#23 "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley was a f*ckin' bad ass. That's the only way to say it. Who else writes a song about himself, names it after himself, and makes it so good and so recognizable that it's singularly associated with him? Bo Diddley, that's who.

One of the great musical regrets of my life was not seeing Bo a few years back when he came to town. He was playing a local arts theatre and I really wanted to go. I remember thinking, "This guy's a LEGEND!" I couldn't get anyone to go with me though, so I ended up missing the show. Very shortly thereafter, Bo Diddley died. I was so disappointed in myself. The lesson is this: If you want to do something, do it. Don't wait for anyone else. Don't care what they might want to do. Pursue your interests when they arise, or one day you might no longer have the opportunity.

Bo Diddley was part of that amazing stable of performers rounded up by Leonard Chess for his ground-breaking Chess Records production company. If you want to get some really good music, grab any of the Chess compilations from back in the 50's and 60's. You can rock out all night to the likes of Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, and so many more. My young sons love our Chess cd's. They're great old time fun. And yeah... a lot of Bo Diddley's selections kind of sound the same, but that beat is raucous and undeniable.

For something really cool, check out this youtube clip of Bo "in his prime." The first 90 seconds of it are just fantastic. The guy is nuts! And check out the footwork too. And for a really good laugh, check out all the dorky-looking white folks in the audience. Musicians like Berry and Bo did as much to break down the color barrier as Jackie Robinson did through baseball, and maybe even as much as Martin Luther King!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHs6f0mlkaM

"Bo Diddley" can be found on the compilation "The Definitive Collection." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#22 "Bonin' in the Boneyard" by Fishbone

One of the craziest bands I've ever seen live is Fishbone. Their concerts I caught back in the late eighties and early nineties were fun and energetic to say the least. One time when I saw them in Baltimore people were diving off the balcony into the audience below... a good thirty-some feet down! It was insane. Bodies were flying. Music was blasting. It was incredible. The time I saw them open for Jane's Addiction still ranks as one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.

"Bonin' In the Boneyard" is a cool little mostly-instrumental jam. To me, it personifies all there is to Fishbone. It showcases their great musicianship, their sense of humor ala the sexual innuendos, and the fun element that they brought to their early work. You get the funky bass, the horns, the fantastic voice of Angelo Moore, and the tight drumming of Phillip Fisher. Fishbone got much harder and angrier after this record and I kind of lost interest, but I've never stopped enjoying their early work.

"Bonin' in the Boneyard" is from the album "Truth and Soul." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#21 "Bodies" by The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols... pro-life? Johnny Rotten... humanitarian? You wouldn't think so. When you think of The Sex Pistols you think of the middle finger, spitting on the crowd, nasty sneers, and Sid Vicious shredding his chest with broken class. Socially conscious? That's a new one.

"Bodies" is the second song on one of the most killer side ones in music history. The first side of "Never Mind the Bollocks" just blows out of the speakers, assaulting you with its aggression, speed, and anger. Those first six songs are over in probably fifteen minutes, but they'll blow you away.

"Bodies" is a disgusting, profanity-ridden look at abortion. I've read conflicting commentary from singer/song-writer Johnny Rotten who said it was pro-life AND pro-choice, but the lyrics seem pretty strongly against the act. How else do you take the lines "She was an animal. She was a bloody disgrace" when talking about the mother? And the chorus of "Bodies! I'm not an animal" or "It's not an animal, it's an abortion"? It's pretty pointed and intense. Definitely not for the kids!

"Bodies" is from the album "Never Mind the Bollocks." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#20 "Blues Anthem" by Jimmy Page (with Chris Farlowe)

In the late eighties, Jimmy Page, the legendary guitarist of Led Zeppelin, released his only solo album to date "Outrider." It didn't get great reviews. It didn't sell very well. I don't know anyone who liked it... except me. This is a recurring trend in my life. The things that no one enjoys, I really enjoy. I love Ernest Hemingway but whereas I'm not a big fan of For Whom the Bell Tolls, I thoroughly loved Islands in the Stream, a book near the bottom in terms of his critical acclaim. I think Pink Floyd's The Final Cut is fantastic. I've never met anyone else who thinks so. And when it seemed the general population was united in their dislike of Stanley Kubrick's last film "Eyes Wide Shut," I went to the theatre alone (who else would go with me?) and loved it.

What do you do after Led Zeppelin? I remember when one of Robert Plant's solo albums came out a friend of mine said, "It's ok... it's just not Led Zeppelin."

