With few exceptions practically every artist I've ever listed on my year end best of lists are "indie" but I'm going here by artists that record for independent labels, not "indie" as a classification of a musical style. I also narrow my year end best of lists down to 10, how do you know those artists that didn't make the cut aren't "indie" as you define it? I know of one very notable exception right off the top of my head (though I'm sure there's more) which is Nada Surf. Again, I'm not sure what any of this has to do with the topic of this thread, it's only more of your meaningless and self-serving nitpicking which grows increasingly tiresome with each one of your posts.

I'm not surprised to see Joe there at all. He knows there's money to be made whether or not Henley is a hypocrite. I just hope he sees fit to do more work with The James Gang during the Eagles' downtime, something he has already positively commented on.

Prior to Sammy, Patty Smyth of Scandal was under consideration for the lead singer slot in Van Halen. I can't help but wonder what direction they would have gone in with a female singer out front. As for Sammy, I don't think he was ever considered to be some sort of David Lee Roth type person onstage or was expected to somehow follow in Dave's footsteps as an over the top frontman in the same way Dave was. If anything, I gathered they (Ed and Alex particularly) had had enough of Dave's antics and fully expected to reign in that aspect of Van Halen by hiring someone like Hagar who had a history of being a dynamic frontman both in his solo career and with Montrose. If they were looking for "David Lee Roth, Jr." they went with the wrong guy. As for the Hagar era of Van Halen not compromising musically, I have to disagree there as they most certainly did and on nearly all fronts. With Hagar out front they gave in to the formulaic radio sound of the time and became known more for their ballads than their rockers, something which could never be said of DLR-era Van Halen.

I have never said I don't like "indie" but I will agree it's one of those terms that's not easily defined. Since you're the resident "indie snob" I figured you would at least have something to offer in regards to the accuracy of the article.

http://www.thewvsr.com/ugliest.htm

Even though I'm more a fan of the Roth years than the Hagar years I think it does matter. As for who "fitted" (sic) them best, that is a matter of opinion. I think both are great frontmen but Dave's image is the one most fans associate them with since that's where the roots of Van Halen lie, in the Dave years. Prior to bringing Hagar into the fold they were already beginning to alter their sound to fit commercial radio, thus the introduction of keyboards into their sound and their biggest success yet with Jump. By naming Hagar as their new lead singer they only continued to follow this direction by making keyboards a more prominent fixture of their sound and by penning more songs with "love" in the title. Without Hagar they may have very well slipped into obscurity. Instead, with the streamlining of their sound, they enjoyed the biggest success they had enjoyed so far in their careers. The real travesty right now is that Edward Van Halen won't put his childishness aside long enough to allow Michael Anthony back into the band.

I think it's kind of strange that a band so outspoken about corporate greed has signed a deal with Wal-Mart for distribution of their new album. As for the Eagles themselves, I like some of their stuff but over the last decade or so they have really started to rub me the wrong way (particularly Henley), especially in the area of ticket pricing. Before they mounted their Hell Freezes Over Tour no artists were charging the outrageous amount of money they were for tickets. Ever since then most every band under the sun has reunited and charged that much (and more) for tickets. It also has not gone unnoticed that this Eagles reunion tour was supposed to be a one shot deal, thus Henley justifying the high ticket costs. Well, last I checked the Hell Freezes Over Tour has lasted over 10 years. In all fairness they should now lower ticket costs, especially since it appears they are back together. Think that's really gonna happen? Not really but it just goes to show how greedy they actually are. In all honesty I'd much rather see Walsh solo or with the reformed version of The James Gang.

