Evan's 111 artists (pt. 1): tapes, records & radio

“Dad, you always say this song is a F*CKING MASTERPIECE—is the artist top 100?…”

These are the 111 artists who mean the most to me with my stories why, from young fan growing up in jersey thru working in the music industry.

With love, this is for Luli, Rex and my many music friends ——————————————————————————————————

Five years ago Diane & I created RockSweat, a music-intensive fitness event held at the world-famous Roxy in LA — a Sat morn DJ set choreographed to a HIIT workout, it was a blast, so I chose to use the RockSweat platform for this list.

 (pt. 1): tapes, records & radio

I was born in NYC, and grew up in a Central Jersey suburb 45 miles south, East Brunswick. We were 15 minutes from New Brunswick (Rutgers), plenty of theaters, clubs, arena’s, & stadiums to go to, but before those days, as a little kid, music was about my hippie Uncle Steve’s record collection, and then in middle school it was WPLJ, WNEW, WPRB, WMMR, a few independent record stores, Spin, Rolling Stone, and cover bands playing in basements.

listed in order of discovery, I love them all its not that order…

1.) The Beatles

The first live show I ever saw was Beatle-Mania on Broadway. I was little, the music was loud and had such a raw & strong punch, everyone was standing on their seats and screaming— live music was the shit, I was instantly all-in. It felt so different than the records, — communal. Many years later Diane and I walked down the aisle to a live string version of Here There and Everywhere, I’ve taken my family to see Love in Vegas a few times. The Beatles were my first introduction to band dynamics, the power of strong individuals feeding off one another, making the collective bigger than any of them alone. I’m drawn most deeply to Lennon, for so many reasons. The Beatles were my first love, and nearly every song makes me think of my family.

This is Lennon’s last performance, 1975.

John Lennon in 1975 his last live performance, i remember hearing on the radio he was shot when my mom was driving me to school.

2.) The Rolling Stones

This was all about the records drawing me in, deep. Darker than the Beatles, mystery and swagger— I started with Exile, Sticky Fingers (the one w the zipper). The power of Mick & Keef to me remains the greatest combo in Rock music. In my life I’ve probably logged more time listening to the Stones then any other act.

Diane and I got to see Mick and Keith perform Salt of the Earth pretty close to the the stage at a 911 benefit that we partnered with during our AOL Music days, it was a heavy time in NYC, we lived downtown and smelled the Towers burning for more than a month after the attack, this performance was so moving during an incredibly emotional time for New Yorkers and the world. Shortly after, also thanks to my job at AOL Music I was fortunate enough to see the Stones do a small room play at the Wiltern in LA on Nov 4 2002, I was on the floor and barely watched the band, but the sound was so good, pure bliss seeing them in a theater, they opened with Jumping Jack Flash and closed with Tumbling Dice. A few years later I had a chance to line up and meet Mick after he played a 5 song set promoting a solo record at the El Rey (even smaller venue), but I chose not to… For a hero of this stature a ‘meet and greet’ promoting his solo work wasn’t the way I wanted to meet him.

Concert for NYC 2001, such a heavy time and a magical night of togetherness thru music.

3.) The Kinks

I wrote a book report on them (a strange choice to rep the British Invasion) at a young age. Matt, a lifelong best friend moved to our town in 4th grade, we started riding BMX bikes together and by 6th grade music became a big topic of our friendship. In 7th grade or so we both had acoustic guitars and limped thru boring lessons, but one day we rode bikes to the Library to rent/watch a video, and we found a live Kinks show called One For The Road. We were lost in it completely w headphones on playing air guitar just blown away by the showmanship, songs, and rock arena power. This made us want to play in a band, it just looked cool and fun as f@ck. Over the years I went way deep into everything Ray Davies has written, he’s so underrated. While I did meet him thru work when we re-released the catalog thru Velvel Records at BMG, my best moment was with Diane when we ducked out of a Jingle Ball (Z100/iheart) ran across the street to see Ray solo with a crowd of a few thousand eating out of the palm of his hands as he performed I’m Not Like Everybody Else, Waterloo Sunset and so many masterpieces, from Bieber or maybe that was the Gaga year, to that.. The kinks I believe were the first great band fueled by sibling madness, Ray inspired so many greats (Westerberg), penned so many songs that stand the test of time it’s insane. I’ve been waiting for the reunion tour, kept thinking Coachella would make it happen years ago.

One of the best songs ever written, pretty sure I first discovered it as a Camper Van Beethoven cover, but the rest of the world did from the Sopranos

My brother got to see that show, I was insanely jealous but I did have white jeans and a rope bracelet..

4.) The Who

I loved the songs, the sounds, the full bodies of work and of course the unmatchable energy. I’m pretty sure I recognized at a young age just how unique Pete/Moon/Entwistle were and no doubt Daltrey was a fun frontman. In 8th grade or so I started playing the bar chords/guitar riff for Baba O’Riley in my room which was way more fun than playing the obligatory Stairway To Heaven, my brother came in and re-wrote the lyrics and called it Commission Wasteland an entire song dedicated to teasing my mom, an abstract artist/sculptor, some pretty clever lyrics (of course, Eric has always been clever), my Mom didn't really laugh along though it was in good fun, but we had a blast performing and recording on a boom box which doubled as our percussions, Er played drums by banging a pencil on the recorder. I know I had also been working on Behind Blue Eyes on Guitar, probably one of my faves at the time. I didn’t see them live until the 9/11 NYC show, seeing Pete and Daltrey together was pretty cool.

This performance is truly epic, each character playing themself true to form.

5.) The Doors

I argue w my buddy Scott Richman about the significance of the Doors regularly, he thinks they are overrated. I read No One Here Gets Out Alive in 6th grade?? and Staci Cosner got me Waiting For The Sun for my bday. Hello, I Love You won’t you tell me your name— that was like nothing i had heard, It wasn’t the Brit Invasion, it was to me at least more a front man/rock star than a group. The journey west, rock star stuff and psychedelia. What kid would not want to be Jim Morrison?

Diane didn’t agree for this to be our wedding song.. too dark i guess but i thought it was strong and spoke to love.

Peace Frog, live in New York (Felt Forum 1/17/70 early show), clearly he was fucked up, but still sounds great. this was in NYC a few weeks before I was born a few miles uptown.

