01 October 2006

"New" Musical Discoveries

Have I found something related to music that even Jean doesn't know about? Damn, I hope so because that would be such a coup!

This stuff has been on my Google scratch pad for a couple of weeks. I can't say I even remember how I came across them though I believe it was from taking a side trip down a long, winding and tree-covered path which featured You Are Here as its starting point. Fortunately, I was able to ford the stagnant ponds and avoid the bear traps along the way.

Anyway, having just advised Sage in the comments over at Jean's about using the Google
sidebar scratch pad for blog ideas, I thought it was about time I gleaned through my own notes and freed or discarded a few of the concepts. Clearing out a little clutter, as it were. And clutter has been accumulating over the past several months as I've lacked the motivation to do much more than make it to work as scheduled.

By the way, I love my Google sidebar. Its "web clips" feature serves as my blog feeder or whatever...I put in the sites I'd like updated and it posts a notice when there's new post content. Since I have yet to figure out RSS (making me wonder what NOT Really Simple Syndication must be like, which scares me), this is a great alternative. I don't have to go to a particular website to view my list; it's always at my side and I usually notice when a new post is announced. I also love their scratch pad, where I store URL's and blog ideas as well as some clips of html code I occasionally use while posting. Oh, and their weather feature, so I always know how to dress to walk the dog.

Ooooo! Ooooo! I remember now. I found this site through a Random Zen Jean posted which led me to information about the "27 Club." Yes, it was Wikipedia that led me to The 50 Worst Things Ever to Happen to Music. which boasts the age of 27 as number 8 on the list. Worthy of note as well are numbers 39, AIDS; 29, Popera; 18, soprano sax and 9, Whitey. (Oh, please tell me I didn't just hear Pat Boone trying to sing Smokey Robinson on that website?! The horror!) Read the whole list for yourself and draw your own conclusions. I'm sure Jean will have a lot to say (and, yes Jean, feel free to have at it over there if you haven't already).

Blender bills itself as, "The Ultimate Guide to Music and More." I'll have to leave it to people with more expertise than me to agree with or dispute that claim. I've always just known what I like, what I don't and what I'll listen to and buy. I don't have to know the entire history of the song, the group, what drugs they were on at the time and seven different theories of what the lyrics mean. I prefer to figure that out all by myself, just me and the music.

While at Blender, I couldn't help stopping by the "50 Worst Songs Ever." Maybe I'm listening to the wrong radio stations or maybe I'm just too fucking old but I've got some serious problems with the list. Like I've never heard any of the music from about half the artists mentioned.
But my main problem with the list is a series of glaring omissions which highlight a terribly ageist mentality. Where is Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey?" The Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight?" Where is anything by ABBA??? (Can you believe there are 107,000 people out there willing to sign up on an ABBA fan site???)

I also happened to kind of like Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence" (though Bridge over Troubled Water was better and each of them is better solo), Dan Fogelberg's "Longer," which I used to sing to my son when he was a baby, Five for Fighting's "Superman," REM's "Shiny, Happy People" and 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?" Okay, maybe I liked the way 4 Non Blondes looked a little more than their actual music.



Some of their choices I can get squarely behind, however, including anything by Celine Dion, Meatloaf's "I'll Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," anybody but Old-Timey or Country & Western singers singing "Cotton Eye Joe," Lionel Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling," anything by Chicago after about Chicago VI, Bette Midler's "From a Distance" and anything by Billy Ray Cyrus.

You form your own opinions. This is my stance and I'm sticking to it.

Blender offers up several other "50" lists. Check their sidebar for links to more "Horrors" and "Awesomeness." The site might not be quite my style. I am presently thoroughly enjoying an American Routes broadcast of an entire two-hour show devoted to John Prine. But Blender offers some neat features, a news letter and great reviews. I have to go back now and check out the links I saw in the Back Catalog section of the Guide to "Every Original CD Reviewed" for various artists, some of which I even have an interest in...Led Zeppelin, Elvis Costello.

I'm now listening to some fabulous C&W music from icons of the genre, Hank Williams and Roger Miller. I just realized how much I love them both. And both artists influenced John Prine. Prine also composed "Angel from Montgomery," if you need more convincing about him.

I hope you enjoy!

tags: blogging / life / music

2 Comments:

At October 01, 2006 9:44 PM, Blogger H.M. Lufkin said...

I just came to see the Rock 'em Sock 'em picture, and now I have 'Dancing Queen' and 'Achey Breaky Heart' stuck in my head. Horrifying. I'll have to get the room clear of sharp objects before I dare to the Blender link. They sent me a free magazine once about six months ago and I'm just starting to get the feeling back in the left side of my body. Good linkage, though.

 
At October 01, 2006 10:19 PM, Blogger Cheryl said...

Sorry, Jean. Go listen to some Prine to cleanse your brain!

I was mighty proud of the linkage, myself. I had a lot of fun writing and linking it, too, even though it took about three hours!

Sometimes, I wish I did this for more than love.

 

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