I spent a bit of my birthday money on iTunes downloading a few tracks that have been stuck in my head (I’m tired of Drive 105 telling me when I can listen to them).

Strangely enough, I had my own Brittish invasion. Of the five songs I downloaded, three were Brittish pop bands: Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out,” The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me,” and Morrissey’s “Irish Blood, English Heart.”

I also downloaded Michelle Branch’s “Goodbye to You,” thanks to its perfect placement at one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s sixth season low points (of which there are more than a few).

Finally, I grabbed Standbye’s “Don’t Panic, Don’t Panic, Don’t Panic.” They’re a local band in a current state of not much happening. The song is available on the 2024 Records jukebox, but I wanted my own copy. 2024 recently added several of their artists to iTunes (including Romantica!), and it appears I’m the first one to download a Standbye song. Before I downloaded the song their list of ‘Top Downloaded Songs’ said “Contribute to this feature by purchasing music from this artist.” So I did, and now “Don’t Panic…” is listed. The ‘Listeners also bought’ feature also includes all the above bands — and only the above bands.

Sadly, I don’t think I won an iPod in iTunes’ 100 million downloads giveaway. Though someone from Hays, Kansas did.