1. Styx, �Paradise Theater� � played over and over again in my 8th grade crafts class, taught by the Cool Teacher �, while we learned to hand-tool leather, bake ceramic bunnies in the school kiln and narrowly avoid scarring ourselves with a wide variety of sharp objects. This is the first time I remember listening to rock music other than the Beatles and Abba, the only representative of the genre I recall having in our house up to that point. Thereafter I obsessively taped songs I liked off the radio.2. The theme from St. Elmo�s Fire � Okay, I�m truly embarrassed by this one, but I�m from the Brat Pack generation. This movie came out right before I started college. I played it a lot my freshman year because it reminded me of my high school boyfriend at the same time it made me feel independent. Also, my best friend went to Georgetown, so it made me think of her too.
3. Steely Dan, �Rikki Don�t Lose that Number� � This one makes me think of a friend from college, with whom I�d regularly carpool to assorted Model U.N. events around the eastern part of the country. This song would always be one of her picks.
4. Silly Wizard, �The Queen of Argyle� � This song, by a Scottish folk duo (now defunct and at least partially deceased) was the song that got me into Irish music (yeah, not the most logical progression). My roommate the year after college was responsible for introducing it to me and her annoying boyfriend exhibited one of his few redeeming qualities by playing a nice rendition of it on the guitar.
5. Cat Stevens, �Sad Lisa� � I wrote about the reasons for this one in this entry
6. The theme to �Twin Peaks.� This one reminds me of my first couple years of grad school when our cohort would regularly get together to watch Twin Peaks. And, asI know I�ve written here before, it makes me think of the time I spent studying in France, where one of my composition teachers (now deceased of AIDS) used to play it loudly through the courtyard of the chateau we used as a school.
7. Liz Phair, �Fuck and Run.� On one of our early dates, my husband and I stopped at a Walgreen�s and saw in the angled mirrors that edged the store that Liz Phair in the next aisle. We stalked her in the mirrors until she finished shopping. After we dated for nearly a year, we broke up for about 6 months. I played this song constantly during that period.
8. Ani diFranco, �Cradle and All.� This one is one of very few on this list that was not introduced to me by someone else. I picked up the album �I am not a Pretty Girl� after it came out because I�d heard an interview with diFranco. I listened to it obsessively for months. This song is my favorite track.
9. Jim Gill, �The Parrot Song,� because AJ loved it so much and because I love him so much and because there is nothing cuter than hearing AJ sing the words �Holy Toledo!�
10. R.E.M., �All the Way to Reno,� because the first time we made the 17 hour drive to my mom and dad�s with AJ, he would wiggle around in his car seat with a big smile on his face every time this song came on the radio. Needless to say, we played it over and over again.
11. Sleater-Kinney, �Quarter to 3,� because this song helped me get out of my �am I a mother or a scholar� funk a couple of years ago.
12. Jonathan Richman, �New England,� because of my ex-roommate who introduced me to Richman and much of the music I still listen to today (she�s now putting her musical taste to good use as a music buyer for @m@zon) and because my husband used to play this song anytime we�d go for a long drive somewhere and because while I�ve lived all over, I�ll always think of myself as a New Englander.
