog over at Podwogging.com. And that ain’t no lie!

Waltz Wogging

There’s a good reason why most my songs on iTunes that employ 3/4 time do not make satisfactory walking or jogging songs: they’re either too slow or too fast. If a waltz-time number clocks in at 65 bars per minute, your only options are to crawl at 65 beats per minute or run like a maniac at 195 beats per minute. Thus a waltz has to have either fewer than 60 bars per minutes or more than 79 bars per minute to qualify as walkable, joggable, or runable.

Nonetheless, some waltzes do qualify. Here’s a few 3/4-timers that haven’t made into a set list on Podwogging.com. First some fast numbers:

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers—Breaking the Girl, 180 BPM
2. Donovan—Catch the Wind, 177 BPM
3. Traffic—Rainmaker, 166 BPM
4. Tori Amos—Barons of Suburbia, 163 BPM
5. John Lennon—Working Class Hero, 154 BPM

Now for a few slower ones:

6. Leonard Cohen—Sisters of Mercy, 138 BPM
7. Cat Stevens—Morning Has Broken, 131 BPM
8. Fields—School books, 128 BPM
9. Neil Young—Round and Round (It Won’t Be Long), 123 BPM
10. Dionne Warwick—What the World Needs Now Is Love, 108 BPM

Don’t be skeptical, be skiptical

There’s a reason why kids skip. Like climbing trees, doing cartwheels, or laughing hysterically, it’s just plain fun. It’s also good exercise. There’s lots of songs that are a bit slow as a walk, or if double-timed are a bit fast for jog. But they have an irresistible beat that makes you want to do that loosey-bouncy step, and suddenly there you are. Skipping.

SKBL (my code in iTunes for SKIPPABLE) songs generally run from 85 to 100 BPM, though some are in the 160 to 170 range, and I occasionally find songs up to 110 BPM that have that skipping quality. Virtually any song that ISN’T 3/4 time can be skipped to within these pace ranges. On Podwogging.com I have a few lists posted that are exclusively for skipping along to, but there are tons more SKBL songs that haven’t made it into any of my wogging playlists. Here’s just a few of my favorites:

1. At The Zoo, by Simon and Garfunkel. The zookeeper may be fond of rum; we’re just fond of skipping.

2. Mr. Blue Sky, by Electric Light Orchestra. Skipping to this makes me feel like I’m in a Hollywood movie.

3. Rock Lobster, by The B-52’s. Absolutely manic zaniness compels one to get that skip on.

4. Dreaming, by Blondie. You can run, walk, or skip to this upbeat number by the fabulous Debbie Harry.

5. Month of May, by Arcade Fire. Indie rockers put out their best head-banger for our skipping pleasure, from their newest album The Suburbs.

Podwogging posts will now be monthly

I have well over a hundred playlists posted on my Podwogging.com site now, so I’ve decided to decrease the rate at which I post new lists from once a week to once a month. The next scheduled list, English Teacher’s Bane, will thus be posted this Nov. 1st.

But peoples, the Podwogblog will continue weekly, with my fabulous insights into rock and pop music, wogging issues, and the like. So tune out not, and keep stepping spritely.

Jim

New Gold Walk

Like The Fixx, these Brit rockers came out with some of the best moody rock of the 80s, with far more humility than U2’s Bono. Lead singer Jim Kerr has that deep, throaty voice, similar to that of Billy Idol, that melds beautifully with the band’s artistic blend of heavy beats and synth riffs, resulting in mysterious, resonating music—check out New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), quite simply one of the best rock songs ever, for a great example. While they have a dedicated following worldwide, they never reached the sort of pinnacle reserved for U2. (I don’t mean to diss U2, BTW. They rock.) Anyway this week’s wog is really a walk—turns out their best songs are all moderately paced; only Sanctify Yourself approaches jog. Who cares. Check it out at Podwogging.com.