[*Excedrin: Don't leave sobriety without it!] Although I now own only a few of the collections below (as I said, my Drinking Daze be done and Jazz iz my main gig), following is a list of albums certifiably suitable for boozing to – personally battle tested by me just for you...

824 Bay Street in Santa Monica, California: Party Central for THE LEAGUE OF SOUL CRUSADERS (1981-1983). I was painting the place in preparation for our invasion when I heard A WOMAN IN LOVE on the radio. Probably the first time the house Rocked and Rolled. There would be more... MUCH more!

These songs were the soundtrack to the road trip Pooh and I took on old Route 66. I’ll never remember that night in Laughlin, nor forget the Morning After, sitting in the dust with a Bloody Mary in a Styrofoam cup, staring at a decrepit fountain and dwelling on that line from THE BACK ROOM: “Yeah, I feel sick.” No, it wasn’t just a nightmare ‘cause I got pictures!

Man, if you can’t drink to Tom Waits then you just can’t drink. Grab yerself a sody pop and stand aside, rookie.

Moody, mystical, emotionally raw and soul deep. Alone, I got quietly Liquidated to this album on 101 nights (no, not in a row!) Almost assuredly the ultimate “Just Me ‘N’ My Bottle” recording. (Don’t forget to tape a note to your door first that reads, “Go away! Soul-searching in progress.”)

Women drove me to drink and I always paid the price. I ponied up for gas, too! (I spent a lot of time alone with Rickie Lee Jones, but I think it was better for me than it was for her.)

It’s got a good beat and you can drink to it. (But please remember: If you're going to drink, do so responsibly. Also, don't bring it to class unless you've brought enough for everyone, and brought apple wine for teacher.)

Look man, if Jim Morrison could get falling DOWN liquored UP while recording this music, you sure as hell can do the same thing while listening to it!

I can’t hear COME ON, EILEEN without remembering us Soul Crusaders watching the MTV video and boozin’ it up. We drank like Irishmen to this stuff, time and time again. (Pssst. REAL [Irish]MEN don’t drink green beer!)

Both cultured and uncouth metropolitan vampires prowl the Los Angeles streets at night seeking blood... or just a stiff margarita. (The Z-man had a wicked sense of humor. He reminds me of someone, but who could that be? Hmmm...)

This is the one you wanna play when alone and in the mood to reminisce about those girls you loved and lost. But look, Brother, if the wound is still fresh and the heart is still bleeding a bit, avoid this one. Otherwise you will end up slitting your wrists, and that would be a real shame to spill your own blood while there’s still so much alcohol mixed in it. REAL MEN DON’T SPILL THEIR BOOZE!

Oh sure, there are other individual Muddy and Wolf records that I would recommend to the Blues purists, but if you wanna hear both of ‘em rockin’ in the time it takes to drink a 6-pack, crank up MUDDY AND THE WOLF. (And remember what I always said: “If you’re only going to have 1 beer, you might as well make it 6 Mickey’s Big Mouths.”)

“I met a German girl in England who was going to school in France; Said we'd get to Mississippi at an Alpha Kappa dance.” If that isn’t clear to you, then you need another drink. {*Someone pour this poor sumb#tch a Gin & Tonic!*}

“You love her, but she loves him, and he loves somebody else; You just can't win. And so it goes ‘til the day you die; This thing they call love, it's gonna make you cry; I've had the blues, the reds and the pinks; One thing for sure: LOVE STINKS!” Ha! Heck yeah, I’ll drink to THAT!

In his autobiography, Waylon writes of playing at Matt’s Saloon on Whiskey Row in Prescott, AZ.: “It was so crowded in that little bar, you weren’t able to start a fight because you couldn’t draw your hand back.” Reminds me of “THE TERRIBLE NIGHT” when Napoleon and I nearly had a row on the Row with Gunther while drinking our way down that infamous Prescott street. Terrible! ; )

As the bumper sticker says: “If you ain’t a cowboy, you ain’t sh#t!” Ha! Love it. I saw Bocephus play the Greek Theatre in L.A. I think he was drunk. Or maybe that was just the superpotent El Coyote margaritas in me, 'cause to be honest, I thought EVERYONE (except me) seemed drunk that night. [If BALLAD OF HANK WILLIAMS doesn't make you laugh, then you are in "serious" need of a sense of humor!]

Side Two of The Beatles’ WHITE ALBUM was unequivocally the Soul Crusaders’ music of choice for those nasty Mornings After. We’d crank up MARTHA, MY DEAR and have some Hair Of The Dog, and by the time the needle was tracking JULIA we were already well on our way to the next hangover. That’s two in a row and counting...

“A-HOWW, HOWW, HOWW, HOWW!” (Yeah, so what else ya need to know?)

VIRGINIA AVENUE (track #3) is the main street that runs through downtown Reno. Waits mentions “Harold’s Club”, where I had a 7&7 to no avail on that Morning After in ’86. My all-time worst hangover! I spent all day and night in bed, staring at the ceiling while Pooh went to the Bucket Of Blood Saloon without me. For me, it was Rock Bottom On The Rocks.

On July 25, 1988, the house on Bay Street was bulldozed to make way for the condominium that now stands there. We threw one last reunion party and the entire gang showed up. I made some special music tapes for the occasion which included STEP RIGHT UP and PASTIES AND A G-STRING. We drank, had fun, and an era came to an end... just like this List has.