What is the best album ever created?
RN: I've always preferred the rawness and spontaneity of live albums. For rock 'n' roll it has to be the classic "Made in Japan" by Deep Purple. One of my favorite jazz albums is Coltrane's "Live at Birdland." My live country pick is the gritty and dangerous "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison." I hear the train a comin'...
MB: Although there are a number of great albums in history, Nirvana's "Nevermind" stands out as one of the few in my lifetime that were strong from start to finish. Typically, when a band cuts an album, even their friends and family lie about liking cuts 15 and 16.
What is the best band to see live?
RN: I've seen Deep Purple live eight times and was once invited backstage for an after-show party. It was rock 'n' roll heaven. I was tempted to ask the band if I could be their director of security and embark on a world tour.
MB: Easily KISS. Their live show is an absolutely unforgettable experience that will likely put me into hearing aids a few years ahead of schedule.
What song pumps you up?
RN: Three come immediately to mind: "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who, Long John Baldry's "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll," Splodgenessabounds' version of "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" and, oh, anything by The Day Jobs, of course.
MB: "Living on the Edge" by Aerosmith has a great hook, but "Back in Black" by AC/DC is guaranteed to keep me awake on the long ride home.
What song brings you down?
RN: The hauntingly beautiful yet melancholy "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber affects me deeply whenever I hear it. I relate "Angie" by the Rolling Stones to the first time I got my heart broken?ouch! And the last song I remember listening to with my dad before he died was "Cavatina" by classical guitarist John Williams.
MB: "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor has an almost hypnotic impact on me. When I drive I am a chronic channel-scanner. For some reason at 3 a.m. this song is always on some station somewhere and I always stop and listen. However, if I don't hit the scan button again within 30 seconds I'm in the ditch.
If you were the dictator of a small country, what would be its national anthem?
RN: "You can't always get what you want, and if you try sometime you find you get what you need..."
MB: "I Wanna Be Like You" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
If you were on stage with a mic in front of thousands of screaming people, what would you say?
RN: You mean like at Pinestock? I'd probably say something like, "Oh alright, one more song!"
MB: "Randy has left the building."
Randy and Mike's show "Listen! - The Safety and Security Show"can be heard Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. on WBOR 91.1 FM.