Now for the latest installment of Random CD of the Week, where I grab a CD off my shelf and share why I keep it around.
Growing up in Canton, Ohio, admitting you were a pre-Let's Dance David Bowie fan was just as good as telling those around you that you were as big a freak as he was. In our little world, glam-era Bowie was about as far out there as you get.

During the Ziggy Stardust days, Bowie was practically wearing drag on stage and no matter how good his music was, my fellow Cantonians figured that there had to be something very wrong and disturbed about this young man. And, of course, anyone who liked him had to be wrong and disturbed as well.
So, as you might imagine, I therefore decided that I would become a David Bowie fan--before ever actually hearing any of his music.

I bought two or three of his records and almost from my first listen, I gravitated towards Ziggy Stardust. Even to this day, it's still the record I out on when I want to hear some Bowie. Unlike most of his other records, it is end-to-end great--fantastic songwriting and performances dripping with passion.

The whole alien come to Earth concept of this album is pretty thin and falls apart almost immediately, but that has never bothered me.
In an interview in last week's Entertainment Weekly, David Lynch was asked what the David Lynch brand was. He thought about it and answered just one word: freedom.

To me, the Ziggy Stardust brand meant the same thing.