1. Lovers in a Dangerous Time (live)- BareNaked Ladies

• "Don't the hours go shorter as the days go by, we never get to stop an open our eyes, one minute you're waiting for the sky to fall, the next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all." In 1991 a number of artists contributed songs to "Kick at the Darkness", a tribute album celebrating the music of Canadian artist Bruce Cockburn. Looking back perhaps most notable among the artists were the BareNaked Ladies, who were yet to release their major label debut "Gordon". "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" would go on to become the B-side of "The Old Apartment" CD single and was included in 2001's "Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001)". I can't imagine anyone would care to know this but the version of "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" included on the greatest hits CD is a slightly alternative mix of the original. I don't know much about Bruce Cockburn's music but I really enjoy this song and he does a masterful cover of "Turn, Turn, Turn" on the "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" Pete Seeger tribute album.

2. Cheated On Me (live)- Gavin DeGraw

• "I've felt just like this before, there was another just like you, I loved her for so long, but I had poison on my mind and drove her into, someone else's eyes, someone else's arms, someone else's obvious moves." Not bad, but I liked this song better when it was called "Just Friends". On "Just Friends", from his debut "Chariot", Gavin sings about a girl who ends up in another guy's arms. Think "Ooh baby you, you've got what I need, but you say he's just a friend." This time around on "Cheated On Me", from his self titled sophomore effort, the same thing happens but he's got himself to blame. Gavin is hardly the first artist to revisit an idea lyrically or musically. After Marvin Gaye had a smash hit with "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" he turned around with the sound-a-like song "Your Unchanging Love". Speaking of Gavin and Marvin, I've heard Gavin do a great live cover of Marvin's "Let's Get It On". After James Taylor's success with "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" it's a shame he didn't dabble with more Gaye tunes. I'd like to hear what he'd do with "You Sure Love to Ball".

3. Black (live)- Pearl Jam

• "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky, but why, why, why, can't it be, can't it be mine." In 1998 Pearl Jam released "Live on Two Legs". Unless I'm mistaken it was their first commercially available live album. The irony is that now you can purchase virtually every live show that Pearl Jam performs. As for "Black", I can only say great things. The live version here is phenomenal with the band stretching the song to nearly seven minutes thanks to some guitar heroics from Mike McCready. The original version comes from the band's major label debut "Ten". The album (which features 11 songs) was named after then-current NBA basketball player Mookie Blaylock who wore the number 10. "Ten" was a critical and commercial smash that in part launched grunge music, ended the popularity of hair metal, and helped guys across the country with flannel shirts fit in.

1. Middle Man- Living Colour

• "I don't have a need to be the best, don't want to be just like the rest, just stay who I am, just and ordinary middle man. I've got no master plan, just a simple middle man." If you weren't listening to Living Colour in 1988, what were you listening to? "Cult of Personality" hit radio and MTV with a fury that year and the album "Vivid" went on to sell over 2 million copies. If anyone saw the all black heavy metal band as a novelty, they quickly got past that when they realized how talented these guys are. In particular, Vernon Reid is probably as technically proficient as anyone who has ever played hard rock guitar. In other words, anything you can do, he can do better. Musically "Middle Man" is built around a great guitar riff (Angus Young would be proud). Lyrically it's about finding contentment in living an average life. Not everyone is going to change the world. As the band once quipped, not everyone is going to invent a better mousetrap.

2. Company In My Back (live)- Wilco

• "Hide your soft skin, your sorrow is sunshine, listen to my eyes, they are hissing radiator tunes, I move so slow, a steady crushing hand, holy sh*t there's a company in my back." For all the love critics gave "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" it's successor "A Ghost is Born" provided an equally impressive collection of songs. Don't sleep on it. Pitchfork, some website I never heard of until earlier this week, gave "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" a perfect ten stars (why not give 10 pitchforks?) in 2002. This might not sound crazy until you find out they hadn't given another album 10 stars until this year (the new Kanye West album got the honor). Was there nothing in between that good? Getting back to "Company In My Back", this version of comes from the "Kicking Television: Live In Chicago" album. The live version clocks in at the same exact time (3:46) as the studio version- way to keep it tight fellas. Earlier this year I purchased a "1st time on LP" Kicking Television vinyl box set that features a number of songs not included on the original CD. You'll be happy to know that not only have I not opened the records, I haven't even opened the box they were shipped in. "Near mint condition" does not befit a true collector.

