Beatallica, baby. Beginning, middle, and end.

OT: how about Jerry Falwell being hospitalized, huh? Between this and Terri Schiavo, Frank Rich must be busting out the party favors.

I think the most embarrassing song on my iPod would be a-ha's "High and Low", but I STILL say it's a great song.

The "Take Me On" boys? You mean they did another song?

Dammit! Allah stole my answer! :)

But in addition to my Beatallica collection, it would basically be an awful lot of classic rock, with a heavy emphasis on all things Dylan.

But you sorta knew that about a guy who named his blog "All Along the Blogtower" didn't you?

Anytime music talk starts up amongst people my age, I just get sad. As much as I am wrapped up by a Cartmanesqe hatred of all things hippy, I have to give then their props on the tunes. I'll extend that to seventies stuff too.

It's not just an old man saying "kid's these days, with their crazy music." I try to be objective but recognize modern music just flat out sucks. Man, video killed the radio star. Just marketing vehicles now with music the afterthought. And they keep cutting through my yard, the damn.... STAY OFF MY GRASS!"

I truly believe there are only so many great melodies. They've been used up. Anyway. The last best stuff I liked was beastie boys 'Ill comm.' and 'Check your Head' Also got caught up in the Chemical Bros hype till they release their thrid album. (Wha Happin?)

Guess I'm lost in the reverie of before my time like Jack M. with Dylan (maybe that stuff is his time, dunno) but I go for the Irish Dylan. Van's the man, baby.

Hm. I've heard only maybe two of the things on Dave's list.

So, uh, where's the D&D playlist?

"Actually, his list isn't my college list. More like my post-college shiftless-drifter railroad-hobo years list."

Tell us more. I love the hedonistic stories of old...;-)

I thought the Refreshments were the last decent band to die in obscurity.
And then I found "Scotty doesn't know" by Lustra.

IT ROCKS...

and of course old classic rock, and mild metal of the 70's 80's

Well, since we're sort of on the subject, permit me to get on a rant for a sec...

DO NOT USE MUSICMATCH Jukebox 10 as your audio player.

I had Musicmatch Jukebox because I used it to download onto my RCA Lyra (which is FANTASTIC, I'd recommend it to anyone over an Ipod), and it worked just fine. Perfectly, in fact, had no complaints about it.

Well, I thought I'd go ahead and upgrade it with Musicmatch Jukebox 10, a free download, because it advertised faster recording time.

BIG mistake.

I downloaded it, installed it...and now it won't play the CDs from my CD-ROM. It jumps and skips and locks up the computer so I can't upload ANYTHING using it.

It's not the hardware because other media players will play my CDs just fine.

So, I went to the troubleshooting FAQs and of course there's nothing that covers "Will not play any CDs."

And the kicker, you CAN'T GET personalized tech support if you don't PAY for their service.

Long and short: you download their free player, it screws up, and they charge you to help you fix it.

Nice, huh?

And, FYI, Jukebox 10 shows all these fabulous options that the original version of Jukebox didn't have...but you don't get them with 10 EITHER, it just shows them to you so you can PAY to get Jukebox Plus, which DOES have those features.

It's really disgusting.

SO, I signed up for their "free" 7-day trial, just so I could find out how to fix their crap program. I got an email back today asking me a TON of questions to "help them fix my problem," many of which I'd already answered, most of which didn't have a THING to do with my problem. Basically it was a "Wade through this form nonsense for us would ya? And hopefully you won't want to waste your time with all these questions and will just give up and leave us alone" email.

So I emailed them back, told them politely to shove Jukebox 10, and told them I just wanted my old version of Jukebox back. It may be slower but it will freaking WORK. Haven't heard back yet.

Phew, okay, rant's over. Let it be a warning to you all.

Later,
bbeck

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Cedarford has lots and lots of Skrewdriver in his playlist.

That's part of the reason I like the iTunes/iPod combo - I can get a lot of those old (and new) songs and not feel bad about it.

The iPod Shuffle is a wonderful gadget. 90 songs, and if you set it up right, you keep getting stuff you haven't listened to for years.

Ray,

One of the best concert's I ever attended was a Dylan/Morrison twin bill at Madison Square Garden in 1998.

I lived in DC at the time and Amtrak-ed my way into NYC just for the show.

I think if I was answering one of those "10 albums" on a desert island quizzes, Astral Weeks would be right next to my copy of Blonde on Blonde.

Jack: Sounds like a hell of a concert. Never saw Van myself. My dad used to tell me stories of how he was notorius for walking off stage, pissed at the crowd or a back up singer, midway through a song, not to return. If he finished your concert, consider yourself lucky.

Never got into Dylan myself. Think I tie to too much into the hippie sixties. I have my limit on that. Maybe I'm missing great stuff.

