Message to my readers

OK, it's nearly the middle of the Christmas season now and no doubt many of you came here hoping to find new tunes.

After much consideration I decided to stop posting songs on here. I loved doing it in the past and will very likely continue to post Christmas music in the future. I'd like to post annual compilations but am not sure if they will be on here or perhaps at another Christmas related website. I am sorry to say I don't think I will have time to put together a compilation this year.


As many of you probably read on here previously, there was a computer crash that caused me to lose a lot. And then working two jobs and some other personal stuff that came up this past year really made it difficult for me to regain footing (including moving, which wasn't a far move for me but still...uprooting everything and planting down in another place takes a lot.) Shoot, I still don't even have a new computer yet! I am still working with the faulty one that crashed (and has crashed so many times on me since! I plan on getting a new computer before too much longer, but that's just one thing I refuse to buy on credit, so it's pretty much using the computer for the bare basics right now.)

As a result I allowed my Box.com account (which hosted my MP3 files) to close. It was just an expense I didn't need since I wasn't posting new music on here. So when I get ready to post music again or share it elsewhere I will have to find a new MP3 hosting site.

There has been ONE order for the Wayside Waifs CD that came in and I apologize to the person who ordered it for not seeing the order sooner. I promise I received your order and it is on it's way.

So for the time being anyway, this blog is going to remain inactive. I have my sights on new Christmas music all the time and this year is no exception. I haven't had the time to sit down and look for all the fun freebies that are out there this year, but hope to soon before they are all gone after Christmas. I appreciate SO MUCH all of you reading my blog in the past. I am not going anywhere...I am not giving up on Christmas music, or even the Wayside Waifs CD. So if anybody else out there wants to order it please do so. I haven't raised as much as I'd hope, but there's a fair amount in a Pay Pal account yet and I'd like to add more to that before getting a cashiers check to the shelter! I hope to see you here again in the future!

The "Tone King!"

That was the worst Christmas EVER!

That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!

Worst Christmas EVER. Those are three words I don't commonly use, nor lightly. And I am sure people have had far worse Christmases. Nobody died, nothing burned down, I am still alive and well. But three things made this past Christmas the worst Christmas ever to me:

1 The weather. This year the winter storm that hit the Midwest really ruined any plans I had to do what I wanted to do. The best I can say is I survived the storm in one piece, with my car still up and running, but that’s about the only best I can say. I could go into a lengthy diatribe into what went wrong for my Christmas this year but I am sure many of you have your own tale to tell and nobody came here to hear that so I will leave all that alone. (In short, it dealt with going to work on both Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day and having to go out in that horrible weather and dealing just about all day with that. I know, I know, things could always be worse. And they could always be better!) Best to just get past this and get ready for next year!

2 This year I just couldn’t get the time to find and buy and download the Christmas music I usually do. I was sick (I already told you all about that) then this weather system hit and so much more... I had no time to search for music on sites like My Space. I found a few songs, but not like I did in past years. And you have no idea how hard that is on a collector…it makes me wonder what music I missed out on! Not to mention the lack of time to check out other Christmas music sites to see what the offered this year and other things. This Christmas was not a good Christmas overall for me.

3 The apparent death of the physical CD. It's one thing that my Christmas was taken from me due to circumstances beyond my control, but the lack of great CD compilations this year really was disheartening.

I knew last year that they said there would be fewer Christmas compilation releases this year and they kept that promise, much to my chagrin. More and more Christmas music I find to buy is available in digital downloads only. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (oh, wait…there is…read on.)

I am just as modern as the next guy…I enjoy MP3s for their portability and apparent universal ease of use. However, there’s something about that physical CD, even if the first thing I do when I get it is rip the songs to MP3. There’s something to be said for having a product to hold…it gives me the sense of accomplishment that my hard earned money went to get me something and I have something to show for it. It’s far more impressive to show people the CDs I have in my collection than to open a digital folder and show them the files I have and tell them, “I downloaded these.” Oh, sure...I could burn those MP3s I paid for to a CD-R. Yeah, CD-Rs don't quite cut it either.

