ENJOYING THE MUSIC

I've really been enjoying my CD collection recently...if you want to call it a collection. Between my schedule and enjoying my beautiful diva of a granddaughter, I haven't really had much of an opportunity to lay back and enjoy the wealth of entertainment that is included on my table.

My musical tastes are somewhat varied, which I credit to my 15 years as a radio personality here and in my native Mississippi. During that "previous life" I had the chance to work at several stations with a variety of formats. It helped to hone my appreciation for good music.

That said, you won't find country or rap/hip hop in my collection, as I'm what you call "old school". Most of the CD's I have are "Greatest Hits" collections, with the 70s being most prominent and featuring the singer/songwriters such as Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. Also included are jazz/rock bands such as Blood, Sweat, & Tears and Chicago. You'll also find artists such as Mannheim Steamroller (a little trivia on this group in a moment) and John Tesh, as well as Marc Cohn.

Now for the trivia: Mannheim Steamroller frontman Chip Davis has a couple of commercial hits during the 80s as...are you ready for this...C.W. McCall, as in "Convoy". McCall was a ficticious trucker character that Davis made up while writing commercial jingles for a bread company, and it took off from there.

Right now my favourite CD to carry along happens to be Steely Dan's greatest hits work Showbiz Kids. I've always enjoyed the rock work of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, with their heavy jazz influences.

I've got to sit back and enjoy more of this...