Don’t believe a word I say with Bob Segarini

And our readers write:

The Ten Most Influential Albums Of My Youth

Whoa…I had NO idea so many of you would chime in on this question.
We received a plethora of lists from you, dear readers, and they are just loaded with great music, stories, and information.

I am amazed at the diversity inherent in every list. Radio music directors and consultants take note: Not one list sticks to one genre…so why do radio formats do just that?

I have not edited anything, save to correct a few typos. My comments on the respondents and their lists are in quotes after each one.

Thanks to David Farrell, Warren Cosford, the Canadian Classic Rock and Canuck Blues lists at Yahoo Groups, the Audites list, and Facebook.

Before we get to the lists, here’s the question for next week’s Monday Morning Mailbag:

Name the top 10 Venues you have either seen a show at or performed in, regardless of size. Your criteria should include sound, sight lines, treatment, and any other information you think makes the venue a good one.

Please try to keep your comments and mentions of bad venues brief–but please comment. If you can’t think of 10, a lesser amount will do. I’ll print my list, along with yours, next Monday. The deadline for submissions is this Friday night, Feb. 27, at 11:59 pm…otherwise, I’ll be working until 3:00 am Monday morning trying to get it all together.

Thanks to you all. Now open a beer or spark a fatty, or sip a Timmys and put on one of your favorite albums…here we go:

JAIMIE VERNON:
1. Elton John, Greatest Hits – Volume 1: At nine years old, you don’t care much that a guy playing piano wears a feather boa. It was about those EJ/Taupin songs. Ironically, it was the inclusion of Border Song, an FM non-single staple that made this package more than just a cash grab for MCA Records.

2. Gary Lewis, Listen: Lewis was a lost soul following his years with The Playboys. Few people gave him the respect he needed as an adult artist but this album proved he had the goods and the material. Cover versions like Reason To Believe, She’d Rather Be With Me, and John Sebastian’s Six O’clock makes this a lost treasure.

3. Carpenters, 1969-1974: Back seat of Dad’s 1967 Valiant going for a family drive, 8-track tape blasting away. The heavenly voice of an angel. “Don’t you remember you told me you loved me, baby…”  Everyone was in love with Karen.

4. Jim Croce, Photographs & Memories:  I don’t own this album. I don’t own any Jim Croce records. I inherited my love for this music via my father’s record collection. It was always on the stereo and in the car. It defined my own childhood memories.

5. Bowie, Changes One:  Hmmm…another artist sporting a feather boa…and a penchant for rather off-kilter melodies and arrangements. Bought it because Lennon appeared on the song Fame, loved it for the impact of Bowie’s chameleon musical proclivities.

6. Beatles, Rock And Roll Music: Capitol’s deal with the Beatles expired in ‘76 and the renegotiated renewal finally allowed them to repackage the band’s catalogue. This time to great effect with a double album of straight rockers (though Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da leaves one wondering). Even managed to make a latent radio single out of Got to Get You into My Life…10 years after its initial release.

7. Klaatu, Sir Army Suit:  Yes, yes, everyone thought they were the Beatles following the release of their debut, 3:47 EST. However, the media killed any chances of their 2nd album, Hope, from getting a decent shot. Therefore, it was this 3rd album of straight up, no holds barred commercial pop songs that would make true fans out of non-believers.

8. KISS, Alive II:  I joined the KISS Army late. Older siblings swore by “Alive” (go back and listen to it NOW…it sounds so bad!). The lure of the two album Volume II was hearing material from Destroyer onward, and it included a fourth side of new studio tracks while the band was off recording their solo albums. The jury’s still out on whether they killed DC5’s Anyway You Want It.

9. The Cars, The Cars:  I hated synths. Rock and roll was about four guys with guitars and drums, but The Cars were aliens and bizarrely exotic. Simple four chord arrangements with guitar solos and weird vocals. I learnt how to tune and play a guitar to this one.

10. Pink Floyd, The Wall:  A generation before me grew up on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. It was certainly a great album to escape INTO…especially when chemically altered. But “The Wall” was angry and spoke to disenfranchised youth even if that wasn’t Roger Water’s intention. If nothing else, it was responsible for a new generation of musicians believing that rock and roll was still a dangerous place to play.

SEG SAYS:  “Thanks for the reminder about Gary Lewis, Jerry’s son. He had  one of the greatest studio bands of all time in the Playboys. Leon Russell and Carl Radle were among the players. I was also reminded of watching Gary struggle with a huge Harley in front of the Whiskey on Sunset one night, a wrestling match that ended with the bike falling on top of him when his lack of weight wouldn’t allow him to start it. I stood with a crowd of clubbers, laughing as he teetered on the kick start, and finally fell over, pinned under the mortorcycle, which fell on top of him with the majesty of a redwood tree.
Jaimie is a singer/songwriter, label owner, publisher, enabler, broadcaster, beard grower, and is my date for the IMAX premiere of The Watchmen. (The movie of the graphic novel, not the fine Canadian band)”.

DON BERNS:
…and these are only the ones I can remember in the space of 48 hours…
1. The Beatles-Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Like the day Kennedy was shot: I can remember where I was the first time I heard this album. And from that day on, I listened differently to albums, as they became entire pieces of work (art) as opposed to singles plus filler. Who can’t remember every song on this album, even though there weren’t any singles from it?

2. Monty Python’s Previous Record. My friends and I could quote every line from every skit, even though we didn’t fully understand all of it. This album changed my taste in comedy and opened my worldview to sketch.

3. Nilsson-Aerial Ballet. Loneliness and despair made beautiful and even lilting. The best album ever made for drowning one’s sorrows.

4. Andreas Volleweider-Caverna Magica. Opened my ears to a new genre of music (new age). If heaven has a soundtrack, this is it.

5. Renaissance-Scheherazade. Concept album side (one) based on classical music. Featuring the angelic voice of Annie Haslam. What’s not to like and play so much that it was the first bootleg CD that I ever bought because the vinyl became too scratched to listen to.

6. Strawbs-Ghosts. Many Strawbs fan pick Hero and Heroine, but track-for-track this LP represents for me the pinnacle of the career of the band I consider to be the best of the prog-rockers of the 70s.

7. Rupert Holmes-Widescreen. I have to have one totally obscure LP here. From the spoken word Psychodrama to the title track, this is the most visual album I’ve ever heard. One listen and you understand how it was a small step from recording artist to Tony-winning Broadway scribe.

