Why do I continue to buy these things? It’s like a compulsion. Or maybe I’ve just developed a healthy contempt for the radio. Anyway, Vol 21 is on par with the others I’ve purchased and left in my CD player for days at a time. I’m still deeply enamored of Vol 14, but I do like this one. The track list follows.

Black Betty – Ram Jam
Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band – Meco
Baby Come Back – Player
Telephone Man – Meri Wilson
Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson
Sometimes When We Touch – Dan Hill
Werewolves Of London – Warren Zevon
Goodbye Girl – David Gates
It’s a Heartache – Bonnie Tyler
Bluer Than Blue – Michael Johnson
Kiss You All Over – Exile
Magnet And Steel – Walter Egan

Most of these songs were easily recognizable to me when I picked up the CD. Up until now I thought "Baby Come Back" was a Hall and Oates song. Now I think it really is and they were working under a pseudonym (and if any conspiracy theorists would like to provide me with some far out, shaky explanation as to why that might be I will be glad to believe it gullibly.)

In the classic tradition of these collections there is one song that annoys me so much that I skip it nearly every time it comes ‘round. ‘Telephone Man" has to be the stupidest song I can remember hearing. It makes "Gramma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" sound like Bach. Still, it says something about the time in which it was released. You know, after the Pill and before AIDS.

"Thunder Island," "Goodbye Girl," and "Bluer Than Blue" are all songs I didn’t know I missed until they started. Then I got that hazy ‘oh yea’ look to my eyes and just listened.

It’s fun stuff and I’m not known for taking my music seriously. I like music that will play in the background and not distract me. This CD has a place in my changer any time.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying