|
|
My Personal Favorites in Music: A to Z Write- OffJun 19 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line Music is an important part of life and there is a style and sound to suit everyone's tastes.
I have participated in a few write- offs in my days as a member of Epinions. Some have involved food. Some have involved television. Others have involved booze, people, politics, and other unrelated topics. Epinions members have shown their collective creativity in coming up with many unusual and thought- provoking write- off topics. But of all the write- offs I have joined, I don’t think I have ever contributed to one in the category of music- an area of Epinions where I contribute little, in spite of my interest in the subject. I own more than 250 CD’s, and I listen to music every day. But I don’t contribute to this category as much as I should and I cannot really offer any good explanation why. So, when I heard that Epinions member Jaguardog was hosting a write- off, I felt that this was the time to make my mark and participate in a music write- off for the first time. So, here it is, from A to Z, some of my favorite musical artists and songs that come to mind as I go through the alphabet: A reminds me of: Bryan Adams- “Summer of 69”, “Cuts Like a Knife, and “Somebody” are among my favorites from the Canadian- born Adams. Aerosmith- favorites include “What it Takes”, “Dream On”, and “Angel”, but there are really too many to name. Allman Brothers- “Jessica”, “Ramblin’ Man”, “Midnight Rider” and others make my list from one of the bands I have seen in concert more than any other. B reminds me of: Beach Boys- “Good Vibrations”, “California Girls”, “Sloop John B”, and others comprise the list of my favorite Beach Boys tunes. Beck- “Devil’s Haircut”, “Loser”, and “New Pollution” are some of my favorites from Beck. Black Crowes- “Twice as Hard”, “Hard to Handle”, and “She Talks to Angels” rank among my favorites. C reminds me of: Eric Clapton- “Wonderful Tonight”, “Layla”, “After Midnight”, and many others rank among Clapton’s standouts. Creedence Clearwater Revival- “Travelin’ Man”, “Have you Ever Seen the Rain”, “Green River”, and many more great tunes were recorded by this band. Cranberries- “Linger”, “Salvation”, “Dreams”, and others top the list from this Irish band. Part of this musical outfit’s sound can be attributed to lead singer Delores O’Riorden, so this partially qualifies as a female solo pick. D reminds me of: Doors- “The End”, “LA Woman”, “Love Her Madly”, and several others from this band that ended its career together far too soon. Bob Dylan- “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, and “Just Like a Woman” rank among my favorites, not counting the well- known tunes Dylan wrote that were popularized by other groups, like “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Turn, Turn, Turn”, etc. E reminds me of: Eagles- “Hotel California”, “Already Gone”, and “Take it to the Limit” rank as my favorites from this superstar group. Melissa Etheridge- “I’m the Only One”, “Come to my Window”, and “I Want to Come Over” are some of the best tunes from this female rocker. Everclear- “Father of Mine”, “I Will Buy you a New Life”, and “Everything to Everyone” are the first songs that come to mind with this band. F reminds me of: Four Seasons- “Let’s Hang On”, “Workin’ My Way Back to You”, and “Dawn” are some of the best from this oldies band whose sound was made popular mostly because of the voice of lead singer Frankie Valli. Peter Frampton- “Do You Feel Like we Do”, “Show me the Way”, and “Baby I Love Your Way” rank as his best, all taken from his live album “Frampton Comes Alive”. G reminds me of: J. Geils Band- “Musta Got Lost”, “Lookin’ for a Love”, and “One Last Kiss” are among my favorites, but it is impossible to pick only three from one of my favorite bands ever. Guided by Voices- “Twilight Campfighter”, “I Am a Scientist”, and “Liquid Indian” are among my favorites from my hometown boys from Dayton, Ohio. Buddy Guy- “Slippin’ Out, Slippin’ In”, “Love her With a Feeling”, and Feels Like Rain” are some of the many great songs from this blues legend. H reminds me of: Jimi Hendrix- “Foxy Lady”, “The Wind Cries Mary” and one of my all- time favorites “Fire” rank as my favorite tunes from this master