Thoughts on David Enloe from local writer Rick Cornell as posted to the blog section of local publication The Independent: http://www.indyweekblogs.com/scan/tip-o-th...enloe-1956-2007 NC Rock Star: David Enloe, 1956-2007 In the early ’90s—and by many accounts, in years prior—David Enloe and the rest of the Woods owned the Brewery, and they owned Saturday night. Over the next couple of days much will be written about David, who passed away early Tuesday from complications related to liver disease, by those who played alongside him and loved him like a brother. Not having the privilege of knowing David, my perspective comes from out in the crowd. The Woods were this transplant’s first favorite North Carolina band. Their sound was a Southern-accented mix of Stones, Faces, and more Stones, with a hints of Minneapolis (it’s not for nothing that their It’s Like This was released on Twin/Tone). Sealing the deal, they covered “Can’t Hardly Wait.” My initial exposure to the Woods came courtesy of a whole bunch of those Brewery shows, and I’d eventually follow them to Chapel Hill’s La Terrazza, a coffee shop on Main Street in Carrboro, that big-ass Mexican restaurant in Cary with the patio stage, and other places that also no longer exist. The Woods guys truly shared the stage; everybody wrote and sang. Still, the spotlight seemed to favor David. He was the most charismatic, the most rock-star. Finding myself behind him and some friends waiting in line for a show at Raleigh’s Rialto one evening, I marveled as he held court by, among other things, doing a Homey the Clown routine–it being the heyday of “In Living Color” and all. I remember thinking to myself, “He’s even a natural frontguy on the sidewalk.” It’s not completely true that I didn’t know David. I got to meet him a couple years back when the Woods visited my WXDU radio program before a reunion show at Cat’s Cradle. At that station, he commented on an article he’d just read about the Avett Brothers. Turns out that I wrote the article, and when I made a lame joke about it, David was gracious enough to offer a genuine chuckle. Then he and Terry Anderson, Jack Cornell, and Jamie Hoover gathered around one microphone and sang a few Woods songs, and it was suddenly 1990. Wish a tape had been running.

Perhaps but it did bring them the biggest success of their career.

When they chose Hagar it was never their intention for him to become a DLR clone so none of what you're saying makes any sense. That said, I prefer the David Lee Roth years myself. I also like some of what they did with Hagar. Unfortunately with Hagar in the lineup they also got much closer to a commercial rock sound that came too close to that of Journey for my liking on more than one occasion.

Nice observation but that's not what the article is about.

How many of them have you actually heard?

Place your vote here.

