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Post by Kapitan on May 10, 2019 13:57:16 GMT
Herman Dune is the surname of the brothers who were the core of the band: David-Ivar and Andre Herman Dune were the songwriters and co-lead singers (to use the term loosely! ) in Herman Dune. Various people rotated in and out, sometimes as small as a trio, sometimes with a horn section and female backup singers, etc.
After Giant, Andre quit to be Stanley Brinks, as detailed in a song titled--you guessed it--"Stanley Brinks." The band Herman Dune continued with David-Ivar as the sole songwriter and singer. He has also released solo music under his own full name and under "Yaya" and "Black Yaya" as well as under the Herman Dune name. It ranges from folk, to country, to electronic (ugh), to rock, etc. All over the map. All written by someone for whom English is a secondary language, making for some enjoyable bits of wordplay and pronunciations!
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Post by Kapitan on May 10, 2019 14:01:46 GMT
For an example of somewhat recent Herman Dune that I liked a lot, check out "Crazy Blue." This country-tinged ballad has the kind of female harmonies and strange little jokes that I love, plus solid melodies. (David-Ivar clearly adores the classics.)
I didn't know this one existed, but it's pretty funny: "Joanna."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 18, 2019 13:07:16 GMT
My 10 favorite Beatles' albums, in order, on 5/18/19:
01 Let It Be Naked 02 Abbey Road 03 A Hard Day's Night 04 Help! 05 The White Album 06 Please Please Me 07 Revolver 08 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 09 Rubber Soul 10 Magical Mystery Tour
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Post by Kapitan on May 18, 2019 13:24:48 GMT
Beatles:
1. Pepper 2. Abbey Road 3. Rubber Soul 4. Revolver 5. White Album 6. Please Please Me 7. Past Masters II 8. Hard Day's Night 9. Help 10. Beatles For Sale
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 18, 2019 14:12:50 GMT
Beatles:
1. Pepper 2. Abbey Road 3. Rubber Soul 4. Revolver 5. White Album 6. Please Please Me 7. Past Masters II 8. Hard Day's Night 9. Help 10. Beatles For Sale
Interesting. Let It Be is No. 1 on my list and...didn't even make yours.
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Post by Kapitan on May 18, 2019 14:16:47 GMT
Yeah, I am not a big fan of it. I mean, it's the Beatles, and more than any other band, I think the whole catalog is great. But relative to the rest, I'm not as fond. I don't particularly love most of the songs, and I really don't like the original production. (...Naked is better in that respect.) I like "Two of Us" a lot, and the naked "Across the Universe." I love "Maggie Mae" and enjoy "One After 909." But the biggest classics from it aren't my thing at all.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 4, 2019 14:21:15 GMT
I saw the 2019 Happy Together Tour featuring The Cowsills, The Buckinghams, The Classics IV, Gary Puckett, and The Turtles a few weeks ago. It was a great concert featuring great performances by artists mostly in their 70's. Another featured artist was Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night. Chuck can still belt out a tune, and now I'm on a Three Dog Night kick. So:
My 10 favorite Three Dog Night songs:
1. The Family Of Man 2. Eli's Coming 3. Mama Told Me (Not To Come) 4. I'd Be So Happy 5. Celebrate 6. Liar 7. Out In The Country 8. Easy To Be Hard 9. One 10. Joy To The World
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 21, 2019 15:02:31 GMT
With all of the coverage of the 50th Anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20, 1969 (yes, I saw it live on TV), I thought I would list 10 songs that were on or near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart on that day.
01 In The Year 2525 - Zager & Evans (#1) 02 Spinning Wheel - Blood, Sweat & Tears (#2) 03 Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James & The Shondells (#4)
04 One - Three Dog Night (#6) 05 The Ballad Of John And Yoko - The Beatles (#8) 06 Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival (#11) 07 Get Back - The Beatles With Billy Preston (#16) 08 In The Ghetto - Elvis Presley (#17) 09 Tell All The People - The Doors (#58) 10 Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan (#93)
Of course, many of these songs would continue to rise, some to #1. And I had my faithful $5.00 Panasonic transistor radio out, following them all the way!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 21, 2019 17:37:11 GMT
My favorite of those songs ... The Ballad of John and Yoko. One of my 10 favorite Beatles songs ever (though that's a very fluid list, as there's a lot of great songs).
What do you remember about watching the landing? Were you nervous or excited working up to it?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 21, 2019 18:52:07 GMT
My favorite of those songs ... The Ballad of John and Yoko. One of my 10 favorite Beatles songs ever (though that's a very fluid list, as there's a lot of great songs).