8. Jam and Spoon-Trip-O-Matic Fairy Tales. Not exactly from my youth, but without this album there would have been no raison d’etre for Dr. Trance (my DJ alter ego)

9. Spirit of The West-Labor Day. What? Toronto isn’t the only Canadian city that produces great music? The album that opened my eyes and ears to the Vancouver scene from the band that has become my favorite Canadian group.

10. Tarney Spencer Band-Run For Your Life. OK, 2 obscure albums (#10 also could have been Cafe Jacques). As I immersed myself in techno, I stopped listening to pop and rock for over 10 years; when I started digitizing my vinyl a few years ago and started listening to gems from my 80s past this one stood out as the one I missed the most. Impeccably crafted pop songs that I couldn’t stop playing then and make my heart soar when I hear (them) now.

don berns
radio unfortunately is no longer about attracting listeners. It’s about cost cutting to pay debt service.

SEG SAYS: “Great list, Don!
Harry Nilsson and I were friends, wrote together, and he  even wrote most of One  on my piano,  and…I played on Pandemonium Shadow Show.
…and I didn’t think ANYONE knew who Rupert Holmes was other than that stupid Pina Colada song. I still perform Rupert’s Too Scared To Sing.
Don is a well known broadcaster, DJ, and story teller among other things.”

DENISE SLOCUM:
1. Grand /Funk…The Red Album
This was my first rock album what can I say long hair singer, raspy hard rocking vocals

2. Woodstock
Another one of my first albums, Canned Heat, going up the country all that hippie stuff really drawn to that after the Monkees, Jackson 5 stage, Archies, etc.

3. Led Zeppelin 1
Misty Mountain Hop, Black Dog, smoky rooms, learning how to kiss for hours.

4. Alice Cooper
Love it to Death
More kissing smoking,

5. 11 17 70
Elton John in the Studio
Found this one in a pile of free albums from a record shop in the Danforth.
Loved the sound on my Dads huge Sony stereo and massive speakers.  We even had an 8-track cassette player that went missing and I didn’t realize it was gone for two weeks.

6. The Beatles The White Album
Helter Skelter, acid, just not your innocent clean cut good boy band anymore
Listen to this one for hours

7. Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The cover is amazing and so are the tunes inside
Listened to this one for hours and hours

8. April Wine
Could have been a Lady
Full tilt loud lots of parties and lots of beer later

9. The Eagles Desperado
Country Rock at its finest we couldn’t decide on which bars to go to. Goddo some nights then back to the country bars to actually hear the music
Then the Eagles came on the scene what a pleasure love this band my favorite

10. Hotel California
Memories of my house, the pool, how simple life was but always knew it would have to come to an end

11. Rolling Stones Made in the Shade The songs Wild Horses, Brown Sugar playing all night all day again same house lots of fun in the sun

12. Neil Young
Harvest
My Dad loved Neil Young. Memories of him are wrapped up in this album.

13. Fleetwood Mac Rumors Gold Dust Woman, Go Your Own Way, every tune on this album rocked. Never did see them live still wish to see them some day

Sorry bib, I could go on for a lot harder to set it down to 10.  There are so many albums so much a fabric or part of my life. That all meant so much in this special time glad to have a chance to share with you

Take care
D

SEG SAYS:  “Denise  is a regular poster on the CCR List and a budding singer/songwriter.
Bib is my nickname on the Canadian Classic Rock list at Yahoo Groups. It was a typo…and stuck”.

JOHN O’MARA:
Hi Bob…
Thanks for posting the request….
Here’s my list:

1. The Beatles, ‘67 to ‘70 (bought individual albums later but this was made me a fan)

2. Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
3.  Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden

4. The Who, Who’s Next

5. Pink Floyd, The Wall (bought Dark Side of the Moon later)

6.  Jimi Hendrix, Smash Hits

7.  Deep Purple, Machine Head

8. Alice Cooper, Billion Dollar Babies

9. Paul McCartney & Wings, Band on the Run

10. Motorhead, Ace of Spades

Thanks,
John O’Mara

SEG SAYS:  “John is the Creative Production Director, 97.7 the Beach, Wasaga Beach….and host of the Roots of Rock & Roll, Tuesday nights from 7 till 10”.

TONY ‘SLUGGO’ SLOGGETT:
Ten very important LPs that helped to mold the sluggo psyche.
10. High Society…soundtrack from movie of the same nom de plume, only this belonged to my ma and she played the bejeesus out of it when I was a tad. The track that nailed me to the playpen wall was, “Now You Has Jazz featuring Louis Armstrong and der Bingle…..” oh these cozy virtuosos – just about the greatest in the land – are fixin` to show you now, precisely how, Jazz music is made….first you take some skins…” tch -ta ta tch..And the drummer came in followed by a piano, bass and every bammed damn member one by each until the climax when Louis stepped in and then took over scattin’ along with Bing. I was flummoxed and a little bit surprised to hear right before my eyes how music could be made just…like…that.
thanks ma.
9. Paul Butterfield Blues Band self titled. I mean we were just coming out from under the folk scare and British invasion when suddenly it occurred to me that yes, there is something else…
8. Daydream…the Lovin’ Spoonful. Loved it then. Love it now. Miss Zally`s infectious playing. Very nice pop album that got a lot of airtime in the bedroom d`sluggo.
7. Animal tracks…the Animals – damn, I loved to hear the new kids play the blues and the  humorous version of the story of Bo Diddley on here kept me in material for a long time..
6. England’s Newest Hitmakers – the Rolling Stones. See…I wasn’t a stone Beatles fan. Something about Macca was just too cute but when these young buggers appeared on Dean Martin’s show and put up with his nonsense, I knew they were the band for me.
5. Music From Big Pink…can never not own this one. Pure artistry that has never gone out of style.
6. Beggar’s Banquet…there were four stellar stones LPs in a row…this one…Let it Bleed, Exile and Sticky Fingers. No one can ever tell me the stones are past their due date. When you have these four discs in your catalog, you can coast forever. Besides their take on Rev. Wilkins prodigal son always makes me feel good. Always.
5. Highway 61 Revisited…how does it feel?  It feels damn good even nearly a hundred years later.
4. Blodwyn Pig. Ahead Rings Out. See I love the blues and was always hearing from the Nazis that white boys and especially British white boys couldn’t blah blah blah. Well this record is the end to that lie…standout tracks? All of them.
3.Albert King  Live Wire…..all you need to do is take this disc, and play one track…loud…Blues Power…I was about fourteen when I first heard this at a friends house and  consequently I had to steal it from him…this record will test your friendship…scary!
2.  N.R.B.Q.  Self titled first one…because it has terry Ferguson all over it. Because it starts out full frikkin’ throttle with an Eddy Cochran romper because it has a nod to Slim Harpo and because there is even a nod to Sun Ra…Thanks boys
#1…Over Under Sideways down the Yardbirds…mono Capitol 6000 series   simply the most outstanding LP of my youth. when I first hear Jeff Beck strangle that note on  The Nazz Are Blue and get sustain that lasted longer than a well ripped chili/Dow fart from the ol’ man on a Sunday mornin’…whew!!! This LP and I mean the mono version Canuck release is mixed so well. and recorded sp well and is so staggeringly  eclectic and features mister guitar his fine self Jeff Beck [with Pagey on some bass] and has a cool cover photo with Jeff wearing black high-top runnin’ shoes…love it love it love it…

