"Music is like food—we each have particular tastes"

What happens when an audiophile compiles and ranks their favorite songs each year for the majority of their life? Mistër E's Eclectic Compendium of Wondrous Hits, an unassuming personal story of music, musings, and memories merged with a book of lists—a compilation of one person's annual top 101 songs, spanning 49 years, 4,949 songs, from 1976-2024. (With an awesome artist cross-reference.)

These songs are not the last word on music by any means, but rather a respectable Stepping Stone (#2, 2008) to conversations. It's a curious book of lists for those who can talk music all day. A book for anyone who's ever said, "This is my favorite song right now!"

This is the music that illuminated one life; one boy's attempt to capture his cherished songs forever. A study of 49 years of music changing as one person's music tastes change.

A compendium of memories in the shape of music. A musical lover letter to artists and the world. A quirky little book from a goofy little guy.

Elias Mondegreen is the pseudonym of a very real person with a personal story, an ode to song. He is an author, music lover, listmaker, and all-around dreamer who resides in Minnesota, though his heart belongs to the world. While his teenage love of (and need for) music inspired him to create his lists, it was the emptiness of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic that impelled him to share his lifelong passion of compiling his favorite songs in a very unique book. Mondegreen is retired and lives a life of quiet adventures and his never-ending pursuit of music.