Weird-that's the 3rd or 4th time Common People has come up in conversation in the last couple of weeks. For a song I hadn't thought of in years, that's sort of freaky. I guess my guilty pleasure is some of that country I spent the 90s mocking. Like-in retrospect-Garth Brooks isn't that bad. He isn't that good, either. But he ain't that bad. His cover of Shameless is alright. That Thunder Rolls song could be less listenable. I wouldn't buy an album, but I won't turn it off if for some reason I was listening to country radio. And I have multiple Green Day albums. Dookie is forgivable-it's of an era-but American Idiot...there's just no excuse for that kind of behavior.

Joe Jackson! That's someone who combines good music with great lyrics (most of the time). Too true! (love I'm The Man) - also, Elvis Costello.

Speaking of guilty pleasures, I'm so excited because Willie Nelson's Annual Fourth of July Picnic is going to be in my hometown of San Antonio this year!! I hate country usually, but I'm such a sucker for Texas country. This is going to be so fantastic.

And I have multiple Green Day albums. Dookie is forgivable-it's of an era-but American Idiot...there's just no excuse for that kind of behavior. I love Kerplunk. It was fun. And I like Dookie partly because I love "Basket Case", but mostly because it reminds me of the completely ill advised costuming class I took as an elective during my freshman year of college where we sat around listening to the radio, talking shit and occasionally sewing something. All I got out of that class was a lopsided dress (that another guy in the class, a serious drama student that we were totally dragging down with our shennanigans, had to help me with so I'd pass the class) and a pair of pink scissors that I still use. I can't say I'm crazy about anything post-Dookie, though I have a love/hate thing with "Good Riddance". I mostly hate it (wtf with all the sitcom montages???), but that episode of "er" with Jeannie and Anspaugh's kid? Totally makes me cry and whenever I hear that song now I have this weird nostalgic feeling as if any of that stuff actually happened to me. I don't know which was more manipulative: Green Day or the show itself.

Guilty pleasures, Shaggy- It Wasn't Me. Heard it for the first time when were were learning how to do a hip-hop show at DINFOS and now it is my get up and go song. Ironically enough it follows Shaikra's Hips Don't Lie in my Itunes Playlist

Okay, I can't help it. My dirty little secret / comfort music is Jason Mraz. I just swoon whenever I see him. My obsession carries me far as I've seen him live 4 times (and I'm easily one of the oldest ones in the audience) and have met him on a couple of occasions, most recently two months ago. The guy never seems to remember me. (It is possible that I'm forgettable. And not a groupie.) But I'm very excited that his new album is coming out next month and that the video for his new single I'm Yours has landed. He's adorable, right? It's not just me...right?

Bailey, I've never heard of this guy so I can't say if you should feel guilty. Is this guy on the radio? If he is I wouldn't know since I only listen to XM these days. Speaking of XM, today I heard You Take My Breath Away by Rex Smith. I tried explaining to my daughter that Rex Smith was the Zac Efron of 1978 but she just wasn't buying it

Very nice, Bailey, and yes he's adorable. His voice reminds me of Paul Simon somehow. How do you pronounce his name? I've been listening to some artists with french sounding names lately, it's always a guess how they are pronounced in Frenglish: Caillet, Bareilles, Broussard (OK that one is easy), all lovely voices.

When I was at the YMCA the other day, the two 12-13 year old girls occupying the cross training machines to the right of me were all aghast over the fact that People magazine gave the new Jonas Brothers CD 2 out of 4 stars, while the CD featuring, as they termed them "those ugly guys," received 4 out of 4 stars. The ugly guys? REM. :roll: At that point, I cranked up the iPod to ear shattering levels. (Mind you, their conversation began with the younger of the two, weighing perhaps 85 pounds, announced that she had to set the machine for "weight loss.") ETA: You pronounce Mraz "mir-azz," as if there were an I between the M and the R, and you take it out at the last minute.

This is really weird, Bailey, I was in the supermarket today and heard Jason Mraz! I recognized the song when I had only heard it once here, and thought of you. Check him out on YouTube singing Billie Jean with the Dutch Idol winner Nikki. Edited to correct her name, I don't watch Idols (as it's called here)!

My favorite Jason Mraz song is called "God Rests in Reason." It's based on "The Prophet", which is so amazing.

He also does a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop here. Hmm...I'm not sure what to think of that. I certainly never expected to hear an easy listening version of a Ramones song.

My cousin adores Jason Mraz. That's neither here nor there-but I felt like adding that. Today is National Record Store Day. It's a bit late to ask y'all to go out and support your local independent record store (not FYE or Borders or anything in a mall-fuck that shit-overpriced CDs and stores staffed by people who wouldn't know the Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet from Dick Dale) but if you didn't get out today try to stop by your local indie and buy a CD sometime this week. Or better yet-buy some vinyl. Vinyl is awesome. I spent a good (great actually) 3 hours at Grimey's and came home with 25 new used albums. There's nothing as awesome as a real record store, staffed by people who actually give a damn about music. It's a part of American culture that could easily die away if people don't go to the trouble of appreciating it. I'll get off my soapbox now.