You tell people you downloaded all your music and it cheapens the product you paid good money to get. I don’t know if it’s just the assumption that downloaded=stole...uh, I mean "received" music for free in the minds of many or what but I never get the same response in telling somebody I have digital files that I get when I show them the cool and rare CDs I have. Even the average person knows there's just something about the physical CD that a digital download can NEVER replace.

Not to mention I can often tell stories how I came across the rare and hard to find CDs and what it took to acquire them into my collection but digital downloads? “Oh, I found this at a website and bought it.” Oh, that’s interesting. There are some CDs I own that once I pick the case up and see the cover art I have instant memories of how I came across the CD. Sometimes it’s not just as simple of driving to Best Buy and buying it. Sometimes there’s more involved and I have to say my memory gets fuzzy with the digital downloads. Where did I find that MP3? Shoot if I can remember. Online somewhere, who cares? Cheapened product...

It goes beyond that for me. Having suffered a hard drive crash twice in the past year there is something to be said for having the physical copy. It’s like insurance that you have a back up of those songs. If I lose MP3s I ripped from CDs I own, I rip the MP3s again and get on with my life. If I lose MP3s of digital albums I paid for online, for the most part I am screwed.

In the past decade we saw the apparent death of the CD, and predictors of trends to come predict that it will just get worse in the next decade. I am optimistic. OK, maybe CDs will die but I don’t think it’s just going to be hard drives and Ipods either. I believe that MP3s are like the 45s of the 50’s. Just as 45 records gave birth to high fidelity vinyl records and improved sound quality that, to this day, remains unravialed with digital media (which is why we are seeing a renewed interest in vinyl) I think the sound quality of MP3s will no longer be acceptable in the next decade and will perhaps give birth to a new way to listen to music and still enjoy conveience and portability.

MP3s compress the sound and if you have a high enough quality MP3 you don’t really notice the loss in quality, but if you get a chance to hear uncompressed music you notice the improved quality. With Blu-Rays replacing DVDs we have discs with uncompressed sound replacing discs with compressed MP3s. Would I notice the lack of sound quality on a DVD by itself? No…DVD sounds great and served its purpose of superior home entertainment for more than a decade for a reason. Until you put the Blu-Ray in the player and hear the difference then suddenly it’s crystal clear which is superior.

A part of me hopes for the death of MP3s in the next decade. While they will still have a place and won’t go away, with improved storage capabilities in our digital media we can have room for uncompressed music files. And with the renewed interest in vinyl and people hearing uncompressed sound on Blu-Ray disc I think it's only a matter of time before people realize these digital albums they are downloading sound like crap and they are NOT getting their money's worth. And perhaps…just perhaps…a new format will come around that will showcase this “new” uncompressed digital sound for music like Blu-Ray did for movies and we will enjoy a resurgence in physical copies and in enjoying uncompressed music.

At least I can always hope.

For now, digital albums do not give me the opportunity to listen to that music uncompressed and there is a greater chance if I lose the files I lost the music for good. Even backing it up can be unreliable. I know somebody who had all their MP3s backed up on an external hard drive, they were moving, they dropped the external drive in the process, the drive broke and all that music was lost for good. Like I said previously, with my CDs even if my backed up MP3s get corrupted or lost, I still have the original discs. It makes me reluctant to throw my hard earned money at these so-called Christmas albums available only for download because I am not getting the full audio experience I would from a physical copy. Even if I choose to rip the songs from that physical copy to MP3 at least I can still enjoy the full audio fidelity of those songs when I want to.

(Is it ironic that I would be commenting on the lack of sound quality in MP3s on a MP3 blog? Perhaps so…but my hope is that my MP3s inspire you to go out and purchase the music featured here and listen to it uncompressed!)