What do you remember about watching the landing? Were you nervous or excited working up to it?
I wish I could give a moving, passionate response. Even though I was fairly young at the time, I was intellectually aware of the significance, but, emotionally, I don't remember being...moved. Honestly, we had a family cookout at our house that day and there were a bunch of relatives gathered. They did most of the talking and commentating; I just took it all in. Again, I was just slightly too young and aeronautics/space travel wasn't one of my interests.
EDIT: I'm surprised that "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" rates so high on your favorites' list. It never really got to me, and I don't even remember it on the radio in 1969. "Get Back" I do!
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2019 12:41:06 GMT
Top Ten Most Disappointing Albums. This list is going to skew a little more modern since I only really got into music buying in the late 90s, so it's mostly albums that were "new" at the time, with some exceptions. This isn't necessarily a list of bad albums, but just albums I had higher hopes for.
1. Queen + Paul Rodgers - The Cosmos Rocks - I had no delusions that this album would stand up next to the great Queen LPs I loved. But, I was at least hoping for a nice workout for Brian May's Red Special, which was mostly inactive since his two uneven solo albums in the 1990s. Instead, I got a mediocre collection of songs. I've had thought half of Queen and one of the most legendary voices in rock could put together something, anything.
2. Van Halen 3 - Being a fan of both versions of Van Halen and Extreme, I thought Van Halen's partnership with Gary Cherone would work. I even liked the lead single - Without You. But, the album was a dud. The songs just weren't there.
3. Judas Priest - Nostradamus - With Rob Halford rejoined Priest in 2003, I was elated. Then, they released their 2005 comeback album Angel of Retribution, which is still one of my favorite Priest albums. Their followup was a bloated double concept album. I love Priest, but big conceptual pieces isn't really their thing. And this album proved that.
4. Brian Wilson Presents Smile - I didn't hear this one in real time. It was in late 2014. I was a little over two years into my exploration of all things BB, and I'd just started getting into the strange world of the BB internet universe. I stumbled upon a used copy of this at a record store. I was expected to be blown away by Brian's long lost masterpiece. It's got some standout moments (all of which are far better on the BB Smile Sessions which I got later), but overall, I find the Smile piece to be overrated.
5. Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls - Iron Maiden's 2000s output has gotten increasingly more and more proggy, so much so that their 2015 release was a double album. I like the album, but for the first and only time in Maiden's history, I think a little trimming could've made this a far better listening experience. Over the last four years, the album is slowly growing on me, but I still don't like it nearly as much as the previous four releases.
6. Roger Waters - Is This the Life We Want - I got heavy into Floyd in the mid 1990s, but unfortunately, they ceased to exist by then, and their collective output has been pretty thin since. David Gilmour released two solid albums in 2006 & 2015, and Floyd released the leftovers from their 1993 Division Bell sessions and cobbled it together as a new album in 2014. But, despite being a prolific touring act, Roger Waters had yet to follow up the excellent 1992 Amused to Death album. He finally did so in 2017, and released an album that sounds like demos. The only redeeming track is the Have a Cigar re-write Smell the Roses. The album seemed rushed, probably to get this product on the shelves as quickly as possible on the heals of the 2016 election. Maybe some extra time and effort could've helped.
7. Metallica - St. Anger - Speaking of an album that sounded like demos. Metallica's long awaited 2003 album was a total rush job. The songs are awful, the production is awful, there are zero guitar solos. This stands as the worst album I've ever heard by a band I like.
8. Aerosmith - Nine Lives - It took Aerosmith four years to release a follow up to 1993's Get a Grip. I loved the singles Hole in my Soul and Fallin in Love is Hard on the Knees, but overall, it's a very disappointing album.
9. Def Leppard - X - Def Leppard had tried to contemporize their sound in the mid 90s in the wake of grunge, but then did a return to form album in 1999 called Euphoria. When they released X in 2003, I was expecting another album of Def Leppard trademarks. But, they went contemporary again, releasing an album full of songs that could've been done by a boy band.
10. Journey - Trial by Fire - The long awaited return of Journey happened in 1996, just when we needed a great AOR band the most. The album starts off promisingly with rockers Message of Love and One More, along with the ballad When You Love a Woman, but the album quickly falls into a pit of samey sounding songs, and is also guilty of the 1990s / CD era trap of putting too much material on one album.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 25, 2019 15:34:54 GMT
Ten Examples of Aging that Sneak Up on People of a Certain Generation
We all get older: no problem, it beats the alternative by far. But it's funny how we retain a certain impression of ourselves and our environments that changes less than the reality around us does. As a kid, classic rock was old. I mean, OLD. Like, 15-20 years old, or even more. Can you even imagine! Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix ... they were still good, somehow, despite being archaic.
