DISCLAIMERS AND DECLARATIONS (A User's Guide To THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE)

This will be my final public posting of material from my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made. You can read the table of contents here, and the foreword here. Today, we have the user's guide. Then, it's back to work for me. 51,523 words and counting.

DISCLAIMERS AND DECLARATIONS (A User's Guide To The Greatest Record Ever Made)

WARNING: As you read through the following pages, I can guarantee that you will disagree with something that you see. Yeah, I think I can guarantee that.

However, let me assure you that you will not see anything here that was intended as deliberately provocative. Man, I hate the very idea of writing something just to seem edgy or rabble-rousing. That ain't me. These are all opinions, but I mean everything I say, even when I'm waxing rhapsodic over some regularly-reviled act like KISS. The whole book is designed as my side of the friendly arguments we might have over a few beers, coffees, and/or Coca-Colas, each of us proclaiming a steadfast faith that this record--this record!--is The Greatest Record Ever Made. You may counter with something I don't like, something by The Eagles or Van Halen, and I'll fix you in my coldest, most withering glance; you'll shrug that off, just like I ignore your misguided belief that I can't possibly be serious when I say I love The Bay City Rollers. We'll bicker, we'll laugh, we'll toast, and we'll play the music we love. That's how it oughtta be. 

For context, especially considering the fact that many of these entries will relate specifically to my life and my experiences, I'll give you a thumbnail description of who you're dealing with here. I was born in 1960, and I grew up in the suburbs of Syracuse during the heyday of Beatlemania. I had older siblings, so I was exposed from an early age to every great song an AM radio or a jukebox or a box of 45s had to offer. As a teenager in the '70s, I determined that I wanted to know more about the music I loved, going back to the '50s and '60s, moving forward into '70s punk and beyond. I eventually started freelancing for a great music publication called Goldmine from 1986 to 2006, and since the end of 1998 I've been co-hosting This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. In 2016, I started a daily blog called Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), a mostly music- and comics-related outlet where many of these GREM pieces first saw the light of day. I've got the music in me. I can neither sing nor play, but I have enthusiasm, and both the will and the ability to tell you about the music I love.

The chapters in this book cover a number of my all-time favorite tracks, but nowhere near all of my favorites. I mean, not even close. There's no study here of, say, "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones, or "In Those Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)" by The Foundations, and only a passing reference to "May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone" by The Toys. I didn't get to Otis Redding, The Everly Brothers, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Flirtations, Little Richard, Freda Payne, The Vogues, The Saints, Prince, and...well, it's a long and worthy list. But I did write about 50 fantastic tracks. These are the 50 great records I was moved to put under the GREM spotlight for essay and exultation this time around. Always remember the mantra: an infinite number, as long as they take turns.

When I was writing for Goldmine, editor Jeff Tamarkin told his freelancers that anyone with half a brain understands this is all opinion anyway; just make sure you can back it up, and make sure you can tell the story in an interesting manner. That's always been my goal, even as my writing style has evolved into something more personal. I hope Jeff would approve, and I hope you dig much of what you're about to read. Yes, even though you'll disagree with at least some of it.

So set up a round, and turn up the sound. A few of those infinite turns are at hand right now.

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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.