From The Los Angeles Times Internet-savvy world traveler M.I.A. leads a new wave of music. Guillaume Baptiste / AFP/Getty Images As pop music wrestles again with the divisive issues of gender and race, don't overlook the cross-cultural standouts. By Ann Powers, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer The debate over how racial identity is expressed in popular music is a crucial one; one might even say that pop itself is a debate over how race is expressed. A new round of this always-necessary conversation is unfurling, causing heated discussion among avid music fans. It started in October, when New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones published an essay lamenting the lack of African American influence in indie rock. Carl Wilson countered in Slate, suggesting that class, not race, is the dividing point. Now David Brooks has written a New York Times op-ed piece, based around a conversation with E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt, blaming technologically driven social fragmentation for isolating musicians, causing historical amnesia and resulting in music that "stinks." These pundits raise many valid and troubling points. It's tempting to just join in, starting by gently noting the irony of three well-published, white, upper-middle class men leading an argument about race and class. Then there's gender: Frere-Jones' description of his musical ideal as "miscegenation" -- a word choice he's said was deliberate and appropriate -- raises serious issues about sexual violence and racial objectification that stretch all the way back to slavery and can't just be put aside in the paragraph or two they've been granted in this debate. But first, a practical intervention. Frere-Jones has claimed that what's happening right now doesn't negate the historical arc he's described. That's fair. But his piece is being read in the present tense, when in fact indie rock right now, like pop in general, is strikingly hybridized. This cross-fertilization is one of the most positive aspects of pop today. It's been renewed by a love of dancing, cross-cultural collaborations forged on the Web, and the ever-growing diversity of fans themselves. Here are several artists, among the many, who are making it happen. (In addition to Ann Powers, the following contributions are from staff writers Richard Cromelin, Randy Lewis, Todd Martens, Margaret Wappler, August Brown and Charlie Amter.) M.I.A. Living the complexities of race and gender, women in hip-hop always occupy multiple positions. Internet-savvy world traveler M.I.A. leads a new wave. She's the most political of a bunch that includes Philly upstart Santogold and Kanye protégé Kid Sister, but simply by existing, these ladies redefine the game. (A.P.) Devendra Banhart. He's typecast as the driving force of an international psychedelic folk scene, but the many songs he's written and recorded en español are a reminder that he's half Venezuelan (thanks, mom!) and spent most of his preteen years in Caracas. And his latest album includes clear homages to some of his favorite African-rooted music, such as doo-wop, Jamaican mento and bluebeat, and even some Jackson 5-style Motown. (R.C.) Ozomatli. You need look no further than East L.A. to find a thoroughly invigorating band that fuses rock with Latin, Caribbean, funk and soul. Ozomatli has practically become the house band at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's been common during the group's opening slots for high-powered headliners to see tens of thousands of people hearing the group for the first time getting caught up in its irresistible fusion. (R.L.) Gogol Bordello. This New York-based band recasts the music of the Roma people within a kitchen-sink blend of rock, ska, reggae and more that they call "gypsy punk." With Israeli, Russian and Roma members, Gogol Bordello's music reflects the immigrant experience as it's unfolded from Ellis Island to the outer boroughs and suburbs of today's America. (A.P.) Rodrigo y Gabriela. Not officially an indie-rock act, but what could be more independent than playing heavy metal infused with Latin rhythms on acoustic guitars. The Mexican couple, together since their teens, did their apprenticeship busking in Dublin, Ireland, where they're still based. Now, they're packing in crowds who scream in wonder at their Metallica covers and originals inspired by every guitar tradition on Earth. (A.P.) Beck. Indie big brother Beck paved the way for goofy style-rappers Gray Kid and the Cool Kids but on some of his albums, his cultural mash-ups produce some uncomfortable moments. Who doesn't cringe when the white Scientologist adopts the cholo accent? But if not for him, most hipsters wouldn't have Os Mutantes or Caetano Veloso on their iPods. (M.W.) Zoë/Kinky. Pop's "Latin explosions" have come and gone, but bands like Zoë and Kinky, from Mexico City, point to a different future. Zoë takes cues from Brit-pop bands such as the Stone Roses; Kinky's house beats, rock guitars and jubilant brass meld into a pan-cultural party-starter. Both bands sing in Spanish, play stadiums in Latin America -- and remain obscure to Anglo audiences stateside. But let's be real: U.S. audiences are growing more Latin every day. (A.B.) Bloc Party. Brit-pop-obsessed Americans' latest favorite band looks more like modern London than the all-white lineups of '90s-bred bands such as Oasis or Pulp. Led by Kele Okereke, a Liverpool-born offspring of Nigerian parents, the multicultural band has fans from all over the musical spectrum, though its sound is distinctly alternative rock. (C.A.) Lily Allen. The sounds Allen embraced on her debut album, "Alright, Still," were so unexpected that this young petite singer caught the music world by surprise. She employs a coolly delicate hip-hop sensibility and takes her rhythmic cues from U.K. ska bands such as the Specials. There's a relaxed, almost lounge-like flow to her music, but a drum 'n' bass influence is always around the corner. (T.M.) Calexico. Joey Burns, John Convertino and an ever-shifting band of friends straddle not only the U.S.-Mexico border but lots of other ones too. Their sunbaked rock is like wandering into a small desert town's thrift store -- lots of bright curios, old surfboards and everything covered in dust. On any of the group's six albums, Calexico mixes Mariachi, fado, surf and Esquivel-style space-age dynamics. (M.W.) Spoon. It's hard to picture a band that could be any whiter than Spoon -- a pasty indie rock quartet from Austin, Tex. Known for minimal guitar parts and the slashing vocals of Britt Daniel, Spoon discovered a groove on its last two albums. When Daniel titles a song "Black Like Me," he's talking about his soul, and soul bleeds through its current sound. (T.M.) CSS. These wild Brazilian kids know that the best kind of party music is made with everything but the kitchen sink -- and even that you should probably rip off the wall and throw in too. On Cansei De Ser Sexy's debut album, they frolic through disco, metal and art-rock, applying layers of trash and sleaze, dropping in bits of Portuguese and references to Paris Hilton. One of the leading lights of the indie dance movement. (M.W.) Fall Out Boy. When Fall Out Boy let Jay-Z open the group's 2007 album "Infinity on High," the move smacked of a bid by the former underground emo act to conquer Top 40. It probably was, but these suburban pop-punk kids have a hip-hop affection that runs deeper than their business smarts. The single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" had a rhythm that bounced like a Timbaland song, and the act turned to R&B superstar Babyface to produce two songs on "Infinity." (T.M.) Björk. With her cupid-bow lips and big marble eyes, Björk looks like a manga character, one who delights in kicking down genre and cultural walls. In her long, sparkling career, the Icelander has co-written a song for Madonna, collaborated with Timbaland, Matmos, a Japanese string octet and an all-female Icelandic choir. (M.W.) Burial. There are no reliable photographs of the human being behind Burial, the reclusive UK dubstep producer who barely gives interviews and has yet to reveal any specifics of race, sex or the possibility that Burial is a fictional character. Yet Burial's music, a hazily minimalist blend of dub reggae, robotic pitch- shifted soul, slowed-down jungle and ambient static, perfectly encapsulates a modern Lon- don where different anxious races, classes and cultures are thrust together amid the post-industrial rust and rain. (A.B.) Apollo Heights. There may be no stereotypically whiter genre of music than shoegaze. The very name implies staring at expensive effects pedals through art-damaged haircuts instead of, you know, dancing. But the line between My Bloody Valentine and race-mixing English rave culture is a thin one, and self-described "soulgazers" Apollo Heights blurs it completely. Consisting of five black men and one black woman, Apollo Heights pairs the gang-falsetto vocals of TV on the Radio with the trebly crunch of Ride or Slowdive. (A.B.)