Anyway Van's got the melodies for me. I was also born into it. Dad used to have a house party band that did a lot of Morrison when I was a tyke. He'd take me along and when they did Domino he'd call me on stage and there, with my bootie-jammies, I'd sit in on harmonica. (Tuneless. Used it as a rhythm instrument.) It was late in the evening, and I blew that room away.

Anyway Jack, nice to know another frequent commenter knows the way to Cyprus Avenue.

Hey Ray,

Maybe we should adopt a code name for Downtown Lad...Madame George maybe?

The funny thing about the Dylan/Morrison concert was how surly both of the dudes were, lol. Dylan only spoke to the audience once (band introductions) and Morrison didn't even do that.

I do recall that Morrison threw a bit of a fit at one point towards some of his band members. Couldn't make out what it was about. (I don't think they were wearing t-shirts...) But the song they played afterwards was "Cleaning Windows" and Van sounded like he was ready to spit glass.

Jack: That's funny. You know with those two, I gotta believe there was some battle of the ego, doing it for the $, tension going on. I can totally believe what you're saying.

I read something how that mego duo joined in concert craze/phase got started by music industry demo analysis on who likes who. Elton John and Billy Joel have nothing in common, but went out on tour together cause of just that a
analysis. Read they pretty much hated each other otherwise.

Ray,

You are exactly right.

A couple years back I saw a Dylan/Paul Simon show.

You could see the disdain those dudes had for one another on stage. They played three songs together (All Along the Watchtower, The Boxer, and Not Fade Away) and never looked at each other once, or shared a mic.

It was pretty funny. The attitude rubbed off on the crowd. It was like the Dylan fans were looking at Simon as some "wannabe" and the Simon fans seemed like insecure and constantly trying to prove they belonged there.

If you've ever seen the Simon and Garfunkel "Live in Central Park" video, it's a pretty similar vibe. Both guys obviously wished the other weren't there.

On the other hand, Dylan has recently teamed with Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and those guys seem to genuinely hit it off. And the audience seemed to get along too.

Thanks for the link.

How do you "kinda sorta" own an iPod?

My playlist? Lots of U2, Alicia Keys and some Johnny Cash.

You know who once kicked Jim Morrison's ass?

Judge George Greer. lived with him in college. Had him down on the floor with his fist raised, because Morrison was such a tool.

I want so bad to like Judge Greer--Conservative Baptist Republican, easygoing guy, kicked Jim Morrison's ass. Damn shame about the sentencing the innocent woman to starve to death.

Oh, I suppose you people want a link and don't just trust me on this. Well, fine.

Here's another gem from that article: "One Halloween, Greer recalled, Morrison greeted children out trick-or-treating at the front door completely naked. Morrison had lighter fluid in his mouth. He spit it out, touching a match to the fluid to create a roaring flame."

Saw Van Morrison and Bob Dylan in Boston a few years ago.
Boby Dylan was playing some rockabilly sounding stuff. It was wonderful and his band sounded great. I had never bothered with him before and was pleasantly surprised.

I really went to hear Van and was disappointed. What an asshole. Total disdain for the crowd, he was fat and out of shape and could barely sing, and made disparaging comments about the crowd.

Fuck him. I'll listen to his music but not if I have to pay for it.
He's the kind of asshole who piracy was invented for.

No way is Republic the best New Order album.

Just. No. Way.

Not to sound like too much of a New Order fanboy, but Substance was not only a "crossover" type album, but really New Order's best work overall since the Joy Division days (of which Closer was the best)

I wonder if I'm the only straight guy who really liked Erasure in high school?

Hobgoblin ... I would offer "yes". How did you feel about "Frankie Goes to Hollywood?"

Carin,

Besides "relax" which was teh ghey, not familiar at all with FGTH's music. Like Modern English and the Mighty Lemon Drops, but not so much Talking Heads and Duran Duran.

My musical tastes, while eclectic, were limited to only a few groups from each genre.

So I liked Sisters of Mercy, NIN, and Ministry, but not so much Skinny Puppy. It was just what I was exposed to first and gravitated toward, to the exclusion of other similar things. My brain's just weird like that.

And once I saw Erasure in concert (lollapalooza 2) I stopped liking them so much (as they were really ghey).

I saw lollapalooza 1 (ah, the days of my youth.)

I like Alanis Morisette and Gwen Stephani for best new artists/songwriters.

But I really love the greats from Stephen Foster thru Stephan Soundheim for great songwriting.

Ray Midge

As much as I am wrapped up by ... hatred of all things hippy, I have to give the[m] their props on the tunes. I'll extend that to seventies stuff too.

Yeah, but there are and always will be a few greats out there. Great songwriting did not begin or end in the 60's, or any other time.

... modern music just flat out sucks. Man, video killed the radio star. Just marketing vehicles now with music the afterthought.

Imagine how I feel stuck in the format from the 20's up to (and not including) rock 'n roll?

I truly believe there are only so many great melodies.

Not true! I've seen that argument disproven over and over again. Though a format may get stale, there will always be new great melodies.