[sittnick]

Ahh, give Ray a pass. "The Streak" was certainly a non-wussy novelty song. My mom could not handle his country (non-wussy) version of Johnny Mathis' "Misty." My wife, who heard Stevens' first, couldn't handle Johnny Mathis' wussy version.

Anybody who can take a song with wussy lyrics like Misty and de-wussify it cannot be considered a wuss even with "Everything is Beautiful" in the roster. Also keep in mind, the opening lines of the Stevens version ("Jesus loves the little children") would probably mean that it cannot be played in a public school. So even "Everything is Beautiful" has it's good points. Schmaltzy does not equal wuss.

[Mike Bates]

I still think Ray jumped the shark. I'm surprised, BTW, that your wife heard his cover of "Misty" before Johnny's. That was out when I was a kid, a very long time ago.

Wussiness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.