my favorite albums... 90 thru 81

Welcome back to the show... here's the next set of my all time favorite albums...

Read:
The Introduction
My 100th to 91st favorite albums of all time

90

"Off the Deep End" by Weird Al Yankovic (1992)... I love, have always loved, and will always love, Weird Al Yankovic.  He's just hilarious.  And inventive.  And funny.  And his 7th studio album falls in that love category... he parodies the New Kids on the Block's "The Right Stuff" with an ode to the creamy center of an Oreo, "The White Stuff"... he digs on Milli Vanilli in "The Plumbing Song"... he joins with Cheech Marin in doing some "Rico Suave" as "Taco Grande"... and my favorite of the bunch is the lead single--"Smells Like Nirvana", a great parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".  Story goes that Al reached out, somewhat nervously, to Kurt Cobain about doing a Nirvana song.  Cobain asked, "Is your parody about food?"  Al replied, "Well... uh... no.  Its actually about how no one can understand your lyrics..."  Cobain loved the idea, the song and the video that accompanied it.  As he should.  Its brilliant.

89
"Songs from Ally McBeal" by Vonda Shepard (1998)... This will fall into the category of "CDs I listened to continually for a long, long time, but haven't heard in a long, long time..."  I used to love me some Ally McBeal, as well as the music... and most of the music from the first few seasons was done by singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard... the CD is mostly covers like "Walk Away Renee" and "Just Ask the Lonely", but my favorite is the Ally McBeal theme song, "Searching My Soul". 

Wait... I just found out that Vonda Shepard is the same Vonda Shepard that duets with Dan Hill on the 80s cheesefest "Can't We Try"... how did I not know this?  I mean, how many Vonda Shepards making music can there be?  Why didn't I make this connection?  I'm losing my touch...

88
"Purple" by Stone Temple Pilots (1994)... I have to give props to my high school buddy Greg Avant for turning me on to this band... I'll tell that story later, but "Purple" is their second CD, and its just so, so good.  "Interstate Love Song" is the one that got the most play on the radio, but there are other gems here... like "Big Empty", a song that was later featured in "The Crow" soundtrack, and the oddly named, great sounding "Meat Plow".  I'm not a huge heavy metal fan, but I loved me some STP.  Of course, this was truly the last great album they made... their next CD, "Tiny Music from the Vatican Gift Shop" was good, but just not the same magic as their first one, and this one.  Favorite track: Vasoline

Unfortunately, Scott Weiland, the frontman for STP, was buzzed on heroin for much of the early STP years.  And he sounded awesome.  And when he got clean, STP suffered.  I know, its a terrible thing... but I miss Heroin Addicted Scott Weiland.  Maybe he just shoot up for recording sessions, remaining closely supervised by doctors, and then immediately go into rehab.  That's probably why I'm not a music producer.

87.
"Surfacing" by Sarah McLachlan (1997)... I do love me some Sarah Mac.  I procured tickets to see her in concert once, while working at a radio station.  We sat next to the Paepckes' (Jon from NBC13 and his wife Jennifer)... and the four of us might have been the only four straight people in the entire arena.

Anyway, "Surfacing" is the fourth studio album from Sarah, and containing some excellent songs like "Building a Mystery" and the grew-on-me-over-the-years "Adia".  Loses points, however, for the inclusion of "Angel", a really slow song already that has been forever marred because its the music used by the ASPCA, showing you pictures of one eyed puppies, three legged kittens and retarded horses to guilt you into sending them money.  That song is ruined.  Favorite track, though? "Sweet Surrender".  Looooove me some "Sweet Surrender".

86   
"House of Love" by Amy Grant (1994)... The early 90s were really tough on Mrs. Grant.  She made a highly successful crossover to pop music with "Heart in Motion", released in 1991 and was on the short list of albums for this Top 100... things weren't going well, though.  She separated from singer/songwriter Gary Chapman, and while in that separation, she met country superstar Vince Gill, who appears on this album, in a duet for the title track.  Gary and Amy finalized their divorce in 1999, and in 2000, she married Vince, himself previously married to a chick from Sweethearts of the Rodeo. 

