It should be noted before we get started that these are not top 5 most important albums of all time. These are not the top 5 albums that made the greatest contribution to music. These are the top 5 albums that made the greatest contribution to me. This won't be terribly long, but it will be terribly honest. Enjoy looking through the musical lenses of my life as it has been so far (that sentence was a bunch of trite crap or somewhat inspiring depending on what mood you are in when you read it).
5. Dave Matthews Band-- "Before These Crowded Streets"
This was the first album that my brother and I salivated for in anticipation. I remember going to a Wal-Mart and Chris and I immediately searching to find the CD and begging my parents to buy it. I was 15. When we put the CD on we were taken to another world. That's right you cynical pail indie rockers. I was taken to another place by a Dave Matthews CD. Sue me. I loved it and I still do. The rhythm section plays so many tight licks on the 2nd track alone that it should make someone uncomfortable to be around the opposite sex in fear of what the rhythms might inspire or conjure. But it is the last five tracks that give the album meat. They are heavy; they are soaked in reverb, echo, and mystical background noise ( helpfully supplied by like a thousand different guest musicians); they radiate with the depression and hopeless searching for only God knows what that would later define the bootleg "Lillywhite Sessions" (which they scratched for a more studio friendly "Busted Stuff" that wasn't half as good, but I still bought it). "The Stone" takes us down a dark road and Dave wants us to come along but probably doesn't think we will. Then "Crush" hits every teenager like a ton of bricks with Dave's obsessive wistful thinking about a girl and his love for her (I had a crush at the time I got the album. She crushed me in a different way which we will talk about when we get to No. 1). "The Dreaming Tree" is that odd-metered song that seems like it effortlessly came from some magic land where Dumbledore probably hung out with his other gay wizard buddies. Then "Pig" gave me hope for living out the day Roman-style except for the fact that I never left the room because I kept listening to the track.
And then there was "Spoon". Just when you think Dave is going to end on a good note he gets that creepy Canadian chick (no not Celine) and sings about how God is a sadistic puppet master. This is essential stuff for a moody wallflower teenager who wasn't even accepted by the wallflowers.
4. Bright Eyes-- I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
I owe Conor Oberst a great deal of gratitude. At the ripe old age of 23, he finally taught me to love music that wasn't clean. Conor's voice is dirty, broken, sad, shaky, playful, and hopeful all the day long. This album starts with him telling a story about an airplane crash. I gotta be honest. I think I know what he is trying to say, but I am not sure. I also don't care because I could listen to this broken man talk all day. If my trombone playing sounded like him I would be a construction worker or a bum because I would have never gotten into music school. But he took his faults and made them something beautiful and special. I like to think of it like this: he took his sin and made it grace. In "Road to Joy" Conor Oberst acknowledges my point: "I could have been a famous singer if I had someone else's voice, but failure's always sounded better..." It doesn't hurt that Bright Eyes is a lyrical genius who always makes his lyrics complete and perfect poetry. Each song tugs at my heart strings because every single time he gives us a new sad melody with a melancholy instrumental backdrop and new important revealing words. Each track is captivating to me in every sense of the term.
This album was the main ingredient to the soundtrack of LaPorte where I did my student teaching. Northern Indiana is a flat place which I think makes it that much more emotional. When there is nothing outside to look at you find something inside. Thank you Conor for making me search inside and also for finally being able to fall in love with punk music and indie rock. I owe you 12 bucks.
3. U2-- All That You Can't Leave Behind
A lot of my friends don't like U2. I get it. They are a little pretentious and not scared to make a big public spectacle of themselves, but then they make big introspective rock anthems that inspire actual introspective people. Then they save the world, do a press conference, and curse on MTV so they are considered legit.
But personally I truly feel that U2 is the greatest rock band of all time. People would argue The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Clash (Americans can't put out good rock and roll BANDS because we don't get along enough with anybody to do so-- of course I guess The Beatles aren't a good example of the positive end). But I think that those bands were too isolated in themselves (not so with the Rolling Stones anymore). I don't think you can be great if you are a recluse. I just don't. Rock stars are supposed to be rock stars and there is nothing wrong with that.
With all that said, this U2 album was the sweetest most personal album they created. I bought it in 2000 and went into my room to play it. I had never heard anything like it before. It was my first big rock album (I had been a jam band, jazz, R&B guy). Each song had so much drama and inspiration but they also fit together so well in a humble, almost cute, way. This is a love album written by men with children and a humble heart. When people say they hate U2, they are really saying they hate late 80's Rattle and Hum U2. When I say I love them I am talking of the U2 of the new millennium. Each song is tragic and hopeful at the same time. There are a couple of big fun rockers, but the songs that get me are "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Kite", and "Peace on Earth". The production is simplified but not without some well placed synthetic keyboard horn parts and Pro Tools-style instrumentation. "Kite" is the tune that inspires me the most. He is letting someone go on their own (U2 have always been great about leaving room for an open ended interpretation-- even for themselves). At the same time he seems like he is still trying to prove himself. But the hope in the end is that this person won't be going forever: "Who's to know when the time has come around/Don't want to see you cry/ I know that this is not goodbye" So much of that hope and at the same time letting go. Once you put this in the backdrop of 9/11, the message goes from personal to global and then U2's talent of adjusting to the times takes on a whole new level for a country that doesn't even belong to them. When I think of American patriotism, I think of Bono. Sorry if that offends someone. Just don't forget what all you can't leave behind (and read Jeremiah 33:3).
2. Coldplay-- Parachutes
There isn't much I need to write about this. The songs themselves are strong but simple and kind of whiney (although there is some great melodic bass playing throughout the disc). I wouldn't even say it is the best Coldplay album. That has got to be A Rush of Blood to the Head (although the new Viva la Vida is great too). But this album stands as high as it does for pure sentimental reasons. It is the album of my first year of college. The greatest soundtrack. The greatest and most confusing time of my life is scored by Coldplay. Nearly every single night of my freshman year my roommate and I would put that album on, and the first notes of "Don't Panic" would put us at peace and eventually to sleep. Parachutes even resolved a few conflicts for my roomy and I. We never had to say anything. We just pressed play. All of our grandstanding and bragging and being mean and dumb could dissolve and we would let Chris Martin-- the crowned prince of all wimps-- put us back in our place. This man said what we really thought,and the only way we ever humbled ourselves in front of other people is by saying we liked Coldplay. They would respond the same way. My roomy and I both found and lost girls through that album. Coldplay was always there to both pick us up and kick us while we were down at the same time. Chris Martin was the quintessential sentimental goof. Something that most men really aren't aloud to be. But we could get away with it by listening to the man who was paranoid about spies and trouble and shivers and peeing on himself. He made us right again. Parachutes was the drug that we needed every night to get through the next day, and if we didn't get that drug we would find it eventually.
1. Lauryn Hill-- The Miseduction of Lauryn Hill
I like an album that is arranged like this: hot tracks, experimental approach and mid tempo tracks, gut-wrenching sentimental tracks. Lauryn did it. Now I know what you are thinking. How could I possibly have a top five list this personal and the artist I relate to the most is a pseudo-Rasta independent black woman hip-hop artist. Simple. Lauryn Hill wrote the perfect album. That's it and that is all there is to it. The perfect album. And when I bought that disc as a 16 year old kid, at first I thought I was cool for listening to this funky hip-hop track ("Lost Ones"). Imagine me dancing to it in my bedroom. Go ahead and imagine. Yep it was that awkward. The beat on the album was incredible--this beat was deep in the pocket with Lauryn singing as behind the beat as soulfully possible. Then I keep listening and all of a sudden Carlos Santana was on there (before he broke loose with Supernatural), so I felt smart for being able to spot that ("Zion"). And as the album got deeper, it started breaking my heart. This lady new exactly as I felt but could express it better than even Dawson's Creek could. The songs that did it for me weren't the big important tracks. They were the two hidden tracks at the end that were last minute throw-ins, and one of them was a cover ("Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"). The other one was so simple but so well-executed ("Tell Him"). I would listen to those tracks over and over and over again searching for answers. According to Lauryn, the strength was in her all along. And that is why I keep listening to that album to this day. I am trying to dig deeper to find out how she got strength from within. I don't believe in that concept. I still come from the broken philosophy where we have to turn to The Creator for the answers we need (and even then we don't get them all the time). Now in 2008 Lauryn is a broken woman. Britney Spears gets all this press for he brokenness and redemption, but Lauryn Hill took a much greater fall from grace. We still haven't heard from her since the MTV2 acoustic crapfest. I hope she has redemption within her. It would give her Miseducation a whole new glow, and I think I need that for my favorite album of all time. It needs a new glow.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Top 5 Musical Moments of My Life (or at least so far assuming there are not other musical moments later in my life that could be better than these 5)
I have a couple weeks off from marching band and overall school stuff, so I thought I would write a few blogs. That way I won't be completely lazy and stress myself out about people and things that I can't control while passively watching DVD's that I have already watched a thousand times while slacking off on the things that I can control.
So we start with a Top 5. I don't write enough of these. Enjoy.
6. Special Dream Musical Moment:
This one didn't actually happen. But if I were even more bored than I already am I would make a top 5 dream musical moments. This is not to be confused with moments that I wish would happen. These are events that have actually happened in my dreams while I was sleeping. This one occurred last night:
In my dream I was completely stressing out about some marching band mellodrama (bad pun with ill-conceived intention) at school. The school randomly looked like the IU Jacobs School of Music and not Eastern Greene. All of a sudden I see Carry Underwood walk by. She says hi to me like we vaguely knew each other in high school. I tell her that I am pretty good bass player and would love to do some session work on her album. She says that would be awesome and told me I would have to be in Memphis in a couple days. And just like that I am going to record for Carry Underwood. My friend (more like my idol that I wish were my friend) Davis Harwell made an appearance and gave me some pointers on what it was like to record with Carry and said he would join me.
An extremely important side note: Carry Underwood looked exactly like Jaime Presley and for some odd reason I was not confused by this.
Ok done with that. Now on to the real list:
5. The Last Connexion--May 2005:
For more than two years I was the regular bass player for the college service at ECC in Bloomington--Connexion. Now this blog is gonna come out sacrilegious because I am going to talk about it from a purely musical angle and not bring in (too much) our work for The Lord. I will say this though-- one of the reasons that band clicked so much is because we (eventually) stopped worrying about what everyone else and God thought of us and just played. We used our God-given abilities and dedication to developing those abilities to play great music, which would then lend to great worship from the congregation.
That Connexion band should go down as one of the best worship bands ever assembled-- but we are not allowed to do that because it is not about the music-- oh well. I will say it. We rocked for Jesus without apology. We weren't showing off at the end of that journey (we were in the beginning) we just clicked as a unified unit. The band had an intimidating lineup of musicians for a simple church worship team. Daniel Vencil leading on acoustic guitar and vocals backed by his wife Leanne and Christine Ondrik (probably the best low female voice I have ever heard, not kidding) We also had Mark helping out on vocals (can't remember the last name--sorry). The guitars were strapped on by Jim Walsh (an outside the box guitarist who was about rhythmic and harmonic variety yet never took a solo) and Dave Fladung (who had a ton of cool gear and took a few lead parts since we can't call them solos). The group was rounded out by the funkiest and heaviest (both words with multiple purposeful meanings) rhythm section in Christian music: Keshar Miller on jembe (always a natural on that thing), Davis Harwell on keyboards (a great musician and listener who also loved to kick his foot out), and the Burkhart brothers-- My brother Chris and I (we can lock in so well at times that we didn't need to practice song forms, and yet we practiced constantly).
Our last night playing together was special because Daniel--the man who put the group together-- was leaving and the rest of us would never quite be the same as a unit even if we were all around. We played all of our favorite tunes (Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble, Beautiful One) and played with a freedom that could only be allowed in a church-- and can only be criticized in a church.
4. The Eastern Greene Marching Thunderbirds at the Linton July 4 Parade:
It should be noted that all of these events are events that I was either performing in or in charge of. There are a couple of big moments in my musical dynasty that I was simply a spectator for. I mention this here because the reasoning behind this being in the top 5 could be used for more than a couple concerts I have been to.