I am honored and humbled to see some new numbers on my followers list. I promise to be back soon with more Christmas music. I know I said that before, but this time I mean it. Now I got all this out of my system, it's time to get back to the music.

And I hope what I have to say about digital downloads hits home with some of you. I know there are people who read this blog who prefer the physical copy of music. And for those of you who don't...well, I hope I gave you some food for thought.

Wayside Waifs CD and NEW Bonus CD

The CD is still available. There have been a few orders (and thank you so much for those of you patient with the delay in getting the orders out while I fought my sickness!) but there are still copies left. This edition is LIMITED TO 500 copies! The suggested donation for this item is ONLY $10.00. That would be cheap at twice the price!

For those looking for the file to download... To keep an E-Junkie account for free to use for charity purposes, I am unable to host the download file on their site. Sorry, I tried everything I could think of.

Also, this year there is a NEW bonus EP available to those of you who wish to donate an extra $5.00. When you order the CD you can change the donation amount to include for the EP.

This is an 8 song EP featuring new tracks -some by artists who were unable to get me their tracks by the time the CD went into production last year and some songs recorded for this collection- with bonus/hidden tracks as well.

The new songs include:
Jim Abel-Let Christmas Start Here
Ken Clinger-Ho, Ho, Ho and A Ride on Santa's Sleigh
Franky Four Eyes-Just Like Christmas
Shufflin' Noah-Comin' Home For Christmas
No Fun-No Fun at Christmas
Mexican Kids at Home-Wholesale Xmas Bore is Over
We Know, Plato!-A Christmas Sort of Dream

This EP is limited to 100 numbered copies.

And, because I do NOT like double dipping, for those of you who ordered the bonus CD last year you can order this bonus CD by itself. Otherwise, this bonus CD is only available with the purchase of the full length CD for $10.00 plus an additional donation of $5.00.

If you want to order just the EP (and you ordered the CD last year with the bonus disc) you can either just Pay Pal the money to me at my email address or click to buy the CD and change the donation amount to the price of the EP and put a note you are just ordering the Ep.

Update and a New Compilation

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated (wait...there were rumors of what??)

On December 5th I attended the Christmas Open House at Wayside Waifs and on December 6th I developed a bit of a runny nose and a small cough that I chalked up to an allergy reaction of some sort. On the 7th I woke up with a full blown cold/flu/whatever it is that made me the sickest I've been in...oh...at least the past 15-16 years. No joke. So that's why you haven't seen much of me or heard much from me. And for that I truly apologize. I am still recovering but at least I feel a bit better every day. This is some kind of insidious cold that refuses to improve with rest and liquids and medication. It's a tenacious sort that gets a hold of your body and forces you to suffer until it's done ravaging you. Suffice to say, it's not just this blog that has suffered. I missed time from work and, shoot, I haven't even been able to buy any Christmas music this year, let alone down load any new tracks. Shoot.

But I would like to share with you a collection of some of my favorite songs that I've compiled over the past year. I intended to post more than this, of course, but this is really the first time I could make it on here in a while. I tried Monday (I really did!) and I could barely stay awake I was so sick.

01-August Darnell-Christmas on Riverside Drive

A nice upbeat tune to start things off! This is from the ZE Christmas Record.

02-Triffids-Save What You Can

From the album Calenture. The Triffids were always a favorite of mine, and this was the first album I heard from them. And, while not exactly the most overtly Christmas song of the bunch (though it does mention Christmas cheer!), it does lead quite well into the next track...


03-Prefab Sprout-Earth, the Story So Far

Prefab Sprout rose to fame around the same time as the Triffids did. This track comes from their 2009 release, "Let's Change the World."

04-Super Fuffy Animals-Gift that Keeps Giving

From Hey Venus!

05-Adam and Darcie-With Wondering Awe

Found online last year at the Village Ten Collective.