Thanks for this opportunity…wait opportunity. Five rogues in a great Canuck R n’ B band do I get to add more?

Sluggo

SEG SAYS: “The Rogues, of course, became the legendary Mandala. Los Sluggo is a regular contributor to the Canuck Blues list at Yahoo Groups, a fan and historian of the blues, and another of my favourite cranky curmudgeons that have embraced the net, even at our age”.

DR. LAWRENCE INGLES:
Not necessarily, the best albums or most revered….
But as the question states…the ones that stand out
As milestones…or had a specific impact on ME…

10. Something New …The Beatles
I was a youngster…4-5 years old …for whatever reason this is the Beatle album
That hooked me…cause of all the hooks…the most sophisticated harmonies…
The great photography on the cover…the Beatle boots…the energy of song after song.
Tell Me Why, Anytime At All, I’ll Cry Instead…When I Get Home…Slowdown.
And the haunting…And I Love Her…and Things we Said Today, and If I fell.
I didn’t know till years later that this was an American construct…and not one of the
Official Parlophone British Albums…but who cares….
This one did it for me….
9. Share the Land…The Guess Who.
Home Grown…again unbelievable harmonies and vocals by Burton…and they were edgy… just after the departure of Mr. Bachman…the band was infused with the
Left turn great songwriting…and coolest guitar licks ever of the Late Kurt Winter.
Share The Land, Hand Me Down World with its fuzzy wuzzy lovin’ cup explosion…
Hang On To Your Life…with its creepy Jim Morrison homage ending…Do You Miss Me Darlin’…and of course…Bus Rider…Crazy little man riding upside down.
8. The Stampeders    Carryin’ On. An Amazing band…like the Beatles of the Canadian west…three great singer songwriters.  Perhaps the first Power trio I can remember….cool hats…and fringes and double neck Stratocasters of Rich Dodson Kim Berly and Ronnie King…saw them open for Sonny and Cher at the CNE, my first concert ever…
But what power….
Then Came The White Man, Wild Eyes, Devil You, Dead Man’s Hand were pretty heavy.
Stick By You, The Difference That It Makes, Carryin’ On
Monday Morning Choo Choo  ….the follow up sappy single to Sweet City Woman..
Still kind of infectious….
But a great album…and I was …maybe 12?
7. Tapestry    by Carol King….
This 8-track played non-stop…what the cooler older kids on the street listened to.
I wasn’t ready for Janice Joplin…but this made the earth move…and song after song after song…that were excellent to this day…my favorite…hmmm. I feel the Earth…
And she was so hot lookin’ on the album cover…every kids dream babysitter…
6. Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night.
’cause my dad played it over and over and over and over on his quad stereo in the Oldsmobile Toronado…and the Lincoln Mark 1V….
Brother Love’s Travelin’ Salvation show…before he got shlocky, or what did I know from Shlock…and it was LIVE…
5.  Bachman turner Overdrives …Four Wheel Drive…
Amazing guitar chords of Hey You…the laid-back groove of quick-change artist.
the amazing powerful vocals of Fred Turner…on Four Wheel Drive…and She’s a Devil…
I just loved the dual guitars…it was all good…
4.  Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy…by Elton John.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road would be very close…but I got this first…borrowed the other…
Couldn’t afford or get into the double album so fast…and actually went backwards with Elton from here…discovering Madman Across the Water…and the Greatest Hits. The song that really impacted me on this one…Better Off Dead…just one of the best sounding arrangements and recordings ever…very cool Nigel Olson drum sound.
But Someone Saved My Life…played through the Mirtone intercom system of my house
And that just did it for me…had to have this album…and played it to death…
3. Billy Joel’s…the Stranger.
Jazzy, sophisticated, unbelievably recorded…the drum lick at the beginning of
Get it Right the First Time…the Rhodes sound of Just The Way You Are…and the cool rhythm guitar…subtle…and saxophone.
The Whistling Stranger…and finally, Everybody Has a Dream, my favorite Gospel tune.
But of course the amazing journey that is the epic…Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.
2. This is getting hard….
Year of the Cat…by Al Stewart…another incredible sounding recording….
And great playing…and mysterious tunes…Nothing that’s forced can ever be right
If it doesn’t come naturally leave it….
1. This is a toss up between two…but I have to say….
Ok I have to say I need more than 10….
But…
A Farewell to Kings…by Rush…
It’s raw…it’s medieval…it has incredible lyrics…its Rush’s best sound…in my opinion.
Its classical…its Funky…check the outro to Cinderella man…and it has the unbelievably
Beautiful Madrigal…When the Dragons get too mighty…and it’s very Moogy…
And the Three Witches of Eastwick…or…Alex Geddy and Neil…regal, creepy, and cool all at the same time…. I still can’t pick up a bass…without hammering the riff of Cygnus X=1.   This was my intro to Rush…so it’s special…

SEG SAYS: “ …and because Jingles has a love of music that borders on psychotic…he continues, and we let him.”

