Crowd shot masthead ApologetiX Logo Keith Haynie plays bassBill Hubauer plays lead guitarJ. Jackson sings leadJimmy Vegas Tanner plays drums
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09.26.23New USB Thumb Drives in Stock
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09.23.23Influential Albums: 1227-1233
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09.22.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
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09.19.23New Single: '64 & '91
09.14.23Influential Albums: 1220-1226
09.14.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Wk
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09.07.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
09.07.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Wk
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08.31.23Prayers for ApX Fan's Son
08.31.23Clues for 2023 Single #18
08.30.23Septuagint CD Added to iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Etc.
08.28.23ApologetiX Needs Help & Prayers
08.24.23Encouragement from 14 States + Canada & Hungary
08.24.23Influential Albums: 1192-1198
08.24.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
08.23.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
08.20.23This Week's News Bulletin
08.20.23New Single: '77 & '84
08.20.23New CD BOGO Ends Wednesday
08.18.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
08.18.23Influential Albums: 1192-1198
08.17.23Clues for 2023 Single #17
08.14.23This Week's News Bulletin
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08.10.23Influential Albums: 1185-1191
08.09.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
08.07.23This Week's News Bulletin
08.06.23New Single: '72 & '90
08.03.23A Second Powerful Testimony from Tennessee
08.03.23Influential Albums: 1178-1184
08.03.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
08.03.23Clues for 2023 Single #16
07.30.23This Week's News Bulletin
07.28.23All About Our Upcoming CD, Septuagint
07.28.23Influential Albums 1171-1177
07.28.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
07.28.23Powerful Testimony from a Fan in Tennessee
07.27.23The Stories Behind The Songs on This Single
07.27.23ApX at Big Midwest Christian Rock Festival (Sort Of)
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07.20.23Oklahoma Fan Loves New ApX CDs on iTunes
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07.19.23Tom M. is a Grandpa Again
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07.13.23The Stories Behind The Songs on This Single
07.10.23This Week's News Bulletin
07.10.23New Single: '73 & '85
07.08.23Clues for 2023 Single #14
07.08.23Fan in Kenya Loves Latest Singles
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07.08.23Influential Albums 1150-1156
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07.01.23Influential Albums 1143-1149
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07.01.23The Stories Behind The Songs on This Single
06.27.23This Week's News Bulletin
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06.24.23New ApX Albums Now on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Etc.
06.24.23New Rich Mannion Original Music Video
06.23.23Influential Albums 1136-1142
06.23.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
06.15.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
06.15.23Influential Albums 1129-1135
06.15.23The Stories Behind The Songs on This Single
06.15.23Bittersweet Note from an ApologetiX Fan in Las Vegas
06.15.23ApX Fan Has Stage 3 Cancer But Encourages Us
06.12.23This Week's News Bulletin
06.11.23New Single: Two of a Kind from 1980
06.09.23Mannionversary: Five Years of Rich Blessings
06.08.23Influential Albums 1122-1128
06.07.23New CD BOGO Ends Sunday Night
06.07.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
06.05.23This Week's News Bulletin
06.03.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
06.03.23Influential Albums 1115-1121
06.03.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single

The Never-Ending Album Challenge: Week 42
Fri., Feb. 26. 2021 12:10am EST

289. Sandinista! – The Clash
I already had cassette recordings of "The Magnificent Seven" and "Somebody Got Murdered" courtesy of my old friend Michael Ranieri, but it was another Michael — my housemate Mike Brechbill — who opened my eyes and ears to the many other great songs on this triple-album. He was downstairs playing "Police in My Back" and "Washington Bullets" (he must have been on side four) and they sounded great. I would go on to discover other great tracks such as "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe," "Career Opportunities," "Hitsville UK," "The Call-Up," and "Charlie Don't Surf." I don't think this album is as consistently good as London Calling, but it might come close if they trimmed it down to a double like that one.

290. Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin
I awoke with a start. What was that noise? Was there a dinosaur downstairs? Turns out it was "In the Light," the ominous, brooding, thundering, first track on side three of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti. Mikey Brechbill had it cranked on his stereo for the whole house to hear, way too early for a college student on a Saturday morning. I'd never really gotten into that particular Zep album (Yeah, I know some people consider it their finest effort — I only knew a couple of the songs back then), but that got my attention. I recorded some of the songs from Mikey's record. My favorites were the opening tracks on each of the four sides — "Custard Pie," "Houses of the Holy," "In the Light," and "Night Flight" — although I Iiked plenty of others and eventually bought the CD for myself. ApologetiX went on to spoof "Kashmir" in 2007. Incidentally, "In the Light" was later used to great effect in the season-one finale of the TV show Mindhunter.

291. 20 Golden Greats (Buddy Holly Lives) – Buddy Holly
This is the third album in a row Mikey Brechbill (whom we also affectionately called "Monkey" and "our Mikey") inadvertently introduced me to — by blasting it throughout the dump the five of us called "home" senior year. I knew Buddy had influenced many musicians, and I'd heard some of his songs ("Peggy Sue," "That'll Be the Day," etc.), but I didn't realize how many other great tunes he had, many of which were covered by other artists on albums I owned or had on tape ("Not Fade Away" by The Stones, "Words of Love" by The Beatles, "Heartbeat" by The Knack, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" by Linda Ronstadt, etc.). Among the 20 included in this collection, I especially liked "Rave On," "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Well All Right," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," and "Oh, Boy!" I went out and bought a similar anthology called A Rock and Roll Collection. It had 24 tracks, but was missing a few key songs — "Everyday," "True Love Ways," and "It's So Easy" — so I'd recommend this one. Buddy even made glasses cool for a while. Unfortunately, that time had already passed long before I had to get them in third grade.

292. Power Windows – Rush
I can't remember how I ended up with this cassette, which came out in the fall of 1985. The songs I already knew and liked from the radio were "The Big Money" and "The Manhattan Project," both of which hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. "Territories" is the other song that has really stuck with me through the years. "Mystic Rhythms" is pretty good, too. "The Big Money" almost became a Top 40 hit, stalling at #45. Alas, Rush only ever had one of those, "New World Man," a #21 hit in '82. Ironically, Rush lead singer Geddy Lee had his biggest U.S. hit with SCTV stars Bob & McKenzie — "Take Off," a #16 hit earlier in '82.

293. Baby Boomer Classics: Folk 60's - Various Artists
This collection contained a dozen folk hits from the 60's. My favorites were "Walk Right In" (The Rooftop Singers), "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (The Kingston Trio), "Green, Green" (The New Christy Minstrels), "You Were on My Mind" (We Five), and "I'll Never Find Another You" (The Seekers). But I enjoyed the other seven tunes, too. Play that folky music.

294. The Breakfast Club – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
This movie came out during my junior year in college, but I didn't see it till senior year. Even though it was about high-school students, it had a profound impact on me. I watched it multiple times and wound up memorizing large portions of the dialogue. The opening track on the album, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, had been a number-one hit in 1985 and was probably my favorite song of that entire year. "Fire in the Twilight" by Wang Chung was also released as a single from this album but didn't fare as well — it only went to #110! But it, and other songs on this album like "We Are Not Alone" by Karla DeVito and "Love Theme" by Keith Forsey, instantly took me back to the movie, like any good soundtrack should.

Note: Just because the albums on my list influenced me back then doesn't mean I give them all a blanket endorsement now. I started actively listening to music in the early 70's and didn't become a born-again Christian until early 1988, so it's going to be a while before we get to the Christian albums, but there will be many of those when the time comes (literally).