Introduction: Dropping the needle: side one, track one -- 50 essential rock albums: the '60s -- Metal gurus and other discoveries -- Encounters: Lou Reed -- ...And then my brain exploded -- Encounters: The Ramones -- The joy of access: getting in the door -- Encounters: Billy Idol -- 50 essential rock albums: the '70s -- Music appreciation 101: majoring in rock studies -- "Modern rock on the Jersey Shore" -- 50 essential rock albums: the '80s -- The great northwest: how Nirvana saved the world -- Encounters: Oasis -- M(att)TV -- Buzz clips and twists of fate -- 50 essential rock albums: the '90s -- Jimmy and Doug's farm: LA and the dawn of the digital age -- Encounters: U2 -- Encounters: KISS -- My brilliant A&R career (or: As the industry crumbles) -- Encounters: Coheed and Cambria -- Pursuing the Killers (and other adventures in A&R) -- 50 essential rock albums: the '00s -- Encounters: Bowie -- Coda: Is rock dead?.