I guess you could substitute the following…albums…if we had room for more…
The River…by Bruce Springsteen
Hungry Heart drew me in…Just palatable enough for my pop sensibilities…but the rest
Was a religious conversion and a big part of me growing up…and I loved all the Frat tunes
Sherry Darling, You can Look, I’m a Rocker and RamRod…and the haunting River
And wreck on the highway and Independence Day…a fantastic album…
Went backwards to rediscover the rest…Born to Run and Darkness were as the writer
of this column first described on his Live Palais Royale broadcast…mumble mumble mumble…something about cars and New Jersey…
But Cadillac Ranch changed all that for me…
The Cars…Candy O.
Let’s Go…will always be one of my favorites…nothing like it…before or since…
Roy Thomas baker’s vocal sounds…incredible.
Elliot Easton’s left handed crafted guitar solos….
Cheap Trick   Dream Police…
Same deal as above…all the early CT stuff was great…but this album was spectacularly
Cool….
Supertramp’s…Crime of the Century….
One of the best piano intros and most original sounding tunes of all time.
Bloody Well Right…and Dreamer with your head in your hands.
Unbelievably great album…start to finish….
Crisis What Crisis …not bad either….
Songs in the Key of Life…by Stevie Wonder….
Minute By Minute by the Doobies…
Aja by Steely Dan…
Of course…
Queens   Night at the Opera….and News of the World….and Day at the Races…
All incredible…and all influential…
Max Webster’s Hi Class in Borrowed Shoes
Boston’s first album….
JT by James Taylor…
Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
And
Still Crazy after all these years…
Hotel California…and before it …One of these Nights.
So many great albums…so little time…

SEG SAYS: “Lawrence “Dr.Jingles” Ingles is a pirate, a poet, a dentist, and one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists I have ever met. He has a voice and range I would love to have, and is a rabid supporter of live music and local artists. If he loved music any more than he already does, he would be in a lab somewhere being probed by crazy little men in white smocks…and Doc…this counts as TWO lists.”

DEL ATCHISON:
Hey Bob,
Interesting concept.  For me, like most people I would assume, the albums of childhood are whatever your parents listened to … then moving into teenage years the influences of peers and radio come into play.  These are in order of age – (youngest memories first), not necessarily most favorite.

1.  Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison.  One of my dad’s records, but I wore it out. Raw and real.
2.  Dick Nolan – the Newfoundland Scrapbook.  Ditto.  (I’se the b’y what catches the fish … )
3.  Hank Williams Senior – a 2-cassette compilation my dad had.  I have no idea the name of it, but it some great tunes … had a Hotrod Ford and a 2-dollar bill…
4.  April Wine – Electric Jewels – my first April Wine experience: my brother had this album and played it constantly.  It is ingrained in me.  I can still listen to this album all the way through 3 times in a row and never tire of it.
5. Tanya Tucker – Delta Dawn.  I was 10 when this came out in 72.  She was 13.  I was madly in love with her. Nuff said.
6.  Styx – Paradise Theater.  What a great concept album, love every song on it. And a photo record to boot. Not that I have anything to play a record on anymore.
7. Trooper – Thick as Thieves.  Raise a Little Hell. Yellow translucent plastic record, mine always skipped, but what a great album.
8.  April Wine Live at the El Mocambo. Arguably not their best album (I love them all), but the history of opening for the Rolling Stones makes this one a definite keeper.
9.  Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue. Violins and rock and roll.
10.  Chilliwack – Lights from the Valley. Awesome songs, awesome voices … another (like Trooper and April Wine) of Canada’s most underrated bands on a worldwide scale.

Del in Tampa, FL
www.ferengata.com

SEG SAYS: “Del is a transplanted Canadian living in Florida, plays bass, and is a craftsman of no little merit. He is the only person I know that has helped build a massive 20 foot plus guitar that is a work of art.”

GREG MIKOLOS:
Wow, I can’t get over just how difficult this really was to do. There must be at least 50 other albums that were close to as influential as these, with honorable mention going to anything by Jim Reeves.
1.  Wilf Carter – The album had a picture of a chuck wagon on the front and a song about Bouncin’ Bobby. My folks were heavy country folk and this was the first album I remember owning.
2. Johnny Horton – I really loved the story telling of most of his songs so I went out and got myself a double album of his Greatest Hits.
3. The Eagles – Hotel California. I remembered my uncles singing old Eagles tunes when they came in off the fields from working so when I bought my first stereo I made the salesman toss in a few albums. Top of the list was the haunting sound of the song Hotel California and the incredible harmonies the group had.
4.  KISS – The Originals. Tough for me to pick just one album out of the first 3 that really influenced me. Songs like Cold Gin, Hotter Than Hell, Firehouse, Watchin’ You, Black Diamond et al were tunes that I would crank up on my folks stereo when they would go out for the night. The first band I joined didn’t go very far, but we entertained our Junior High with nothing but KISS tunes on a couple of occasions.
5. Judas Priest – British Steel. Rob Halford was one of my heroes as a vocalist. I had all the JP albums but chose British Steel for this list as it was the album that was most often stolen from me at parties.
6.  Black Sabbath – Paranoid. Many years after it was initially released, my Auntie scooped this cassette out of some bargain bin and gave it to me for Christmas. Little did she know how warped Ozzie would make me…
7.  Burton Cummings – Dream of a Child. I loved Burton’s vocals and tried to emulate him when I sang. I used many tracks off this album as warm up tunes before performing.
8. Rush – 2112. I like songs that have incredible lyrics. To me, this was the most incredible album ever recorded.
9.  Streetheart – Meanwhile Back in Paris. Kenny Shields was an incredible vocalist and the band was HOT. The music was very appealing to me and I loved to try to sing along with “The Voice”.
10.  Led Zeppelin – IV. Way more than just Stairway to Heaven. I loved the music – still do.

SEG SAYS: “I’ve only recently met Greg. He has a show, Mik’s Eclectic Mix, on www.radiothatdoesntsuck.com , lives in the wilds somewhere outside Regina, hunts, farms, and shoots the coyotes and snakes that hang out in his yard. His kids play safely thanks to Greg’s shooting skills and an armload of buckshot.”

SCOTT CARPENTER:
1. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
My English teacher brought this to school for the class to listen to. At lunch, I ran downtown to the only record store in town to find a hard-bop jazz album.  I HAD to play that stuff
2. Max Roach and Clifford Brown at Basin Street
This was the album I found.  It was the only progressive jazz album in the store.  Nobody else wanted it, so I got it for $1.  I never heard anyone play drums like that.
3. Take 5 Dave Brubeck Quartet – It’s Brubeck… what more needs to be said?
4. Elvis Presley – After watching Elvis on Ed Sullivan, my father said ‘If you EVER bring home a record by that IDIOT, I’ll throw you out of the house.  He didn’t.
5. Rock-N-Roll Stage Show – Bill Haley and His Comets – The thing just jumped out of the speaker.  This is one of the best groups of musicians ever assembled on a rock album
6. The Chirpin’ Crickets – Buddy Holly – The quality of the recordings and the joyous sound of this was unlike anything else.  Buddy Holly made you feel like you were invited to the party.
7.  Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys – I couldn’t figure out if I loved this album or hated it, but I knew rock-n-roll would never be the same.
8.  Rubber Soul – The Beatles – I never, really cared much for the Beatles until this came out.  This album changed my mind about them.
9.  James Brown Live at the Apollo – What a show!  You couldn’t listen to this without realizing this man was a genius.  I literally wore this album out.
10. The Wham of That Memphis Man – Lonnie Mack – I never knew the guy could sing.  When I heard Lonnie do ‘Wherever There’s a Will, There’s a Way” it completely blew me away.  THAT’S soul shoutin’!

