Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Infrastructure week. at last.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

“woke” is the new caravan.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

No one could have predicted…

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / If We Can’t Have Culture, Let’s Have Some Music

If We Can’t Have Culture, Let’s Have Some Music

by | 178 Comments

This post is in: , ,

BG is otherwise engaged this evening, so in lieu of Medium Cool, how about a music thread?

I don’t listen to a lot of contemporary music, but I would like to find some new artists.

If you’re up for it, name your top 5 artists from when you were a pup, and name your top 5 artists now.  If you’re not up for that, it’s a wide open music thread.

I doubt that my tastes will match many of yours, but I’ll get started with some of my favorite artists anyway.

Let the mocking commence!

 

Reader Interactions

178Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    I am not really into naming favorites or ranking things like music. (Or food. Spawn the Younger asked me my favorite ice cream flavor today and I noted that I don’t have one favorite, I have a slate of faves in a rotation.)

    But…. Having said that, this might be my favorite song in the past couple of years.

    Pain — The War on Drugs

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: I always have a favorite ice cream, but if you asked me today and you had asked me 6 months ago, the answer would be totally different.

    Right now it’s Haagen Dazs Cookies and Cream.  Three years ago at a resort town in Michigan I had some amazing Toasted Coconut ice cream.  I would kill for some of that, and I am most non-violent!

  5. 5.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: I can’t imagine having one favorite! I have a few things I love, but what I want most at any one particular moment is influenced by time of day, season, what I had for dinner, if I’m tired, what I’m doing, etc.

    I have enjoyed Dolcezza brand Mascarpone and Berries as of late. I know they have Dolcezza shops around the DC area (maybe elsewhere, too?), but they also sell the pints at the grocery store.

  6. 6.

    piratedan

    stuff that got my attention while I was growing up and discovering music:

    The Monkees – Last Train to Clarksville

    Badfinger – Day After Day

    Raspberries – Go All The Way

    The Mindbenders – It’s Getting Harder All the Time

    ELO – Do Ya

     

    what trips my trigger as of late

    Southern Culture On the Skids – King of The Mountain

    Bowling for Soup – The Girl All the bad guys want

    Dum Dum Girls – Rimbaud Eyes

    Slowdive – Star Roving

    Ravonettes – Love In a Trashcan

     

    naturally, tastes differ

  7. 7.

    Czar Chasm

    My Youthful Youth
    Air Supply
    The Police
    Duran Duran
    The Cure
    Bob Seger

    My Current
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
    Portishead
    The Pine Box Boys
    Agnes Obel
    Bob Seger

  11. 11.

    Sheila in nc

    Here’s a better ( related) question.

    Of all the artists you liked when you were in high school or college, which ones stand up to repeated listening?

  13. 13.

    Suzanne

    @Sheila in nc: For me, the question is more the inverse. I was a teenager in the 90s, right in the heyday of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I liked them moderately at the time, and now I actively cannot stand them and would be happy to never hear them again.

  14. 14.

    Ivan X

    Top 5 when younger (or at least a top 5):

    New Order, Ministry, Swans, Curve, Chemical Brothers

    Top 5 contemporary:

    I have greatly disappointed my younger self by becoming a typical middle aged person who stops following current music. I can’t even answer the question. I feel like I’ve partially made up for it by finally writing and performing my own music, though, which, I suppose, sounds a little like the above bands put in a blender.

  15. 15.

    DesertFriar

    Youth:

    Manfred Mann, The Animals, The Zombies, Fairport Convention, Cat Stevens

    Now:

    Wagakki Band, Postmodern Jukebox, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Maytree (acapella), Genki Sudo

  16. 16.

    Poe Larity

    At six: 3DN, Beatles, CCR, Denver and Morricone

    Today, I might like some current tune but in the background of my mind I hear Quadrophenia, Tribute to Jack Johnson or Osmium.

    So I guess I never grew up.

  18. 18.

    Dangerman

    @WaterGirl: I’m a pacifist, but first the Docs took away my coffee (breathe, zen, pacifist, Dude, pacifist)…

    ….and now they’ve taken away my ice cream and I’m about to go postal.

  19. 19.

    HinTN

    @Sheila in nc: Early Jimmy Buffett certainly does. The Who, through Who’s Next. John Coltrane, although my sister asserts some of it is nothing more than honk and squeak (let’s go with Africa Brass, which is decidedly not).

    ETA – Rubber Soul was early high school. That certainly stands up.

  20. 20.

    Craig

    Youth:

    Slayer

    Public Enemy

    Hickey

    Melvins

    Butthole Surfers

    Jimi Hendrix

    Old:

    Jimi Hendrix

    Gustov Holst

    Art Blakey

    IDLES

    Billie Eilsh

    Ludicra

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    On the topic of current music, I should note that I just did a 30-minute Peloton ride (yes, I know, I’m becoming That Person) themed around Lizzo, and it was super-fun and she is a radiant presence.

  23. 23.

    Danielx

    Too complicated for me to totally respond to at the moment, but Allman Brothers band, then and now. Of recent been listening to Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under is a great song.

  28. 28.