Personally, I think she fell in love with Vince in the mid to late 90s, still married to Gary... but I also think they knew years before the divorce that the marriage was doomed.   Listen to 1997's  "Behind the Eyes", the album that came after this--its pretty painful.  Her heart was broken.  How did this turn into an Amy Grant story?

"House of Love" is fun, light, and peppy, especially with "Lucky One", a somewhat winkwink nudgenudge to the art of Christian lovin'... I dig her version of "Oh How the Years Go By"... I like "Children of the World"... but my favorite has to be the title track, "House of Love"

85
"Caedmon's Call" by Caedmon's Call (1997)... Like many of you, I find new bands because someone says "These guys are awesome, you should check them out."  That's how I discovered The Weepies (Thanks Hannah Pruitt!) and The Lemonheads (Thanks Mike Dunn!  You stole my girlfriend, but at least I have the Lemonheads to listen to!)... and one summer in 1997, doing summer missions with the Baptist Association in Montgomery, Alabama, this dude named Jason said, "You need to listen to Caedmon's Call.  They are awesome."  And they were.  They are.  From the opening "Lead of Love" to the great closer, "Coming Home", and everything in between, its guitar worship Jesus praise, and its great.  "This World" is an amazing take on how this is not our home, "I Just Don't Want Coffee" could be a theme song for me, and "Close of Autumn" is one of my Life Songs, or songs that most affected my Christian Walk

84
"Serious Hits... Live" by Phil Collins (1990)... Phil is one of those guys who was pretty awesome in a band--Genesis--and had a pretty awesome solo career, at least early.  Then he kinda became a wuss.  (See "Adams, Bryan").  Anyway, on this live CD you get some pretty serious hits live, like "Do You Remember" and "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven", which are from the studio album before this "But Seriously...", but you also get some earlier stuff, including "Easy Lover" and "In the Air Tonight".  And there is an incredible version of "Separate Lives", and my favorite Phil Collins song "I Wish It Would Rain Down".  Did you also know that Phil is the father of Lily Collins, the big sis in "The Blindside"?  Yup. 

At some point, this exchange actually happens:
Paula:  Have you ever been in love?
Keanu: If I was... I didn't know it...
Glorious.  Brilliant.  Poignant.  Ridiculous.  All in one. I frickin love
the "Rush Rush" video...

83
"Spellbound" by Paula Abdul (1991)... And we get our first repeat artist of the countdown... I gotta be honest.  For a long time, I had "Forever Your Girl" ranked this high, and "Spellbound" was among the discarded nominations... but I took a long look at the track listing, and even pulled up iTunes and took a listen at "Vibeology" (oh so funky) and "The Promise of a New Day" (positive vibes along for the ride) and "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" (soft and melodic) and of course, "Rush Rush", which can only be truly appreciated if you watch the most ridiculous video in the history of mankind.  I mean, Keanu Reeves is portraying James Dean.  Read that sentence again. 

82
"A Maze of Grace" by Avalon (1997)... Yes, in the 90s, trios and quartets in Contemporary Christian Music were almost a dime a dozen.  Sometimes it was hard to tell your Sierra from your The Waiting from Silage from PFR to FFH to Big Tent Revival... they all kind of sounded alike, even with different sounds and styles... and somehow, Avalon kinda sounded like that too.  But, to me, they stood out with this CD... This, their 2nd album, was magical, as it contained great worship music like "Adonai" and "Dreams I Dream For You"... oh, and this monster hit you couldn't get away from, "Testify To Love".  Don't get me wrong, its a great song, but in 1997-98, that song was EVA.REE.WHERE... I mean, all over.  And yes, I know all the words.  My favorite tunes on this album though, are the awesome strong-in-faith song "World Away" and the love song to God, "Reason Enough"

81

"Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park" by Sheryl Crow (1999)... I do love Sheryl Crow. Ever since her first album, "Tuesday Night Music Club", which as you might guess, you'll hear about later, I have enjoyed her music, her writing and her style... that's changed a bit in the last six or seven years, as I kinda feel like she's become a little flaky for my tastes, as you can read here in a post from years ago, but that doesn't change her work in the 90s.  This live CD features Eric Clapton, The Dixie Chicks, Chrissy Hynde from The Pretenders, Stevie Nicks and Sarah McLachlan, an incredible line-up, and... well, this CD is just fun.  My favorite track is the duet with Stevie Nicks, on a cover of "Gold Dust Woman"

ALMOST MADE THE CUT

My first three CD purchases... 1) The Monkees box set... 2) The Pulp Fiction Soundtrack... and ...