06-April March-Last Train to Christmas

I liked the sound of track 5 and it seemed to compliment well the sound of this track. April March's music is often a bit of a challenge to find at reasonable prices, but always worth it if you do your digging at the right time. This comes from April March and Los Cincos.

07-Milagro Saints & The Sounds of Creation Choir & Band - Child of Peace

And this comes from the first Have a Holly Raleigh Christmas compilation.

08-Breanne Düren-Heart in My Hands

From My Space...still going in the same style of music, for the most part. Found online last year.

09-Betty & The Cavaleros-Hey I'm Your Gift Today

Also found online last year, a free gift to web surfers at www.cafesuperstar.com

10-The Birthday Girl Vs AFH-Hey Santa

Another online find...this time the Filthy Little Angels Christmas compilation.

11-The Cartridge Family - Frosty The Freemason

Online as well...

12-Glam Chops-Countdown To Christmas

And yet another My Space track I found last year.

13-Billy Ruffian-It's A Long Lonely Christmas Without Jimmy Greenhoff

From A Very Cherry Christmas 3

14-Departure Lounge - Christmas Downer

This comes from It's a Cool, Cool Christmas.

15-Camden Flatwood-Christmas Has A Way

From A Very Balthrop Christmas, an online compilation available last year.

16-Richard Thompson-Mary and Joseph

A little something different...another not so exactly a traditional Christmas song. From Henry the Human Fly.

17-The Leopards-Dancing In The Snow

From a Christmas 45 record.

18-The Walkabouts-Christmas Valley

Another favorite off the beaten path track I found... From Devil's Road.

19-Trapper Zukie-Archie, The Rednosed Reindeer

From Man Ah Warrior. You can never go wrong with music like this!

20-Ting Tings-Shut Up & Let It Snow

One day I hope to hear a full studio recording of this song...but for now we have the radio recording to tide us over.

More to come soon... Including LONG over due news about a NEW bonus CD for the Wayside Waifs compilation. News I wanted to get out earlier...but you know...all what I said earlier and all. The sickness was really horrible timing.

It's Christmas time again...you BETTER be GOOD!

If there is one thing that is more frightening than Halloween it has to be Christmas. Strangers all around dressed in Santa costumes wanting to talk to your children and have them sit on their laps...any other time of the year the thought of this kind of thing going on would be the cause for Amber Alerts and stranger danger reports. Not to mention Santa knowing all your movements...he knows if your kids have been good or naughty. I think they put people like that on trial and put them behind bars. Or make them live in tents outside the city, at the very least.

So on this day of costumed people prowling the streets and stories of stranger danger on the news and Amber Alerts and all that festive stuff that comes with this time of year, I present to you yet another selection of Christmas tunes that seem to be perfect for the Halloween season.

Sorry, no podcast this year!

Robin Gibb-Come Some Christmas Eve or Halloween

OOOOOHHHHH, that was a SPOOOOOOOOOKY one, little boys and girls! I will give you a few minutes if you need to go change your pants before opening the next file! SCARY STUFF!

Coffin Caddies-Halloween on Xmas

Granted, this is about Halloween on December 25, not the other way around. But this is certainly a good, fun tune. From last year's new release Psychobilly Christmas.

Harley Poe-It's Christmas Time Again

The spookiest time of year for little boys and girls! A little bit of Tim Burton feeling here, to me anyway. This nice ditty comes from A Very Standard Christmas.

Hot Buttered Elves-Better Be Good

Keeping with the theme. From A Very Lo-Fi Christmas.

Wendyhouse-The Evil Santa Klaus

Now this is what I'm talking about. From a CD I imported from New Zealand. Available at smokecds.com.

James White-Christmas With Satan

Decent enough, but somehow I don't think the music really fits the concept of the song. This comes from the ZE Christmas Record.