    JoyceH

    Anyone else remember Paul Revere and the Raiders? Man, I loved them when I was 13!

  29. 29.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    Oh lord. Well…I was born in 1980, so my favorite artists when I was a girl were about what you’d expect. But then in middle school I went grunge, and my tastes shifted juuuuuuuuust a tad. Then in my late teens, I got heavily into the goth scene for about a decade, another shift. And now? Eclectic, let’s just say.

    Childhood: Debbie Gibson, Paula Abdul, The Bangles, Janet Jackson, Madonna

    Adolescence: Nirvana, Soul Asylum, L7, Live, Metallica

    20s: The Cure, VNV Nation, Wolfsheim, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

    Today: Depeche Mode, Taylor Swift, Years & Years, Junior Boys, Tori Amos, Marshmello, Alison Wonderland, Portishead, Valerie June (told you–eclectic)

    And of course all along I’ve always been a Deadhead

  33. 33.

    cope

    As a dweeby youth, my musicals groups of choice were The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, John Hartford, Glen Campbell and The Tijuana Brass.

    As a dweeby old, I don’t focus on groups as such since I can pluck individual songs from the Apple Music tree.  My current favorite songs are by Koko Taylor, Talking Heads, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah, The Doors and The Cranberries.

  35. 35.

    frosty

    Hmm. The first is difficult because music changed enormously when I was a pup, between 12 and 18. Nevertheless, top five then:

    Beatles

    The entire British Invasion

    Jefferson Airplane

    Moody Blues

    Neil Young (and Buffalo Springfield)

    What I’m listening to now … we’ll that’s hard because I’m not listening to much new music at all.

    Sarah Borges
    Lindi Ortega

    Jason Isbell

    Drive By Truckers

    Ry Cooder

     

    The layout of the question skips everything I listened to and loved in between, from the 70s through the 2000s, including Blondie, Tom Petty, Eagles, Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, etc.

    Who held up? Beatles. Who do I never want to hear again? Moody Blues. Ugh.

  38. 38.

    J

    When young:

    Fairport Convention

    Jefferson Airplane

    Weather Report

    John Coltrane

    The Talking Heads.

    Now (still love all the above):

    Sarah Vaughn

    Ian and Sylvia

    Cecile McLorin Savant

    Duke Ellington

    Luiz Bonfa

    With the exception of C.M.S., the musicians I like now are people I could have liked when I was younger. Though recordings are wonderful, I regret that they make it all too easy to live in the musical past. I wish I knew more about contemporary performers. (The same is true of Classical music, where it’s  easy to listen the giants of the past, Arthur Rubinstein, Maria Callas, Leonard Bernstein… all of whom are terrific, but so are many of our contemporaries.

  39. 39.

    Johnnybuck

    Neil Young, The Replacements, Steve Earle, The Blasters, X, Rolling Stones, Beatles.

    Monk, Art Blakey, Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Chet Baker

  40. 40.

    Steve in the ATL

    @piratedan: “love in a trash can” is a great song, and part of a rocking Scandinavian rock scene.  See also the Jessica Fletchers and the Cocktail Slippers, among others.

  42. 42.

    Brachiator

    If you’re up for it, name your top 5 artists from when you were a pup, and name your top 5 artists now.  If you’re not up for that, it’s a wide open music thread.

    Hmm. From my younger days, and strictly limiting it to 5…

    Joni Mitchell

    Miles Davis

    Stevie Wonder

    Franz Schubert

    The Beatles

    I don’t keep up with contemporary pop music, which is crazy since I was deep into a lot of this, listening and reading about music. Now, I largely just don’t care. However, thanks to YouTube I take occasional dives into pop history.

    I will argue for the Bee Gees as the most consistently creative song writers of the pop era after Dylan and the Beatles.

     

    ETA. Foundational songs. When I was a kid, I had a relative who had a collection of 78 rpm records, some of which I was allowed to play. Two of my favorites were Little Richard, Lucille,  and Searchin’ by The Coasters. Don’t remember if I had access to the 78s, but also heard a lot of Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.  Somewhere along the way, a little Jimmy Reeves and Hank Williams wafted by, from the radio.

  44. 44.

    Suzanne

    So on the topic of music we loved as teens… Mr. Suzanne and I went to see Rage Against the Machine on Friday night. Definitely a cathartic experience after the past few years. I feel like I need some new Rage music.

    ETA: I looked at that pit and thought to myself, “I am WAY too old for that shit.” Teenager Suzanne would have been in there, though!

  45. 45.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Grunge was at the sweet spot of my senior year, college and beginning to play in bands.  I still listen to Soundgarden, early Pumpkins, Live, early Deftones, TOOL, early Rage, etc. on a pretty regular basis.  I was just texting my old guitarist from those days that Snail by Smashing Pumpkins is a damn musical masterpiece.  I never understand why people mock that period.  It had some of the most incredible and fresh music of any period in my lifetime.

  46. 46.

    frosty

    @Danielx: How did I forget the Altman Bros? They fall into the post-pup but pre-now gap. A huge influence on me. I started playing slide because of Duane and never went back.

  47. 47.

