Redartz: If there's anything as much fun to discuss as comics, it must be music. And we've made reference to many kinds of music here over the years; as we have as many musical preferences as we have community members. Many of us, myself included, consider our personal musical tastes to be fairly eclectic. Well, this week we intend to find out just how eclectic we really are...
Thus our questions this time around first ask for your judgement, and then will give said judgement a bit of a test. Call it an experiment, a bit of fun, or a goof. I'll accept the praise or brickbats either way.
First the personal assessment:
1. Name at least three genres of music you enjoy listening to, and give us an example.
Next, the practical test:
2. If you have a device with the capability, set your music player to random and hit it 5 times. That should be sufficient to give as a taste of your taste! Let us know what those songs turned out to be.If you've no such music player, feel free to blindly pull a few records /cds from your storage and name those. No fair skipping, if something embarrassing comes up we have to own up to it (God help me here; lol)!
No doubt you all are breathlessly awaiting me to start things off, so wait no more. My answers are...
1. Pop. I love pop, just good old unpretentious pop. As an example I'll give ABBA, and "Honey, Honey". Much of ABBA's output could serve as a solid example here. And I love just about everything they did.
Blues. A trip to Memphis years ago with my wife really ignited my interest in this genre. One favorite cut is Amos Milburn and "Down the Road Apiece". Discovered this gem on a terrific compilation cd I snagged at a yard sale. A great way to find new music on the cheap.
Broadway/Show Tunes. My parents played such music extensively as I was growing up, and it stuck with me. Probably my favorite is "Fiddler on the Roof"; all of it is phenomenal but the opening is spectacular. Tevye introduces the tale in fine form as storyteller and singer.
There's my three genres; I could go on extensively but would hate to bore you. So, now let's see what my Random Music Player says about me.
2. Cut one: Thin Lizzy, "The Boys are Back in Town"
Cut two: Lorne Greene, "Ringo"
Cut three: The Beach Boys, "Surfin' USA"
Cut four: Dinah Washington, "The Way I Feel This Morning"
Cut five: Lene Lovich, "New Toy"
Well, I got off pretty easy. A good mix of styles and eras, and none of my Alvin and the Chipmunks tunes showed up. Okay, now let's hear from you. What wide ranging musical magnificence do you enjoy, and to what extent will your player show it?
19 comments:
I'm mainly into Southern Rock but also the odd bit of classical and I can't tear myself away from the telly when there's a repea5bof Top Of The Pops from the 70s on.
Here come five random tracks from the iPod, which has all of my music on it (600 CDs? 700? 800? except for the classical):
- Help On The Way - Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks 3
- If I Could See You One More Time - Marshall Tucker Band - Long Hard Ride, a bonus track
- El Paso - Grateful Dead again - Reckoning
- Where The Soul Never Sleeps - Delaney, Bonnie & Friends - Motel Shot
- Ain't Wasting Time No More - Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach
It was tempting to keep picking random tracks until William Shatner orThe Wombles came up but I held back.
I pretty much stick to rock/pop music, but within that broad genre my tastes are pretty eclectic. A quick look at my playlist shows everything from the Beatles, Rod Stewart and the Eagles to Motorhead, Green Day, and the Distillers ... plus lots of Canadian stuff from the Guess Who and Trooper to Billy Talent and Metric, with pretty much everything in between.
I am pleased to say that my musical tastes right now are more varied & eclectic than they EVER were in my youth/teen/early adulthood, yessir. Starting in the winter of '74 (when I picked up the Beatles Red Album on a long, snowy hike to our local grocery store a couple of days after a small blizzard--)I transformed into a Beatlemaniac first and foremost. And it has reeeeeeeeeally stuck with me for the nearly 50 years since. Oh, I listened to plenty of other stuff, and bought a goodly number of other albums-- but my musical taste from about '73 to '81 was defined almost entirely by the on-going Top 40 playlist on WLS. . . somehow even making through the heavy lean-in to Disco during its short reign. This all goes to explain why my #1 genre to listen to is broadly:
Pop/Top40/ClassicRock/RadioHits/Oldies/Bubblegum-- With The Beatles taking up the first 30%, at least, of that block. No kidding, I was literally picking up the phone to cancel my Sirius/XM subscription at the shop a few short years ago, when a promo came on AT THAT MOMENT that they were going to be introducing a new, permanent all-Beatles channel. And hence, I am still a subscriber. [*Note*- Annnnnd my wife just informed me in no uncertain terms that I HAVE to make THE BEATLES their own category for these purposes. . . and then "Everyone Else" as the next one. But I leave that for all of you to judge. . . ]
#2: Right now, it would be whatever you'd call the 60's genre represented by Herb Alpert & the Tijauana Brass, and The Bob Crewe Generation (and similar). Adult Contemporary?
#3: Like Red, I am a BIG ol' Broadway Musical maven-- I picked up that particular love in 10th grade (cast in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN) and never turned away. I could probably sing through the entirety of SWEENEY TODD for ya, in a pinch. And if we can add film score music into this category, it ticks all my boxes.
