[Eugene Church]

Sorry, been busy doing the North Island and South Island tiebreaker games... also have begun creating new CDs for my music collection... I have collected about 425 new songs the past year and need to get them on CDs so I can enjoy them.

My current CD collection number 317 eighty-minute CDs... my entire library numbers 7500 songs in pristine condition... I program my CDs like a radio station would do it... I mix and blend rock, folk, pop, Big Band, soul, country, gospel and on occasion, a little bit of Broadway hits, blue grass and jazz on each one... you'll hear anything from the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, Eagles, Marshall Tucker Band, Beatles, Bee Gees, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly to the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary to Neil Diamond, Bobby Vee, Elvis, Carpenters, Johnny Mathis, James Taylor, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Ames Brothers, Four Lads, Perry Como to Jo Stafford, Pied Pipers, Vera Lynn, Kay Kyser, Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller to Fats Domino, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Four Tops, Supremes, Temptations, Sam and Dave, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Coasters, Etta James to George Jones, Eddie Rabbitt, Kenny Rodgers, Alabama, Conway Twitty, Keith Whitley, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire, Charley Pride, Eddy Raven, Randy Travis, Oak Ridge Boys, Larry Gatlin and the the Gatlin Brothers, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Hank Williams, Hank Williams, Jr., Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Ricky Skaggs, Eddy Arnold, Lefty Frizzell, Faron Young to the Cathedrals, the Gaithers, the Gaither Vocal Band, Gold City, Jeff and Sheri Easter to B. B. King, Dave Brubeck, Kenny Ball and the Jazzmen, Mr. Acker Bilk, Pete Fountain, Chris Barber, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Young-Holt Unlimited... plus great instrumentals from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, the Ventures, Champs, Percy Faith, Bert Kaempfert, Chantays, Bill Black's Combo, Booker T and the MGs, Vangelis, Duane Eddy, Floyd Cramer, Lawrence Welk, Hugh Masekela and Van McCoy.

Not boasting, but EC can really mix music together so that it will flow from one genre to another without jolting your senses... as a radio program director and disc jockey for 32 years, my great strength was programming... my weakness was marketing... I never agreed with radio programming consultants that "less music is more"... sadly, they were right... and they would beat me in the ratings... the fewer songs you play the bigger your audience... just play the same old huge hits over and over and over and over ad nauseum and you will win... WYNK in Baton Rouge used to play the same 300 golden oldie songs... power golds (the best and most popular songs... the songs that were picked by focus groups) would play every 30 hours... and they did it very successfully for years... EC loves variety... I only want to hear a song once or twice a year... when a song comes on that you have not heard in years, it really sounds good to me... I think people get burned out on hearing the same songs over and over on a regular basis... but you do make money doing it.

There is not much better in my life than sitting in my music listening room (actually it's HER bedroom... she won't let me listen in the living room)... I sit in the sweet spot between two wonderful Klipsch Heresy III speakers (about 10 feet apart) and a Polk subwoofer, close my eyes while sitting in a comfortable lazyboy chair, relax and relive my life musically for 80 minutes... I am blessed with a wonderful 250 watt per channel, 2-channel Anthem amplifier, too... and play it on an Onkyo CD player... yeah, EC lives a blessed life.

Sorry, I have really been neglectful of the IPA recently... I will get busy on the Islandian Pro Alliance today...will do 16 teams before I do anything else.