    NWO Joe

    I love when people want to talk about music – music is likely my favorite go to for external stimulation and always has been. My taste is pretty much all over the place with a couple of notable exceptions. I haven’t got a whole lot of love for gangsta rap or “new country”. Having said that…

    I’ve always loved nearly all instrumental classical. Grew up when Leonard Bernstein did the Young Peoples Concerts and have always loved classical. Jascha Heifetz and the Boston Symphony doing Beethoven’s Violin concerto in D major. Van Cliburn. Lately I have been listening to the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutro (sublime on a quiet night on a good system). I like Sufjan Steven’s Carrie and Lowell. Been listening to a lot of Lizzo all of a sudden, she makes me smile. Neko Case makes me think (and oh that voice she has). Fiona Apple. Prince. Led Zeppelin (first three albums; the Jimmy Page remasters). Andrew Bird. St Vincent. Jon Hassell, which led inevitably (so it seemed) to lots of stuff with Don Cherry, such as Codona. Frightened Rabbit (all of it). Animal Collective (Merriweather Post, Strawberry Jam, Time Skiffs). Beatles. XTC. Arcade Fire (not so much the last two). Nina Simone. Quadrophenia, Tommy, and Live at Leeds by The Who. Talking Heads. Lots of stuff by Brian Eno. And I do love that Spirit album, the whole thing. Grew up listening to album sides…
    Like I said, all over the place. Road trips with me are always an experience. 😉

  50. 50.

    Danielx

    So many choices. First concert I ever saw was the Mamas and the Papas, I was maybe ten but they made an impression. Saw Led Zeppelin on their first US tour, I was thirteen and kind of slipped under my folks’ noses. “Hey, so and so got tickets to see this new band and there’s a ride and everything, can I go? “ “Sure, have a good time.” All hope of normalcy was gone.

    Then seeing  Chicago Transit Authority playing on a flatbed trailer at a bowling alley parking lot, seeing James Taylor and Carole King when he was doing the Sweet Baby James tour and Carole King was the opening act in support of Tapestry…yeah a lot of today’s music sucks by comparison but a lot doesn’t.

  51. 51.

    mali muso

    I was a huge U2 fan back in my late college and early adulting days (I may have been inspired to join the Peace Corps by their general save-the-world stance).  Nowadays I don’t really listen to much music unless it’s classical, new age or African contemporary.

    That said, I was playing some tunes for my kiddo the other day and was reminded that the first three songs of The Joshua Tree are just pure music gold (imo). Where the streets have no name, still haven’t found what I’m looking for, with or without you. Classic.

  53. 53.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Suzanne:

     

    I looked at that pit and thought to myself, “I am WAY too old for that shit.”

    Had the same thing reaction at a Dropkick Murphys concert one St. Patrick’s day.

  54. 54.

    frosty

    Good heavens how did I forget Springsteen?? Probably my biggest fave of the missing years.

  56. 56.

    FelonyGovt

    As a kid, Beatles, Stones, and Motown, especially Miracles and Four Tops.

    Later, Tom Petty, Bruce, Jackson Browne, Thomson Twins

    I don’t follow much new music but I do like Bruno Mars, Lizzo and a British girl group called Wet Leg (check out Ur Mum).

  57. 57.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    @UncleEbeneezer: Agreed! I mean, yeah, there were some bands that were a dime a dozen, but that’s true of every musical era, and the overall sound and underlying messages were a real shift. Shit, I remember the first time I listened to Hole and just being like I AM NOW AN ANGRY FEMINIST.

  58. 58.

    joel hanes

    Watergirl, “Nature’s Way” is on my all-time greatest list.

    Those of you who like electric blues — BB King, Paul Butterfield, SR Vaughn etc. — should check out Kingfish Ingram

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @mali muso: and those are nowhere near the best songs on that album!  What a classic.

    “in god’s country”, “one tree hill”, etc.

  60. 60.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Steve in the ATL: Not on most of Gish and Siamese Dream.  He did much more soft-singing on those.  It was really on Melon Collie and afterwards that he got super abrasive with his voice, imo.  But songs like Rhino, Snail, Window Paine, Soma, Mayonaise, Drown etc. I love his voice.  But yes, when he goes screechy, I agree.

  63. 63.

    Ivan X

    @Craig: I actually have seen them many times over their (and my) many years and I would say the last show I saw, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, might have been the best, with an almost unbelievable level of deliberate intensity. Definitely their own unique thing.

  67. 67.

    stacib

    In the 60s:  The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Aretha and Smokey with the Miracles

    the 70s:  Heart, Elton John, 10cc, Eagles and Paul McCartney & Wings

    Today – I only listen to music from the above two decades.  The Temptations “Ball of Confusion” and Marvin Gaye’s “The Ecology Album” absolutely stand up to today.  Mercy, Mercy Me and What’s Going On could both be recorded today and be totally relevant.

  69. 69.

    MagdaInBlack

    @WaterGirl: Since you and Suzanne brought ice cream ( yay! ) in to the conversation: Vanilla bean ice cream with tamarind chutney is my new “omg who knew this would be so damned good together” obsession.