Regina Hexaphone-Christmas Moon

Starting off about as scary as we started. OK, so these aren't exactly the sounds you are used to hearing around Halloween time. But this song about celebrating Christmas under the moon with vampires is really quite a unique song, and what better time of year to share it than now? This comes from Have a Holly Raleigh Christmas Vol. 3.

And if you haven't heard it already, be sure to check out last year's podcast. Fun stuff.

Cyprus Avenue Christmas II

No, folks, I have not given up on this blog. I sincerely apologize for not living up to this blog's name this year. You'd think at least one post a month would be easy enough. For various reasons that I won't bore you with, I just wasn't able to. My second job has taken up so much more time this year than it did last year. Which is a good thing...extra money is always good. It seems in today's economy you either are out of work or you are working more for the same or less pay. Yeah, it's been a while since a raise for me, but at least I am still working and able to work more hours. But, as a result, this blog has suffered. "I will post next week," I'd say. Next week suddenly bleeds over into next month and the month after that and I sit there looking at the calendar dismayed at where the time goes.

Where does the time go? Well, not in reading excuses of a blogger, that's for sure. You didn't come here for that. I will attempt to post more here...I am coming into some down time now as hours are cut at my second job but I suspect once the holidays kick in I will be working more. It should make things a bit hard keeping up on here, but I will do my best.

So onward and upward with the music. Now that's what you came here for.

Last year I mentioned I had contacted some local DJs about playing Christmas music on their programs. Two of the DJs agreed to let me submit music to them and are open to new stuff. One of those DJs is Bill Shapiro of KCUR. He hosts a weekly radio program called Cyprus Avenue and the show started out as an intelligent look at rock and roll music, but he plays a wide variety of music. Mainly older stuff, but sometimes some new stuff sneaks it's way in there.

As a Christmas music fan, I highly anticipated his annual Christmas show. The first year I heard it it was OK. Nothing too out of the ordinary...nothing too far off the beaten path. And his show certainly digs up some great songs that are off the beaten path on a regular basis. So next year I tuned in...and it was the exact same play list. I looked at the archives of his play lists online and, sure enough, he's been repeating the same Christmas show for quite a while now.

Needless to say, I had to rectify that. KCUR is a public radio station, so perhaps not a lot of money is flying around to buy music to play one day out of the year. I understand. So I decided to intervene and offer my services and choices from my personal collection. I made a custom CD (complete with jewel case and full color cover) for him and another CD of off the beaten path Christmas songs that he may or may not play and sent them to him. He emailed me back and was very grateful to receive the music. He said the producers of his show were wanting him to do a full two hour special this year. So I thought I would send him a second collection. First, the cover art:



I tried to select songs that would fit in his format. The first collection I sent him mainly focused on artists I knew he liked and would be likely to play. For this collection, I decided to be a bit more adventurous and offer him songs by artists he never played before but would fit in well with his format.

01_Harley Fine-Same Old Christmas Song

This first song I chose because of the message and I felt it really spoke of what is to come on this collection: These are NOT the same old Christmas songs! I don't know if he'd play this song...it's a bit off from the style of music he normally plays, if that's possible to say on a show where I've heard everything from the Pogues to Tom Waits to African music and everything else in between. But like I said...it sets the theme of the collection.

02_The Fireman-Dance 'Til We're High

This song was a real nice surprise for me. I discovered this album earlier in the year and did a double take when this song came up on my MP3 player. They may not use the word Christmas, but this is a Christmas song if I ever heard it. The Fireman, if you don't know, is perhaps the best band Paul McCartney has been involved with since Wings (and since 1993.) Arguably a MUCH better song than "Wonderful Christmastime." I am sure there will be those who disagree with me (what? Really???) but I am so glad we got a new Christmas song out of Paul after all this time, and a great song at that.

03_The Spirit of Christmas-Christmas Is My Time of Year
04_The Spirit of Christmas-Will You Still Believe in Me

True 1960's Christmas rock/pop classics that rarely get heard, let alone on the radio. I really hope that Mr. Shapiro chooses to play one or both of these songs. I know I shared them on this blog before, but they are always worth bringing out again.

