AN OLD GREASER’S ENTRY IN JAGUARDOG’S A - Z MUSIC W/O
Sep 15 '06
The Bottom Line Why did they have to invent Esperanto? Music has always been there.
I thought participating in JAGUARDOG’s A to Z music W/O would be fun. For details and other participants go to
http://www.epinions.com/content_4389118084
Entry rules are quite liberal, so long as we list musical favourite/s per alphabet letter. I needed to tighten up the rules for my entry to be relatively short, this is what I came up with:
-No Classical. Although favourites exist there too, discussions tend to centre around readings. To discuss whether Kleber’s 7th is better than Karajan’s is fine but I won’t debate if Debussy is better than Dvorak.
-Names: They should be used as normally used. Frank Zappa should be under ‘F’, not ‘Z’.
-Deserted island: Suppose that JAGUARDOG would pack us off to a deserted island in the pacific and would only let us take with us music from ONE artist/band ONLY per alphabet letter. If you made the wrong choice you’d be stuck with second-best ad infinitum. Role-play this rule and you’re in for some serious decisions.
Here are mine:
A
goes to the ANIMALS. Eric Burton not wanting to be misunderstood edged out ABBA in spite of their many lovely tunes. A-HA was also a contender. Uh, maybe I’m anti-nordic. But not when it comes to wood.
I’m going to miss ALICE COOPER under the palm trees. Not as much as ARETHA, though; it’s a respect thing.
B
is, of course, for the BEATLES. This is the one I knew from the moment I sat down to compile would be a no-contest.
What I hadn’t figured was that there’d be such an embarrassment of riches for the letter. Take a look at who the Liverpudlians brushed aside: BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE, BAD COMPANY, B.B. KING (no thrills?...), the early BEE GEES (67-69), BLACK SABBATH, BLOOD-SWEAT & TEARS (I’m not happy at all), BOB DYLAN (ouch), BONEY M, BONNIE TYLER, BON JOVI (this hurts), BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD and a couple of Bruces, SPRINGSTEEN and HORNSBY.
Oh well, I guess that’s just the way it is.
C
Quite a varied selection here, what with psychedelic CREAM stirring strange brews, jazzy CHICAGO wanting to smile, hard-hitting CCR moon gazing and homely CSN&Y singing about their cats. CAT STEVENS though and CELINE DION remind me there are solo artists too to consider.
In the end it’s one of the latter. Because I’ll be so far away I need music I can listen to again and again. So it’s CAROLE KING :o)
D
With contenders such as the DOOBIE BROTHERS, the DOORS and especially DEEP PURPLE this looked like another hard choice. But Mark Knopfler playing the guitar is like money for something. Sorry Ritchie, the DIRE STRAITS it is.
Sorry too DIANA (Ross), DAVID (Bowie), and DUKE (Aw, c’mon! You know who this is!)
E
ELTON JOHN, with or without Bernie Taupin, will always sing my song better than ELO, ELP or EUROPE. Though ERIC CLAPTON, wonderful on many nights, comes close (especially unplugged).
F
FOREIGNER win, with the FOUR TOPS and the FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS - in spite of vastly different styles - coming in a joint second. Distant though.
G
is (of course) for the DEAD. Its opposite, GENESIS, was understandably in the running. So too GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS; her Midnight train to Georgia needed a railroad and I would be tempted to consider GRAND FUNK if they weren’t essentially a one-hit American band.
H
No-brainer: HUMBLE PIE win hands down so they don’t even need no doctor.
I
I thought I’d be smart and give this to the ‘Italians’, from old performers like Caruso to young stars like Eros. In the end I didn’t have much choice, IRON MAIDEN have parked their vehicle here; the IDES OF MARCH can only watch.
J
The second no-contest, and again against rich opposition. But ‘J’ can’t be anything else for me than JETHRO TULL. As the Beatles were breaking up, Tull were coming into their own; I was reared in their music, essentially Ian Anderson’s unique brand of Rock.
I was also fortunate to see them in concert – when not standing on one leg playing the flute Ian Anderson almost defies description. Picture a frenzied Steve Nash madly rushing up court looking to feed Dirk, er, Amare, er, Boris, long hair launching sweat at all directions - and you’re close.
