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"Almost Paradise" in season 2, episode 4.

It's hard for me to find anything better about "BATC", "Nowhere To Hide" and "Love Is All That Matters" because I've loved those songs for decades and thought that each was already perfect. The standouts in terms of "improvement" are "Sunrise", "Last Night" (specifically the chorus), and "It Hurts Too Much." All three deserved to become hits but I'm glad that we can hear them anew on this collection.

I plan on listening in small chunks and I started with the "BATC" songs. Incredible. "Love Is All That Matters" has always been great but it sounds so beautiful that I wanted to applaud. Nice to see Bernie's name twice in the notes.

Thank you all very, very much.

Thank you very, very much. 50 feels great!

A new website collects data on AI performances. Here's the page for ABM: http://www.whatnottosing.com/songs.asp?id=224

Mr. Tony knows his stuff: On his radio show today, Tony Kornheiser, a big Idol fan, said several times that ABM is not a diva song but an "Eric Carmen song."

I wrote to The Commish over a week ago but haven't heard back from him. The good times for a draft at Yahoo! are filling up so we should grab a time slot. I will do so, if the group would like.

I shall return.

I have XM. I loved it from the start and continue to love it. The variety of music channels is incredible. The amount of good talk stations is stunning. If you like sports talk, they just added "ESPN XTRA" which has shows from local ESPN stations. If you like politics, they have POTUS '08 which only covers the presidential election. It's a great product that keeps getting better. The key difference between the two lies here: if you like the NFL and Howard Stern, then take Sirius. If you like baseball (and Oprah), take XM. I'm a baseball guy so having access to every single regular season game was the reason I chose XM over Sirius. There are some differences in the music lineups but my opinion is that this isn't a reason to choose one over another because either is far superior to terrestrial radio. (If you're interested in XM, send me your email and I can send you an invite... I get $20 if you subscribe.)

"The Perfect Pushup." Yeah, it's a gimmick, and workout fiends don't need it, but it's gotten me to do to pushups per the workout schedule. I'm very happy with the product.

"Almost Paradise" was the song title on tonight's Wheel of Fortune.

Does an outstanding job as Commish of the fantasy baseball and football leagues. In fact, we should unilaterally extend his contract.

From backstreets.com: November 4 / Cleveland, OH / Quicken Loans Arena Notes: A knockout performance for Cleveland, with a setlist to match. Every E Street album was represented in the show tonight with the exception of The River -- and if you count River-era B-side "Be True," which had its tour premiere, it was a sweep. Representing Greetings was another tour debut, "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City." Paired with "She's the One," it was just massive. "Tunnel" represented Tunnel, and from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle in the encore, it was another stunning "Kitty's Back." All that, and they still had room for "woman power," as Bruce put it, with Patti spotlighted on "Town Called Heartbreak" as she returned to the fold after her absence in St. Paul. Oh, and speaking of woman power, Bruce referenced the Lynn Goldsmith photography exhibit down the road at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "I hope they don't have pictures of me with my pants down!" In the crowd: The Raspberries' Eric Carmen, and retired longtime Plain Dealer rock critic (and huge Springsteen fan) Jane Scott.

Going next Sunday in DC.

Yes.

I'm in Montgomery County, MD. I usually only buy from Amazon but I have some Rewards points from Best Buy so I stopped in today... it wasn't there. No local BB stores have it.

My copy of the reissue arrived today. I know I'm not as good a fan as the rest of you--BATC was my favorite album when I was in college but I never got it on CD. I almost asked my colleagues in the fantasy league to burn a copy for me but that wouldn't have been good economically for Eric. I almost bought a copy from Japan but that wouldn't have been good economically for me. I made due with my taped version until Bernie posted about the American Beat reissue. It's on now and I just heard Nowhere To Hide for the first time in years. When the song goes from the bridge back to the first verse but with the strings added, well, I got chills. It's like seeing an old friend but the friend is still the same and time hasn't diminished the friendship. Maybe I'm babbling but these songs are still as powerful as when I listened to them in my dorm room at Clark University. This is fantastic.

bluedog--it wasn't until shipped today but I have 2 day shipping from Amazon so I'll have it on Wednesday. I won't be the person to comment on quality because, other than the GH album, I don't own any EC records on CD. I will still file a report.

It was finally shipped today.

I ordered it as soon as Bernie posted about it. Delivery was scheduled for the same week but then it was delayed. It's now scheduled for a two week period beginning in late July.

Thanks for posting this news. I was about to spend $40 or so for the Japanese reissue of BATC (my favorite of any of Eric's work). I got it here for much less (with another great album thrown in!).

That didn't take long--corrections made. The Raspberries reunited in 2004 and toured briefly the following year with their original lineup of Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti. At the House of Blues gig, the group played a blend of '70s hits like "Let's Pretend" and "I'm a Rocker," cuts from its four albums and a cover of the Who's "I Can't Explain."

They didn't do Rich Girl?

When I'm listening to the '70's channel on XM, there are two songs that make me punch another channel before it's too late: "The Pina Colada Song" and (I don't think this has been mentioned yet) "You're Having My Baby" by Paul Anka.