The current music at that time, I grew into accepting as similarly aged. So it didn't bother me to start thinking of Van Halen, U2, Elvis Costello and the like as being of an older generation as new music emerged and years passed. But what has snuck up on me is that that new music has somehow since become old, too. (It's almost as if time didn't stop for me!)
In alphabetical order, I give you 10 "modern" artists who have inexplicably become older: each of them first released music at least 20 years ago. They are older to 15-year-olds than Led Zeppelin was to me when I was 15. That's hard to imagine.
1. Beck released Mellow Gold in 1994. ("Loser" was annoyingly everywhere when I began college.) He was this young slacker hip-hop folkie whom critics couldn't get enough of: everything he released through Sea Change was universally praised. And he kept putting out music, though nobody really cared. It's been 25 years now, and while he still gets a certain amount of acclaim (album of the year for a piece of trash a few years ago) really nobody cares Beck doesn't matter. He's one of those "ooh, it's a return to form" guys. Whenever that's the conversation, it's not great.
2. Belle & Sebastian put out Tiger Milk in a very limited run in 1996 to kick off a DIY career of literate, clever, tuneful pop. They added members who were better musicians. They became a much more competent band. For my money, they peaked in 2003 with Step into My Office, Baby. They kept at it. They started making dance music. But now, um, they're old. Like, old. What the...
3. Fiona Apple also debuted in 1996 with the seamy "Criminal." Bratty and condescending in that way smart, talented youngsters seem inevitably to be, she occasionally--OK, rarely--put out impressive music. She's in her 40s now. Cripes.
4. The Flaming Lips have been releasing music since 1986, for christ's sake! Enough said.
5. Jenny Lewis began in the late 90s with Rilo Kiley as the ultimate indie darling before kicking off a solo career in the 00s. She's my age, which, it turns out, is no spring chicken.
6. Remember in the late 90s when The Magnetic Fields put out the ambitious, cheeky triple album 69 Love Songs? Me too, though the memory is a little fuzzy since it was 21 years ago now...
7. Of Montreal were never big-time, but they had their moments, such as in the late 90s when Rolling Stone called their The Gay Parade the Sgt Pepper of the modern indie generation or when they had some semi-hits in the mid-00s. Now it's almost the '20s and they're still churning out ... more.
8. Radiohead. Been a long time since "Creep." I remember thinking they were the new U2. Then Coldplay was sort of a new Radiohead. Now Coldplay is old. I have no idea who's the new Coldplay because I don't exist in the modern world.
9. Jack White released the first White Stripes album 20 years ago. Two decades, several bands, and a lot of albums later, he's more or less just dad rock now. (Who plays guitars anymore?) And speaking of that...
10. Wilco. For my generation, a kind of yin to Belle & Sebastian's yang, a rootsy, rocky DIY band who famously fucked their major label with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. In a way they always seemed old, though, so maybe that's why it has been hard to notice they have become old.
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Post by kds on Jul 25, 2019 16:27:48 GMT
Ten Examples of Aging that Sneak Up on People of a Certain Generation
While I started going backwards with my music tastes starting around 1993, here are some examples for me.
1. Journey has now existed without Steve Perry longer than Journey existed with him.
2. Deep Purple have existed without Ritchie Blackmore longer than they did with him.
3. The must anticipated "new" Beatles songs will be 25 years old next year.
4. Brian Wilson has been touring as a solo artist for 20 years now. I wasn't really a fan then, but I still remember "Brian Wilson, the recluse."
5. In 2003, The Darkness were supposed to rescue rock and roll from the overly serious bands of the 90s and early 00s. Their debut just celebrated its 16th birthday.
6. Music that was on the radio when I was in college (ie. Foo Fighters / Three Doors Down) is now played on "Classic Rock" radio.
7. I remember many movies that are now 25-30 years old whose soundtracks were marketed at the same time as the movie, a concept which is a thing of the past.
8. The first concert I attended was Aerosmith, who were thought by many at the time to be "over the hill." That was 21 years ago, and they're still touring.
9. 1994 was a great year for a young classic rock fan. The Stones and Pink Floyd had new albums. The Eagles reunited. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played on MTV. This is now a quarter century ago. I still think of those releases as "new" when they're actually just as old as the "older" material by those artists then.
10. Record stores. Am I right?
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Post by kds on Jul 26, 2019 15:58:29 GMT
Top Ten Bands I'm Indifferent Towards - I might like a song here or there, and might even own an album or two, but I'm not really moved either way to really call myself a fan.
