Welcome to my little Nerdery on the Net! :)

Tonight we remember Lou Reed who left us on this date in 2013 at the age of 71. Famous for his turn in the band Velvet Underground which was managed by none other than Andy Warhol, his solo career was no less prolific or impressive.

This lady became the first female artist to chart a number one album in five consecutive decades on this date two years ago. Don't feel bad if you didn't guess who it was straightaway because I'm pretty sure I know who your first guess was... ;)

You’d have to be blind in one eye and can’t see out the other to not know what today’s theme was inevitably going to be! Dare to be weird! :)

I must confess that I had no idea what a foo was or why you’d want to fight one. But on this anniversary of the album “One by One” by the Foo Fighters that was released on this date in 2002, fighting foos is the order of the evening! :)

On 17 Oct 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd would release their "Street Survivors" album. On the way to a show in Baton Rouge on this date 49 years ago, their chartered plane would crash in Mississippi that would claim the lives of the pilots plus band members Ronnie van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines along with their assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick with the rest of the band suffering severe injuries. It would take ten years but eventually Lynyrd Skynyrd would return to the studio and touring with the spirits of the fallen band members never far from their hearts.

After Bon Scott's untimely passing in 1980, AC/DC managed to do what Led Zeppelin couldn't when John Bonham passed away a few months after Scott...they were able to carry on as a band. The one AC/DC song that didn't carry on in live performance was "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" seen by Scott's successor Brian Johnson as a fitting epitaph deserving of the ultimate respect.

The #1 album on the charts on this date in 1976 made this theme a total no-brainer. If you’d ever heard Stevie Wondering performing these songs live, you’d instantly understand the reason why the 50th anniversary of “Songs In The Key Of Life” simply can’t be ignored… :)

Tonight’s featured album started it’s four week run at #1 on this day in 1988 and would spawn five top-ten singles which is a record for a single glam metal album. It’s time to get your Jersey on with Bon Jovi! :)

Tonight’s theme is for the band that was so unimpressed with Celine Dion’s chosen name for her Las Vegas residency that they sued her just so they would mistaken as her backing band!

Their studio album “Dig Out Your Soul” that went to #1 on the UK chart in 2008 may have been their last before the breakup, they’ve managed to come back together and are having no problems selling out shows!

Even some technical difficulties with the mixer wasn't going to stop this theme from happening. After all, it's October 9th and that can mean only one thing when it comes to the theme...

Tonight's theme is the first one where I truly had never heard a single track by the featured artist! And that's a darned shame because when I was figuring out which tracks I wanted to use...the choices were so hard because the music was just *SO* good! :)

Six years ago today, Eddie Van Halen left us for the great gig in the sky. His prowess on the guitar was legendary...just as legendary as his hand-built Frankenstrat that married a Stratocaster body to a Gibson pickup and created a sound that was uniquely his! :)

There's no rest for the weary as we kick off Season XV of the MCHL Ironclad. When looking for a theme for tonight, one of the most shocking songs in their official playlist made the choice absurdly simple! :)

Pink Floyd's 13th studio album was released on this date in 1987 and represented the first album from the band since the departure of Roger Waters. "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" bears Pink Floyd's name and has most of the members playing on it, it is most certainly a David Gilmour project in all the ways that truly matter.

For most bands, releasing a single album is a labour of months if not years. On this date in 1991, Guns N' Roses dropped both Use Your Illusion I and II simultaneously... :)

Many bands can carry on with the departure of a key band member as Anika Nilles is proving on tour with Rush when she took on the monumental task of following in Neil Peart's footsteps. With the untimely passing of drummer John Bonham on this date in 1980, Led Zeppelin was one band that couldn't overcome his loss but their legacy and legend was undeniable!

1985 was certainly the year for benefit concerts. Everyone remembers the mega-concert "Live Aid" but equally as star-studded and important was the "Farm Aid" concert that was held at the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium in Champaign-Urbana, IL a couple of months later. Today, Farm Aid is the longest running benefit concert series in America benefiting our farmers who need the help now more than ever!

All I wish for is a rocking theme and some tracks to bring it to life. When Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" dropped on this date in 1977, the choice that ticked all of the boxes was crystal clear! :)

Most of the time, there is a theme to the show. And then there's those nights where you're just feeling a vibe and that vibe is cracking open the Mystery Crate and seeing what comes of it! :) This is one of those nights! ;)

Our second night of playoffs in the Helios Division sports a theme that comes from an album so appropriately named for what we're doing, there's no way I could ignore it! :)

The start of the MCHL playoffs isn't just a revelation, it's an a-ha moment as well! :)

The 25th anniversary of the attacks on 11 Sep 2001 seems a good time to remember what the motto of this country truly means and really embrace Benjamin Franklin's famous admonition at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This theme is meant to speak to both America and the notion of coming together in common cause.