Album of the Day

Randy Newman's seventh studio album may have been titled TROUBLE IN PARADISE but it opens with one of the performer's most upbeat anthems - “I Love L.A.” If that signature song isn't entirely representative of the 11 originals that follow – in which razor-sharp lyrics skewer racists, yuppies and war-mongers – its accessibility is. With Warner Bros. hitmakers Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker behind the board (and such guests as Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Bob Seger behind mics), the 1983 collection displays the craftsmanship that would make the singer-songwriter one of the most sought-after composers for film and TV. TROUBLE IN PARADISE is among Randy Newman's very best, and we'll give it another spin now to wish the man a happy 80th birthday.