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20071128/D8T6OFE00.html By KWANG-TAE KIM SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - An exploding cell phone battery is suspected by police in the death of a South Korean worker Wednesday, though the phone's manufacturer said it was highly unlikely. The man, identified only by his family name Suh, was found dead at his workplace in a quarry Wednesday morning and his mobile phone battery was melted in his shirt pocket, a police official in Cheongwon told The Associated Press. "We presume that the cell phone battery exploded," the police official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way. Kim Hoon, a doctor who examined the body, agreed. "He sustained an injury that is similar to a burn in the left chest and his ribs and spine were broken," Yonhap news agency quoted Kim as saying. "It is presumed that pressure caused by the explosion damaged his heart and lungs, leading to his death." Kim was not immediately available for comment. Police said the phone was made by South Korea's LG Electronics Inc., the world's fifth-biggest handset maker. An LG official confirmed its product was involved in the accident but said the company would not comment directly on the incident because the cause was not confirmed. However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to company policy, said such a fatal explosion would be virtually impossible.

From Uncut RONNIE WOOD WORKING WITH THE FACES AGAIN Rolling Stone admits they are working on a project for 2008 Ronnie Wood took part in a brief Q+A session prior to a screening of his concert film, The First Barbarians: Live From Kilburn last night (November 23). During one answer, he admitted he was working on a Faces-related project. The Rolling Stone said: “I’m looking through about 5,000 hours of Faces footage. Stuff we shot on hand-held cameras, us messing around. It’s hopefully getting a release next year.” Wood’s comments add to speculation that the Faces might reform in 2008. There are already plans to release re-mastered editions of the band’s four studio albums, and UNCUT believes the surviving former members – Wood, Rod Stewart, keyboard player Ian MacLagan and drummer Kenny Jones – have recently been in negotiations to reform for live dates in 2008. The First Barbarians: Live From Kilburn is a concert film, a mix of colour and black and white footage, was shot in London in 1974 around the time Wood released his solo record, I’ve Got My Own Album To Do. The line up featured Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards on guitar alongside Ian MacLagan, session bassist Willie Weeks and Sly And The Family Stone drummer Andy Newark. Rod Stewart contributed backing vocals. The footage comes from Wood’s own archives and has been re-mastered by his son, Jesse. Wood, who earlier in the day had been signing copies of his autobiography Ronnie, spoke fondly of the concert and his relationship with Keith and Rod. On the subject of Keith’s rather dismal set of teeth, he joked: “Look at his railings. They look like a row of condemned buildings!” “Rod said to me about five minutes before we were going on stage: ‘You’re not going to sing, are you?’ I said: ‘It’s a bit late to start worrying about that now…’” The hour-long film is released as part of a CD/DVD package of The Last Barbarians” Live From Kilburn on Wood’s own label, Wooden. For more musings from Ronnie Wood at last night's screening, click here for the The View From here UNCUT blog. http://www.ronniewood.com

