Ace of Base: combine Swedish pop with a bit of reggae, and this ain't no Abba redux!

Aerosmith: The hard rock band keeps rockin', from the lows of drug use to born-again stardom today. Funny, though... I'm mostly fond of their their '70s stuff...

A Cappella: Nah, I can't do it, but I love the way it sounds. As a matter of fact, I've turned into a college a cappella junkie. Right now I have fifteen (!) favorite bands:

• The AllNighters, from Johns Hopkins University
• The Amalgamates, from Tufts University
• The Beelzebubs, from Tufts University
• The Brown Derbies, from Brown University
• The Buffalo Chips, from the University at Buffalo
• The Crosbys, from Binghamton University (get it? The Bing. Crosbys!)
• The Earth Tones, from the University at Albany
• The Georgetown Phantoms, from Georgetown University
• The Jabberwocks, from Brown University
• The Gentlemen, from the University of Michigan
• The Generics, from the University of Maryland
• Phalanx, from Elizabethtown College
• The Rusty Pipes, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• The Vocal Chords, from Johns Hopkins University
• The Xtension Chords, from the University of Illinois

The Beatles: Four kids from Liverpool who didn't care what Americans thought.

Boston: A twenty-year old band with only four albums, but every song rocks! One of the finest album-oriented rock records of all time -- their self-titled debut -- was created because of home-made demos: upfront guitar, powerful lead vocal with immaculate harmonies and heavy bass and drums. Two years later they repeated the formula with Don't Look Back. They returned seven years later with Third Stage which spawned two further US hit singles.

David Bowie: He's the first truly post-modernist star. His continuous reinvention leads to constant creativity in music and society...

Jim Brickman: simple and gentle melodies, signature piano solos, distinctive compositions...

The Cars: they have never deviated from writing catchy, well-crafted songs, each containing at least one memorable and instantly hummable riff.

Harry Chapin: my favorite folk singer... my God rest his philanthropic heart.

Mary-Chapin Carpenter: Her lyrics seem to capture something you have always tried to say. Her reassuring warm voice touch upon real life experiences. My fiancée Chrissy refers to it as "Country Music That Doesn't Suck."

Chicago: Mainstream pop and light-rock with a wonderful horn section. I liked them better with Peter Cetera... especially their 1970s stuff as well... but I'm a sucker for brass and harmony.

Collective Soul: This Georgia quintet combines strong, hook-laden pop rock songs with harmony and simplicity... that's an equation for mainstream success.

The Corrs: Called "modern with an Irish influence", these three sisters and a brother have succeeded in progressing traditional Irish music and taking it into the realms of contemporary pop. It's rock guitar, tin whistle, drumset and violin... lyrical and mystical, strong melodies and sweet harmonies...

Def Leppard: Thanks goes to my sister Stephanie for getting me hooked on this band. Tragedy and excess has seemed to define Def Leppard, but they kept coming back and entertaining us. (Nine hands? Seven hands?)

Doctor Demento: The only radio show that plays the silliest songs. It's where "Weird" Al Yankovic got his big break.

Duran Duran: This romantic UK pop group eventually revealed songwriting substance behind the hype. Their gloriously catchy pop songs led to teen idol status. Ah, fond memories of lip-synching The Reflex in 1984...

The Eagles and Don Henley: Who knew that two members of the Eagles are from cities I've lived in?

Glenn Frey is a native Detroiter, and Don Felder was born an raised in Gainesville, Florida.

Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo: Elfman's compositional skills ranged from the synthesizer-and-horn pieces for Oingo Boingo (replete with grandiose vocals and lyrical themes) to creative soundtrack work. Creativity is alive and well in the strange and twisted mind of Mr. Elfman... I love it.

Enya: Warm, ambient, embracing... good study music.

Fleetwood Mac: One of the most commercially successful rock groups of all time, the Americans provided easy and memorable compositions with smooth harmonies, while the British contingent gave the group its edge and power. Dramatic and remarkable songs confirmed a perfect balance for popular music.

Foreigner and Lou Gramm: Unfortunately pigeonholed as the purveyors of the epic album-oriented rock song, their subtle brand of rock led to two successful albums by lead singer Lou Gramm.