#4: Honorable Mention-- Christmas Music. I start very early with it every year. And have acquired dozens and dozens of CD's (and one particularly beloved cassette tape) as I've navigated through adulthood. It really dominates my listening starting well before Halloween most seasons. . .
Random Selection--- Hmm, I don't seem to have a random-play option for my liked songs on Spotify-- it looks like they're just listed in order. SO-- let me pick #'s 1, 100, 200, 300,and 400---
GUANTANEMERA by The Sandpipers
AQUARIUS/LET THE SUN SHINE IN-- The 5th Dimension
IMAGINE ME THERE-- Ringo Starr
YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE (TV Version)-- The Monkees
IT'S A PIG! (From the musical BY JEEVES!)-- Alan Ayckbourn/Andrew Lloyd Weber
Hmmmmmmm-- not the coolest cat in the coat-closet, me. . .
HB
Fav genre examples:
1:Rock. David Bowie. Starman
2: Blues. Robert Cray. I Shiver
3: Easy listening. Gordon Lightfoot. Sundown
On shuffle my Walkman played:
The Associates. Party fears two
Bowie - Drive in Saturday
Led Zeppelin - Viking Song
Andy Kim. Rock me gently
George McCrae. Rick your baby
Dangermash- holy cow, 600-800 cds on your unit! And not including classical. Wow. I did include classical on my tablet. Don't count for so many tracks, but they sure extend the time.
Incidentally, that William Shatner trach could've been interesting...
Mike W- pop music has quite a wide range on it's own, and you seem to offer a generous range of styles!
HB- yep, just like you, my tastes in younger years were generally more pop focused. And my wife would probably agree with yours about the Beatles. She too has that channel on lock.
Oh, and don't sell yourself short- that's a mighty cool list in my eyes."When the Moon, is in the Seventh House"...granted, I might not be the best to assess cool...
McScotty- Robert Cray and Gordon Lightfoot! Wonderful! And you pulled a nice list, too...
Well, well, well... ole Charlie does not have an "i" device that feeds / shuffles him music based on his listening habits, so this is tough.
BUT! I will use youtube as a proxy since i use it at work whilst working (duh).
And we get mega offerings of:
- "chill"music particularly Brazilian bossa nova chill. (Literally the word "chill.")
- Satie, Mozart, Debussy... i.e., classical though I am not sure Satie is classical?
- French hits
Eclectic? I don't know... just Charlie being Charlie, lol.
1) I listen to a lot of music.....blues, jazz, rock, soul, cajun/zydeco, reggae, etc.... Right now, I'm listening to a lot of blues (old school acoustic blues for the past few months), jazz, (Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Quartet) and southern rock (The Allman Brothers Band).
2) I swap out playlists frequently on my iPod, about once a month.....the last five tunes played on mine were...
Joe Cocker - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Son House - Death Letter
The Allman Brothers Band - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (acoustic version)
The Subdudes - Why Can't I Forget About You
D.C. Bellamy - If You See Kay
Don't listen to as much music as I used to, mainly it's when I'm driving, which isn't that often. And when I discovered podcasts about 7 or so years ago, that's mostly what I listen to on my device (my phone) when doing housework, yard work or taking the dog for walks.
As for genres, hmm, well, I mainly listen to various forms of rock, which - as Mike W. noted above - has a lot of sub-genres, but I like other stuff, too. So here's a tenative list:
1. Prog rock: I unironically and unapologetically love prog, and my favorite band is Yes (with King Crimson as a close second).
2. Jazz: it's been a while since I've listened to any jazz, but I do love it. There's so many great exemplars of the genre, especially from the mid-20th century, but I'll underscore Sonny Rollins.
3. Punk/post-punk: I added 'post-punk' because I'm not sure if bands like the Clash are really punk or just rock with a punk sensibility. Anyway, my absolute favorite band here is the Buzzcocks.
As for the five random songs, I had to look at the 'recently played' list on the audio app I have on my phone and look for any songs I played between podcasts. Here's what I got:
The Fixx - Secret Separation
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Jill Scott - Golden
Devo - That's Good
Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
Seven responses and two of us are into The Allman Brothers and Southern Rock. That's a huge proportion of us in the room in my experience (converts excepted).
And Shatner-wise, the only album I have at the moment is Seeking Major Tom. Just look at that list of tracks and special guests! A much underrated album. Oh, and I have the Common People track from some times when Amazon gifted me a couple of quid to spend on MP3s.
Like Charlie I don't possess an i-device either, which is probably just as well as it sounds like they might be a conspiracy to get us listening to the Allmans (sorry dangermash and Graham, but I couldn't resist).
Don't know about genres - where would you put, say, the Residents or Erik Satie? - so I'll go straight to shuffle listening. Which I'll have to do old skool, with records I'm listening to regularly at the moment because I got them recently.