"No shit, you idiot," I said. "One of them is dead and the others didn't play on this. How could it possibly sound like Led Zeppelin?"

I'll never understand why some people can't get past thoughts like that. Can't a person have a variety of interests and influences? Robert Plant just scored some MAJOR success last year when he put out an album of country-esque duets with Allison Krauss. I'm sure there were tons of Zeppelin fans vomitting all over themselves at even the thought of him doing such music, but I thought it was great. Sure, it wasn't "A Whole Lotta Love," but Sgt Pepper's isn't Stairway to Heaven either and I still think it's pretty damned good. A good song is a good song, regardless of who's playing on it and what you expect from them.

"Blues Anthem" is just a pretty little song that closes the album. Chris Farlowe sings with his big soulful voice about how if he can't be with his lover, he's "gonna sing the blues." There are nice lines about "Every time I'm feeling low and far away, all the time I think of you... every second of the day." I'm a sucker for love songs and unabashed sentiment. Sure, there are some cheesy 80's-ish sythnesized-strings on the song, but you also get a great Jimmy Page solo. I like it, even if no one else does.

"Blues Anthem" is from the album "Outrider." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#19 "Blue Hotel" by Willie Nelson

One thing I've always enjoyed about reading about music is that you can find out how so much of it is interconnected. You hear that this person wrote that song or that this guy anonymously played on that album, etc. I also really enjoy finding out what other artists some musicians like. I figure if I like them and they like this, maybe I'll discover something new.

Of course I've known of Willie Nelson for years. How can you be American and not know him? And whether he's smoking tons of pot, not paying his taxes, or writing scores of famous songs for himself or others, Willie Nelson is an American icon. He's also just about the coolest looking old man in the world. Look at his face. It's lined with character.

Willie's voice is also incredible. There's a depth to it that I cannot explain. He can bring authenticity to the simplest songs just with his vocals. They're deep and rich and reflective of every emotion he's ever felt. I could probably listen to him sing just about anything.

"Blue Hotel" is a song written by Ryan Adams, one of my contemporary favorites who will appear on this list many times. Adams actually produced the album that this is from, "Songbird," and he and his band The Cardinals are the backing players on every track. Adams actually recorded and released the song himself on the "Follow the Lights" EP, but his version wasn't nearly as good as Willie's.

Great vocal performance aside, this song also has some really great lines. Adams' metaphors are quite unique and interesting. I love "She's inside me like a secret and I've got no one to tell." Another favorite is "I get shattered like a lightbulb in an October moon." Between the writing and the music and the wonderful performance of Willie Nelson, "Blue Hotel" doesn't disappoint.

"Blue Hotel" is from the album "Songbird." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

# 18 "Blue" by Lucinda Williams

If hearing this song doesn't move you, you might not be alive.

Lost Highway Records has a pretty cool website. They used to have this awesome virtual jukebox that played endlessly as you navigated their site. You could listen to great alt-country by Ryan Adams, The Jayhawks, or Golden Smog, or older tunes by legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and even the original Hank Williams. Lyle Lovett, Elvis Costello, and that grouchy Irishman Van Morrison have even made their way over there recently. The selections were wonderful and there was plenty of other talent on their roster that you could discover when surfing.

There have been a few times in my life where a song has literally stopped me in my tracks. Bob Dylan did it once while I was in the Giant Foods parking lot and heard "It Ain't Me, Babe" for the first time. Another was when I heard "Blue" by Lucinda Williams.

I was sitting at my desk trying to get some work done. I had turned on the Lost Highway jukebox for some background music. Some of the songs I knew, others that I didn't just kind of filled in the quiet space of my empty classroom. I might've noted the cool guitar, all drenched in delay, that opened the track but it was unquestionably the voice that really made me pause.

Lucinda Williams has one of those voices that wouldn't be classified as "good quality" by most standards. It cracks. It sounds like she's smoked a LOT of cigarettes, drank a lot of booze, and had her heart broken about a thousand times. But whereas I might listen to Ella Fitzgerald and think that she has undoubtedly the most perfect voice I've ever heard, Ella doesn't sing for me. She doesn't sound like me. She certainly doesn't hurt like I do. Lucinda does and in that ability to put her heart into her vocal performances, she manages to capture the raw emotions that we've all felt at one time or another.

