Showing posts with label the rock and roll hall of fame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the rock and roll hall of fame. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Virtuoso

If you haven't seen this video, you really should. I've watched it a few times, and I keep wanting to play it again.

This performance is from George Harrison's 2004 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and features Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison, and a special guitar soloist at the end. Be sure to stick around 'til the end! You won't be sorry.



I wonder if that guitar ever came down.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

ABBA?

(The sum total of my knowledge of Sweden)


Wikipedia tells me that the producer of ABBA's songs was Bo Michael Tretow. And here I thought it was Benny or Stig. Well, Mr. Tretow, I hope, ended up damn rich, because it was the sound of ABBA that did it. The song lyrics, frankly, were neither here nor there. Most of the time they were "there". But I suppose a lot gets lost in translation.

Whether it's the Beatles or the Beach Boys or...well, those are the two that come to mind...sure some of the lyrics were good; some of them were indecipherable or, to be honest, dumb, but it was the sound that pulled us in.

ABBA had an effervescence. That's not an accident. That's studio magic. I don't like to pull back the curtain - and Agnetha and Anni were nice singers - but somebody (obviously Mr. Tretow) was twisting knobs in the studio and pairing tracks in precisely the right combination to create that sound.

Did you know that ABBA is the second-best selling music group of all time? I didn't. But I do remember that the music of the seventies was...zzzzzzz....oops, sorry - I fell asleep. Which pretty much sums up the seventies.

Country music in the seventies wasn't even a speck on the wall worth swatting. Rock? Well, we had Badfinger, I guess. And we had the Bee Gees. We had John Denver who sang about sunshine on my....zzzzzz. 

Luckily we had ABBA:








I didn't know that ABBA had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they were, in 2010. They deserved it.

More and more, I don't want to be depressed when I listen to music. I want to be uplifted. I don't necessarily care what the words say. I just want the music to soar.

ABBA soared.

 




Friday, March 14, 2008

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, You Say?

I don't understand why everything these days has to be politicized. Even the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

You know that old saying, "It's not what you know; it's who you know"? Well, I guess here, "it's not what you do; it's who you ....." Well, you get my drift. Are you listening, Jann Wenner?

While everyone is bowing at the feet of Madonna, just for "fun", let's take a look at the artists who are not in the hall of fame, shall we?


NEIL DIAMOND - MEDLEY (HITS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION)




CHICAGO - SATURDAY IN THE PARK



THE DOOBIE BROTHERS - BLACK WATER



HALL & OATES - OUT OF TOUCH



THE MOODY BLUES - NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN



DEEP PURPLE - SMOKE ON THE WATER



BEN E. KING - STAND BY ME



LINDA RONSTADT - BLUE BAYOU



KISS - ROCK & ROLL ALL NIGHT



ALICE COOPER - SCHOOL'S OUT



LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS - HIT MEDLEY



NEIL SEDAKA - BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO



LESLEY GORE - IT'S MY PARTY



SONNY & CHER - I GOT YOU BABE



These are just the ones I could come up with tonight. I'm sure there are many more. Let me know who I've missed.

So, Madonna should get in before these others? Why, may I ask? And is she even "rock"?

Why the politicizing? And what does Jann Wenner have against Neil Diamond? Because that one is so obvious, I don't know how it could be innocently overlooked.

Remind me never to buy Rolling Stone magazine ever again.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Is A Farce

I mean, face it, if Neil Diamond isn't in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, what in the world does it take? You can quibble all you want, but Neil Diamond wrote some KILLER songs, and a bunch of 'em. Does "Solitary Man", "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", "I Am, I Said", "Thank The Lord For The Nighttime", "Holly Holy", et al, come to mind? How about, "I'm A Believer"? "Sweet Caroline"? "Kentucky Woman"? I could go on and on, and on.

Take a gander at this:








So, I hear Madonna and John "Cougar" Mellencamp are getting in. What the ....??

So, I don't put much stock in the R&R Hall Of Fame. Hey, I can't be responsible for anyone's lack of taste or judgment.

But at least, The Dave Clark Five is FINALLY getting in.

Geez, what the hell? Is it because the voters were all born in the 1970's or what? Guys...and I'm talking to you that are in your late twenties/early thirties.........don't be taken in by the so-called "music" that they're playing on the Gen-X radio stations. THAT'S NOT MUSIC. They want you to think that it's music, but in actuality, it's just a bunch of people feeling sorry for themselves. It's pathetic.

Really, it's okay to actually ENJOY music. Seriously.

Music is supposed to be FUN. It's not supposed to be something that depresses you.

Why the heck do you think music was created in the first place? To make us feel bad? Why in the world would that be? That's just stupid.

So, as cool as you think you must be, watch this video. And then all you Madonnas and LL Cool J's, or whatever the hell you are, can sit back and WISH that you were as cool as someone like this:



P.S. Yes. I remember when this song first came out. I was going to the YWCA at the time with my best friend, Cathy, for the dances they held there. I was about 10 or 11 years old. My friend, Cathy, remarked, "Are they saying, 'I went to a dance just the other night; everybody there was "there'"? I thought that probably wasn't the case, but, to this day, I hear it that way: "Well, I went to a dance just the other night; everybody there was "there",