Now, the problem is what to do with JAMES BROWN, JAMES TAYLOR, JANIS JOPLIN, JIM CROCE, JOE COCKER, JOHN LENNON, JONI MITCHELL, JOSE FELICIANO and - above all - JIMI HENDRIX.
Or rather, without them.
K
goes to the KINKS. There’s no way I would leave behind Sunny Afternoon and Waterloo Sunset. Tough luck KANSAS, you were a wee bit too fatalistic.
L
Another no-brainer. I have a whole lotta love for LED ZEPPELIN so LOU REED is left walking the wild side.
M
The MAMAS & THE PAPAS tried to fight it out with MARVIN GAYE and the MOODY BLUES. MIKE OLDFIELD went for tubular bells, MICHAEL JACKSON for a moonwalk thriller. Who would be the laureate?
MIKIS THEODORAKIS. His syrtaki score for ‘Zorba the Greek’ is but a light appetizer. You gotta listen to ‘Romiosini’ or ‘Axion Esti’ to believe them. No, this is not ethnic, this is serious stuff that will still be here after the trend will have passed.
N
NAZARETH lament that love hurts, NEIL DIAMOND is making beautiful noises, NEIL YOUNG looks for a heart of gold, NAT KING COLE worships Mona Lisa :o) But indefatigable NANA MOUSKOURI wins.
O
is for OTIS REDDING; asking us to try a little tenderness, he wipes out everyone else under ‘O’.
P
This letter brings together two old buddies, PETER GABRIEL and PHIL COLLINS. Both have written extraordinary music (Peter possibly a bit more so), as have the POLICE. But none of the three could conceivably compete with PINK FLOYD.
Waters, Gilmour & Co. opened avenues we still travel. Was it really 34 years ago we explored the dark side of the moon? – sounds like yesterday.
Q
is for (the) QUEEN; anything else is sacrilege. Try Love of my life.
R
Third no-contest and the ROLLING STONES paint it black for RAINBOW and a score of solo artists, the males doubling as fine composers too. So it’s adios to RAY CHARLES, ROD STEWART, ROY ORBISON and ROBERTA FLACK. This is killing me.
S
Goes to SANTANA obviously. Obviously.
Er, obviously. So no SHADOWS; no SMOKEY ROBINSON; no SIMON & GARFUNKEL; no STEPPENWOLF; no STEVIE RAY VAUGHN; no STEVIE WONDER; no SUPERTRAMP; no SLADE – no SLADE?
T
The TEMPTATIONS were, uh, tempting and the TRAFFIC lovable. But love’s got nothing to do with it, says TINA TURNER. She got the nod.
U
URIAH HEEP easily win over numbers bands UB40 and U2. Can’t beat easy livin’.
V
VAN HALEN and VAN MORRISON tried to sway me away from VANGELIS. They couldn’t.
W
WHITNEY HOUSTON wanted to dance with somebody but WILSON PICKETT preferred to ride Sally’s Mustang.
Don’t ask whom W is for, it’s for the WHO. I’m bloody Quadrophenic.
X
is for the X-CEPTED. Τhe what? Oh yes, all those great artists the one-pick-per-letter rule forced out. You didn’t really think I would leave without Noddy Holder, didja? Hey, it’s my list, so ARETHA, B.B., BOB, BON, CREAM, DP, JANIS, JIM, JOHN, JIMI, PETER, RAY, ROD, S&G, STEVIE RAY and SLADE are back in.
Y
This is the last no-contest, although I did fleetingly consider YES. But Rick Wakeman loses to a greater keyboard virtuoso, YIANNI.
My wife and I were privileged to experience his music live at the Live at the Acropolis concert. Actually, it should have been called the Herodion concert; it was staged at the ancient amphitheater at the foot of the Acropolis rock. Whatever. The acoustics are superb, makes you wonder at the prowess of ancient Greek engineers. To be there, in the cool September night, the Acropolis rock towering behind you as the first notes of ‘Santorini’ hit you… bliss!
Z
is for FRANK ZAPPA, he, he. I’m breaking my names rule? Report me to JAGUARDOG :o)
Whew, finished - hey, that was fun!
-Vasilis
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Epinions.com ID:
lammet
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Member: Vasilis A.P. Metaxas
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 35 members
About Me:
An outsider looking outside.
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