This was the debut of the Eastern Greene Marching Band under my direction. The first ever public performance. We were dressed in all black in preparation for our Black Parade Show at the State Fair. It was an extremely interesting time because I was as nervous as Lindsey Lohan taking a breathalyzer test. (Ok that joke has been overdone. My bad.)
I didn't want the band's first performance with me as their director to go badly. We warmed up and got ready to set out and everything looked ok. There were some people out of step and you couldn't hear the trumpets on the melody, but other than that it was alright. Nothing awe-inspiring, but alright. Then we are about a quarter of a mile from the end of the parade. Everything is peachy, the kids are getting a little tired, but it isn't bad. The rain clouds had been popping out all day but it looked like they would hold. All of the other bands had finished their parade route and we were the last one remaining. Then it hit. The rain dropped like a Li'l Wayne mix tape. No one could avoid it. The rain was so heavy that the back of my t-shirt was soaked in under 4 seconds. And the best part was...the band loved it! I honestly thought they would wine and complain but they were wailing! The drums were banging as hard as ever and the brass decided to go for it in an otherwise timid performance. It was an amazing experience that left the kids cheering and singing all the way to dismissal. I was amazed that the rain could unify a group like that. It was a crowning achievement in a very interesting first marching band season, and I will never forget it.
3. IU vs. Duke--Winter 2005, The Day Marco Killingsworth Died:
I had to choose one IU basketball game from my IU pep band days. There were several highlights throughout my years with the Big Red Basketball Band and the Crab Bands. I wish I would have traveled with them more when I had the chance (I missed an all expenses paid trip to LA because of a recital. I suck). But this game sticks out the most.
Duke had not played at the Assembly Hall in forever and they brought a Bloomington North alumnus (Sean May who is slowly becoming a poor man's Elton Brand or a rich man's Udonis Haslem depending on your world view). So the game was hyped. And when the game is hyped the band is too. I played as loud as physically could using those two giant speakers and still didn't play loud enough for people across the court to hear me. When Marco (an extremely talented post player who spent more time than even I do at Taco Bell) got his 30th point the crowd lost it. So did I, rocking the bass as illegally as I could (my drum partner and myself may or may not have inspired some new Big 10 regulations on when we could play thus destroying the famous door bell after free throws. That night I rocked the door bell with distortion. Screw you Big 10.
The band played all the classics of IU pep band lore. 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Basket Case', 'Tango di Smedley', and a host of others. It was one of the more intense nights of my life. I perspired more than than Big from "Big and Rob" trying to get off the couch to get a doughnut. I played grooves that, to this day, get copied at IU and now at Eastern Greene. We lost the game. But the journey there was so incredible that I actually included myself in "we" even though I technically didn't play.
2. My Senior Recital-- April of 2005
I am not the best musician ever. I don't suck and I am in fact pretty good. But I am not a master of any one musical instrument or style. My greatest talent (more accurately my greatest effort) is my absolute desire to be a Renaissance man in the world of music. I have always wanted to do a little bit of everything. This recital (which is on CD-- maybe I'll post it sometime since it's not cool to blog words anymore) was the culmination of my hopes and efforts to create something that was musically diverse but still very well connected. And I think I succeeded at that. This was my greatest outpouring of my talent and soul into 50 minutes. And the best part is that it counted for a grade. I put a lot into that day, and what made it number 2 on this list is how much it all worked together.
What connected the music together was not some chord or thematic thread in the music-- it was the people. The recital was, as my trombone teacher the honorable professor Carl Lenthe put it, a rock show without rock music (I don't think he actually said this but I felt he deserved a shout out for being such a great open minded teacher while his idiot student attempted something that had not been attempted too often.
There were fifteen people in the recital. Two trombone quartets, my brass quintet, a a talented piano player, and The House band (featuring the great guys I had lived with for those two years). The audience was comprised of over 150 people that I knew and loved from all the different random stuff I had been a part of over my college career. There were mistakes and mishaps, but overall the day will go down as one of those few special days where it is ok that the world revolves around you (the other days being your wedding and funeral--one of which is really about the woman, and the other you are not really attending, so this day was special).
1. November 1, 2003-- Mountain Madness
And here we are-- number 1 on my list of all time greatest musical moments of my lifetime. Is it when I performed with Paul McCartney? When I sang drunken Irish songs with Bono? When Joe Alessi called me for help on his new concerto? When Victor Wooten borrowed some of my licks for a gig and asked me to sit in with him? When I invented the bassoon?
No to all of those. My greatest musical moment was at my 21st birthday party. For those of you who don't know, I don't drink (not a subject for blogging, I promise that it is not for some religious reason though). Anyway, so my 21st birthday party was a Mountain Dew party. My addiction to Mountain Dew is comparable to a coffee addiction or a spell of alcohol abuse that is not necessarily alcoholism. The part was designed to be for everybody I knew (and even people I didn't) with all the mountain dew possible and a couple of options for people who weren't feelin' that. The party was fun and was probably the most well attended non-alcoholic party without an agenda during autumn on Highland Ave. in Bloomington, IN ever (including a special appearance by the Daly girls).
But a wonderful side plot occurred. My bedroom at that house became an open room to jam a little bit. There were drums, guitars, basses, little flutes, and even some trombones available. By about halfway through the night we were exploding in intense simple funk grooves with horn solos and me on bass. It was one of the only times that I have completely lost myself to the music I was playing. It was the greatest night of my musical life even though it probably didn't matter to anyone else's. I am still looking for the next time that I can lose myself to the music. It is hard for me to do (as based on my writing style, I am pretty self-conscious and constantly thinking). I hope that one day I will do it again, because it is the closest I have ever gotten to being truly at peace. That is what music should bring to everyone. I guess I am lucky that it has happened to me at least once.
So we start with a Top 5. I don't write enough of these. Enjoy.
6. Special Dream Musical Moment:
This one didn't actually happen. But if I were even more bored than I already am I would make a top 5 dream musical moments. This is not to be confused with moments that I wish would happen. These are events that have actually happened in my dreams while I was sleeping. This one occurred last night:
In my dream I was completely stressing out about some marching band mellodrama (bad pun with ill-conceived intention) at school. The school randomly looked like the IU Jacobs School of Music and not Eastern Greene. All of a sudden I see Carry Underwood walk by. She says hi to me like we vaguely knew each other in high school. I tell her that I am pretty good bass player and would love to do some session work on her album. She says that would be awesome and told me I would have to be in Memphis in a couple days. And just like that I am going to record for Carry Underwood. My friend (more like my idol that I wish were my friend) Davis Harwell made an appearance and gave me some pointers on what it was like to record with Carry and said he would join me.
An extremely important side note: Carry Underwood looked exactly like Jaime Presley and for some odd reason I was not confused by this.
Ok done with that. Now on to the real list:
5. The Last Connexion--May 2005:
For more than two years I was the regular bass player for the college service at ECC in Bloomington--Connexion. Now this blog is gonna come out sacrilegious because I am going to talk about it from a purely musical angle and not bring in (too much) our work for The Lord. I will say this though-- one of the reasons that band clicked so much is because we (eventually) stopped worrying about what everyone else and God thought of us and just played. We used our God-given abilities and dedication to developing those abilities to play great music, which would then lend to great worship from the congregation.
That Connexion band should go down as one of the best worship bands ever assembled-- but we are not allowed to do that because it is not about the music-- oh well. I will say it. We rocked for Jesus without apology. We weren't showing off at the end of that journey (we were in the beginning) we just clicked as a unified unit. The band had an intimidating lineup of musicians for a simple church worship team. Daniel Vencil leading on acoustic guitar and vocals backed by his wife Leanne and Christine Ondrik (probably the best low female voice I have ever heard, not kidding) We also had Mark helping out on vocals (can't remember the last name--sorry). The guitars were strapped on by Jim Walsh (an outside the box guitarist who was about rhythmic and harmonic variety yet never took a solo) and Dave Fladung (who had a ton of cool gear and took a few lead parts since we can't call them solos). The group was rounded out by the funkiest and heaviest (both words with multiple purposeful meanings) rhythm section in Christian music: Keshar Miller on jembe (always a natural on that thing), Davis Harwell on keyboards (a great musician and listener who also loved to kick his foot out), and the Burkhart brothers-- My brother Chris and I (we can lock in so well at times that we didn't need to practice song forms, and yet we practiced constantly).
Our last night playing together was special because Daniel--the man who put the group together-- was leaving and the rest of us would never quite be the same as a unit even if we were all around. We played all of our favorite tunes (Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble, Beautiful One) and played with a freedom that could only be allowed in a church-- and can only be criticized in a church.
4. The Eastern Greene Marching Thunderbirds at the Linton July 4 Parade:
It should be noted that all of these events are events that I was either performing in or in charge of. There are a couple of big moments in my musical dynasty that I was simply a spectator for. I mention this here because the reasoning behind this being in the top 5 could be used for more than a couple concerts I have been to.
This was the debut of the Eastern Greene Marching Band under my direction. The first ever public performance. We were dressed in all black in preparation for our Black Parade Show at the State Fair. It was an extremely interesting time because I was as nervous as Lindsey Lohan taking a breathalyzer test. (Ok that joke has been overdone. My bad.)
I didn't want the band's first performance with me as their director to go badly. We warmed up and got ready to set out and everything looked ok. There were some people out of step and you couldn't hear the trumpets on the melody, but other than that it was alright. Nothing awe-inspiring, but alright. Then we are about a quarter of a mile from the end of the parade. Everything is peachy, the kids are getting a little tired, but it isn't bad. The rain clouds had been popping out all day but it looked like they would hold. All of the other bands had finished their parade route and we were the last one remaining. Then it hit. The rain dropped like a Li'l Wayne mix tape. No one could avoid it. The rain was so heavy that the back of my t-shirt was soaked in under 4 seconds. And the best part was...the band loved it! I honestly thought they would wine and complain but they were wailing! The drums were banging as hard as ever and the brass decided to go for it in an otherwise timid performance. It was an amazing experience that left the kids cheering and singing all the way to dismissal. I was amazed that the rain could unify a group like that. It was a crowning achievement in a very interesting first marching band season, and I will never forget it.
3. IU vs. Duke--Winter 2005, The Day Marco Killingsworth Died:
I had to choose one IU basketball game from my IU pep band days. There were several highlights throughout my years with the Big Red Basketball Band and the Crab Bands. I wish I would have traveled with them more when I had the chance (I missed an all expenses paid trip to LA because of a recital. I suck). But this game sticks out the most.
Duke had not played at the Assembly Hall in forever and they brought a Bloomington North alumnus (Sean May who is slowly becoming a poor man's Elton Brand or a rich man's Udonis Haslem depending on your world view). So the game was hyped. And when the game is hyped the band is too. I played as loud as physically could using those two giant speakers and still didn't play loud enough for people across the court to hear me. When Marco (an extremely talented post player who spent more time than even I do at Taco Bell) got his 30th point the crowd lost it. So did I, rocking the bass as illegally as I could (my drum partner and myself may or may not have inspired some new Big 10 regulations on when we could play thus destroying the famous door bell after free throws. That night I rocked the door bell with distortion. Screw you Big 10.
The band played all the classics of IU pep band lore. 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Basket Case', 'Tango di Smedley', and a host of others. It was one of the more intense nights of my life. I perspired more than than Big from "Big and Rob" trying to get off the couch to get a doughnut. I played grooves that, to this day, get copied at IU and now at Eastern Greene. We lost the game. But the journey there was so incredible that I actually included myself in "we" even though I technically didn't play.
2. My Senior Recital-- April of 2005
I am not the best musician ever. I don't suck and I am in fact pretty good. But I am not a master of any one musical instrument or style. My greatest talent (more accurately my greatest effort) is my absolute desire to be a Renaissance man in the world of music. I have always wanted to do a little bit of everything. This recital (which is on CD-- maybe I'll post it sometime since it's not cool to blog words anymore) was the culmination of my hopes and efforts to create something that was musically diverse but still very well connected. And I think I succeeded at that. This was my greatest outpouring of my talent and soul into 50 minutes. And the best part is that it counted for a grade. I put a lot into that day, and what made it number 2 on this list is how much it all worked together.