"Blue" is one of those sad songs about drowning in despair. The speaker tells someone that she just wants to "go back to blue." She doesn't want to talk. She doesn't want to go to confession. Those things might help some people, but this lady wants to be sad. It "feeds me when I'm hungry and quenches my thirst," she says in the beginning. Sometimes, as much as being happy feels better, you just need to be sad once in a while. Turn on this song, and I don't see how you can be anything else.

This version of "Blue" is from the album "Live at the Filmore." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#17 "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones

Though usually when asked what my favorite of anything is, I'm unable to commit to any one choice. When it comes to songs by The Rolling Stones, however, I can definitely say that "Beast of Burden" is my number one. It always has been.

I was never a Stones' guy growing up. We were a Beatles family. The Beatles were clean cut. The Stones were dirty. Even when the Fab Four weren't clean cut, their music was still nice and friendly. The Rolling Stones always seemed uglier, dirtier, and more dangerous. They just didn't fit into our whitebread house in the suburbs of Northern Virginia.

I always viewed the Stones as the enemy to my heroic Beatles. And on occasion, when I saw members of the two bands hanging out, I couldn't believe it. WHAT?!? Don't they hate each other? It was like seeing Dallas Cowboy players laughing with my guys from the Washington Redskins over drinks. It was inconceivable. I was too young to realize that artists could actually enjoy one another's company, and could even be inspired by it.

"Beast of Burden" has some great guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ron Wood. That's the great thing about the Stones that I've always admired. It's like the guitar melodies and rhythms aren't just melodies and rhythms. The leads aren't leads either, but somehow they all interconnect to make something really cool. Every time I listen to them I think, "What are they doing?" I still can't figure it out. I certainly can't emulate it.

Apparently "Beast of Burden" was primarily penned by Richards. He wrote it for Jagger as a bit of an apology for his years of drug abuse and other irresponsible behavior in regards to the band. So while the lyrics read like more of a jilted lover kind of thing, it's more allegorical in nature. He's kind of saying, "Sorry you had to shoulder the burden for a while." Who knew that ol' Keef was capable of such sentiment?

"Beast of Burden" is from the album "Some Girls." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#16 "The Ballad of John and Yoko" by The Beatles

As I said in an earlier post, The Beatles were a big part of my childhood. My mom was a fan. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" was one of her favorite songs. This one's for you, mom!

Honestly, I didn't actually realize that this was a Beatles' song until I was older. I thought it was a solo number from John Lennon, especially given the subject matter. And the fact that it doesn't appear on any Beatles' album added to that confusion. The song, however, was one of the fab four's many singles. Back in the day, bands frequently released songs that were not connected to albums in any way. In the Beatles' case, I know I've read where they've said the albums were complete bodies of work and should be looked at in their entirety. The singles were separate entities completely.

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" was recorded in the Beatles' later days, around the time of the Let It Be sessions. Apparently the inspiration for the song came from Lennon's frustration over his inability to legally marry Yoko Ono in a number of places they'd thought of. He felt like the media and other people in power were crucifying him and the song is his sense of musical venting.

The beat of the tune is just fantastic. Paul McCartney plays a wicked, rolling bass line that just carries the song from start to finish. Actually, Paul played nearly every instrument on the track, including bass, piano, drums, and maracas. Lennon played the lead and rhythm guitar parts. Paul also contributes my favorite vocal moments, adding falsetto-y back-ups to the last words of verses like "Eating chocolate cake in the BAG" and "You know how hard it can BE." Love that! What's funny is that as much as I had always thought this was a John Lennon song, it's Paul McCartney who provides me with the more enjoyable moments. Don't know how you can't bob your head up and down to this one.

One other thing of note: Listen to the drums closely. You may notice that there isn't a single cymbal crash in the entire song. Coming of age in the 80's, I've grown accustomed to dramatic cymbal crashes and splashes all over the place. Not in the classics, baby!

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is from the compilation "Past Masters II." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#15 "The Ballad of Carol Lynn" by Whiskeytown

Whiskeytown introduced the world to Ryan Adams. Formed when Adams was just twenty years of age, this North Carolina band went on to record three or four albums of critically-acclaimed work. In the end, Whiskeytown was probably more of a lauching pad for Adams than anything else. I'm not too sure what has become of the other members.

Though I'm a HUGE fan of Ryan Adams' solo catalogue, I've never been too into his Whiskeytown material. Sometimes I think it's just a little too country for me. The later albums embraced a more rock sound, which is probably why I liked them more.

