Martedì 24 Ago 2010, 11:21
(Just moved this down from the sidebar to make some room… hey it was getting mighty crowded up there… lol)
I'm Scottish, work in IT and I am a long time music fan. Currently, I'm appalled by the amount of dross that swamps the radio these days, so any site like this that offers access to quality music is most welcome. Although I listen to a wide spectrum of music at home, classic rock is by far and away my fave selection… everything from Aerosmith to ZZ Top! I listened to the mighty Tommy Vance on BBC Radio One on friday nights way back in my student days in the late 1970's and I gotta give the guy the credit for letting me hear tons of stuff that I had not come across before. He is sadly missed… I will raise a glass to him every Friday night… rock on Tommy!
One thing that he used to say about music (and which I have kept in my head ever since then) was there is NO such thing as "bad" music… just "different" music. Everything has its place… and there is a place for everything. Whether it's Dylan, Vangelis, AC/DC or the latest death metal… all different styles, yet they all have their place and should be given a hearing at least once. Where I would disagree is where these so called hideous, and most often, unnecessary remixes turn up… where great tunes are remixed (often that means they replace half the original track with a dance track!) with new technology and made to sound pretty poor. That is my main gripe these days… I pretty much hate that. One example that comes to mind was the recent YES remix album (and completed by Steve Howe's son no less…) oh how it grated on the ears. Yes music was notmade to be turned into dance tracks! Just because you can, does not mean to say that you should! Sometimes less is more… hmm!
I love live music. Back in the 80's I used to live in the centre of Edinburgh, just 10 mins walk from the Playhouse and saw tons of gigs there… Iron Maiden, Queen, The Who, AC/DC, Saxon, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Dio, Kiss, Eric Clapton, BB King, Ted Nugent, Steve Hackett, Foreigner, Gary Moore, Blue Oyster Cult, Robert Plant, Dire Straits… ah the list would be endless. I have just put a gig list of most of those I can recall on my journals page futher down. Haven't been out to gigs for a few years now though… not as many good bands around as there used to be. Sign of the times I guess.
Gone are the good old days of my youth when we would go down to our local record store and pick up the latest vinyl release, (thats those big black discs your olds have got in the loft kids! ) take it home, hear that reassuring click from the speakers as the needle hit the groove and music floods the room. Suddenly all was well with the world! Now we just buy music over the net… a couple of mouse clicks and a file appears on your desktop… hmmm… lost a little of the romance with the new technology it seems methinks… and don't get me started on some of the crappy tiny images purporting to be artwork that people tag with the mp3's as well. Who could think that small 85 x 85 images are good needs to go to specsavers! In the days of bvinyl we had 12"x12" full colour lyric sheets, photos and band biogs included with the discs… now we just get a postage stamp sized cover pic… is that really progress?
Periodically, I get to listen to some of my old vinyl stuff and have saved some of it to the computer. Hey, if it was good enough to buy first time around… its good enough to save. After 37 years and counting, my home record collection still (albeit a tad slower than before) gets to grow… as so it should. I recall an old quote… "The person who has tired of music… is tired of life". That says it all in my book.
I try to give all kinds of music a fair hearing… as I said before, there is no such thing as good or bad music… just music. My tastes vary with time as well. In my teenage years I checked out all the standard rock stuff… Purple, Hendrix, Sabbath, Floyd etc, then broadened out to include Neil Young, The Doors, Yes, Genesis, Focus, The Eagles… ah hundreds of others!!! Suffice to say that I still periodically hear old stuff that I have not heard for a long time (or not ever) and continue to expand the old music collection at home. So far this summer, I have added PFM's "Celebration", Alcatrazz's "God Blessed Video" and a clutch of others from Steve Hackett, Robin Trower and Steve Hillage to my playlists at home. There is still a huge amount of great recorded music out there to find, both old and new. Gotta keep an open mind and listen out for it. Even stuff that I heard back in the FRS days come back to mind if I listen to old tapes. Recently, "Def Leppard" (the early BBC Radio One Sessions from 1980), "The Nice" (late 60's BBC Sessions), "Taurus" ("Paperchaser" stood out for me) and "Money" (anyone remember the great track they sessioned for Radio One in 1980… "Just Another Case Of Suicide"?) has had me trying to source out some of their product. Its all good stuff! I just managed to find that Money track as a download as well as a few other gems… anyone recall good US bands like "New England" and "Tycoon" from 1979/1980?
Mind you, its not always easy to locate… I was looking for some Rick Derringer albums… "Guitars and Women" among them… recently and some of his older 1970's and early 1980's CD 's are priced at humungous amounts on Amazon… over £70 on one site… cheaper to download methinks! Changed days indeed.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read… much appreciated.
Keep The Faith!
Tommy.
August 2010