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/796627.html By David Menconi, Staff Writer RALEIGH - The weekend before Thanksgiving, Susan Trent looked at everyone gathered in her husband’s room at Capital Nursing and Rehabilitation. The crowd included notables from three decades of local music history — bands including Arrogance, Superchunk, The Right Profile and The Woods. “It looks like the Brewery in here,” Trent told her husband, David Enloe. The venerable music club on Hillsborough Street would have been a fitting gathering spot for this bunch. Enloe, the Woods/Fabulous Knobs guitarist, died early Tuesday morning of complications from liver disease, his wife and friends said. He was hospitalized for six weeks this fall, attracting a steady stream of visitors up until the end, some from far away. Bob Davis is on the road working for R&B singer R. Kelly nowadays. But 25 years ago, Davis was the Woods’ one-man road crew. So he rented a car in Washington, D.C., to drive down for a visit. Davis made it Monday night, just in time. “A whole family of musicians has show up over the past two weeks, to hug him or hold his hand,” said Terry Anderson, Enloe’s lifelong friend and bandmate. “Guys who were really influenced by David. It’s been kinda refreshing to see how much he meant to people. Everybody loved him and how talented he was, how great his songs were, how fun he was to hang around. It’s been cathartic.” Enloe and Anderson were both born on Christmas Day 1956 in the same hospital in Southern Pines. They met over music, playing recorders in a fourth-grade class at Raleigh’s Powell Elementary. By high school, Enloe and Anderson were jamming together and wishing they had a bass player. By the late ‘70s, they had hooked up with bassist Jack Cornell to form the core of the Fabulous Knobs — one of the most dynamic bands in the Triangle, thanks to lead singer Debra DeMilo. Numerous younger musicians in town found Enloe and the Knobs inspirational. Jeff Hart remembered a version the Knobs did of Smokey Robinson’s 1981 hit “Being With You,” set to the tune from the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden.” “He was definitely my guitar hero, the first guy I ever paid close attention to,” said Hart, leader of the Hanks and other local bands. “He was a very fluid guitar player, very sharp technically. Visually, he was just what you would imagine as a rock star — so cool in how he looked, dressed, played. I Know I wasn’t the only guitar player who bought a Telecaster because of him.” After the Fabulous Knobs dissolved in 1984, Enloe, Anderson and Cornell joined up with Dan Baird to form the Woodpeckers. Then Baird left to rejoin his old band, the Georgia Satellites, so the Woodpeckers continued on as the Woods. The Satellites had a hit single with a cover of the Anderson-penned Woodpeckers song “Battleship Chains” in 1987, the same year the Woods released their debut album, “It’s Like This.” But that would be the band’s only album. The Woods had some success as backup band for Marti Jones and Don Dixon (who both recorded Enloe songs for their albums). On their own, however, the band members had one frustrating record-label near-miss after another. The Woods finally called it quits in 1993, although they’ve continued playing together in other bands. Enloe lived for a time in Los Angeles and worked with blues-rock singer Sass Jordan. Then he lived in Minneapolis for six years with Trent, his third wife, who he first met 20 years earlier when she was tending bar at Cat’s Cradle. “I’ve known David forever, always had a crush on him,” Trent said. “Me and all the girls. That hair, you kiddin’ me? He was gorgeous! He was a Southerner through and through. We always called each other ‘Robbins’ and ‘Fuquay,’ because he was from Robbins and I’m from Fuquay-Varina. At the Bottom Line in New York one night, I was walking through in my cool black clothes with my hair messed up like we did in the ‘80s. And I hear from across the way, ‘Fuquay!’ ‘Oh my God, Robbins, you totally blew my cool!’” Unfortunately, Enloe had ongoing health issues. He never could stop drinking, even when his life depended on it. That led to his separation from Trent earlier this year. Enloe moved back to Raleigh in the spring, around the time his mother died. He was writing songs again and wanted to get another band going in Raleigh, but he fell ill before that could happen. “David was a classic, good-lookin’, hard-drinkin’, funny guy,” said Dixon. “But there was an underlying sadness, like a lot of funny guys. There was an unfulfilled something in there that you could feel. I think that’s what drove him not to take better care of himself.” Enloe’s death comes at a particularly trying time for Anderson, whose father is recovering from heart surgery. But Anderson’s annual birthday-party show is still set to happen Christmas night at the Pour House. Since that would have been Enloe’s 51st birthday, too, it’s sure to be an emotional night. “It will definitely be bittersweet,” said Cornell. “I really wish David could’ve made it to his birthday. Not that he could’ve been at the show, and he was so miserable at the end I wouldn’t wish more of that on him. But it would’ve been nice. It will be both happy and sad for us, especially Terry. But yeah, we’re gonna play.” Enloe’s survivors include two brothers, Mark and Steve Enloe. Funeral arrangements are still pending at Kennedy Funeral Home in Robbins.

