The music in my head

So Janell Wheeler got the boot tonight from 'Idol.' … Seriously, America? More of you voted to keep Haeley Vaughn!? And Lacey Brown!? Seriously!?

If Didi Benami had gone, too, America, you would have had some 'splainin' to do.

Um, Ashley Rodriguez, Tyler Grady, Joe Munoz -- it was sort of fun. Best of luck.

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I'm addicted to Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" lately ... Her vocals on "The Pharaohs" are so angelic and ingrained in my head that I've been hearing them in my sleep. "I'm An Animal" has just as tight of a hold on me.

I also can't seem to get enough of Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson's swell "Break Up" concept album. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to from start to finish -- although "Relator" (I'm totally taken by the video) and "Shampoo" seem to be getting the most plays on my ipod.

Check it out ...

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There's a group making waves on Facebook lately called "When I was younger I would record my favorite songs off the radio onto tape."

The tagline ...

Back before you could get your hands on CD's there were these things called tapes... remember?

Sitting by the radio waiting for your favorite song, then quickly hitting the record button when it came on.

CLASSIC !

Of course I joined it!

As a kid, I'd play Nintendo games with the sound turned off just so I could have a radio going next to me on the floor, a blank cassette tape in the deck, just waiting for my latest and greatest favorite song to be played.

Then, at the moment I heard the first notes, I'd make a dive for the record button (Maybe that's how I got so good at pinpointing songs after hearing just a couple notes ...). If I was successful, I'd dance around the room in a celebration of securing the song to a cassette tape that I could play over and over and over ... If I missed the song, I'd lament the notion that I might never have the opportunity to hear the song again. (Thank you iTunes and YouTube. Because of you, I can play songs like this favorite on demand.)

Or I'd blame the DJ for blabbering too long and preventing me from getting a song's signature opening. I particularly remember -- while making a radio mix tape of favorite "oldies" -- having a fit over missing the beginning of The 5th Dimension's "Aquarius" and asking my mother whether she thought I should keep the recording or dub over it and hope for another chance.

Many, many nights of doing homework at the desk in my bedroom and then tripping over my chair and bed to get to the radio's record button also come to mind.

I recorded songs off the radio into my college days. And to this day, I still have boxes full of those tapes.

Classic.