knightni

Yeah. Vizquel's bat has been absent. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a mentor to Ramirez at SS like he was with Andrus last season.

It's too bad that they couldn't move Ramirez back to 2B for Vizquel. He seems very lazy at short, loses concentration etc.

That Elvis one took nearly an hour by itself. Too many hits in his discography. The Beatles one is going to kill me, I'm sure.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 07:06 PM) At 3rd base? Yes. I'm not talking Gold Glover or anything, but he's probably better and more comfortable over there than Beckham is. However, Beckham is the superior hitter. I don't know... Teahen and Beckham's D% at 3B last year was nearly identical. (.956 Teahen, .952 Beckham.) Seems to be very close for two guys who either had never played 3B before last season or who hadn't played a significant amount at 3B for abou 3 years.

Wow, you believe that Teahen's D is stronger than Beckham's, Ranger?

I think that Beckham 3B, Vizquel SS, Ramirez 2B would be a better defensive setup than Teahen 3B, Ramirez SS, Beckham 2B. Is Teahen's bat good enough to balance his 3B defense?

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) If we pick up Travis Fryman, Manny Ramirez and Mike Nagy we have it all covered. Chuck/Charles Nagy

My final story happened at Old Comiskey when I was a kid. Our church had a group of people go to a Saturday night game and most everyone got seat in the RF upper deck. Well, as many of you know, there's a certain etiquette when people down the row from you buy beer. Our pastor happened to be not paying attention as a beer got passed down the row behind us. He stood up, bumped the guy behind who was passing a beer, and... well, received quite a golden bath of liquid bread. He had a tough time explaining to his wife when he got home as to why he reeked of beer.

No, I said that if I got enough lists with them on it, that I would allow them. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?s=...t&p=2038527

Whew, those two listings were pretty substantial. I'll have to do more tonight.

