1996 Top Ten

10. Lyle Lovett's Road to Ensenada: Wit humor and charm can go a long way- even get Julia Roberts to fall in and out of love with you. Four great songs, That's Right You're Not from Texas, Long Tall Texan, I Can't Love You Anymore, and my personal theme song, Don't Touch My Hat. "If it's her you want, I don't care about that. You can have my girl but don't touch my hat."

9. Joan Jett's Love Is All Around: Mary comes to the big town, all on her own now. She conquers that town with her pluck and charm ("Kid you have spunk... I hate SPUNK.") The energy in Jett's performance of Mary's theme makes this the song of the year. A cry of defiance, of independence and of self reliance all from a 1970's TV theme song.

8. Bob Dylan and Patti Smith Dark Eyes: An exquisite duet from December 15, 1995 in Philadelphia from two of music's most intriguing artists. Their voices intertwine and dance around the enigmatic words, "...oh time is short and the days are sweet, and passion rules the arrow that flies. A million faces at my feet and all I see are dark eyes..." Not exactly a polished performance but anyone wanting polish from either of these two is missing the point.

7. Mike, Kim and Alex: Our favorite family and they're merely a cartoon. Mike Doonesbury, whose wife recently left him to pursue her career in performance art, starts dating a young coworker. The person in control of it all however is his young daughter Alex. The best Doonesbury bit in years.

6. Frances McDormand in Fargo: A lot of people I talked to didn't like this movie. They didn't see the point and certainly we in Minnesota aren't the rubes portrayed. Well there have been many times over the years during the coldest moments of the winter, slip sliding around and having to deal with terminal cheerfulness and its sometimes cousin, ignorance, where I just wanna scream, seriously questioning my own sanity for living in this state. Frances McDormand was absolutely hilarious as the sheriff. Beneath the "you betchas" and "oh shures" was a patient, competent if not brilliant Minnesota public servant. Good enough for me.

5. Murder One: The end last year was a disappointment as a bit player was found to be the guilty party. Then they really sold out by firing the show's soul, Daniel Benzali, and revamping it not to be just about one case but three or four. Still the show has its wonderful pacing, writing and a good new lead in Anthony Lapaglia. Sometimes it is so good it makes you realize how bad most of the rest of network television is.

4. Barry Manilow's Live By Request: Looking back to my so called life back in junior high everything seems like a big blur. And the blurriest moment of all was during gym class and the swimming unit. To pass we were required to swim nine laps. Not exactly being the buoyant type I absolutely dreaded the thought of jumping into a pool of freezing water, not being able to see two feet in front of my face and trying to get from one end of the pool to the other nine freaking times. The only stroke I had any confidence in was the backstroke so it took me all period to finish my laps as the others darted around me as if I was swimming in jello. The only comfort through this nightmare? In the background Barry Manilow belted out Can't Smile Without You. Now I know it ain't exactly cool to be a Barry Manilow fan, but somehow that song saved me from drowning in more ways than one. Barry had a recent A & E special where callers could phone in requests and he would play them. It was like being in a bar with a he's so bad he's good performer. The caller would request a song and Barry would say to each and every one, "That one's so special to me... it's one of my favorites..." I can't think of a better job than being a lounge piano player and playing Barry Manilow songs all night. Another career change?

3. Kirby Puckett's retirement press conference: I got home after a stressful drive, turned on the TV, saw Kirby sitting behind a table with a bunch of microphones and an eye patch. It was classic Kirby and it made me cry. "I don't want all you kids who prayed for me to think that this means God doesn't answer prayers..." A bitter sweet good-bye, a big loss of cheerful exuberance for baseball.

2. Paul Westerberg's Eventually: They say this guy used to be in a band that was pretty good. Well I don't know about that, but this CD showed the guy has a career in front of him. Love Untold is a classic. "Does anyone recall the saddest love of all, is one that lets you fall... nothing to hold." Can someone please tell me if his old band created music this good?

1. Suzanne Vega's Nine Objects of Desire: I never used to like Vega's music, too studied, sounding more like an English major than a song writer. Her last CD (1992's 99.9F) changed all that however. As strong a song cycle as there is, that CD still gets plenty of time in my music rotation. Nine Objects of Desire isn't quite as consistent but it shows a pleasant continuing growth of an artist who has much to say in such a different way. It's one of the few concept CD's that works completely, examining the many different sides of love. The second song kicks in with the great opening line, "The sign said head shots..." and goes on to create a mood and atmosphere seldom strived for in popular music. "It's strange how a shadow can fall across the wall, and make the difference in what you see."