I grew up in Northern New Jersey, which last time I looked is slightly north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Yet thanks to my late great dad -- an early and vocal proponent of Jewgrass -- my first ever concert was seeing the still brilliant Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Carnegie...

I just read here that Representative Michele Bachmann is hosting a very special tea party at the Capitol today. I'm sure it will be a lovely affair, so I wanted to do my part and send along this playlist for Congress' hostess with the mostest.

TEA & THEATRE - The...

Rome wasn't built in a day, and apparently the United States won't be completely rebuilt in a year either. But here's to things at least "Getting Better."

GETTING BETTER - The Beatles
THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR - The Zombies
LET'S WAIT AWHILE - Janet Jackson
WISHIN'...

True baseball confession: I'm a recovering New York Yankees fan, now living in Los Angeles, but working for the next week or so in Nashville, Tennessee. In other words, I was on the verge of not even watching the World Series at all after that first lousy game. But then,...

Here are some tunes meant to encourage the Senator from the fine state of Aetna to change his mind about a public option and actually act independently of his insurance donors when it comes to fixing health care.

SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE - Roger Daltrey
POLITICAL WORLD...

Birth.

Marriage.

Parenthood.

Sure, those can all be fairly nice occasions, but when you come right down to it, does any other rite of passage in this Tweet life compare to the joy of getting your 1000th follower on Twitter? Thanks to Mr. Brad Paisley -- or...

Prosperity is not simply just around the corner; it's all over this playlist.

Here's to sticking around for the rising.

MOVE ON UP - Curtis Mayfield
NO DEPRESSION - Uncle Tupelo
IT'S MONEY THAT I LOVE - Randy Newman
WALL STREET SHUFFLE - 10CC

Take Jon & Kate Plus 8, then add aliens, reality TV and vomit. A recipe for disaster? Or another marginal reason for me to mention some good tunes?

WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY - The Ramones
LEARN TO FLY - Foo Fighters
FAMILY AFFAIR - Sly & The Family...

1) Don't crucify me, but sometimes it takes a Jew to make truly great Christmas music. Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" poolside at the Arizona Biltmore, and let's not forget about the classic A Christmas Gift For You by Phil Spector who won't be poolside anytime soon. This phenomenon is...

Congratulations, Mr. President. Seriously. Big fan. Big Prize. Still, here's a celebratory playlist that I really hope will inspire you to keep earning this glittering prize in the days and years to come.

EYES ON THE PRIZE - Bruce Springsteen
PEACE ON EARTH - U2
WAR...

I have always greatly admired David Letterman, and I consider him to be one of the most enduring and defining wits of our times. And no, I won't stop watching a TV show because consenting adults were having sex -- in fact, that's why I watch HBO. That said, David...

I like "Rosemary's Baby" as much as the next aging cineaste, but as a parent I must confess that I like actual babies even more. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe that kids should not be taken advantage of sexually -- even by a significant filmmaker. And so...

Kirk Cameron seems like a really nice guy. Unfortunately, the Artist Formerly Known as Mike Seaver seems like a really nice guy who's evolved into a willfully ignorant idiot. If you haven't seen the new and improved edition of Charles Darwin's "On The Origin of The Species" that Alan...

I love Kanye West. Seriously, I think Kanye West is one of the great popular artists of our times. So does Kanye West. That sort of supreme self-confidence -- and a certain careless genius for self-promotion -- helps explain why Kanye manages to get himself in high-profile trouble at award...

As a general rule of procedure, I don't waste much time making playlists for fools on the federal payroll. In the case of Representative Joe Wilson, I'll make an exception -- if only to try and shut up this loudmouth for at least a little while.

"Disorder in the House"...

The following is a series of increasingly desperate tweets for help this parent was forced to make during this frightening Labor Day weekend:

Help, an employed Harvard graduate and family man is trying to inspire my children!

Officer, I think I just spotted a former community organizer loitering near my...

Over the past few months, I have written many words about Michael Jackson -- and in that regard, I am not alone. Still, nothing I could ever write could possibly convey the transcendent and enduring beauty and power of the songs that this man sang in his lifetime. So here...

Living in the Hollywood Hills in recent days has felt like being heartbreakingly close to some surreal 24-hour disaster movie set. You turn a corner on Mulholland Drive and see crowds gathering with cameras around their necks and expressions of shock on their faces. Instead of "photographers" seeking to grab...

Senator Ted Kennedy loved to sing. And so it seems only fitting to make a playlist in memory of this singular American icon who did so much for so long to help so many. May he rest in peace, and may all the men and woman elected to be our...

Todd is God.

Sure, Eric Clapton may have been God first, but growing up in New Jersey in the Seventies, I somehow decided to buy American when it came to guitar gods. And so I began to worship Todd Rundgren, the brilliantly talented singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer-arranger and part-time cult superstar who remains...