24. Beastie Boys 3 lists of 24 - 50 points - highest ranking #1 TheBones Beastie Boys is an American hip hop group from New York City. The group comprises Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. Since around the time of the Hello Nasty album, the DJ for the group has been Michael "Mix Master Mike" Schwartz, who was first featured in the song "Three MCs and One DJ". Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk group in 1979, and appeared on the compilation cassette New York Thrash with Riot Fight and Beastie. They switched to hip-hop with the release of their 12" single "Cooky Puss", which was followed by a string of successful 12" singles and their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986), which enjoyed international critical acclaim and commercial success. The group is well-known for its eclecticism, jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and for performing in outlandish matching suits. They are one of the longest lived hip-hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2009, more than 25 years after the release of their debut album. On September 27, 2007, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head', Ill Communication and Hello Nasty. Beastie Boys came together in 1979 as a punk band called The Young Aborigines. In 1981 Adam Yauch (MCA) joined the group, and from the suggestion of their guitarist John Berry, they changed the band's name to Beastie Boys. The name "Beastie" is sometimes thought originally to have stood for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence," and that the initials B.B. intended to mimic Washington DC hardcore punk band Bad Brains, but these were actually afterthoughts once the band's name was already Beastie Boys, according to Mike D and MCA. The band's original line-up consisted of Adam Yauch (MCA) on bass, Kate Schellenbach on drums, John Berry on guitar, and Michael Diamond (Mike D) on vocals. Their first gig was at Berry's house on Yauch's 17th birthday. On Friday, November 13, 1982, The Beastie Boys played Bard College at Philip Pucci's birthday party. This marked the band's first on screen appearance in Philip Pucci's 1982 film, "Beastie". Pucci's wholly original concept for “Beastie” was to hand out a half dozen 16mm cameras to audience members and have them the Beastie Boys performance from their point of view while a master sync sound camera filmed from the balcony of the abandoned theatre where the performance took place. A one minute clip of "Beastie" was subsequently excerpted and licensed by The Beastie Boys for use in the "Egg Raid on Mojo" segment of the "Skills to Pay the Bills" long form video released by Capitol Records. The band quickly earned support slots for Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB and Max's Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. That same year, the Beastie Boys recorded the 7" EP Pollywog Stew at 171A studios, an early recorded example of New York hardcore. John Berry left the group (later forming Thwig, Big Fat Love, and the San Francisco booze rock band Bourbon Deluxe) and was replaced by Adam Horovitz(Ad-rock)—who had previously played in the punk band, The Young and the Useless in 1983. The band also performed its first rap track, "Cooky Puss," based on a prank call by the group to Carvel Ice Cream. It became a hit in New York underground dance clubs upon its release. It was during this period that Def Jam record producer Rick Rubin signed on and the Beastie Boys changed from a punk rock outfit to a three-man rap crew. The band released the 12" EP, Rock Hard, in 1984—the second record released by Def Jam that credited Rubin as producer. Soon after Rubin's arrival, Schellenbach developed creative differences with the band, citing her friction with Rubin. It was believed that Rubin objected to Schellenbach's place in the band as she did not fit the hip hop image to which the band aspired. Schellenbach went on to join Luscious Jackson in 1991. In 1985, the band opened for John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band Public Image Ltd., as well as supporting Madonna on her North American The Virgin Tour. Later in the year, the group was on the Raising Hell tour with Run DMC, Whodini, LL Cool J, and the Timex Social Club. With their exposure on this tour, the track "Hold It Now, Hit It" made Billboard's national R&B and Dance charts. The track "She's on It" from the Krush Groove soundtrack continued in a rap/metal vein while a double A-side 12," "Paul Revere/The New Style," was released at the end of the year. The band recorded Licensed to Ill in 1986 and released the album at the end of the year. It was a great success, and was favorably reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine with the now-famous headline, "Three Idiots Create a Masterpiece." Licensed to Ill became the best selling rap album of the 1980s and the first rap album to go #1 on the Billboard album chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It also reached #2 on the Urban album charts. It was Def Jam's' fastest selling debut record to date and sold over five million copies. The first single from the album, "Fight for Your Right," reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the video (directed by Ric Menello) became an MTV staple. The band took the Licensed to Ill tour around the world the following year. It was a tour clouded in controversy featuring female members of the crowd dancing in cages and a giant motorized inflatable penis similar to one used by The Rolling Stones in the 1970s. The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. This culminated in their notorious gig at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, England on May 30, 1987 that erupted into a riot approximately 10 minutes after the Beasties hit the stage and the arrest of Adam Horovitz by Merseyside Police on assault charges. After the success of Licensed to Ill, the Beasties parted ways with Def Jam and ended their relationship with Rick Rubin to sign with Capitol Records. A bootleg album entitled "Original Ill" features original demos of all the tracks from the final version of Licensed to Ill plus deleted tracks "I'm Down" (A Beatles Song) and "The Scenario" was released in 1998. The group matured with their second album, Paul's Boutique, produced by the Dust Brothers and Matt Dike. Recorded in 1988, this extremely sample-heavy opus is still considered one of the strongest works by the Beasties, and Rolling Stone ranked it #156 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It is also considered a landmark in hip hop recordings due to its intricate use of multi-layering and large array of samples. The album was released in 1989 by Capitol Records, after the falling out between the Boys and Def Jam. It failed to match the sales of Licensed to Ill, reaching #14 on the Billboard 200 and #10 on the Billboard R&B charts. The lead single, "Hey Ladies", reached #36 on the Billboard 100 and #10 on the R&B charts. Rolling Stone would describe the album as "the Pet Sounds/The Dark Side of the Moon of hip hop." Paul's Boutique would eventually sell a million albums, despite the initially weak commercial reception. The band digitally remastered and released the album through their own website. In 1988 The Beastie Boys also appeared in the Run-D.M.C film Tougher Than Leather. The follow-up album, Check Your Head, was recorded in the band's own "G-Son" studio in Atwater Village, California and released on its Grand Royal record label. The band was influenced to play instruments on this album by Dutch group Urban Dance Squad; with Mike D on drums, Yauch on bass, Horovitz on guitar and Mark Ramos Nis***a ("Keyboard Money Mark") on keyboards. Mario Caldato Jr. ("Mario C") engineered the record and would become a longtime collaborator. Check Your Head was released in 1992 and went double platinum in the U.S., reaching a peak of #10 on the Billboard 200. The single "So What'cha Want" reached #93 on the Billboard 100 and made both the urban and modern rock charts while the album's first single "Pass the Mic" became a hit in dance clubs. The album also introduced a more experimental direction, with funk and jazz inspired songs including "Lighten Up" and "Something's Got To Give." Hardcore punk even made its reappearance with "Time For Livin'." Beastie Boys signed an eclectic roster of artists to the Grand Royal label including Luscious Jackson, Sean Lennon and promising Australian artist Ben Lee. Beastie Boys owned Grand Royal Records until 2001 when it was then sold for financial reasons. Grand Royal's first independent release was Luscious Jackson's album In Search of Manny in 1993. The Beastie Boys also published Grand Royal Magazine, with the first edition in 1993 featuring a cover story on Bruce Lee, artwork by George Clinton, and interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and A Tribe Called Quest MC Q-Tip. The 1995 issue of the magazine contained a memorable piece on the "mullet." The Oxford English Dictionary cites this as the first published use of the term, along with the lyrics from the Beasties' 1994 song "Mullet Head." The OED says that the term was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by U.S. hip-hop group the Beastie Boys." Grand Royal Magazine is also responsible for giving British band Sneaker Pimps their name. Ill Communication, released in 1994, saw the Beastie Boys' return to the top of the charts when the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 & peaked at #2 on the R&B/ hip hop album chart. The single "Sabotage" (Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.ogg sample (help·info)) became a hit on the modern rock charts and the music video, directed by Spike Jonze, received extensive play on MTV. "Get It Together" reached Top 10 of the Billboard dance charts and also became an urban hit while "Sure Shot" was a dance hit. Some Old Bulls***, featuring the band's early independent material, made #50 on the Billboard independent charts. Beastie Boys headlined at Lollapalooza—an American travelling music festival—in 1994, together with The Smashing Pumpkins. In addition, the band performed three concerts (in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C.) to raise money for the Milarepa Fund and dedicated the royalties from "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow" from the Ill Communication album to the cause. The Milarepa Fund aims to raise awareness of Tibetan human rights issues and the exile of the Dalai Lama. In 1996, Yauch organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert, a two-day festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that attracted 100,000 people. In 1995, the popularity of Beastie Boys was underlined when tickets for an arena tour went on sale in the U.S. and sold out within a few minutes. One dollar from each ticket sold went to local charities. The Beastie Boys toured South America and Southeast Asia for the first time. The band also released Aglio e Olio, a collection of eight songs lasting for just eleven minutes harking back to their punk roots, in 1995. The In Sound From Way Out!, a collection of previously released jazz/funk instrumentals, was released on Grand Royal in 1996 with the title and artwork a homage to an album by electronic pop music pioneers Perrey and Kingsley. Beastie Boys returned to New York City in 1997 to produce and record the album Hello Nasty. The album displayed a substantial shift in musical feel, with the addition of Mix Master Mike, who added to the Beasties' sound with his kinetic DJ style. Released July 14, 1998, Hello Nasty earned first week sales of 698,527 in the U.S. and went straight to #1 in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Australia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. The album achieved #2 rank in the charts in Canada and Japan, and reached Top Ten chart positions in Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, France and Israel. During 1998, rumors, seemingly generated by comments from the band, pointed to a possibility that they were to release a country album. Both Michael Diamond and Adam Yauch are credited with interview comments that piqued interest in whether or not an album would be released. Since they had long been notorious for pranking the media, it was difficult for anyone to take these comments seriously until tracks became available, most notably on The Sounds of Science anthology album. Adam Yauch published the following in the liner notes: "At some point after Ill Communication came out, Mike got hit in the head by a large foreign object and lost all of his memory. As it started coming back he believed he was a country singer named Country Mike. The psychologists told us that if we didn't play along with Mike's fantasy, he would be in grave danger. Finally he came back to his senses. These songs are just a few of many we made during that tragic period of time." How much is fact or fiction is difficult to determine, but when the album surfaced on eBay fans scrambled to get their hands on what had proven to be a rare album. Around this time the Beastie Boys had been mentioned in Insane Clown Posse song "f*** The World" saying, "f*** the Beastie Boys and the Dalai Lama". This started a feud between the two groups. Beastie Boys won two Grammy Awards in 1999, receiving the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for Hello Nasty as well as the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance "Intergalactic" This was the first and, as of 2008, only time that a band had won awards in both rap and alternative categories. Also at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards they won the highly coveted Video Vanguard Award for their contribution to music videos. The following year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards they also won the award for Best Hip Hop Video for their hit song "Intergalactic." Beastie Boys used both appearances at the Video Music Awards to make politically-charged speeches of considerable length to the sizable MTV audiences. At the 1998 ceremony, Yauch addressed the issue of Muslim people being stereotyped as terrorists and that most people of the Muslim faith are not terrorists.