What connected the music together was not some chord or thematic thread in the music-- it was the people. The recital was, as my trombone teacher the honorable professor Carl Lenthe put it, a rock show without rock music (I don't think he actually said this but I felt he deserved a shout out for being such a great open minded teacher while his idiot student attempted something that had not been attempted too often.
There were fifteen people in the recital. Two trombone quartets, my brass quintet, a a talented piano player, and The House band (featuring the great guys I had lived with for those two years). The audience was comprised of over 150 people that I knew and loved from all the different random stuff I had been a part of over my college career. There were mistakes and mishaps, but overall the day will go down as one of those few special days where it is ok that the world revolves around you (the other days being your wedding and funeral--one of which is really about the woman, and the other you are not really attending, so this day was special).
1. November 1, 2003-- Mountain Madness
And here we are-- number 1 on my list of all time greatest musical moments of my lifetime. Is it when I performed with Paul McCartney? When I sang drunken Irish songs with Bono? When Joe Alessi called me for help on his new concerto? When Victor Wooten borrowed some of my licks for a gig and asked me to sit in with him? When I invented the bassoon?
No to all of those. My greatest musical moment was at my 21st birthday party. For those of you who don't know, I don't drink (not a subject for blogging, I promise that it is not for some religious reason though). Anyway, so my 21st birthday party was a Mountain Dew party. My addiction to Mountain Dew is comparable to a coffee addiction or a spell of alcohol abuse that is not necessarily alcoholism. The part was designed to be for everybody I knew (and even people I didn't) with all the mountain dew possible and a couple of options for people who weren't feelin' that. The party was fun and was probably the most well attended non-alcoholic party without an agenda during autumn on Highland Ave. in Bloomington, IN ever (including a special appearance by the Daly girls).
But a wonderful side plot occurred. My bedroom at that house became an open room to jam a little bit. There were drums, guitars, basses, little flutes, and even some trombones available. By about halfway through the night we were exploding in intense simple funk grooves with horn solos and me on bass. It was one of the only times that I have completely lost myself to the music I was playing. It was the greatest night of my musical life even though it probably didn't matter to anyone else's. I am still looking for the next time that I can lose myself to the music. It is hard for me to do (as based on my writing style, I am pretty self-conscious and constantly thinking). I hope that one day I will do it again, because it is the closest I have ever gotten to being truly at peace. That is what music should bring to everyone. I guess I am lucky that it has happened to me at least once.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Classic Blog: The Top Ten Pop/Rock Bands of All Time (or more accurately: The Top Ten Adult Alternative Pop/Rock Bands from 1988-2001)
*Flash forward: This is the most in depth blog I have ever written. Maybe my greatest achievement as a human being. There is so much info here that I was able to effectively use this blog as a text for a pop music unit in my 7th grade Music Appreciation class. Self absorbed you say? Maybe, but it also wasn't copywright infringement to photocopy the pages.
Let’s get right down to it. This is a completely confusing genre. My friends and I have been arguing about what makes a pop/rock band all weekend. Is it a sound? Is it record sales? Is it lack of a sound or record sales? But I think one thing to remember is the slash between pop and rock. These bands fuse two different genres without making one new and definable sound. Thus the genre is more open to different types of bands. Through the process of figuring out who the best bands of this genre are I have realized that this alternative adult pop/rock has several brothers including: alternative, alternative pop/rock, post grunge, roots rock, mainstream rock, and adult contemporary.
If I were to give a rough definition of pop/rock it would be music that uses catchy, mainstream, radio friendly melodies blended with a generic (or unique sometimes) mainstream rock sound.
So once I figured out the basic style of music I was going for, I began struggling a lot with how to rate these bands: Are these the 10 bands that define most precisely what pop/ rock is? Or are these the bands that emerged from the genre with the greatest contributions to popular music?
I decided on the latter for two reasons. One is that I read an article by Chuck Klosterman talking about Nine Inch Nails and how Trent Reznor began the industrial music genre and became the most famous band of the genre. Because of the popularity a lot of industrial rock fans said that NIN was not industrial rock at all. But Chuck basically said that’s dumb because without NIN the genre wouldn’t exist. The rest are just bad photocopies. The second reason is based upon the first in that I really did not want to dedicate blog space to writing about Vertical Horizon. I know I am open-minded about music, but I have my limits.
Here are the rules:
1. To be on the list the band must have at least two certifiable Billboard hits
2. The band’s popularity and appeal must have only come from being part of the “pop/rock movement? (there will be one exception).
3. The band must be fronted by a male if not completely male. This simply helps with slimming down the length of the list (which is going to be too long as it is).
4. The bands must be BANDS (no Sheryl Crow or Shawn Mullins).
5. These bands must be from the United States (one exception). There are too many new genres that get introduced if you throw British bands into the mix.
6. The top 10 bands must NOT include any of these (Train, Vertical Horizon, The Calling, Lifehouse, or Everclear).
Without further a do:
10. Collective Soul: The Hard Rocking, Well Groomed Priests
Hits: “Shine?, “December?, “The World I Know?, “Listen?, “Heavy?, “Run?
When this article was originally going to be a Top 5 list with some honorable mentions, these guys from Georgia weren’t even mentioned. But after looking into it I realized that we needed a hard rocker. History tells us these guys faded because they tried to change their sound. But I gotta be honest. I think it was because their sound wasn’t all that good in the first place. They rocked hard—but with no raw aggression (they might be an unknown influence on Creed). And their lyrics are hauntingly spiritual for a band that lost its following because they decided to shave. However, big props for their contribution of “Run? to the Varsity Blues soundtrack. That tugs at my heart strings. And I miss James VanderBeek (is that how you spell his name?).
9. Barenaked Ladies: The Postmodern Comedians
Hits: “One Week?, “If I Had a 1,000,000?, “The Old Apartment?, “It’s All Been Done?, “Pinch Me?
The Barenaked Ladies are quietly one of the more respected bands in pop/rock for one big reason: they just don’t give a crap. In fact, when I was first thinking of this list and being very picky about the style of band, they didn’t make the list because they aren’t serious enough. During their biggest record release, Stunt, the band’s keyboardist Kevin Hearn was getting a bone marrow transplant. But the Barenaked Ladies never made a fuss about it, and Kevin recovered. Plus I give these guys huge props for making us realize why men are really watching Saturday morning Japanime cartoons.
8. The Wallflowers: The Blood on the Tracks
Hits: “6th Avenue Heartache?, “One Headlight?,?Three Marlenas?, “The Difference?, “Heroes?
Most people would say that the reason The Wallflowers didn’t make it is that they could not deal with their lead singer Jakob Dylan’s dad Bob. Though I agree that this might be part of the problem, I don’t think it is the only problem or even the main problem. The main problem was the band sat on the success of Bringing Down the Horse for four years and pretty much waited away their mainstream fan base. Plus that album is one of the better albums of the 90’s and certainly one of the best if not the best represented by this list. It was just too much of an event to not do anything with. Jakob and the gang would be battling for No. 1 if they had just put out one more successful and respectable record (by the way their other albums are solid, they just didn’t take off).
On another front, I know most of you are keeping a tally of this by now, but for those who aren’t, all of the bands so far have had a hit song on a TV show or movie. “Run? on Varsity Blues, “The Old Apartment? on Beverly Hills 90210, and “Heroes? on Godzilla. Hey we didn’t say the movies had to be hits too.
7. Third Eye Blind: The Suicidal, Girl Chasing, Semi-Charmed, Meth Junkies (and your daughters listen to them)
Hits: “Semi-Charmed Life?, “Graduate?, “How’s It Gonna Be?, “Jumper?, “Losing a Whole Year?, “Never Let You Go?
The amazing thing about Third Eye Blind is that they might be the dirtiest lyricists on mainstream pop/rock radio. Their biggest hit, “Semi-Charmed Life?, is pretty much about doing drugs and doing girls. In fact, the version released as a single is missing two parts of the original song and many of the lyrics that remained were edited on the radio (such as “doin’ crystal meth will lift you up until you break?). And yet these guys were pop princes in the late 90’s. That’s because they can flat out write a catchy melody. I can sing every single one of their hits fairly easily including the lesser-knowns such as “Losing a Whole Year.?
There’s one more thing. These guys suck live. Just plain suck. It is mostly due to the fact that Stephen Jenkins’ songwriting and production talents (he was in charge of producing new bands at Elektra before their self-titled debut was released) are way beyond his singing ability. The parallels to Everclear are haunting…haunting.
6. R.E.M.: The Stepfathers of Pop/Rock
Hits: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)?, “The One I Love?, “Orange Crush?, “Man on the Moon?, “Stand?, “Losing My Religion?, “Shiny Happy People?, “Drive?, “Everybody Hurts?, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth??
I know I will get arguments for this placement, and I hope I do. To tell you the truth I am on the fence about it. The fact is R.E.M. is so important to the genre that they were either going to be No. 1 or not even in the Top 5. Here’s why. They have more hits than anyone on the Top 10; in fact they have more hits than most combinations of two bands put together. Michael Stipe and his mates have created material that helped to inspire almost every pop/rock band in the industry, even if they don’t know it. But the reason that they are The Stepfathers and not just The Fathers of Pop/Rock is they were conceiving several genres, some at the same time (those dogs).
R.E.M.’s greatest achievement was not in terms of hits and pop but with their influence on the American indie/underground scene. The band was instrumental in developing the whole “you don’t have to have a unique sound or any great innovations to have an identity? vibe. They became unbelievably creative for not being creative. Beautiful yet cryptic lyrics don’t hurt either. But in the end they do lose points for creating too much media attention to find out if Michael Stipe is gay. I mean that went on for a decade. Well guess what—he is.
5. Gin Blossoms: The Depressed Earth Toned Balladeers
Hits: “Till I Hear It from You?, “Hey Jealousy?, “Found Out About You?, ?Follow You Down?
If you don’t remember any of these songs, I suggest that you download them or whatever you kids do. These are just great songs period. I confess I have not listened to a full album of the Gin Blossoms, but if I did I would like it. Perfect blend of all the genre relatives of pop/rock, and it makes you think about driving on a sunny day with no really bright colors. Yep you heard right. These guys are depressed and depressing. The principal songwriter was guitarist Doug Hopkins who killed himself in December of 1993 right when the Gin Blossoms were at the top of their success. This was truly tragic for a band that really could have gone places.
Of course that didn’t stop the band from putting a single on the movie soundtrack for Empire Records. Maybe I should do a blog on pop/rock songs in movies. This is beginning to bug me.
4. Hootie & the Blowfish: The Wannabe Jam Band That Pulls the Race Card
Hits: “I Only Wanna Be With You?, “Hold My Hand?, “Let Her Cry?, “Time?, “I Go Blind?
If you were to only listen to the singles that Darius Rucker and his band put out, you would think that this band defined 90’s pop/rock more than any other band out there. But you would be wrong. You could be right, but the Blowfish won’t let you.
Hootie & the Blowfish were part of a small cult of 90’s blues/jam rock bands that flirted with the mainstream (Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, and Dave Matthews Band), but the Blowfish didn’t just flirt with the mainstream. They dominated. One could almost make the argument that of the group of jam bands Hootie sold out the fastest. That is simply not true because the other groups had radio friendly tunes (“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong?, “Run Around?, and “Crash?). Rucker and the gang could just flat out write a better pop song than any of these other bands ever could. The problem is not that they sold out, but that they won a huge hand and then cashed their chips and left without playing some more.
The band does a lot of great things for rock bands trying to make it today, including a battle of bands on a cruise ship, but they simply could not reproduce or add to their great success. Parallels to The Wallflowers seem in order.
Oh and one other thing. Hootie is a friend of the band’s—not lead singer Darius Rucker. But don’t you find it interesting that the band never tried to shake Darius’s identity as Hootie as much as it could have? I think these guys used the race card to put some steam into their street cred engines. It is possible that this is simply not true and the statement itself is racist, but it is worth thinking about. Plus there is the haunting reality that, as far as general appearance and even musical style is concerned, Hootie & The Blowfish are the bizarro Dave Matthews Band. Very interesting.
3. Matchbox Twenty: The Nameless Faces and Mr. Smooth
Hits: “Push?, “3am?, “Real World?, “Back 2 Good?, “Bent?, “If Your Gone?, “Mad Season?, *?Smooth?