    Give it a try, if you’ve not.

  71. 71.

    Danielx

    Saw Rolling Stones with Stevie Wonder as opening act in 1972 for what was the outrageous price of fifteen bucks a ticket for decent seats. Both were at their peak, the Stones for performance and Stevie for creative output. THAT was a show.

  72. 72.

    Mirona

    Songs that stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard them:

    Change the World – Eric Clapton

    Orinocco Flow – Enya

    Harmony Hall – Vampire Weekend

    Inception – Hans Zimmer

  76. 76.

    Suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL: I looked at that teeming mass of humanity and all I could think of was monkeypox. Ew. Humans. Contact. Gross.

    In another sign of how old I am, I woke up early to go to my yoga class this morning. A dude there, who looked about ten years my junior (I was born in 1980), was talking about how he was also at the Rage concert on Friday night and that he was in the pit. I commented that I avoided the pit, and he said that he had a couple of beers and then it seemed like a great idea to dive in…. but he was old enough that he was still feeling it two days later. And I mused to myself that that is exactly how this aging shit works!

  77. 77.

    Ivan X

    @FelonyGovt: Oh yeah, Wet Leg’s Chaise Longue is sooo catchy and great. it was on in our house kind of on repeat for a little while. Album is solid, too.

  79. 79.

    mali muso

    @Steve in the ATL:

    @Suzanne:

    yeah I don’t think there is a clunker song on the whole album. Just gem after gem. Having seen them play live several times, when the opening chords to Streets ring out and the crowd roars, it’s the closest feeling to a spiritual experience that this atheist has had. Lol

  81. 81.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    Many years ago, we used to live in Florida and my brother-in-law had a piano and organ store in Sarasota.  Before they went on tour, Gregg Allman needed a Hammond B3 speaker and called my brother-in law because they were having their pre-concert practice in Tampa and wanted to have one delivered.  So my BIL wanted to know if we wanted to help him deliver the speaker and sit in for the rehearsal.  Yeah we did!

    There were about 30 people in the audience and the Brothers rocked!  It was awesome!

    Also, kind of off-topic, there used to be a dive on Anna Maria island called the Stumble Inn (great name) where supposedly, Gregg was known to hang out.  Good times!

  82. 82.

    wmd

    I can’t really go for only 5 and say it’s definitive… but here’s a fast and dirty list:
    olden times: Beatles, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, NRBQ, Talking Heads
    Semi Modern: Erykah Badu, Black Eyed Peas, Moby, India Arie, Fat Boy Slim

  83. 83.

    Jager

    I’m an ancient, old bastard. The summer between the 6th and 7th grade, my buddy Jimmy and I went to a matinee of “The Girl Can’t Help It” before the movie a guy named Gene Vincent and his band the Blue Caps played. When Gene played the banned from the radio song “I Wanna Lotta Lovin” my pal and I didn’t need butch wax to get our flat tops to stand up….whew, that show was a life changer. Bob Dylan grew up 100 miles or so from my hometown, he saw the same show the next day, he mentioned in his biography, that Gene Vincent changed his life too.

  84. 84.

    Suzanne

    My favorite concert that I got to see was R.E.M. with Modest Mouse and The National at an exquisite summer evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Turned out to be R.E.M.’s last tour.

    If there is a favorite band of my life, from the angsty teen years through now, it would be them. I know every word, every note, on every album.

  85. 85.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Recently I’ve been trying to get better acquainted with hip-hop/rap.  Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, old Kendrick, Andre 3000, Nas, Jay-Z and Kanye.  There are some killer playlists on Spotify.  And whatever one thinks of the person, Kanye’s first three albums are absolutely incredible.

    Also still exploring K-pop (funky stuff) and J-pop.  A lot of great stuff out there but the challenge (like with hip-hop/rap) is that there’s just so much of it so it’s a process of finding the stuff I like.  I really like Accused-5, the band that did some tunes for the Light The Night soundtrack.

  86. 86.

    Spanky

    Born in ’54, my coming of age music encompasses literally all of the 60s and 70s. So my faves? All of ’em, Katey.

    Nowadays you can find some fantastic bits recorded back then that never made the airwaves or albums. One that I found that keeps me going back is Derek and the Dominoes at Filmore East. “Why Does Love Got To Be So Bad” starts out with a blistering drum intro by Jim Gordon, rips through three verses and 2 of some of the best Clapton solos, then slowly retards into what you would swear is an Allman Bros song. Amazing, and I don’t think that cut is on the Filmore album. Youtube is a source for all kinds of hidden gems.

  88. 88.

    Gravenstone

    As a kid, I was strictly top 40 with all the potential dreck that entailed. Although the British Invasion bands and Motown clearly stood out.

    In college, I was introduced to metal and harder rock, becoming enamored with Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Rush, among many others.

    Now I listen primarily to Japanese female artists; rock – Band Maid, Nemophila, Doll$Box, Bridear; pop – LiSA, Minami, Aimer. And finding new ones almost daily.

  89. 89.

    Suzanne

    Okay, I will give this a try.

