I still like Lionel Richie... :)
Wednesday, August 13
Music of My First 25 years
Some music I grew up with (thanks to my Dad's Saturday morning pancakes and cranked-up music) and some I have liked later on... I remember being so obsessed with an Offspring album that I was singing it to myself during Pioneer Trek and then put it on the first thing after we got home, even before changing out of the pioneer garb. I also remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to listen to it in heaven (because it wasn't allowed at Trek, of course!)
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My son is a big Offspring fan. I like some of their stuff but I think they tend to use some pretty colorful language... I was a big Linkin Park fan but their latest, aside from not being all that good, had some language issues too (where in the past they never had).
ReplyDeleteBut admittedly I'll take screaming obscenities over Lionel Richie any day... Sorry. Me no can do Lionel Richie.
Ha ha! I guess I'm just more in touch with my inner slightly-cheesy-love-song-connoisseur than you! lol.
ReplyDeleteI kind of lost interest in the Offspring in later years, language aside. They just weren't interesting anymore.
As for Linkin Park, I kind of like their quiet stuff better, which is often blasted by their "true" fans. I don't know if I'm a "true" fan of anyone then, I guess, because I always like the stuff that gets criticized for "selling out" or "trying to be different."
I forgot to include Weird Al, whom I have liked off and on... He never seems to go away, and then just when I think he's completely washed up and annoying, he comes out with "White and Nerdy" and I love it all over again.
I'm a die hard Cure fan... I love Pink Floyd too (for old school). I can admit to liking girlie stuff too. I love Phantom of the Opera, the soundtrack from somewhere in time (lots of soundtracks actually). I like the song by Mandy Moore in "A Walk to Remember". I'm just not a big fan of Lionel Richie. I can't stand Bruce Springstien, Bob Seger and a handful of others. I love the B-52's and Tears for Fears.
ReplyDeleteIt's safe to say that I have strong opinions about music going both ways (love and hate).
Glad you still like Lionel in spite of negativity from other comments. He was so hot in his day he opened the LA Olympic show.
ReplyDeleteBTW, who the hell is Linkin Park and what Olympics have they opened for?
It seems music is a lot like religion and politics, really brings out the fire in people.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that you had to open for an Olympic event in order to be good. I guess I take it all back, I love Lionel Richie and I hate all of that other crap... Nobody ever told me the rules before of how or why music should appeal to me but now I know.
Hah, no fire here, only hyperbole, all in good jest, which does not come across well in comments. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have to admit, opening for the Olympics is a bit better than opening for the Warped Tour. Don't worry though, you don't have to like Lionel. At least you know the rules now, lol.
Lionel can't lose though, cause he's Easy like Sunday morning. I guess you and WP will have to agree on Phantom, cause I know for a fact he loves the Boss. :)
A goal of mine before I cannot tap my toes any longer is to attend a Boss and the E Street Band Concert.
ReplyDeleteBTW has Linkin Park or any of it members been interviewed by Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes?
I heard the interview just the other week via pocast.
Happy - here's a quote from Jazz legend Duke Ellington about music that I think fits well here for all of us:
ReplyDelete"If it sounds good, it is good."
I.e., if it sounds good to you, then its good, and vice versa.
Someone has stolen my Lionel Richie CD. I can't imagine who....
ReplyDelete(Adam- was it you!)
Another source of authenticity for significant musicians and their craft is Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 most influential rock and roll songs of all time.
ReplyDeleteThe Boss scores!
It's amazing how music stores memories! My Lionel Richie is Neil Diamond- my parents played it non-stop. I don't even remember them listening to ANYTHING else.
ReplyDeleteAh, so it was my loathe for the Boss that struck the nerve. Admittedly, I walk the path less traveled when it comes to music. But acknowledging that can't change my dislike for the Boss.
ReplyDeleteI was raised a gay bigot, just how I grew up and I'm not proud of that. But one day when I was trying to resolve those prejudices it occurred to me, if I was born with the appetites that I have just as I am, and yet if God's way was for man to be with man and woman to be with woman, there is nothing that could turn my appetites from the heterosexual, I'd be a sinner or outcast and nothing would or could change that. If gay people feel as repulsed about the opposite sex as I do about the same sex, then I say let them be gay because I'm no better than they. And that's how I've come to terms with the gay issue.
I can't like the Boss, I can't. I hate cooked carrots and I hate Bruce Springstein's voice and his music, I can't change these things. It doesn't matter who he opened for or what Rolling Stones magazine or anyone else said. Nothing written in this blog can change that.
There is actually more to my distaste for the Boss than just his music, and it's not his fault, goes back to my childhood radio station that played only classic rock. I liked about 98% of what they played for years and then one year (in the 70's) they started playing Bruce and Bob Seger. I just didn't like that music to the point that I was compelled to change the station whenever it came on. And that happened with more and more frequency as the Boss gained mainstream popularity. I was changing the station so frequently that I had to abandon my once loved radio station altogether (and I blame the Boss and Bob Seger for that). Just added distaste for what I already considered horrible music.
I've never been top 40, I've never been mainstream when it comes to music. I'm typically alternative (yes, the minority, the underdog, whatever). It's the way I was constructed, it's part of my chemistry. I can't explain it no more than I can explain why I don't like cooked carrots, pumpkin pie and beets.
If it makes George and WP feel any better, I like a lot of Mormon Tab (not all) and some Janice Kapp Perry and other church hymns and I know that none of those people opened for the Olympics and were likely never written up in Rolling Stones or interviewed by Steve Kroft.
I will say that I'll gladly listen to Lionel, Bread and/or the Commodores long before I'll willingly listen to the Boss. But that's just me. I'm not sure there's a right and wrong here about music tastes, at least I never thought there was until I learned the Olympics opening criteria.