1. Sun Ra - Egypt '71
2. The Revolutionaries - Herb Man Dub
Reissue of a classic lp by the late 70s Jamaican band that backed everyone, from the Mighty Diamonds to er, Serge Gainsbourg.
3. Various - Dreams To Fill The Vacuum: The Sound of Sheffield 1978-88
Lock up your dachshund safely Charlie, its the 4cd box of noisy, mostly no-hit wonders from the futuristic metropolis of the north (although I'm reliably informed at least one band on it are ringers from Barnsley).
4. Various - Secret Museum Of Mankind: Central Asia 1925-48
What it says on the tin - music from various Soviet republics, Mongolia and northern China recorded back in the second quarter of the 20th. Amazing.
Tuvan throat singers rock.
5. Jimi Hendrix v Wu Tang - Black Gold
Great mix of the Wu and Hendrix, which unlike most mash-ups stands up to repeated listening.
-sean
*That should be "... second quarter of the 20th century" above.
-sean
Sean - I too play my records!
The last 4 records played (b/c too lazy to put them back in the sleeves yet, lol)
Beatles 45 RPM: I'll Get You / Sie Liebt Dich (Rummage Sale $1 this summer!)
Hungarian Dances LP by Brahms
Heaven 17 LP Penthouse and Pavement
France Gall LP from around 1987 - Babacar (no duets featuring Serge Gainsbourg! LOL!)
Ummm.. is your Sound of Sheffield compilation the lesser known bands? No Human League, Heaven 17, ABC, nor... god forbid... Cabaret Voltaire???
Its got the Human League and that lot on it Charlie, except Cabaret Voltaire (licensing issues apparently) but its 4 discs, and the emphasis is very much on lesser known racket.
Can't say France Gall does it for me - so far as French ye-ye singers go, I'm more a Francoise Hardy kinda guy.
-sean
Kind of bummed that our Allman Brothers conspiracy was exposed. 😔
My taste in music is pretty mainstream, I’m coming to realize. I don’t have any Classical music on my iPod or on CD (unless we count various movie soundtracks), or any Jazz (again, except for some movie soundtracks by Lalo Schiffrin, Jerry Fielding and Quincy Jones), and no rap.
The stuff on my iPod is overwhelmingly Pop, Rock and R and B, so if I hit the ‘shuffle’ button, chances are good that it would likely be something by Queen, or Van Halen, or Sweet, or Bad Co., or The Spinners, or The Staple Singers, or The Yardbirds, or The O’Jays, or The Cars, or CSN, or Joni Mitchell, or Elvis Costello, or Blondie, or Meat Loaf, or Marvin Gaye, or Carole King, or The Carpenters, or The Doobie Brothers, or Kansas, or The Four Tops, etc etc.
I love Top 40 music from the 60s and 70s, and have a real soft spot for ‘One Hit Wonder’ Bands and artists like Gallery, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Phoebe Snow, Alive N Kickin’, Redeye, Kiki Dee, Blues Image, Shocking Blue, Pilot, Ace, Jigsaw, B.W. Stevenson, The Youngbloods, etc.
Not much into Show Tunes generally, but I’m always up for ‘Sweeney Todd’, ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.
I’m not a big Country Music fan, but I do have some. I like Patsy Cline a lot, and I have some Merle Haggard. I’ve got lots of Prog, Punk and New Wave.
Some of the more obscure (or at least less familiar) acts that might pop up on ‘shuffle’ occasionally: The The, Dixie Dregs, Hawkwind, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Fabulous Poodles. If you’re REALLY lucky, maybe something from the NEON GENESIS EVANGELION soundtracks (there are at least 3 albums).
b.t.
Hm, I see Sean and Charlie are listing albums as well. Since about Christmas, besides the occasional random song, I have listened to a few whole albums (on my phone, from ripped CDs):
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Osibisa - Woyaya
Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble - Music for The Native Americans
Strunz & Farah - Primal Magic
Strunz & Farah, by the way, are hard to pin down into any genre. They're an accoustic guitar duo with an accompanying band who, according to the well-spring of all human knowledge (Wikipedia) have "an eclectic sound that has been described as a cross between world fusion and flamenco." Whatever the matter, I love good accoustic guitar music, whether classical, jazz, flamenco or anything else, and they tick off all of those boxes and then some.
I no longer own any music at all - no CDs, LPs or digital music. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. And I'm perfectly happy about it - if I want to listen to a song I go to YouTube. So I can't list any shuffle tracks but I can reveal my current ear-worms: "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga and "My Guy" by Mary Wells.
Sean - the lesser known "racket?" I take umbrage... not, lol. Human League's earlier stuff in particular is not exactly my cup of tea where it just seems like they are beating the heck out of the synth for no rhyme/reason. And I can't really say I groove to Cabaret Volataire all that much. But we know Sheffield is a special place, nestled in Yorkshire, so we must give it it's due!
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