    Teenager Suzanne: R.E.M., Hole, Radiohead, Guided by Voices, Elliott Smith, Rage Against the Machine (I know that’s six. I can’t do five. I’m sorry.)

    Post-Trump Beaten-Down Salty Suzanne: Dylan, Petty, Wilco, Bad Religion, New Order.

  92. 92.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    I’ll join the fun! But I can’t stop at 5.

    Young Formerly:

    • REM
    • U2
    • Nirvana
    • Jane’s Addiction
    • Tom Petty
    • Led Zeppelin
    • The Beatles
    • The Church
    • The Smiths
    • The Doors
    • Jimi Hendrix
    • Pink Floyd

    Older Formerly:

    • Frank Black
    • Throwing Muses
    • Santana
    • Rolling Stones
    • Mark Knopfler
    • Toots & The Maytals
    • Wilco
    • Jimmy Herring
    • Slightly Stoopid
    • Fruit Bats
    • Twin Peaks
    • MF Doom
  93. 93.

    kalakal

    I started out with Zep, Purple, Sabbath in the late 60s & early 70s. Went all over the place after that but espescially Hendrix, Cream, Fairports, Yes, Camel & Wishbone Ash. Then came in succession Punk, New Romantics & Goth eg Damned, ABC & Sisters of Mercy. Still love that stuff but really mostly listen to blues, espescially electric eg Buddy Guy, SRV, Allmans, Robert Cray, Tommy Castro, Kingfish Ingrahms, Tab Benoit. Beatles & Stones were a constant. My favourite album ever may be Layla

  96. 96.

    Danielx

    Live acts: J Geils Band 1973-75. Opened for Rod Stewart at IU Assembly Hall 1973, blew him off the stage. Headlined the following fall.

  97. 97.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Glad to be removed enough from the scene to enjoy ‘em both!

    But I’m still a noob with both bands. Finally picked up a copy of Pleased To Meet Me, and my band is learning “Turn On The News” from Zen Arcade.

  103. 103.

    delphinium

    @mali muso: Saw U-2 twice, once when the War album came out and then about a decade later when they were far more popular. Both concerts were great but think I actually liked their first concert better. My favorite album of theirs is also an older one, The Unforgetable Fire.

  104. 104.

    Rob

    Five each, but not the top five

    High school and college: David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Ramones, Emmylou Harris, Fleetwood Mac

    Now: Slumber Party, Coathangers, older Wedding Present, Beach Bunny, Melenas

    Holding up from high school and college: Bowie, Clash, Ramones, Roxy Music

  107. 107.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Top 5 artists as a teen and as a grownup have remained the same: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Grateful Dead, and Pink Floyd. Strong honorable mentions to The Velvet Underground, Traffic, The Band, The Allman Brothers, The Clash, The Police, Yes, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Other essential artists for me then and now: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley.

    As a white male in his late 50’s, it’s been cool to check out YouTube music reaction channels and see young African American men and women who are as blown away by songs from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Pink Floyd, the Allman Brothers, etc. as I was decades ago when I discovered this music.

    A while back, Mel magazine posted an article on this topic:

    WHY WHITE PEOPLE LOVE WATCHING BLACK PEOPLE REACT TO CLASSIC ROCK

    By Eddie Kim

    Mel magazine

    https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/no-life-shaq-youtube-first-reaction-music-videos

  108. 108.

    Liminal Owl

    Youth;

    According to my mother’s journals, at 2 1/2 I was requesting The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, especially Brennan on the Moor   and  Young Roddy McCorley.

    In grade school, I fell for Gilbert and Sullivan, and then for my father’s Judy Collins  In high school, Don McLean (first live concert, and I will forever love his first four albums) and Simon & Garfunkel.

    Nowadays, middle age:

    Eileen McGann (Canadian folkie, not to be confused with the American propagandist)

    Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer

    James Keelaghan

    Greg Greenway

    Claudia Schmidt

  117. 117.

    Suzanne

    @delphinium: That was around 2001-2002, yes? I don’t remember which venue that was at, but it was somewhere in downtown PHX. I was probably not quite sober.

  118. 118.

    Liminal Owl

    ARGH. My long comment with links disappeared when I hit Post.  Here, without the links:

    Toddler: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

    Grade School: Gilbert & Sullivan

    Middle school: Simon & Garfunkel

    High school Don McLean (also first concert), Ed McCurdy’s Bawdy Ballads of Shakespeare’s Time

    Adultish:

    Greg Greenway

    Claudia Schmidt

    James Keelaghan

    Eileen McGann (Canadian folkie, not to be confused with US political operative)

    Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer

  121. 121.

    raven

    @Suzanne: Did you see  this?

    This includes one Chronic Town branded cassette player and a copy of Chronic Town on cassette tape.

    A limited edition custom-branded cassette player commemorating the 40th anniversary of Chronic Town. The player features Chronic Town iconography and is available exclusively through the R.E.M. store.

     

    I moved here in 84 and they had already taken off but they have always had a real positive impact on Athens.  I saw them once on Leigon Field and a few times in Atlanta.  Whenever they would play over there they would have a special sale at the Georgia Theater and sell primo seats to locals for face.

