DAILY DIRT: ‘She’ll take a tumble on you, roll you like were dice … she’s got Bette Davis eyes.’

If Kim Carnes had ever married Rod Stewart, can you imagine the voices those kids would have had?… Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 290 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The year was 1981, and it turned out to be a dandy in the pop music industry.

It’s also the latest in our spotlight series for top 10 songs from the baby boomer era. How many of the following do you recall?

• 1. “Bette Davis Eyes,” by Kim Carnes: Ever have one of those songs the first time you heard it that you said to yourself, “Yep, this is a great one”? I love this song as much today as the first time I heard it 41 years ago. For the record, it held the No. 1 position for nine weeks that year. Should have been all 52.
• 2. “Endless Love,” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie: If ever a couple were meant to record together, it was these two.
• 3. “Lady,” by Kenny Rogers: For those who weren’t around in the 1980s, or simply didn’t care, it’s hard to describe how big of a star Kenny Rogers was at that time.
• 4. “(Just Like) Starting Over,” by John Lennon: Lennon’s music was still going strong long after his December 1980 death.
• 5. “Jessie’s Girl,” Rick Springfield: Easily the best song from Springfield’s catalogue.
• 6. “Celebration,” by Kool and the Gang: Here’s another group that deserves far more consideration than it has received for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 7. “Kiss On My List,” by Hall and Oates: Sorry, never a Hall and Oates fan.
• 8. “I Love A Rainy Night,”: by Eddie Rabbitt: Surprisingly, not his biggest hit. That was “Drivin’ My Life Away”.
• 9. “9 to 5,” by Dolly Parton: My favorite Dolly Parton song was always “Islands In the Stream” with Kenny Rogers.
• 10. “Keep On Loving You,” REO Speedwagon: REO is a member of the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m not kidding.
• Song that should have been in the final top 10: No. 17 “The Tide IS High,” by Blondie.

2. Here’s our latest list of happy birthday wishes:

• Jeopardy! game-show superstar (and sometimes host) Ken Jennings turns 48 Monday. Wouldn’t you like to spend an hour with this guy, simply asking him questions? (PUBLISHER’S NOTE: No. He seems like a tool. JRG)
• Singer Bob Dylan will be 81 on Tuesday. The first Dylan record I ever bought was “Lay Lady Lay”.
• If alive today, actor John Wayne would be 115. How about that, pilgrim?
• Singer Stevie Nicks turns 74 on Thursday. The last I checked, my crush on her was entering year No. 49.
• Sportscaster Brent Musburger will be 83 on Thursday. Yes, he’s still working as the play-by-play voice of the Las Vegas Raiders.

3. Call this a weekend bonus. Our disgusting dish of the day a few days ahead of time.

Today’s delicacy is something called “beef tripe,” which possesses a smell that has been described as a “dingy dish towel soaked in stale urine”. Tripe is a type of offal — the entrails and organs of butchered animals. Reportedly, beef tripe is made from the first three chambers of a cow’s stomach and (for some reason) is popular in Italy.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — I don’t know about you, but I’m still having trouble getting past the idea that some people actually eat that tripe crap.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Aren’t “tripe” and “crap” synonymous?