The fact that Matchbox Twenty went from misogynists to girlfriend-less sissies that are up way too late in only two moves is inconsequential (“Push? to “3am?). The most important fact is that this band is the best representation of “the band with a famous lead singer and a bunch of musicians no one knows? on the market. That’s not to say that the other Top 10 bands don’t represent that because almost all of them do to a certain extent. It’s just the matchbox guys have the most evidence to back their claim to the crown.
That evidence is in “their? biggest hit—the Santana smash, “Smooth?, co-written by one Rob Thomas. The Latin pop hit got around 10 Grammys for Mr. Santana and more Grammys for Rob than he would ever get as leader of Matchbox Twenty. And yet they don’t seem to have lost or added any players. It’s still the same quintet, which is amazing considering drummer Paul Doucette has been known to complain about the lack of hard rocking songs in Rob’s songbook. It’s alright though Paul—you will always have “Push?.
2. The Goo Goo Dolls: The Broken and Dizzy Hair Gods
Hits: “Name?, “Long Way Down?, “Iris?, “Slide?, “Black Balloon?, “Broadway?, “Here is Gone?
The three gentlemen known as the Goo Goo Dolls were a Replacements rip off band before their acoustic tune “Name? became a smash on rock radio. Fast forward to yet another soundtrack song (“Iris? from City of Angels), and the dolls of goo finally realized that they are too emotional and too wimpy to let bass player Robby Takac keep screaming about whatever he was screaming about. After they tightened their sound, the hits rolled in. Despite the fact that everyone who knows me realizes that I am not a huge Goo Goo Dolls guy I really have no complaints. The group is making a splash right now with some new pop songs, and no one on this Top 10 list can say that except them.
Ok one complaint. I hear through rumor that they aren’t very good live. Would it be such a travesty to add another permanent member or two to the band? I really don’t see how such a move would hurt everything, especially since it didn’t hurt our No. 1 band…
1. The Counting Crows: The Greatest and Most Hopeless Pop/Rock Band of All Time
Hits: “Mr. Jones?, “Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)?, “Round Here?, Daylight Fading?, “Long December?, “Hangin’ Around?, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby?, “Big Yellow Taxi?, “Accidentally in Love?
Yeah that’s right. I gave the No.1 spot to a band that has more depressing songs than good ones and a frontman competing for the worst hair of all time. Why? Well first because I can. And second…
John Mayer once said that he didn’t want to do pop music anymore because the only thing you can get from it is nostalgia (he is currently getting ready to release a new pop album—I love celebrities). If that is true, no other pop/rock band brings me back to my lonely and overemotional high school days like The Counting Crows. They are unashamed to be completely wasted in agony. But here is something that is so pop/rock about them. Their most famous song has little or nothing to do with the rest of their tunes. These guys have the craftiness (or Adam Duritz saves his happy material for a rainy day) to churn out a blockbuster happy song every few years (“Mr. Jones?, “Hangin’ Around?, “Accidentally in Love?) while keeping true to form with every other track a tribute to melancholy.
These guys complain about girls more than emo bands do, but they do it with an open sound that doesn’t necessarily cross genre boundaries yet gets very close. And they have a song on Shrek II. And they put on a good live show. And they currently have seven members!
In the end these guys beat out Matchbox Twenty, The Goo Goo Dolls, and R.E.M because I simply can’t deny the impact their songs have had on me. That is enough reason for them to be the best band. They are definitely a pop/rock band, and they matter.
Let’s get right down to it. This is a completely confusing genre. My friends and I have been arguing about what makes a pop/rock band all weekend. Is it a sound? Is it record sales? Is it lack of a sound or record sales? But I think one thing to remember is the slash between pop and rock. These bands fuse two different genres without making one new and definable sound. Thus the genre is more open to different types of bands. Through the process of figuring out who the best bands of this genre are I have realized that this alternative adult pop/rock has several brothers including: alternative, alternative pop/rock, post grunge, roots rock, mainstream rock, and adult contemporary.
If I were to give a rough definition of pop/rock it would be music that uses catchy, mainstream, radio friendly melodies blended with a generic (or unique sometimes) mainstream rock sound.
So once I figured out the basic style of music I was going for, I began struggling a lot with how to rate these bands: Are these the 10 bands that define most precisely what pop/ rock is? Or are these the bands that emerged from the genre with the greatest contributions to popular music?
I decided on the latter for two reasons. One is that I read an article by Chuck Klosterman talking about Nine Inch Nails and how Trent Reznor began the industrial music genre and became the most famous band of the genre. Because of the popularity a lot of industrial rock fans said that NIN was not industrial rock at all. But Chuck basically said that’s dumb because without NIN the genre wouldn’t exist. The rest are just bad photocopies. The second reason is based upon the first in that I really did not want to dedicate blog space to writing about Vertical Horizon. I know I am open-minded about music, but I have my limits.
Here are the rules:
1. To be on the list the band must have at least two certifiable Billboard hits
2. The band’s popularity and appeal must have only come from being part of the “pop/rock movement? (there will be one exception).
3. The band must be fronted by a male if not completely male. This simply helps with slimming down the length of the list (which is going to be too long as it is).
4. The bands must be BANDS (no Sheryl Crow or Shawn Mullins).
5. These bands must be from the United States (one exception). There are too many new genres that get introduced if you throw British bands into the mix.
6. The top 10 bands must NOT include any of these (Train, Vertical Horizon, The Calling, Lifehouse, or Everclear).
Without further a do:
10. Collective Soul: The Hard Rocking, Well Groomed Priests
Hits: “Shine?, “December?, “The World I Know?, “Listen?, “Heavy?, “Run?
When this article was originally going to be a Top 5 list with some honorable mentions, these guys from Georgia weren’t even mentioned. But after looking into it I realized that we needed a hard rocker. History tells us these guys faded because they tried to change their sound. But I gotta be honest. I think it was because their sound wasn’t all that good in the first place. They rocked hard—but with no raw aggression (they might be an unknown influence on Creed). And their lyrics are hauntingly spiritual for a band that lost its following because they decided to shave. However, big props for their contribution of “Run? to the Varsity Blues soundtrack. That tugs at my heart strings. And I miss James VanderBeek (is that how you spell his name?).
9. Barenaked Ladies: The Postmodern Comedians
Hits: “One Week?, “If I Had a 1,000,000?, “The Old Apartment?, “It’s All Been Done?, “Pinch Me?
The Barenaked Ladies are quietly one of the more respected bands in pop/rock for one big reason: they just don’t give a crap. In fact, when I was first thinking of this list and being very picky about the style of band, they didn’t make the list because they aren’t serious enough. During their biggest record release, Stunt, the band’s keyboardist Kevin Hearn was getting a bone marrow transplant. But the Barenaked Ladies never made a fuss about it, and Kevin recovered. Plus I give these guys huge props for making us realize why men are really watching Saturday morning Japanime cartoons.
8. The Wallflowers: The Blood on the Tracks
Hits: “6th Avenue Heartache?, “One Headlight?,?Three Marlenas?, “The Difference?, “Heroes?
Most people would say that the reason The Wallflowers didn’t make it is that they could not deal with their lead singer Jakob Dylan’s dad Bob. Though I agree that this might be part of the problem, I don’t think it is the only problem or even the main problem. The main problem was the band sat on the success of Bringing Down the Horse for four years and pretty much waited away their mainstream fan base. Plus that album is one of the better albums of the 90’s and certainly one of the best if not the best represented by this list. It was just too much of an event to not do anything with. Jakob and the gang would be battling for No. 1 if they had just put out one more successful and respectable record (by the way their other albums are solid, they just didn’t take off).
On another front, I know most of you are keeping a tally of this by now, but for those who aren’t, all of the bands so far have had a hit song on a TV show or movie. “Run? on Varsity Blues, “The Old Apartment? on Beverly Hills 90210, and “Heroes? on Godzilla. Hey we didn’t say the movies had to be hits too.
7. Third Eye Blind: The Suicidal, Girl Chasing, Semi-Charmed, Meth Junkies (and your daughters listen to them)
Hits: “Semi-Charmed Life?, “Graduate?, “How’s It Gonna Be?, “Jumper?, “Losing a Whole Year?, “Never Let You Go?
The amazing thing about Third Eye Blind is that they might be the dirtiest lyricists on mainstream pop/rock radio. Their biggest hit, “Semi-Charmed Life?, is pretty much about doing drugs and doing girls. In fact, the version released as a single is missing two parts of the original song and many of the lyrics that remained were edited on the radio (such as “doin’ crystal meth will lift you up until you break?). And yet these guys were pop princes in the late 90’s. That’s because they can flat out write a catchy melody. I can sing every single one of their hits fairly easily including the lesser-knowns such as “Losing a Whole Year.?
There’s one more thing. These guys suck live. Just plain suck. It is mostly due to the fact that Stephen Jenkins’ songwriting and production talents (he was in charge of producing new bands at Elektra before their self-titled debut was released) are way beyond his singing ability. The parallels to Everclear are haunting…haunting.
6. R.E.M.: The Stepfathers of Pop/Rock
Hits: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)?, “The One I Love?, “Orange Crush?, “Man on the Moon?, “Stand?, “Losing My Religion?, “Shiny Happy People?, “Drive?, “Everybody Hurts?, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth??
I know I will get arguments for this placement, and I hope I do. To tell you the truth I am on the fence about it. The fact is R.E.M. is so important to the genre that they were either going to be No. 1 or not even in the Top 5. Here’s why. They have more hits than anyone on the Top 10; in fact they have more hits than most combinations of two bands put together. Michael Stipe and his mates have created material that helped to inspire almost every pop/rock band in the industry, even if they don’t know it. But the reason that they are The Stepfathers and not just The Fathers of Pop/Rock is they were conceiving several genres, some at the same time (those dogs).
R.E.M.’s greatest achievement was not in terms of hits and pop but with their influence on the American indie/underground scene. The band was instrumental in developing the whole “you don’t have to have a unique sound or any great innovations to have an identity? vibe. They became unbelievably creative for not being creative. Beautiful yet cryptic lyrics don’t hurt either. But in the end they do lose points for creating too much media attention to find out if Michael Stipe is gay. I mean that went on for a decade. Well guess what—he is.
5. Gin Blossoms: The Depressed Earth Toned Balladeers
Hits: “Till I Hear It from You?, “Hey Jealousy?, “Found Out About You?, ?Follow You Down?
If you don’t remember any of these songs, I suggest that you download them or whatever you kids do. These are just great songs period. I confess I have not listened to a full album of the Gin Blossoms, but if I did I would like it. Perfect blend of all the genre relatives of pop/rock, and it makes you think about driving on a sunny day with no really bright colors. Yep you heard right. These guys are depressed and depressing. The principal songwriter was guitarist Doug Hopkins who killed himself in December of 1993 right when the Gin Blossoms were at the top of their success. This was truly tragic for a band that really could have gone places.
Of course that didn’t stop the band from putting a single on the movie soundtrack for Empire Records. Maybe I should do a blog on pop/rock songs in movies. This is beginning to bug me.
4. Hootie & the Blowfish: The Wannabe Jam Band That Pulls the Race Card
Hits: “I Only Wanna Be With You?, “Hold My Hand?, “Let Her Cry?, “Time?, “I Go Blind?
If you were to only listen to the singles that Darius Rucker and his band put out, you would think that this band defined 90’s pop/rock more than any other band out there. But you would be wrong. You could be right, but the Blowfish won’t let you.
Hootie & the Blowfish were part of a small cult of 90’s blues/jam rock bands that flirted with the mainstream (Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, and Dave Matthews Band), but the Blowfish didn’t just flirt with the mainstream. They dominated. One could almost make the argument that of the group of jam bands Hootie sold out the fastest. That is simply not true because the other groups had radio friendly tunes (“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong?, “Run Around?, and “Crash?). Rucker and the gang could just flat out write a better pop song than any of these other bands ever could. The problem is not that they sold out, but that they won a huge hand and then cashed their chips and left without playing some more.
The band does a lot of great things for rock bands trying to make it today, including a battle of bands on a cruise ship, but they simply could not reproduce or add to their great success. Parallels to The Wallflowers seem in order.
