Musical Confessions

Today is my 1st blogiversary.  I actually owned a blog before January 18th, 2006, but did nothing with it until that date.  I spent months reading other blogs while trying to figure out what I wanted it to be.  I'm not sure it ever became what was stated here,  but I never expected to be where I am now - with a whole host of people I've never met that I consider great friends.  And for that I'm most thankful!  So I dedicate today's blog to you - my blog buddies - who made this last year sooooo much fun!

Continuing in the spirit of self-deprecating humor from my picture post ("If you can't laugh at yourself, you can't laugh at anyone else"), I'm gonna come clean on a number of items that I consider embarrassing concerning my musical tastes.  If you look at my Zen, you'll see about 12GB of solid music that appeals to most people my age.  I've got your standards (Beatles, Dylan, Springsteen, U2, Police, Motown and Top 40 hits from the 1960-1990) as well as some not-so-standards, but great none the less (The La's, Aztec Camera, Let's Active, Color Me Gone, The Specials).  But if you look hard, you'll find some "huh?", "you gotta be kidding me!" or "you pansy!" stuff.  Other things haven't made it to my Zen - either because they're locked into vinyl or too stupid for me to buy.  Without further ado, step into your priest's confessional (if you're Catholic) or try to talk me off the ledge, and let's get into the list:

• I love Hollywood showtunes and musicals!  The soundtrack to "The Music Man" may be in my top 5 favorite albums of all time.  As a kid, I used to line up chairs in our dining room like a train, play the opening song ("The Traveling Salesman") and try to sing all the parts.  I always wanted to be one of the Buffalo Bills ("Lida Rose, I'm home again Rose without a sweetheart to my name...").  Then there's "Oklahoma!"  Gordon McRae voice while singing "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're In Love" is something I still try to emulate today...without much success.
• I can often be heard singing along to the following songs:
  • "My Eyes Adore You" by Frankie Valli
  • "Bad Blood" & "Laughter in the Rain" by Neil Sedaka
  • "Afternoon Delight" by The Starland Vocal Band
  • "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow (but don't call me a Fanilow!)
  • "Muskrat Love" & "Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Captain and Tennille
  • "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin (or Carole King)
• My favorite artist to sing along to is James Taylor.  My voice range matches his better than anyone else.  Now if I just SOUNDED like him.
• In addition, I love to sing in falsetto.  The Bee Gees are best for that.
• In grade school, shortly after I received my first tape recorder, I started making my own drumming tracks.  I would bring my record player into the kitchen, grab 2 tall drink stirring sticks that looked like drum sticks, grab a container of tubbed margarine, cue the music, and begin my jam sessions.  Unfortunately it was to songs like "The Night Chicago Died".  If you've ever seen the Gilligan's Island episode where the Mosquitoes come to the island, I resembled and sounded like Gilligan as the drummer.
• Speaking of "The Night Chicago Died", I think I owned 4 copies of that song - courtesy of K-Tel.
• Just a couple of weeks ago I downloaded Bread's "Anthology".  I'm currently listening to it a lot.  "Diary" may be one of the saddest love songs I've ever heard.
• I hate it when people get the lyrics wrong, but I've been wrong many times.  Here are a few:
  • Its "Love Train" (Spinners), not "Love Tree"
  • Its "Sweet Hitchhiker" (CCR), not "Swing into Hyper"
  • Its "Big Ol Jet Airliner" (Steve Miller Band), not "Big Ol Jet with the Light Off"
  • and its "Love is like Oxygen" (Sweet), not "Love is like Boxed chicken" (although I could make an case for that)
• For about a 1 year in college, I was into reggae big time.  I spent a majority of my free time at Record Swap, a local used record store, talking to guys like Ronnie Reggae (scrawny white guy who looked like Dick Cavet) and Rasta James (who looked just like his name - always on roller skates with a boombox on his shoulder) and searching the bins for Peter Tosh, Gregory Issacs, Steel Pulse, and of course Bob Marley.  I used terms like "I & I", "eyre'", "jah", and "spliff" like I grew up with them.  And I referred to the Rastafarians as "my people".  If I could, I would have looked like this:
   
• I'm currently searching for a good Partridge Family compilation, as well as one for the Jackson 5 and Neil Diamond.
• I enjoy listening to disco music.  The "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack rules!
• "I'm Not in Love" by 10cc scares me to death.  "Be quiet, big boys don't cry" still haunts me today.
• Along with 45s of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Island Girl", I had copies of "The Streak", "Paper Roses", and "You Light Up My Life".
• I owned a copy of Peaches & Herb's hit album "2 Hot!".

While not embarrassing, I need to get a few other things off my chest while still on the ledge:

• I hate Bob Seger!  Ever since he and Tom Cruise teamed up in "Risky Business".
• Even though I claim that The Beatles are my favorite group of all time, I listen to way more Steely Dan.
• More on The Beatles front:
  • I think John Lennon is overrated as a solo artist.  From his greatest hits compilation, I can listen to maybe 5 of the tracks and enjoy them.  I blame much of this on Yoko (as do most other people on the planet).
  • "Hey Jude" is my least favorite song of theirs.  And it may be on my top 20 overrated songs.
  • I have never listened to the entire "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack.
  • I have never seen "Help!"

Whew!  I feel better already!  At least until that first comment comes in.  Or maybe no comments come in.  Gulp!  Do I hear crickets???

How's about you?  Do you have a musical confession you need to make?