3. B Side Wins Again- Public Enemy

• "Here you go y'all, little by little you know, we got the power, the knowledge to move 'em, and still rock, a super song for the cause so, feel the load on your brain for the episode, and we just begun it's number one y'all, brother black the B is back." Where would we be without B sides? Well for one we might not have Rod Stewart (his breakout "Maggie May" was a B side). In the day of the 7 inch vinyl single the B side often gave us a "deep album cut" or a song not even featured on the album the A side sought to promote. In the earliest days of hip-hop, before the advent of MCs and rap records, DJ's made a name for themselves by finding breaks in all sorts of places. To this day DJ's dig through crates to find B sides and obscure records to sample. "B Side Wins Again" finds Chuck D paying homage to the B side and kicking lyrics absent the political focus most often associated with Public Enemy. The sound here is also unique for P.E. Instead of the dense sonic assault P.E.'s Bomb Squad production team made famous we have a basic drum track and an echo effect on the vocal. It's not a stripped down as Run DMC's "Sucker M.C's" but it's not far off. If you have any vinyl singles laying around be sure to dust them off and flip them over.

1. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (live)- Bob Dylan

• "Baby let me follow you down, baby let me follow you down, well I'll do anything in this God almighty world, if you just let me follow you down." Bob Dylan is known as one of the best (if not the best) songwriters in the history of rock music. Perhaps surprisingly, his 1962 debut album "Bob Dylan" only featured 2 original songs. The rest of the album was made up of traditional folk songs including "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down". This particular version comes from "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert" album. Ironically the album takes it's name from mislabelled bootlegs that attributed the show to The Royal Albert Hall when in fact the show was recorded at Manchester's Free Trade Hall. The great thing about this version is hearing Dylan backed by The Hawks (The Band) who know how to keep it loose and keep it tight.

2. Long Division- Death Cab For Cutie

• "And they carried on like long division, and it was clear with every page, that they were further away from a solution that would play, without a remain remain remain remainder." I was told there would be no math on this blog. "Long Division" comes to us courtesy of the "Narrow Stairs" album. The song references an "open door" which ends up being the name of the great EP that followed "Narrow Stairs". For me the brilliance of "Narrow Stairs" is the seamless juxtaposition of lead singer Ben Gibbard's depressing lyrics (which have always been a hallmark of the band) and music that is much harder and more upbeat than what the band typically produced in the past. If you weren't paying attention you'd swear these are happy songs. "Long Division" isn't a standout track per se but it's a solid song from a great album.

3. Who Killed Davey Moore?- Bob Dylan

• "Who Killed Davey Moore, why and what's the reason for? 'Not me' says the gambling man, with his ticket stub still in his hand. 'Not me' says the man who's fists, laid him low in a cloud of mist." Another selection from the Bob Dylan Bootleg series-this time it's from volume 1. "Who Killed Davey Moore" is a protest song built around the real death of boxer Davey Moore in 1963. Each verse is from the perspective of various people involved in the fight- the referee, the crowd, the manager, a gambler, a boxing writer, and for good measure his opponent. In each case no one takes responsibility for his death. It's doubtful that Dylan was protesting boxing with this song. It's more likely that he was using symbolism to show how most people point fingers before they take responsibility for their actions or accountability for their role in events. If you listen to Jack Johnson's "Cookie Jar", off the album "On & On", you'll see that it's a straight jack of "Who Killed Davey Moore"...it might as well be the same song.

Get Some (Turkey) Edition

1. Belief (Live)- Gavin DeGraw

• "Tonight you arrested my mind, when you came to my defense, with a knife in the shape of your mouth, in the form of your body with the wrath of a god, oh you stood by me, belief." Gavin DeGraw hit the big time in 2003 with the album "Chariot" which gave us hits like "Follow Through" and the mega smash "I Don't Want To Be". The album also featured a few gorgeous ballads including "Belief". "Chariot" would be re-released a year later with a "stripped" version of each song from the album with much less production. If you have a special someone, "Chariot- Stripped" is a good listen as you get to know that someone better in the biblical sense. This particular version of "Belief" comes from the iTunes exclusive 9 song "Live from Soho" album. "Live from Soho" finds DeGraw behind the piano and acoustic guitar performing songs from his 1st two albums in good form. "Chariot Stripped" and "Live from Soho" are the best representations of his music- Gavin sounds best minus the studio gloss.

2. The Search is Over- Survivor

• "I was living for a dream, loving for a moment, taking on the world, that was just my style, now I look into your eyes, I can see forever, the search is over you were with me all the while." Every now and again the iPod gives me a pure gem to talk about. Does it get any better than "The Search is Over"? I can remember hearing this song in a restaurant in Baltimore about 4 years ago and thinking "how is this song not in my collection?" I remedied that situation quickly. Survivor is the same group who sang "Eye of the Tiger" which was used in the film "Rocky III". That song rocks, and if you are from the Delaware Valley hearing the the opening guitar riff may give you the sudden urge to enroll at Pennco Tech. "The Search is Over" shows us the softer side of Survivor...a much softer side. In the pantheon of cheesy 80's power ballads this has to be towards the top. My favorite lyric is "so if you ever loved me, show me that you give a damn." He's serious. This is not a game.

