So, What's the WORST Song Ever Recorded?

Blender Magazine released its top ten worst-ever list of tunes.

And, they are:

10. Ebony and Ivory---- Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney-- I agree this should be on the list. Definitely a GAG!!!

9. American Life--Madonna-- Don't know this one

8. Party All the Time-- Eddie Murphy

7. Don't Worry, Be Happy-- Bobby McFerrin--Try to get this out of your head now.

6. Heart of Rock and Roll-- Huey Lewis & the News

5. Ice Ice Baby-- Vanilla Ice

4. Rollin'-- Limpbizkit-- Never heard of this one.

3. Everybody Have Fun Tonight-- Wang Chung

2. Achy Breaky Heart-- Billy Ray Cyrus, the ultimate mullet

1. We Built This City-- Starship

Hey, I liked numbers 8,7,6,5,3,2,1. Guess I don't have much taste when it comes to music.

You can see the site at: www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=786

VH1 also has a top fifty bad songs at this site:
www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/50_most_awesomely_bad_songs/series_countdown.jhtml


No Class, No Class at All. --RoadDog

Twenty Biggest Music Business Blunders

I'm sure Dick Rowe can breathe a sigh of relief. He is the music agent who didn't sign the Beatles.

Blender Magazine has dropped him from Number one biggest blunder to #2, being replaced by music business' battle against the web.

Another one on the top 20 was Berry Gordy selling Motown for $60 million and the following year A & M Records turned around and sold it for $500 million.

Oh, Well, Win Some, Lose a Lot. --RoadDog

Just Got Back-- 17 Days on the Road

Liz and I just arrived back home after driving to Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida in an attempt to escape this lousy winter we've been having here in the Midwest.

Some of the things that happened:

*** Got rolls "throwed" at us twice

*** Spent six days on the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of beach time.

*** Problems with cold fronts pushing through

*** Visited three Civil War forts

*** Naval Air Museum--Pensacola, Fl.

*** Lots of NTN

*** Hurricane Katrina damage

*** Lots of beaches-- Gulfport, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Navarre, Pensacola, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores

*** Dew Drop Inn, Wintzell's-- Mobile

Usually Not Impressed with Grammys...But

This year's Grammy awards Show was one of the best I've ever seen.

From the get-go with Alicia Keyes singing with Frank Sinatra to that great oldies grouping of John Fogerty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. this was a lot of fun.

Then there was the still-something else Tina Turner singing "What's Love Got to Do With It?" then Beyonce coming on to perform "Better Be Good to Me" and them doing a duet on "Proud Mary." Somewhere backstage, John Fogerty had to be smiling.

If anyone has more fun than Brad Paisley, I'd sure like to know who they are. Who would have ever dreamed that someone would have a hit songs with a subject like "Ticks?"

Then, there was that great gospel part. What a finish!!

Kanye West was more than a bit strange.

Is it possible that Dave Stewart and Ringo Starr are brothers? Sure saw a family resemblance there.

Then, Vince Gill won a Grammy and said, "I just got an award given to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?"

I didn't think I was going to like the two pianists playing "Rhapsody in Blue" but they and the backing orchestra too Dueling Pianos to a whole new level.

The highlight of the show, other than the finale, but that's just because I'm gettin' old, was the performance by Amy Winehouse. I'd heard her "Rehab" song, but nothing else other than her "problems" and even that not much because I won't watch Entertainment Tonight or that ilk of show.

She just blew me away. Talk about bringing back 60s-70s soul!!! She received a whole lot of awards and I felt obliged to go out and buy her album the next week. It is as good as I thought it might be.

Lifetime Achievement Awards went to the Band (one of my all-time favorite songs is "The Weight," Burt Bacharach, and Cab Calloway, all very deserving.

And then there was the finale with John Fogerty, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis jamming. Does Little Richard ever change? Jerry Lee looks his age, and of course, John was John. How do you get better than that?

Sure Enjoyed the Show. --RoadDog

Liz's NIU Memorial Tee Shirt

My wife Liz stayed up most of Tuesday night after we got back from Dekalb and designed a tee shirt to honor the slain five.

It had the black ribbon with the Huskie logo along with the date and the words "Forward, Together Forward." I don't mind telling you that it looked good.

She did this through Zazzle, where she has designed other items. However, Zazzle wrote back that the ribbon was copyrighted and she couldn't proceed with it.

Too bad she couldn't go ahead with it.

