What album or albums hit you so hard, from left field even, that musically, you were never ever the same again? This may have happened more than once in your life, if you like music as much as I do, I'm sure it has.... What rocked your world?

1. "Hot Buttered Soul" - Issac Hayes: First Soul album I ever heard that wasn't just a collection of singles. There were no singles on this album to speak of. You just had to listen and go through it. Albums as concepts were rare in the R&B genre at that time. Groundbreaking at least for a kid from the projects raised on '45's.

2. "Kind of Blue" - Miles Davis: From this, I discovered what my uncles were always arguing about when Miles left Bop for Cool. Opened my eyes.

3. "Gonna Take a Miracle" - Laura Nyro and LaBelle: Discovered that there was more "blue eyed soul" out there than just the Righteous Brother's. I also learned you didn't have to write a song to define a song. This album is still in my rotation.

4. "What's Going On?" - Marvin Gaye: Who says soul couldn't be relevant and speak to the worlds problems. Who say's Motown was just for dancing and romancing. Still in my heavy rotation.

5. "The Last Poets" - The Last Poets - Rap before there was rap, scorching, political and sadly still relevant today.

6. "Free Will" - Gil Scott Heron - A contemporary of the Last Poets Mr. Scott was/is a prophet without honor in his own land. Showed me that records can be intensely politcal and personal all at the same time.

7. "Band of Gypsies" - Jimi Hendrix - Hey, this is what all they were talking about. He does that live? But how can he.

There are other's but I'll leave that for a later day...

Da Worfster