3. Somebody Told Me- The Killers

• "Well somebody told me, you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend, that I had in February of last year, it's not confidential, I've got potential, a rushin' a rushin' around." Aside from "All These Things That I've Done" (which is genius) I'm not sure what the hot fuss is about The Killers. That being said "Somebody Told Me" is a fun song. If you like a combination of electric guitars, synth pop and tales of androgyny I can't imagine a better song for you. Plus who doesn't love a hard riff and a back beat? The Killers call Las Vegas home and I can see how their music fits the Vegas high energy party vibe. My only issue with "Somebody Told Me" is that it's hard for me to accept that "heaven ain't close in a place like this" when thanks to Warrant I grew up believing that "heaven isn't too far away."

1. Back In the U.S.S.R.- The Beatles

• "Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out, they leave the west behind, and Moscow girls make me sing and shout and Georgia's always on my my my my my my my my mind." This is a fabulous song that kicks off the classic "The Beatles (White Album)" album. I do have to ask- why there is no love for Belarus? From personal experience I can tell you that those girls know how to keep their comrade warm. Apple made headlines this week when iTunes became the first digital music store to offer The Beatles catalogue. For someone who has all The Beatles CDs this was basically a non-event. As I write this, "The Beatles (White Album)" is the 8th most popular album download in the iTunes store. The Beatles "Box Set" which comprises every studio album plus the Past Masters collections is the 12th most popular album download. This sort of begs the question- did people not realize that they could buy this music on CD, import it into their iTunes and sync it to their iPods?

2. What You See Is What You Get- Xzibit

• "And so it was written, and after all these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power the earth was lighted by his glory, and he cried mightily with a strong voice saying 'Babylon the great has fallen'". Xzibit is perhaps best known as the former host of MTV's "Pimp My Ride", a show that elevated the art of spending thousands of dollars in upgrades to hoopties. Think of it as an investment in extravagance. It turns out that Xzibit is also and MC, and a bit of a lyricist. "What You See is What You Get" is the only Xzibit in my collection thanks to it's inclusion on a "Saturday A.C. Mix" CD a friend made for a drive to Atlantic City. Making CDs for road trips is a lost art. "What You See Is What You Get" is high energy. I dig the apocalyptic spoken word intro (quoted above) and in general Xzibit sounds like he could kick my ass which is comforting when I listen to hardcore hip hop.

3. War At 33 1/3- Public Enemy

• "War at 33 and a third, haven't you heard, I got quick and clever at the level of a scientist, with this list my fist pumps chumps and don't miss." In 1990 Public Enemy released "Fear of a Black Planet". It remains one of the greatest artistic achievements in hip hop. For those that don't catch the reference 33 1/3rd is a vinyl LP. Chuck D sided with Gil Scott-Heron joining in the call that "the revolution would not be televised". Chuck D brought the revolution to wax using Public Enemy as a vehicle to spur a mind revolution to promote black nationalism. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before on the blog, but my 1st concert was none other than Public Enemy at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1990. I was 14 or 15 years old so kudos to my parents for letting me go. P.E. was on tour at the time supporting the "Fear of a Black Planet" album. In retrospect my street creed was never higher than in 1990. 20 years later you can find me taking a bubble bath listening to "Africa" by Toto on my iPod. Don't worry, I'm still down.

1. Long Tall Sally- Little Richard

• "Well long tall Sally she's built for speed, she got everything that Uncle John needs, oh baby, yes baby, ooh baby, having me some fun tonight." This song has so much energy it's ridiculous. "Long Tall Sally" is only 2 minutes and 10 seconds but what more do you want? The boogie woogie piano, the vocal and the lyrics all come together perfectly. By 1956 standards this was as good as it gets. I do love the line about being "built for speed". A few years later (3 to be exact) the great Chicago blues songwriter Willie Dixon (perhaps inspired by "Long Tall Sally") penned "Built For Comfort" with the classic lyric- "I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed". The Beatles covered "Long Tall Sally" early in their career but they didn't come close to the original. Little Richard is an undisputed rock 'n' roll architect/pioneer. How much his sound varied is debatable and was the subject of a rather hilarious joke on the cartoon Family Guy. If you "Google" or "You Tube" "Little Richard- Piano Riff Woo" you'll know what I'm talking about.