Is It Just Me, But Has the Time to Start Worrying Arrived

Our economy definitely has me more than just a little bit worried, and I've been around awhile. I've lived through some rough times in the 60s with the Vietnam War, the fuel crisis of 1973, and high interest rates (right when we wanted to buy a house). But none of that worried me more than I am right now.

Prices just keep going up. Everytime you turn around, someone is announcing they're raising prices.

A trip to the old grocery store is frightening when you get to the cash register. Dining costs have risen. And then there is the joy of filling your gas tank. On top of that, taxes!! Sales tax of 9 to 10 % is becoming common. Oh yes, around here, one problem is property taxes. We are going to hit $8,000 a year this summer. When I finally paid off the house a few years ago, I was paying as much in mortgage as I was for property taxes.

Then, there are SO Many people trying to get rich as fast as possible, with little concern of what that is going to do to others.

Here, I refer to Day traders, Commodity Exchange people, Big Oil, and some real estate people. Don't get me started on the CEO and Boards of Directors situation.

If I had to start somewhere, it would have to be with the crippling gas prices. I do not really see anyone in Washington doing anything about it. A few have given mouth service, but nothing comes of it. Something really has to be done. And done soon.

At least take away Big Oil's rocket up, feather float down gas prices. Something happens like Monday's refinery fire and gas at the pump goes up within hours and takes days and weeks to come back down. If it is to go up fast, it should be mandated to come down just as quickly.

Worried in Spring Grove. --RoadDog

Great Country Songs

I am a big fan of country music. The February 24th-March 1st American Profile magazine had an article on ten great country songs and how they came to be. Many of these are personal favorites of mine. See if you can guess what year they came out. Answers at the end.

Looking for Love-- Johnny Lee-- They were looking for just the right song to sing on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. Lee went to a room with thousands of demos and fortunately found this one within the first ten or twenty. How do you get better than this?

Heaven's Just a Sin Away-- The Kendalls-- This was a father-daughter team, Royce and Jeannie Kendall. Released as a "B" side, but djs started flipping it over and went to #1 and CMA Single of the Year. They just sang great together.

Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On-- Mel McDaniel-- Says Mel, "Just about everybody...loves those girls in 'em. I also liked "Older Women."

Swingin'-- John Anderson-- Anderson and co-writer Lionel Delmore knew they had something when they got the idea for it, but continued tweaking it, even during the singing session. Topped chart and CMA Single of the Year. Sold a million copies. One of my favorite performers. That voice is unmistakable.

You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma-- David Frizzell and Shelly West-- They had been turned down by every major label in Nashville until Clint Eastwood heard it and decided to include it in his movie "Any Which Way You Can." I personally like "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our House" better.

God Bless the USA-- Lee Greenwood-- It had been a long time since he'd heard anyone say they were proud to be from the USA. So, he wrote a song about it. This one still sends shivers up my spine.

Honey by Bobby Goldsboro was included, but that, to me is a gag song. Yuck. I also wasn't fond of Rose Garden, He's a Heartache, or Hell and Water. These were also featured. Guess who sang them? See below.

American Profile is a magazine insert in papers. They feature small-town America and have lots of interesting articles. http://www.americanprofile.com/.

"Signature Songs" by Chris Neal

1980, 1977, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1984

Lynn Anderson 1970, Janie Fricke 1983, T. Graham Brown 1986.

Give Me Some of That Good Old Country Music. --RoadDog

Man, Are We GETTIN' Gouged

I don't know about you, but gas prices around the Fox Lake area just jumped from $2.96, still a rip-off, a week ago, to $3.06 Tuesday, and $3.13 yesterday.

I knew when we had the oil refinery fire back on Monday that the boys in Big Oil boardrooms were jumping up and down with glee with the anticipated profits they were about to make. Then, I saw in yesterday's Daily Herald for Chicago's suburbs, that the price of oil closed at over $100 a barrel for the first time. What got me was the rest of the short blurb "as investors bet crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever happened to the Law of Supply and Demand or the Free Market Economy? Something has definitely gone awry.

Can you believe those guys. I definitely don't think they have our and our country's best interests in mind as they squim for that all-mighty dollar. Hey guys, haven't you noticed that our dollar has essentially become worthless!!

I'm beginning to think the time has come to close the world commodities market down.

What About gas prices this SUMMER????

Personally, I don't think it will go much over $3.50 despite the fact summer driving season is just around the corner. Prices around $4 or $5 would hurt a particular party's efforts at retaining the White House. Somehow, a miracle will occur. We will find much greater inventories and pumping production. It's a miracle I tell you.

