MTV turns 30 years old today and to celebrate “Time” magazine has put out a list of The 30 All-Time Best Music Videos.

Here are some of the videos that made the list:

–”Once In a Lifetime”,  Talking Heads  (1980)

–”Thriller”,  Michael Jackson  (1984)

–”Take on Me”,  A-Ha  (1985)

–”Sledgehammer”,  Peter Gabriel  (1986)

–”Nothing Compares 2 U”,  Sinead O’Connor  (1990)

–”Heart-Shaped Box”,  Nirvana  (1993)

–”Buddy Holly”,  Weezer  (1994)

–”Sabotage”, The Beastie Boys  (1994)

–”Virtual Insanity”,  Jamiroquai  (1997)

–”Praise You”,  Fatboy Slim  (1999)

–”Hardest Button to Button”,  The White Stripes  (2005)

–”Here It Goes Again”,  OK Go  (2006)

–”Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”,  Beyoncé  (2008)

–”Bad Romance”,  Lady Gaga  (2009)

–”Runaway”,  Kanye West  (2010)

To check out the complete list and watch the music videos, click here

Stevie Nicks surprised fans during Adam Levine’s concert earlier this week in Hollywood to sing “Leather and Lace” with him.  A fan was able to capture it on their cell phone and post it on YouTube for all of us to enjoy.

September 14, 1983 – July 23, 2011

Kelly Osbourne: “I can’t even breathe right now I’m crying so hard.  I just lost one of my best friends.  I love you forever Amy and will never forget the real you!”

Rihanna: “Dear God have mercy!!!  I am SICK about this right now! . . . I am genuinely heartbroken by this . . . ICONSneverDIE”

Katy Perry: “RIP Amy Winehouse.  May she finally find peace.”

Leann Rimes: “RIP Amy Winehouse.  So sad to see such a talent gone and her life end in tragedy. This makes me terribly sad.”

Josh Groban: “Drugs took her gift, her soul, her light, long before they took her life.  RIP Amy”

Ricky Martin: “I just found out.  I feel pain.  I feel anger.  Rest beautiful girl rest.  You are free!”

Samantha Ronson: “I’m not sure how anyone with a soul can make jokes about the passing of one of the most talented artists this generation will see.”

Mark Ronson: “She was my musical soulmate & like a sister to me.  This is one of the saddest days of my life.”  (–Mark is Samantha’s sister, and one of the producers of Amy’s “Back to Black” album.)

Kim Kardashian: “I just heard the news that Amy Winehouse passed away.  What a true talent.  I pray she’s in a better place & at peace.”

Khloe Kardashian: “Wow!  I just heard about Amy Winehouse passing away!  Wow!  So sad.    What an amazing talent.”

Demi Lovato: “Amy Winehouse.  So sad.  Unfortunately the world lost an incredibly talented woman to such a powerful disease… addiction.  #RIP”

Carson Daly: “RIP Amy Winehouse.  How tragic.”

Lance Bass: “Another talent dies at 27- RIP – Amy Winehouse.”

“Shaun of the Dead” star Simon Pegg: “Thoughts and love to those affected by the atrocity in Norway and terribly sad to hear about Amy Winehouse.  Sweet and funny girl.  Sad day.”

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee: “Amy Winehouse died.  That’s a lifestyle choice.  The 87 who were murdered in Oslo Norway.  That’s [effing] tragic.”

Rob Thomas: “R.I.P. AMY WINEHOUSE.  Wow.  Just wow.”

Danny DeVito: “27 year old Amy Winehouse dead.  WTF man I dug her a lot.  Very sad about this one!  27 Janice, 27 Jimmy, 27 Amy.”

Joel Madden: “R.I.P. Amy.  Your Voice will live Forever.”

Nicki Minaj: “Please tell me Amy Winehouse didn’t die.  Is this some sick joke?”

Usher: “I’m so sad to hear the horrible news of Amy Winehouse’s death.  I’m so happy I knew you Amy.  Rest well.  Gone too soon.  We’ll miss you!”

Demi Moore: “Truly sad news about Amy Winehouse.  My heart goes out to her family.  May her troubled soul find peace.”

Billy Corgan: “Sad to hear about Amy Winehouse.  I mourn any time one of our own passes on.  A tragedy, no doubt.  Truly sad.”

Natasha Bedingfield: “I’m so sad to hear about Amy Winehouse just dying.  My heart and prayers go out to her family.  Such a terrible loss for us all.”

Anderson Cooper: “Just heard a report Amy Winehouse has died.  If true, such a waste of a great talent.”

Big Boi from OutKast: “Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and now Amy Winehouse.  All died aged 27.  RIP to you all.”

Lea Michele: “Devastated to hear about Amy Winehouse…she was truly one of a kind.”

Paris Hilton: “So sad to hear about Amy Winehouse.  What a talent, way too young to die.  Addiction is such a deadly disease.  She’s now in a better place.”