The Hit Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1995)... I don't know who sings these songs, and the liner notes are somewhere around here, I dunno... but I love "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita, a musical I don't really ever care to see... and I thought this version of "Memories" from CATS was incredible, even though I've seen CATS twice and it sucked both times... and of course, the title song from "The Phantom of the Opera" will rock your world... and "Jesus Christ Superstar"?  Holy crap that song is a jam.  And I got it all from this CD, on sale for $11.95, at On Cue in Troy, Alabama.

no warm fuzzies allowed

Well... I guess its time to 'fess up.  We're STARTing. 

Let me explain... one of my favorite columnists is Jon Acuff, author of both the blog page and book entitled "Stuff Christians Like", and also the author of a fantastic little book called "Quitter".  Its all about bridging that gap between doing what you have to do--your job--and doing what you love.  It doesn't tell you to quit your job, he tells you to find your passion, and do what it takes to do that. 

His next book is called "START", with a long subtitle of "Punch Fear in the Face / Escape Average / Do Work That Matters".  I know what you are going to say... another Christ Follower with a tried and true method of making you feel all fuzzy and warm, pumping you up, making you raise your head to the Heavens and say, "Yes Lord!  I am made for more than this!  I'll become what you want me to be!!" which is all well and good, until you have to go work the next day.   Or school.  Or re-join the real world in some other fashion

Warm Fuzzies are dangerous.  They make you feel so alive, so loved, so comforted... and yes, you are.  By God, you are loved and comforted.  By your friends, your family, your kids, maybe your spouse, maybe just your besties, but you are loved.   But they give you a false sense of love, of security, and they are the first things to abandon you when times get an inkling of being sorta kinda tough. 

Be it reading a book about STARTing, punching fear all up in its grillz and becoming awesome, or having a throwdown hoedown praise and worship session like no other... warm fuzzies like to take hold.  And when its over, where are the Warm Fuzzies that were all up on you like white on rice on a paper plate on a polar bears back on an Alaskan hillside in a January snowstorm? 

Gone.

But... what if its not a warm fuzzy?  What if you could avoid the warm fuzzy, and truly find what you want to do, maybe He wants you do?  Find that passion?

My passion, when it boils down to it, is writing.  I love writing.  I love blogging.  Yes, I love Disney, and I love planning trips and so on, that is a passion... but truly, doing what I am doing at this very second, expressing my thoughts to you via Algore's interwebs... that is what I can do.  This is what God has given me the talent to do.

And so I do not want to neglect that.  Hence, pouring hours this week into this website... it was in danger of becoming obsolete.  Or forgotten.  Or just left, with the intentions of continuing, and probably just left in a pile of old blogs that make you do math to figure out when the last post actually was...

I joined a START group on Facebook, and it was there that I was spurred to continue.  Thousands of people posting, from all walks of life, all about their own fears... their own forgotten passions... their desires to be more than what they were... their wanting to find how to glorify Him the most out of what we do... and I was so encouraged by it.

Next week, out of the 2500+ people who signed up, we will be divided up into groups of 24... over 100 groups across the country (world?) and given a 24 day challenge.  Who knows what it will be... but I'm excited about it.  I'm excited to be pressed.  I'm excited.

Time to drop the pretense, time to shake off the cobwebs, time to do what He gave me the talent to do.

I'm a writer.

I will write.

Final thought.  Here's one of my favorite songs of all time, ever.  Caedmon's Call off of their self-titled album, its a song that I've discussed here before, but always seem to find my way back to... "Close of Autumn".  The last line pierces me every time--its about how we aren't baby Christians anymore, and we shouldn't be hanging out in the shallow end of the God Pool.  Its time to swim.  Yes, my fear was that You'd leave me here.  A long time back, my feet... they could actually touch the bottom.

When I'm cold and alone, all I want is my freedom, a sudden gust of gravity... I stop wailing and kicking just to let this water cover me, cover me.  Only if I rest my arms, rest my mind, You'll overcome me, swell up around me.  With my fighting so vain, and my vanity so fought, I'm rolling over...