"The Ballad of Carol Lynn" is from Whiskeytown's last album. From the first time I heard it, the song has always struck me as being incredibly sad, sung with an almost tangible sense of regret by Adams. The ballad, which is more of a lament, is one person singing about how he's lost someone else. The person has gotten "weird" and "strange" and it seems that nothing left in the world will bring them back again. The speaker pointedly says in the middle "When you need a friend to be there for you, I won't be the one who helps you out... you can count me out." The singer has clearly, sadly, thrown his hands up. He obviously mourns the loss, but sometimes what can you do? I love the end stanza too where it says "When your life has worn you out, you'll have the past left for you to think about." Adams doesn't sing it angrily, but you can hear it in the lines. It's kind of like "Remember what you gave up. You could've had it all and you messed everything up. Goodbye." And though the song is about Carol Lynn, I almost feel more sorry for the singer. He's the one who's had to sit and see it all go down the drain.

"The Ballad of Carol Lynn" is from the album "Pneumonia." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#14 "Bad Fish" by Sublime

The story of Sublime is one of cruel irony. They played around the Southern California party and festival circuit for a few years in the late eighties and early nineties, honing their craft and making a name for themselves. Right after they finished their third album but right before it was released, singer and main creative force Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose. After the album came out, it was a massive hit. The songs "What I Got" and "Santeria" were immensely popular and the disc went on to sell over six million copies. The success was great, but obviously bittersweet since Nowell never got to experience the fruits of his labors.

Sublime was just kinda cool. Their music was a mix of ska, dub, skate, punk, and rock. They were incredibly versatile and could play some reggae stoner tune about smokin' dope and drinkin' 40's or switch it over, speed it up, and knock you out with a punk-ska jam. I was definitely not their biggest fan, but there's no question that Brad Nowell was a tremendous talent. His voice was fantastic and I also thought he was a great guitar player. His sound was excellent... his tone... all that guitar stuff that musicians are always searching for. And whether he was strumming his acoustic or going electric, Nowell proved to adept at many music forms. He was definitely a real loss to the music world.

"Bad Fish" is definitely my favorite Sublime song. I love the reverb on the electric guitars that come after the acoustic beginning. The bouncing reggae bass line is also really cool. Humorously enough, my favorite part of the song is the intro. I love that it sounds like you're right inside of a party. Some guys says, "How's it goin', dude?" I almost always feel like answering. The whole thing feels like a great time.

"Bad Fish" can be found on the album "40 Ounces to Freedom." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#13 "Baddie's Boogie" by The BabyShambles

This is the second time that Babyshambles has appeared on this list. Pete Doherty, in one form or another, will be on here quite a few times. I've enjoyed most all of his work from the past few years.

"Baddie's Boogie" is from Babyshambles' fantastic second album "Shotter's Nation." Though their first disc was a bit uneven, their second was really tight and focused. I read an interview with the producer who said he was adamant with Pete that if they were to collaborate, Doherty had to be clean and dedicated to the work. If the end results are proof of that, here's to the clarity that sobriety can bring!

I'm not going to pretend to know what this song is about. It sort of sounds like an "Ode to the Scoundrel," but I'm really not sure. There's a part where Pete endears himself to the ladies when he sings about the "lousy life" that it must be when you're married to "a permanently plastered pissed-up bastard," but beyond that I really wouldn't venture to break down any of the words. I would, however, give a big shout-out to Mr. Doherty for the excellent use of alliteration. Told you the guy was a poet!

Honestly, I really just like this song for the beat. "Baddie's Boogie" has this terrific upbeat shuffle. Not sure if it's a boogie, but it always gets me jumping. When I was training for a triathlon last year, I listened to this album constantly when riding my bike. This song was guaranteed to make my speedometer go up a few clicks. Enjoy!

"Baddie's Boogie" can be found on the album "Shotter's Nation." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#12 "Bad Reputation" by Freedy Johnston

This song came out in the mid-nineties. I've just always really liked it. The opening line of "I know I've got a bad reputation... and it isn't just talk talk talk" is a great hook. The song is basically saying "I know I'm a dick. I kinda wish I was better, but I'm not." You can't fault the guy for his honest sense of self-analysis.