05_The Neighborhood Kids-The Christmas Party of the Eight Reindeer

This is from a Christmas 45 that I got early in the year and one of the first songs I put in my 2009 folder. I never heard of the band before and really don't know much about them (and Google doesn't dig up too much) but the sound of the song really reminded me of the Spirit of Christmas tracks in a way. And it's a nice, fun obscure song that needed to be heard again by more people. It may be a bit kiddified for Cyprus Avenue, but you never know what kind of mood Mr. Shapiro will be in when he's trying to fill those two hours.

06_Sugar Minott - Christmas Jamboree

Bill likes to play reggae and Jamaican music and I wish I had more to share with him. I do have a handful of songs, but this was the best among the bunch in my book. (I am still trying to locate my Trojan box set of Reggae Christmas music I bought a few years back. You know I haven't been able to find that for a couple years now? I wonder where it could be!)

07_The Cadillacs-Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
08_Brook Benton-You're All I Want For Christmas
09_The Miracles-Christmas Everyday
10_Ella Fitzgerald-Frosty the Snowman
11_Carla Thomas-Gee Whiz, It's Christmas
12_Charles Brown-Christmas in Heaven
13_Bunny & Skully-White Christmas

I don't have much to say about the songs individually...I basically chose this group of songs for the collection because it struck me that this was the period of music Bill likes to play the most. I tried to pick a select few songs from that time period that don't seem to make it on the radio much these days, if at all. A few familiar ones were also tossed in, not just arbitrarily, however, but because I really felt the versions of these standards were actually quite good compared to the familiar versions we often hear at this time of year.

14_Binky Griptite-World of Love

When I was contemplating songs for this collection, I made a list at my day job and saved the email as a draft. Some of the songs in that list made the cut, some did not. Some were just a bit too obscure and there was some great new stuff that I really wanted to include on this collection. But there was one song that was just singular to me in it's sheer beauty and had such an impact on me when I heard it and it was this one. So much horrible stuff is going on in the world today...both in our own areas that never make the news and such horrific stuff on the news these days...stories like a little girl being found dead in a city landfill. Abuse of children and animals, people killing their own children... sometimes it's overwhelming. When I heard this song, my mind was already occupied with a couple horrible things that happened recently and I just wish more people would experience that world of love on more than just one day. It never really seems to last all year around and the children get let down. But I still hope for the world of love.

15_Meditation Singers-Spirit of Christmas

This was also on my short list of songs to include on this compilation but it almost was not included then I came across "World of Love." This seemed like a good follow up to the previous song and now this song had a place on the compilation. These two songs also fit into the time period of the block of songs that already came before.

16_Simon & Garfunkel-7 O'Clock News, Silent Night

Speaking of bad news...There's something just very stark and gripping about the reading of the news stories in this song. I was trying to come up with a cover version of this to do with Ken Clinger but it's hard to find news clips these days that doesn't have loud music and sounds played during it.

17_Sam Baker-Angel Hair

I mentioned a few obscure songs that didn't make the cut in lieu of some new music. This is one of the new songs that I just discovered last week that really struck me and left an impression. I know Sam Baker is an artist that Bill Shapiro has played before, so I hope he plays this one as well. This is a beautiful song that shows that Christmas music just doesn't have to be about Santa, reindeer or Jesus.

18_Felice Brothers-Murder By Mistletoe

I shouldn't have included this one, I really shouldn't have. I actually included it on the first compilation I sent Bill and I know I shared it before with you all. But, at the end of the day, this is one of my favorite off the beaten path Christmas songs I have found. I have listened to this one so many times since I first came across it and often listen to it two or three times in a row...the imagery in this song is just so well brought out and so beautiful to me. And Bill needs to just play more of the Felice Brothers!