6.) Led Zeppelin

I bought a 3/4 tee at the mall when i was real young. Loved the imagery and mystique more than i knew the music. No denying the role they played in the musical landscape of my youth, once I heard Houses of the Holy in it’s entirety I was sucked in. I never felt connected to the individuals in the band, they remain distant to me to this day, but the music remains.

The draw west continues— 'Going to California' at Earls Court in 1975

7.) Aretha Franklin

Chain of Fools was kinda raw, not too polished so that resonated and her voice was different than anything I had heard. Say A Little Prayer was more melodic and I remember lip synching it w my friend Steven Gerstein on a trip to Fla in the back of his parents Caddy. My eyes were opened to soul music and the concept of an entertainer vs a band, much different. Aretha was special, a massive force who paved the way for so many of my favs.

"I Say A Little Prayer," October 9, 1970 — live— better than the recordings

9.) Bob Dylan & Jimi Hendrix

Dylan’s music was all around, from the youngest age. I found his nasal voice a little annoying but did love all of the songs. Once I hit High School I finally realized just how important he was, influencing nearly every artist across every genre. The first artists artist for me, everyone wanted to be Bob.

When I turned 12 I got my first guitar, it was at that point I discovered Jimi. Like Dylan, he was a free spirit. I loved his version of All Along the Watchtower, Bold as Love, Fire, Purple Haze and so much more. The rawest sounding guitar, bass and drums w some sick swagger.

*** Eric Clapton My first concert, at Brendan Byrne Arena on the Money and Cigarettes tour

Hard Rain - Bob Dylan and Rolling Thunder Revue was recorded on May 23, 1976, during a concert at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. I can not believe this masterpiece was 2 miles from where I live right now— had no idea. I run up a trail right behind where this took place a few times weekly these days!

beyond

10.) Bruce Springsteen

I’m from ‘fucking jersey’— at first i denied Bruce though Er was all in, he just wasn’t cool in my eyes. But with Born In The USA released when i was 14, you had no choice but to engage at least.. so many great songs. I opened my eyes and ears to the earlier recordings over the years. Tunnel of Love was about his break up and I was 17 so that was a new dimension, and then when i moved to San Francisco after college the Rising/Lucky Town was proof that an older dude could still be real relevant. Never saw him live until ‘92 in SF, I bought a ton of tix to scalp and make money, I was waiting tables and brand new to SF, harsh lesson— it was my first time at shoreline— SF didnt care much about Bruce. I lost hundreds but brought my roommates (the beverly hills boys) and I had a great time. While I never met Bruce til this day, I’ve seen him many times and in 2002 we debuted The Rising a track which was born post 9/11 before any other outlet in the world on AOL Music, that was big, and we were invited to see his band play a few warm up shows in asbury park that summer in front of hundreds not thousands, that was real special. I did get to work w Little Steve at a charity event I helped produce, he was pretty intense and had a funny ‘situation’ with Billy Squier who was taking his role jamming w the “Little Kids Rock” band pretty seriously.

Nebraska, Born To Run, Greetings From Asbury Park, Darkness on the Edge of Town,— still love them so much. Bruce is in my top 10 for so many reasons, he is a unique soul, an undeniable inspiration on many levels, a rock historian and prolific cultural commentator..but back to my first comment, Jersey. NOBODY from Jersey can get too crazy about success, Jersey is a humble place to grow up, I’m very proud to be from Jerz.

‘85. classic.

11.) The Beach Boys

While The Doors painted a spiritual picture of the west, the Beach Boys sold me at a young age on west coast beach culture, I had to have it. I of course started w the poppy stuff, but the harmonies were more layered than anything i had ever heard, it was the Endless Summer EP that we spun a ton. I think Don’t Worry Baby was the first song that really wowed me. Then I saw them live at halftime of a Cosmos soccer game— pure cheese. But I reconnected with their music in my 20’s, Pet Sounds, and later some of Brian’s solo material and they remain a staple. When my fam moved to Malibu Rex was 7, his first day after camp he told us he met a real cool kid (last name wilson), yup. We got to know the amazing family which added a dimension to the stories I grew up listening to.

I WAS SO UPSET I COULDNT ATTEND THIS EVENT, i watched it on TV. The Beach Boys performing at Live Aid in front of 100,000 people in the John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia USA on the 13th July, 1985.

a perfect song, a fav of mine right next to the kinks waterloo sunset

11.) Elton John

My mom loved Elton. We played his records and tapes a lot. The productions were huge with strings and a lot of layers. He was a rock star with a unique style. Yellow Brick Road and Madman Across The Water are pretty perfect complete works of art. I found his attempt at rocking hard kinda hokey but catchy with tracks like Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting and Crocodile Rock, until I heard the Bitch Is Back which is just awesome, and then Funeral For A Friend was next level. His falsetto is sick, his ballads are undeniable like Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me. I never saw Elton live, same with Billy Joel who I don’t think will make this list, we’ll see, but that says a lot— I never felt the need to see him live though his performance with Eminem (who was being lambasted for being a Homophobe) was stoic. Also, never met him thru work, closest I came was his guitarist who had a kid in school with Rex— damn, this is Rex’s 2nd connection to my top 11. I’d have to imagine we have Elton to thank for so many artists, but in particular, he made it so cool to play Piano, nearly as cool as Freddy and damn, November Rain by GnR.

Elton live in Central Park 1980. Just over 30 years later we hosted a free AOL Dave Matthews Band concert in the park, I was the head of AOL Music at the time so I was the talking head on TV and with press starting at sun up that morning, right after I did an interview I walked over to Nan’s apartment on 82nd and we watched the news coverage I just filmed together— such a special place.

