Recently in Chuck Eddy's Chuck It All In Category

• The Silhouettes, "Get a Job" (1958): Philly gospel singers turned doo-woppers, with the most topical song of rock 'n' roll's first decade. Their girlfriends nag them and claim they're lying, but no gigs can be found in the want ads.

• Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons" (1955): Country-boogie dirge about digging your way toward hell for the straw boss, only to die owing your soul to the company store.

• John Rich, "Shuttin' Detroit Down" (2009): A great city approaches the breaking point -- bosses collect bonuses, calloused assembly-liners lose pensions. The singer's confused politics come off as sincere for once.

• Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Takin' Care of Business" (1974): Canuck buffalo rock about racing to catch the 8:15 into the daily grind again and wondering if self-employment is a way out.

• Martha & the Muffins, "Echo Beach" (1980): "My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk." So Martha takes a New Wave holiday, or at least dreams of one.

• Patti Smith, "Piss Factory" (1974): Another dirge (not to mention the artist's first and best single) about monotony and deadening heat and contemptible toothless co-workers telling you to slow down, when speeding up is the only way you know to escape.

• The Roches, "Mr. Sellack" (1979): The politics of groveling to get your crummy job back -- getting down on your hands and knees, literally, to scrub behind the steam table.

• Dolly Parton, "9 to 5" (1980): Karl Marx's favorite No. 1 single of the rock era. "It's a rich man's game, no matter what they call it, and you spend your life putting money in his wallet."

• Utah Phillips, "Joe Hill" (1984): A legendary labor organizer recites the Wobblies' union anthem, but first tells even better stories about his own life of work.

• Johnny Paycheck, "Take This Job and Shove It" (1977): A longhaired country outlaw walks out of the factory after 15 years, paycheck or no.

Something nostalgia for the '70s and '80s tends to forget is how nostalgic those decades were in turn for the '50s -- from Sha Na Na to American Graffiti to Happy Days, the era of greasers and poodle skirts was more inescapable throughout the era of quaaludes and smiley faces than youngsters today might guess. And one natural byproduct -- especially when Elvis died in 1977 -- was an often covert seeping of rockabilly sounds into hard rock, glam, new wave, country, even funk. The playlist below delves beyond the Cramps and Stray Cats to explore how, and where, the '70s and '80s lit late great balls of rockabilly fire.

"Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas has now been the most popular song in the country for nine weeks and counting with no end in sight, making it the weirdest and most outlandish song to work up that kind of batting streak since ... what? "Hey Ya!" (nine weeks, 2003-2004)? "Macarena" (14 weeks, 1996)?? "Bette Davis Eyes" (nine weeks, 1981)??? Mighty impressive, either way, and what cannot be denied is that it is also the most shamelessly ridiculous and unabashedly catchy confection to hit the radio this year (only competition: "Poker Face"), and it's inescapable for primarily that reason.

So you know what? If you're not among the millions (if not billions) of human beings who've already surrendered to the song, you might as well. Otherwise, you'll certainly regret it 99 years from now (2108!), when you hear it on the intergalactic oldies station wired into the computer chip in your brain and it reminds you how life felt in the summer of 2009 the way no other song possibly could. And if that's not enough of a reason to embrace "Boom Boom Pow," here are 10 more.

We can argue 'til the heifers come home about whether this is a good or bad thing (correct answer: very very very good), but it can not be denied that the soon-to-over '00s have been the butt-rockingest decade in the entire history of country music since the beginning of time. In fact, it could easily be argued that country music rocked a whole lot harder in the '00s than rock did. Below are 25 magnificently loud and heavy reasons why. If you're a purist who gets nervous when country goes places it isn't supposed to, feel free to sit this one out. Otherwise, turn it up!

How appropriate is it that Eminem's new Relapse arrives midway between Mother's Day and Father's Day? Has the world of music ever seen a songwriter, in any genre, so obsessed with the day-to-day details of parenting -- both as a parent himself, and as somebody who was once parented? And Relapse -- featuring back-to-back numbers called "My Mom," about Marshall Mathers' mom, and "Insane," about Marshall Mathers' dad -- demonstrates that he's not yet ready to bury the theme in the back of his already-cluttered closet. In recognition of his preoccupation, then, here is a rundown of Eminem's more memorable koans on the topic -- many of which can serve as helpful advice for moms and dads everywhere!