"Bad Reputation" was a minor hit for Freedy Johnston. As a result, he got a lot of attention in various media outlets. Rolling Stone voted him Best Songwriter in 1994. The album that this song is from, "Perfect World," is quite good too. Johnston has great emotion in his voice and a nice sense of melody. His career never really took off after this song, but sadly his style of music just doesn't have much of a place on the radio. If a guy writes his own tunes and plays actual instruments, the general public doesn't seem to appreciate it. Sadly, this is why I'm always suspicious of what's popular.

"Bad Reputation" can be found on the album "Perfect World." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#11 "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot

Who would've ever thought that George Washington and a rapper could have anything in common? Our founding father famously could not tell a lie about chopping down his dad's cherry tree. Sir Mix-A-Lot can't tell a lie either. He likes big butts!

Sometimes life is just too serious. Sometimes people hold back and don't share their most genuine feelings. "Baby Got Back" is one of those great songs that just makes you laugh and is hysterically honest too. I mean... watch the video. The guy is rapping in front of a huge ass!?! What more do you want?

The intro to the song is great. I could probably just listen that to part and be done with it... it's that good. When the voice of the stereotypical white girl comes on and says, "Oh... my... God... Becky, look at her butt," it's fantastic! It cracks me up every time. And the best part of the lyrics once the rapping begins? When Mix-A-Lot throws out some ideal measurements "36, 24, 36" and then laughs, "... only if she's 5'3!" Too funny.

"Baby Got Back" can be found on the album "Mack Daddy." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#10 "Awesome" by Satellite Party

Most people know Perry Farrell as the hyper-kinetic frontman of Jane's Addiction or the influential creator of Lollapalooza. At times he comes off as some kind of dread-locked, scary-eyed freak, but if you ever read an interview with him you'll see that he is incredibly intelligent, articulate, and profound.

"Awesome" is a song that Farrell wrote in honor of the birth of his son. It is without a doubt the most beautiful celebration of fatherhood that I've ever heard. The lyrics are fairly simple, but honestly... how do you put this kind of thing into words? He talks about the joy and mystery of his child and how "awesome" a thing he is to see and be with. You hear Farrell singing about reading a book with his boy and there's this great line where he says, "If I seem silent I'm just thanking someone far away for you." I've had those kinds of out-of-body experiences with my own sons where in the midst of doing something with them, I kind of pull away and think, "This is just unbelievable." The song captures that same notion.

The line that always chokes me up comes near the very end. It's just a simple "Picture what you and I can do" but it gets me every time. It's getting me now as I write this. It reminds me of the infinite possibilities that lay before your child, but how important YOU as the parent are to that. The cool thing, though, is that the greater your involvement the greater your reward. I'm always amazed at how much my boys absorb. Sometimes I think that had I tried teaching them about physics when they were two, they could've easily gotten it. You see little kids speaking multiple languages all the time. You see children who seem to be gifted prodigies in the arts well ahead of their age. Is it because they possess something internally that the average child doesn't have or is it because they were given some things, like love and attention, that too many children do without?

Picture what you and your child can do. It is limitless.

"Awesome" can be found on the album "Ultra Payloaded." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#9 "Appalachian Lullaby" by Shudder to Think featuring Nina Persson

A co-worker of mine once used this song in her creative writing class to set the mood for an assignment she was giving. I happened to walk in on her right as she was starting. All of a sudden I heard the wind blow and then this dreamy little tune began. It was mesmerizing. What few vocals there are are simply haunting and beautiful all at once.

The song is from Shudder to Think, a DC punk band who recorded it for a movie soundtrack. They enlisted the help of a number of other artists for this undertaking, among them Jeff Buckley, whose work appears later on this list. The vocals are done by Nina Persson of The Cardigans. Just listen.

"Appalachian Lullaby" can be found on the soundtrack "First Love, Last Rites." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#8 "And Your Bird Can Sing" by The Beatles

I'll always associate The Beatles with growing up. I was born in 1971, a year after the Fab Four broke up, but their music remained so popular in the following years that they were still all over the radio a long time after their hey-day. My mother was also a big fan, so we had a number of the Beatles' records around our house and we spent many hours listening to them on the old turntable or on the old-school 8-track mixes that my mom made. Yes! My mom made mix-tapes before the term was ever coined!

Of course, The Beatles are everywhere now. Has there been a better time to be a fan of John, Paul, George, and Ringo? The cd's have been remastered and re-released. The Rock Band game just came out. It's all pretty crazy, especially considering that some of their recordings are now over forty years old! But no matter how many new generations discover The Beatles, I'll always remember playing along to "Twist and Shout" on my air-guitar tennis racket while staring into our living room's full length mirror.

