Stephen Thomas Erlewine -- otherwise known as Tom Erlewine -- has been at All Music Guide since its inception in 1991. Erlewine attended college at the University of Michigan, where he majored in English. While he was a student, he worked at the student radio station, WCBN FM 88.3, as well as the student-run newspaper, The Michigan Daily. At The Daily, Erlewine spent a year as music editor (1993-1994) and another year as general arts editor (1994-1995). During this time, he continued to be actively involved with All Music Guide, contributing written work to the database frequently. In the summer of 1994, he became a co-editor of the rock section of AMG, as well as the associate editor of the second edition of the company's general record guide. The following year, he was an editor of -The All Music Guide to Rock, to which he was also a major contributor. From there, he eventually worked his way up to the title of Senior Editor for AMG, writing thousands of record reviews in the process. In addition to being a member of Who Dat?, Erlewine is also a freelance writer and has written a handful of liner notes, including those for Pub Rock: Paving the Way for Punk.

When reading the following lists, please keep in mind that these lists -- apart from the first record I ever bought and first concert I attended -- are not set in stone. They are subject to change, usually because I neglected to mention a favorite song or album. In any case, the following songs and albums are music I never get tired of hearing:

The Usual Suspects -- Boring Desert Island Discs I Still Love:
The Rolling Stones -- Exile on Main St.; Beggars Banquet; Let It Bleed
Bob Dylan -- Basement Tapes; Bringing It All Back Home
The Band -- The Band
Waylon Jennings -- Honky Tonk Heroes
The Beatles -- White Album; Revolver
The Kinks -- Village Green Preservation Society; Something Else
The Who -- Sell Out; A Quick One
The Clash -- London Calling; The Clash
The Velvet Underground -- Peel Slowly and See
Elvis Costello -- Get Happy!!; Trust
Pavement -- Slanted Enchanted
Big Star -- #1 Record/Radio City
Gram Parsons -- G.P./Grievous Angel
Beastie Boys -- Paul's Boutique
David Bowie -- Hunky Dory
Nirvana -- Nevermind
New York Dolls -- New York Dolls; Too Much Too Soon
Randy Newman -- 12 Songs; Good Old Boys
Prince -- Sign 'o' the Times; Purple Rain; Parade
Pretenders -- Pretenders
The Smiths -- The Queen Is Dead; Hatful of Hollow
R.E.M. -- Reckoning
Todd Rundgren -- Something/Anything?
Television -- Marquee Moon
Rod Stewart -- Every Picture Tells a Story; Never a Dull Moment
Public Enemy -- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back; Fear of a Black Planet
The Stone Roses -- The Stone Roses
Sly the Family Stone -- There's a Riot Goin' On; Greatest Hits
Liz Phair -- Exile in Guyville

