I told you we were gonna start this series with a doozy. Welcome to the first installment of the 5ive at 5. I’m gonna try to post a different Top 5 list every week…and as the title should make clear, this is going to run at 5 PM, Monday through Friday.

We’re kicking it off with a celebration of the musical legacy of Mr. Kenneth Gorelick. Yes, folks…we’re talkin’ ’bout that stringy-haired, sax-blowin’ guy that they call Kenny G. The mere mention of his name may cause most music fans (ESPECIALLY jazz purists) to pull their hair out, but in order to prove that he’s not (exactly) the Antichrist that folks say he is,  I have managed to come up with five songs featuring Mr. G. that I actually like!

(you can start cussing me out under your breath now)

We’re gonna start if off with a collaboration that many would consider one of the signs of the apocalypse: Kenny G. and Michael Bolton. Kenny and Michael have had a long-standing creative relationship (maybe they bonded over hair care tips), much to the consternation of music fans and the delight of housewives everywhere. I’ll fully admit to not only spending a Columbia House credit on Bolton’s  1991 chart-topper “Time, Love & Tenderness”, but also liking a few songs on the album, most notably it’s third single, the dusky ballad “Missing You Now” . Bolton reins in his over-the-top braying (for the most part), Kenny fills in the spaces nicely, and the end result is in the upper echelon of early Nineties adult contemporary ballads-not too heavily orchestrated or schlocky.

Hey, is that Teri Hatcher in the video?