2. Sleepwalker- The Wallflowers

• "Cupid don't draw back your bow, Sam Cooke didn't know what I know, I'll never be your valentine, the sleepwalker in me, and God only know that I tried." Jakob Dylan (sleep) Walker! Pardon my inside joke. Back in the time known as the 90s, The Wallflowers were a popular outfit. Most of that success was tied to their 1996 multi-platinum breakthrough "Bringing Down the Horse" which spawned several big hits. Their 2000 follow up "Breach" received much less attention but "Sleepwalker" did get some radio play. I do love the reference to Sam Cooke even with the dubious presumption that the singer knows more about affairs of the heart than Sam. This version comes from volume 5 of the Y100 sonic sessions collection. Speaking of said sessions, Weezer recently released a deluxe edition of their album "Pinkerton" which features a number of bonus tracks including 3 songs from their original Y100 sonic sessions recording. This is noteworthy to me since I was in that audience, so technically I'm on a Weezer record. What does this have to do with the Wallflowers? Absolutely nothing.

3. High & Dry- Jamie Cullum

• "Drying up in conversation, you will be the one who cannot talk, all your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love, they're the one who'll hate you when you think you've got the world all sussed out, they're the ones who'll spit at you, you will be the one screaming out." I won't say I enjoy this more than the Radiohead original (I'm sure some would find that blasphemous) but I do enjoy it just as much...perhaps because I don't worship at the Radiohead alter. Lyrically "High & Dry" is genius and who doesn't enjoy a nice falsetto? Radiohead does deserve all the credit here, but the Jamie Cullum version is jazzy good times. The original "High and Dry" comes courtesy of "the bends" album which also gave us "Fake Plastic Trees"... the kind of melancholy acoustic alternative music a "sensy" like me can't get enough of. As soon as I'm done listening to this I'm going to go outside and marvel at fireflies.

Better Late Than Never (Maybe) Edition

1. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues- Bob Dylan

• "I started out on burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff, everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough, but the joke was on me there was nobody even there to bluff, I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough." This song rocks. Bob Dylan's conversion from Judaism to Christianity in the late 70s didn't cause as many waves as his switch from acoustic to electric guitar in the mid 60s. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (featured on 1965's "Highway 61 Revisited") is an early example of his musical conversion. The dissent amongst his folk audience was palpable, and audibly documented on "The Bootleg Series Volume 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966 The Royal Albert Hall Concert" album. During an electric set that included "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" an audience member is heard shouting "Judas!". Dylan's subsequent instructions to the band (The Band) as they warmed up for "Like a Rolling Stone" were to "play f#cking loud". I can recall seeing Clem Snide in DC in the early 2000s and being elated when they worked this song's final verse (quoted above) into their set. I was also elated when the show ended and the house music in the venue featured selections from Hall & Oates greatest hits.

2. Diamond Dogs- David Bowie

• "This ain't rock and roll, this is genocide! Come out of the garden baby, you'll catch a death in the fog, young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs." I know that "Diamond Dogs" was a single from an album of the same name in the mid 70s. I know that musically this song could be mistaken for mid 70s Rolling Stones number. Lyrically I can't pretend to know what in the world this song is about. I did a little casual research and found out that the "Diamond Dogs' album was a concept piece inspired by the novel 1984 that depicts a post apocalyptic glam world. I haven't seen the other side of the apocalypse but I don't imagine glam survives. The single best remembered from"Diamond Dogs" would have to be "Rebel Rebel". "Diamond Dogs" (the song) found it's way onto 1990's "Changesbowie" greatest hits collection but didn't make the cut for the updated "Best of Bowie" 2002 collection.

3. Part-Time Lover- Stevie Wonder

• "We are undercover passion on the run, chasing love up against the sun, we are strangers by day lovers by night, knowing it's so wrong but feeling so right." The great film "High Fidelity" referred to 1984's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" as a "musical crime". How any song produced by Lionel Richie could be a musical crime is beyond me. Crime or no crime, a year later (and almost a full decade before TLC gave us "Creep") Wonder struck gold again with "Part-Time Lover". I think everyone enjoys this song. Fans of old school hip hop should recall the Boogie Down Productions song "Part Time Suckers", an obvious ode to this Wonder classic. I have a cassette tape (look it up) of my sister and I singing along with this song on the radio when we were kids. If I weren't on the recording it'd be the sort of embarrassing thing I'd break out at a rehearsal dinner some day. It's something I plan to keep under wraps as sadly I'm a co-conspirator in this musical crime.