Kelly Clarkson: “What a waste of a gifted person.  What a shame she saw no hope and continued living her life in that manor.  I have been that low emotionally and mentally and that is overwhelming.”

Ted Nugent: “B sure to tell ur children that Amy Winehouse suicide is insane stupid.”

Russell Brand, who knew Amy before either of them were famous, wrote a touching tribute to Amy on his website.  You can read it by clicking here.

Courtney Love told “Rolling Stone”, “I’m [effing] gutted.  I tried with her, I tried twice.  We are sensitive, and people around us take advantage of that.  It is [effing] pain every day and every night.  It’s so awful.”

And Tony Bennett went old-school and released an actual STATEMENT, rather than a quick Tweet.  You can read it by clicking here.

U2 gave a blind fan the opportunity to come onstage and perform a song during their show in Nashville.  The fan wanted to play “All I Want Is You” for his wife and did a great job.  In the end, he even walked off stage with the guitar the band let him use.

This weekend marks the end of an era where I grew up.  After 70 years of ownership in the Bozicas family, currently under Jerri & Paul Bozicas, The Pepperell Spa is changing hands.  For those of you who have not had the pleasure of eating there, it is a small family owned restaurant in Pepperell that proudly claims to possibly have the best coffee in the world.

Loyal Customers of The Pepperell Spa

Since I was a child, I have made MANY trips to The Spa, mostly to enjoy breakfast.  Everything is made fresh and there is just something about their home fries that to this day, still has me addicted.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to figure out how they make them and failed.  It is a bigger kept secret than Colonel Sanders KFC recipe.

Maybe now that they have sold the restaurant, Jerri or Paul will come up to me and whisper the secret recipe into my ear similar to how Alanis Morissette told Larry David who the song “You Oughta Know” was about on the HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.  Unlike Larry David, I promise I would never tell a soul!  If you haven’t seen that episode, it is one of the best.  It is called “The Terrorist Attack”…but I really am getting off track here.  Enough of my wants and needs regarding the home fries recipe.

Paul & Jerri Bozicas. Also, my lucky lottery ticket machine behind Paul.

As I went into The Spa this morning to pickup my breakfast order, I noticed the place was busier than usual.  It turns out some of the local residents and business owners had a little gathering with Jerri, Paul & their family and presented them with 2 of those super awesome Cracker Barrel rocking chairs.  It was great to see people showing their thanks and appreciation to Jerri & Paul not just for all of their hard work running the restaurant, but for their longstanding work within the community.  The Spa  just wasn’t a business to them; it was a local family business in the community they live in and love.  It is obvious they take a tremendous amount of pride in that.

As I waited for my order and talking to my friend (and regular Spa diner) Brent Reagan, it started to sink in that things were changing and I am not a big fan of change.  While The Spa will have a new owner and word is he is keeping things the same, it will still be different.  Will the new owner continue Paul’s 40 year streak of only wearing a white button down shirt, black pants and Movado watch every day like we are used to seeing?  It must have been so easy to do his laundry.  1 load of white shirts, 1 load of black pants and you are done.  No chance of colors running there!  Seriously though, it’s the atmosphere that Jerri & Paul created that really makes The Spa special and that is the key (besides not messing with the home fries recipe) if the new owner wants to experience similar success.

Paul in his white & black "uniform"

They knew your name when you walked in the door, they knew what you liked, they let you go behind the counter and get your own coffee and even if they were getting ready to close, they always let you in the door and served you.  It was like walking in to your family’s dining room except you could buy scratch tickets at The Spa, something my Mom never offered in our dining room growing up but now wish she had.  There is nothing like enjoying breakfast and hitting for $20!  Even when you would call in a to-go order, if Paul answered the phone you wouldn’t know if you dialed the wrong number or the restaurant as he would simply say just “hello” most of the time and not the name of the business.  I get the impression that he felt at home at The Spa as well.

This weekend I plan on heading to The Spa for breakfast and say “Thank You” to the Bozicas family.  It has been great coming to your restaurant for pretty much my entire life and I am sad to see you moving on from The Spa, but happy for you to be able to spend more time with your family, especially your grandchildren.  You have spent many years working 7 days a week, making trips to buy supplies and caring about your customers.

The Bozicas Family 6/24/11

Now, each day is for you to enjoy without obligation or having to wake up at the crack of dawn.  However, if you ever make some home fries at your house and have extra, I only live down the street and would be happy to take them off your hands.  And maybe I’ll even toss on my own white button down shirt, black pants and Movado just for the hell of it!  Enjoy the summer and thanks again for your part in making Pepperell the great town that it is.

Clarence Clemons, the longtime sax player for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, died Saturday from complications of the stroke he’d suffered the previous weekend.  He was 69 years old.