Peter Gabriel: He creates introspective, experimental music; he incorporates many non-Western ideas into his songs. After seven years fronting Genesis, he tired of the group format and went solo in 1975; "Solsbury Hill" is a metaphorical account of his split from Genesis. Throughout the 80s, he got into world music and became heavily involved in Amnesty International.

Genesis and Phil Collins: Popular music for the masses for twenty years.

Hall & Oates: rock n' roll plus Philadelphia soul equals commercial success in the 1980s.

Bruce Hornsby: Virginia river boy goes to Miami for a music schoolin', lands a number one hit as his first release. Not bad!

Information Society: Think! Hack! This is not art!

INXS: Influenced by black dance music, this Australian band's success can be attributed to an unchanged line-up from the beginning, the good looks of lead singer Michael Hutchence, unstinting touring schedules, a variety of songwriters in the band, and consistently good and fresh production with the help of a new producer for each album.

Janet Jackson: She performed with her family, and more television experience eventually led to albums... that went multi-platinum. She became the first artist in history to have culled from one album seven Top 5 singles in the Billboard chart.

Michael Jackson: He has spent almost his entire life in the public eye -- as a performer or a freak, increasingly portrayed as a figure trapped in an eternal childhood. The child star-turned-performer in The Wiz led to Thriller in 1982, which became one of the most successful albums of all time. In the 1990s, he became an almost mythical figure and misunderstood musical genius.

Billy Joel: A classically-trained pianist from Long Island, The Piano Man has had an extreme life of music. His image as a popular, uncontroversial figure was shaken with The Nylon Curtain, which remains as his favorite album. I saw him in concert in Albany in 1999, and he puts on a wonderful and entertaining show -- although I was in the nosebleed seats.

Elton John: As the 1970s progressed, he became a superstar. At one stage between 1972 and 1975 he had seven consecutive Number One albums. One of pop's most newsworthy figures, he openly admitted his bisexuality and personal insecurities at a time when the world (especially America) didn't want to know. I saw him in concert in 1990 in Miami. He puts on a great show.

Journey: Highly sophisticated pomp rock is featured on Infinity, which went platinum. Most of their studio releases were technically excellent and clinically produced. The songwriting ability of Jonathan Cain added a new dimension to the band's sound; the result, Escape, represented the pinnacle of the band's success, reaching number one and staying in the chart for over a year. Their next album, Frontiers stayed at number two for nine weeks. They pioneered the rock ballad with Open Arms. Everyone else is a pretender.

King Missile: rock music, spoken lyrics... silly, Zappa-esque, novel...

"they sound like a dictionary being rammed through a shredder while the band rocks out in the basement below."

Kenny Loggins: Rock ballads are his specialty. During the 1980s, Loggins came to prominence as a writer and performer of theme songs for the new breed of Hollywood action movies.

Led Zeppelin: I'll never forget playing tug-of-war for South III during Tolbert Mudfest in 1994 at the University of Florida dorms while When The Levee Breaks plays...

Huey Lewis and the News: They've been defying the rock oddsmakers for nearly two decades. Their contagious brand of straight-ahead rock n' roll has outlasted countless trends. They've carried the banner as the quintessential American rock band, fanning the flames of rock n' roll's more spirited roots. Their only formula has been to perform and record with sweat on their brow, and their heart and soul firmly planted on their sleeves.

Madonna: She influenced music, fashion, fame, and a string of unwatchable movies... but ya can't blame a Michigan girl for trying...

Richard Marx: Gutsy and danceable rock n' roll, and a new breed of love songs.

matchbox 20: Romanticized alienations around folky, roots-inflected rock tunes. Melancholy and embittered, and yet upbeat and raw...

Sarah McLachlan: I guess attending Lilith Fair in July 1998 solidified my enjoyment of her music. Soothing, sensual, lyrical...

John Mellencamp: The famed small town boy from Indiana wrote songs that changed the face of popular music. His songs are too real. He spends most of his time with his family and old high school friends. He said, "I was driving back from the Indianapolis airport with a friend on a highway elevated 40 feet over the ground, looked down and saw an old guy sitting in his backyard in front of a pink house with a dog in his arms staring up at me with this real contented smile on his face. It was obvious that he thought he'd really made it in life. But there he was with a six-lane highway running through his backyard..."