Oh and one other thing. Hootie is a friend of the band’s—not lead singer Darius Rucker. But don’t you find it interesting that the band never tried to shake Darius’s identity as Hootie as much as it could have? I think these guys used the race card to put some steam into their street cred engines. It is possible that this is simply not true and the statement itself is racist, but it is worth thinking about. Plus there is the haunting reality that, as far as general appearance and even musical style is concerned, Hootie & The Blowfish are the bizarro Dave Matthews Band. Very interesting.
3. Matchbox Twenty: The Nameless Faces and Mr. Smooth
Hits: “Push?, “3am?, “Real World?, “Back 2 Good?, “Bent?, “If Your Gone?, “Mad Season?, *?Smooth?
The fact that Matchbox Twenty went from misogynists to girlfriend-less sissies that are up way too late in only two moves is inconsequential (“Push? to “3am?). The most important fact is that this band is the best representation of “the band with a famous lead singer and a bunch of musicians no one knows? on the market. That’s not to say that the other Top 10 bands don’t represent that because almost all of them do to a certain extent. It’s just the matchbox guys have the most evidence to back their claim to the crown.
That evidence is in “their? biggest hit—the Santana smash, “Smooth?, co-written by one Rob Thomas. The Latin pop hit got around 10 Grammys for Mr. Santana and more Grammys for Rob than he would ever get as leader of Matchbox Twenty. And yet they don’t seem to have lost or added any players. It’s still the same quintet, which is amazing considering drummer Paul Doucette has been known to complain about the lack of hard rocking songs in Rob’s songbook. It’s alright though Paul—you will always have “Push?.
2. The Goo Goo Dolls: The Broken and Dizzy Hair Gods
Hits: “Name?, “Long Way Down?, “Iris?, “Slide?, “Black Balloon?, “Broadway?, “Here is Gone?
The three gentlemen known as the Goo Goo Dolls were a Replacements rip off band before their acoustic tune “Name? became a smash on rock radio. Fast forward to yet another soundtrack song (“Iris? from City of Angels), and the dolls of goo finally realized that they are too emotional and too wimpy to let bass player Robby Takac keep screaming about whatever he was screaming about. After they tightened their sound, the hits rolled in. Despite the fact that everyone who knows me realizes that I am not a huge Goo Goo Dolls guy I really have no complaints. The group is making a splash right now with some new pop songs, and no one on this Top 10 list can say that except them.
Ok one complaint. I hear through rumor that they aren’t very good live. Would it be such a travesty to add another permanent member or two to the band? I really don’t see how such a move would hurt everything, especially since it didn’t hurt our No. 1 band…
1. The Counting Crows: The Greatest and Most Hopeless Pop/Rock Band of All Time
Hits: “Mr. Jones?, “Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)?, “Round Here?, Daylight Fading?, “Long December?, “Hangin’ Around?, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby?, “Big Yellow Taxi?, “Accidentally in Love?
Yeah that’s right. I gave the No.1 spot to a band that has more depressing songs than good ones and a frontman competing for the worst hair of all time. Why? Well first because I can. And second…
John Mayer once said that he didn’t want to do pop music anymore because the only thing you can get from it is nostalgia (he is currently getting ready to release a new pop album—I love celebrities). If that is true, no other pop/rock band brings me back to my lonely and overemotional high school days like The Counting Crows. They are unashamed to be completely wasted in agony. But here is something that is so pop/rock about them. Their most famous song has little or nothing to do with the rest of their tunes. These guys have the craftiness (or Adam Duritz saves his happy material for a rainy day) to churn out a blockbuster happy song every few years (“Mr. Jones?, “Hangin’ Around?, “Accidentally in Love?) while keeping true to form with every other track a tribute to melancholy.
These guys complain about girls more than emo bands do, but they do it with an open sound that doesn’t necessarily cross genre boundaries yet gets very close. And they have a song on Shrek II. And they put on a good live show. And they currently have seven members!
In the end these guys beat out Matchbox Twenty, The Goo Goo Dolls, and R.E.M because I simply can’t deny the impact their songs have had on me. That is enough reason for them to be the best band. They are definitely a pop/rock band, and they matter.
Classic Blog:On a Monday I am Sleeping, on a Tuesday I am Thinking or New Title: Acid Reflux of Thought
*Flash forward: Oh to be young and 23 again. My first blog. The "finally started to think" angle is lame but there are some pretty classic jabs in here.
I am 23 years old, and in the last year or so I have finally started to think.
I owe it all to Ashley Simpson. Some of you who know me (and those of you who don't know me) might be a little confused by this statement. It is very true that I do not own an Ashley Simpson recording, and it is also very true that I have at times been "holier than thou" while speaking to ex-girlfriends and prepubescent teens on the subject of the less-than-average pop singer. But I have a confession, a confession that I need to let loose (and no it has nothing to do with my horrible use of punctuation): I like Ashley Simpson. I don't like all of her songs, in fact, I like less than 50 percent of her songs (sorry for the math Nick and Chuck), but the ones I like I enjoy for important reasons.
The song "Pieces of Me" is not just a sonic flashback like John Mayer suggested in a past issue of Esquire. It is certainly not the lyrical content; although, if we are being honest with ourselves the song is lyrically much stronger than anything Dave Matthews has put out in the past 3 years. The reason Ashley Simpson and other pop stars like her (Avril Levine, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson, and Vanessa Carlton) are so important is because they give me the false hope that I too can become a celebrity that people listen to.
I am certainly not knocking the musical talent of these various artists (that would border on elitist and possibly sound like jealousy), because with the exception of Ashley, these ladies are better songwriters and singers than I am. For those who notice I am referencing only girls don't forget that the backing bands for all these singers are dominated by men. All of these celebrity singers (don't even get me started on the Paris Hilton clan of talentless celebrities) give me hope for a world that in the end I don't need to be a part of in order to contribute to the greater good. Ashley Simpson represents everything that we hope for when we are young, but if we really start to think as I finally have, she really represents the world we don't need and shouldn't want. There is so much more beyond the world of pop music that it actually makes pop music that much deeper.
Besides, why would I want to get heckled for sucking it up on the National Anthem when I genuinely suffer from an acid reflux issue?I am 23 years old, and in the last year or so I have finally started to think.
I am 23 years old, and in the last year or so I have finally started to think.
I owe it all to Ashley Simpson. Some of you who know me (and those of you who don't know me) might be a little confused by this statement. It is very true that I do not own an Ashley Simpson recording, and it is also very true that I have at times been "holier than thou" while speaking to ex-girlfriends and prepubescent teens on the subject of the less-than-average pop singer. But I have a confession, a confession that I need to let loose (and no it has nothing to do with my horrible use of punctuation): I like Ashley Simpson. I don't like all of her songs, in fact, I like less than 50 percent of her songs (sorry for the math Nick and Chuck), but the ones I like I enjoy for important reasons.
The song "Pieces of Me" is not just a sonic flashback like John Mayer suggested in a past issue of Esquire. It is certainly not the lyrical content; although, if we are being honest with ourselves the song is lyrically much stronger than anything Dave Matthews has put out in the past 3 years. The reason Ashley Simpson and other pop stars like her (Avril Levine, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson, and Vanessa Carlton) are so important is because they give me the false hope that I too can become a celebrity that people listen to.
I am certainly not knocking the musical talent of these various artists (that would border on elitist and possibly sound like jealousy), because with the exception of Ashley, these ladies are better songwriters and singers than I am. For those who notice I am referencing only girls don't forget that the backing bands for all these singers are dominated by men. All of these celebrity singers (don't even get me started on the Paris Hilton clan of talentless celebrities) give me hope for a world that in the end I don't need to be a part of in order to contribute to the greater good. Ashley Simpson represents everything that we hope for when we are young, but if we really start to think as I finally have, she really represents the world we don't need and shouldn't want. There is so much more beyond the world of pop music that it actually makes pop music that much deeper.
Besides, why would I want to get heckled for sucking it up on the National Anthem when I genuinely suffer from an acid reflux issue?I am 23 years old, and in the last year or so I have finally started to think.
Classic Blog: Suffering for an Unknown Cause: Why I am an Idiot in Public
*Flash forward: I love this blog. This might sum me up as good as any of the crap I have written.
I hate being the dumb guy in a group.
I don’t think I am completely in love with myself so much that I believe I am the smartest guy in a group, but I certainly never think I am the most inept.
That is until I say something really inept.
The fact is that most of my social network is younger than me. I am soon to be a teacher, so I am, at times, the smartest person in the room at my workplace. My friends are mostly younger than me too, so sometimes I can stupidly parade around as the wise man in a group because, in that group, I just may be.
But I am not a wise man—not to the extent that I could be or other people are. I should be content with this concept because, even though this great land of ours thrives off unique individualism, it is not important nor is it even all that good to be the smartest person in the room.
There are things I know about and can talk about at length that no one in my social network can touch. In my circle of friends I am the unchallengeable jazz expert. Anything jazz is my station. My knowledge, understanding, and experience of this and several other musical genres is what fuels my outwardly-given, inwardly-driven nickname, “The Anthology?. Am I the true Anthology in any musical style?
Nope.
Jazz: I can name two friends right off the top of my head who blow me away in the world of jazz. Two friends. Not two people I met once at a bar. Not two people I read about in Rolling Stone, and certainly not two people I met on the Internet, because that just doesn’t sound right. The two guys are Ben Syversen and Lukaz Malewicz. We talked about music constantly in our friendships during college. These conversations are the basis of everything I know about jazz. Yeah I love the music, played the music, even arranged some jazz, but everything I really know I learned from talking to two guys. I went into conversations with those guys with the willingness to soak in what they were saying. If I said something stupid it was ok because they just loved talking about the music at all (for those of you who don’t know, jazz is the most talked-about art form that doesn’t make any money in the entire country. I would say the world, but I haven’t left the country so I couldn’t confirm that with reliable sources. Although Luke is Polish. I digress.)
When I enter my social network as the wise shaman, baring my intellectual soul (or lack there of) to my audience, (first mistake—your friends shouldn’t be an audience) it is easy for that soul to get crushed. But what I realize is that is not such a bad thing. Crush my soul if you want. Crush it three times or more without even knowing what you are doing. That intellectual soul won’t die. I am too pompous for that.
Besides, (cheesy ending coming—get ready) when I put myself out there to be respected or ridiculed I am bettering myself and the people around me. Whether I say something that will make them think, or I say something they can confidently eliminate from their line of thinking I have put in my deposit for a more thought-provoking community. And if there isn’t thought-provoking community in our universe we might as well just throw it all out and get rid of NBA basketball and Kelly Clarkson too.
I can’t let that happen people. I…just…can’t.I hate being the dumb guy in a group.
I don’t think I am completely in love with myself so much that I believe I am the smartest guy in a group, but I certainly never think I am the most inept.
That is until I say something really inept.
The fact is that most of my social network is younger than me. I am soon to be a teacher, so I am, at times, the smartest person in the room at my workplace. My friends are mostly younger than me too, so sometimes I can stupidly parade around as the wise man in a group because, in that group, I just may be.
But I am not a wise man—not to the extent that I could be or other people are. I should be content with this concept because, even though this great land of ours thrives off unique individualism, it is not important nor is it even all that good to be the smartest person in the room.
There are things I know about and can talk about at length that no one in my social network can touch. In my circle of friends I am the unchallengeable jazz expert. Anything jazz is my station. My knowledge, understanding, and experience of this and several other musical genres is what fuels my outwardly-given, inwardly-driven nickname, “The Anthology?. Am I the true Anthology in any musical style?
Nope.
Jazz: I can name two friends right off the top of my head who blow me away in the world of jazz. Two friends. Not two people I met once at a bar. Not two people I read about in Rolling Stone, and certainly not two people I met on the Internet, because that just doesn’t sound right. The two guys are Ben Syversen and Lukaz Malewicz. We talked about music constantly in our friendships during college. These conversations are the basis of everything I know about jazz. Yeah I love the music, played the music, even arranged some jazz, but everything I really know I learned from talking to two guys. I went into conversations with those guys with the willingness to soak in what they were saying. If I said something stupid it was ok because they just loved talking about the music at all (for those of you who don’t know, jazz is the most talked-about art form that doesn’t make any money in the entire country. I would say the world, but I haven’t left the country so I couldn’t confirm that with reliable sources. Although Luke is Polish. I digress.)
