Pwned

OK, so now that I made a list of really terrific albums that show how awesome I am, I'll take Katie's bait and share with you a few albums that I will always love, that might make me look like a dork.

1. Listen Without Prejudice-George Michael
When I lived in Huntington Beach the first time there was a house full of boys who were pretty much "the" boys to know in our singles ward. They were all funny and handsome and had the best music taste ever. I was, of course, completely terrified of all of them. One night I was in the local Tower records and three of them walked in. I froze. I had made a deal with myself that it was OK not to wear myself out at church introducing myself to everyone but if I saw people I recognized out in the real world, I had to work up the nerve to speak to them. And so as the three of them wandered around the store I approached every one of them and struck up a conversation. All of them were super nice and over the years, they continue to be some of my favorite boys on the planet. I still like to tease them that hello-there were THREE of them and ONE of me and yet I had to be the one to make friends first.

Well one of them admitted once that he really, really loved George Michael and it was all I needed to completely indulge a guilty pleasure I had kept secret for years. When he texted me to say he'd taken a special girl to see George Michael in concert, I knew Greg had found his soulmate.

This album is awesome.



2. Cracked Rear View-Hootie and the Blowfish

I really don't know that I need to feel bad about since in the spring of 1995, EVERY ONE LOVED HOOTIE. But like Titanic and President Reagan and shoulder pads-everyone likes to pretend they were too cool. I bought this album with the $20 my dad slipped me when I was going back to school after Spring Break. The computers in the lab all had CD players and I was a brand new internet addict so I spent hours and hours, surfing the net (WHAT was even ON the internet in 1995??) and memorizing every word. I finally saw them live that next summer and Darius Rucker is every bit of amazing live. What a voice.



3. Outside from Redwoods-Kenny Loggins

Again, did you grow up in the eighties? Do you know all the lines to Caddyshack? You loved a Kenny Loggins song at some point and don't lie to me or to yourself. But you probably liked "Danger Zone" or "I'm Alright". I waited until the early 90's when he was in his New Age, environmentalist, uber cheesy years to fall in love with him. This album is live versions of some of his classics and some of his newer (at the time) stuff and I adored it in college. I also used to swoon whenever Peter Brienholt played so you Mormons know what I'm talkin' about.



4. Room for Squares-John Mayer

Oh I looooooooved this album in my mid-twenties. I STILL kind of love this album. John Mayer may be kind of a tool but the guy can play guitar like nobody's business and knows EXACTLY how to write songs that make the ladies swoon. He had a track on the Serendipity soundtrack and I fell pretty hard for it. I bought Room For Squares shortly after I saw the movie and I probably listened to it every single day for six months. It was the year prior to the 2002 Olympics and I loved my job and I loved my apartment and I loved my roommates and I loved feeling like a real live adult. Even now, his voice can take me back to a really great time of my life. I keep buying his albums and they continue to be pretty good-but this will always be my favorite.



5. Greatest Hits 1982-1989-Chicago

I actually feel zero pain about this one. Chicago was responsible for some of the most slow dance friendly music of my junior high and high school life and there can't be a teenager alive who doesn't have some fantastic "You're the Inspiration" moment. My favorite memory of this album was when my friend Jessie's older sister took us toilet papering and we listened to it all the way there and back and thought we were soooo cool and grown up. I've always liked, "Along Comes a Woman". This live version will have to do.