[14] These comments were made in the wake of the U.S. Embassy bombings that had occurred in both Kenya and Tanzania only a month earlier. At the 1999 ceremony in the wake of the horror stories that were coming out of Woodstock 99, Adam Horovitz addressed the need for bands and festivals to pay much more attention to the security detail at their concerts. Beastie Boys started an arena tour in 1998. Through Ian C. Rogers, the band made live downloads of their performances available for their fans but were temporarily thwarted when Capitol Records removed them from its website. The Beastie Boys was one of the first bands who made mp3 downloads available on their website; they got a high level of response and public awareness as a result including a published article in The Wall Street Journal on the band's efforts. The 1999 Tibetan Freedom Concerts featured shows in East Troy, Wisconsin, Sydney, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. On September 28, 1999, Beastie Boys joined Elvis Costello to play "Radio Radio" on the 25th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Beastie Boys released The Sounds of Science, a two-CD anthology of their works in 1999. This album reached #19 on the Billboard 200, #18 in Canada, #6 on the Internet sales charts, and #14 on the R&B/Hip Hop charts. The one new song, the single "Alive", reached #11 on the Billboard's Modern Rock chart. In the years following the release of Hello Nasty the group launched their official website which underwent several transformations eventually culminating in one of the most popular recording artist related websites on the internet. In 2000, Beastie Boys had planned to co-headline the "Rhyme and Reason Tour" with Rage Against the Machine and Busta Rhymes, but the tour was canceled when drummer Mike D suffered a serious injury due to a bicycle accident. The official diagnosis was fifth-degree acromioclavicular joint dislocation; he needed surgery and extensive rehabilitation. By the time he recovered, Rage Against the Machine had disbanded. In 2002, it was discovered that Mike D and Rick Rubin were reuniting to produce Mike's other side project, World of Hustle. The band increased its level of political activism after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, organizing and headlining the New Yorkers Against Violence Concert in October 2001. Funds from the concert went towards the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA). In 2002, Beastie Boys started building a new studio facility, Oscilloscope, in downtown Manhattan, New York and started work on a new album. The band released a protest song, "In A World Gone Mad", against the 2003 Iraq war as a free download on several websites, including the Milarepa website, the MTV website, MoveOn.org, and Win Without War. It became the most downloaded track during April 2003. The 19th and 20th Tibetan Freedom Concerts were held in Tokyo and Taipei, Beastie Boys' first Taiwan appearance. Beastie Boys also headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Their single, "Ch-Check It Out," debuted on The O.C. in "The Vegas" episode from Season 1 which aired April 28, 2004. To the 5 Boroughs was released worldwide on June 15, 2004. It was the first album the Beastie Boys produced themselves and reached #1 on the Billboard album charts, #2 in the UK and Australia, and #3 in Germany. The first single from the album, "Ch-Check It Out", reached #1 in Canada and the US Modern Rock Tracks, #2 on the world internet download charts, and #3 on a composite world modern rock chart. The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installed spyware when inserted into the CD drive of a computer. The band has denied this allegation, defending that there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the U.S. and UK. While there is Macrovision CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album, this is standard practice for all European releases on EMI/Capitol Records released in Europe, and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software. The band stated in mid-2006 that they were writing material for their next album and would be producing it themselves. Speaking to British music weekly NME (April 26, 2007), Diamond revealed that a new album was to be called The Mix-Up. Despite initial confusion regarding whether the album would have lyrics as opposed to being purely instrumental, the Mic-To-Mic blog reported that Capitol Records had confirmed it would be strictly instrumental and erroneously reported a release date scheduled for July 10, 2007 (The album was eventually released June 26, as originally reported). On May 1, 2007, this was further cemented by an e-mail sent to those on the Beastie Boys' mailing list - explicitly stating that the album would be all instrumental: OK, here's our blurb about our new album -- it spits hot fire! -- hot s***! it's official... it's named The Mix-Up. g'wan. all instrumental record. "see i knew they were gonna do that!" that's a quote from you. check the track listing and cover below. you love us. don't you? The band subsequently confirmed this in public, playing several tracks from the album at the 2007 Virgin Festival at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. They won a Grammy for The Mix-Up in the "Best Pop Instrumental Album" category at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008. In February 2009, Yauch revealed their forthcoming new album has taken the band's sound in a "bizarre" new direction, saying "It's a combination of playing and sampling stuff as we're playing, and also sampling pretty obscure records." The tentative title for the record was Tadlock's Glasses, of which Yauch explained the inspiration behind the title: "We had a bus driver years ago who used to drive Elvis' back up singers. His name was Tadlock and Elvis gave him a pair of glasses which he was very proud of. So for some reason that title - Tadlock's Glasses - has just been bouncing around." In June 2009 The Beastie Boys appeared at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and performed the new single off The Hot Sause Committee entited "Too Many Rappers" along side rapper Nas who appears on the track. On May 25, it was announced during an interview on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that the name of their new album would be "Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1" and was set for release on September 15 (with the tracklisting of the album announced through their mailing list on June 23). Speaking to Drowned in Sound the Beastie Boys revealed that Part 2 is done. Mike D also hinted it may be released via unusual means: Pt. 2 is pretty much done. Basically we were making ...Pt 1, had too many songs, so we recorded some more songs. Which sounds bizarre but it actually worked out, because it made it clear to us which songs were going to be on ...Pt 1. Then we had this whole other album of songs: ...Pt 2. ...Pt 1's going to be your regular CD in the stores and to download, but ...Pt 2 is going to be released in...we're still figuring it out, but a different way. More of a 2009 style. You could get in the shower one day and, boom, all of a sudden you're showered with MP3s. Or we might send people a seven-inch every few weeks, so you have a whole box set. On July 20, Yauch announced on the Beastie Boys' official YouTube channel and through the fan mailing list the cancellation of several tour dates and the postponement of the new album due to the discovery of a cancerous tumor in his parotid gland and a lymph node. The group also had to cancel their co-headlining gig at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal. Their fusion of hip hop and punk rock genres could be seen as a precursor to the rapcore and nu metal genres of the late 1990s which included bands such as Limp Bizkit, Korn & Kid Rock. However, in their 1999 single Alive (taken from The Sounds of Science) Ad Rock distances the group from this genre through the line; "Created a monster with these rhymes I write, goatee metal rap please say goodnight." The band, along with co-producers The Dust Brothers were leaders in the use of sampling techniques, with Paul's Boutique being notable for its effective use of samples. The Dust Brothers in turn sampled "So What'cha Want" on the song "E-Pro" from Beck's 2005 Guero album. Furthermore, although rarely credited, Beastie Boys were one of the first groups to identify themselves as "gangsters", and one of the first popular rap groups to talk about violence, drug and alcohol use, possibly an influence from their time as a hardcore punk group. According to Rolling Stone magazine, their 1986 album Licensed to Ill is filled with enough references to guns, drugs, and empty sex (including the pornographic deployment of a Wiffle-ball bat in "Paul Revere") to qualify as a gangsta-rap cornerstone." In their early underground days, the seminal gangsta rap group N.W.A rapped over Beastie Boys tracks for songs such as "My Posse" and "Ill-Legal," and Beastie Boys' influence can be seen significantly in all of N.W.A's early albums. Their 1989 album Paul's Boutique included the similarly-themed tracks "Car Thief," "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun" and "High Plains Drifter." Beastie Boys have had four albums reach the top of the Billboard album charts (Licensed to Ill, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs) since 1986. In the November 2004 issue, Rolling Stone Magazine named "Sabotage" the 475th song on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In their April 2005 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Beastie Boys were one of the nine nominees for the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions. The Dust Brothers sampled "So What'cha Want" on the song "E-Pro" from Beck's 2005 Guero album. The rap group N.W.A rapped over Beastie Boys tracks for songs such as "My Posse" and "Ill-Legal". A controversial concert in Columbus, Georgia in 1987 led to the passage of a lewdness ordinance in that city. Sal Governale, a comedian on the staff of the Howard Stern Show, indicated on air on July 25, 2007, that he was the president of the Beastie Boys fan club in the 1980s on the Prodigy computer network. Two of their songs, "It's the New Style" and "Time to Get Ill", were sampled by The Prodigy in the The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One in 1999. Beastie Boys discography 1986 "Hold It, Now Hit It" - Dance #41 - R&B #55 1986 "The New Style" - Dance #20 - R&B #22 1986 "Paul Revere" - Dance #20 - R&B #34 1987 "Brass Monkey" - Hot 100 #48 - R&b #83 1987 "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" - Hot 100 #7 1989 "Hey Ladies" - Hot 100 #36 - Alternative #18 - Dance #16 - Rap #10 1989 "Shake Your Rump" - Dance #16 1992 "Pass the Mic" - Dance #38 1992 "So What'cha Want" - H #93 - Alt #22 - D#26 - R&B #121 - Rap #18 1994 "Sabotage" - Hot #115 - Alt #18 - D #18 1994 "Get It Together" - H #101 - D #5 - RB #113 - R #43 1994 "Sure Shot" - D #48 1998 "Intergalactic" - H #28 - A #4 - D #6 1998 "Body Movin'" - A #15 - D #25 1999 "The Negotiation Limerick File" - A #29 1999 "Alive" - A #11 2004 "Ch-Check It Out" - H #68 - A #1 - RB #106 2004 "Triple Trouble" - A #11 2009 "Too Many Rappers" (featuring Nas) - H #93 Factoid: Mike D recorded a Country-esque music album under the name "Country Mike", Country Mike's Greatest Hits, and gave it to friends and family for Christmas in 2000. "Sabotage" http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=7-jmwpyijs