The Real Desert Island List -- Albums I Listen to More Than the Previous List:
Nick Lowe -- Jesus of Cool; Labour of Lust
Brinsley Schwarz -- Nervous on the Road
Rockpile -- Seconds of Pleasure
Little Feat -- Sailin' Shoes; Dixie Chicken
Blur -- Parklife
Frank Sinatra -- Watertown
Pavement -- Wowee Zowee; Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pulp -- Different Class
Faces -- Five Guys Walk Into a Bar...
Steely Dan -- Countdown to Ecstasy; Katy Lied; Can't Buy a Thrill; Gaucho
Paul Simon -- There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Pixies -- Surfer Rosa; Come On Pilgrim; Doolittle
Suede -- Dog Man Star; Suede
Creedence Clearwater Revival -- Green River; Willy and the Poor Boys
Urge Overkill -- Saturation; Exit the Dragon
Genesis -- Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Bubblegum Classics, Vol. 3
Hall Oates -- The Atlantic Collection
Badfinger -- No Dice
David Bowie -- Scary Monsters
Elton John -- Tumbleweed Connection; Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Ween -- Pure Guava; Chocolate Cheese; The Mollusk
Fleetwood Mac -- Tusk
Elastica -- Elastica
Supergrass -- I Should Coco; In It for the Money
Dave Edmunds -- Get It; Tracks on Wax 4; Repeat When Necessary
Bobby Charles -- Bobby Charles
Paul McCartney -- Ram
Meat Loaf -- Bat out of Hell
Led Zeppelin -- Led Zeppelin III
Hüsker Dü -- Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Oasis -- Definitely Maybe
Harry Nilsson -- Nilsson Schmilsson; Son of Schmilsson
The Move -- Great Move!
Mott the Hoople -- All the Young Dudes; Mott
The Sir Douglas Quintet -- The Return of Doug Saldaña
Todd Rundgren -- A Wizard, a True Star; Runt: Ballad of Todd Rundgren; Hermit of Mink Hollow
The White Stripes -- White Blood Cells; Elephant
Bob Seger -- Back in '72; Seven
T. Rex -- Electric Warrior
Thin Lizzy -- Jailbreak
Roy Wood -- Boulders
Merle Haggard -- A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (Or My Salute to Bob Wills)
Weezer -- Pinkerton
Pete Townshend -- All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
Rick Springfield -- Working Class Dog
Tenpole Tudor -- Eddie, Old Bob, Dick Gary

Greatest Single Ever Made:
Brenton Wood -- Gimme Little Sign

Runners Up:
Chuck Berry -- The Promised Land
Pulp -- Common People

Other Desert Island Singles:
Lindsey Buckingham -- Trouble
Crabby Appleton -- Go Back
AC/DC -- Highway to Hell
Adam Ant -- Place in the Country
Eddie Cochran -- Somethin' Else
Bruce Springsteen -- Workin' on the Highway
Genesis -- I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Squeeze -- Up the Junction
Charlie Walker -- Pick Me Up on Your Way Down
Simon Garfunkel -- The Only Living Boy in New York
Stone Temple Pilots -- Interstate Love Song
Al Stewart -- Time Passages
The Amazing Rhythm Aces -- Third Rate Romance
Jackson Browne -- Somebody's Baby
Ian Dury -- I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra
The Jam -- To Be Someone; Going Underground; Absolute Beginners
Fleetwood Mac -- Blue Letter; Second Hand News; Monday Morning
Paul McCartney -- Maybe I'm Amazed
MC5 -- Baby Won't Ya
Joe Jackson -- Is She Really Going Out With Him; Steppin' Out
The Go-Go's -- Head Over Heels; Turn to You
Graham Parker -- Back to Schooldays; Local Girls
Ricky Nelson -- Stood Up; Waitin' in School; Believe What You Say
The Honeycombs -- Have I the Right
Doug Sahm -- Is Anybody Going to San Antone?; Nitty Gritty; Texas Tornado; Juan Mendoza
Prince -- Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Pet Shop Boys -- What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Sonic Youth -- 100%
Bob Seger -- Get Out of Denver; Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
Buddy Holly -- Not Fade Away; Rave On; Well...All Right
.38 Special -- Hold On Loosely; Caught Up in You; If I'd Been the One
The Outsiders -- Time Won't Let Me
Spandau Ballet -- True
The Fixx -- One Thing Leads to Another
The English Beat -- Save It for Later
Red Simpson -- Six Days on the Road
Dexy's Midnight Runners -- Come On Eileen
XTC -- Respectable Street
Lee Dorsey -- Working in the Coal Mine; Holy Cow; Ride Your Pony
Men at Work -- It's a Mistake
Bobby Womack -- Across 110th Street
Tommy Tutone -- 867-5309/Jenny
The Damned -- Neat Neat Neat; New Rose
Wreckless Eric -- Whole Wide World
Tony Burrows -- Every Little Move She Makes
Bobby Fuller -- Let Her Dance
Randy Travis -- Digging Up Bones
Charlie Rich -- Lonely Weekends; Sittin' and Thinkin'
Jerry Reed -- East Bound and Down; Lord, Mr. Ford
Jerry Lee Lewis -- Crazy Arms; It'll Be Me; Don't Let Me Cross Over
Tompall Glaser -- Texas Law Sez; Musical Chairs
Bobby Bare -- Numbers; Detroit City; Streets of Baltimore
Richard Berry -- Have Love, Will Travel
Lloyd Price -- Stagger Lee
David Allan Coe -- You Never Even Called Me by My Name
Rocky Burnette -- Tired of Toein' the Line
Bob Wills -- Time Changes Everything; Take Me Back to Tulsa
Merle Haggard -- Mama Tried; Carolyn
Ray Charles -- Mess Around; I Got a Woman; Lonely Avenue
The Ikettes -- I'm Blue
Professor Longhair -- Tipitina
Allen Toussaint -- Brickyard Blues
The Spinners -- I'll Be Around; It's a Shame
Jimmy Reed -- Baby What You Want Me to Do; Bright Lights, Big City
Howlin' Wolf -- Sittin' on Top of the World; Spoonful; Evil; Forty Four
Flaming Ember -- Westbound No. 9
House of Pain -- Jump Around
Robbie Dupree -- Steal Away

