One of my oldest friends grew up in the Church of Christ and once cried because the rest of us were going to Hell on account of not having worshiped the way he was taught was the only correct way. After that, Collin Raye’s laissez-faire approach seemed pretty progressive to me.

In general, though, I’m pretty quick to lose interest in anyone–celebrity or other–when I hear homophobic remarks. I’m not trying to stir up any debate over these larger issues, of course, but I do think it’s an appropriate avenue of discussion to see where an artist’s personal views and actions can influence how we respond to their work.

I typically favor album-heavy artists over singles-oriented artists, but Collin Raye is one of the rare exceptions. I found his average album to be an aggregate of songs, rather than a cohesive statement. But, wow! Those singles were killer! I always felt he was unfairly overlooked come awards time; his voice punctuated his songs in a way that few of his era could match. I always found him likable in interviews, too, which is saying something because I typically lose most of my interest in an entertainer once they invoke religion to condemn the LGBT community. What won me over there was that Raye qualified his remarks by saying that he saw homosexuality as a sin, as defined by the Bible, but that he also saw it as basically just another sin and not worth all the angst that it seemed to generate.

In addition to the five singles picked as essential here, I would have to find some way of adding “Anyone Else,” likely at the expense of “In This Life” (though that’s a matter of taste). Raye’s recording of “On the Verge” is relaxed, favoring an almost teasing sound; it would be an immediately urgent plea if recorded by one of today’s contemporary artists.

I would suggest, to anyone vaguely interested in Collin Raye, that you scour eBay and see if you can turn up the Direct Hits one-hour radio special CD, in which Raye is interviewed about his career to that point, along with most of the songs collected on that hits set. I bought a copy more than 10 years ago for about $15 and still count it among the gems in my library.

You might want to change the wording of that sentence. Otherwise, nice piece. I wasn’t expecting him to make the list at all, but this position is about right.