When I enter my social network as the wise shaman, baring my intellectual soul (or lack there of) to my audience, (first mistake—your friends shouldn’t be an audience) it is easy for that soul to get crushed. But what I realize is that is not such a bad thing. Crush my soul if you want. Crush it three times or more without even knowing what you are doing. That intellectual soul won’t die. I am too pompous for that.
Besides, (cheesy ending coming—get ready) when I put myself out there to be respected or ridiculed I am bettering myself and the people around me. Whether I say something that will make them think, or I say something they can confidently eliminate from their line of thinking I have put in my deposit for a more thought-provoking community. And if there isn’t thought-provoking community in our universe we might as well just throw it all out and get rid of NBA basketball and Kelly Clarkson too.
I can’t let that happen people. I…just…can’t.
--AB
I hate being the dumb guy in a group.
I don’t think I am completely in love with myself so much that I believe I am the smartest guy in a group, but I certainly never think I am the most inept.
That is until I say something really inept.
The fact is that most of my social network is younger than me. I am soon to be a teacher, so I am, at times, the smartest person in the room at my workplace. My friends are mostly younger than me too, so sometimes I can stupidly parade around as the wise man in a group because, in that group, I just may be.
But I am not a wise man—not to the extent that I could be or other people are. I should be content with this concept because, even though this great land of ours thrives off unique individualism, it is not important nor is it even all that good to be the smartest person in the room.
There are things I know about and can talk about at length that no one in my social network can touch. In my circle of friends I am the unchallengeable jazz expert. Anything jazz is my station. My knowledge, understanding, and experience of this and several other musical genres is what fuels my outwardly-given, inwardly-driven nickname, “The Anthology?. Am I the true Anthology in any musical style?
Nope.
Jazz: I can name two friends right off the top of my head who blow me away in the world of jazz. Two friends. Not two people I met once at a bar. Not two people I read about in Rolling Stone, and certainly not two people I met on the Internet, because that just doesn’t sound right. The two guys are Ben Syversen and Lukaz Malewicz. We talked about music constantly in our friendships during college. These conversations are the basis of everything I know about jazz. Yeah I love the music, played the music, even arranged some jazz, but everything I really know I learned from talking to two guys. I went into conversations with those guys with the willingness to soak in what they were saying. If I said something stupid it was ok because they just loved talking about the music at all (for those of you who don’t know, jazz is the most talked-about art form that doesn’t make any money in the entire country. I would say the world, but I haven’t left the country so I couldn’t confirm that with reliable sources. Although Luke is Polish. I digress.)
When I enter my social network as the wise shaman, baring my intellectual soul (or lack there of) to my audience, (first mistake—your friends shouldn’t be an audience) it is easy for that soul to get crushed. But what I realize is that is not such a bad thing. Crush my soul if you want. Crush it three times or more without even knowing what you are doing. That intellectual soul won’t die. I am too pompous for that.
Besides, (cheesy ending coming—get ready) when I put myself out there to be respected or ridiculed I am bettering myself and the people around me. Whether I say something that will make them think, or I say something they can confidently eliminate from their line of thinking I have put in my deposit for a more thought-provoking community. And if there isn’t thought-provoking community in our universe we might as well just throw it all out and get rid of NBA basketball and Kelly Clarkson too.
I can’t let that happen people. I…just…can’t.I hate being the dumb guy in a group.
I don’t think I am completely in love with myself so much that I believe I am the smartest guy in a group, but I certainly never think I am the most inept.
That is until I say something really inept.
The fact is that most of my social network is younger than me. I am soon to be a teacher, so I am, at times, the smartest person in the room at my workplace. My friends are mostly younger than me too, so sometimes I can stupidly parade around as the wise man in a group because, in that group, I just may be.
But I am not a wise man—not to the extent that I could be or other people are. I should be content with this concept because, even though this great land of ours thrives off unique individualism, it is not important nor is it even all that good to be the smartest person in the room.
There are things I know about and can talk about at length that no one in my social network can touch. In my circle of friends I am the unchallengeable jazz expert. Anything jazz is my station. My knowledge, understanding, and experience of this and several other musical genres is what fuels my outwardly-given, inwardly-driven nickname, “The Anthology?. Am I the true Anthology in any musical style?
Nope.
Jazz: I can name two friends right off the top of my head who blow me away in the world of jazz. Two friends. Not two people I met once at a bar. Not two people I read about in Rolling Stone, and certainly not two people I met on the Internet, because that just doesn’t sound right. The two guys are Ben Syversen and Lukaz Malewicz. We talked about music constantly in our friendships during college. These conversations are the basis of everything I know about jazz. Yeah I love the music, played the music, even arranged some jazz, but everything I really know I learned from talking to two guys. I went into conversations with those guys with the willingness to soak in what they were saying. If I said something stupid it was ok because they just loved talking about the music at all (for those of you who don’t know, jazz is the most talked-about art form that doesn’t make any money in the entire country. I would say the world, but I haven’t left the country so I couldn’t confirm that with reliable sources. Although Luke is Polish. I digress.)
When I enter my social network as the wise shaman, baring my intellectual soul (or lack there of) to my audience, (first mistake—your friends shouldn’t be an audience) it is easy for that soul to get crushed. But what I realize is that is not such a bad thing. Crush my soul if you want. Crush it three times or more without even knowing what you are doing. That intellectual soul won’t die. I am too pompous for that.
Besides, (cheesy ending coming—get ready) when I put myself out there to be respected or ridiculed I am bettering myself and the people around me. Whether I say something that will make them think, or I say something they can confidently eliminate from their line of thinking I have put in my deposit for a more thought-provoking community. And if there isn’t thought-provoking community in our universe we might as well just throw it all out and get rid of NBA basketball and Kelly Clarkson too.
I can’t let that happen people. I…just…can’t.
--AB
Classic Blog: The Messiah Complex of Jazz: Never Truly Dead
*Flash-foward: I have mixed emotions now about this article. Comments made by the BA trumpet player Ben Syversen (www.myspace.com/bensyversen) have made me rethink some ideas. So you may be seeing a sequal to this one.
In my 7th grade music appreciation class I was talking to the students about why they should not give up on jazz. I said jazz was the hip hop of its time-- rebelious, immoral, passionate, raw, and deep.
But I was wrong.
(And I had to tell these 7th graders what half those words meant).
Jazz was not the hip hop of it's time. That is like saying Lebron James or Dwayne Wade is the next MJ (whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson-- I've heard both). It is simply wrong to say such things. In fact while we are mentioning it, if I hear one more person say that Dwayne Wayde is the new Jordan I am gonna shoot myself or someone around me (more than likely someone around me-- I wanna have kids some day). First of all Jordan was overcompetitive to a fault, and somehow became one of the single greatest athletes of all time because of it. Dwayne Wade is benefiting from what MJ did. He is nicer. He flops more. He can create better. He can't score as big. He gets fouled more (at least in the Mavs finals).
Alright enough of that. So as you can see I am not into the whole "this is the new that thing" (like pink is the new orange--people including me really say that). Thus hip hop is not the jazz nor was jazz the hip hop of its time.
So what was jazz? Should I ask what is jazz? I am going to say is. Here's why.
Most people don't know this, but jazz officially died to the mainstream in or around the 1950's. The big band era before that was a fairly big deal. But R&B; (thanks to the help of artists such as Louis Jordan) was starting to take the simple rawness and sophistication of the jazz of old and spin it into a new and sellable entity. R&B started it's brutal take over as early as the 30's, but it teamed up with rock&roll; to completely take over jazz in the 50's.
So was jazz ever truly popular? To some it was. But even most of those defected eventually. Then jazz kept going-- turning into what many people today would call an eletist and academic genre. Everyone's problem with jazz is that they think that they aren't good enough to play it, or smart enough to listen to and understand it. Jazz fans became minorities. They flocked into clubs and started practicing their own art. They adapted it, added new ideas, new concepts, and jazz became an underground genre that, to this day, still thrives in little known urban clubs and academic institutions.
The entire time the rest of the musical world was simplifying the message and sound of jazz and using it in their own music, but the complete sound of jazz has never truly returned to the mainstream. Most people can't handle everything jazz has to say.
Any of this sound familiar?In my 7th grade music appreciation class I was talking to the students about why they should not give up on jazz. I said jazz was the hip hop of its time-- rebelious, immoral, passionate, raw, and deep.
But I was wrong.
(And I had to tell these 7th graders what half those words meant).
Jazz was not the hip hop of it's time. That is like saying Lebron James or Dwayne Wade is the next MJ (whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson-- I've heard both). It is simply wrong to say such things. In fact while we are mentioning it, if I hear one more person say that Dwayne Wayde is the new Jordan I am gonna shoot myself or someone around me (more than likely someone around me-- I wanna have kids some day). First of all Jordan was overcompetitive to a fault, and somehow became one of the single greatest athletes of all time because of it. Dwayne Wade is benefiting from what MJ did. He is nicer. He flops more. He can create better. He can't score as big. He gets fouled more (at least in the Mavs finals).
Alright enough of that. So as you can see I am not into the whole "this is the new that thing" (like pink is the new orange--people including me really say that). Thus hip hop is not the jazz nor was jazz the hip hop of its time.
So what was jazz? Should I ask what is jazz? I am going to say is. Here's why.
Most people don't know this, but jazz officially died to the mainstream in or around the 1950's. The big band era before that was a fairly big deal. But R&B; (thanks to the help of artists such as Louis Jordan) was starting to take the simple rawness and sophistication of the jazz of old and spin it into a new and sellable entity. R&B started it's brutal take over as early as the 30's, but it teamed up with rock&roll; to completely take over jazz in the 50's.
So was jazz ever truly popular? To some it was. But even most of those defected eventually. Then jazz kept going-- turning into what many people today would call an eletist and academic genre. Everyone's problem with jazz is that they think that they aren't good enough to play it, or smart enough to listen to and understand it. Jazz fans became minorities. They flocked into clubs and started practicing their own art. They adapted it, added new ideas, new concepts, and jazz became an underground genre that, to this day, still thrives in little known urban clubs and academic institutions.
The entire time the rest of the musical world was simplifying the message and sound of jazz and using it in their own music, but the complete sound of jazz has never truly returned to the mainstream. Most people can't handle everything jazz has to say.
Any of this sound familiar?
In my 7th grade music appreciation class I was talking to the students about why they should not give up on jazz. I said jazz was the hip hop of its time-- rebelious, immoral, passionate, raw, and deep.
But I was wrong.
(And I had to tell these 7th graders what half those words meant).
Jazz was not the hip hop of it's time. That is like saying Lebron James or Dwayne Wade is the next MJ (whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson-- I've heard both). It is simply wrong to say such things. In fact while we are mentioning it, if I hear one more person say that Dwayne Wayde is the new Jordan I am gonna shoot myself or someone around me (more than likely someone around me-- I wanna have kids some day). First of all Jordan was overcompetitive to a fault, and somehow became one of the single greatest athletes of all time because of it. Dwayne Wade is benefiting from what MJ did. He is nicer. He flops more. He can create better. He can't score as big. He gets fouled more (at least in the Mavs finals).
Alright enough of that. So as you can see I am not into the whole "this is the new that thing" (like pink is the new orange--people including me really say that). Thus hip hop is not the jazz nor was jazz the hip hop of its time.
So what was jazz? Should I ask what is jazz? I am going to say is. Here's why.
Most people don't know this, but jazz officially died to the mainstream in or around the 1950's. The big band era before that was a fairly big deal. But R&B; (thanks to the help of artists such as Louis Jordan) was starting to take the simple rawness and sophistication of the jazz of old and spin it into a new and sellable entity. R&B started it's brutal take over as early as the 30's, but it teamed up with rock&roll; to completely take over jazz in the 50's.