Favorite Box Sets:
Harvest Festival
Jerry Lee Lewis -- Locust Years
Waylon Jennings -- The Journey: Six Strings Away
America -- Highway
Little Feat -- Hotcakes Outtakes
Ray Charles -- The Birth of Soul
Loud, Fast Out of Control

First Record Bought:
Juice Newton -- Juice; followed by Olivia Newton-John -- Physical and Hall Oates -- Private Eyes

First Concert:
Huey Lewis the News, supported by Duke Jupiter, at the Castle in Charlevoix, circa 1984

Favorite Concerts:
Ween; Pavement; Nick Lowe; Pulp, Different Class tour, 1996; Bob Dylan, club show, 1999; The White Stripes, 2003

Concert You Wish You'd Seen:
Rockpile

Favorite Music Movies:
#Goodfellas; #Velvet Goldmine; #This Is Spinal Tap; #Rocky Horror Picture Show; #Hedwig the Angry Inch

Best Use of Music in a TV Series:
#The Sopranos -- particularly the use of Johnny Thunders' You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory, Cream's I Feel Free, the Rolling Stones' Thru and Thru, Van Morrison's Glad Tidings

Favorite Music Books:
-Shakey; -The Last Party; -No Sleep Til Hammersmith

Favorite Songwriters:
Chuck Berry; Nick Lowe; Ray Davies; Lowell George

Favorite Record Label:
Stiff

Favorite Album Covers:
Ween -- Chocolate Cheese; Roxy Music -- Country Life

Least Favorite Album Cover:
Scorpions -- Lovedrive

Favorite Music DVDs:
Pavement -- =Slow Century; Pulp -- =Hits; Led Zeppelin -- =The Old Grey Whistle Test, Vols. 1-3; The Who -- =Kids Are Alright

Artist You Will Always Believe In:
Nick Lowe

Artist You Will Always Defend:
The Rolling Stones

Albums That You Will Always Defend:
Urge Overkill -- Exit the Dragon; Menswear -- Nuisance

Album You Own That No One Else Does:
Sheb Wooley -- That's My Pa

Singers Who Make Your Skin Crawl:
Patti Smith; Linda Perry

Singers Who Make You Swoon:
Stephen Malkmus; PJ Harvey

Artists You're Supposed to Like but Don't:
Bob Marley; Frank Zappa; Jimi Hendrix

Song You Can't Stand by an Artist You Like:
My Ding-a-Ling, Chuck Berry

Favorite Teen Idol:
Ricky Nelson

Artist Who Broke Your Heart:
R.E.M.

Band That Should Break Up:
Aerosmith

Band That Should Re-form:
Nobody. Bands always break up when they should. But I am glad that Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler are working together again.

Guilty Pleasure:
I have no guilt, particularly about Rick Springfield.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi