Various artists

If the idea of A Date with John Waters appeals to you, this collection Waters put together for his special valentine will get you off. There’s nothing sleazy here—the main attraction is Waters’ wry liner notes. Patience and Prudence’s “Tonight You Belong to Me,” a sweet ’50s pop tune, is, Waters says, “the first record I ever shoplifted.” He calls “Ain’t Got No Home,” by Clarence “Frogman” Henry, “the first tri-sexual rock song.” The most interesting tracks are “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Edith Massey (the Egg Lady from Pink Flamingos), a track some consider one of the worst records of all time, and “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun” by Mink Stole, another Waters regular. “Gun” is an unexpected gem: a torchy tune with a smoldering lyric and smooth jazz-guitar work that casts a real romantic spell.