Badly Drawn Boy - Thunder Road from Uncut Magazine Bruce Springsteen Tribute Volume 1(2003)
The Knack - Don’t Look Back from Get the Knack (remastered edition) (1979/2002)
John Hiatt - Johnny 99 from One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (1997)
Patty Griffin - Stolen Car from 1000 Kisses (2002)
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - The Fever from I Don’t Want to Go Home (1976)
The Mavericks - All That Heaven Will Allow from What a Crying Shame (1994)
Deana Carter - State Trooper from Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska (2000)
Trisha Yearwood - Sad Eyes from Real Live Woman (2000)
The Smithereens - Downbound Train from One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (1997)
Ben E. King - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) from One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (1997)
Billy Bragg - Mansion on the Hill from Uncut Magazine Bruce Springsteen Tribute Volume 2 (2003)
Sonny Burgess - Tiger Rose from Sonny Burgess (1996)
Thea Gilmore - Cover Me from Uncut Magazine Bruce Springsteen Tribute Volume 1 (2003)
John Wesley Harding - Jackson Cage from One Step Up/Two Steps Back:The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (1997)
The Reivers - Atlantic City from Cover Me: Songs by Springsteen (1984)
Johnny Cash - Highway Patrolman from Johnny 99 (1983)
Dion - Book of Dreams from Deja Nu (2000)
Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris - Across the Border from Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (1999)
Bruce Springsteen - I Ain’t Got No Home from Folkways: A Vision Shared (1988)

Zack Dennis: Every time I get hooked in by Pete Townsend’s synthesizers, I feel kind of silly. And yet it always happens. While I’d rather listen to the entirety of Quadrophenia rather than any particular single by the Who, the singles almost universally have the capacity to cheer me up and this one is no exception.

Jason Hare: I’m on a lot of Who discussion groups, and Face Dances is generally regarded at the band’s worst studio album — ranked worse than ’82’s It’s Hard — but I quite like it. Perhaps Bill Szymczyk (you know how hard it is to Google that name when you don’t know how to spell it?) wasn’t the best producer for The Who (just as Kenney Jones wasn’t the best choice of drummer), but he helped them create a sound that accurately heralded in The Who 2.0, post Keith Moon. “You Better You Bet” is a ridiculously stupid song but I love it anyway. I love how Pete’s vocals are omnipresent, and Roger sings with fantastic attitude that, for one of the first times, just doesn’t translate to “I’m angry.” (See just about any track from Who Are You).

Ted Asregadoo: Man, I loved this song when it came out — and then I bought the cassette and wanted to return it because I thought someone was playing a joke on me. I mean, yeah, there was this gem and “Another Tricky Day,” but what about everything in between? I thought some smelly socks idiot at the mastering lab dubbed in a bunch of songs from … well, I had no idea where because, to me, it wasn’t the Who singing “Cache Cache” and the other forgettable songs, it was some group who sounded like the Who trying to foist dung on me while calling it prime rib. But hey, who doesn’t love Townshend missing his vocal cue and smiling at his mistake?

Dw. Dunphy: I was as surprised as anyone when longtime Eagles producer Bill Szymczk ended up as the Who’s choice for Face Dances. Yet when you backtrack, it actually makes a little sense. Leaving their comfy home of MCA Records, this was their first Warners release, all old-timers were feeling pinched to prove they still could turn the charts their way and they had the huge hurdle of overcoming Keith Moon’s death. Of course a “hitmaker” was called in, and this is exactly what was expected. “You Better You Bet” is bouncy, snarly, a little dirty and has major hookitude. Townshend employed most of those same hooks on the superior “Let My Love Open The Door.” (more…)

The other day someone asked me what the “most valuable” record in my collection is. It’s a question I’ve always had a hard time answering, because I have no idea if anything in my collection is worth money. I mean, I know which of my albums and 45s are rare, and certainly I know some pieces are worth some kind of money, but for me any sort of “value” comes from just having that particular hole filled in my collection. I’m not the first collector to say this and I certainly won’t be the last, but there is no part of my collection that I’ve been working on in order to turn a profit. Granted, if I ever get that elusive Shamus M’Cool 45 my collection will jump tremendously in value, but for now it contains just what I think is cool.  And in case you’re wondering how I define “cool” …

I own 19 different versions of “Talkin’ Baseball” by Terry Cashman, and Baseball America values them at up to $50 apiece. Of course, that’s Baseball America talking. I own “Dance Baby,” the 1983 single from Alfonso Ribeiro, aka Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I own Alyssa Milano’s first album (1989’s Look in My Heart), and having Frank Stallone’s self-titled disc brings me much joy. I get endless conversations out of the men-hugging-each-other cover of Ambrosia’s One Eighty, and Scott Baio’s 1982 debut gives me nightmares.

These are the pieces of my collection that are valuable to me. One day I’m going to sell it off, and then I’ll really see what it’s worth to own way too much Peabo Bryson music, but until then I’ll keep lovin’ the Stryper picture disc simply because it’s mine. So the next time someone asks me what’s the “most valuable” piece of my collection, I guess I should answer, “All of it” (which of course is the lamest answer I could possibly give).

NEW MUSIC FOR THE COLLECTION:
DFX2, Emotion
Fiona, Fiona
Hanoi Rocks, Two Steps From the Move
Full Force, Full Force
The J. Geils Band, You’re Getting’ Even, While I’m Gettin’ Odd

(more…)