THESE GUYS ARE GOOD!
Matt, myself and others in our group used to laugh at our friend, who shall remain nameless, because he used to be adamant that he had seen Steely Dan in concert. This was in the mid/late 1970s. With the exception of when they first formed (1972-72), the band didn't start touring until 1993. I mention this because tomorrow tickets for Bruce Springsteen in KC go on sale and I'm reminded of a post Matt put on the message board about the bands/performers you have seen live and in person. For those of you interested, here is a list to enjoy (number in () deontes how many times I've seen the artist/band): The Average White Band, the Babys, Boston, David Bowie, Garth Brooks (3), the Cars, Cheap Trick (4), Cher (2), Chicago (2), Phil Collins, Sammy Davis, Jr, Def Leppard, John Denver, Neil Diamond (3), the Doobie Brothers, John Fogerty, Foreigner (2), Peter Frampton, Genesis, the Grass Roots, Hall and Oates (3), Sammy Hagar, Bruce Hornsby, J. Geils, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, the Jacksons, Alan Jackson (2), Jefferson Starship, Joan Jett, Billy Joel (4), Elton John, Judas Priest, KISS, Huey Lewis and the News, Barry Manilow (2), Marshall Tucker Band, Paul McCartney (3), Reba McIntire, Bette Midler, Liza Minelli, the Monkees (1986 sans Nesmith), John Michael Montgomery, Michael McDonald, Wayne Newton, Ted Nugent, Dolly Parton, Tom Petty, the Police, Elvis Presley (yes, I'm old), Prince, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Lionel Richie, the Rolling Stones (7), Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Rick Springfield (6), Bruce Springsteen (4), Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, STYX (3), John Schneider, .38 Special (2), the Time, Tina Turner, Randy Travis and Van Halen (NOT Van Hagar). I'm sure there are more but I'd have to work my puzzler!
SPEAKING OF MUSIC
According to Rolling Stone magazine, here are the top 10 guitar songs of all time:
1. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
2. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
3. Crossroads - Cream
4. You Really Got Me - the Kinks
5. Brown Sugar - the Rolling Stones
6. Eruption - Van Halen
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - the Beatles (featuring Eric Clapton)
8. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
9. Statesboro Blues - the Allman Brothers Band
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
others you may be familiar with:
13. Layla - Derek and the Dominos. I learned a great secret here: Clapton relates that the famous guitar lick was the work of the late Duane Allman. Did YOU know that?
22. A Hard Day's Night - the Beatles
31. Keep Yourself Alive - Queen
32. Sultan's of Swing - Dire Straits
34. Walk this Way - Aerosmith
47. Panama - Van Halen
51. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne (the late, great Randy Rhoads at his finest).
63. Sweet Child O'Mine - Guns n' Roses
81. Beat It - Michael Jackson (Eddie Van Halen is the man in the background).
100. Vicarious - Tool
THE GREATEST NOW
List number three comes from our pals at Entertainment Weekly, who have picked the "greatest" in various areas for the past 25 years, meaning from 1983-present. They are:
FILM: PULP FICTION
TELEVISION SHOW: THE SIMPSONS
ALBUM: PURPLE RAIN
BOOKS: THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
VIDEOGAME: TETRIS
TECHNOLOGY: THE DVD PLAYER
ACCORDING TO GEORGE
In honor of the great George Carlin, who died this week, here are the seven words you can never say on television:
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.
Of course, that's BROADCAST television. I've heard all of those words in one episode of "The Sopranos."
For those of you too young to realize the way humor, especially guided by Carlin, has advanced, this Saturday night NBC will air the very first episode of "Saturday Night" (it wasn't called "Saturday Night Live" until later in the show's run) which featured Carlin as the show's first host. If I remember right from a recent viewing (the show is available on DVD), Janis Ian and Billy Preston are the musical guests and you get to see a very young Andy Kaufman doing, I believe, Mighty Mouse. Enjoy!
AND THE OSCAR FOR 1991 SHOULD HAVE GONE TO...
