Countdown’s End

For the past thirteen years or so, I’ve known with certainty what would pop up in my little corner of the digital world every Sunday. It started when I stumbled upon a CMJ Radio Top Cuts chart that was published in late 1991. On a whim, I decided I’d pay tribute to one of my favorite shows that aired on the college radio station where I spent my undergraduate by counting down the forty cuts on that tally, from Siouxsie & the Bashees’ “Fear of the Unknown” to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” As it turned out, I really started something for myself that day.

With precious few exceptions, every Sunday since has been given over to a College Countdown entry in this space. Yesterday brought the biggest, most ambitious of those charts to a close. Over the course of almost exactly six years, I’ve listened to, researched, and written about one thousand albums. As I noted at the start of the whole endeavor, reaching the end of the CMJ Top 1000 albums chart means also reaching the end of College Countdown posts. I don’t think I can top what I just did, and I am going to refrain from trying.

Because Sundays have been all about the College Countdown for so long, I’m going to also decline to come up with a replacement for it. There will be no more posting on Sundays, and I plan to enjoy having the day off. In general, the assignment editor part of me is ready to give to writer part of me a bit of a break. I’ve largely maintained a schedule of daily entries at Coffee for Two from the point when I cross-posted a review of a lousy David Fincher movie here almost fifteen years ago. From here on in, I’m going to feel okay letting days pass without my digitized opining from time to time.

That relief from shoveling words onto this ever-refreshing page starts right away. I’m going to take what I believe is a well-earned break and let Coffee for Two go dormant for a couple weeks. I’ll be back around the time December gives way to January to continue a few year-end traditions. In case you need a little reading to tide you over, here’s one last recap of every chart that was covered under the College Countdown banner:

The 90FM-WWSP charts

90FM’s Top 90 of 1989

90FM’s Top 90 of 1995

90FM’s Top 90 of 1996

The CMJ charts

The First CMJ Album Chart (from 1978)

CMJ Top 40 Cuts, March 16, 1990

CMJ Radio Top Cuts chart from Winter 1991

CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001

CMJ Top 250 Songs of 1979-1989

CMJ Top 1000 Albums of 1979 – 1989

The other charts