12.) The Police

I bought the Police cassette Ghost In The Machine when I was 12 or so. Spirit’s in the Material World was probably on the radio. This was the beginning of listening to new music and buying it. Then I went back to Zenyatta, I’d already known a few tracks from rock radio. These guys looked different and the playing was different, and they were a trio. They definitely weren’t punk or scary, but they did have a huge energy and the fact that they were all blond brought some uniformity, a key ingredient of punk. Over the years I never felt close to them but I always liked them a lot. It wasn’t until I was 16 I saw them live and it was pretty memorable. Jenny Weintraub drove me to the Amnesty International Concert at Giant Stadium, it was 90 degrees and sunny, we drank a crystal light mix with grain alcohol and screamed along all day to the Hooters, Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed who I didn’t truly appreciate yet. U2 was definitely peaking at that point and they brought an explosive energy as the sun set. But then, during the Police’s set which was completely on fire, i think they had reunited just for this show— Bono came out to join on Invisible Sun, fuck, I have chills just thinking about it. That moment was the first time I ever saw first hand two rock gods from separate groups truly enjoy a musical moment together. Our band Quest tried to cover Message In A Bottle and Roxanne and neither one made it out of the basement, they were just too good for us to replicate. I recall vividly sitting in our west 10th street apartment after our party died down, with Diane, Matt Krajewski, Marc Provenzano, and Nanci Muriello, was Willig still there?? we were playing CD’s on my Bose system and when Roxanne came on Matt kept cranking it louder and louder and we all just fell in singing along at the top of our lungs.

Amnesty International Giant Stadium summer of ‘86, a top musical moment.

I think we performed a lip sync of Don’t Stand So Close to Me, last day of school. See Luli, I wasn’t always the shortest in the crew?? With Robbie and Todd.

13.) Rod Stewart

Do You Think I’m Sexy was so weird, I knew him as a rocker from rock radio but here he was doing disco, kinda, but not really.. but it was still real good. And then a baby sitter informing me that they found a quart of semen in his stomach or something like that, when i was 12 or so, which was a whole new dialogue for a rock star. What I saw, was some cool hair, sick stage presence, so much cool and swagger but then the pogo hop.. a great voice, amazing songs. Love Rod. Went to see him in Atlantic City with Er (Eric Harrison), and John Massoni and Rob Raich a decade or so later, good show kinda cheesy, but later that eve he was at a gambling table behind a velvet rope and he asked me to call a number and I could barely answer. Gasoline Alley, Handbags and Gladrags, You Wear It Well, Maggie May, Every Picture Tells A Story, Tonight’s The Night and of course Ohh La La and Stay With Me with the Faces. His voice is such a special front man voice. We broadcast a live performance of Rod from the Apollo in NYC at AOL Music in ‘04— lots of interesting characters attended thanks to Scott Richman, my mom was in NYC visiting, it was a special night.

** The Faces

raw and really captures the beauty of the song, and rods combo of rock star hokie delivery. never realized it til now but i think spiccoli stole some of this..

So much to say about this pic. Part of our AOL Live series, this time it was Rod at the Apollo. Luli real young and Diane was home with her, but my Mom was up from Fla so she joined, and Scott invited all of his ‘actress’ friends, eclectic crowd and a tremendous night, this was my last live show at AOL Music, a month or so later I left my core crew Bill, Scott, Kevin, Jared, Mike — we all worked together at BMG then AOL, so saying bye was a big deal, and I didn’t do it very well— water under the bridge now.

14.) The Cars

They were a huge MTV band, with a new wave look I hadn’t seen before and the songs were powerful pop rock, i loved the guitar layers and overall sound. Rick just looked so cool. I was too young when they came thru at 12 or 13 to convince anyone to take me, but my brother and I definitely spun the first album a ton. Years later our cover band, Quest, played a pretty uninspired cover of Shake It Up and then eventually Just What I Needed, great memory of practicing in Matt’s garage with Brad Berman hanging out, we never knew he could sing but he belted the backing vocals and completely nailed it. I lived in Gramercy Park when I was working at BMG for a bit and used to see Ric walking around the city— never crossed paths in business, never saw them play live.

1979 in Germany. Pretty excellent —the chorus is a cool chaos. Love the guitarist and Rick pounding out the rhythm guitar.

we were 15 or so, our first gig was at a backyard party, we rehearsed a lot and def played a few Cars tunes. the bandanas from the guitars were influenced by a Loverboy show, right Shosh? Where’s Matt??

15.) The Clash

Rock The Casbah video had a different kinda vibe. The guitars were slung low, the arrangements were a little looser, but they gelled together so perfectly with some rough edges— the hair, the style in general— punk? Definitely. When they were walking around looking like bad-asses, it was believable, even though it was a music video. WNEW was playing London Calling and a few others. When the Clash opened for the Stones at Shea Stadium my mom agreed to take me if I got tix, I was 12 I think, I waited on line at Bambergers at the mall at Ticketron and they sold out just before I got to the window. My heart was racing the whole time, I wanted to see them live SO BADLY., and of course the Stones too. I got an electric guitar for my Bar Mitzvah and we used to play in Matt’s basement, at this point it was just Matt and I on guitar with his brother Mike on drums, we played Should I Stay over and over, with no vocals and it made me realize the Clash were more complex than the basic bar chords we knew at the time. Over the years I fell so in love with the Clash, not just the music, but the Strummer/Jones combo. Though I never did see them live I was lucky to catch Strummer with B.A.D. when they came thru Tempe AZ. In the industry, Dave Gottlieb who I worked with at RCA and my partner at iheart for many years Owen Grover were as Clash focused as I was Ramones, always respected that. The Clash are one of the most universally loved bands by artists, for so many reasons. They could certainly not be pegged as one thing, they were articulate, technical musicians with a ton of feel, well but not over-produced, unpredictable in a good way, powerful as hell live.. Worldly, but relatable to a kid from Jersey.

** Big Audio Dynamite

1982, I missed getting tix to this by a couple people in line and it broke my heart. I was 12.

sick.

16.) John Cougar Mellencamp

Though I’m sure I knew I Need A Lover from rock radio, MTV introduced me to John Cougar in ‘82, Hurt So Good, then Jack and Diane. The guitars and drums sounded so good, and the songs were just amazing. Then he followed right up with Uh Huh a year or so later, not as good but still real solid, and the promotion was cool, they Painted a Pink House and gave it away. A few years later Scarecrow came which had a darker feel to it and more depth. When I was in 10th grade my buddy Mike Beckman got 4 tix to see him at Madison Square Garden, this was a huge show Cougar, a country boy from Indy at MSG. My brother drove, we drank a ton of beer on the way (not ER, of course) in from Jersey and had the best time at the show, and in the middle of I Need A Lover encore the house went dark, no sound, no lights— WTF. He came back on and said he’d offer a refund to everyone or ticket sales (they cost $17.50 btw) would go to Farm Aid— cool. I spent the first 8 years of my career at BMG, our label RCA was home to the King, Elvis, we worked pretty closely with the estate marketing his catalog. A few years later our team from BMG jumped to AOL, where we created AOL Music — a new way to discover and experience music, digitally. We created a show that was becoming well known in the business and with fans, where we shot live performances in studios and intimate settings, AOL Sessions. To commemorate the anniversary of the King we arranged for AOL Sessions to take place at Graceland in the Jungle Room with a performance by John Cougar Mellencamp, a huge Elvis fan. I mean holy sh#t, the day started with a press frenzy, John doing TV interviews on the lawn, then the estate closed Graceland to tourists, we all went inside put on white gloves and started moving furniture around. SURREAL. With all productions and shoots, there’s a ton of downtime, we all just hung out in Elvis’ house talking and telling stories. I used to roll Drum cigarettes and John is a chain smoker, we sat out back and talked for a while. Diane was with me, John’s family came, Jared, Richman, Ann, Rich.. What a day. We went out on Beale Street and Jim Merlis broke out one white glove, MJ Style.