Remember last year, we had the big gas price increases in anticipation of the summer driving season. Once it got here, it didn't go up much.

Of course, I could be wrong. Perhaps the Big Oil folks are thinking that the gravy train is about to come to an end and are having one final feeding frenzy before they're stopped. In that case, we might really see $4 to $5 gas.

Who Could Have Believed? --RoadDog who can't go out on the road because he can't afford to fill up his tank. But, then Again, It's Been a Mighty Cold and Gloomy Winter Around Here.

A Trip to NIU-- Part 3

For some reason, we hadn't really noticed how cold it was at the boards. Despite all that cold, there were a lot of people there reading and writing. Another person had a big piece of video equipment and was filming here as well. More people kept coming.

We froze our way back to the car and after warming up a little, drove over to part of the parking lot closest to Cole Hall and viewed from the car. We just were not in the mood to walk over to it and we couldn't have gotten too close anyway as the yellow police tape was still up.

We had to back track out of the lot as a Channel 7 van had stopped in the road and wouldn't move out of the way. Nice guys!!

Decided to get a bite to eat and went to the long-time Dekalb favorite eating place called the Junction, right on Lincoln Highway. It opened my first year at Northern, 1969, and has been owned by the current family since 1979. The owner was cleaning partition windows and said he thought his family had made a good purchase of the place. I was wondering why he was cleaning the glass with newspaper and found out it reduces smudges. I didn't know that.

We had been looking for the Feb. 15th Northern Star, but could not find any at the places we stopped. But we did get the Feb. 14th issue. It was strange to read about usual campus happenings, bar parties and specials before the HORROR hit. One group was having something that night at the Cole Hall film area. I guess they didn't have the meeting.

After the excellent sandwiches, we drove across Lincoln to Record Revolution, one of the few remaining mom and pop record stores in the US. They opened in 1973. I talked with the guy there who has been there almost since the beginning. He said that even though they were close to Cole Hall, he knew nothing about it until he heard all the sirens and saw squad cars from many other towns flying down the road to campus. Several helicopters stayed positioned over Lincoln for about three hours until the situation was contained.

I always buy a CD to support them when I'm in town, and got the Best of the Beau Brummels, whose "Laugh, Laugh" was one of my favorite songs back in the 60s. Listened to it all the way back home.

Drove around the dorms and found this is not as easy as it used to be with all the deadends. Also cruised by Altgeld Hall and the Lagoon, two of our favorite places on campus. Next, we went through Greek Row where we saw flowers along a fence in front of one house and I think it might have been the Pike House where the one male killed in the attack was a member. One sorority had a sign on the door about the tragedy.

On the way out of town, we stopped at Steve and Barry's on Sycamore Road to check out their NIU apparel. On checking out, I talked with the cashier who said she was a student but not on campus during the shootings. However, she said her boyfriend was a member of that ill-fated class, but had thankfully decided to skip it that day. Talk about a good decision!!!

Came home and Liz found that the NIU site on Legacy now has 371 pages with about ten entries on each page.

This Still Hasn't Completely Registered.

A Trip to NIU-- Part 2

This was one of those extremely raw, sunny days you can get in this part of the country. I mean, the wind just blew the cold right through your bones. Nonetheless, we walked over to the five crosses memorial on an embankment on the southwest corner of the student center. I was so glad there wasn't one there for the killer. The whole front area of the crosses is covered with flowers and other items, including a teddy bear. Two guys were filming it on one of those track setups. Several people were silently sobbing with heads bowed. After a few minutes, we were sufficiently numb so were glad to find the Union open. We went into the bookstore and again didn't find anything regarding the tragedy. A lot of people were also buying NIU clothing there as well. A person I took to be the manager was on the phone and answering questions to customers. All I heard her say was that they were contacting vendors for those articles and that they'd been closed until today. She wasn't too happy that VCB hadn't closed and were way ahead of her getting those articles which were so much in demand. We told her that VCB was making their own items at this time. You could tell she was really starting to get angry. We saw one woman with a really nice ribbon with a large metal Huskie logo. Asked her where she got it and she said she'd made it herself. Walked through what used to be the fraternity hangout when we were there from 1969-1973, the Pow-Wow Room. With school closed, there wasn't much going on. Started up the steps just as a large group of people were coming down and had to wait. I think they might have been TAs and professors coming from their counseling meetings. Finally warmed up, we went outside again to the two tents set up to cover the boards on which people were writing their feelings. There are now four. It was nice that someone had supplied Sharpies of different colors to express the grief. Most just said something about prayers. However, some were quite poignant. A lot said, "We are all Huskies today," some of which were from people from other schools. Also, "Once a Huskie, always a Huskie." Quite a few were religious. We saw the first one that had been featured so much on the news that said in huge letters "We are NIU." There were a few directed to the only male student killed who was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. I have been at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, but this one was just as striking. Again, it was hard to keep the teardrops in check. They are going to need some more boards when the students come back. As it was, there weren't many open spaces. I did leave the simple message "Don and Liz. Class of 1973." I hope that someone has the foresight to keep the boards and crosses (as well as some of the articles) for some kind of a commemoration. More...

