Comments on what’s been said so far:

Hey, somebody else besides me has Chet Baker on the shuffle! ljhord: Jeff Healey — what an extraordinary talent. Whiteray: John Barry and Johnny Rivers: both could easily have shown up on my shuffle. RobC: I actually heard Neil’s version first — when I heard UB40, I knew it was a cover. Make of that what you will.

Here’s mine:

1. Richard Marx / The way she loves me (from “Greatest Hits”, 1997) — I threw Richard into my mix after seeing him play with Ringo’s All-Starr Band. If you ever get the chance to catch Ringo’s traveling circus, you should. He grabs a bunch of talented people who had their Warholian moments, and makes them all play together as a band. It’s out-freaking-rageous. I saw Marx and Starr play with Edgar Winter, Rod Argent, Sheila E and Billy Squier. And they all seem to love it; it’s like musician’s heaven.

2. Black Sabbath / Iron Man (live 1975 in Asbury Park NJ) — I love old “original” Sabbath, probably because I was listening to it in high school when it was new. I freaked out a high-school age metalhead a few weeks ago by playing this song on my acoustic guitar. (He’s 17, I’m 50. Imagine the scene.)

3. Carole King / The Locomotion (1976 concert, Boston Music Hall) — Carole has some fun here, in a concert mostly dedicated to hits from “Tapestry”. Hey, folks, did you know I wrote *this*!?!

4. Maya Angelou / Polymon Bongo (1957. from “Miss Calypso”) — Did you know that revered poet Maya Angelou had a previous life as a calypso singer? I mean, she was pretty good at it, but I’ll bet she’s a little embarrassed by it now. I’m sure Belafonte is, too.

5. Attila / Tear this castle down (1970, from “Attila”) — This is Billy Joel’s early record deal, when he was trying to be metal. It’s as funny as you would expect it to be. It’s even better when you see a photo of him in a Viking helmet.

2. Gov’t Mule – “Fool’s Moon”- just picked up this double live album, ‘Deepest End’, a couple weeks ago, getting ready for the festival last weekend where they headlined. I’m crazy about the Allman Brothers, but not totally crazy about the Mule. I may get there tho…

3. The Clash – “Crooked Beat” – from ‘Sandinista’ – you can find something new in Sandinista with each listen.

4. Band of Horses – “Is There a Ghost” – can’t WAIT to see them in Austin in Sept.

5. Tom Petty – “God’s Gift to Man” – from ‘Nobody’s Children’, part of a box set , right?

1. “Too Late for Goodbyes” by Julian Lennon (from Valotte) – I was obsessed with this song back when it first became a hit. It was one of the many songs I waited patiently to tape off the radio. Oh, the good old days.

2. “17 Days” by Prince & The Revolution (From The Hits/The B-Sides) – Boy am I glad he recorded this instead of Apollonia 6.

3. “Dance 2Night” by Madonna (From Hard Candy) – One of the few songs I like from the new album. Such a disappointing record from Madge.

4. “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (From Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!) – This is hands down one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

5. “Holy Ghost (Extended)” by The Bar-Kays (From Money Talks) – This is one of my favorite Bar-Kays tracks. And I have to laugh every time I listen to it because I always think of “Pump Up the Volume” by M/A/R/R/S, since that song heavily samples this one.

2. “The Wind” by Cat Stevens from “20th Century Masters” – Nothing quite as peaceful as listening to Cat Stevens… Too bad the man had to back violence as a defense for his religion.

3. “If I Needed Someone” by the Beatles from “Rubber Soul” – Not one of my favourites from the Beatles.

4. “Earn Enough For Us” by XTC from “Skylarking” – Funny thing about this album is that I bought it for Dear God, not realizing that they were selling the British version here in Canada (which doesn’t include Dear God). Still got a great album, but now I check the track-list closer before buying!

5. “God Part II” by U2 from “Rattle And Hum” – I have a love/hate relationship with U2, right now I’m in a hate phase. Bono can just come off as a little self-important at times, and he’s made some moves lately that I think are a disservice to his fans.

…nothing tonight that’s really indicative of what I’m listening to lately (although I do slip a little Cat Stevens in once in a while)…

1. “Treasure of Love” by Ronnie Hawkins from “The Hawk,” 1971. Duane Allman played on a few tracks on this album; unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them.

2. “The Sad Bag of Shake Jake” by Humble Pie from “Town and Country,” 1969. Bluesy vocal with a little bit of harp — great fun!

3. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Main Title)” by John Barry, soundtrack, 1969. Trombones and baritone horns growling low, cup-muted trumpets, tambourines: What more could you want?

4. “Little Children” by Cookin’ Mama from “Brand New Day,” 1972. Just found this. It’s hippie mysticism with vocal harmonies and flute.

5. “Roll Over, Beethoven” by Johnny Rivers from “Here We á Go-Go Again!,” 1964. For a time in the mid-Sixties, Rivers was the King of the Sunset Strip. Sounds a little take today, but when it was new, it rocked!

2. “Next to You” — Buckcherry from the soundtrack Disturbia. I actually enjoy this soundtrack quite a bit.

3. “Moonglow, Lamp Low” — Eleni Mandell on “Miracle of Five”. Soft, sweet music.

4. “Holland” — Sufjan Stevens on his Michigan album.

5. “Black Hole” — She & Him on “Volume One”. I love this album so much–I hope that they do a volume two!

2. Jacksons – “2300 Jackson Street”
One of the worst songs in their catalog, surpassed by “Torture,” if nothing else.

3. Anthrax – “Startin’ Up a Posse”
Ha! Here’s another one that reminds me of high school. Ironically, I thought about playing this song (a rant against censorship) for my students this week (we’ve been talking about the FCC and obscenity) but I thought better of it.

4. MJ- “Smooth Criminal”
Classic.

5. “Take You Down” from VA-Hyphy Hits
I picked this up last summer – it’s a tight compilation of hyphy, the west coast hip hop style that should have been the next big thing, but alas.

Doing my best Homer Simpson…
…mmmm…Win-wood….soooo good….*drool*