1. Dream Theater - Back in 1992, I heard an amazing song called Pull Me Under on the radio. The album that contained the song is actually one my earliest CD purchases. I've tried, but nothing else in their catalog really does much for me. I even saw them open for Iron Maiden in 2010, and other than Pull Me Under, I thought it was pretty meh.
2. The Foo Fighters - They had a couple songs in the late 90s I liked, and their cover of Have a Cigar, featuring Brian May is pretty good. But, overall, I think they're pretty generic. I saw them in concert too back when I worked in radio.
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - There might actually be five songs over the last 30+ years of there's that I like. I think they're good musicians, and a unique band. I don't rush to change the station when they come on the radio, nor do I find myself compelled to seek out any of their material.
4. The Black Crowes - I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing Hot to Handle again. Some OK songs. Although I do wish I'd have checked out their tour with Jimmy Page in 2000. Had I known at the time that it was going to be a full set of Zeppelin songs, I'd have gone.
5. Slayer - They are supposedly one of the essential all time heavy metal bands. I don't think they're bad, but I don't hear the greatness either.
6. Jet - One of several retro sounding bands that emerged to "save rock" in the early 00s. Even my father, who thinks less of modern rock than I do, loved their debut. I think it's got some moments. But, nothing overly memorable.
7. Stone Temple Pilots - Once Scott Weiland stopped doing an Eddie Vedder impression, there are actually some decent songs. I actually own a comp that I got as a promo when I was in radio, but I never listen to it.
8. Green Day - Perhaps the first pop punk band. I was about to start high school with Dookie was released, and I think everybody had a copy but me. I do like their acoustic ballad Time of Your Life, but I don't like it enough to go online to buy the album.
9. The Cure - Love Song was decent. But, I never got the love that this band gets.
10. Radiohead - I love the song Paranoid Android, and I remember watching the trippy animated video multiple times in the summer of 1997. I eventually bought the OK Computer album, but found it underwhelming.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 26, 2019 17:04:48 GMT
Top Ten Bands I'm Indifferent Towards - I might like a song here or there, and might even own an album or two, but I'm not really moved either way to really call myself a fan. 1. Dream Theater - Back in 1992, I heard an amazing song called Pull Me Under on the radio. The album that contained the song is actually one my earliest CD purchases. I've tried, but nothing else in their catalog really does much for me. I even saw them open for Iron Maiden in 2010, and other than Pull Me Under, I thought it was pretty meh. 2. The Foo Fighters - They had a couple songs in the late 90s I liked, and their cover of Have a Cigar, featuring Brian May is pretty good. But, overall, I think they're pretty generic. I saw them in concert too back when I worked in radio. 3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - There might actually be five songs over the last 30+ years of there's that I like. I think they're good musicians, and a unique band. I don't rush to change the station when they come on the radio, nor do I find myself compelled to seek out any of their material. 4. The Black Crowes - I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing Hot to Handle again. Some OK songs. Although I do wish I'd have checked out their tour with Jimmy Page in 2000. Had I known at the time that it was going to be a full set of Zeppelin songs, I'd have gone. 5. Slayer - They are supposedly one of the essential all time heavy metal bands. I don't think they're bad, but I don't hear the greatness either. 6. Jet - One of several retro sounding bands that emerged to "save rock" in the early 00s. Even my father, who thinks less of modern rock than I do, loved their debut. I think it's got some moments. But, nothing overly memorable. 7. Stone Temple Pilots - Once Scott Weiland stopped doing an Eddie Vedder impression, there are actually some decent songs. I actually own a comp that I got as a promo when I was in radio, but I never listen to it. 8. Green Day - Perhaps the first pop punk band. I was about to start high school with Dookie was released, and I think everybody had a copy but me. I do like their acoustic ballad Time of Your Life, but I don't like it enough to go online to buy the album. 9. The Cure - Love Song was decent. But, I never got the love that this band gets. 10. Radiohead - I love the song Paranoid Android, and I remember watching the trippy animated video multiple times in the summer of 1997. I eventually bought the OK Computer album, but found it underwhelming. Do you know that I do not own a single album by any of the above bands? Stone Temple Pilots have a song that is one of my all-timers - "Big Bang Baby" - but never bought an album. I thought Scott Weiland was a great talent and a tragedy who couldn't save himself. So many people tried.
Red Hot Chili Peppers have two songs that I love - "Under The Bridge" and "Give It Away" - and a comp by them may be in my future purchases. I always thought that band was very talented, too. I know some people don't care for Anthony Kiedis but I think he's a good frontman. He's lucky to be alive. Hillel didn't make it.
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