A Trip to NIU-- Part 1

Yesterday, Liz and I took a drive out to Dekalb to have a look at things ourselves. Last night, Liz had downloaded a copy of the black ribbon with NIU logo and we put it in the back window.

The first thing we noticed was that all flags from Sycamore to Dekalb were at half mast and many of the signs at local establishments had words of comfort regarding the tragedy. Same with flags and signs along Lincoln Highway, Il. Route 38.

We drove by the infamous Room 105 at the TraveLodge. There was no yellow tape and it appeared to be ready to rent out again. I'm not sure that that is the proper thing to do. Talk about an infamous motel room. We definitely spent a night or two in that room in the past. I don't even think it should ever be rented out again.

We stopped at the Village Commons Bookstore off Lucinda and found a lot of people there buying NIU clothing. I guess everyone wants to be a part of the community and show it by wearing the colors.

At first, we were disappointed that there were no ribbons are anything for sale to commemorate the tragedy. Then I over heard someone asking another person where they'd gotten their ribbon. They said at the cash register by the other entrance to the place. We walked over and found a group of employees working on assembling ribbons. The ones for 99 cents were just a ribbon, but for $5.99, you could get a ribbon with a metal Huskie logo on it. They were a bit on the small side so we only bought two.

I had thought Cole Hall was closer to the Fieldhouse and drove around there, but couldn't find it. Drove along Lucinda to the other side of the Holmes Center, the student center. We could see the much filmed and photographed five crosses on the south side of the union.

Doubled back to the visitors parking and found it was open. They usually charge $5 a day to park, but weren't open. We saw at least six news vans parked along the spaces closest to Cole Hall. This is now five days after the event.

To Be Continued.

Garnet Mimms Releases New Album

Best-known for 1963's "Cry Baby" which went to #1 R&B and #4 pop which essentially brought gospel music into rock, Garnet Mimms has a new album coming out in March called "Is Anybody Out There?"

This is the first effort in 30 years by Mimms who is now a preacher.

Another big hit, especially in Beach Music, is "A Quiet Place."

R&B expert Robert Pruter writes that "Cry Baby" was "one of those great seminal songs in the emergence of soul music... The song was a gospelized production so full of the soul-saving, fire-and-brimstone ectasies of the black sanctified church that it singularly stood apart. ...Never had the public heard anything so intense and emotional on Top 40 radio."

No doubt there. "Cry Baby" just bleeds anguish. I couldn't have put it any better myself. I have his greatest hits album, well CD. I just might have to pop that on and give it another listen.

Chicago Tribune Feb. 13th "Second chapter for soul singer" by Nick Cristiano

More on NIU

The Tribune Article continued that Northern is a big draw for Illinois students looking for an affordable eduacation at a large, public campus. The vast majority are from Illinois and most of them from the Chicago area. Large numbers of students go home every weekend.

I could have gone to any school in Illinois, but chose Northern because it was close to home, BUT NOT THAT CLOSE.

Compared to U of I, getting in is considerably easier. Plus, NIU's sports teams are NCAA Division I. We are what is called Mid-level. We're good, but have big problems competing with the Major Division I teams.

Academic strengths are business, education, and art. NIU also has a law school. Both Liz and I received out teaching degrees here in 1973. A lot of the teachers we taught with in Round Lake were NIU grads.

Northern was founded in 1899 with 173 students attending classes in the Castle on the Hill, Altgeld Hall. Back then, it was called Northern Illinois State Normal School and its purpose to educate future teachers. Later, it became Northern Illinois State College before getting its present name in July 1957. I also recall that at one time it was Northern Illinois Teachers College.

Altgeld Hall, named after Illinois' education governor, and the Lagoon area in front of it are perhaps the most beautiful spots on campus in my estimation.