19_Jim Croce-It Doesn't Have to Be That Way

Not a new song, but new to me. I suspect this song got some air play back in the day, but for some reason it's been cast off to the side. Here is hoping it gets played again.

20_Elvis-Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees

Elvis (and Paul McCartney, for that matter) isn't exactly an artist that needs exposure. But this isn't exactly one of his most played Christmas songs and this is up there to me with some of his more beautiful recordings, such as "In the Ghetto." It's not just a good Christmas song, it's a good song!

21_Bill Mallonee-Every Father Knows

Speaking of somebody who writes good songs (and somebody whom Bill should play more of on his show!) is this guy. Some of you may recall that I shared the Vigilantes of Love song "My Heart's Electric (On To Bethlehem)" early on in the beginning days of this blog. Bill has released a Christmas album on line and this is perhaps my most favorite Christmas song he recoded since "My Heart's Electric (On To Bethlehem)."

22_Bigton Gulch Town Orchestra-Santa's Coming

A little off the beaten path, a little bit more strange than most Christmas songs, but considering the strange stuff I have heard on the Cyprus Avenue radio program before, this seems to be ripe for playing!

23_C.W. Stoneking-On A Christmas Day

Another personal all time favorite and I never tire of hearing this song. I believe I shared this song on here before, but not positive. The sound C.W. brings recalls the early days of American music. It sounds like something straight out of the Depression era recordings, but it's neither from the Depression era or America. C.W. Stoneking is from Australia and was born in 1974. This is a new song, folks. C.W. certainly offers something to music today that nobody else is really offering, and that makes him a must play in my book.

24_The Neighborhood Kids-Christmas is for Everyone

The B-Side of the track I previously shared on track five. I thought it was a good way to close the collection out.


In closing, I just wanted to say that it wasn't just this blog that I neglected of late. I haven't checked my email in a long time either, and when I went to check it recently I see I have a back log of unread emails. I apologize to each and every one of you who emailed me and expected a reply. Needless to say, your email has been read or will be read and you will get a reply. There are quite a few requests out there for me to bring back some old stuff that I deleted. I very well may post a "back by popular request" posting in the near future.

Fingers crossed, I will be back with my Halloween post. No podcast this year (sorry...I really didn't have time for that!) but I have a handful of some interesting songs to share.

One last thing, I mentioned in one of my last posts before the long delay that my computer crashed. I am actually still trying to recover from that. Thankfully, I had just sent my mom a flash drive full of a lot of my Christmas music (16 GB worth!) and I had a lot of it backed up on an external drive, but there's still work to be done to recover some of the lost tracks. One thing I lost that I REALLY would appreciate somebody out there in helping me recover are the Andy Cirzan annual compilations. I believe I had them going back for the past decade or so. Losing tracks I recorded from LPs and 45s is one thing...when time allows I can make MP3s of those songs again. But I hated losing the Cirzan tracks. Let me know if you can help a brother out!

Thank you SO much for reading and listening.

Senator Bobby

Given the recent news, I felt it was a good time to revisit this classic record. I see that my previous post of this record has been searched recently, and for good cause. I took down the files of the record a while back but it feels right to repost them.

Rest in peace, Senator Ted Kennedy.



And, for those of you checking for updates...to you I profusely apologize. I still don't feel I am 100% after my computer crash, and there are files I lost that I fear I may have lost for good. Then, with work and other cares of life, it seemed it just kept on getting later and later in the summer. I do have some good stuff in store...keep checking back soon...and I promise you this blog won't end up like many other blogs you may find online that just sit idle for months upon months, years upon years and don't get updated anymore. More updates to come...stay "tuned." And I promise to not focus on what I lost but I will focus on the great stuff I still have!


(Though if anybody can supply me with the MP3 files of Andy Cirzan's compilations, I would be indebted. I lost them all, I'm afraid...not a single one backed up!)