So was jazz ever truly popular? To some it was. But even most of those defected eventually. Then jazz kept going-- turning into what many people today would call an eletist and academic genre. Everyone's problem with jazz is that they think that they aren't good enough to play it, or smart enough to listen to and understand it. Jazz fans became minorities. They flocked into clubs and started practicing their own art. They adapted it, added new ideas, new concepts, and jazz became an underground genre that, to this day, still thrives in little known urban clubs and academic institutions.
The entire time the rest of the musical world was simplifying the message and sound of jazz and using it in their own music, but the complete sound of jazz has never truly returned to the mainstream. Most people can't handle everything jazz has to say.
Any of this sound familiar?In my 7th grade music appreciation class I was talking to the students about why they should not give up on jazz. I said jazz was the hip hop of its time-- rebelious, immoral, passionate, raw, and deep.
But I was wrong.
(And I had to tell these 7th graders what half those words meant).
Jazz was not the hip hop of it's time. That is like saying Lebron James or Dwayne Wade is the next MJ (whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson-- I've heard both). It is simply wrong to say such things. In fact while we are mentioning it, if I hear one more person say that Dwayne Wayde is the new Jordan I am gonna shoot myself or someone around me (more than likely someone around me-- I wanna have kids some day). First of all Jordan was overcompetitive to a fault, and somehow became one of the single greatest athletes of all time because of it. Dwayne Wade is benefiting from what MJ did. He is nicer. He flops more. He can create better. He can't score as big. He gets fouled more (at least in the Mavs finals).
Alright enough of that. So as you can see I am not into the whole "this is the new that thing" (like pink is the new orange--people including me really say that). Thus hip hop is not the jazz nor was jazz the hip hop of its time.
So what was jazz? Should I ask what is jazz? I am going to say is. Here's why.
Most people don't know this, but jazz officially died to the mainstream in or around the 1950's. The big band era before that was a fairly big deal. But R&B; (thanks to the help of artists such as Louis Jordan) was starting to take the simple rawness and sophistication of the jazz of old and spin it into a new and sellable entity. R&B started it's brutal take over as early as the 30's, but it teamed up with rock&roll; to completely take over jazz in the 50's.
So was jazz ever truly popular? To some it was. But even most of those defected eventually. Then jazz kept going-- turning into what many people today would call an eletist and academic genre. Everyone's problem with jazz is that they think that they aren't good enough to play it, or smart enough to listen to and understand it. Jazz fans became minorities. They flocked into clubs and started practicing their own art. They adapted it, added new ideas, new concepts, and jazz became an underground genre that, to this day, still thrives in little known urban clubs and academic institutions.
The entire time the rest of the musical world was simplifying the message and sound of jazz and using it in their own music, but the complete sound of jazz has never truly returned to the mainstream. Most people can't handle everything jazz has to say.
Any of this sound familiar?
Classic Blog: Abitrary Soul Searching: Grocery Shopping Alone
It is my personal feeling that the soul is best looked at under the microscopes of pop culture and sociology.
Why?
None of your damn business why. That's just the way it is. I tell you this not because I am trying to get extremely deep but because getting it off my chest seems the right thing to do.
I thought at first that when I wrote this I would attempt to show the loneliness inside of grocery shopping solo. However, I find that I have no feelings either way on the subject. But feelings aren't everything. Vibes are.
I am pretty sensitive for a guy, but I don't consider myself extremely emotional anymore. I used to think that I was, but I realized that finding Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, and Zach Graph (more on this one later) vile is not a good indication that I am an emotional creature. I am a feeling person though. I feel vibes. I like music that gives off a certain vibe or sound-- not because it has great lyrics or a rocking solo. I like movies that leave me in a certain state-- not because there was a memorable quote or a great plot.
The point of all my mindless crap is that grocery stores have a vibe. And just like music or a movie, the vibe can be altered depending on who is around. In my new life as a working class bachelor I go grocery shopping alone. It would make no sense to go with anyone else if there is no one you share a fridge with. So as I was walking aimlessly through the isles looking for anything microwavable, I got a wave of feeling. I don't know what it was. There was sadness there, but it was far from despair. It was almost bittersweet. I nearly cried thinking about a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the one the mom sings to Charlie when Charlie loses hope of getting a golden ticket). You know you get a vibe when a Gene Wilder movie tugs at your heart strings.
(Although I do need to go on a quick parenthetical here. Gene Wilder kills that movie. It is not just because he is as clever as Fergie for releasing a solo album about her sex life. The man has one of the most beautiful voices ever heard in movie musicals. I could listen to him sing "Pure Imagination" for an hour. Ok back to cookies and crackers).
I love getting vibes from everyday occurrences. I think they happen for me because I definitely don't grocery shop everyday. It becomes a special moment for me when I finally get up and do it. I feel like an adult. Supposedly I have been one for more than 5 years, but I think that is a load of bs.
Why?
None of your damn business why. That's just the way it is. I tell you this not because I am trying to get extremely deep but because getting it off my chest seems the right thing to do.
I thought at first that when I wrote this I would attempt to show the loneliness inside of grocery shopping solo. However, I find that I have no feelings either way on the subject. But feelings aren't everything. Vibes are.
I am pretty sensitive for a guy, but I don't consider myself extremely emotional anymore. I used to think that I was, but I realized that finding Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, and Zach Graph (more on this one later) vile is not a good indication that I am an emotional creature. I am a feeling person though. I feel vibes. I like music that gives off a certain vibe or sound-- not because it has great lyrics or a rocking solo. I like movies that leave me in a certain state-- not because there was a memorable quote or a great plot.
The point of all my mindless crap is that grocery stores have a vibe. And just like music or a movie, the vibe can be altered depending on who is around. In my new life as a working class bachelor I go grocery shopping alone. It would make no sense to go with anyone else if there is no one you share a fridge with. So as I was walking aimlessly through the isles looking for anything microwavable, I got a wave of feeling. I don't know what it was. There was sadness there, but it was far from despair. It was almost bittersweet. I nearly cried thinking about a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the one the mom sings to Charlie when Charlie loses hope of getting a golden ticket). You know you get a vibe when a Gene Wilder movie tugs at your heart strings.
(Although I do need to go on a quick parenthetical here. Gene Wilder kills that movie. It is not just because he is as clever as Fergie for releasing a solo album about her sex life. The man has one of the most beautiful voices ever heard in movie musicals. I could listen to him sing "Pure Imagination" for an hour. Ok back to cookies and crackers).
I love getting vibes from everyday occurrences. I think they happen for me because I definitely don't grocery shop everyday. It becomes a special moment for me when I finally get up and do it. I feel like an adult. Supposedly I have been one for more than 5 years, but I think that is a load of bs.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Listening to Yourself: You know you like it (and at the same time you don't, which is the point of this blog entry, who's title is too long to...)
Right now I am listening to a song a friend of mine wrote and recorded. She put together a CD and put the songs on Myspace. The song I am listening to features me on trombone throughout the song. And I love listening to it.
This puts me in the minority in terms of enjoying my own sound played back at me. Does this mean I am a totally egotistical little bugger, or is there something deeper to it? There probably is nothing deeper to the issue, but I am going to pretend there is and bs my way through a couple of points that probably have some truth to them when a smarter man takes a good look.
First off, it is a farce that I say I enjoy listening to myself. It is in fact not true at all. Recently I have been recording rehearsals of my high school band and playing them back to the group to listen to their mistakes and accomplishments. Every once in a while in the recording you will hear my voice coming through the speakers, and holy crap particles is it hideous. H-I-D-E-O-U-S. So why can't I hear the awful sound of my own voice, but I can find all the positive aspects of my trombone playing?
Before I give you the answer you are panting for, I should pad it a little first. I am not that great of a trombone player. I'm not saying I suck; I can certainly hold my own in 80 to 85 percent of the musical situations on the planet. But I know I am not a virtuoso-- I don't put the work into it, and I would probably fall a little short of great even if I did put the work in.
Parenthetical insert after the fact: (I was going to put something in that last paragraph about how I was graduated from the IU Jacobs School of Music which must mean that I am worth something as a player [trombone not the ladies], but let me tell you right here and now that it doesn't mean jack if you are graduated from there. It is such a big school that, once you're in, you are on your own and they almost don't care how you come out. Some absolutely awful musical talent has come from IU in addition to all the prodigies. I consider myself in the middle of the pack because I hung with and played well with and was respected by the best trombone players going through that school).
So what the face plant is this all about? I have CONTROL over my trombone playing at a certain technical level. My ears are not so warped with modesty, self-loathing, or a bloated self-image that they don't know the difference between what sounds good or bad. The trombone playing on my friend's tune is pretty good because I have academic control over the sounds that are made.
There is one other reason why I can stand some recordings of myself and not others.
I am emotionally detached from what I think sounds good.
There was no emotional or personal risk in recording 7 different notes in various combinations ( D, C, Bb, A, G, F, Eb if you were wondering and I know you were). Go in. Play notes. Fix notes. Producer fix notes without telling player. Go home. Easy.
But when something is recorded that I am emotionally invested in-- something I wrote, or worked very hard on-- I can barely stand to hear it. I become offended and appalled as I am sure most people do. But most people don't have enough recorded work that they don't care too deeply about. I do.
So the part of me I like to hear the most is the part that doesn't care. To be honest that makes me kind of sad. I don't care and that is what I want everyone to hear? That's East coast-style philosophy and that just is not me. I hope no one finds out that I have feelings. That might make people care, think, or sympathize. And we simply can't have that around here.
--QA
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Mt. Rapmore Part 9 (read this 2nd and Part 8 first)
The journey through Mt. Rapmore concludes:
The simple undeniable truth is that, in your discussion of possible Rushmore Part 2 candidates, you forgot the man who literally saved the nation twice-- and did it with Polio. Ladies and gentlemen, the true fourth member of Mount Rushmore should be....
F....D.....R
The depression and WW II went through him. The basis of Big Government programs including Social Security started with him. They had to make a rule after his tenure as president that you could only have two terms. Oh yeah, this guy was the man. He was it. He should be considered higher than Washington and maybe even Lincoln, but because he lived in the modern age and his wife was so butt ugly people don't give him very many legend props. He gets plenty of props, but not legend props.
And this is where the appropriate replacement to Rapmore comes in:
FDR=Dr. Dre
Heck they are even the same number of syllables (3). It just fits. Dre did so much groundwork on so many levels in multiple decades, just like FDR. This comparison does not work quite as well as Tupac and Lincoln, but its close enough. Dre spent most of his time saving the rap nation from a chair (Oh yeah I went there again-- FDR doesn't get enough credit for being the man he was and not being able to walk. Did you see what John Locke (from the show LOST) was like when he lost the use of his legs [oh yeah I went there too]?? He was worthless. FDR got up everyday with that ugly wife of his and made decisions (Also I think it is important that we have all the men from the three great wars represented: Washington and the Revolution, Lincoln and the Civil War, FDR and World War II). Anyway Dre was a behind-the-scenes decision maker and that is the most important part. But he was no rap slouch either.
Another important thing about Dr. Dre that doesn't relate to FDR very much but is still key is the fact that he pretty much owns most of rap. Two of my original Rapmore members had direct ties to Dre, and one of them (Eminem) was discovered by him. To discover people as important to rap as Snoop Dog and Eminem and put out two of the best rap albums of all time (The Chronic, and The Chronic 2000-- he is such a Bad A. he didn't even need to retitle it) is an amazing feat. Dre is the man and deserves the spot over Eminem just like FDR should replace Teddy.
To put an end to this, let me just give you a few honorable mentions and a few Rapmore and Rushmore Part 2's:
Mount Rushmore Pt. 2
Ronald Regan
Bill Clinton
JFK
Barrak Obama
--That's right. I am predicting the future. Barring the truly real possibility that Obama is going to purposefully ruin the country and just talks a good game, I hope and think he will be listed as one of the greats. I honestly do. Though I disagree with most of what Regan did, he totally counts for sure. JFK is here for mystique only (give me one actual good thing he did for the country, just one). And Bill Clinton gave this nation the most harmony in a long time. And he was even kind enough to give us an intriguing controversy (I will probably never smoke cigars) because he knew the USA thrives on crap they can gossip about; I seriously halfway think he had "sexual relations" on purpose and got caught on purpose. I really don't think I am kidding, but I might be kidding. It depends on what part I am kidding about and what part I am being serious about.