of guitar. The Hollies- “Long Cool Woman”, “Carrie Ann”, and “Bus Stop” are some of my favorite songs from this British band. I reminds me of: INXS- “Devil Inside”, “What You Need” and “Listen Like Thieves” are some of the best tunes from this group. J reminds me of: Tommy James and the Shondells- “Mony, Mony”, “Crimson and Clover”, and “I Think We’re Alone Now” are some well- known tunes from this band, also native to my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Elton John- “Rocket Man”, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”, and “Your Song” are just a few of the many memorable tunes from this pop star legend. K reminds me of: Kansas- “Dust in the Wind”, “Carry on Wayward Son”, and “Play the Game Tonight” are a few of my top picks from Kansas. KISS- “Rock and Roll All Nite”, “Calling Dr. Love”, “Hard Luck Woman” rank among my favorites. I never cared much for the make- up, but I always liked the music. L reminds me of: Led Zeppelin- “Whole Lotta Love”, “Rock and Roll”, and “All my Love” are just of few of the many memorable tunes from this legendary British band. Lovin’ Spoonful- “Summer in the City”, “You Didn’t Have to be so Nice”, and “Daydream” are some of this band’s best. “Summer in the City is especially important to me because it was the number one song on the U.S. pop charts when I was born. Lynyrd Skynrd- “Free Bird”, “What’s Your Name”, and “Gimmie Three Steps” are some great songs from this southern rock band. M reminds me of: Bob Marley- “Three Little Birds”, “Jamming”, “Redemption Song”, and many, many others comprise my favorites from the late reggae icon. Matchbox 20- ׁ AM”, “Real World”, and “Disease” are a few of this group’s best offerings. Moody Blues- “Ride my See Saw”, “Question”, and “I’m Just a Singer” are some of this English band’s best songs. N reminds me of: Nine Inch Nails- “Wish”, “Closer” and “Mr. Self Destruct” are just some of the brilliant songs from Trent Reznor and Company. Ted Nugent- “Cat Scratch Fever”, “Free for All”, and “Stranglehold” are some fun, rocking tunes from the Motor City Madman. O reminds me of: Oasis- “Wonderwall”, “All Around the World”, and “Champagne Supernova” are some favorites from this band. Outlaws- “Green Grass and High Tides”, “Ghost Riders in the Sky”, and “There Goes Another Love Song” are some of my favorites when I’m in the mood for the Southern Rock sound of this Florida- based outfit. P reminds me of: Pearl Jam- “Black”, “Daughter”, and “Off he Goes” are some standouts here. Tom Petty- “Don’t Come Around Here no More”, “Free Falling”, and “Here Comes my Girl” are some of Petty’s best. Pink Floyd- “Money”, “Eclipse”, and “Wish you Were Here” are a small sampling of the great, mostly mellow songs from this band. Q reminds me of: Queen- “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “You’re my Best Friend”, “Somebody to Love”, and many others rank highly in the Queen library. R reminds me of: Red Hot Chili Peppers- “Give it Away”, “Scar Tissue”, and “Californication” are some favorite songs from this band. R.E.M.- “Losing my Religion”, “Everybody Hurts”, and “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth” are some of my favorites from R.E.M. Rolling Stones- “Gimme Shelter”, “Brown Sugar”, and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” are the first songs that come to mind, but there are really too many favorites to narrow down to only three. S reminds me of: Bruce Springsteen- “Glory Days”, “Born to Run”, and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” are some of the many great songs from this solo artist. Rod Stewart- “Tonight’s the Night”, “Reason to Believe”, and “First Cut is the Deepest” are some of Stewart’s finer moments. Sugar Ray- “Fly”, “Someday”, and “Every Morning” are a few favorites from this band. T reminds me of: Talking Heads- “Once in a Lifetime”, “Stay up Late”, “Life During Wartime” rank highly with this band. George Thorogood- “Move it on Over”, “Willie and the Hand Jive”, and “Bad to the Bone” are some of my favorite Thorogood tunes. Three Dog Night- “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”, “One”, and “Celebrate” are some of my favorites from this 1960’s- 1970’s band. U reminds me of: U2- “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, “New Year’s Day”, and “Mysterious Ways” are some favorites from this Irish band. V reminds me of: Van Halen- “Panama”, “Hot for Teacher”, and “Love Walks In” are some of the many memorable songs from this band. Van Morrison- “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Gloria”, and “Domino” are some great songs from this solo artist. W reminds me of: Joe Walsh- “Rocky Mountain Way”, “”Life’s Been Good”, and “All Night Long” are some of this solo singer’s best. Bill Withers- “Lean on Me”, “Ain’t no Sunshine”, and “Use Me” are some of Withers best songs. Peter Wolf- “I Need You Tonight”, “Long Line”, and “Rosie” are some of Wolf’s best songs- the former lead singer for the J. Geils Band. X reminds me of: ?????? Can’t think of anyone Y reminds me of: Yes- “I’ve Seen All Good People”, “Long Distance Runaround”, and “Yours is no Disgrace” rank among my favorites by this British act. Neil Young- “Heart of Gold, “Cinnamon Girl”, and “Southern Man” are all very good, but I admit that I can only handle Young’s voice for so long. Z reminds me of: ZZ Top- “Legs”, “Rough Boy”, and “Tush” are some of the standouts from this Texas trio. Music is one of my many varied interests, but I contribute only sporadically to the music category. I can’t really explain why, since this is one of my areas of interest and I own a large number of music CD’s. When I first heard about this write off, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come up with enough musical artists to fill all the blanks from A to Z. Considering I needed to find a male solo artist, female solo artist, and a group for all the letters of the alphabet, I wondered if I would be able to fulfill the task. Yes, there are lots of musical acts, both past and present, and 78 is not an impossible number to name. But finding this large of a number of artists that I actually like and that fit each letter of the alphabet is not as easy as it sounds. The first place I consulted, to help jog my memory, was my own CD collection. But there were still a few letters where I was unable to find a solo artist or group to fill. And there are many letters where I was unable to come up with three different musical acts to fill the spaces. Another problem area was finding female solo artists that rank high on my list. I hate to admit it, and I don’t want to sound sexist, but I really don’t like to listen to female singers. And unlike many people, I don’t prefer singers that are considered “great” by music critics. You know the ones I’m talking about- those who have incredible range and/or silky- smooth voices like Frank Sinatra, Micky Thomas, and the like. I prefer rough- voiced singers like Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, Peter Wolf, and others. I like the edgy, throaty vocals and limited range that these and other singers contribute to their music. Music means many things to many people. Some listen to specific bands or solo singers because they like the musical arrangements. Others find solace in the lyrics that the more talented and creative musical artists are able to dream up. Whatever your interest happens to be, there is band or solo artist out there to fulfill your musical desires. This write- off was fun because not only did it make me remember some of my favorite tunes, it got me more in touch with some of the musical artists that I have long since forgotten over the years. Like a fine craft beer, there is a musical artist to match everyone’s taste. It’s just a matter of listening around and finding what you like. To find out more about this entertaining write- off, visit Jaguardog’s invitation Epinion: Music Write- Off This invitation includes some examples of musical performers (in case you are having trouble thinking of some yourself, for specific letters of the alphabet) and is one of the longest Epinion entries I have ever seen in the site! Post an entry yourself and enjoy/relive the great artistry and varied styles of music available, both today and yesterday.  |
| Read all comments (13)|Write your own comment |
- Top 10
by xxxxer
![Revelation [Digipak] by Journey Reviews](http://di1.shopping.com/images/pi/73/9c/e0/2046466476-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p2.7e00d2b2b21065980c01&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120604115241&r=1)