Scott Carpenter

SEG SAYS:  “Another fine list full of diverse influences. Once again, I have a personal connection to one of these artists. Before The Wackers, I had one more single owed to Elektra Records as Roxy. Jac, (Holzman), said he had a great producer, and a terrific rhythm section for Rand Bishop and I. Randy and I would play piano and acoustic guitar. The bass player turned out to be jazz great Wilton Felder, and on drums was Travis Fullerton, who was Little Richard’s current touring drummer. The producer played electric lead on one side and dobro on the other, through Eric Clapton’s little Champ amp that Eric had left in the studio lock-up. His name? Lonnie Mack. I was a fanboy for a week and got to hear lots of stories, most of which, I can’t repeat.” (Scott was a mainstay at CHUM Radio and a stellar broadcaster)

JIM CHISHOLM:
Hi Bob
Your new column at FYI is great reading. Here’s hoping it stays active for a long time. Here’s my list of influential records. It might change a bit from day to day but it’s all honest to goodness greatness.
Cheers
Chis

1.  The Beatles – Abbey Road: All the other Beatles albums were thrilling but when this one came out it was devoured by my group of friends during a very special and memorable time. Every element of every song was perfect and the phantasmagoric minutiae within the grooves are too numerous to detail.
2.  The Wackers – Hot Wacks: No apologies or fanboy obligatories here Bob. A group of my friends also devoured this record when it was new. It has remained vital and is admired for it’s great recreation of The Beatles magic particularly from the Abbey Road LP. In spite of that, the record flaunted The Wackers own fun vibe. This is ear candy and these guys should reunite. Seriously! LOL!
3.  The Rolling Stones – Big Hit’s High Tide And Green Grass: This was their first greatest hits compilation. The bands that my brother and I were in could play every song from it.
4.  Blind Faith: This was one of those albums that we devoured along with Abbey Road. I dug that Stevie Winwood could hold his own in Clapton and Baker’s company. I didn’t even know Traffic’s repertoire yet or that Stevie was the amazing voice in Spencer Davis Group that blew my ears away a few years earlier.
5.  Sinatra’s Sinatra: This was some kind of a compilation. My Dad brought this record home and it gave me an abiding appreciation for Frank’s brilliant singing.
6.  Stevie Wonder – Innervisions: I bought this to replace a faulty copy of Lou Reed’s Berlin (which admittedly I wasn’t ready for yet.) The whole of Innervisions was masterful in every way and gave me a sense of hope and positivity. Great singing!
7.  Jeff Beck – Blow By Blow: This album was revolutionary in that it broke the rule of having to have singing in successful popular music. It gave me the sense that my own guitar playing could be a stand alone musical voice. Plus, it’s full of groovy funky music and is proven an effective backdrop for lovemaking. Yeah baby!
8.  Julian Bream – The Golden Age of English Lute Music: This is one of those records that gave me an inkling that I would want to pursue classical guitar…and, thankfully, I did.
9.  J.J. Cale Naturally: This is just one of those great classic albums full of great songs that I never get tired of.
10.  The Kinks – The golden Hour Series: There were a couple of compilations in this series that encapsulated everything that was great about the Kinks. For me the Davies brother et al survived the ages much better than all the other non-Beatley-Stoney Brit invasion bands.

SEG SAYS: “Among other things, Jim is a musician and lives out West somewhere in B.C. He loves music and rubbing our noses in the fine weather they have out there most of the time. I must admit, though, replacing a copy of Lou Reed’s Berlin with Stevie Wonder’s Innervision is tantamount to replacing your screwdriver with a carrot.”

DAVE TOLLINGTON:
1. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue: my father played this around the house all the time when it first came out. The solos sounded like songs in themselves and they played in my head so much that I was able to whistle Coltrane and Adderley sax solos at the age of 9.
2. Glenn Miller – Orchestra Wives and Sun Valley Serenade Soundtrack: Glenn starred in two movies, which oddly paralleled the two Beatles movies, Orchestra Wives being a sort of 40’s A Hard Day’s Night (and Jackie Gleason’s first Hollywood role as the bass player) and Sun Valley being Help. Anyway, again my father’s record but again I loved the solos, especially Tex Beneke’s sax wars. Glenn prepared me for Henry Mancini
3. Henry Mancini – The Blues and The Beat: the last of my father’s records before I found my own…but stunning material, arrangements and playing before Henry got wimpy with the movie mush. Great washes of beautiful chords, odd instrumentation and handpicked studio soloists. Still gives me shivers. And prepared me for Steely Dan, as did Henry prepare Steely Dan for Steely Dan.
4. Steely Dan – Aja: I always felt a strong connection between SD and Mancini but couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I read an amazing review on Henry’s big band stuff by Donald Fagan and got it. Stunning compositions, meticulous arrangements and unforgettable, handpicked musicianship
5. Beatles – Bealtemania! With The Beatles: at least that is what the first Canadian album was called, though actually it was essentially the second British album. Whatever. There was no going back.
6. Cream – Wheels of Fire: Wow! Pass the joint…cough…oooo – double Wow!
7. Jack Bruce – Songs for a Tailor: his playing, his singing, and most of all, his compositions. You couldn’t ask for more.
8. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On: I loved Motown from the first note but this recording represented to me the high water mark of 2648 West Grand Blvd. Though this was also Marvin Gaye’s finest moment, the album was also quite a collaborative effort between the arrangers and the Funk Brothers, including perhaps the finest moments for both Jamerson and Babbitt
9. The Band – Music from Big Pink: couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Thought at first Chest Fever was by a black group from Detroit. Danko’s voice made me cry. Richard Manuel gave me religion. Levon played drums like a violin. Garth was a mad genius. And Robbie is a national treasure. They influenced so much.
10. Bob Marley – Natty Dread: embarrassed to say I got almost through the first side before I moved the needle back to the beginning…and had my life changed forever. Spiritual for sure but the way the musicians found the holes and locked into each other were a revelation, let alone drummer Carlton Barrett playing ahead of the rhythm and brother Family Man playing behind on the bass and the rest of them getting it, loving the tension and playing solidly down the middle.

