Musical Choices

OK, I think Dash jumped the gun on the "Ask El Cap A Question" thing, but that's OK. I'm not one to follow rules just for the sake of following the rules. Some days you gotta go commando, jump the fence, and ignore the "No Swimming Due To Alligators" sign!

Continuing the chain from Mr. Helpful to Michele to Dash, and now me...

There's very little music I won't listen to. Rock, C&W, Bluegrass, R&B, Jazz, Classical, electronica, show tunes, whatever. I don't get into the gangsta rap or the industrial rave shit. I'd rather not hear bubblegum teenybopper pop, but that's almost unavoidable.

I grew up listening to Jimmy Buffett & Elvis Presley on the 8-track and "lite rock" on the radio in the 70's, and went downhill from there. I got lucky and bypassed the worst of disco era. A friend in the 4th grade turned me on to KISS, and I've been a diehard fan ever since. Hell, I've still got my KISS Army dogtags around here somewhere. From there, it was a short leap to the rest of the arena rock acts.

I took a turn into country music in the early 80's, coinciding with the family's return to Texas after our exile up north from '77 to '80. That only lasted a year or two, but I really got into it. This was just before the "hat acts" took over the genre, and the old-school and outlaw singers still had the reins on Nashville. I still dabble in C&W every so often, but it's gotten too much like pop music.

Due to the countrification period I missed out on the punk scene and most of the New Wave stuff. I went back to rock music in high school with a vengeance, and that's still my main genre.

Jimmy Buffett has always been a huge influence. I used to be able to say I owned everything he had in print, but I passed on a couple of greatest hit collections and the Broadway musical thing. I have excessively large collections of KISS, AC/DC, The Stones, and Led Zeppelin. Strangely enough, I have equally large collections of Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel. Go figure. I spent too many years blowing a horn in band not to have a lot of classical and brass band music. I have a depressingly large collection of 80's pop tunes. It ain't a logical collection, but it is diverse.

Random 10

OK, I set iTunes to shuffle the main library, and here's the first 10 that popped up:

1. James Gang - Walk Away
2. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Stars Fell On Alabama
3. Led Zeppelin - Bron Y Aur Stomp
4. Rolling Stones - Mixed Emotions
5. Gipsy Kings - La Dona
6. Jimmy Buffett - Love In The Library
7. Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs - Dill Pickle Rag
8. Annie Lennox - Little Bird
9. John Philip Sousa - Under The Double Eagle
10. Cheap Trick - Dream Police

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
There are 4183 songs in my iTunes library. I'm sure at least a few are legal.

2. The last CD you bought is:
License to Chill - Jimmy Buffett

3. What is the song you last listened to before this message?
'Hold On' by Triumph (the other Canadian rock trio!)

4. Five songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

1) 'That's What Living Is To Me' by Jimmy Buffett - "Be lonesome and you will be free". Truer words have never been spoken.

2) 'Tomorrow, Wendy' by Concrete Blonde - A custom-fit song for my darker moods. Written by Andy Prieboy of Wall Of Voodoo, given a painful wail by Johnette Napolitano. Great song.

3) 'Feelin' Stronger Every Day' by Chicago - For when the clouds part and life goes on. No, I'm not bipolar, just in case you're wondering!

4) 'Private Conversation' by Lyle Lovett - 'The Road To Ensenada', the album this song is on, approaches musical perfection. It's the album Lovett released just after his divorce from Julia Roberts, and though it's one of his lighter albums, there's a great deal of pain running just under the surface of the catchy tunes. Believe me, I know what it's like for a goofy-lookin' Texas boy to fall hard for someone ultimately far beyond your reach. This CD has carried me through some dark days.

5) 'Never Been Any Reason' by Head East - Probably the perfect '70's pop/rock song. I can listen to this one every day and not get tired of it.


5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to (three persons and why)?

Zippo - 'Cause he needs the traffic.
Graumagus - He needs something to take his mind off the snow.
Lobowalk - He's been a musician by trade. I wanna know what comes outta his pie-hole!