Jaguardog's A to Z Musical Write-Off: My Entry: A to Z, Come Sing With Me Jun 11 '05    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Revelation [Digipak] by Journey From $12 Machine Gun Etiquette by The Damned From $40 The Bottom Line Music makes the world go round. Ron Drain knows his music. He’s been listening to the stuff even longer than I have (his profile page says so). He’s also an Epinions veteran. So, when he decided to host his first write-off, I just had to bite. And what a great one it is. A list of my favorite musicians, A to Z. My musical tastes are quite divergent to say the least, as you’re about to see. So let’s dive in and have some fun, shall we? A is for Aykroyd, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, better known as the Blues Brothers. Say what you will, but I loved the sound of their rhythm and blues band, which was actually comprised of some pretty darned talented musicians. B is for Beethoven. Ludwig van. The one and only. You don’t even want to get me started here, because not only do I think he was the greatest composer/musician who ever lived, I think he is the greatest composer/musician who ever will live. Take your favorite performer/artist and take away their hearing and see how far they go. Beethoven still excelled despite that handicap. He reigns supreme. C is for Chicago. I’ve been a fan of this rock/pop group for about 24 years now. They still tour, though I think its time for them to hang it up. But they gave us so many great albums, and I had the good fortune to see them in concert on numerous occasions. D is for Danny Elfman. He is one of my favorite film composers, writing scores for Batman, The Flash and The Nightmare Before Christmas among others. E is for the Eagles. They’re another of the great bands of the late twentieth century, and I think their work will stand the test of time. F is for Franz, Franz Schubert. Schubert is not as much of a household name as Beethoven or Mozart, but his work displays just as much genius. A tragic figure, he composed some truly great works (his “Great” symphony) and a plethora of wonderful songs. G is for G ioachino Rossini. What? You don’t know Rossini? Yes you do. Ever heard Bugs Bunny sing The Barber of Seville? That’s Rossini. And there’s a lot more where that came from. H is for Haydn, Franz Josef Haydn. The man wrote more than 100 symphonies! Enough said. I is for WInwood, Steve Winwood. OK, that’s a stretch, but the “s” and the “w” were already taken, and he really is on my all time favorites list. So sue me. J is for Johannes Brahms. Brahms has often been called the successor to Beethoven, and rightly so. I still get goose bumps when I listen to his first piano concerto. K is for Kansas. All we are is dust in the wind, after all. L is for Lewis, as in Huey Lewis and the News. One of my favorite eighties bands. M is for Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You’ll always get your debates about who is superior, Beethoven or Mozart. I say you can’t go wrong with either. Mozart was, no matter how you slice it, a pure genius. N is for Nobody in particular. Instead, the letter “N” is dedicated to all of the other wonderful artists and composers I enjoy so much but can’t include. O is for Opera, The Phantom of the Opera. I just love Andrew Lloyd Weber’s version. I could listen to the soundtrack forever and ever. P is for Pachelbel, and Pavarotti. This one is a tie, folks. Pachelbel’s Canon gets him included. But I can’t leave out Pavarotti. Ever heard him sing Nessun Dorma? You should. Q is for Queen. They win by default. R is for Richard Wagner. Wagner wrote the most powerful operas ever, I think. The Ring cycle is a stunning achievement. S is for Johann Strauss. A waltz on the Blue Danube, anyone? T is for Tchaikovsky. Another member of the pantheon of musical gods. If I only had a dime for every time some movie featured the 1812 overture. U is for the Unfinished symphonies, Schubert’s most notably. V is for Vivaldi. Nothing gets the blood pumping like a little Vivaldi. There’s much more than the Four Seasons, too. W is for Williams, John Williams. Star Wars. Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Jurassic Park and so much more. He’s probably the greatest film composer ever. X marks the spot. The empty spot in this list. Y is for Yohann Sebastien Bach. What’s that you say? It’s Johann with a “J”? Ah but the Germans pronounce it like a Y, so there! And how could I leave out the composer of the Brandenburg Concertos? Z is for ZZ Top. I’ve always enjoyed their music and I have all their albums. Please see other entries here

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