Dave Tollington

SEG SAYS:  “Dave was a mainstay at Warner Music for 24 years. A very bright and skilled person with love of music as his tent pole. His ability to bring the albums on his list to life with his passionate comments makes me want to track them down and listen to them again.”

JOE FIELD:
I wish I could have included the 45RPM of  The Ballad of El Kabong!  b/w “Ooch! Ooch! Ouch! by the Jimmy Carroll Orchestra since that was the very first record I ever bought— and the songs were from the Quick Draw McGraw cartoon show. As a comic book professional, that one may have had more influence on me than I care to admit!
I gave it maybe too much thought— and here’s my list.
1. Rodgers & Hammerstein— Oklahoma (1955)
Growing up with five older sisters, musicals were constantly on the turntable, especially during the Saturday morning “immaculatizing” of the Field house.
2. Spike Jones— Dinner Music for People Who Aren’t Hungry (1956)
My father was a big Spike Jones’ fan…more for the comedy than the music. What still grabs me about this stuff today is just how good the musicianship is with all of Jones’ players. And, yes, Dad did play this album during dinner!
3. Four Seasons — Golden Hits (1963)
These were not my favorite pop songs of the ’60s— once again, the fabulous Field sisters played this album incessantly…and it grew to be one of my biggest influences. Strong melodies, cannonball hooks, and tight harmonies— all the ideals I now look for in my current music choices.
4. Allan Sherman— For Swingin’ Livers Only (1964)
More comedy, this time with a mostly folk music delivery. Another Dad choice that really influenced my sense of humor. Besides this album, when I now hear Allan Sherman music, I am taken back to the glory days of Don Sherwood on KSFO Radio in San Francisco– and that station was the reason I originally chose to get into radio.
5. Beach Boys —Pet Sounds (1966)
Before getting the album, I had two singles from Pet Sounds— God Only Knows and Sloop John B. I just wore those out! However, when I got the album, the 10-year-old me couldn’t really get the genius of the lush arrangements or the melancholy that was such an integral part of Wilson’s writing. It took many more years of discovering this album to fall for it as one grand symphony.
6. Beatles— Abbey Road (1969)
I was a latecomer to the Beatles, but at 13, Abbey Road had the toughness (She’s So Heavy) and beauty that I liked in equal balance. Forty years on, I am still not tired of this classic.
7. Moody Blues— Question of Balance (1970)
So now, we’re in the teenage years—and everything seemed like a life or death deal. Justin Hayward’s sad and beautiful voice, that crying guitar and heavy Mellotron sound and the strong melodic content that ran through all of the Moodies’ best— it was my first big exposure to a more progressive sound. A sound I’m still chasing today.
8. Santana —- Abraxas (1970)
Not a great album taken as a whole, but between “Black Magic Woman” and “Samba Pa Ti” I was hooked. Funny thing is, it was the only Santana album I ever bought—and still feel it’s only one I need to own.
9. Procol Harum— Procol Harum Live (1972)
Hearing “Conquistador” on the radio, I didn’t buy the studio version. Instead, I got this live version, recorded in Edmonton Alberta with a full symphony orchestra. “A Salty Dog” from this live disc still is one of my all time favorite recordings— melodic and emotional.
10.    Harry Nilsson — Son of Schmillson (1972). My sister was going out with a guy who loved Nilsson and that’s how I fell under Harry’s spell. I then went back and got all of Nilsson’s earlier work—and the comedy, melody and melancholy that I loved in my music so much was all over Harry’s work. I gave this album in ‘73 as a gift to “just a friend” who now is my wife of 30 years. Thank God, she didn’t think I was giving her this record for “You’re Breakin’ My Heart”!

SEG SAYS: Another nod to Harry Nilsson. The most underrated American songwriter of the last 50 years.
Joe is the owner/proprietor of a terrific comic book store in Concord California called ‘Flying Colors Comics’.  We both grew up in Stockton California around the same time. Our mutual love of comics and music drew us to the internet where we reconnected over similar interests. Joe also informed me that an artist for Jughead Comics, had named a Pizza Shop owner after me and made me Pop Tate’s nemesis.”

LARRY MACINNIS:
1. The White Album by the Beatles. It’s all there. Everything that made them great. An album that will never grow old.
2. Darkness On the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen. I saw Bruce at Maple Leaf Gardens when he was touring with this album and was fortunate enough to go backstage to meet him. I remember after the concert saying, “This is what it must have been like in 1956 to see Elvis for the first time.”
3. Come Fly With Me/Swing Easy/Songs For Young Lovers/Songs For Swingin’ Loves by Frank Sinatra. The greatest pop singer who ever lived, proving it with every track.
4. Let It Bleed by the Rolling Stones. The greatest side 1 cut 1 of all time? My vote goes to “Gimme Shelter” off Let It Bleed, although “I Saw her Standing There” from the Please Please Me Beatles UK album ain’t bad either. Let It Bleed is The Stones at their dirty best, no contest.
5. Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens. When I was in high school there was nobody I knew who didn’t own this album.
6. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Greatest live album of all time, greatest album cover of all time. As someone once said, “If Johnny had given the word, they all would have broke out.”
7. Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Best stoner LP ever. An album that defined the CHUM-FM of the great Davids: David Marsden and David Pritchard.
8. Abbey Road by the Beatles. Still gives me goosebumps. No song has ever sounded like “Something.” Best side 2 ever.
9. Elvis Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Volume One. “Suspicious Minds,” “If I Can Dream,” “Heartbreak Hotel” … I rest my case.
10. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Listen to it, then try to stop listening to it. I dare you.

SEG SAYS:  “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Warren Cosford to tell you about Larry MacInnis…”
WARREN SAYS:  “I worked with Three of The Greatest Writers for Radio in The World.  And each of them worked off The Other.  Pat Withrow led to Bill McDonald led to Larry MacInnis.  Pat will Forever be thought of as The Guy Who Wrote The Pizza Pizza Jingle….but there was soooo much more.  When Supertramp hired me to produce a Documentary I brought in Pat because he knew nothing about them.  And they loved them.  Bill wrote The Story of The Beatles, The Elvis Presley Story and The Evolution of Rock.  That’s about 100 hours of Documentary Radio.  Who do you know that even came close to that?   Larry “Gagman” MacInnis, meanwhile, was The Substance behind Roger, Rick and Marilyn on Canada’s #1 Morning Show and some of The Greatest Promotions in Radio.   I found him in Sydney Mines Nova Scotia.”
SEG SAYS: “Thanks Warren…where the hell isyour list?”
SEG ALSO SAYS: “Oh…here it is.”