QUOTE (Ranger @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 01:54 PM) Nah. I won't backhand you. Lies. He'd get the front hand. Actually, you seem to be the most reserved guy ever, R. Half of those crazies who call in on your show deserve the back hand, but you're pretty nice to them.

25. Elvis Presley 4 lists of 24 - 49 points - highest ranking #3 Soxy Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King. Presley began his career in 1954 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, made him popular—and controversial—as did his uninhibited performances. Presley had a versatile voice and he had unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame. In 1968, after making movies in Hollywood and having been away from the stage for seven years, he returned to live performances in a television special, which led to a string of successful tours across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas, for the remainder of his career. In 1973, Presley staged the first global live concert via satellite (Aloha from Hawaii), reaching at least one billion viewers live and an additional 500 million on delay. It remains the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of popular music, with sales between 600 million and one billion worldwide, and he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Among his many awards and accolades are 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, and being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Health problems, prescription drug dependence, and other factors led to his death at the age of 42. In the summer of 1953, Presley went to Sun Records' Memphis Recording Service to record "My Happiness" with "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," supposedly as a present for his mother although it was months after her birthday. When asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was, Presley told her that he sang all kinds. Determined to pin him down to a particular style, she then asked him who he sounded like, a question Presley responded to by insisting that he didn't sound like anyone. After his demo, she made herself a note: "Good ballad singer, Hold." On January 4, 1954, he cut a second acetate demo recording of "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You", but again nothing came of the recording session. In April Presley began working for the Crown Electric company as a truck driver, and around this time he auditioned for the Songfelows, but was disappointed when they turned him down and said he couldn't sing. Years later the group insisted that they meant he couldn't sing harmony, but Presley took the criticism to heart. A few months later, Sun Records boss Sam Phillips was on the lookout for someone who could deliver a blend of black blues and boogie-woogie music; he thought it would be very popular among white people. When Phillips acquired a demo recording of "Without You" and was unable to identify the vocalist, Marion Keisker reminded him about the young truck driver. She called him on June 26, 1954. However, Presley was not able to do justice to the song. Phillips would later recall that Elvis was as nervous as anybody that he had seen in front of a microphone. Despite this, Phillips asked Presley to sing as many songs as he knew and, impressed enough by what he heard, he invited local musicians Winfield "Scotty" Moore and Bill Black to audition Presley. Though they were not overly impressed, a studio session was planned. On July 5, during a recording break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)". Phillips quickly got them all to restart, and began taping. This was the sound he had been looking for. The following day the group recorded Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", and it was released as the B-side to That's All Right. "That's All Right" was aired on July 8, 1954, by DJ Dewey Phillips on his Red, Hot and Blue show.[68]b Listeners to the show began phoning in, eager to find out who the singer was. The interest was such that Phillips played the demo fourteen times. During an interview on the show, Phillips asked Presley what high school he attended—to clarify Presley's color for listeners who assumed he must be black. On July 12 Moore officially became Presley's manager and, along with Black, began playing regularly with him. They gave performances on July 17 and July 24, 1954 to promote the Sun single at the Bon Air, a rowdy music club in Memphis, where the band was not well-received. On July 30 the trio, billed as The Blue Moon Boys, made their first paid appearance at the Overton Park Shell, with Slim Whitman headlining. With a natural feel for rhythm, Presley shook his legs when performing: his wide-legged pants emphasizing his leg movements, apparently causing females in the audience to go "crazy." Presley was aware of the cause of the audience's reaction and consciously incorporated similar movements into future shows. Soon after, Deejay and promoter Bob Neal became the trio's manager (replacing Scotty Moore). Moore and Black left their band, the Starlight Wranglers and, from August through October 1954, appeared with Presley at The Eagle's Nest. Presley debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on October 2; Hank Snow introduced Presley on stage. He performed "Blue Moon of Kentucky" but received only a polite response. Afterward, the singer was supposedly told by the Opry's Jim Denny to not give up his day job. though others deny it was Denny who made that statement. Country music promoter and manager Tillman Franks booked Presley for October 16 on KWKH-AM's Louisiana Hayride. Before Franks saw Presley, he referred to him as "that new black singer with the funny name." During Presley's first set, the reaction was muted; Franks then advised Presley to "Let it all go!" for the second set. House drummer D.J. Fontana complemented Presley's movements with accented beats which he had mastered during his time working as a drummer in strip clubs. Bill Black also took an active part in encouraging the audience, and the crowd became more responsive. According to one source, regarding Presley's engagements from that time, "Audiences had never before heard [such] music... [or] seen anyone who performed like Presley either. The shy, polite, mumbling boy gained self-confidence with every appearance". Sam Phillips said Presley put all his emotion into each song, as if he was unable to sing any other way. By August 1955, Sun Studios had released ten sides, credited to "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill," all typical of the developing Presley style which seemed hard to categorize; he was billed or labeled in the media as "The King of Western Bop," "The Hillbilly Cat" and "The Memphis Flash." On August 15, 1955, "Colonel" Tom Parker became Presley's manager, signing him to a one year contract, plus renewals. Several record labels had shown interest in signing Presley and, by the end of October 1955, three major labels had made offers up to $25,000. On November 21, 1955, Parker and Phillips negotiated a deal with RCA Victor Records to acquire Presley's Sun contract for an unprecedented $40,000 ($318,304 in current dollar terms), $5,000 of which was a bonus for the singer for back royalties owed to him by Sun Records (Presley, at 20, was officially still a minor, so his father had to sign the contract). To boost earnings for himself and Presley, Parker also cut a deal with Hill and Range Publishing Company to create two separate entities—"Elvis Presley Music, Inc" and "Gladys Music"—to handle all of Presley's songs and accrued royalties. The owners of Hill & Range, Julian and Jean Aberbach, agreed to split the publishing and royalties rights of each song equally with Presley. Hill & Range, Presley or Colonel Parker's partners then had to convince unsecured songwriters that it was worthwhile for them to give up one third of their due royalties in exchange for Presley recording their compositions. One result of these dealings was the appearance of Presley's name as co-writer of some songs he recorded, even though Presley never had any hand in the songwriting process. The only known exception to this rule is Heartbreak Hotel, where Presley received writing credits because Mae Boren Axton knew of his wish to buy his parents a Cadillac. Because she liked Presley so much, she offered him writing credits to help him raise the funds quicker. By December 1955, RCA had begun to heavily promote its newest star, and by the month's end had re-released many of his Sun recordings. On January 10, 1956, Presley made his first recordings for RCA in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite Scotty, Bill and D.J. being in the studio with him, RCA enlisted the talents of already established stars Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins also to "...fatten the sound." The session produced "Heartbreak Hotel/I Was The One" which was released on January 27. The public reaction to "Heartbreak Hotel" prompted RCA to release it as a single in its own right (February 11). By April it had hit number one in the U.S. charts, selling in excess of one million copies. To increase the singer's exposure, Parker finally brought Presley to national television after booking six appearances on CBS's Stage Show in New York, beginning January 28, 1956. Presley was introduced on the first program by Cleveland DJ Bill Randle. He stayed in town and on January 30, he and the band headed for the RCA's New York Studio. The sessions yielded eight songs, including "My Baby Left Me" and "Blue Suede Shoes". The latter was the only hit single from the collection, but the recordings marked the point at which Presley started moving away from the raw, pure Sun sound to the more commercial and mainstream sound RCA had envisioned for him. On March 23, RCA Victor released Presley's self-titled debut album. Like the Sun recordings, the majority of the tracks were country songs. The album went on to top the pop album chart for 10 weeks and became RCA's first million-dollar seller. On April 1, Presley launched his acting career with a screen test for Paramount Pictures, and signed a seven year contract with them on April 25. His first motion picture, Love Me Tender, was released on November 21. After more hectic touring, Presley made his second appearance on The Milton Berle Show (June 5). Whilst delivering an uptempo version of "Hound Dog" (without his guitar), he then stopped, and immediately after began performing a slower version. Presley's "gyrations" during this televised version of "Hound Dog" created a storm of controversy—even eclipsing the "communist threat" headlines prevalent at the time. The press described his performance as "vulgar" and "obscene". The furor was such that Presley was pressured to explain himself on the local New York City TV show Hy Gardner Calling. After this performance he was dubbed "Elvis the Pelvis". Presley disliked the name, calling it "one of the most childish expressions I ever heard. The Berle shows drew such huge ratings that Steve Allen (NBC), not a fan of rock and roll, booked him for one appearance in New York on July 1. Allen believed that his show should be one "the whole family can watch" and introduced a "new Elvis" in white bow tie and black tails. Presley sang "Hound Dog" for less than a minute to a Basset Hound in a top hat. According to one author, "Allen thought Presley was talentless and absurd... [he] set things up so that Presley would show his contrition..." In his book "Hi-Ho Steverino!" Allen defended his decision to present Presley this way, stating that by simply changing Presley's attire it changed the way he performed. The day after (July 2), the single "Hound Dog" was recorded. Scotty Moore said they were "all angry about their treatment the previous night", and Presley would later refer to the Allen show as the most ridiculous performance of his career. A few days later, Presley made a "triumphant" outdoor appearance in Memphis at which he announced: "You know, those people in New York are not gonna change me none. I'm gonna show you what the real Elvis is like tonight." Country vocalists The Jordanaires accompanied Presley on The Steve Allen Show and their first recording session together produced "Any Way You Want