The 6-foot-4-inch Clemons played with Bruce for 40 years.  They first jammed together at a bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1971.  So Bruce is obviously feeling that loss.  He said on his website, “Clarence lived a wonderful life.  He carried within him a love of people that made them love him.  He created a wondrous and extended family. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years.”  He added, “He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music.  His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”

Not that his prior accomplishments didn’t mean anything, but Clemons got a chance to go out on top, so to speak, by playing on a few songs on Lady Gaga’s album “Born This Way”.  He performed one of those songs, “Edge of Glory”, with Gaga on the “American Idol” finale last month.  He also appears with her in the video.

Outside of the band, Clarence did a little bit of acting, like playing Roman on two episodes of HBO’s “The Wire” in 2004.    Back in the ’80s, he did a guest spot on “Diff’rent Strokes” and appeared in the movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”.

Clemons is the second member of the E Street Band to pass away in recent years.  Organ player Danny Federici died of skin cancer in 2008.

Clarence was married five times and is survived by four sons.

Forbes.com has put out its annual list of The World’s Highest-Paid Musicians and not surprisingly, U2 came out on top.  Again.  From May of last year to last month, U2 raked in $195 million, which is up from the $130 million that they pulled down the year before, when they were also ranked #1.  Bon Jovi came in second with $125 million.

Forbes calculates their numbers by compiling pre-tax profits on stuff like concert dates, merchandise sales, licensing fees, music sales, and publishing royalties but almost everyone on the list made the bulk of their money from touring.

Here’s the complete list:

1.)  U2 . . . $195 million

2.)  Bon Jovi . . . $125 million

3.)  Elton John . . . $100 million

4.)  Lady Gaga . . . $90 million

5.)  Michael Bublé . . . $70 million

6.)  Paul McCartney . . . $67 million

7.)  Black Eyed Peas . . . $61 million

8.)  Eagles . . . $60 million

9.)  Justin Bieber . . . $53 million

10.)  Dave Matthews Band . . . $51 million

11.)  Toby Keith . . . $50 million

12.)  Usher . . . $46 million

13.)  Taylor Swift . . . $45 million

14.)  Katy Perry . . . $44 million

15.)  Brad Paisley . . . $40 million

16.)  Tom Petty & the Heartbreaks . . . $38 million

17.)  Jay-Z . . . $37 million

18.)  A five-way tie between AC/DC, Diddy, Beyoncé, Tim McGraw and Muse . . . $35 million

23.)  Rascal Flatts . . . $34 million

24.)  Kenny Chesney . . . $30 million

25.)  Rihanna . . . $29 million

A fan recently sent Ke$ha a tooth and that gave her an idea:  She wants to make an entire necklace out of her fans’ teeth!

She recently posted this on Twitter “I’ve received 1 tooth from a fan. I made it into a necklace. But now I really wanna make a fan tooth necklace to wear to an awards show.  So.  What I’m getting at is please send me your teeth.  I’m dead serious.  I need your teeth.”

So there you have it.  You can send your teeth (or instruct the tooth fairy to forward them after leaving a few dollars under your pillow) to Ke$ha at:

Ke$ha

P.O. Box 120479

Nashville, TN 37212

Nakia called in this morning to talk about “The Voice” which airs Tuesday nights at 10PM on NBC.  To listen to the interview, click here.

Nakia was the guy who sang “Forget You” during the blind auditions which was pretty risky seeing that Cee Lo Green is one of the Judges on the show.  If you missed it, here is the video from Nakia’s blind audition:

Now you can see why Cee Lo liked him and Nakia is now a part of his team.  I really like this show and Nakia is defienetly one of my favorites.  Besides the fact he can sing and wants to help further my ambitious goal of modeling sweaters in a Wal-Mart circular, he also likes Popeye’s Chicken so how can I not be a fan?

To “Like” him on Facebook, go to: www.facebook.com/NakiaTheVoice

He called in today to talk about “The Voice” and you can listen to the interview by clicking here.

As if it wasn’t hard enough for people to quit smoking, now there’s this:  According to a team of psychologists at Oxford University, ‘No Smoking’ signs actually encourage smokers to light up!!

First of all, the signs are everywhere these days.  And second, seeing the signs triggers a subconscious reaction where smokers start thinking of cigarettes, and then wanting them.  Makes sense.  According to head researcher Brian Earp, “A lot of public health messages are framed in a negative way, say no to drugs, don’t drink and drive, no smoking.  What’s interesting is the ironic effect of the negative image.  No smoking signs are meant to discourage an activity, but what happens is you get a kick back so that the very item that’s supposed to be prohibited becomes more desirable.”

The study basically used image association:  People who had seen images of the no-smoking signs were drawn favorably to other images related to smoking.  According to Brian, “It’s a significant effect which we think would have real life implications.  When I say ‘Don’t think of a pink elephant, I’ve just put the thought of a pink elephant in your head.’”  He says follow-up research proves it even further, and it’ll be released soon.