"I really ought to cut that from the list" I muttered to myself - and as I worked on, the song began to play - and I realized why it was on the old ABS play list, and why it is a part of the new play list, in spite of the fact that it's now 17 years old - and why I will probably never stop hoping someone hears it for the first time and is driven to own the CD.
Gilbert was, in no uncertain terms, one of the most gifted musicians and song craftsmen I have ever heard in my life.
I still remember the first time I heard that Toy Matinee CD.
I was in my office as music director for WNOR-FM in Virginia, and it literally blew me away.
I listened to it for weeks - then months - and now years - and it still is one of the best pieces of work I ever heard.
Gilbert died at 29 years old in 1996 - virtually an unknown outside of his family, friends and a few people in the music business.
His death was officially listed as asphyxia by hanging, though there were seedy reports at the time that it was an autoerotic asphyxiation.
Little matter.
The world lost a talent that flashed so bright for such a short time that those who caught a glimpse still blink from the brilliance.
Toy Matinee, the only album released by the group of the same name, came about when he partnered with a producer he had met by accident.
The album received almost no notice, and in fact was out of print for many years.
Now recognized for the masterpiece that it was, it's available again in a remastered format.
But Gilbert was so much more than Toy Matinee.
A gifted producer himself, he was on the boards as engineer for Michael Jackson, and co-wrote the music for Madonna's "Dick Tracy.
" But his most bitter collaboration came from his association with a then unknown named Sheryl Crow.
He was meeting friends in a studio and playing and writing songs in LA.
The band called themselves "The Tuesday Night Music Club" - the name literally derived from their Tuesday evening jams.
Crow had met Gilbert when he was working on Toy Matinee, and the two became involved intimately.
He eventually brought her along to one of the Tuesday jams, where the band slowly evolved to writing music for Sheryl to sing.
Much of this music was penned by Gilbert.
But when a record deal appeared, Crow bolted from "the club" and recorded "Sheryl Crow and the Tuesday Night Music Club" which included the hit single "All I Want To Do Is Have Some Fun" - written entirely by Gilbert.
And in the acrimony that grew from her taking the band name, the music, and all of the credit (she reportedly claimed at the time that she wrote the music) - Gilbert was left behind and out of the loop when it came to reaping the benefit of the record's success.
Ultimately, Gilbert won a Grammy as a co-writer for "All I Wanna Do" but by that time he was broke, and living on a mattress in a small recording studio he had set up.
From that studio he recorded an astonishing solo record, Thud I've heard it, but never owned it, and it's a treasure I still seek in the used bins at flea markets.
One of these days I'll find it - or even better yet someone will reissue it, which is as it should be.
* Gilbert was known to perform amazing covers of his favorite band, Genesis, when he was first getting started as a performer.
A friend who had come to his house to tell him that he had been asked to audition for Genesis as a replacement for the newly departed Phil Collins, is the person who found him dead in his studio.
Greatness and fame do not always intersect - in fact, more often than not, they don't come anywhere near each other.
So I continue to play Toy Matinee - because it should have been heard by the whole world - not just the few that were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this distant, blinding star.
*Much to my joy, Thud has been reissued, and is available from amazon.
com