poltr1 | I'm still a Rippingtons fan....

I was a fan of "smooth jazz" before the genre was titled as such. Even as far back as high school, I enjoyed the music of Spyro Gyra (Buffalo NY), Chuck Mangione (Eastman School of Music, Rochester NY), and other similar artists. I first heard Pat Metheny's "New Chautauqua" in 1984 and bought the album soon after. Then one of the local radio stations became "The Wave" and introduced me to lots of new music.

For me, the sign that "I made it in the business world" was the wine-and-cheese happy hours with cocktail shrimp on the buffet table and smooth jazz playing in the background.

Then one day, in the summer of 1990, I heard some incidental music on the Weather Channel that I just loved. It was "Welcome to the St. James Club" by the Rippingtons. Naturally, I had to check them out -- first at the local library, then through a friend who loaned me her copy of "Curves Ahead". And I was hooked.

I saw them at the Fraze Pavilion in 1993 on the "Weekend in Monaco" tour. (I still have the T-shirt.) I kept my Rips collection current until "Black Diamond".

I just bought their 20th Anniversary CD at Borders this past weekend, and picked up "Wild Card" at Half Price Books a few months ago. While I still have a 4-album gap in my collection (and am working on filling it), they're one of my favorite bands. It's nearly impossible to be sad while listening to their music.

Check out their website at rippingtons.com.