  122. 122.

    joel hanes

    Music that still sounds great fifty years later

    Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon

    Joni Mitchell

    Stevie Wonder

    Bonnie Raitt

    Some Steely Dan

    The Beatles, yay

    Led Zeppelin

    Grateful Dead American Beauty and Uncle John’s Band from Workingmans

  123. 123.

    SpaceUnit

    Late to the party but I’ve obsessing over a band called Wolf Alice for the last few years.  They won the Mercury Prize in the UK three years ago for their album Visions of a Life.  Here in the US they’ve been slower to catch on, but I think it’s just a matter of time.

    They’re incredibly rangy.  Hard rock, punk, psychedelic, shoegaze, folk, pop, some stuff that’s whimsical and sweet, some stuff that you can’t even fit into a category.  Most bands can’t handle that much range, but they manage it perfectly.

    Here’s a live number from the Reading Musical Festival way back in 2015 when they were first making a splash on the scene:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-gej8auD9Y

  126. 126.

    patrick II

    Old Music:

    Motown, The Beatles, Orbison’s Orbison’s “Black and White Night” is on YouTube featuring Springfield, Elvis Costello, K.D. Lang and Bonnie Raitt as backup singers.

    I have found that YouTube music reactors can lead to good new music. Two of my favorites are “Julia Nilon” and “Magie Renee”.

    I visited the Philippines some years ago and was taken by their love of music.  Did you know performing “My Way” was banned from karaoke bars in Manila?  People would get into fights over bad renditions.  Bruno Mars and Olivia Rodriguez are both half Philipino-American.

    I have a favorite Filipina singer. “Morissette”. Here is a duet with Daryl Ong: You are the Reason, Daryl Ong, Morissette”.
    Here is Morissette’s latest. It is very intense, and probably not to everyone’s taste, but I think it’s amazing: Gusto ko nang bumitaw

  127. 127.

    delphinium

    @Suzanne: Yes, I was living in Phoenix then (moved to Washington state a couple years later). Don’t remember the name of the venue either, and like you, was not exactly sober.

  130. 130.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    I gave him up when the bad shit stories really hit the fan, but I was obsessed with Ryan Adams from 2003-2019.

    Saw some amazing performances of his beautiful songs over the years.

  136. 136.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven: they ignored the bridge but still a great cover of a great song!  “Battleship chains” was excellent also.

  137. 137.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Suzanne: Thanks for the tip on Alison Russell! I am digging her band’s performance on KEXP via YouTube right now – she’s great!

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    As a white male in his late 50’s, it’s been cool to check out YouTube music reaction channels and see young African American men and women who are as blown away by songs from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Pink Floyd, the Allman Brothers, etc. as I was decades ago when I discovered this music.

    I have really mixed feelings about some of this. I wonder if some of the reactions are authentic. But more troubling, the flow is often one way. The reactors often all end up responding to the same music and the same artists and, to be blunt, some of the music getting rave reactions is second rate, and centers around acts that a particular demographic of white males think is classic rock. So, people will push The Blues Brothers, but not the Sam and Dave originals. And from the comments you get the clear impression that many of the people who participate are not very knowledgeable about the range of pop and rock music. And I’m sorry, I know that Elvis was the king and a cultural phenomenon all by himself, and a lot of his post 60s stuff may have been great in concert for fans, but is mediocre by any musical standard. And yet this stuff regularly gets rave reviews.

    And as I noted, Black music rarely gets equal treatment or focus. No James Brown or George Clinton?  That’s some bullshit.

    I get the impression that some reactors get gifts from fans, CDs, clothing, etc. Not sure if any cash is involved, but some reactors also have for pay Patreon channels. So there may be an incentive to pander to certain tastes.

    I am similarly skeptical about some of the movie reactor channels. Some of the most popular channels are hosted by young women who watch the “classic movies,” typically The Godfather movies, the Star Wars franchise films, and 80s science fiction and action movies that white guys love. A narrow and predictable range of movies.

  140. 140.

    SpaceUnit

    @delphinium:

    Yeah.  Their latest album Blue Weekend has been a little slower to grow on me, but they set the bar almost impossibly high with Visions of a Life.

    I’ve also found that many of their songs that don’t immediately click with me eventually become my absolute favorites.

  141. 141.

    kalakal

    One album I’ve played to death several times over is Mad Dogs & Englishmen Joe Cocker

  143. 143.

    bluejersey43 (fka texasboyshaun)

    Top 5 from my younger days:

    1. Matchbox 20 (powerful and deep lyrics, Rob Thomas’s voice can melt butter, and they were my soundtrack for my first life crisis when I was 18-22yo)
    2. Bon Jovi (a Jersey boy, of course! His music moved me physically and emotionally, “Livin’ On a Prayer” is my personal anthem)
    3. Céline Dion (my first and forever diva, I enjoy her in English and in French, her story gives me hope)
    4. ABBA!
    5. The Cranberries (“Linger” is my favorite song of theirs. A great Irish band, their former lead singer Dolores O’Riordan has a haunting voice that is heavy with pain, even her name means “pains, troubles” and unfortunately her short life was filled with them)

    Top 5 newer artists/groups:

    1. Enrique Iglesias
    2. Dua Lipa
    3. Lizzo
    4. Bruno Mars
    5. Nate Ruess

    My other favorites include P!nk, Train, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Luis Fonsi, Ricky Martin, Linda Eder, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Cher, Bryan Adams, Daddy Yankee, Tiziano Ferro, Celtic Woman, Sergei Lazarev (more in Russian than in English), Edith Piaf, Selena, and Erasure (to name a few lol).