Me", "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog". The Jordanaires would work with the singer through the 1960s. When "That's All Right" was played, many listeners were sure Presley must be black, prompting white disc-jockeys to ignore his Sun singles. However, black disc-jockeys did not want anything to do with any record they knew was made by a white man. To many black adults, Presley had undoubtedly "stolen" or at least "derived his style from the Negro rhythm-and-blues performers of the late 1940s", though such criticism ignored Presley's use of "white" musical styles. Some black entertainers, notably Jackie Wilson, argued: "A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis." To many white adults, the singer was "the first rock symbol of teenage rebellion. ... they did not like him, and condemned him as depraved. Anti-negro prejudice doubtless figured in adult antagonism. Regardless of whether parents were aware of the Negro sexual origins of the phrase 'rock 'n' roll', Presley impressed them as the visual and aural embodiment of sex." In 1956, a critic for the New York Daily News wrote that popular music "has reached its lowest depths in the 'grunt and groin' antics of one Elvis Presley" and the Jesuits denounced him in their weekly magazine, America. Even Frank Sinatra opined: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Presley responded to this (and other derogatory comments Sinatra made) by saying: "I admire the man. He has a right to say what he wants to say. He is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... This ... [rock and roll] ... is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago." In 1957, despite Presley's demonstrable respect for "black" music and performers, he faced accusations of racism. He was alleged to have said in an interview: "The only thing Negro people can do for me is to buy my records and shine my shoes." An African American journalist at Jet magazine subsequently pursued the story. On the set of Jailhouse Rock, Presley denied saying, or ever wanting to make, such a racist remark. The Jet journalist found no evidence that the remark had ever been made, but did find testimony from many individuals indicating that Presley was anything but racist. Despite the remark being wholly discredited at the time, it was still being used against Presley decades later. On January 8, 1957, the Memphis Draft Board held a press conference and announced Presley would be classified 1A and would probably be drafted sometime that year. On December 20, 1957, Presley received his draft notice. Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures had already spent $350,000 on the film King Creole, and did not want to suspend or cancel the project. The Memphis Draft Board granted Presley a deferment to finish it. On March 24, 1958 he was inducted as US Army private, under the service number US 53 310 761, at Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Arkansas. Two Army officers Arlie Metheny and John J. Mawn, coordinated the entry and shielded Presley from bombardment by national media and free-lance photographers. Presley completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, on September 17, 1958, before being posted to Friedberg, Germany, with the 3rd Armored Division, where his service took place from October 1, 1958 until March 2, 1960. Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant on March 5.[137] Back on U.S. soil, the train which carried him from New Jersey to Memphis was mobbed all the way, with Presley being called upon to appear at scheduled stops to please his fans.[138] The first recording session, on March 20, 1960, was attended by all of the significant businessmen involved with Presley; none had heard him sing for two years, and there were inevitable concerns about him being able to recapture his previous success. The session was the first at which Presley was recorded using a three-track machine, allowing better quality, postsession remixing and stereophonic recording. This, and a further session in April, yielded some of Presley's best-selling songs. "It's Now or Never" ended with Presley "soaring up to an incredible top G sharp ... pure magic." His voice on "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" has been described as "natural, unforced, dead in tune, and totally distinctive." Although some tracks were uptempo, none could be described as "rock and roll", and many of them marked a significant change in musical direction. Most tracks found their way on to an album—Elvis is Back!—described by one critic as "a triumph on every level... It was as if Elvis had... broken down the barriers of genre and prejudice to express everything he heard in all the kinds of music he loved". The album was also notable because of Homer Boots Randolph's acclaimed saxophone playing on the blues songs "Like A Baby" and "Reconsider Baby", the latter being described as "a refutation of those who do not recognize what a phenomenal artist Presley was." In 1968, even Presley's version of Jerry Reed's hook-laden "Guitar Man" had failed to enter the U.S. Top 40. He continued to issue movie soundtrack albums that sold poorly compared to those of films like Blue Hawaii from 1961. It had also been nearly six years since the single "Good Luck Charm" had topped the Billboard Hot 100. Presley was, by now, "profoundly" unhappy with his career. Colonel Parker's plans once again included television, and he arranged for Presley to appear in his own special. The singer had not been on television since Frank Sinatra's Timex special in May 1960. Parker shrewdly maneuvered a deal with NBC's Tom Sarnoff which included the network's commitment to financing a future Presley feature film—something that Parker had found increasingly difficult to secure. The special was made in June, but was first aired on December 3, 1968 as a Christmas telecast called simply Elvis. Later dubbed the '68 Comeback Special by fans and critics, the show featured some lavishly staged studio productions. Other songs however, were performed live with a band in front of a small audience—Presley's first live appearance as a performer since 1961. The live segments saw Presley clad in black leather, singing and playing guitar in an uninhibited style—reminiscent of his rock and roll days. Rolling Stone called it "a performance of emotional grandeur and historical resonance." Jon Landau in Eye magazine remarked: "There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home. He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect of rock 'n' roll singers. He moved his body with a lack of pretension and effort that must have made Jim Morrison green with envy." Its success was helped by director and co-producer, Steve Binder, who worked hard to reassure the nervous singer and to produce a show that was not just an hour of Christmas songs, as Colonel Parker had originally planned. By January, 1969, one of the key songs written specifically for the special, "If I Can Dream", reached number 12. The soundtrack of the special also broke into the Top 10. On December 4, when the TV ratings were released, NBC reported that Presley had captured 42 percent of the total viewing audience. It was the network's number one rated show that season. Jerry Schilling recalls that the special reminded Presley about what "he had not been able to do for years, being able to choose the people; being able to choose what songs and not being told what had to be on the soundtrack. ... He was out of prison, man." Steve Binder said of Presley's reaction: "I played Elvis the 60-minute show, and he told me in the screening room, "Steve, it's the greatest thing I've ever done in my life. I give you my word I will never sing a song I don't believe in." Buoyed by the experience, Presley engaged in the prolific series of recording sessions at American Sound Studios, which led to the acclaimed From Elvis in Memphis (Chips Moman was its uncredited producer). It was followed by From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis, a double-album. The same sessions lead to the hit singles "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Kentucky Rain" and "Don't Cry Daddy". In 1969, Presley was keen to resume regular live performing. Following the success of Elvis, many new offers came in from around the world. The London Palladium offered Parker $28,000 for a one week engagement. He responded: "That's fine for me, now how much can you get for Elvis?" By May, the brand new International Hotel in Las Vegas announced that it had booked Presley; he was scheduled to perform from July 31, after Barbra Streisand opened the new venue. Presley duly delivered 57 shows over four weeks at the hotel, which had the largest showroom in the city. He had assembled some of the finest musicians—including an orchestra—and some of the best soul/gospel back-up singers available. Despite such a prestigious backing, Presley was nervous; his only other engagement in Las Vegas (1956) had been a disaster, critically. Parker therefore promoted the singer's appearances heavily; he rented billboards and took out full-page advertisements in local and trade papers. The lobby of the International displayed Presley souvenirs; records, T-shirts, straw boaters and stuffed animals. Parker intended to make Presley's return the show business event of the year, and hotel owner Kirk Kerkorian planned to send his own plane to New York to fly in the rock press for the debut performance. Presley took to the stage with no introduction. The audience of 2,200—which included Pat Boone, Fats Domino, Wayne Newton, Dick Clark, Ann-Margret, George Hamilton, Angie Dickinson, and Henry Mancini—gave him a standing ovation before he sang one note. After a well-received performance, he returned to give an encore, of "Can't Help Falling in Love", and was given his third standing ovation Backstage, many well-wishers, including Cary Grant, congratulated Presley on his triumphant return which, in the showroom alone, had generated over $1,500,000. Newsweek commented: "There are several unbelievable things about Elvis, but the most incredible is his staying power in a world where meteoric careers fade like shooting stars." Rolling Stone magazine declared Presley to be "supernatural, his own resurrection", while Variety proclaimed him a "superstar". At a press conference after his opening show, when a reporter referred to him as "The King", Presley pointed to Fats Domino, standing at the back of the room. "No," he said, "that’s the real king of rock and roll." The next day, Parker's negotiations with the hotel resulted in a five-year contract for Presley to play each February and August, at a salary of $1 million per year. In January 1970, Presley returned to the International Hotel for a month-long engagement, performing two shows a night. RCA recorded some shows and the best material appeared on the album On Stage - February 1970. In late February, Presley performed six more attendance-breaking shows at the Houston Astrodome in Texas. In August at the International Hotel, MGM filmed rehearsal and concert footage for a documentary: Elvis - That's The Way It Is. He wore a jumpsuit—a garment that would become a trademark of Presley's live performances in the 1970s. Although he had new hit singles in many countries, some were critical of his song choices and accused him of being distant from trends within contemporary music. Around this time Presley was threatened with kidnapping at the International Hotel. Phone calls were received, one demanding $50,000; if unpaid, Presley would be killed by a "crazy man". The FBI took the threat seriously and security was stepped up for the next two shows. Presley went on stage with a Derringer in his right boot and a .45 in his waistband, but nothing untoward transpired. (The singer had had many threats of varying degrees since the fifties, many of them made without the singer's knowledge). After closing his Las Vegas engagement on September 7, Presley embarked on his first concert tour since 1958. Feeling exhausted, Presley spent a month relaxing and recording before touring again in October and November.