Pat Metheny Group: Soft jazz. Like Enya, it's good study music. My favorite? Last Train Home.

Robert Palmer: Britain's leading "blue-eyed soul" singer has served a musical apprenticeship over four decades in which time he has participated in many different styles of music: experimental jazz rock, rhythm and blues, and catchy, super-slick songs with instant appeal.

October Project: haunting lyrics, multi-leveled musical arangements, stunning harmony, and the deep, rich, other-worldly voice of Mary Fahl. It's a damned shame the band broke up.

Tom Petty: The Gainesville native makes good, playing good old-fashioned rock n' roll.

The Police and Sting: The Police had a heavily reggae-influenced minimalist pop sound with profound lyrics. Some say it was better to have produced five excellent albums than a massive catalogue of indifferent collections. They never out-stayed their welcome, and thus will always be fondly remembered. After the band split up, Sting became an eventual international success as a solo artist.

Queen: the show must go on.

R.E.M.: Forming at the University of Georgia in 1980, their following as the most important alternative band grew through the 1980s. Their lyrics began to take more of a political bent as well. Green brought them greenbacks, Out of Time were different-sounding love songs, Automatic For The People took a quiet look inward and used interesting instruments, and then they went back to their guitar roots in creating a Monster.

The Rolling Stones: I saw them in concert at the Swamp in Gainesville in 1994, and they were awesome.

I don't care if Keith Richards is primarily responsible for the economic resurgence of Colombia.

Rush: Featuring the best drummer on the planet, Neil Peart.

I'll never forget their rendition of the Canadian national anthem during the 1992 World Series... very creative.

Bruce Springsteen: The Boss. More sensitive in his music than you might think... like Streets of Philadelphia and This Hard Land.

Steely Dan: Kid Charlemagne foreshadowed a lot about society...

Styx: This Chicago-based quintet are widely believed to be responsible for the development of pomp-rock: pompous, overblown arrangements, with perfect-pitch harmonies and a full production). Combining symphonic and progressive influences, they released a series of varied and highly melodic albums during the early 1970s.

They Might Be Giants: Intelligent and quirky pop gave the band a considerable cult reputation. MTV picked up on their quirky visual appeal in the late 1980s. With wry and perverse lyrics, they struck an immediate chord with college radio. Flood showcased their obtuse lyrical approach, contrasting several diverse influences. (Particle Man!)

George Thorogood & The Destroyers: bad to the bone...

Toto: My favorite album is The Seventh One, but I also like their more popular stuff as well...

U2: This Irish band sadly got more American (read: flashy and materialistic) as time progressed... but they did sing about positive things, like peace, love, and happiness...

Van Halen: The band establishes its own rules, and then breaks them at will.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: A magnificent ambassador for the blues, who died just as the gettin' was good. This great blues guitarist honed his style on his brother's hand-me-down guitars. His albums showed the influence of Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Otis Rush and Lonnie Mack. His posthumous reputation continues to increase.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: the original world-famous parody artist.

XTC: This band from Swindon, Wiltshire, England, writes wonderful songs like "The Mayor of Simpleton" and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead."

Yes: I can feel no sense of measure, no illusion as we take refuge in this man's pleasure, breaking down the dreams we made...

ZZ Top: Formed in Houston, this trio was a southern boogie band until they began to draw from delta music and high energy rock. After incorporating more technology into their music, they released Eliminator, arguably their defining album. Fueled by a series of tongue-in-cheek videos, it provided several international hits -- simple yet enormously infectious songs. The group skilfully combined computer technology with their barrelhouse R&B to create a memorable set, establishing them as one of the world's leading live attractions. Whether by plan or chance, they are destined to end every music encyclopedia.

Eventually I will put on these pages a listing of my personal music library, which I call The Favorites. Essentially, it's over fifty tapes of my favorite music. Some of the artists listed above are featured in the library.

I'm somewhat of a drummer, albeit one in need of re-training. I haven't played for six years. I do some air-drumming (substitutng two pencils for the sticks I can't seem to find) to songs I know and love, especially when I need to stay awake or re-energize.