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/index.p...p;tb=1&pb=1 More on David Enloe If you ever find yourself stuck in a convalescent-type situation, pray that you have a friend as good as Terry Anderson. That's him on the right, in a long-ago picture with his rock/roll brother-in-arms David Enloe -- who passed away Tuesday from liver failure after being laid up for six weeks. Anderson and his other longtime bandmate, Jack Cornell, spent as much time as they could keeping Enloe company during that time. They also put out the call to friends and family to come hang out with him while they could. Wednesday's paper has a story recounting this, and also Enloe/Anderson/Cornell's shared past in Fabulous Knobs and The Woods. In the course of talking to people who knew Enloe, I got plenty of quotes I couldn't fit into the story. Click through to see further remembrances from various folks (including Don Dixon). "I almost hate to say this, but I always thought of the Woods and Knobs and all those bands as David's bands. Just like the perception of Cream was that it was Eric Clapton's band. David was just such a fine guitar player, so those bands seemed like his, through the prism of looking at his guitar expertise." -- Jeff Hart "I don't think any of those guys got what they deserved, but so few people do. That's not the exception. There are millions of talented people who don't ever quite get enough, but that's just the way it is. There are only a few slots and it takes a lot of luck. The other thing is, being famous or successful can be even worse -- he might've died sooner. Fame is horrible, a true killer, and very few people are suited to it. "He truly was a great guy, and he was GOOD. A really great player. And he was fun to be on tour with. With Marti (Jones) in Europe one time, he stole her 8mm movie camera and took a bunch of shots of boy's crotches in their underwear dancing around. 'You, uh, had a lot of fun on this tour, I see,' I told her when we got that film developed. You can't have enough of that on the road." -- Don Dixon "They had the triangle by the tail. Full-blown rock assault, with David, Keith, Jack and Terry jacking up the audience behind Debra Demilo's Jagger-ish swagger. They brought so many different musical influences to the table. Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Rolling Stones, Patsy Cline... Their shows were beer-drenched, sweaty tributes to rock and roll." -- Dick Hodgin "David's style was pretty wonderful. He did this thing where he used a pick and also his fingers to pull at the strings at the same time, like a banjo. So he had this cool percussive rhythmic thing that was really unique. When I first met David and Terry (Anderson), that's what struck me, the odd way he played... "The Woods played South By Southwest one year in what looked like a bombed-out building, this giant room, and we were big stars that night. 'Battleship Chains' was out and we launched into that right when the PA blew up. I remember the three of us screaming it unamplified, and the crowd screaming along with us. A memorably bizarre moment." -- Jack Cornell "David and I have been playing together ever since junior high. In high school, we jammed along and wished we had a bass player. We put an ad up when we got to college and Jack answered it -- although his handwriting was so bad we thought it said 'Jade Cordero.' But Jack knew Debra (DeMilo) and the four of us had it goin' on. We were a bit outrageous and could pass for punks. Debra would shove the mike down her pants and run around, do crazy stuff. But we were playing industrial-strength soul, like Aretha Franklin. Eventually we started writing our own songs and putting out our own records... "David was self-destructive, there was always a party around him. I've been looking through old pictures, and he's holding a beer in just about every one. After a while, it catches up with you. He tried to kill it, whatever it was, with alcohol and that just didn't work." -- Terry Anderson Comments, Pingbacks: Comment from: Marti Jones [Visitor] I still cannot get through a day without some sort of Woods reference coming out of my mouth. Touring with them was a privilege. I could barely sing at night because I laughed all day long. The combination of those three boys was just amazing. David's absence will be difficult. Big loss for all of us, but to Terry and Jack especially. The bond between longtime bandmates is like nothing else. Keep on playin', boys... We love you.