And in just the same way, this stream becomes swollen, swollen with cold up over the ground.  When my heart draws close, to the close of autumn, Your love abounds.

All this time I've been thinking, wondering, how would it be to breathe in deep?  Guess I need to be careful when I ask for a drink, just might get what I ask for.  And I know just what You say to me, that's why I don't ask You, what would I ask You?  I'm like a bull-headed boy these days, crying "my toy's gone!"  You're shiny and new.

Cause in just the same way, this stream becomes swollen, swollen with cold up over the ground.  When my heart draws close, to the close of autumn, Your love abounds.

Guess I'll drop my anger here, before I float away, and the chains around me.  And awful lot of talking, I don't leave You much to say. 

You didn't ever leave me.

Any my greatest fear, was that You'd leave me here.

A long time back my feet...

...could touch the bottom.

Thank you for reading with me.  Hopefully, you'll join me in the deep end.  Some say I might be going off the deep end.  And peruse the blogroll, you might find a few random blogs you didn't know before...

The Fans of FAN Day

Sometimes our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), has some bad ideas.  Sometimes they throw some things out there, and we all sit back and say, "Wow.  That didn't work, did it?"

And then again, sometimes our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), has some great ideas.  Some ideas, that when put forth are just knocked out of the ballpark.  And FAN Day was one of them...

FAN stands for "Friends And Neighbors" Day, where we could invite... well, our friends and neighbors... to come out to our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), get to know us, get to know our pastor, and see what we have to offer... namely, Jesus, but there's more too.

Siran Stacy spoke at our church.  He's a former star for the University of Alabama--incidentally, they have 13 national championships, just in case you didn't know--in the years '89 to '91, and hails from Geneva, Alabama, which is 8 miles from my own home in Samson, Alabama.

In late 2007, he was driving a van with his wife and kids, and was struck by a drunk driver.  The drunk driver was killed, as was Stacy's wife, and four of his five children.   Stacy and his daughter Shelley survived, after both spent time in a coma.

When Siran Stacy hit that stage, you knew Jesus was up in this hizzy.  I mean, Siran brought it.  Let's be clear, I like Calvin Kelly... he's been my pastor for 12 years, really the only true pastor I've ever known--mine own church history is another blog for another day--but every now and then, a little color on our stage is great.  Maybe once a month or two, toss up some Antjuan Marsh, or let's catch Voddie Bochum as he's coming through town...

Anyway, Siran was a dynamic speaker, preaching on how God dealt with Ezekiel in the Old Testament, and relating it to how he dealt with his own losses.

And afterwards, we all went out to our tailgate parties.  Each Sunday School Life Connection had a little parcel of the parking lot, and each was responsible for grilling and serving up their own food, putting out their own chairs and tables, and making it as tailgatey as possible. 

I told one of the higher ups in our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), that next year we need to present a trophy to the best tailgate presentation, maybe keep that trophy in the church with class names engraved on it year after year.  And of course, I only say that because of what we had....

We had Justin Fisher, about seven grills, a bunch of experienced grillers grilling on those grills, banana pudding, some little chocolate brownie balls that I had about fourteen of, all 9 of Chad & Amanda Campbell's kids, a tent, cornhole, Willis in a green The U shirt, an RV and Heather Whitley.  We win.

Here are some pictures from FAN Day.




Here is Mr. Steven Ray's Day and Mrs. Steven Ray's Mom, helping set up the big, fat buffet of cholesterol, sugar and high fructose corn syrup, along with the ribs and lettuce.  We rule.




Sitting and waiting to eat, The Freckled (re)Becca.  Her beau, Bobowen, is around here somewhere.



Jonathan Taylor, preparing the roast beast, the roast beast for the Valleydale Church
(an sbc fellowship) Tailgate feast.



The Lovely Steph Leann and our friend Heather, who's husband is away this weekend on drill and keeping our
country safe.  U-S-A!  U-S-A!



Tootie Watkins, with his gloves on, cooking up some burgers, while others, including
Steven Ray, gnaws on some ribs



I'm sure that the pastors and leaders of the church stopped by several booths, but we had a ton of people who
aren't in our own Life Connection class stop by ours.   Again, this lends to the assumption that we, in fact, had
the best set up.  I will say there was a circus tent that had a "JESUS FOR HEISMAN" sign, but in order to one-up
them, we went out and got Alissa Thornell.  We win again.



When Justin Fisher rolls down the halls of Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), little Will Fisher will run
out to meet him, and he will yell, and I quote, "Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!"  I can only
hope that Campbell Isaiah will dig his dad as much as Will Fisher digs his old man.  Little Will puts his hand
on Daddy JustFish's chair, and this is how they roll.



Calah Ray, correctly pronounced Cah-lah Rah, shows the excitement, yet exhaustion of the day



Jon Taylor and Heather Whitley view the food options, while again, Steven Ray looks on in the background.  I
think he was searching out the camera.

 


Emmy Turnbow, making a Not Emmy Turnbow Safe Face of Disapproval at her maler half, Jason


If you are on Facebook, you can search me up and look at all the pictures from FAN Day... I'm keeping them available for "Everyone" to see for a few days, then I'll take 'em down to "Friends Only" viewing.  Then you'll have to be my friend to see them... Membership has its privileges.

The Weekend of iTunes

Happy Birthday this past Saturday to Amy McLeod, who turned 29 for the second time. I can't say that I've ever been more excited about a birthday card than the one I got you--I'll have to send it, I guess, because I don't know when I'll see you again. So expect it in the a few days. I could probably not sign it, and you'd figure out who sent it...

Song playing on iPod, set on shuffle: "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith, from Willennium

So... as I said before, I got my iPod. I went out and paid cash for a 60 gig black video Apple iPod, and I own it--no credit cards, no charging, no check... its mine, all mine. By the way, the iPod is currently on shuffle right now, so I'll give you the songs that come up as they do. Oh, and just for fun, I'll tell you that I was in the restroom a few minutes ago, with the iPod plugged in (in the other room--duh). I thought I heard the O.C. Supertones, though I didn't remember that song being on one of their albums. I was engrossed in the latest EW anyway, so I didn't pay much attention, and when I got back, I noticed this song was playing now:

Song playing now: "One Day I'll Fly Away" by Nicole Kidman, from The Moulin Rouge Soundtrack.

So, I did a flipback to see what Supertones song I had heard... turns out, it was "Come Around" from Factor 7. Some of you are enjoying that comment right now.

Anyway, I'm a nerd. I can't just have a screen on the iPod that says "Don't Cry" on one line, then "Guns N'Roses" on the next. No no. I have to have the top line say "Don't Cry", the next line say "Guns N'Roses", the next line say "Use Your Illusion I" (the album) then have in the info about the song the year (1991), the ratings ("Don't Cry" gets five stars from me--tops) then the genre (90s Rock), and finally, one day the lyrics. I have my catagories I want them in, and I want them organized a certain way... see, what took me so long, though, is that I had over 4500 songs to import.

Song: "I Know Why" by Sheryl Crow, from Wildflower

I worked on iTunes for about two solid weeks, organizing and catagorizing--remember, I had worked on loading cds into the computer for about three weeks prior. When I got the iPod last week, I was tempted to just plug it in and let it load, and re-organize later... I decided to have patience. So here was my iPod, sitting unbothered on the counter for 9 days... finally on Saturday morning, in the wee hours of say, 3am, I finished with iTunes, and was ready to load the iPod. I went to bed instead, having to be at work at like, 930am that very morning. When I got home, around 430pm, I figured I'd plug it in, give it an hour to load, and listen to it on the way out to Jon & Emily Taylor's house--with whom Steph and I had dinner plans.

Song: Fool For You, Nichole Nordeman, performed live on "Live at the Door"

Well, I plugged it in at 430p... by the time we were ready to leave at 630p, it had loaded about 760 songs of 4553. When we got home at 1030ish, it had loaded 3557 of 4553. So I went to bed, again. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I got to hear my iPod in action. Very satisfying. Of course, the videos didn't work, so I had to figure that part out... you have to convert videos to iPod format, even if they show up in iTunes... and they take fooooorrreeevvveeerrr..... Currently, I have only one music video on it--"Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim. BUt I do have several Star Wars videos, including the classic "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", and the hilarious Law & Order type short "The Trial of Han Solo", on trial for shooting Greedo... did he shoot first? Was it self defense?

