Eric, the Viking Pundit, posted a list of the last 15 songs he downloaded from iTunes. Not surprisingly, people started ripping on some of his selections. And really, Ace of Base? Ew.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about what songs I'm most embarrassed to have on my iPod. As you read these, you'll have to keep in mind that I've always been a fan of alternative music, and, coming of musical age in the late 80s and 90s, that meant I listened to stuff by the likes of the Replacements, Sugar, Matthew Sweet, etc. Well, that's what I usually listened to. Clearly, I'm not always so discriminating in my tastes.

So here's what I've got. Please be gentle in your criticism.

10. "Girl on the Verge", by Sarah Hudson: Most of you have no idea who Sarah Hudson is. But, those of you that know (and hint, if you watched Project Runway, she's the "rocker chick" they brought in to judge a round) are, I'm sure, horrified. I'm well aware that Ms. Hudson is just an Avril Lavigne wannabee. And, no, I don't like Lavigne either. But, for some reason, this song just caught my fancy. It's not only on my iPod, I actually listen to it!

9. "Kiss" by Tom Jones with the Art of Noise: Yes, Tom Jones is on my iPod. No, I'm not planning on going to a show in Vegas and throwing my panties at him. Well, I'm not planning on it. You never know what might happen in Vegas. So yeah, Tom Jones covers Prince here. The addition of the Art of Noise ups the cool quotient. But still, you gotta cringe a little when the name "Tom Jones" comes up on the display.

8. "Do They Know It's Christmas?", by Band Aid: This song is infinitely better than "We Are The World", but it's still a cheesy charity song that should really only be played around the holidays. I could leave it off the iPod until December rolls around, but I don't want to. I have to confess, I love Bono's part (Well tonight thank God it's them, instead of YOU) and I'll listen to it whenever I want. Hey, it's Christmas in July!

7. "Total Eclipse of the Heart", by Jessica Sierra: Now, I suspect many people have Bonnie Tyler's version on their playlists. But no, not me. I had to get American Idol contestant Jessica Sierra's (she was on this past season) version. It's not that good, but I don't want to delete it because I actually paid for it. You know, I'm not so much embarrassed by that as I am ashamed by it.

6. "Space Truckin'", by Deep Purple: I'm sure all the guys out there are like "No way! Deep Purple rules!". I appreciate the support, and yes, Deep Purple does rule, but it's for stuff like "Highway Star" and "Smoke On The Water", not for goofy stuff like this about meeting groovy people on Venus and Mars (Man, those cats could swing).

5. "Islands In The Stream", by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers: I must confess a weakness for both of these artists. Since Dolly Parton embraced her bluegrass roots, she's respectable again. But not my poor Kenny Rogers. I think I'm one of the few people who appreciate the genius of songs like "Coward of the County" and this little gem.

4. "Strokin'", by Clarence Carter: Ah, here's the song that inspired the post. While the name of the song is certainly suggestive, the song itself is anything but. It's so explicit, in fact, that I'm sure I blush whenever I listen to it. Oh, that Clarence...

3. "Angel of the Morning", by Juice Newton: I believe it'd be acceptable to have Juice's bigger hit "Queen of Hearts" on my iPod (and yeah, I have that one too), this one's a different story. The lyrics are godawful and melodramatic, but that's exactly what makes it fun to sing along to it. It's the musical equivalent of my favorite LifeTime-esque miniseries Bare Essence.

2. I'd Die Without You", by P.M. Dawn: This song was featured in the Eddie Murphy movie Boomerang. As an aside, in that movie Robin Givens was the beautiful femme fatale while Halle Berry played the plainer girl next door. Yep, Halle Berry was the plain one. Isn't Hollywood funny? Anyway, this was the romantic theme of that movie. I still like the song, but I can't but think that The Onion's Smoove B. wrote the lyrics.

1. Stars on 45: I made fun of someone for having this medley in his collection, but what do you know, it made it onto my iPod too. Hey! It's got a good beat and I can dance to it ;-)