David Enloe, Jack Cornell & Tim Lee can be seen in this clip backing Marti Jones (aka Mrs. Don Dixon) on a cover of a song by NC's the db's: YouTube Description Marti Jones does a super-cover of the dB's "Neverland" from St. Louis in 1986. Check out Tim Lee's (of the Windbreakers) great guitar solo towards the end of the song (he's the one playing the light blue guitar).

I'm curious to know why so many at this site attribute the so-called "death of rock n' roll" to something that happened in the 80s. To my ears, it is one of the most musically vibrant decades on record.

I personally see no harm in trading live recordings. Now selling them would be another matter entirely.

How about a limitation on the size of sig files?

I hate to break it to you but rock n' roll became an industry the moment Col. Tom Parker met Elvis Presley, if not before. Rock n' Roll doesn't have to top the charts to be "alive", at least not to me. I have been a music fan since the early 70s and have had no problem finding music that moves me ever since, including the year 2007. Like most any other year I've had trouble keeping up with all of the new releases I would love to hear. There's definitely no shortage of good new music out there, just a shortage of time (and funds) to be able to listen to it all. As for rock dying in the 80s, I can't say I get that at all as it is one of my favorite decades of music with artists such as R.E.M., the Replacements, the Cure, Los Lobos, Omar & the Howlers, Del Fuegos, the Cruzados, Guadalcanal Diary, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, the BoDeans, U2, Rank n' File, 10,000 Maniacs, Jason & the Scorchers, Lone Justice, the Long Ryders and many, many more.

From the Raleigh, NC News & Observer Fabulous Knobs, from left, Keith Taylor, David Enloe, Jack Cornell, Debra DeMilo and Terry Anderson. PHOTO COURTESY OF TERRY ANDERSON By David Menconi, Staff Writer David Enloe, guitarist for the seminal Triangle bands Fabulous Knobs and The Woods, died early today after a long hospitalization. The cause of death was complications from hepatitis C. He was 50 years old. "He suffered from liver failure," said Jack Cornell, who played bass alongside Enloe in different bands for 30 years. "He started bleeding about six weeks ago and went in for that, and it went from there. It's very sad." Enloe and drummer Terry Anderson were both born on Christmas Day 1956 in Southern Pines. They met over music, playing recorders in a fourth-grade class at Raleigh's Powell Elementary. By high school, Enloe and Anderson were putting bands together. By the late '70s, they had hooked up with Cornell to form the core of the Fabulous Knobs -- one of the most dynamic bands in the Triangle, thanks to lead singer Debra DeMilo. Numerous younger musicians in town found Enloe and the Knobs inspirational. "He was definitely my guitar hero, the first guy I ever paid close attention to," said Jeff Hart, leader of the Hanks and other local bands. "He was a very fluid guitar player, very sharp technically. Visually, he was just what you would imagine as a rock star -- so cool in how he looked, dressed, played. I know I wasn't the only guitar player who bought a Telecaster because of him." After the Knobs dissolved in 1984, Enloe, Anderson and Cornell stayed together as the Woodpeckers with Dan Baird from Georgia Satellites. Then Baird left to rejoin the Satellites, so they continued on as the Woods. The Satellites had a hit single with a cover of the Anderson-penned Woodpeckers song "Battleship Chains" in 1987, the same year the Woods released their one album, "It's Like This." The Woods called it quits in 1993, although they've never stopped playing together in different combinations. In recent years, Enloe lived in Minneapolis with his third wife, Susan Trent. They separated this past spring and he moved back to Raleigh, around the time his mother died. Cornell said that Enloe was writing songs again and wanted to get another band going. But he had ongoing health issues, and he never could stop drinking. "He tried to kill it, whatever it was, with alcohol and that just didn't work," said Anderson. "I loved him, but David was self-destructive. There was always a party around him. I've been looking through pictures and he's holding a beer in just about every one. After awhile, it catches up with you." Survivors include two brothers, Mark and Steve Enloe. Funeral arrangements are still pending at Kennedy Funeral Home in Robbins. Also, Anderson's annual Christmas show at the Pour House in Raleigh will go on as scheduled -- probably as a memorial for Enloe.

So far, I can't say I see a difference between an artists' "defining" song and their "signature" song. One thing I do know is, "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" doesn't fall under either category for Aerosmith.