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My entry to JaguarDog's Write Off - and my 400th Review on Epinions!Jun 07 '05 (Updated Jun 13 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line My favourite musicians over the years...
JaguarDog is, after 5 ½ years, hosting his first Write Off… so of course I’m entering! Click here for more details. He challenged us to list an A-Z of our favourite singers / groups of all time, a challenge that proved to be a lot more difficult than at first anticipated. Spelling mistakes, typos, and misremembered song names notwithstanding, this is my entry. Feel free to correct me (I know you will anyway!!) NB – any entries left blank will hopefully be filled later, but my mind is blank at the moment...). I also wanted to have this as my 400th review, as I wanted to do something a bit different. Here goes… --------------------------------- (Updated 10/06/05 - filled in a few more of the blanks) (Updated again 13/06/05 - some scandalous ommissions put in their rightful place!) --------------------------------- A Group: I guess most people will say Abba, but while I like some of their songs I’ve never been a huge fan. Not decided really. Possibly ABC, who I’ve seen live a couple of times. (Fave song: Poison Arrow.) Male Artist: This just has to be Louis Armstrong, one of the most amazing jazz singers (and musicians) of all time. Fave song: What a Wonderful World. For a modern artist, it is of course Bryan Adams. Female Artist: Hmm, a tough one. Probably Anastacia, at the moment anyway. I quite like a bit of Paula Abdul, too. :-) B Group: Not the Beatles!! (I like them but again not a huge fan!) At a push I’d probably have to say the Chris Barber Band, few have ever heard of him I guess unless they like Jazz. He and Pat Halcox have been working together for over 40 years and hold the world record for the longest-running musical partnership (that may only be for jazz but I think it’s for any musical partnership). Halcox was born in Hayes, where I was born, so when the band perform at the little Beck Theatre in Hayes he’s swamped by friends and family after the show! I also have a sneaky affection for The Bangles… but not sure if I should admit it!! :-D Male Artist: Maybe Bon Jovi (though not decided if that should be under “J”!) Fave song: Keep the Faith . Not forgetting George Benson either, of course. C Group: The Corrs (though they’ve tended to get a little bit boring now and seem unlikely to reach the brilliance of their first album, “Forgiven, Not Forgotten”, again). Male Artist: Johnny Clegg – British born South African with a surprisingly large following outside RSA considering the limited exposure he’s had in the rest of the world, not only a great musician but also a pioneering voice against apartheid. Also wanted to give Ray Charles a mention, I’ve only recently become acquainted with his music and needless to say, I’m now a fan! Also Johnny Cash deserves a mention purely for "A Boy Named Sue"!! :-D And... how could I forget... Eric Clapton! (Fave song: Wonderful Tonight) Female Artist: Belinda Carlisle – I’ve been fortunate enough to see her in concert and she’s wonderful. Fave song: Summer Rain. I also like Natalie Cole. D Group: Duran Duran - fave song - "Ordinary World". D:Ream were also pretty good, whatever happened to them?!? Female Artist: Cathy Dennis (still songwriting but sadly no longer performing), fave song: My Beating Heart (from the “Move To This” album), Irresistable (from the “Into the Skyline” album). E Group: Eternal (while Louise Redknapp nee Nurling was still part of the group) – neither the group or Louise as a solo artist have done much of worth since splitting up, though Eternal with Bebe King did produce the wonderful “I Wanna Be The Only One”. Female Artist: Gloria Estafan F Female Artist: Ella Fitzgerald - I liked her duest with Lois Armstrong most of all, especially "Isn't This A Lovely Day" and "Tenderly" among the best. G Group: Genesis (Phil Collins era – never really heard any of the Peter Gabriel era music, I must get round to it though.) Gypsy Kings are also among my favourites. Male Artist: David Gray. Fave song: Sail Away. Female Artist: Gabrielle. Fave song: “Out of Reach”. H Group: Human League Female Artist: Faith Hill Classical Composer: Gustav Holst (The Planet Suite), Handel (Creation, Messiah, The Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks) I Male Artist - Enrique Iglesias - well he's not a complete favourite of mine I'll admit, some of his songs are really catchy though and I do like them. (I just felt that "I" should at least have something here!! Fave song: If The World Crashes Down J Group: Jamiroqui – well, some of their stuff anyway. Not keen on all of it but loved “Virtual