RIP George Carlin

One of the best comedians ever.

Jerry Seinfeld, as quoted on Larry King Live tonight, "He's definitely one of the Mt. Rushmore guys in our profession."

'nuff said.

Top 5?

OK.

It's cliche, but someone on a messageboard I frequent has dusted off the "pick your top 5 albums EVER" conversation topic.

It's perfectly neurotic in a John Cusack kinda of way (circa "High Fidelity")... but I was intrigued.

Here were the ground rules...

I know its been done many times before but im bored ...so... some RULES, only 5! these have to be your absolute 5 fav albums ever!!! if you were stuck listening to these the rest of your life.. GO...

This was my own gut response... I spent maybe 2 minutes on it. After looking at the list, I'm wondering if "gut response" is sometimes "best response". I'm not sure I could knock any of these off if I spent 2 hours on this!

Of course, no particular order...

The Who - "Who's Next"

The Replacements - "Pleased To Meet Me"

Guided By Voices - "Alien Lanes"

The Byrds - "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"

Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On"

RIP Bo Diddley

RIP Bo Diddley... (snippet from CNN.com)

"This distinctive, African-based ... rhythm pattern (which goes bomp-bomp-bomp bomp-bomp) was picked up by other artists and has been a distinctive and recurring element in rock 'n' roll through the decades," according to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Guitarist George Thorogood, a Diddley disciple, put it more bluntly.

"[Chuck Berry's] 'Maybellene' is a country song sped up," Thorogood told Rolling Stone in 2005. " 'Johnny B. Goode' is blues sped up. But you listen to 'Bo Diddley,' and you say, 'What in the Jesus is that?' "

Among the artists who made use of the Bo Diddley beat were Buddy Holly ("Not Fade Away," later covered by the Rolling Stones), Johnny Otis ("Willie and the Hand Jive"), the Yardbirds (covering Diddley's "I'm a Man" and adding their own guitar stylings to the closing bars, which were later incorporated into the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction"), the Strangeloves ("I Want Candy"), Bruce Springsteen ("She's the One"), U2 ("Desire") and George Michael ("Faith").