FRIDAY'S RANDOM TEN

Friday's Random Ten

I notice that when I want to load up all my songs, Winamp works best. It takes about ten seconds to put up about 10,000 song titles. WMP, on the other hand, takes about 45 minutes or more to load up the same amount of tunes. I prefer the quality of WMP in playback, but unfortunately, if I'm doing a random top ten, I generally have to use Winamp. It's faster.

5666 - Garth Brooks - Beer Run

Yeee Haaaa! I actually like Garth Brooks. I started listening to him back in the 1980's when country music went a little rock and roll. I can't tell you how many hair band dudes I turned on to Garth's music (laughing .. ah, the memories)

1624 - Jimmie Rodgers - Honeycomb

Of course, I know this song when it actually came out, in the 1960's. Many youngins know this song as the first theme song for the breakfast cereal "Honey Combs."

7834 - Steely Dan - Deacon Blues

What can one say about this band, and this album, in particular? Such a milestone. I remember a concert I attended at the Long Beach Arena, Seals and Crofts were the headline band. The music that the was piped through the arena during the breaks was from this album, Aja, and was the first time most of us had heard it. Such a difference from their past rock oriented albums.

6105 - John Klemmer - Arabesque

Great sax player. My early 1970's experience, living in the north county area of San Diego (Leucadia), with an apartment on the bluff overlooking the ocean (ok, so I was on the other side of the street) I was a jazz fusion/funk freak. I liked the soft stylings of Klemmer and Bob James, as well as the sticatto style of The Brecker Brothers. I used to play Klemmer loud, with the lights out, lying on the floor. I had newly installed surround sound speakers, plus the whole apartment was wired (I was an complete audiophile back then, with a Macintosh preamp, the requisite Marantz receiver -- can't remember the tuner .. oh, yeah, a Scott ! .. you get the picture -- tubes, tubes, tubes).

2878 - Don Johnson - Heartbeat

Ok, stop laughing. When he was dating Babs (honey, what WERE you thinking making this record?), she did this album with him. I'm getting a refill.

7179 - Pete Seeger - Boll Weevil

Sorry to say I'm old enough to even remember this song. I need another drink. Gonna fire up a joint to celebrate my "folk" roots.

7158 - Paul Simon - Born At The Right Time

Gotta say I am an unabashed fan of Paul Simon's. Sure, I liked Simon and Garfunkel, who didn't back then? But when they split (sad, sad fucking day), the one that actually really took off, and that I liked, through each genre he embraced, was Paul Simon. Before I "got" the layering of "thirds" in harmony from Crosby, Stills and Nash, I learned harmony singing Art's parts to S&G songs.

4632 - Billy Vera - Big Chief

Ha ha. Funny song. Billy had only one big hit, "At This Moment," which came about thanks to Michael J. Fox's character on Family Ties breaking up with his on screen girlfriend (who turned out to be the Mrs. Fox later on), and "that song" playing on the jukebox in the background. Me, I'm one of the original "Beater Buddies" that followed this band in the '80's. This was the quintessential bar band in Los Angeles! Don't EVEN get me started on Billy trivia ... (grins).

5816 - Ike & Tina Turner - Rock Me Baby

You know, I'm rather fortunate to have grown up in Los Angeles. Most people really don't know that this band played high school cantines back in the 1960's. Hell, I saw James Brown, Brenton Woods, and Ike and Tina at Lakewood High School's Friday night cantine's back when I was a sophmore and junior at Long Beach's Wilson High School. My sister, our friend Debbie, and I, all wore the same really, really short skirts and that wratted high hair, and hung out with the "bad boys" at Lakewood High! Ike and Tina made numerous appearances at the cantines... and tell me you WOULDN'T want to have been sitting on that really small stage WATCHING Tina and her girls strut!

1095 - Boston - Don't Look Back

Cranking up that damn volume! Man, when Boston hit the scene, I nearly peed my pants. Between Boston and Queen, and that wall of guitar sound ... I only went to one Boston concert, in that no man's land called Orange County. Loved the concert, hated the venue.

Bonus Track

3818 - The Byrds - Mr. Tamborine Man

Who didn't emerge from this band successful? Of course, Dave Crosby, one. Chris Hillman, and we all know I'm a Souther, Hillman Furay fan (and let's not miss the connection with Richey Furay and Steve Stills - Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, CSN&Y).