** Lisa Germano who performed Violin w John forever released some solo material, amazing.

Explosive energy. Total rock star. Farm Aid was impressive, where Amnesty and Live Aid shows were a little harder to relate to, this was America. Funny, he could almost be mistaken for Westerberg with that hair.

Love this song. His stage presence had a little dash of Michae from INXS,—- he does a split!

a day at Graceland

Michelle, Jared, Scott, Cheri, our crew

The funny thing was, John was as blown away being in the house of the King as we all were, perhaps more as he grew up on Elvis.

17.) Tom Petty

Pretty sure my first image of Petty was the video for Refugee on MTV. He wasn’t a hippie or a punk, but some sort of a combo. He was definitely California. His guitar sound was just so damn good, the harmonies and melodies were tremendous and his voice was raspy. The album that dropped when I was old enough to experience it was during my first year in College, Full Moon Fever. Free Fallin’ hit the airwaves and I bought the CD immediately and was blown away, it was so deep. And this was huge because he was already had so many great records behind him. I saw this tour in Arizona, I’d seen a lot of great ‘Arena Rock’ by this point but Petty at an amphitheater at this point in his career was beyond sick. The Replacements opened for him right around this point, and that didn’t go well, they hated that Petty was so Pro. A few years later he dropped a Rick Ruben production (Rex, remember when we saw him one day when we were walking Harley at Zuma beach?) called Wildfowers a few years later and also fantastic, but more somber. Years later I saw him at the Hangout music fest, pro and powerful. His death really hit home, he had just done a victory lap and the music industry all celebrated his amazingness.

I’ve seen so many great shows in this room, including the Stones.

Not long before his sudden death (overdose), still sounded so fantastic and seemed happy too. What a contribution.

18.) Prince

Prince, like Petty passed tragically and unexpectedly. Just a week prior to his death he was giving pretty inspired performances (just Prince and Piano). I first learned of Prince as many did on MTV when i was 13 or so, the song was 1999 and not only did I love the song but his band was bad-ass, so much style and edge, because I was now playing guitar it was pretty obvious they were special musicians as well. He was an instant pop star and I wasn’t into pop for the most part, but the video for Never Take the Place of Your Man showed another dimension— holy F**K he shredded on guitar. A very complex artist: funk, rock, ballads, theatrics. He was so much, his influences seemed to come from so many places. Purple Rain the movie was a big move so early in his career, and it totally worked.

My buddy Bill Wilson (boss and mentor at BMG, AOL, Townsquare Media) is by far the biggest Prince fan I ever met. He traded live cassettes and went to the shows after the shows in NYC, pretty cool. I met a lot of Dead & Phish fanatics, but this was new, so I wanted to look deeper. When we were at AOL Music I was asked to convince Prince to re-route his tour and play a private show for the AOL staff, it was on the books and agreed to for $500k, however, the corporate bosses at AOL TimeWarner “asked” us to re-consider. I had to call his agent who I did the deal with, I shot straight with him and he was so cool about it, I took that as a sign of the way Prince did business, pure class.

I only saw him live a few times, the ‘Only One Night’ show at MSG was endless hits mixed with enough musical changes to keep the arrangements fresh and exciting. Performing at the Super Bowl is the biggest musical opportunity of every year, with the largest audience for a tiny set (less than 10 minutes), in ‘07 Prince took his shot and while many others did great things with this slot before, Prince beyond solidified his position in music history as a diverse artist and as far as I am concerned a top performer of all time.

I’ve always watched the Super Bowl primarily for the musical performance and the ads. This was ‘07, I will never forget watching this performance live.

19.) Queen

I remember going to day camp when I was 8 or so and the whole bus would sing along to We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust was at the Roller Rink and We Are The Champions at pro soccer games (Cosmos). The Game is a perfect record. Their sound both in the studio and live was massive, but Freddie’s ability to take an audience to the next level as a performer is top 5 for me, with Prince, U2, the Ramones and Bruce. Not sure if it was in a formal interview or it was an industry thing but I remember Dave Grohl and Taylor from Foo Fighters talking about how much they disliked lead singers in rock bands who danced— other than Freddy.

Not sure where/when, but so damn good.

Wembley Stadium ‘85, one of the greatest collaborations of all time, with Bowie). I remember driving w my friend ‘Crazy’ in college, he dropped the top to his mustang 5.0 (with a button which was kind of progressive for ‘89), and cranked up a song that started with this riff and I said “that’s a sample” and he said “no man, it’s Vanilla Ice.”

20.) The Jackson 5 / Michael Jackson

When I was 10 or so my class learned a choreographed dance to Enjoy Yourself. I had to practice at home as it just didn’t come naturally to me, and my mom told me to tell my brother when he mocked me, “well, you just don’t know how to fave fun.” Thanks mom. A few years later Eric took up the trumpet and eventually the marching band so it all played out just fine. As for the music, the songs just made me happy, and then when Michael hit MTV it was the first time I witnessed a breakout solo artist from a group.

great poppy/groove— drums, guitar, bass, keys, sick harmonies, excellent moves. everything right here.