"And Your Bird Can Sing" is The Beatles at their jingly best. It's a delicious cut of sixties pop, complete with the wonderful treble of their Epiphone guitar interplay and the fantastic harmonies of their vocals. It's from the "Revolver" album, and is a nice bridge between the radio-friendly songs of their early days and the experimental tunes of their late career. I just think it's great. And if you want to hear something equally as good, check out the demo of it found on The Beatles Anthology II. It's hysterical! John and Paul just giggle themselves through the whole take. It makes you laugh and reminds you that even geniuses can be goofy some time.

"And Your Bird Can Sing" can be found on the album "Revolver." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#7 "American Music" by The Violent Femmes

The Violent Femmes are cool. What more can you say? I remember when I first heard them in the mid-eighties. I actually thought, "What the ?!? What do these guys think they're doing? This isn't Def Leppard! This isn't Paula Abdul!" They seemed to be ignoring all the popular trends of the day. They were almost strictly acoustic. The singer had short hair. And what was up with the GIGANTIC bass? The drummer is standing up?!? And he's using brushes?!? I'd never seen or heard anything like them. Of course now the Paula Abdul's and Def Leppard's of the world have faded into the haze of the 1980's and actually, the Femmes have pretty much disappeared too. They were different though. They seemed to not really care about trends or popularity. They followed their instincts, abilities, and convictions and though they may not be in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, they were truly original and fairly innovative too. It's been said that they pioneered Folk Punk. Not sure that that's still around either, but in the end I can simply say that The Violent Femmes were cool.

Why this song? Listen to the beginning. After singer Gordon Gano gets ready, he quickly and forcefully says, "1, 2, 3!" like the song is going to take off and explode out of the speakers, but then all you get is this little strum and this nerdy little warble saying, "Do you like American Music?" It cracks me up every time.

"American Music" can be found on the compilation "Add It Up." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#6 "All That I Had" by Paul Westerberg

The other day my son asked me if I'd be sad when Bob Dylan died. It's a long story about how we got on that topic in the first place, but my answer was, "You know... I'll certainly be sad. It's Bob Dylan, for cryin' out loud! When Paul Westerberg dies though... that's what will really knock me out."

Paul Westerberg was the creative force behind the legendary Replacements. They were the band in the mid-eighties who Rolling Stone claimed "would save rock-n-roll" but were such a ramshackle drunken mess that they never made it big. And whether it was low expectations, too many substances, or just plain old bad luck, The Replacements ended up imploding and Paul Westerberg, also called the best songwriter of his generation, went his own way and embarked on a solo career that to many has probably been as disappointing as his earlier failures.

I first took notice of PW when he contributed two songs to the "Singles" soundtrack in 1990. To this day I can't say what it was, but something about "Dyslexic Heart" and "Waiting for Somebody" sucked me in. I started listening to all of the great old Replacement albums and it wasn't long until Westerberg put out his first solo effort, "14 Songs." As much as I liked what PW was doing, and as much critical praise as he continually received, his career never really took off. After gaining then losing a major record deal in the mid-nineties, Paul kind of dropped off the Earth for a while, holed up in his Minneapolis home somewhere. A few years later he emerged with a bunch of one man home recordings, all beautifully raw and heart-breakingly honest. For my money, it was the best work he had ever done.

The reason Westerberg is so hailed by critics is for his lyrics. He's written some incredible songs about angst, disappointment, and regret. I once read a comment that said something to the effect of "Paul Westerberg never forgot what it was like to be 16 and broken-hearted." His older songs like "Unsatisfied" and "Sixteen Blue" speak beautifully to that. His lyrics are also loaded with great wordplay and he constantly turns cliches inside-out. "All That I Had" is an example of this.

The song starts off with the line "King and Queen." What's your Rorschach response to that? Something about royalty? Me too. What's the next line? "Full and twin." Brilliant and typical PW smart-ass. The song goes on to basically be about aspiring for something that once seemed right, but ultimately turns out to be all wrong and maybe even a sell-out on the things that actually had depth and meaning for you. He talks about constantly reaching for things and that life is either "simple or it's impossible. You're always half empty. You ain't never half full." There's a powerful moment of self-criticism when he says, "I didn't follow my dreams. I lost the map. I lived my fantasy instead, 'till I found it was a trap." That's what so great about PW. He's brutally and unflinchingly honest so much of the time. I admire his courage in saying those things... AND to a mass audience too. And the title/chorus? Typically when someone says "I gave all that I had" you think about giving your all. In this song, though, I think it means "I gave it all away. I f*cked up... but I realize it now. "I'm doing fine."