Song: Everytime I Close My Eyes, by Babyface.

Right now, its converting a few more into iPod playability... "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter and "Food Good Inc" by The Gorillaz..

Can I say how bitter I am that "Bad Day" is being played everywhere? This is what happened to "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik, from 1997. Fantastic song.... loved it. I was on the verge of considering waiving my two year waiting period before it could jump into my top twenty all time songs.

"God" by Rebecca St. James, from the God album.

I have my Top Ten favorite songs, and as an extension of that, I have ten more behind it, making it my top twenty all time favorite songs... In order for inclusion into Dave's Top Twenty-and possibly Top Ten--I give it two to three years... this ensures that after hearing the song a thousand times, I will still like it... if it grows tiresome, or I find myself turning the channel when it comes on, then I'll know its not Dave Top 20 material. This is what happened to "Barely Breathing"... every station in Montgomery and Birmingham and Troy and Dothan played it all the flippin' time... and I grew tired of it within a year.

"If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger (There's One Coming Home)" by George Strait, from his 1st Volume of Greatest Hits

Unfortunately, this is whats happening to "Bad Day"... not that I think it was ever in consideration for Dave's Top 20, but as much as I hear it now, it probably not going to even come close to my top 100 when its all said and done. Sadly, repitition and overplaying is what is killing Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes", though its not played nearly as much, so Kelly has a chance to recover... Daniel Powter's run is just getting started on the radio.

Of course, KT Tunstall's "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" is on the fast track for a 2008 possible Dave Top 20 appearance.

"Love Me More" by PM Dawn, from The Bliss Album

Where was I? Who knows. Anyway, with the iPod, now its just a matter of tweaking the music, making sure the version of songs I have are what I want, correcting spellings and such... and converting my dozen or so videos to iPod formats. The longest will be the Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged show that I have-it clocks in at around 55 minutes. That might take days.

"When Did You Ever Listen To Me" by Rebecca Lynn Howard, from Forgive

The question I'm getting alot now is "What they heck are you doing with 4500 songs?", usually crossed with the comment "I dont even know 4500 songs..." My thought is, I love music... it makes me who I am. Songs, certain ones, take me back to a place when things were different... sometimes better, sometimes worse. Not that I would give up what I have now, namely Stephanie, my job, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), a lifetime charter membership in the Deuce and my iPod, for anything--but sometimes its good, fun to remember.

"But Anyway" by Blues Traveler, from Live From the Fall

I mean, I hear "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, or "Old Man and Me" by Hootie & the Blowfish, or "Wanted" by Alan Jackson, or "Seven Bridges Road" by The Eagles or "Luv is a Verb" by dcTalk, and there's a story that goes with it. And amy one of you know there are certain songs that hit you in different ways... and so now I've got the capability of holding all the songs that may or may not affect me, or might affect me in the future, in the palm of my hand. Plus, you can't go wrong with anything that lets you hold the lyrics to both "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies, and "Numb" by U2 in your hands.

Music that has played while I was attaching links to this post...
"Piece of Glass" by Caedmon's Call, from Long Line of Leavers
"She" by The Monkees, from Listen to the Band box set.
"Its In His Kiss" by Vonda Sheppard, from Songs From Ally McBeal
"Lonely People" by Jars of Clay, from Who We are Instead
"I Wanna Luv You Up" by Color Me Badd, from C.M.B. (wait, how'd that get on there? that's not mine...)
"You Made Me Love You" by Jimmy Durante, from the You've Got Mail Soundtrack
"Long Time Gone" by The Dixie Chicks, from the Top of the World Tour live album
and from the catagory of "Bad 80s Hairbands With Crappy, Yet Awesome Music", it's "Sometimes She Cries", by Warrant, from the colossal, multi-dozen selling "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin' Rich"

As for something completey random, here's one more reason I like LL Cool J... check out his comments on money at the Hip Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment. (I don't know that I could have made that up if I tried...) Anyway, he says "Give 10 percent to your church, then 10 percent to your house". Cool J is a tither! Go God! Now, I'm going to listen to LL Cool J sing about "dying to creep 'tween your sheets"

American Idol again, Wednesday morning...