21.) Madonna

I was 13 when she started popping on radio and mtv. I liked rock, she was pop, but she was also provocative in a way I hadn’t yet seen and she was absolutely a respectable artist who drove her career/decisions. To me, I think that was my aversion to ‘pop’ in general, I was more drawn to artists who wrote though i respected great performers who didn’t write as well. Holiday was such a good song, while my perspective was the roller rinks to the bat mitzvahs a few years later when I got my license I worked for a guy at Aca Joe (a short lived retail outlet) who was a spitting image of John Oates, he used to go to the NYC clubs and cut the lines pretending he was Oates, do lots of drugs and roll straight into work, puke, then get himself together— he pumped this song on our sound-system and would crank the volume up and down with the syncopation. Remember, Adlai?

what a beautiful song that nobody knows. I loved that Madonna did this.

22.) Duran Duran

The memories, emotions and experiences are pretty pretty tremendous. My brother (Er) was already frequenting a couple of cool record stores sorting thru English Imports by the time Duran came into our world. This was our first boy band experience, the guys want to be them and the girls were all in love. They were as cool as it got though it was so not cool— 80’s cheese all the way. Our band covered Planet Earth early on and then Hungry Like the Wolf, both proved to us the music wasn’t simple. We first saw them live on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour at Madison Square Garden, pretty sure my mom still has my 3/4 sleeve, I was 14. We took the bus or train into NYC alone, Carl, myself, Er, Mike Krajewski (not sure if Matt joined as well), but I remember walking around the block outside MSG and we saw the band in the white cloud limo as they were entering the garden and girls were going INSANE and Mike (Juice, our drummer) just looked at them and gave them a cool two thumbs up. God knows how much coke they snorted that night, the vocals were always real rough live, but the place went insane and we stood on our seats and screamed along with every song. Epic.

Also worth mentioning, the clothing and the hair, they took it next level. Art school meets disco, rock, …warhol in the 80’s. They were the first rockstars i felt connected to at the ripe age of 14.

I’ve been mainly choosing live videos, but Duran Duran’s videos were epic works of art.

This captures what we saw at MSG. Raw, explosive, the silliest clothing ever, the sickest hair and some great songs.

23.) Bryan Adams

I got my electric guitar (first REAL six string) when i was 13 and started trying to play in a band at 14, it started in Matt’s basement with his brother on drums. Eventually we added Brian on bass and Carl on vocals. We were all best buds and loved the same music. Not sure who booked our first paid gig, I think it was in a gymnasium in a near- by town, i know we had a stage and lights. We practiced a lot and took it pretty seriously, pretty sure we snuck in some liquor! We absolutely loved Bryan Adams. The first images on MTV with Cuts Like A Knife were bad-ass, way more relatable than a lot of what was going on. Just simple poppy rock by a canadian dude wearing a lot of denim. I played Cuts Like A Knife, both sides, sang and played along a million times. But the live show, pretty sure the first time I saw him he opened for Journey and I was drawn in so much deeper. Though I knew I couldn’t sing and it just wasn’t me, I totally wanted to be him, seemed cool and relatable, —authentic at a time when music and the videos were real over the top. His live show was about the music and like the greats I’ve already listed, they were a real rock band that changed up tempo/arrangements live, it was raw but fat sounding and the songs were just meant to play live.

After Cuts Like A Knife, a year later he became a massive pop star with Reckless.

I think Somebody was the first single which was our bands (Quest) first song at our first performance in the Battle of the Bands at East Brunswick High School. I can picture that performance still. We practiced SO HARD. This was such a massive event for us, in a High School Auditorium— stage, lights, hired sound crew and several hundred capacity. We were in 9th grade which was still middle school, but we were well rehearsed, tried out with another dozen or so bands and got in. We came in 2nd place which gained us some respect as a band, so that was kind of our identity given none of us were jocks. I played ice hockey at the time on a travel team for Peddy School in East Windsor — it was intense, most of the kids went on to play in college, I got a late start and held my own but I was definitely a bottom performer of the team. I loved hockey a ton and it was what i did with my Dad who had moved out a couple of years earlier, he drove me all over Pennsylvania for the games and my mom hauled me to Hightstown a few times a week for practice, but this caused me to miss out on the social scene in my town. Music was the answer, and our band was truly a band of brothers. Matt and Mike actual brothers, Carl my buddy since grade school a few blocks away, and Shapiro took up bass just to have a role in the band. Friends who wanted to play music together— Quest. Our friends and most of the kids at school rallied around us, especially those in other bands, it was funny when the ‘ginker’ band who played Iron Maiden would compliment us on a pop/rock song, we grew up in a real low key cool town.

I think I saw Bryan Adams live 10 times in the 80’s, between opening slots, his own shows, and his amazing performance at Amnesty International (‘86) at Giants Stadium. I’ve referenced that show a few times already and for a good reason— it was my first experience that today would be equated to a music festival, though it was one stage in a football stadium. The energy was so special with Bryan Adam’s, U2, the Police, Lou Reed, Hooters all on a bill and of course a cause though i really didn’t relate to the cause as a teen, we weren’t as educated on the issues back then, we really only had Rolling Stone magazine and Spin telling the culture stories, and of course, the artists..

When I was President of Digital at Clear Channel, we created the music service/app that is now the name of the company today, iHeartRadio. My division and office was on the floor with all of our radio stations and we built a beautiful performance space/venue downstairs where all of the current artists came to play private shows for us and our audience (lucky contest winners) every week, but artists also popped up to see us and go on air on our radio stations, so many artists rolled through. One day I was washing my hands next to Bryan Adams, we were both looking in the mirror and he said, “Holy shit, you look just like my brother”.. we talked in the hallway for a minute cause staying in the bathroom would have been weird.

"Run to You" Farm Aid in Iowa April 24, 1993. Farm Aid was started by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp

24.) AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest

When I was 12 or so I got the cassette For Those About To Rock. As a 12 year old, that was pretty sick shit. From there I found Back in Black and then Highway To Hell. This led to Black Sabbath, Ozzie, Priest, Maiden, etc. The thing about AC/DC was, the mission was clear. No ballads, just straight ahead hard rock but a lot of the songs were real hooky, though no pop was to be found. Once I got an electric guitar, these groups all mattered a lot. AC/DC had so many good songs, and the bands sound and aesthetic was steady throughout. They were characters who made for a great band. Only saw them once and it was an industry warm-up gig for a tour in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, I drove down from Montclair NJ and back the same night and had to get in to host a meeting with people who traveled in in NYC Mon morning, I kept it together and pulled it off, but Guido had me pull over a few times so he could get sick (windy roads and a lot of “deer blood” at a local bar, which is Jaeger), the show was lame.