  145. 145.

    Ivan X

    @Suzanne: Not for that band specifically (mine’s New Order, whom I saw you cited later), but I know that feel. There is something about the teen brain that records these all-important songs in one’s life indelibly.

  146. 146.

    Turgidson

    @Suzanne:

     

    Laughing is one of my favorite songs ever. Murmur is in my top tier of albums, and all of their first four are really good or better.  Excellent band.

  147. 147.

    J R in WV

    I saw Sly and the Family Stone as a freshman in college, 1968-69. In the summer of ’68, just in summer school at my college a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Newport Folk Festival, which was a blues concentration that year… Buddy Guy,  BB King, so many super stars I can’t list all of them, but Janis Joplin was the young headliner. Amazing weekend! Saw Joe Cocker in Philly, The Chambers Brothers opened for the Kinks, I left a coupld of songs into the Kinks, they sucked compared to the Chambers Brothers.

    The Grateful Dead, their early albums. Pink Floyd, Led Zep, …..

  148. 148.

    Suzanne

    @Turgidson: My favorite album by them is Automatic for the People, but I have also long held that New Adventures in Hi-Fi is an under-the-radar masterpiece. “Leave”, “Bittersweet Me”, and “So Fast, So Numb” are as brilliant as anything they ever did, IMO.

  149. 149.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Suzanne: Automatic used to serve me fried okra!  And probably raven too, along with thousands of other Athenians.

  150. 150.

    Suzanne

    @Ivan X: I came to really love New Order a little bit later, maybe age 20-21. It hit a little bit different than it would have in 1995-ish (when I started high school).

    Another band I was really into at that time and that I still adore is the Magnetic Fields.

  151. 151.

    Suzanne

    One funny pandemic memory for me is the “20-second song” we were all supposed to pick so we would wash our hands for the right amount of time, back when we all thought the Rona was spread by fomites. The chorus of “True Faith” was mine.

  153. 153.

    stinger

    @JoyceH: Paul Revere and the Raiders: For all their gimmicky costumes and such, they had some great “message” music — Kicks, Indian Reservation.

  154. 154.

    Turgidson

    @Suzanne: Also a big fan of that album, which went under the radar after Monster, which wAs over saturated and became divisive. Up has some sublime moments as well.  Hope was both a homage to Leonard Cohen and completely original at the same time.

    On my favs, I came of age in the 90s and still really like the first wave of Seattle grunge bands (first three Pearl Jam albums, Badmotorfinger and Superunknown from Soundgarden) and Smashing Pumpkins.  And a lot of the indie music from that era remains great.  Built to Spill’s late 90s albums have been in my rotation almost continuously up to now, as have several Stereolab albums.  2000s I had fairly bog standard hipster/indie taste, and only some of that stuff still holds up.  Became a grumpy old man as the 2010s progressed and now have minimal interest in keeping up with whats new other than bands I already know and like.  Tame Impala, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, War on Drugs, and a few others are the closest things to “new” I feel strongly about.

    My dad exposed me to his boomer favs, and I still listen to a lot of that stuff.  Beatles, Byrds, Cream, Doors, Buffalo Springfield, etc etc were his favs.  My brother and I discovered zeppelin and Pink Floyd for ourselves – my dad stopped being cool around 1967-68 for some reason.

  155. 155.

    cmorenc

    youth:
    beatles
    rolling stones
    grateful dead
    flatt & scruggs
    doc watson

    now:
    billy strings
    david grier
    rolling stones
    tony rice
    john prine

  156. 156.

    Suzanne

    @Turgidson: I just don’t listen to music as much as I used to, because I spend more time with podcasts in the car. My primary exposure to new music these days is via exercise classes, and whatever playlists my Elder Spawn is creating at any given moment. There’s a lot of fun pop music right now. Have been especially enjoying Rina Sawayama.

    I don’t do nightclubs or raves since I am now old and ugly and full of disgust for my fellow man, so I don’t know what is happening with dance or electronic music.

  157. 157.

    Kelly

    Youth:

    Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Steve Goodman, John Prine, Linda Ronstadt, Credence Clearwater, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Jerry Jeff Walker, Glenn Campbell, The Doors, Guy Clark, The Band

    I still like them. Kinda stunned at how many of them are dead

    Recently:

    Mark Knopfler, Lyle Lovett, Corb Lund, Rodney Crowell, Robert Earl Keen, Erik Satie

  158. 158.

    Liminal Owl

    @Liminal Owl

    So previous post reappeared, too late for me to delete the comment, wtf?
    @WaterGirl, coukd you kindly delete the repeat-without-links? And then this one? Thanks if possible.