"All That I Had" can be found on the compilation "Besterberg." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

Author's Note: Some People Are Actually Cool

Yesterday morning I put up a piece about Barry Louis Polisar's song, "All I Want Is You." Within a few hours, he had contacted me about the post. Typically, the rest of this story goes that the artist told me to remove any and all of his content from my site. But guess what? This tale has a happy ending! You can read the comment that Mr. Polisar left for the posting, but essentially he said, "Thanks for the kind words" and then left a URL so that anyone interested in his work could check out his website for a FREE LISTEN of his catalogue! How great is that?!? And you know what? I'm going to go to his site and buy something. I'm going to give him some of my money because he knows what it's all about. You share the art. We share the art. His fanbase grows which causes his bank account to grow which causes his artistic freedom to grow too.

Thanks, Barry!

#5 "All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar

A few years ago I was sitting in a movie theatre with some of my buddies. These are some old friends who I barely get to see anymore. Having jobs and families and other grown-up responsibilities makes it difficult to get together. Seeing movies has become our way of keeping in touch. The only hitch to all of this is that these guys have very different tastes from me. They want to see every bad horror film, every sci-fi rip-off, and while I'm rolling my eyes and trying to force an out-of-body experience during every cliche action movie trailer, they're screaming, "That looks awesome!" But these are my pals, so getting to be with them for even something I don't entirely want to do is better than never getting to see them altogether.

So it was in one of these bad movies that I found myself one night. Usually the previews are geared toward the audience, but all of the sudden instead of seeing something for The Fast and the Furious 9, a trailer for some odd little indie film came on. There were no muscles on display. No explosions. No cheesy tag-lines. No stars. Instead it was this quirky little movie about a pregnant teenager and her hysterically blunt parents. The dialogue was funny and the songs in the background were really cool. It looked great. Right as it ended, I turned to my buddies just as they turned toward me and smirked, "What the hell was that? That looks awful." I, of course, thought the total opposite and couldn't wait to get home and tell my wife about it. The movie ended up being Juno. It swept the nation, got nominated for numerous awards, and introduced the world to Ellen Page. Like Little Miss Sunshine before it, Juno proved to be the little movie that could. I never found out if my buddies saw it, but I still laugh about their reaction to it.

Though there are many things to enjoy about the movie, the soundtrack to Juno was just great. It had all of these quirky little tunes on it. A cover of an ABBA song by Sonic Youth, a mournful version of "Sea of Love" by Cat Power, oldies by Buddy Holly, The Kinks and the Velvet Underground, and all kinds of mini tunes by Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches. It seems that only indie movies ever really get the soundtrack concept right, and Juno got some heavy rotation in our house.

One of the great numbers on the soundtrack is the opener, Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want Is You." I remember seeing the movie and hearing it over the opening credits. Immediately I thought, "What a weird, cool song!" The lyrics are great. The song is really just an assortment of metaphors, all about love and the singer's desire to be so many things for his lover. It's really goofy and fun, which should come as no surprise considering that Polisar is an award-winning children's musician and author. Not many people could get away with lines like "If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod" and "If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug." But you know what? There's nothing wrong with fun. Give it a listen. I don't know how it won't make you smile.

"All I Want Is You" can be found on the Juno Soundtrack. To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#4 "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd

Go ahead. Laugh. Keep going. I hear ya. You know... everyone's got a guilty pleasure. I can take it.

One day at work me and some of my buddies were sitting around talking about music. We were comparing collections and talking about some of our favorite oddities. We agreed that we should make a master list of everything we owned. As we were all thinking about going home and getting started, one guy said, "Wait a minute. There's to be no laughing. I don't want to hear any of your shit about some of the things I own." We all paused and someone asked him what he was talking about. "What's the gayest cd in your collection? C'mon... we've all got something." I proudly said, "I gotta tell ya. Cyndi Lauper's "Greatest Hits" is pretty damn good." We all laughed about it and compared notes on what we refered to as "our wives cd's," but the truth is, what's there to be ashamed of?