Black Sabbath. Their thing was so deep and theatrical. When I played ice hockey we played against a team called the Gladiators, 3 of the kids had famous Dad’s who played for the Philadelphia Flyers and that alone was a bit intimidating, but more importantly, when they came on the ice, they BLASTED Crazy Train over the PA, that really set the tone. Never saw Sabbath, but I did go to 2 houses that Ozzy lived in at one point in LA, one was a beach house in Malibu owned by a great music producer, and the other owned by a pop artist in Beverly Hills, remember that content shoot Josh?

The Priest. My Brother decided that he needed to sing lead in the HS variety show when I was in 10th grade and he was a senior, so the Harrison’s and Krajewski’s formed ‘Satan’s Boy’s’ for our variety show and we played a 10 minute version of Living After Midnight including a spoken word interlude, Er went from marching band first trumpet to rock god, we had a blast and we wore some funny shit. We even went to see Priest on the Turbo Lover tour in full uniform. Judas Priest was all about the biker look. Many moons later I got Halford to come into our iheartradio theater, he was cool.

All three of these bands mean a lot to me and all belong in the Hall of Fame and in every School of Rock class.

tight. original. and note that Rob’s hair def influenced many years later. the spandex, the synchronized movements are pure gold.

while my brother has so much to be proud of already at this point, getting into Princeton, first trumpet in the marching band and student counsel Pres, no doubt these 2 nights performing at his senior variety show in spandex belting out Living After Midnight were a new peak—the Harrison and Krajewski brothers had a blast, we spiked the punch and Mrs Rosenthal busted us.

Rob fucking Halford. We shot all of the artists who played for us at iHeart in front of this door which exited right on to a little Tribeca street off 6th ave. We built this amazing private performance space in the AT&T building on the ground floor, we occupied 2 floors and the radio station another couple..

Irvine Meadows, California in 1982. One of the greatest rock songs ever, and Ozzy is no doubt a top rock character of all time.

One of the greatest rock albums of all time.

25.) David Bowie

Pretty sure it all began hearing Changes & Ziggy on WNEW. He had that English- mystique which was different than any solo artist I had encountered. Let’s Dance turned me off when I was 14, but luckily, early Bowie had already made an impact which led me to dive into the records years later. I do recall that Quest rocked Suffraget City in a battle of the bands and we changed the lyrics to make fun of matt for a hook-up. Under Pressure was a top song and performance of all time. The mourning over the loss of Bowie was massive. Never met him, but did see him with Diane at an industry show at Hammerstein Ballroom (NYC) in the early 2000’s, it was so amazing to see one of the greatest musical contributors of all time in such a small room.

I loved his work with Iggy on China Girl, his version was real pop, the Iggy version is so good, and they co-wrote. When I picture Bowie I see the photos in my mind with Lou Reed, Iggy, Freddie, & Mick.

Way before Coachella, UK had Glastonbury. This is just fucking amazing.

Masterpiece.

THIS is Bowie at his finest, making his mark.

25.) Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Brown, The Eagles

Laurel Canyon. Ca was the place. Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Brown and The Eagles were all on rock radio. I found Fleetwood Mac by far the most interesting. The only reason I lumped them together is the sound and scene they shared, but I’ll focus mainly on Fleetwood Mac who remain one of the most influential and adored groups of all time, Stevie’s voice, presence and look—, Mick Fleetwood’s drumming/personality, the hippie vibe, the sound of the records, the quality of the songs and most importantly the feeling the songs evoked was dreamy. My college buddy Marc (aka: Death) loved Stevie, we saw her in Jersey one summer between college sessions, it was ok. Many years later we had them perform for AOL Sessions at a rehearsal space in LA, the sound and energy was insane, couldn’t believe it was happening. About 5 years ago we were in Maui researching a music festival opportunity and Mick hosted us at his bar/restaurant, he was fun to chat with and then he performed with a local who sang and played like a mad-man, a fun night.

The Eagles songs are just so good. I liked Joe Wash the best, he’s from Montclair a Jersey town where we raised the kids. People from Jersey just tend to be grounded. When we first created the iHeartRadio App in ‘08 or so, I worked with famous music manager Irving Azoff to showcase a bunch of his artists on their own radio channels, Joe was our host for ‘Eagles Radio’— his stories were fantastic, and his music selections were deep and telling.

simple and strong.

Tom Waits Ol' 55 — you’ll like the Eagles or even Sarah McLachlan version better Luli and Rex, they are all great because the song is an absolute masterpiece.

26.) Blondie

I bought the cassette Parallel Lines when I was real young. All of the songs were good and she was a cool and different kind of lead singer, but it felt more like a group than a star with a random backing band. The band did have a bit of a punk(ish) aesthetic. As a matter of fact, her drummer Clem became a Ramone for a little while including the first time I saw them live at the Old Ritz in ‘86. So many good songs that sounded great and made you feel good.

Diane and I talked to Deborah Harry at a Grammy Party, a fun conversation, but by the time I saw her live and met her it was only nostalgia— always fun to meet someone who truly made a difference.

1976, wow.

AOL Music days… fun Grammy party in NYC Feb 23, 2003, Diane had a fun fan-girl convo w Debra Harry (Blondie)

many years later Trainspotting and the Brit Pop scene brought this gem back.

26.) R.E.M.

When I was 14 or 15 I started listening to WPRB (Princeton) a cool local college radio station which exposed music that wasn’t mainstream. I’d also started reading the rock mags. It might have been the music video for Driver 8 in ‘85 that first really caught my attention , other than loving every song I heard— they were different, it wasn’t ‘big’ like everything else, it was purposefully smaller and more simple. In ‘87 R.E.M. was coming to play at the Rutgers Gym, it was the first small show I ever saw and I fell in love with live music in a whole new way. I got to know the records real well and this band has held a real special place in my heart always, because they were a bunch of true to art kids down south who carved their own path. They loved Lou and so much good music, they took it and created their own thing. And Michael always struck me not only as a great front man, but such a different one, pretty introverted.

In ‘98 I was in digital marketing at BMG, and A Tribe Called Quest was playing the Tibetan Freedom concert in DC, we made a plan to shoot them (for digital content) from the stage, this was such huge experience for me as a 28yo in the music business, but real interesting was meeting Michael Stipe that day. I said hi and we didn’t even talk, I told him I was a fan and asked if I could take a picture, he grabbed both of my arms stared deep into my eyes and then he moved me a few steps forward as he walked backwards— their was a backstage golf cart coming.. Can’t find the photo, but it really captured Stipe.