WARREN COSFORD:
IT’S ALL IN THE GAME -  Tommy Edwards
My pals and I had discovered Girls by 1958.  And because we had, we hoped to Get Lucky by the end of Side One.  And if not….well.  There was always Side Two.  The Party might start with a bunch of Singles on The Record Player, but Everything Changed including The Lighting when we put Tommy on.  Who was the brilliant producer that decided Edwards should only sing ballads?
JACK SCOTT – Jack Scott
Hit Singles cost $1 in 1958.  This album had six Hit Singles…two of them Million Sellers….. and cost $4.20.  Good Value if your allowance was $1 a week.  Jack Scott sang and wrote Rock Songs, Ballads and even Gospel.  Perhaps that was why Carlton Records went out of business shortly after Jack left for Top Rank Records.  Didn’t they know albums were supposed to be One Hit and the rest Filler?
THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY – Buddy Holly and The Crickets
Chock full of Hit Singles and Great Records.  By now he had been “outed” as the lead singer of The Crickets.  But it didn’t matter anymore.
WHAT IN THE WORLD’S COME OVER YOU – Jack Scott
This album, too, had six Hit Singles…..two of them Million Sellers….. that were Rock, Ballads and even Gospel.  Jack came back from touring Australia with Jerry Lee Lewis to find that Top Rank had gone out of business.  Top Rank hadn’t learned a thing from Carlton.
THE SPIRIT MOVES ME – Jack Scott
I was getting Very Confused.  This guy, Jack Scott, was doing stuff none of the other Rock and Roll Singers were doing.  No sooner had he released an album of Country Music called “I Remember Hank Williams” than he came out with an all Gospel Album.  I was getting a Musical Education!  What other kinds of music were there to listen to?
PETER GUNN – Henry Mancini
The TV Show was Cool.  But Even Cooler was seeing drummer Shelley Mann playing Drums on TV.   I was playing drums too but….not even Close to Cool.  Jazz was far more difficult than The Ventures.  Worth buying just for The Walking Bass cut.  This was in my Juliet of The Spirits Phase where I started going to see Art House Movies.
CRY ME A RIVER – Julie London
What Tommy Edwards’ record meant to me as a Teen,  Julie stepped in as I got older.  “Wanna come up and hear my Record Collection?”  I wonder if Walt knew what Julie did to The Mickey Mouse Song?
BITTER TEARS – Johnny Cash
Had I not been in Radio by 1964 I might not have known this album existed.  The “hit” was The Ballad of Ira Haynes……but it came out as a single long before The Album.  I spent years looking for Bitter Tears and eventually paid $50 to get a cassette dub.  Then I paid $100 for an unopened vinyl copy after putting an ad in Goldmine Magazine.   Thanks to The Internet we now know much more http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2006/08/31/dylan_helps_remember_pair_of_unsung_heroes/
CIGARS, ACAPPELLA, CANDY – The Belmonts
In the early ’70s CHUM-FM Music Director Benjy Karch came into my studio one day with this album because he knew I liked Oldies.   To this day, I think it is The Definitive DooWop LP.  In the 1990 Reissue Greil Marcus writes….18 years ago The Belmonts went looking for an echo and found it, and in the process proved that just as rock n’ roll could be a lullabye, it could be an elegy.
BAT OUT OF HELL – Meatloaf
I was programming CHUM-FM and getting ready for The Christmas Break when Graham Powers from CBS/Epic came into my office.  He had heard that I loved Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and thought I might be interested in listening to Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf never really thinking we’d “add” it because hardly anyone in Radio had.  Somewhere between Christmas and New Year’s I put it on and just couldn’t stop listening.  I even brought in some of The Neighbourhood.  Everyone loved it.  After Christmas we put it in the hottest rotation allowed by CRTC Law and it just Exploded!

SEG SAYS:  “Warren is, along with a handfull of others, one of the architects of Canadian music radio and television, with an uncanny eye and ear for talent, both in front of the mic, and behind. His accomplishments are so many, that you’ll have to google him and wade through the info yourself. He’s also quite the recontour, and expert at finding great Chinese restaraunts in every city in North America. How he finds time to ply the North American highways in an 18 wheeler, I’ll never know.”
ANDY MEREY’S TOP TEN
1. Buddy Holly – Buddy Holly (Coral, 1958) – Most albums produced during the 1950s contained one or two hits and the rest were rounded off with lousy fillers.  Several exceptions exist when
each an every track was outstanding.  This is one of them.
2. Singin’ To My Baby – Eddie Cochran (Liberty, 1957) – This is another one.
3.Jack Scott – Jack Scott (Carlton, 1959) – An album that sounds fantastic in Stereo, an exception to the rule of the largely primitive Stereo sound of rock ‘n’ roll albums from the early days.
4. The Hawk In Hi-Fi- Coleman Hawkins (RCA Victor, 1956) – A sampling of my kind of standout jazz.
5. Elvis- Elvis Presley (RCA Victor, 1956) – Every track on this LP (the second Elvis album) still sound fresh; recorded by yet-to-be spoiled Elvis.
6. Ricky Nelson – Ricky Nelson (Imperial, 1958) – His second album; Ricky (with James Burton) could rock like the best of them (although his TV appearances might belie this fact).
7. The Deadly Affair – Quincy Jones – Soundtrack (Verve, 1967) – Unlike most of my peers back then, I collected soundtrack albums.  This remains one of my favourites.
8. Let’s Spend The Night Together – Claudine Longet (Barnaby, 1972) – I still melt at the sound of her voice.
9. Cookin’ With Fats – Fats Domino (United Artists, 1973) – I like it because this double-album features some of Fats’ lesser known but just as good as any of his hit songs on Imperial.
10.Bullit – Lalo Schifrin – Soundtrack (Warner – Seven Arts, 1969) – Undiminshing modern jazz from one of the masters.