  159. 159.

    BruceFromOhio

    Been on a tear with female voices in rock music, have caught these bands live this summer, and follow them heavily on IG; The Warning, Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, Evanescence. Great music for sunny, hot weather, being active and outside.​

    Then and now:

    As a kiddo my younger sis and I would ask for William Tell Overture and Grand Canyon Symphony over and over, and then stuff mom would play,
    Crosby, Still, Nash & Young
    Jim Croce
    Simon & Garfunkel
    Seals & Crofts
    The Carpenters

    Now, sheesh what a difference,
    Halestorm
    The Pretty Reckless
    The Warning
    Rush
    … and anything that comes to mind to search for on Tidal (music service)
    Lots of Red Garland when it rains.

  162. 162.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Suzanne: As a wee lad was subjected to repeated Police and Beatles. Can’t really stomach either (except Police, “Walking on the Moon,” Andy Summers drumming on that is beyond words)

  165. 165.

    mvr

    I have lots of favorites, many mentioned already, so I (mostly) won’t mention the folks that have been around a long time and everyone already listens to.

    I’ve been liking the Drive By Truckers for the last 6 years or so. In my opinion they are the best live American band now that Tom Petty is no longer with us.

    Jason Isbell was a member for several years and I have also lately been very impressed with his music and songwriting.

    Going to see Bonnie Raitt Tuesday and Steve Earle Thursday and each of them does good live shows.

    As does Richard Thompson who I’ve gotten to see a couple of times.

    Speaking of live shows Elvis Costello has been phenomenal more than once (including a brilliant small solo show partly w backing from Larkin Poe).

    A more recent artist whose music I like is Courtney Barnett, who strikes me as really good.

    FWIW

    (I could also riff on blues performers from the 30s through 70s that I love, but not tonight.)

  167. 167.

    Suzanne

    @BruceFromOhio: LMAO. I have always loved Rage. Part of it, I’m sure, was my schooling environment…. Very working-class-at-best, half white and half Mexican. Rage was, like, the one band that crossed that race boundary that everyone liked.

    Their intellect and politics, of course, make them next-level. It was a joy to see them, finally! Even though Zack hurt his leg and has to perform seated.

  169. 169.

    SpaceUnit

    @BruceFromOhio:

    No worries!

    I’m jealous that you got to see Hailstorm, The Pretty Reckless, and The Warning on tour.  That’s such a great lineup.

    I’ve been following The Warning since they were tykes.  Their story is awesome.

  170. 170.

    Captain C

    In rough chronological order:

    Bach

    Styx

    Devo

    Rush

    ELP

    God Street Wine

    Ozric Tentacles

    3 Mustaphas 3

    Major Lingo

    Fela

    Sun Ra Arkestra

    Jessica Lurie

    Himalayas/Wollesonic marching band (and many of the projects of the members thereof)

    New Kingdom and DJ Q-Bert (and Invisibl Skratch Piklz)  are probably my favorite hip hop artists, with Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, DJ Logic, DJ Shadow, and DJ Krush close behind.

    Plus many, many, many jazzers, especially saxophone players (Dolphy, Bird, Pat Patrick, Danny Ray Thompson & Trane among many of the past masters; Jess, Nick Gianni, Stefan Zeniuk, Lynn Ligammari, Welf Dorr, Briggan Krauss, Jonathon Haffner, Rudresh, Tineke Postma, Tony Malaby…I could go on for a long time); lots of Nublu musicians, I’ll stop now before I write a doorstopper novel.

    During the plague I tallied up all the shows I’ve ever been to, and it’s at least 2200.  I’ve played some great ones too, including a couple excellent ones at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

  173. 173.

    Paul in KY

    @Suzanne: Have seen Lizzo 4 times. First 2 were on small stages in day. Last 2 on much bigger stages. She is the same great performer wherever she plays. 1st time I saw her, I knew she was going to be a star. Am so happy for her.

  176. 176.

    Pittsburgh Mike

    From my childhood: Yes, ELP, Traffic, The Who, The Moody Blues (yes, I’m embarrassed), Blondie, Beach Boys, The Kinks, Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie,  Hotel Orchestra, Jean Michel Jarre, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, the Stones, Weird Al, Talking Heads

    Now: Kleptones, Arcade Fire, Beck, Roxy Music, Beth Orton, Chvrches, David Bowie, Slumber Party, The Strokes, Mapei, Laurie Anderson,  Michael Franti, Radiohead, Moby, the Stones, Weird Al, David Byrne

    In between: anything recorded in the ’80s.

  177. 177.

    Seth

    Then: Dylan, Beatles, Talking Heads, Stones, Chic

    Now: Rubblebucket, The Beths, The Weather Station, Phoenix, Kid Creole & Coconuts

  178. 178.

    Diceros bicornis

    @SpaceUnit: cool! Theo Ellis, the bassist in Wolf Alice is the nephew of Robin Ellis, the original Poldark. Ok ok, apropos of nothing, really. But a factoid I just had to share…Robin is married to a friend so I get to hear news now and then

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