*** 10,000 Maniacs, Violent Femmes , I saw them both around the same time, at the Rutgers Gym, 10,000 Maniacs opened for REM and Natalie was a Hippie in a flowing dress, the sound was raw and melodic, a few years before the big productions, and the Violent Femmes was the first punk(ish) show I ever saw they were a Trio the sound was full-on, and its the first time I ever saw ‘slam dancing’, the energy was so explosive.

The trios live assault was by far the most punk thing I ever experienced at the Rutgers Gym in the mid 80’s

27.) Journey, Hall & Oats

Escape came out when I was 11, it was a pretty perfect rock record and they were big rock stars all over FM radio and then MTV. The ballads were pretty epic. I saw them at the Brendan Byrne Arena in ‘83, Bryan Adams opened, that was a sick show, I was only 13 — pop-rock bliss, they have 8 or so real good songs. Which leads me to Hall & Oats, never saw them, but Man-eater was real cool, great song/vibe and so many to follow. They were definitely not cool, but the songs were just real good, often pretty cheesily produced. And when I worked at Aca Joe  (a pretty cool clothing store) my junior year in High School with my buddy Adlai, our manager Mark would go to the clubs in NYC, this was ‘87, he was a very proud and hard partying gay man who just happened to look EXACTLY like John Oats, he would cut the lines to get in to the clubs wearing his shades and dressed like an 80’s rock star, then he’d drink a ton, snort a bunch to stay up, come into work, puke, tell us ALL about his night, and then blast some Madonna.

Tokyo 1988, the year I graduated HS.. their was no escaping bad hair and clothes. What a jam.

tight jeans, huge hair, lots of cheese but a great song. the Sopranos brought these guys to a few more generations.

28.) Billy Joel

The Stranger and 52nd street were amazing, he told east coast stories and didn’t seem to be positioned as a rock star, more of a guy next door. To me though while i did like the songs, he was many levels below Springsteen and certainly Elton, though many would disagree. Undeniably an amazing songwriter. To this day I’ve never seen him live though I did run into him at a Pete Yorn show on Houston in NYC and then when I was working at our Tribeca office I used to frequent an italian restaurant where once I saw James Galdofini at the bar midday and Billy Joel thought I was his friend walking out one eve and started talking to me, I wasn’t sober but he definitely was way ahead of me.

brenda and eddie, .. italian restaurant. classic.

29.) Elvis & Buddy Holly

I played his records a lot when I was real young, then I lost interest, though I did like a lot of the songs. At BMG we had his catalog and constantly released new records, eventually I got to know the crew who ran his estate at Graceland and I got deeper into the amazing story of Elvis. So much happened in so few years. Spending a day at Graceland when it was closed, helping to move the furniture (we all wore white gloves), and then shooting Mellencamp for AOL Sessions was a life highlight. I remember the marketing meetings talking about how Lilo and Stitch would really catapult Elvis for decades to come, and we released #1’s— it worked.

Buddy Holly was just this cool looking nerd, his songs were simple and fantastic.

in the ghetto— a great look at entertainment in the early 70’s

enjoying a rolled Drum in Elvis’ backyard while shooting John Mellencamp AOL Sessions, a very special long day at Graceland

Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away (1957) — Raw and Real. he was def the real deal.

30.) Van Halen & Aerosmith

Our cover band Quest played Running With The Devil when we were real young, then eventually, Jump. So many great songs and Dave’s frontman show was strong with some signature moves (the jump off the drums with spread eagle toe-touch). Saw them live on the 1984 tour, we were so young, Brian’s brother Steven and his friends took us, they smoked weed, we didn’t. The car broke down on the NJ Turnpike going home, no cell phones then, we pushed the car a mile or so, got home REAL late on a school night, my mom was real pissed — the show left a ringing in my ears, a very memorable night of live rock.

When Sammy Hagar filled in for Diamond Dave a few years later because the Van Halen brothers were beyond sick of Dave, surprisingly, the songs and shows were good. Dave has tried to reunite with them a few times, I went with Matt and Brian and we just drank and laughed a lot and sang along, Dave was just lame.

Aerosmith, I never got to know real well the stuff i liked the most was in the 70’s and I was too young. But the songs were powerful, some of the best rock songs ever. Steven and Joe had that duo thing like Plant/Page, Mick and Keith, but also real different, more distant, they seemed to pass it to Axl and Slash pretty perfectly.

toys in the attic live 1975, raw and pretty sick

4/19/84 @ Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Pretty raw and excellent, real glad I caught them with Dave before it fell apart completely.

6/12/1981 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium - Oakland, CA

This is when they were really on fire.

31.) Motley Crue & Def Leppard

I played ice hockey at Peddie School for East Windsor when i was 13-16, this was a big deal because my parents were divorced and Peddie was 30 mins from my home so that meant my mom driving me to practice 2x per week which was a big commit, but the weekends were a much larger commitment, hockey instead of social life, I missed so many bat mitzvahs and parties, but I loved the game and it was special time with my Dad. We’d wake up at 2am sometimes and drive 3 hours in the dark deep into Pennsylvania for a 7am game. We’d always meet at the WaWa near Princeton and carpool. On one ride, a kid brought a cassette of a new group called Motley Crue, Shout at The Devil. Holy shit, it was a masterpiece. Our band started jamming to Looks that Kill. This record was such a cohesive work of art which included a great cover of Aerosmith’s Helter Skelter. Most of the artists I’ve written about so far created their magic in the 60’s and 70’s, so, this was special, hearing something SO POWERFUL for the first time when it was released, Crue went on to throw down so many amazing hard rock songs, ballads, and memories. See the movie.

