I am a huge Elton John fan ...up to, and including "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and the live album recorded in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He is my go to artist on those days when I stare at my CDs and can't decide what to listen to. I mean c'mon, the guy owned the 70s and early 80s. My brother gave me his debut album "Elton John" (released in 1970) around 1971 or '72. It was the first record I ever remember being given. I saw him in concert at the Omni in Atlanta on Nov. 10, 1974 ...for $7.50! I was grounded at the time and almost wasn't allowed to go, but when I told my father I already had the tickets and a date, he lifted my suspension AND drove us to the concert. A chivalrous man my dad. Today's post is dedicated to Elton John on his 63rd birthday. Let us celebrate the great artist he once was rather than the raging, bloated, self-absorbed queen he's become.

Isis (pronounced EE-sis) and Tarek gave us an internet radio for Christmas. It's a small box that connects to your stereo and uses your WLAN signal to pick up radio stations over the internet. I really don't understand why these things aren't more popular. You can listen to just about any radio station from anywhere in the world. It's perfect at dinnertime because you can dial up music to go with whatever style of food you're cooking. Wokkin' up some Asian? Radio Bangkok. Heapin' on the Haggis? KSAC, All Bagpipes, All The Time!

Amongst others, we've programmed WXRT in Chicago, DC's NPR station WAMU (for Morning Edition, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Splendid Table), Radio 2 from the Netherlands (the music's so-so but listening to the Dutch always cheers me up), and The Loon from Minnesota. Although it's a local German station broadcasting out of Wiesbaden, one of our favorites is Radio Bob. They play a pretty good mix of old and new, have a retired Air Force Sargent as a DJ, and every once in a while they come out with a song that other stations would never play even though they might play songs by that band. For instance, the other day they played "The Gambler" by Emerson Lake & Palmer from the Album "Love Beach" released in 1978. I still have the album and haven't heard that song since I last played it myself back when I had ... (gasp) ...a record player. It was their last studio album, and was hastily thrown together in order to satisfy contract obligations. The music was panned by the critics (deservedly so), as was the album cover which was likened to a Bee Gees disco-era photo complete with shirts unbuttoned to the waist.

And nothing against the Bee Gees, I've got plenty of their old stuff too. Anybody got a problem with that?