Between the earlier entry on soul music and spending much of the afternoon ripping my CD collection into iTunes (have I mentioned that I finally got around to getting an iPod?), I’ve been thinking a great deal about music today, so it seems like a good time to do this musical meme I stole (yet again) from Samurai Frog…
List 10 musical artists (or bands) you like, in no specific order (do this before reading the questions below). Really, don’t read the questions below until you pick your ten artists!!!

1. Rick Springfield
2. Linda Ronstadt
3. The Eagles
4. Boston
5. Bonnie Raitt
6. Bob Seger
7. Jimmy Buffett
8. B.B. King
9. The Bangles
10. Buddy Holly

What was the first song you ever heard by 6?
Geez, impossible to say at this point. “Night Moves” was probably the first one I definitely identified as being by that Seger dude, but he had so many hit singles and album tracks playing on the radio in the late ’70s and early ’80s, who knows? It could’ve been the live mash-up of “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser” from the Live Bullet album, or “Hollywood Nights” just as easily.
What is your favorite song of 8?
A song most people probably wouldn’t know called “Better Not Look Down.” It appears on the Thelma and Louise soundtrack; I don’t know if that’s where it originated, but it’s where I first heard it. It was one of those cases where you know of someone by reputation, then finally here them and say to yourself, “Oh, so that’s so-and-so!” It also happens to be a fun little song that was perfectly matched to the mood of the movie scene in which is was used (when Thelma and Louise are driving alongside the crop duster).
What kind of impact has 1 left on your life?
Wow, there’s some seredipitous placement, eh? As I’ve said repeatedly on this blog, Rick was the first concert I ever attended. His single “Jessie’s Girl” was the first 45-rpm single I owned, his album Working Class Dog my first grown-up LP. He was my musical hero during my crucial formative years, and he was the first “nostalgia act” I saw when all my old ’80s favorites started resurfacing. He’s also a good example of how to get older without getting old. I’d love to be as energetic and fun at age 60 as he is. Hell, I’d love to be that way now. Sigh.
What is your favorite lyric of 5?
Well, it’s not a single line… more like a cumulative effect:

Let me tell you ’bout a friend of mine
He’s a short order cook
Long on speed, short on spice
He reads his customers like a book
He’s seen this, and he’s done that
Now he’s makin’ fried eggs an art
But there’s one thing he can’t fix no how
There’s a longing in his heart
He’s tried for years to work it out
At the grill and at his home
Well he talks to his friends, talks to himself
He talks the chicken right off the bone
Talks to his woman and she understands
You know they’re always eye to eye
She runs the join, they live out back
Small house under a big sky
Well even the stars at night agree
The sky is falling apart
She knows cause she can feel it too
There’s a longing in her heart

It loses something in transcription, I think, but it’s one of those songs that gets at an ineffable emotion and has a catchy beat, too.
How many times have you seen 4 live?
Never. Considering that Boston is kinda-sorta a studio band, and to my knowledge has never played in Utah, that shouldn’t be too surprising.
What is your favorite song by 7?
It’s a toss-up between “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “The Captain and the Kid,” “He Went to Paris,” and “Changes in Latitude.” If you’re familiar with these tunes, you can see that I much prefer the introspective, storytelling Jimmy Buffett to the Caribbean party-king, bad-pun-spouting clown that most of his so-called “Parrothead” fans love. The earlier, more ballad-oriented Jimmy still surfaces from time to time, but unfortunately Mr. Margaritaville has been dominant since the early ’90s.
Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad?
Sure, The Eagles have lots of sad songs. “Desperado” is an obvious pick, as is “Lyin’ Eyes,” “After the Thrill is Gone,” and particularly “Wasted Time,” Don Henley’s mournful ode to a failed love affair.
What is your favorite song by 9?
“In Your Room.” It has an insanely catchy rhythm guitar, and I find both the lyrics and Susanna Hoffs’ voice really sexy on this one. Her little-girly thing always pressed my buttons anyhow, but on this one she throws in a bit of a growl that just makes it all the more alluring. This is a good roll-down-the-window-and-crank-it song.
When did you first get into 2?
Huh… must’ve been in my early teens. My friend Chad Skinner had a couple of her records, as I recall, the sexy ’70s-vintage rock stuff before she paired up with Nelson Riddle and rediscovered her ethnic heritage. I still find her version of “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” irresistable.
How did you get into 3?
I joined the Columbia Record and Tape Club when I was in middle school and finally getting into music in a major way, and it seems like one of my “twelve-for-a-penny” selections was the band’s second greatest-hits collection. No doubt I picked that one because “Hotel California” was, like, the coolest song ever. That was before I heard 178,000 times, of course. These days, I’d much rather hear “Seven Bridges Road.”
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Hope that was as fascinating for you as it was for me. Hey, did you notice that I didn’t get to answer a question about Buddy Holly? Lame…