[236] He would tour extensively in the U.S. up to his death; many of the 1,145 concerts setting attendance records. On December 21, 1970, Presley met with President Richard Nixon at the White House (Presley arrived with a gift—a handgun. It was accepted but not presented for security reasons). Presley had engineered the encounter to express his patriotism, his contempt for the hippie drug culture and his wish to be appointed a "Federal Agent at Large". He also wished to obtain a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge to add to similar items he had begun collecting. He offered to "infiltrate hippie groups" and claimed that The Beatles had "made their money, then gone back to England where they fomented anti-American feeling." Nixon was uncertain and bemused by their encounter, and twice expressed his concern to Presley that the singer needed to "retain his credibility". Ringo Starr later said he found it very sad to think Presley held such views. "This is Mr. Hips, the man, and he felt we were a danger. I think that the danger was mainly to him and his career." Paul McCartney said also that he "felt a bit betrayed ... The great joke was that we were taking drugs, and look what happened to [Elvis]. ... It was sad, but I still love him. ..." On January 16, 1971 Presley was named 'One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation' by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce (The Jaycees). That summer, the City of Memphis named part of Highway 51 South "Elvis Presley Boulevard". In April 1972, MGM again filmed Presley, this time for Elvis on Tour, which won a 1972 Golden Globe for Best Documentary. A 14-date tour started with an unprecedented four consecutive sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, New York. RCA taped the shows for a live album. After the tour, Presley released the 1972 single "Burning Love"—his last top ten hit in the U.S. charts. In January 1973, Presley performed two charity concerts in Hawaii for the Kui Lee cancer foundation. The first concert (January 12) was primarily a practice run for the main show which was broadcast live on January 14. The first show also served as a backup if technical problems affected the live broadcast. The "Aloha from Hawaii" concert was the world's first live concert satellite broadcast, reaching at least a billion viewers live and a further 500 million on delay. The show raised $75,000 and the album went to number one, spending a year in the charts. The album also proved to be Presley's last U.S. Number One album during his lifetime. In March 1973, Presley and Parker negotiated a deal with RCA that resulted in Presley receiving a large lump sum payment of $5.4 million in lieu of all his future artist's royalties for any songs recorded up to that time. Presley, however, would retain any future royalties on material recorded after March 1973. Due to the current contract that Presley had with his manager, Parker received 50% of the payment. The deal also had no effect on Presley's publishing deals, and he would continue to receive royalties from Elvis Presley Music Inc. which included songs recorded prior to March 1973. Jack Soden of Elvis Presley Enterprises later described this deal as "..right up there with the Indians selling Manhattan for $24", and in 1980 a lawyer for the Presley estate concluded that Parker and RCA were "... probably guilty of collusion, conspiracy, fraud [and] misrepresentation." After his divorce in 1973, Presley became increasingly unwell, with prescription drugs affecting his health, mood and his stage act. His diet had always been unhealthy, and he now had significant weight problems. He overdosed twice on barbiturates, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first. According to Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, Presley's main physician, the singer was "near death" in November 1973 because of side effects of Demerol addiction. Nichopoulos notes that the subsequent hospital admission "was crazy", because of the enormous attention Presley attracted, and the measures necessary to protect his medical details. Lab technicians were even exploiting Presley's ill-health by selling samples of his blood and urine. Presley continued to play to sell-out crowds in the U.S.; a 1975 tour ended with a concert in Pontiac, Michigan, attended by over 62,000 fans. However, the singer now had "no motivation to lose his extra poundage... he became self-conscious... his self-confidence before the audience declined... Headlines such as 'Elvis Battles Middle Age' and 'Time Makes Listless Machine of Elvis' were not uncommon." According to Marjorie Garber, when Presley made his later appearances in Las Vegas, he appeared "heavier, in pancake make-up... with an elaborate jewelled belt and cape, crooning pop songs to a microphone ... [He] had become Liberace. Even his fans were now middle-aged matrons and blue-haired grandmothers,... Mother's Day became a special holiday for Elvis' fans." Another tour was scheduled to begin August 17, 1977, but at Graceland the day before, Presley was found unresponsive on the floor of his suite by fiancée, Ginger Alden, and attempts to revive the singer failed. Death was officially pronounced at 3:30 pm at the Baptist Memorial Hospital. Elvis Presley discography 1954 "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" - Hot 100 #74 1955 "Baby Let's Play House" - Country #5 1955 "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" - Country #1 1955 "Mystery Train" - Country #10 1956 "Heartbreak Hotel" - Hot #1 - Cty #1 - R&B #3 1956 "I Was the One" - Hot #19 - Cty #8 1956 "Blue Suede Shoes" - Hot #20 1956 "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" - #1 - #1 - #3 1956 "My Baby Left Me" - Hot #31 - Cty #13 1956 "Don't Be Cruel" - #1 - #1 - #1 1956 "Hound Dog" - #1 - #1 - #1 1956 "Money Honey" - Hot #76 1956 "Love Me Tender" - #1 - #3 - #3 1956 "Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)" - Hot #20 - R&B #12 1956 "Love Me" - #2 - #10 - #7 1956 "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" - Hot #19 1956 "Paralyzed" - Hot #59 1956 "Old Shep" - Hot #47 1956 "Poor Boy" - Hot #24 1957 "Too Much" - #1 - #3 - #3 1957 "Playing for Keeps" - Hot #21 - Cty #8 1957 "All Shook Up" - #1 - #1 - #1 1957 "Peace in the Valley" - Hot #25 1957 "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" - Hot #58 1957 "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" - #1 - #1 - #1 1957 "Mean Woman Blues" - Cty #11 - R&B #11 1957 "Loving You" - #20 - #15 - #1 1957 "Jailhouse Rock" - #1 - #1 - #1 1957 "Treat Me Nice" - Hot #18 = Cty #11 1957 "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" - R&B #14 1958 "Don't" - #1 - #2 - #4 1958 "I Beg of You" 8 4 — — 1958 "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" - #2 - #3 - #1 1958 "Doncha' Think It's Time" - # Hot #15 - R&B #10 1958 "Hard Headed Woman" - #1 - #2 - #2 1958 "Don't Ask Me Why" - Hot #25 - R&B #9 1958 "One Night" - #4 - #24 - #10 1958 "I Got Stung" - Hot #8 1959 "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" - Hot #2 - R&B #16 1959 "I Need Your Love Tonight" - Hot #4 1959 "A Big Hunk o' Love" - Hot #1 - R&B #10 1959 "My Wish Came True" - Hot #12 - R&B #15 1960 "Stuck on You" - #1 - #27 - #6 1960 "Fame and Fortune" - Hot #17 1960 "It's Now or Never" - Hot #1 1960 "A Mess of Blues" - Hot #32 1960 "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - #1 - #22 - #3 1960 "I Gotta Know" - Hot #20 1961 "Surrender" - Hot #1 1961 "Lonely Man" - Hot #32 1961 "Flaming Star" - Hot #14 1961 "I Feel So Bad" - Hot #5 1961 "Wild in the Country" - Hot #26 1961 "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" - Hot #4 - Adult Contemporary #2 1961 "Little Sister" - Hot #5 1961 "Can't Help Falling in Love" - Hot #2 - AC #1 1962 "Rock-A-Hula Baby" - Hot #23 1962 "Good Luck Charm" - Hot #1 1962 "Anything That's Part of You" - Hot #31 - AC #6 1962 "Follow That Dream" - Hot #15 - AC #5 1962 "She's Not You" - Hot #5 - R&B #13 - AC #2 1962 "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" - Hot #55 1962 "King of the Whole Wide World" - Hot #30 1962 "Return to Sender" - Hot #2 - R&B #5 1962 "Where Do You Come From" - Hot #99 1963 "One Broken Heart for Sale" - Hot #11 - R&B #21 1963 "They Remind Me Too Much of You" - Hot #53 1963 "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" - Hot #3 1963 "Bossa Nova Baby" - Hot #8 - R&B #20 1963 "Witchcraft" - Hot #32 1964 "Kissin' Cousins" - Hot #12 1964 "It Hurts Me" - Hot #29 1964 "Kiss Me Quick" - Hot #34 1964 "What'd I Say" - Hot #21 1964 "Viva Las Vegas" - Hot #29 1964 "Such a Night" - Hot #16 1964 "Ask Me" - Hot #12 1964 "Ain't That Loving You Baby" - Hot #16 1964 "Blue Christmas" - Hot #1 1965 "Do the Clam" - Hot #21 1965 "You'll Be Gone" - Hot #121 1965 "Crying in the Chapel" - Hot #3 - AC #1 1965 "(Such an) Easy Question" - Hot #11- AC #1 1965 "It Feels So Right" - Hot #55 1965 "I'm Yours" - Hot #11 - AC #1 1965 "Puppet on a String" - Hot #14 - AC #3 1966 "Tell Me Why" - Hot #33 1966 "Blue River" - Hot #95 1966 "Frankie and Johnny" - Hot #25 - AC #3 1966 "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" - H #45 1966 "Love Letters" - H #19 1966 "Spinout" - H #40 1966 "All That I Am" - #41 1966 "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" - H #2 1967 "Indescribably Blue" - H #33 1967 "Long Legged Girl (with the Short Dress On)" - H #63 1967 "That's Someone You Never Forget" - H #92 1967 "There's Always Me" - H #56 1967 "Judy" - H #78 1967 "Big Boss Man" - H #38 1968 "You Don't Know Me" - H #44 1968 "Guitar Man" - H #43 1968 "U.S. Male" - H #28 - Cty #55 1968 "Stay Away" - H #67 1968 "You'll Never Walk Alone" - H #90 1968 "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby" - H #71 - Cty #50 1968 "Let Yourself Go" - H #72 1968 "A Little Less Conversation" - H #69 1968 "Almost in Love" - H #95 1968 "If I Can Dream" - H #12 1969 "Memories" - H #35 - Cty #56 - AC #7 1969 "In the Ghetto" - H #3 - Cty #60 1969 "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" - H #35 - Cty #74 1969 "Suspicious Minds" - H #1 - AC #4 1969 "Don't Cry Daddy" - H #6 - Cty #13 - AC #3 1970 "Kentucky Rain" - H #16 - Cty #31 - AC #3 1970 "The Wonder of You" - #9 - #37 - #1 1970 "I've Lost You" - #32 - #57 - #5 1970 "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" - #11 - #56 - #1 1970 "I Really Don't Want to Know" - #21 - #23 - #2 1970 "There Goes My Everything" - Cty #9 - AC #2 1971 "Where Did They Go, Lord" - H #33 - Cty #55 1971 "Life" - H #53 - C #34 1971 "I'm Leavin'" - H #36 - AC #2 1971 "It's Only Love" - H #51 1972 "Until It's Time for You to Go" - H #40 - C #68 1972 "An American Trilogy" - H #66 1972 "Burning Love" - H #2 1972 "It's a Matter of Time" - C #36 1972 "Separate Ways" - H #20 - AC #3 1972 "Always on My Mind" - C #16 1973 "Steamroller Blues" - H #17 1973 "Fool" - C #31 - AC #12 1973 "Raised on Rock" - H #41 1973 "For Ol' Times Sake" - C #42 1974 "I've Got a Thing About You Baby" - H #39 - C #4 1974 "If You Talk in Your Sleep" - H #17 - AC #6 1974 "Help Me" - C #6 1974 "Promised Land" - H #14 1974 "It's Midnight" - C #9 1975 "My Boy" - #20 - #14 - #1 1975 "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" - H #35- C #11 1975 "Bringing It Back" - H #65 1975 "Pieces of My Life" - C #33 1976 "Hurt" - #28 - #6 - #7 1976 "For the Heart" - C #45 1976 "Moody Blue" - #31 - #1 - #2 1977 "Way Down" - H #18 - C #1 1977 "My Way" - H #22 - C #2 - AC #6 1978 "Unchained Melody" - C #6 1978 "Softly as I Leave You" - H #109 1978 "Puppet on a String" - C #78 1978 "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" (re-release) - H #105 1979 "Are You Sincere" - C #10 1979 "There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)"- C #6 1981 "Guitar Man" - H #28 - C #1 1981 "Lovin' Arms" - C #8 1982 "You'll Never Walk Alone" - C #73 1982 "The Elvis Medley" - #71 - #31 #31 1983 "I Was the One" (re-release) - C #92 1998 "Blue Christmas" (re-release) - C #55 2002 "A Little Less Conversation" (JXL remix) - H #50 2003 "Rubberneckin'" (remix) - H #94 2008 "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (with Carrie Underwood) - C #54 - AC #14 2008 "Blue Christmas" (with Martina McBride) - C #36 - AC #22 Factoid: Presley's final performance was in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena, on June 26, 1977. According to many of his entourage who accompanied him on tour, it was the "best show he had given in a long time" with "some strong singing". "See See Rider" http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=7-cemoyqmi

