sreno, from top to bottom, is that the order you would recommend tom waits to a newbie?! you dove hard core into this guy pretty quickly! i would suggest easing someone in with Blue valentine or heart of a sat night. and i agree, the early years stuff is great, raw and the sign of a budding genius. i would also put swordfishtrombone before mule variations and bone machine. good lord man, we dont want to scare people away from our guy.
anyone who 'gets' waits starting with the recordings you did has my respect...and fear.
