The record always spins on the trails we blaze

For those that know me, you know that I've never really been a big sports guy - the only sports I really follow are UFC and a little bit of college basketball. Sure I keep up with the Royals and Chiefs so I can relate to conversations at work, but I'm not passionate about sports like a lot of guys. My passion has always been music. I've always enjoyed listening to and learning about all types of music, from pop to rock to country to rap - you name it.

I've always got music playing around me - at my desk at work, while exercising, driving in the car, and at home. I've been known many times to have music playing while watching TV (the TV has closed captioning on). I can remember when I was young listening to the radio with my Dad in his car and at home and hearing music from such artists/bands as Steve Winwood, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Ronnie Milsap and Bachman Turner Overdrive. I never did really listen to kids music per say, and I appreciate that I was exposed to real music so early in life. I've tried to do the same with my son; he listens to children’s CD's with his grandmother and at school, but when he's in my car he listens to whatever I'm listening to. He already has favorite songs he requests to hear - "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, "Sedated" by the Ramones, "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Don't Stand So Close to Me" by the Police, and "Pokerface" by Lady Gaga. Andersen's mix isn't too bad.

I'm always curious as to what music other people are listening to as well - it's always fun to trade iPods with others to see what they have in their playlist. I routinely check iTunes music store to catch the new Celebrity Playlists and read the descriptions from the celebrities as to why they picked each song for their playlist. To me, people's music choices say a lot about who they are and where they're coming from.

Because of my appreciation for and interest in of all types of music, I've always liked listening to and watching DJ's perform. I think it's fun to see what songs are being mixed together, and how the DJ transitions from one song to another (by the way, I know this sounds snobby, but if you're not mixing songs together to have a constant beat/mix, then you're not a DJ; you're just a guy with a playlist hooked up to a speaker system. I'm sorry, but just selecting music and playing it in a certain order doesn't make you a DJ – an iPod could do your job). The last time we were in Vegas we hung out one night by the DJ booth at a club and watched the DJ's perform for hours. I've always been amazed when DJ's have the skills to transition songs smoothly and keep the party going without interruption.

With all of that said, I am sincerely saddened by the sudden death of DJ AM. I was shocked when I read online last Friday evening that he was found dead in his apartment because I've been a big fan of his for some time. I felt like I could relate to him because he was a white guy in his mid-thirties whose musical taste spanned genres, like mine. I know this is going to sound really corny, but I followed his Twitter activity, I've seen all of his videos on YouTube multiple times, I downloaded his mixes when they were released, and I also frequented his website (www.djam.com) for updates and to check his performance schedule. Checking his Twitter page and searching YouTube for new DJ AM videos was part of my nightly internet ritual. To me he was the best performance DJ out there and was levels above other professional DJ's. He was the celebrity that I would’ve liked to have been if I could trade lives with anyone. His DJ skills were ridiculous; from his mash-ups to his seamless transitions, he played songs that the average person would recognize and he made it fun. It's fair to say that I had a man crush on DJ AM. He obviously had issues in his personal life, but that shouldn't take away from his incredible talent at his profession. It's sad that someone so talented will be regarded by the public as a B-list celebrity who died of an overdose and will be forgotten quickly.

I encourage everyone who likes music to listen to one of DJ AM's mixes (Fix Your Face vol 1 is good - I had it as a Song/Album of the day previously) or watch a video of him on YouTube (here's one of him performing at Rain nightclub at the Palms in Vegas) to see how good he was at his job.


Song of the day: "Digital Love" by Daft Punk from their Discovery album. This is the same album that had the tracks "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (sampled by Kanye West for his "Stronger" hit) and "One More Time" on it. DJ AM was known to use at least one Daft Punk track in every one of his mixes. This Daft Punk song has lyrics and the melody is catchy.