In the early 90's, there was an onslaught of boy bands. It all started with New Edition, then BBD, and then Boyz II Men. I guess some white guys got a little jealous over all the action and in Oklahoma City some buddies got together and formed Color Me Badd. They were fairly successful in their heyday. Their debut album sold over six million copies. They had a lot of #1 songs and other successful singles. Don't say you don't remember any of them. "I Wanna Sex You Up" and "I Adore Mi Amore." We're talking HIGH quality here! I wasn't really into the others, but I couldn't get enough of "All 4 Love." Listening to it now reminds me of the old days when MTV actually showed videos. You could hear music most of the time. I used to watch Most Wanted in my mom's basement with my little sister. Now that was livin'!

"All 4 Love" has such a great old school beat. Jingly piano plays in the background. Great four part harmonies are all over the place. The main singer, Bryan Abrams, sings in a nasally falsetto that predated anything Justin Timberlake even dreamed about. You can see JT singing this tune, but in my opinion nothing the cheeseball former member of N'Sync could ever do would be this cool... or maybe this BADD.

Give it a listen. I won't tell anyone if you give it more than a few.

"All 4 Love" can be found on the album "CMB." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#3 "Albion" by The Babyshambles

So he does LOTS of drugs. So he looks like a homeless junkie. So he's been in and out of jail. So what? Pete Doherty, walking train-wreck though he may be, is a great songwriter.

My man Pete is scattered all through the 300, either in his first incarnation as part of The Libertines, in his follow-up to that in The Babyshambles, and even as a solo artist. He's got one of those great drunken English slurs, kind of like another one of my favs Joe Strummer. But whereas the frontman of The Clash had more of a blue-collar snarl, Pete Doherty has the voice of a dreamy poet... albeit one who's had a pint or two-dozen at the local pub.

"Albion" is from the first Babyshambles album "Down in Albion." The album itself is pretty uneven, but it has some wonderful moments on it. "Albion" seems to really be nothing more than a good ol' patriotic drinking song. The title actually comes from an old reference to Great Britain. Uses of the term goes far back into ancient times and can be found in the writings of Pliny the Elder. Many years later, beloved English writers William Shakespeare and William Blake also dropped the term in their works. So how did a crack-head ex-con like Doherty come up with it? According to sources, a young Peter was apparently a top-notch student who won a poetry contest at the age of 16. Later, while working as a gravedigger, Pete could often be found sitting on tombs reading and writing. How gothic and romantic! And though you may laugh, who but a genuine poet could write phrases about a "pale thin girl with eyes forlorn" and drop other lines about "pith helmets" and "canons at dawn"? Doherty's the real deal and he knows how to cater to the crowd too. He throws in names of half the towns in England while he's at it. Depthford. Catford. Mansfield. New Castle. Anywhere in Albion! Who wouldn't raise a glass and drink to this one!?!

"Albion" can be found on the album "Down in Albion." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.

#2 "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

When you're having a bad day, who can you turn to? Who can you go to for some cheering up? Your folks? Your spouse? Your kids? Your dog? Maybe those work, but for me there's nothing like Marvin Gaye.

I'm a teacher. A lot of my young students always want to talk to me about music. We share cd's. I try to get them into things I like that they've most likely never heard. They try to expose me to newer artists that might have eluded my musical tastes. A few years back, everything they tried to get me to listen to sounded like Nirvana, Linkin Park, Korn, Staind, etc. It was all doom and gloom, negative and depressing. Nirvana is certainly light years beyond the other groups, but even they have songs like "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die." When exactly would I be in the mood for such a song? And oh yeah... Kurt Cobain killed himself. Nuff said?

When you listen to the old songs from Motown, they're all so positive. Most of them are about love. Most of them are happy. For me, Marvin Gaye is the epitome of this. Sure, he's got his sad tunes and the occasional angry one, but a lot of his most popular hits were love songs, and most of the best ones he ever did were with Tammi Terrell. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love" were great. My favorite is "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing." Listen to the words! It's just a happy song about how there's nothing as good as being with the person you love. Marvin says, "Nothing can take the place of you being there." Tammi says, "It's just a picture in a frame... I need the shelter of your arms to comfort me." Together they croon, "No other sound is quite the same as your name... no touch can do half as much." How can you not enjoy the sentiment! It practically sounds like they're smiling when they're singing it. I'm certainly smiling when I listen to it. And in an age where all we hear about are celebrity break-ups and bitter divorces, lines as simple "Let's stay together" always serve to remind me of what's best in life: Love.

"Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing" can be found on the album "20th Century Masters" or "The Complete Duets." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.