@Shane McNeil I love Hunky Dory and Low, depends on my mood though. Scary Monsters, Station to Station...but a lot of time I'll just put it on shuffle, lol

@Shane McNeil I'm sentimental about Hunky Dory. I knew Ziggy Stardust but it was the first record I did a deep dive on. And when my son was a baby I'd sing him "Kooks" and "Life on Mars" at bedtime. The best was when I would catch him singing the songs over the baby monitor.....

As a kid there were a lot of Broadway showtunes in my house, Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and of course BABS, Herb Alpert, Pizzacato 5, Henry Mancini.... 1970's radio was AWESOME with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson 5 and all kinds of R&B/soul. My brother and sister are 12 and 10 years older than me respectively. Of the two of them my sister was the bigger influence. She had The Beatles, Carol King, Carly Simon, The Who, Zeppelin, Elton John, Blondie, Donna Summer, Soft Cell, Pat Benetar, The Police, Jim Croce, Joe Jackson, Manhattan Transfer, and her favorite was James Taylor. My brother listened to Gordon Lightfoot, lol. No disrespect to the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald... But, wasn't my jam. Starting at age 9 or 10 I would come home and play her records. She got tired of my ruining the turntable needle, potentially scratching the LP's, and mucking up the balance on the tonearm (she had a penny taped to it). I think it was for my 10th birthday that she got me my own record player. The Beatles' Abbey Road kept me company every day after school for a year. Everything I know about singing harmony came from The Beatles. Family friends down the street had two sons Bruce and Steven who got me into Kiss, Bad Company, Rush and other heavy stuff. Then once I hit 5th grade and had crushes on 6th grade boys, I started listening to what they liked-Rolling Stones, The Who but I really loved The Doors. I found J. Geils Band & Cyndi Lauper on my own. Thriller was EVERYWHERE. But the roller rink is where I started hearing Chaka Khan, Prince, Yaz, Shannon's "Let the Music Play" and G-d help me, was exposed to Taylor Dayne (not a fan). Then I went to music camp at age 12 and that's where I started swapping mixed tapes with friends and got into New Wave, Punk, Goth...and the rest is history.

Oh and when I was in high school, I'd use a wire hanger to divine the signal from WLIR 92.7 out of Long Island. That and college radio were life changing.

Indeep's "Last Night the DJ Saved My Life," Bowie's "DJ," Madonna "Music," Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio," Beastie Boys "Three DJs and One MC"

OK, how much time have we got? LOL. Interestingly enough, for someone who absolutely hates arena shows, a lot of my favorites were at either Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Moore Theater, April 2016 Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, KEXP Home Opening concert, April 2016 Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Apolllo Theater, NYC December 2014 Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Castle Clinton, NYC Summer 2007 Blondie, Bumbershoot Festival, Summer 2006 David Bowie at Roseland Ballroom (Secret Show) June 2000 Bowie Tribute Show, Carnegie Hall, NYC March 2016 Amnesty International Concert, Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ June 1986 Howard Jones, Brendan Byrne Arena/Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ October 1985 INXS, Beacon Theater, NYC December 1985 Cyndi Lauper, Madison Square Garden , NYC October 2025 Paul McCartney, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY September 2017 Neko Case, Palace Theater, Stamford, CT January 2026 B52's, Radio City Music Hall, NYC 1993 The Cure, Madison Square Garden, NYC, June 2023 Sinead O'Connor, City Winery, NYC, August 2023 Patti Smith, St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, NY December 2025 Built to Spill, Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ July 2009 David Byrne, Radio City Music Hall, NYC October 2025 David Byrne's American Utopia, NYC Sting, Brooklyn Paramount, Brooklyn, NY October 2024 There are so many more that I'm not remembering right now. I was really fortunate to photography a vast majority of the KEXP Live from the Cutting Room Studio sessions so those were like mini-concerts. So, so many bands. Alt-J, Charly Bliss, The Both (Ted Leo & Aimee Mann), Will Butler, Antibalas were stand outs for me. Honorable mention-Yungblud at Brooklyn Paramount. That kid can put on a SHOW! Loved it even though I wasn't familiar with any of his music. He knows his history, pays respects accordingly, he speaks up for anyone who is marginalized and and he's just so damn happy to be doing what he's doing. I was blown away by his performance at the Ozzy tribute and remembered his rendition of Life on Mars on a tribute produced by Bowie's pianist, Mike Garson.

Just a thought. We could meet up and go to shows, have coffee, plan the Resistance? Waxahatchee and Snail Mail are playing The Brooklyn Paramount in the next couple of months.