Whatever problems country-western music had before circa 1985–which is as good a line to draw as any, I suppose–at least it was, sort of, authentic. These were the songs of angry, disenfranchised working-class white men and they were, if somewhat insular in perspective, still powerful and real.

Now we have this Billy Ray Cyrus mullet hair freakshow posing as the real thing, and it’s this neutered metrosexual garbage about tolerance and compromise and the joys of fatherhood.

Hank Williams is spinning in his grave and the bigwigs at MTV have connected him to a generator and are using him to power the recording studio.

I’m not even a country music fan, and it makes me sick.

Alpert was the “A” in A&M records. He co-owned the label with Jerry Moss (“M”) and served as Vice Chairman (see above). When not busy recording make-out music for tiki bars, he played an executive role and worked with artists until 1993.

Was/is Herb Alpert really the chairman of A&M? That’s just too poetic for words. I feel like the circular sticker in the middle of an A&M LP is indelibly associated with Herb Alpert records already – this factoid seals the deal.