The story is around that when the selection committe visited Dekalb, the Kishwaukee River had been dammed up and the water slowly released when the visitors were in Dekalb in the summer to make it more appealing. It just might have worked because Dekalb got the school.

Some famous graduates are US Rep Dennis Hastert, actress Joan Allen, and Garrett Wolfe, Chicago Bears running back. Also, there's the RoadDog, whoever he is. Also William the Goose.

Feb. 17th Chicago Tribune "NIU a strong draw for Illinois residents" by Jodi S. Cohen.

My Old School. --RoadDog

Profile of Northern Illinois University

The February 17th Chicago Tribune ran an article on NIU. Some facts:

Faculty: 1,279
Students: about 25,000
Tuition: (fall 2007) in-state $7,889; out-of-state $14,039
Race/Ethnicity: 71% White, 12% Black, 9% Hispanic, Other 9%
Gender: Women 52% Men 48%
Full-time/Part-time: 90%/10%
Applicants: Admitted 61%, Not Admitted 39%
Housing: Non-college 67%, College 33%
Financial Aid: 60% loans/jobs, Scholarships/grants 40%

We were paying $250 a semester when we attended back in 1969-1973. Ouch.

NIU Tragedy

Liz spent a lot of time on the internet last night looking at items dealing with the Valentine's Day killings.

She was able to download the black ribbon with Huskie logo and the Huskie logo where a tear is coming out of his eye. Those two things really get to us.

There are a lot of student-produced videos on the web as well. We especially found the one where the guy followed the news staff of NIU's paper, The Northern Star around the day after the shootings. Also, the one with Pres. Kennedy speaking hit home.

The killer's girlfriend comes from Wonder Lake, Illinois, about ten miles from here.

The debate as to what should be done with Cole Hall continues. I still say classes should continue in the building next school year. The actions of a lone deranged person should never dictate eduaction. It should have it's name changed to honor the killer's victims. Plus, I believe some of the seats and the shattered door should be kept, along with the "We Are NIU" board and the crosses. That would be fitting.

Frances Klaus Funeral-- Part 2

After the service, Liz, Sherrie, and I had a short time for a final family viewing. This was especially difficult.

I then joined the pallbearers to move the casket out to the hearse. It was raining quite hard by now (after last night's snow).

We took less-traveled streets over to Memory Gardens Cemetery. It was very hard to remember to go through stop signs and stoplights without stopping, but I still slowed down and was very watchful.

When we got to the cemetery, there was a back up for use of the two chapels. Some outside services had been moved inside.

The deacon gave a short service and then we went over to Bogies' for a luncheon. Everyone agreed that the food was excellent and it was a perfect place to have it.

So Long Frances, We Will Miss You.

Dirty Dancing in Middle School?

Well, I don't know about the dirty dancing, but I do know a lot of today's music is unsuitable for playing at schools. And since I have and still do deejaying at middle school dances, I ought to know.

What brought this up was an article in the February 13th Chicago Tribune about the Frankfort, Illinois, Park District calling off the rest of this year's dances because of inappropriate dancing among the kids.

If you want to know why they dance this way, tune in MTV.

I don't really notice any inappropriate dancing when I deejay, but then, there are those explicit songs in both lyrics and often language. And the kids REALLY want to hear these songs. I won't play them which doesn't make the kids too happy.

One in particular that they want to hear these days is "Crank It" by Soulja Boy. I wish I had a buck for every time a kid requests it. They usually understand when I explain why I won't play it.

I usually don't listen to the songs of today very much, but tune in to countdowns before I have a middle school job. I like to know what I'm playing.

These songs are just not appropriate for play in any school, much less a religious one.

The Little Old Song Censor, Me. --RoadDog

Two More Movies-- Fool's Gold and Spiderwick Chronicles

This last Friday, I went to the McHenry Theater and saw two more movies. It's hard to beat the $3 matinee prices.

Fool's Gold-- Romantic comedy, but with our awful winter and all that blue water and warmth, it didn't do my cabin fever any good. If I had not become a teacher, my second choice was underwater archaeologist so I could look for sunken treasure. I liked the Paris Hilton girl.

Spiderwick Chronicles-- Due to timing, I saw this one second...after the schools had gotten out. Guess who were there in large numbers? I don't normally like to see movies with lots of kids in the theater because of the noise, but they weren't too bad. Lots of parents in attendance.

If you like a sci-fi and special effects, this movie is for you.

Give Me a Good Old 3 Buck Movie Anytime. --RoadDog