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) Nimrods. . . Tex never claimed to be an American idiot, or to know who his enemy is. #25 is almost done.

QUOTE (Tex @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 06:38 AM) This list is something unpredictable, but in the end it is right. For what it's worth, it was worth all the time. I hope you had the time of your life...

26. Rage Against The Machine 5 of 24 lists - 48 points - highest ranking #8 Sonik22 Rage Against the Machine (sometimes referred to as RATM, or more informally simply Rage), is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1991. The band's lineup, unchanged since its formation, consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk. Rage Against the Machine is noted for its innovative blend of alternative rock, punk rock, rap, heavy metal and funk as well as its revolutionary politics and lyrics. Rage Against the Machine drew inspiration from early heavy metal instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Public Enemy, Urban Dance Squad, and Afrika Bambaataa. The group's music is distinguished primarily by their powerful stage energy, de la Rocha's rhyming styles and Morello's unorthodox guitar techniques. Rage Against the Machine released their self-titled debut album Rage Against the Machine in 1992, which became a commercial success, leading to a slot in the 1993 Lollapalooza. The band did not release a follow-up record until 1996, with Evil Empire. The band's third album The Battle of Los Angeles was released in 1999. During their initial nine year run, they became one of the most popular and influential political bands in contemporary music. In 2000, shortly after breaking up, the band released their fourth studio album Renegades, which is comprised entirely of cover songs. Zack de la Rocha started a low-key solo career; the rest of the band formed the rock supergroup Audioslave with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, which disbanded in 2007. In April 2007, Rage Against the Machine performed together for the first time in seven years. Sam Jennings covered for guitarist Tom Morello at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The band continued to perform at multiple live venues around the world in 2008. The band's debut album, Rage Against the Machine, reached triple platinum status, driven by heavy radio play of the song "Killing in the Name," a heavy, driving track featuring only eight lines of lyrics. The "f*** You" version, which contains 17 iterations of the word f***, was once played on the BBC Radio 1 Top 40 singles show. The album's cover featured Malcolm Browne's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the murder of Buddhists by the US-backed Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's regime. To promote the album and its core message of social justice and equality, the band went on tour, playing at Lollapalooza 1993 and as support for Suicidal Tendencies in Europe. After their debut album, the band appeared on the soundtrack for the film Higher Learning with the song "Year of tha Boomerang." An early version of "Tire Me" also appeared during the movie. Subsequently, they re-recorded the song "Darkness" from their original demo for the soundtrack of The Crow and also "No Shelter" appeared on the Godzilla soundtrack. Despite rumors of a break up for several years, Rage Against The Machine's second album, Evil Empire, entered Billboard's Top 200 chart at number one in 1996. The song "Bulls on Parade" was performed on Saturday Night Live in April 1996. Their planned two-song performance was cut to one song when the band attempted to hang inverted US flags from their amplifiers ("a sign of distress or great danger"), a protest against having Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes as guest host on the program that night. In 1997, the band opened for U2 and back-lined Green Day on their PopMart Tour, for which all Rage's profits went to support social organizations. including U.N.I.T.E. , Women Alive and the Zapatista Front for National Liberation. Rage subsequently began an abortive headlining US tour with special guests Wu-Tang Clan. Police in several jurisdictions unsuccessfully attempted to have the concerts cancelled, citing amongst other reasons, the bands' "violent and anti-law enforcement philosophies." Wu-Tang Clan were eventually removed from the line-up and replaced with The Roots. On the Japan leg of their tour promoting Evil Empire, a bootleg album composed of the band's B-side recordings titled Live & Rare was released by Sony Records. A live video, also titled Rage Against the Machine, was released later the same year.[citation needed] The following release, The Battle of Los Angeles also debuted at number one in 1999, selling 450,000 copies the first week and then going double-platinum. That same year the song "Wake Up" was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix. The track "Calm Like a Bomb" was later featured in the film's sequel, 2003s The Matrix Reloaded. In 2000, the band planned to support the Beastie Boys on the "Rhyme and Reason" tour; however, the tour was canceled when Beastie Boys drummer Mike D suffered a serious injury. On October 18, 2000, de la Rocha released a statement announcing his departure from the band. He said, "I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed. It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal." The band's final studio album, Renegades, released shortly after the band's dissolution, was a collection of covers of artists as diverse as Devo, Cypress Hill, MC5, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. The following year saw the release of another live video, The Battle of Mexico City, and 2003 saw the release of a live album titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of the band's final two concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was accompanied by an expanded DVD release of the last show, and also included the previously unreleased music video for "Bombtrack". On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited onstage early to perform a brief acoustic set at a Coalition of Immokalee Workers rally in downtown Chicago. Morello described the event as "very exciting for everybody in the room, myself included." This was followed by the scheduled Coachella performance on Sunday, April 29 where the band staged a much anticipated performance in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. Rage Against the Machine continued to tour in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, and also played a series of shows in Europe in Summer 2008 including Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, Pinkpop Festival, T in the Park in Scotland, the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England and the Oxegen Festival in Ireland. The band also performed on August 2, 2008, in Chicago as one of the headliners (Radiohead, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails being the other three) for the 2008 Lollapalooza Music Festival. In April 2009, Morello was asked about a new album from Rage Against The Machine, replied "Not anytime soon" but also said that "There may be some more Rage shows in the future" Rage Against the Machine discography 1996 "Bulls on Parade" - Hot 100 #62 - Mainstream #36 - Modern #11 1998 "The Ghost of Tom Joad" - Mainstream #35 - Modern #34 1998 "No Shelter" - Main #30 - Mod #33 1999 "Guerrilla Radio" - Hot #69 - Main #11 - Mod #6 2000 "Sleep Now in the Fire" - Hot #112 - Main #16 - Mod #8 2000 "Testify" - Main #22 - Mod #16 2000 "Renegades of Funk" - Hot #109 - Main #19 - Mod #9 2001 "How I Could Just Kill a Man" - Main #39 - Mod #37 Factoid: On January 26, 2000, filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was directed by Michael Moore, caused the doors of the New York Stock Exchange to be closed and the band to be escorted from the site by security, after band members attempted to gain entry into the Exchange. "Bulls On Parade" http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=7-jfcgcwju

May 22, 2006. Frank Thomas' first game back at USCF as a member of the A's. Soxtalk/WSI had a patio party, Jon Garland welcomed Thomas back by allowing him to cream 2 HRs, Ozuna wins it for the Sox with a walk-off bunt single. But, what does everyone remember that was there? That damn squirrel.