I came to like Neil Diamond back in the day. I liked Elton John and even Barbara Streisand (we're just talking music here, not sexual preferences or politics). For an alternative type of person, this is pretty open-minded by my standards. But my loathe for the Boss proves that I am very narrow-minded too.
Oh, and this ought to piss a few people off too, I don't care much for Billy Joel either. I don't absolutely hate him but I don't like his music either. I'd probably put him in with Lionel Richie.
I will agree with the statement that music definitely stores memories (great way to put it). Perhaps that dictates something towards one's tastes too. When choosing names for our children, it was always funny to hear why my wife hated this name or that (because she didn't like a person with that name). I realized that I had the same prejudices towards names. And I'm realizing now that I'm really not liking the name "George" very much (or WP)...
Hey, I'm just kidding on that last remark, I just thought it was a funny thing to say...
Happy - Haha! That was quite a comment!
ReplyDeleteA few responses:
-I like cooked carrots (with pot roasts, anyway), but I don't like beets either!
-I'm a bit amused at your rancor towards the Boss. Apparently music does bring out some fire. The tone of your comment sounds like he kicked your dog or stole your favorite toy as a kid. Granted, I can't stand Jessica Simpson, Ludacris, or Rascal Flats, but I'm at peace enough with them to refrain from such misanthropic vituperations, lol.
-Not a big Janice Kapp Perry fan (although she has written some nice primary songs).
-You don't need to like Billy Joel.
-I like so-called "alternative" music as well. The Cure and Pink Floyd included.
-See how much we can agree on?
I have to agree with Happy the Boss Hater. Sounds like he has very good taste in music to me! Down with the Boss!!!! Bon Jovi is the BEST thing that came out of Jersey, not Bruce.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand rap, it's like nails on a chalkboard for me. Yet, Linkin Park has a rappy style about it and I love that music. I guess maybe because it has music in it and isn't just a bunch of talking in rhymes (can't understand how that is music).
ReplyDeleteChester, the lead singer in LP is a screamer. The guy is a freak but I love what he can do with his voice.
The Boss didn't kill my dog, he stole my radio station.
I can relate with your radio station being stolen... except rather than the Boss it was country music. My favorite station at the time (Z-93 in Utah, which played the Doors, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead etc.) all of a sudden one morning became K-Bull, and I've hated country ever since... I guess I understand where you're coming from. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for Linkin Park, I like "What I've Done" "Shadow of the Day" and "Numb" ... certainly not their "hard" stuff but I like it.
I hate country music too...
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly the new(er) stuff that I don't like... I do like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson etc. And there is *one* song by Josh Turner that I like...
ReplyDeleteHappy the Man -- There is an organization in Salt Lake that you can find help with your unresolved feelings. They have a couple emeritus LDS General Authorities on their board and they have helped hundreds of 'strugglers' who have come out not liking the Boss. They have a book store, Glory Days, and CD shop where you can find out from other anti the Boss strugglers, Living Proof, have found faith and peace in their CD music collection. The director of this organization admitted to me once he had harbored feelings of anti Bruce S. Of course that has all changed now, no longer (Trapped). He no longer wears Dockers but wears his jeans proudly.
ReplyDeleteEmbrace the Boss, Luke. He will take you higher, cure your bad desires...No more Lonesome Days, its all right, yeah in this Promised Land of Glory Days, Lift Me UP Happy Man.
Let me get you a gift card to ITunes where you can down load the aforementioned therapeutic hits from the Boss.
Other reasons to not harbor ill feelings of the Boss:
ReplyDeleteIn April 2008, Springsteen announced his endorsement of U.S. Senator Barack Obama in his 2008 presidential campaign.
On June 18, 2008 Springsteen appeared live from Europe at the Tim Russert tribute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to play one of Russert's favorite songs, "Thunder Road," at which Springsteen dedicated the song to Russert, who was "one of Springsteen's biggest fans."
Springsteen will reportedly serve as the halftime performance at Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009.
Embrace the Boss and be free...
I'm not coming out of the closet on this George, mainly because I'm not in the closet. I do where Dockers and not jeans actually. I like the Boss less because of the reasons you've cited.
ReplyDeleteBut, you can send me an ITunes card anyway if you want, so I that can buy some good music.
I know it's wrong to hate, and I'm sure some good religious leader could help me at least overcome the hate and embrace more of a strong dislike, but you keep giving me more and more reasons to hate the guy.
Back to the country thing, I'm embarrassed to admit that Carrie Underwood doesn't offend me much. I kind of like her stuff, not that I'm going to run out and get a CD. I'm also fond of some country Christmas songs that I grew up with. So, I'm not the full-fledged country music hater like I am the happy-the-Boss-hater. :)
I mean I wear Dockers, not where them...
ReplyDeleteSo tell me how I can send you a I tunes gift certificate for some real 'Born in the USA' music.
ReplyDeleteHow about the Highwaymen, Waylon, Willie, John and Chris? The possibilities are endless for expanding your music horizons.
too much metal for one hand
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSjP4oS0DwA
\mm/
Now there's some quality music!
ReplyDeleteSorry Anon. The youtube link was 'malformed', can you correct the URL?
ReplyDeleteHave to leave off the /mm/ and it works, but it is not worth the effort. Whadaya think Happy the Man, better than the Boss?
ReplyDeleteSounds like Bluce Splingstien to me
ReplyDelete"S P R I N G S T E E N" Happy the Man. Focus on spelling.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to spell when you're throwing up.
ReplyDeleteI had to kick this blog up to 30 comments. Now that it is on page two, I'm not coming here any more... I have to admit, bashing the boss has been very enjoyable but at some point I need to get a life again.
What have we learned from these comments? Only that I have a wider taste in music than either of you. ;)
ReplyDelete