Def Leppard had huge videos. Photograph was the first single I remember, the guitars blended so amazingly, instant hit. We started playing Rock Of Ages in the basement. They had a cool logo and were quickly established as a solid 3/4 tee rock shirt to wear. As this record was peaking the drummer got into a car wreck and lost his arm, it wasn’t until years later they were back on the scene and they came with such a good record featuring Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Hysteria and Love Bites. When I was living in NY working for BMG I got to see them for the first time at Irving Plaza, a small room packed with primarily industry people, it was incredible. Many years later when we moved the fam to LA within a few weeks of arriving we met our neighbor, Rick Allen and his amazing daughter became our babysitter, and a friend of the family (still).

this is how the record opened

sick harmonies, great songs, and perfect prodiuction

32.) Lynyrd Skynyrd

Our bands first basement jam was Freebird, two electric guitars and drums. I listened to Gold and Platinum a ton, and even had posters of the guitar slingers on my walls. While I couldn’t relate to the South at all, their songs gave me a little insight. I think what I liked the most was the raspy voice with the picking guitars and organ, a sound that would be replicated a ton with some amazing southern rock for years to come, from Wilco to Ryan Adams. When I worked at BMG in LA we distributed a label whose model was to sign up all the old rockers and while nobody cared about the new music they’d release, it was great to meet our heroes from way back in the day, and we definitely had fun w the Skynyrd gang which hosted a lot of the original members, looking pretty banged up. Into The Wild, an amazing movie, brought Simple Man to life for a new generation, and they continue to do a good job at music festivals pleasing kids whose grandparents liked them.

** 38 special

anthems like this carry on forever

7/2/1977 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium - Oakland, CA

original singer, before plane crash, think he’s wearing a neil young shirt

BMG LA crew w Skynyrd at the Roxy? Bob Wright aka ‘‘The pleaser’, Jen, Pete, Bobby, Guy,, Deb, Cindy, Karen, and Bruce

just an MTV and radio band to me, but a few good songs

33.) Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar was pure bad-ass, and SO MANY amazing songs, the band was also real talented, her hubby on guitar whaled live. Our band started with Shadows of the Night, Hell Is For Children, and Hit Me With Your Best Shot, in the earliest formation of our group in 9th grade or so it was Cristie Choida then years later Dana Hecht was amazing signing a few songs with us the Battle of The Bands, she added such a fun dynamic and the funniest thing is when a part of the mic fell off and she chased after it thinking the mic wouldn’t work without it. Many years later Pat came to see our BMG crew in LA and the room of 15 or so was being shy when she asked if we wanted to ask her any questions and our Branch Mgr Jerry Silhan’s assistant, pretty sure his name was Jeremiah, he raised his hand proudly and told her “when that dance for Love Is A Battlefield hit I lost my mind” then everyone just started going down memory lane and Pat was just so fun to hang with.

** Joan Jett, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Supertramp, Steve Miller Band, Billy Idol, Boston, Rush, Yes, Alice Cooper, Bee Gees, Billy Squier, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Wham, Peter Frampton, The Pretenders, Seals and Crofts, Kiss, Creedance Clearwater Revival

Not really fair to lump them all together—these artists were primarily about the songs for me, less about a strong connection to the artists and their bodies of work. Joan Jett was a real bad-ass, Crissie Hynde from the Pretenders an amazing writer, married Ray Davies for a bit and the co-wrote Stop All Your Sobbing .

Before we left NY I helped produce a fundraiser for an amazing charity called Little Kids Rock, we were giving an award to Little Steven that night, Lady Gaga attended, and Billy Squier performed with the kids, funny moment when he was taking our limited rehearsal time with the kids a little too serious, Steve just wanted to sound check and go the F*ck home as he had just flown in from shooting his TV show in Europe, brokering that situation was surreal, one of the first songs we ever played in a basement was Lonely Is The Night and here was Billy rehearsing it w school kids 30 years later.

CCR will always hold a special place in my heart— I learned how to play Fortunate Sun on guitar when we were living in Montclair, I was practicing with Er for a gig, and I had Diane come out to the carriage house and sing it, she was AMAZING. So, I had the full band learn the song, and we called her up to sing it at a show and she absolutely demolished it, a lead singer was born! Diane then went on to front a cover band in Montclair, I played bass and we had so much fun playing together, until they kicked me for being male.

Shadows of the Night live. Think we played this in the EBHS Battle when we were 15

" Bad Reputation " NYC ‘81. Before the big radio success, real impressive Ramones meets Cars aesthetic

you could argue with Styx, but you’d be wrong. they played in our lobby at BMG Beverly Hills, so funny and still so good.

live in Japan

my bday in ‘90 or so, lots of saki-bombs, Alice said he’d “already had enough to kill a dozen people.”

full circle, at our music fest in B.C. he was the first artist I ever met, my 20th bday in scottsdale

REO SPEEDWAGON LIVE

With Steve Stevens his original guitarist in 2005, Germany. Fuck yeah is right.

34.) Neil Young

I knew and loved his songs from rock radio, the songs were just SO GOOD, and usually Hey Hey My My and My My Hey Hey would wind up in the end of year countdown top 10’s. But it wasn’t until I went to college that I fully dove into Neil and his works of art. My roomie was a hard drinking, very well read, poet/artist-influenced kid from New Orleans. One day I came back from class and he was just waking up (3pm) and he apologized for going into my stuff, but he had to correct my handwritten lyrics to After The Goldrush because my mistakes were sacrilege — I had just learned the song on guitar and written the lyrics. Harvest, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Tonight’s The Night, Rust Never Sleeps, Live Rush, and then years later Harvest Moon and Weld were all played a gazillion times on my CD players, real loud.

A top show, ever, for me was Neil at the Warfield. It was so special, I had just moved to San Francisco 6 or so months ago, straight from College— I’d seen Neil in amphitheaters, but this was different, KFOG announced that Neil was doing a warm up gig with Booker T and the MG’s and the first people to come wait in line will get free tickets. It was a tough call because I was recently promoted 3 months into my sales job at the Bay Guardian Newspaper and our sales meeting was running late.. so I just bailed, got a dirty look but didn’t get fired. That night I had nobody to go with but my friend Trina had a friend in from out of town who’d love to go with me, she was dating the Smashing Pumpkins drummer was the set up, so it wasn’t a date, just 2 fans blown away to go see Neil in such a small room. We got there early and sat on the floor everyone telling stories about how they got their tickets, and sharing some of what they had— we watched a possessed beer-drinking Neil play for 3 hours and it was a religious experience.

*** CSN & The Band

1986 Live at "Cow Palace", San Francisco (CA),

his music was my soundtrack thru my 20’s

Seeing Eddie and PJ with their idol is so gratifying. Gives me the chills. I was not a huge PJ fan out of the gate, more on them later..

While I knew they came first, before Neil busted out to go solo, I went back to their music after Neil.

one of the best live experiences, ever, for me.