SEG SAYS: “Andy has contributed articles for Discoveries and American Music Magazine…also has been writing a semi-regular column about music and movie history in the local newspaper Whitby This Week since 2003.He’s currently working on his first book GREAT INSTRUMENTALS 1950-1969:  A REFERENCE LISTING AND REVIEW OF OUTSTANDING SONGS AND ARTISTS with tentative publication set for late 2009.”
amerey@rogers.com

JOE SUMMERS:
You guys are incredible…forcing us to go back to the good old days…and music memories.
My best to you both…and don’t stop.

1. Harmony of Love- The Five Dollars
The most played song on the jukebox at Lucy’s…our interracial sweet shop.
2. Yes It’s Me And I’m In Love Again- Fats Domino
I spent many coins on this in the good boys sweet shop…trying to impress the girl behind the counter.
3.  The first Elvis album.
My first LP purchase
4. Fever-Little Willie John
A local hero from our school-Pershing.
5. Work With Me Annie-Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
6. Sexy Ways-Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
Because they we’re “dirty records” and banned by our parents.
7.  Stan Kenton…anything.
I was 17…my wife 16…we had front row seats at The Club Cliché…..WOW
8. That’s All-June Christy
9. Something Cool LP-June Christy
My second album purchase and songs that Gloria sang to me.
10. Anything by Sinatra- Because my mother bought and played all the time.

SEG SAYS:  “When Jerry and Joe were the heart and soul of A&M Records in Canada, that label was the hippest place to be. Amazing staff and people that continued to make a difference in the Canadian music industry. Joe also knows how to barbecue a steak as well as another Joe…Spinetti…my crazy, cigar smoking uncle from San Francisco.”

NES:
My top 10, not in any particular order.
1. Beatles- Sgt. Pepper–nothing more to say
2. This is Henry Mancini–Peter Gunn anyone?
3. Beach Boys-Endless Summer   Sun+Youth+Music=Life
4. Byrds-Younger Than Yesterday-Welcome Psychedelic into your world
5. Chicago-Chicago  I’m a man yes I am
6. Dylan-Blonde on Blonde- the poet laureate
7. Doors -Strange Days-Hello Jim
8. Moody Blues-Knights in White Satin–Breathe deep the lingering blue
9. Cream -Wheels of Fire-You sure this is only 3 guys?
10. Walker Brothers-The Sun Ain’t gonna shine anymore-Young love dies hard
Nes

SEG SAYS:  “Les Nessman? Nessie? Michael Nesmith? Farfel, The Nestle Quick Chocolate Spokes-puppy? At the risk of sounding like a ‘tard, I can’t figure out who this is. Warren? David? Anybody? Sorry…couldn’t resist having some fun. Nes is actually Nes Chyz.  His son was a student of Warren Cosford’s at the U of W and is now an Exec in the Entertainment Division at Caesars in Windsor.”

SEG ALSO SAYS: “…and finally, the sharpest young woman I have ever met…and the youngest contributor to these lists”

JADE “PIE” DUNLOP:
I honestly don’t think I could name 10 albums that have influenced me, but I could maybe give you 5…in no particular order…

01. Cyndi Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual” – This is on my list mainly because I don’t remember having an interest in music before I heard this album. It is the first record I can remember purchasing on my own – I saved up my allowance and took the bus to the mall all by myself! Prior to hearing “Time After Time” on the radio (which lead to the subsequent purchase of the album), music was something that I never went out of my way to listen to. If it was on, it was in the background and nothing more. However, from that point on, music became something I wanted to have as an active part of my daily life.
02. The Beatles’ “A Hard Days Night” – After hearing this album, my view of music changed once more – it went from being something I could listen to, to something I could live. During my early teens, I became the biggest Beatle fan – their music influenced everything from my clothes to my home décor to where I’d force my family to go on vacation. I even picked up the guitar for the first time (and spent the next 4 years playing ‘Blackbird’ at the drop of a hat.) Over the years, my affection for this album has come and gone many times, but I will always credit it for getting me involved in what we’ll call the “musical lifestyle.”
03. Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow” – I purchased a vinyl copy of this album from a used record store in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Upon returning to my hotel, I decided to give the album a once-over to check for scratches. I did not find any scratches, but what I did find were 2 yellowed pages of hand-written lyrics that the previous owner had left inside. They were the lyrics to the songs on the album. Somebody had taken the time to write down the words to every single song. Something that I had done many times before with different records back home. For the first time, I felt connected to another person through music and music alone. I did not know their name or age, where they lived or what they liked to do on a rainy Saturday. I only knew that they loved that album enough to listen to it over and over again to make sure the words they were writing down were the right ones. Through that album I found the amazing ability that music has to bring people together – over distances, eras, ages and cultures.
04. Various Artists’ “Hits of ‘42” – I picked up this compilation while browsing the aisles at Sam the Record Man’s former store at Yonge and Dundas. At the time, I had little to no interest in any music made before 1960 and to this day, I still do not know why I bought that CD. However, I did. And I loved it. From that moment on, I went from being that weird kid with the Sgt. Peppers button to that even weirder kid with the “It’s Sinatra’s world, we just live in it” button. My point is that although this album did not change my life in a dramatic way (as did the last three that I mentioned) it did open up a completely new world of musical opportunities for me. I never dreamed that I would ever enjoy Mel Torme, The Andrews Sisters and the like – now I can’t get enough of them! (It’s time for me to shamelessly plug my radio show “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on www.radiothatdoesntsuck.com where you can hear the hits from the 1920’s-1960’s!)
05. The Wackers’ “Wackering Heights” – The first time I heard this album was on one of my first dates with you, Mr. Segarini. I fell in love with it (and you) instantly. For years, I had listened to great music but had always felt disconnected from the actual origin of the music I loved. I was never going to meet Frank Sinatra or George Harrison (and if I did it would mean we had a terrible zombie problem), so it felt so wonderful to finally share a moment with the music I adored and the man who created it. Although I was not physically there when the album was recorded, by means of my attachment to you I feel that I part of me was – that the music we love is just as much “our own” as it is to the artists who brought it to life.

This is a wonderful article and an interesting project to be a part of. I cannot wait to read some of the other responses!

Jade Dunlop

SEG SAYS:  “Jade “Pie” Dunlop is mentioned in the last paragraph of all the columns I do here at FYIMusic. She is the most over-all talented person I know.”

Again, name the top 10 venues you have either seen a show at or performed in, regardless of size. Your criteria should include sound, sight lines, treatment, and any other information you think makes the venue a good one.

That’s enough for now. Email me at radioresurrected@gmail.com with your comments, complaints, and thoughts…and remember…don’t believe a word I say.

Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, and The Segarini Band and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for  radiothatdoesntsuck with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.