Reality” and “Going Deeper Underground” really grew on me after a while. Female Artist: Nora Jones – one of the best female vocalists to surface in recent years, sultry and soulful in the best possible taste. K Group: Ketama – a Spanish modern flamenco group you’ve never heard of, but they’re brilliant. Male Artist: Nat King Cole Female Artist: Chaka Khan - fave song... hmm... I think it's got to be "Ain't Nobody (does me better". Classical Composer: Katchachurian (now I’m sure I spelt that wrong!!) – only recently became aware of his work by listening to Classic FM. Love the Masquerade Ball, a wonderful piece of music. L Group: Level 42. Mark King is keeping the band going as a live act and hopefully I’ll be able to see them in concert again someday. Female Artist Annie Lennox - whether in the Eurythmics or as a solo artist, she's one of the most outstanding female vocalists there is. Fave song:... hmm.. Eurythmics era: There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) ... solo era: Walking On Broken Glass M Group: Madness – they wrote catchy tunes, their music videos made me laugh, and they did by far the best version of “It Must Be Love”. What more could you want? Tied with Fleetwood Mac (70’s era), though some of their more bluesy earlier music is very cool indeed. Male Artist: Van Morrison (Fave song: Brown-Eyed Girl). Female Artist: Kylie Minogue (post-squeaky-voice era). Fave song: Fragile. I don’t like Madonna much of the time, but when she did the “Ray of Light” album, she was in a class of her own. (Sadly she didn’t stay there, but you can’t have everything!!) Samantha Mumba is also a favourite of mine. Classical Composer: Mendleson (fave work: The Hebrides Overture). N Nothing yet… O Nothing yet… P Female Artist: Mica Paris. Fave song: “Never Felt Like This Before”.l Classical Composer: Prokofiev - perhaps most famous for "Peter and the Wolf", but among his extraordinary and innovative repetoire is the ground-breaking "Romeo and Juliet" with its discordant yet beautiful"Montagues and Capulets" section. Q Group: Queen – they could be annoying but they could be breathtakingly brilliant. When I was younger I really hated Bohemian Rhapsody and only came to appreciate it later on in life. Now it’s one of my favourite songs of all time. R Group: Roxette – the Swedish group have rarely been bettered when it comes to catchy tunes and energetic performances. Good range of styles, too. (I also like REM and wanted to give them a mention. So… um.. .there it is!) Male Artist: Gerry Raferty ("Baker Street" is one of my all-time fave songs by anyone Classical Composer: Rachmaninov (fave work: Piano Concerto no.2). Female Artist - I just can't believe I hadn't already put her in... Diana Ross! Fave song... difficult to choose, probably Chain Reaction. (It put me right off Steps when they covered that one badly!! :-D) S Group: Simply Red - not sure which is my favourite song of theirs as I love so many of them, it's probably out of their first song, "Money's Too Tight To Mention", or "Stars"... too close to call though... Male Artist: Carlos Santana - hmm... again, I love too many of his songs to say, though "Smooth" has always really stuck with me, I tend to like his more salsa-influenced usic more... Female Artist: Lisa Stansfield. Fave song: Eitehr “Real Love” or the soul edit of “In All The Right Places”. I tended to go off her stuff a little when she became more influenced by dance than soul though. T Group: Thin Lizzy (Fave song: "The Boys Are Back In Town") and Temptations (Papa Was A Rolling Stone) Female Artist: Shania Twain Classical Composer: Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose overtures for the operas "Sleeping Beauty" and "Romeo and Juliet" are among the most enchanting pieces of music ever composed. U Group: Ultravox - fave song is (of course) Vienna... V Male Artist: Luther Vandross - fave song (solo) - "So Amazing" (duet - with Janet Jackson) - "Best Things In Life Are Free" W Male Artist: Barry White Female Artist: Vanessa Williams - fave song (and the song we danced to at our wedding) - "Sved the Best for Last". AND... Dinah Washington - with Brook Benton formed one of the best Duets of all time, with "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" and it's follow-up "Rockin Good Way (To Mess Around And Fall In Love" as near perfection as it's ever likely to get - even though in the latter song, Benton gets his timing mixed up and comes in too early - to be scolded by Washington for doing so - and they kept it in the final cut!! X Nothing yet… Y Group:Yazoo (The Only Way Is Up) Z Nothing yet… Well, that’s all for now folks! See also my Top Ten (going on Forty) Pop & Rock Albums...  |
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