27. Alice In Chains 4 lists of 24 - 48 points - highest ranked #8 JPN366, Cali Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley. Although widely associated with grunge music, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and acoustic elements. Since its formation, Alice in Chains has released four studio albums, three EPs, two live albums, four compilations, and two DVDs. The band is known for its distinct vocal style which often included the harmonized vocals of Staley and Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. The band was one of the most successful music acts of the 1990s, selling over 17 million albums worldwide, including 11.5 million in the United States alone. The band achieved two number-one Billboard 200 albums (Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains), 11 top ten songs on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and six Grammy Award nominations. Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity due to Layne Staley's problems with substance abuse, culminating in his death in 2002. Alice in Chains reunited in 2005 with new lead vocalist William DuVall and released Black Gives Way to Blue, their first studio album in 14 years, on September 29, 2009. Layne Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while working at Music Bank rehearsal studios, where the two struggling musicians became roommates, and lived in a rehearsal space they shared. Alice N' Chainz soon disbanded and Staley joined a funk band who at the time also required a guitarist. Staley asked Cantrell to join as a sideman. Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join Cantrell's band Diamond Lie, which at the time included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. Eventually the funk project broke up and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell on a full-time basis. Diamond Lie played in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, often stretching 15 minutes of material into a 45-minute set. The band eventually took the name of Alice in Chains. Their final demo was named The Treehouse Tapes, and found its way to the music managers Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver, who also managed the Seattle-based band Soundgarden. Curtis and Silver passed on the demo to Columbia Records' A&R representative Nick Terzo, who set up an appointment with label president Don Ienner. Based on The Treehouse Tapes (a 1988 demo tape sold by the band at shows), Ienner signed Alice in Chains to Columbia in 1989. Alice in Chains soon became a top priority of the label, who released the band's first official recording in July 1990, a promotional EP We Die Young. The EP's lead single, "We Die Young", became a hit at metal radio. After its success, the label rushed Alice in Chains' debut album into production with producer Dave Jerden. Cantrell stated the album was intended to have a "moody aura" that was a "direct result of the brooding atmosphere and feel of Seattle". The resulting album, Facelift, was released on August 21, 1990, peaking at number 42 in the summer of 1991 on the Billboard 200 chart. Facelift was not an instant success, selling under 40,000 copies in the first six months of release, until MTV added "Man in the Box" to regular daytime rotation. The single hit number 18 on the Mainstream rock charts, with the album's follow up single, "Sea of Sorrow", reaching number 27, and in six weeks Facelift sold 400,000 copies in the US. The album was a critical success, with Steve Huey of Allmusic citing Facelift as "one of the most important records in establishing an audience for grunge and alternative rock." Facelift was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America by the end of 1990, while the band continued to hone its audience, opening for such artists as Iggy Pop, Van Halen, Poison, and Extreme. In early 1991, Alice in Chains landed the opening slot for the Clash of the Titans with Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, exposing the band to a wide metal audience. Alice in Chains was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy Award in 1992 for "Man in the Box", but lost to Van Halen for their 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. n February 1992, the band returned to the studio, again with producer Dave Jerden, to record its follow-up album. With new songs written primarily on the road, the material has an overall darker feel than Facelift, with six of the album's twelve songs dealing with addiction. "We did a lot of soul searching on this album. There's a lot of intense feelings." Cantrell said, "We deal with our daily demons through music. All of the poison that builds up during the day we cleanse when we play". On September 29, 1992, Alice in Chains released its second album, Dirt. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, and since its release has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. The album was a critical success, with Steve Huey of Allmusic praising the album as a "major artistic statement, and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece". Chris Gill of Guitar World called Dirt "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate", and "sublimely dark and brutally honest". Dirt spawned five top 30 singles, including "Rooster", "Them Bones", and "Down in a Hole", and remained on the charts for nearly a year. Alice in Chains was added as openers to Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears tour, but just days before the tour began, Layne Staley broke his foot in an ATV accident, forcing him to use crutches on stage. While on tour, bassist Mike Starr left the band to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez. In 1993, the band recorded two songs with Inez, "What the Hell Have I" and "A Little Bitter", for the Last Action Hero soundtrack.During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains joined Primus, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, and Babes in Toyland for the alternative music festival Lollapalooza, which was the last major tour Alice in Chains played with Staley. On November 7, 1995, Columbia Records released the eponymous Alice in Chains, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and has since been certified double platinum. Of the album's four singles, "Grind", "Again", "Over Now", and "Heaven Beside You", three feature Cantrell on lead vocals. Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone called the album "liberating and enlightening, the songs achieve a startling, staggering and palpable impact." The song "Got Me Wrong" unexpectedly charted three years after its release on the Sap EP. The song was re-released as a single on the soundtrack for the independent film Clerks in 1995, reaching number seven on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The band opted not to tour in support of Alice in Chains, adding to the rumors of drug abuse. Alice in Chains resurfaced on April 10, 1996, to perform their first concert in three years for MTV Unplugged, a program featuring all-acoustic set lists. The performance featured some of the band's highest charting singles, including "Down in a Hole", "Heaven Beside You", and "Would?", and introduced a new song, "The Killer Is Me". The show marked Alice in Chains' only appearance as a five-piece band, adding second guitarist Scott Olson. A live album of the performance was released in July 1996, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and was accompanied by a home video release, both of which received platinum certification by the RIAA. Alice in Chains performed four shows following the 1993 Lollapalooza tour supporting the reunited original Kiss-lineup, with the final live appearance of Layne Staley on July 3, 1996, in Kansas City, Missouri. Although Alice in Chains never officially disbanded, Staley became a recluse, rarely leaving his Seattle condominium following the death of his ex-fiancée Demri Parrott in 1996, due to bacterial endocarditis. "Drugs worked for me for years", Staley told Rolling Stone in 1996, "and now they're turning against me, now I'm walking through hell". After a decade of battling drug addiction, Layne Staley was found dead in his condominium on April 19, 2002. An autopsy revealed Staley had died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine 14 days prior to the discovery of his body. In his last interview, which was given months before his death, Staley admitted, "I know I'm near death, I did crack and heroin for years. I never wanted to end my life this way." Cantrell dedicated his 2002 solo album, released two months after Staley's death, to his memory. Comes with the Fall vocalist William DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer during the band's reunion concerts. Velvet Revolver and ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan also joined the band for the reunion tour, playing rhythm guitar on selected songs. Before the tour, Kinney mentioned in an interview that he would be interested in writing new material, but not as Alice in Chains. However, AliceinChains.com reported that the band had begun writing new material, with DuVall on lead vocals. On June 11, 2009, Blabbermouth.net reported that the new album would be titled Black Gives Way to Blue, and was officially set to be released on September 29, 2009. Although Alice in Chains has been labeled grunge, alternative rock, and hard rock, Jerry Cantrell identifies the band as primarily heavy metal. He told Guitar World in 1996; "We're a lot of different things... I don't quite know what the mixture is, but there's definitely metal, blues, rock and roll, maybe a touch of punk. The metal part will never leave, and I never want it to". Jerry Cantrell's guitar style combines what Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic called "pummeling riffs and expansive guitar textures" to create "slow, brooding minor-key grinds". While down-tuned distorted guitars mixed with Staley's distinctive "snarl-to-a-scream" vocals appealed to heavy metal fans, the band also had "a sense of melody that was undeniable," which introduced Alice in Chains to a much wider pop audience outside of the heavy metal underground. The band has been described by critics as "hard enough for metal fans, yet their dark subject matter and punky attack placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based grunge bands". Three of the band's releases feature all acoustic music, and while the band initially kept these releases separate, Alice in Chains' self-titled album combined the styles to form "a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock with subtly textured acoustic numbers". Alice in Chains is also noted for the unique vocal harmonies of Staley and Cantrell, which included overlapping passages, and dual lead vocals. Alyssa Burrows said the band's distinctive sound "came from Staley's vocal style and his lyrics dealing with personal struggles and addiction". Staley's songs were often considered "dark", with themes such as drug abuse, depression, and suicide, while Cantrell's lyrics dealt more with personal relationships. Alice in Chains has sold more than 14 million albums in the United States, released two number-one albums and 21 top 40 singles, and has received six Grammy nominations. The band was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Alice in Chains was named 15th greatest live band by Hit Parader, with vocalist Layne Staley placing as 27th greatest vocalist of all time. The band's second album, Dirt, was named 5th best album in the last two decades by Close-Up magazine. In August 2009, Alice in Chains won the Kerrang! Icon Award. Alice In Chains discography 1991 "Man in the Box" - Mainstream Rock #18 1992 "Sea of Sorrow" - Main #27 1992 "Would?" - Main #31 1992 "Them Bones" - Main #24 - Modern Rock #30 1993 "Angry Chair" - Main #34 - Mod #27 1993 "Rooster" - Main #7 1993 "Down in a Hole" - Main #10 1993 "What the Hell Have I" - Main #19 1994 "No Excuses" - Hot Airplay #48 - Main #1 - Mod #3 1994 "I Stay Away" - Main #10 1994 "Don't Follow" - Main #25 1994 "Got Me Wrong" - Main #7 - Mod #22 1995 "Grind" - Main #7 - Mod #18 1996 "Heaven Beside You" - Air #52 - Main #3 - Mod #6 1996 "Over Now" - Main #4 - Mod #24 1996 "Again" - Main #8 - Mod #36 1999 "Get Born Again" - Hot 100 #106 - Main #4 - Mod #12 1999 "Fear the Voices" - Main #11 2000 "Man in the Box" (live) - Main #39 2009 "A Looking in View" - Main #12 - Mod #38 - Rock #27 2009 "Check My Brain" - Hot #92 - Air #71 - Main #1 - Mod #1 - Rock#1 Factoid: One day before the band was due to record their first demos at the Music Bank studio in Washington, police shut down the studio during the biggest marijuana raid in the history of the state. "Man in the Box" http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=7-aiunlkld

No one actually works at a bank, it's all about the numbers.

Wow, they'll be homers in the light desert air this year.

Laissez faire econ got you down?

Towers was a good GM, he just had no money to work with.

Wood/GMJ/Hudson/Flowers to Pads maybe.

I wouldn't trade Santana straight up for Lowe, let alone with Wood too.

The Rangers got hosed.