Scottish Singer and winner of--well she wasn't the winner of anything and that's kind of the point--Susan Boyle had her first album I Dreamed A Dream hitting QVC on November 5, three weeks before its official November 24 release. It's been noted that the album contains songs she clearly didn't write. Which in the days of Sinatra wouldn't be much to note. But ever since the Beatles and Bob Dylan--if not Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly before them--made it seem important that singers write their own material or else be considered losers, or uncreative types (or people with no hand in the publishing jar), it's forced people to write their own songs. A bit like the way you take a job in journalism and get sent out to sell ads.

Oddly, Bob Dylan's new album, Christmas In The Heart, is also covers (granted, Xmas tunes). Boyle's new one features such classics as the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Madonna's "You'll See," the Monkees' "Daydream Believer" and God's own "Silent Night" and "Amazing

It's almost as if Bob Dylan lives to confuse his fans and critics. Christmas In The Heart comes out in the Fall of 2009 and suddenly like Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak and Jewel, Bob Dylan has his own album of holiday cheer to share with us. Makes you wonder when Kiss will cash in as well.

While surely King Diamond's 1985 No Presents For Christmas should be mentioned, it's only a single and not a full length album.  

10) Merle Haggard--A Christmas Present (1973): With such Merle-penned tunes as "Grandma's Homemade Christmas Card," "Bobby Wants A Puppy Dog For Christmas" and "Daddy Won't Be Home Again For Christmas," A Christmas Present allows Haggard to redefine the Xmas spirit, throwing a little recession into the soul--and making himself a little cash with the publishing. Sure, he throws in "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" so people would still know this was an X-mas album. He also re-released some of these tunes five years later as Goin' Home For Christmas.

9) Ray

Well, the 2010 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Nominees have been announced and once again the names Blue Cheer, The Knack and Terence Boylan have been left off. I like all kinds of conspiracy theories, so if you've got one regarding why these names have been left off, by all means, let me know.

Faithful readers of this blog know I don't really care much about the RnR HOF. It makes for entertaining watercooler talk. But to take it any more seriously seems a little silly to me. After all, everyone likes different music. Sales and charts are interesting for historical purposes but they don't mean anything. You can't listen to record sales. Your heart isn't moved by a chart position. And, really, that's what it's all about.

But I'd like to have a little fun and rank them from 12-1, in the order I think they're likely to come in. Keep in mind only the top 5 get in. The others get to moan and pray that next year the competition is a little weaker.

Also note, this is NOT a ranking based on my

As one of the 250,000 most important people in the music business, I was sent a press release alerting me that a supergroup of unknown proportions was soon being unleashed on the public. Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M Ward of M Ward would be releasing an album featuring songs where they would be playing with each other at the same time. Monsters of Folk, they would call it, annoying true folkies everywhere.

Of course, this made me think of how--many years ago--there was this group called Temple Of The Dog where various members of then popular grunge bands got together and recorded songs that sounded exactly like the bands they were in. Before that, there were people like Crosby, Stills, Nash and (eventually) Young who had all been in other bands and decided to play together and make tons of money.

Then I thought of all kinds of variations on the theme. Generally, I wanted to avoid collaborations where it was the performers' main gig. So