Mount Rapmore Pt. 2
Jay-Z
Biggie Smalls
Q-Tip
Common
--I thought about throwing Diddy in here just to see what my colleagues would say, but I didn't want to sound as dumb as my good buddy Nate. Sean Combs is No. 1 on my list for Mount Made-for-TV- Moviemore. The fact is that Biggie Smalls would have been one of the greats if he had lived longer. But there is a more important reason you can't put him on Rapmore 1, and that is Diddy. First of all Puffmunch killed Biggie, but more importantly he killed Biggie's freedom. I have a couple of B.I.G. tracks where he guests with other guys oustide of the Bad Boy community and he is INCREDIBLE. Where was this on Big Pappa? That song is boring. Just because he is a big guy doesn't mean he can't rap fast.
Anyway, Jay-Z is here because I don't see what all the fuss is about but everyone else does (like Regan). Notorious gave us some controversy. Q-Tip doesn't get enough props for A Tribe Called Quest but he was a really intriguing choice here because I see JFK flattening out like this if he wasn't shot.
And Common is the future. He really is. What did you call it Nick? Backpack hip-hop? I'm all in.
Here are a couple other interesting comparisons:
Warren G= Warren G. Harding
Yep I went there too. I am everywhere.
Kanye West=Benjamin Franklin
I like this because Kanye will never be thought of as a great rapper. I don't even know if he should be thought of as a rapper at all. But he does have a renaissance man quality to him (just one solid guest spot in a Spike Lee joint ought to certify it) which reminds me of America's greatest Renaissance man. Ben Franklin. He is America's greatest president without ever being one. Our greatest spokesperson. Our most outspoken thinker. Give it to Kanye. He needs more time to build up more history, but I think he will be the most important man in rap for a long time without even being a rapper. He may be the most important man in music period (although I was glad he got the shaft on album of the year by none other than the greatest Renaissance man in the history of jazz-- Herbie Hancock [thus certifying that Herbie is a greater renaissance jazzer than Miles Davis, which is huge! Why isn't anyone talking about this?! The biggest adjustment in the history of jazz discussion happened less than three weeks ago with a whole bunch of friggin Joni Mitchell songs. That is why jazz is dead. Even when it wins no one cares--which is kind of like the San Antonio Spurs. Ok my tangents have gone bonkers, but it leads me to my coolest and weirdest equal sign answer ever:
The San Antonio Spurs=Herbie Hancock=Kanye West=Benjamin Franklin
Enough broken logic to keep you going till Rapture.
--QA
The simple undeniable truth is that, in your discussion of possible Rushmore Part 2 candidates, you forgot the man who literally saved the nation twice-- and did it with Polio. Ladies and gentlemen, the true fourth member of Mount Rushmore should be....
F....D.....R
The depression and WW II went through him. The basis of Big Government programs including Social Security started with him. They had to make a rule after his tenure as president that you could only have two terms. Oh yeah, this guy was the man. He was it. He should be considered higher than Washington and maybe even Lincoln, but because he lived in the modern age and his wife was so butt ugly people don't give him very many legend props. He gets plenty of props, but not legend props.
And this is where the appropriate replacement to Rapmore comes in:
FDR=Dr. Dre
Heck they are even the same number of syllables (3). It just fits. Dre did so much groundwork on so many levels in multiple decades, just like FDR. This comparison does not work quite as well as Tupac and Lincoln, but its close enough. Dre spent most of his time saving the rap nation from a chair (Oh yeah I went there again-- FDR doesn't get enough credit for being the man he was and not being able to walk. Did you see what John Locke (from the show LOST) was like when he lost the use of his legs [oh yeah I went there too]?? He was worthless. FDR got up everyday with that ugly wife of his and made decisions (Also I think it is important that we have all the men from the three great wars represented: Washington and the Revolution, Lincoln and the Civil War, FDR and World War II). Anyway Dre was a behind-the-scenes decision maker and that is the most important part. But he was no rap slouch either.
Another important thing about Dr. Dre that doesn't relate to FDR very much but is still key is the fact that he pretty much owns most of rap. Two of my original Rapmore members had direct ties to Dre, and one of them (Eminem) was discovered by him. To discover people as important to rap as Snoop Dog and Eminem and put out two of the best rap albums of all time (The Chronic, and The Chronic 2000-- he is such a Bad A. he didn't even need to retitle it) is an amazing feat. Dre is the man and deserves the spot over Eminem just like FDR should replace Teddy.
To put an end to this, let me just give you a few honorable mentions and a few Rapmore and Rushmore Part 2's:
Mount Rushmore Pt. 2
Ronald Regan
Bill Clinton
JFK
Barrak Obama
--That's right. I am predicting the future. Barring the truly real possibility that Obama is going to purposefully ruin the country and just talks a good game, I hope and think he will be listed as one of the greats. I honestly do. Though I disagree with most of what Regan did, he totally counts for sure. JFK is here for mystique only (give me one actual good thing he did for the country, just one). And Bill Clinton gave this nation the most harmony in a long time. And he was even kind enough to give us an intriguing controversy (I will probably never smoke cigars) because he knew the USA thrives on crap they can gossip about; I seriously halfway think he had "sexual relations" on purpose and got caught on purpose. I really don't think I am kidding, but I might be kidding. It depends on what part I am kidding about and what part I am being serious about.
Mount Rapmore Pt. 2
Jay-Z
Biggie Smalls
Q-Tip
Common
--I thought about throwing Diddy in here just to see what my colleagues would say, but I didn't want to sound as dumb as my good buddy Nate. Sean Combs is No. 1 on my list for Mount Made-for-TV- Moviemore. The fact is that Biggie Smalls would have been one of the greats if he had lived longer. But there is a more important reason you can't put him on Rapmore 1, and that is Diddy. First of all Puffmunch killed Biggie, but more importantly he killed Biggie's freedom. I have a couple of B.I.G. tracks where he guests with other guys oustide of the Bad Boy community and he is INCREDIBLE. Where was this on Big Pappa? That song is boring. Just because he is a big guy doesn't mean he can't rap fast.
Anyway, Jay-Z is here because I don't see what all the fuss is about but everyone else does (like Regan). Notorious gave us some controversy. Q-Tip doesn't get enough props for A Tribe Called Quest but he was a really intriguing choice here because I see JFK flattening out like this if he wasn't shot.
And Common is the future. He really is. What did you call it Nick? Backpack hip-hop? I'm all in.
Here are a couple other interesting comparisons:
Warren G= Warren G. Harding
Yep I went there too. I am everywhere.
Kanye West=Benjamin Franklin
I like this because Kanye will never be thought of as a great rapper. I don't even know if he should be thought of as a rapper at all. But he does have a renaissance man quality to him (just one solid guest spot in a Spike Lee joint ought to certify it) which reminds me of America's greatest Renaissance man. Ben Franklin. He is America's greatest president without ever being one. Our greatest spokesperson. Our most outspoken thinker. Give it to Kanye. He needs more time to build up more history, but I think he will be the most important man in rap for a long time without even being a rapper. He may be the most important man in music period (although I was glad he got the shaft on album of the year by none other than the greatest Renaissance man in the history of jazz-- Herbie Hancock [thus certifying that Herbie is a greater renaissance jazzer than Miles Davis, which is huge! Why isn't anyone talking about this?! The biggest adjustment in the history of jazz discussion happened less than three weeks ago with a whole bunch of friggin Joni Mitchell songs. That is why jazz is dead. Even when it wins no one cares--which is kind of like the San Antonio Spurs. Ok my tangents have gone bonkers, but it leads me to my coolest and weirdest equal sign answer ever:
The San Antonio Spurs=Herbie Hancock=Kanye West=Benjamin Franklin
Enough broken logic to keep you going till Rapture.
--QA
Mt. Rapmore Pt. 8
This is a response to a debate sparked between some friends and I. To see the original argument check out the blog www.betweenorderandchaos.blogspot.com. The question: Who would be on Mt. Rapmore and why?
The response:
1. If I were to directly compare Mount Rushmore to Rapmore and make my case based upon the similar artists it would go something like this:
George Washington= Kool Herc (although I may sound dumb but I have yet to see Grandmaster Flash in this discussion. At least a shout out about the man who was telling the truth about the ghetto as much as Public Enemy) Other than the parenthetical I have no argument with this agreed upon point.
Thomas Jefferson= Chuck D
As I look at Jefferson I see a man, who at the end of the day, was a true renegade. He was the only presiddent who was publicly anti-Christian (in fact he may be the only president that mattered EVER to be so publicly against the accepted religion of America--good or bad). Not only did he oppose the British, he sometimes even opposed the Americans (This of course is not expert opinion so feel free to put me down. It's like Bill Simmons with music. His argument in this whole thing was almost moot. He is just dumb and uninformed. I am the same way with the presidents).
But Chuck D definitely goes here because he was crackin' on people who are rapping today before they were even born. The same way TJ was raggin' on George W. more than 100 years before it made sense.
Abraham Lincoln=Tupac
There should be a book with the above words as a title because it is just right. There should be no debate about this one. NONE. Their comparison is haunting. They were both great men. They have both been idolized for things that they weren't necessarily trying to be idolized for. And that is the big ticket for me. Abraham Lincoln will be championed as the man who was brave enough to say no to slavery and risk a war. That is how he is talked about in elementary school even up into high school. But he has been quoted as saying that if he thought keeping slavery would keep the union together, he would have done it. His leadership was so influential that he was an accidental (this may be too strong a word) inspiration to the abolishment of slavery. He seriously just didn't care about it. His care was actually in a way greater for the sake of a nation. And he kind of inherited The Emancipation Proclamation along the way.
I feel that Tupac is very similar. Did he come out with the expressed intent of bringing light to the ghetto world? I don't think so. I think he was trying to literally stay alive and his natural oratory skills (like Lincoln) took him where he needed to go. It just so happened that he ended up representing a world, and he was chosen as the representative hero partially because of his untimely death (like Lincoln).
I am serious about that book title. I say it should be co-written by Michael Eric Dysson and Chuck Klosterman. You pretty much certify a best seller when you can guarantee LOL humor in a book about two guys who were assassinated. Maybe they could do it as a conversation-- Dysson as Tupac and Chuck as Lincoln. Ok now I am just getting nuts.
Teddy Roosevelt=Eminem
This was definitely the toughest one. No doubt. It is the toughest one because I believe that TRoos does not belong on Mount Rushmore. He got lucky with timing. I will talk about who should be in the fourth spot in a second.
In the meantime, if we have to use Teddy as a base, I will go with Marshal as my guy. This guy will get a bad rap (no pun intended) simply because he was white. He might even deserve the criticism. But he is far and away the most intelligent lyricist in the bunch. Yeah I said it and I mean it. Tupac would definitely win in a showdown, but he had his limits. Eminem has no limits. He quietly has the best booty rap ever (with exception to Sir Mix-a-lot). This came out a few years ago. Also the rare times he guest spots with singers it is incredible ("Smack That" with Akon, and that incredibly beautiful mashing with Dido-- which was slightly overplayed downplaying the fact that it is a beautiful track). In addition he has some of the most intense music in rap, making you curl in your seat when you listen and pissing people off who never got pissed off at black rappers publicly (the homophobic word issue).
How does he compare with Roosevelt though? This is a bit of a stretch but I am gonna stick by it. Both men were misunderstood. Teddy is considered a working class hero, but he was a friggin' game hunter! That is not working class no matter what century you live in. Eminem has been construed as a whiner just because he is white. Not cool. He is as much ghetto as anyone in the rap industry--with additional prejudices to battle through before he made it big. People forget that, yes he is successful in part because he is white, but think about the journey he had to get there.
Part 9 is coming soon. I go away from the subject quite a bit in Part 9, but it is still somewhat interesting if you have no life.
--QA
Friday, March 28, 2008
The NBA vs. The NCAA (Or More Accurately Gnarly Looking Foreign Dudes and Cool Looking Jerseys vs. 35 Different Wildcat Teams and 18 Bulldogs)
Before we begin I should sneak preview the fact that at the end of the blog I will devote an entire paragraph to alternate titles for this piece. Skip to the end if that is what you are about.
Now to the bread and butter...
Many of you who might already know that I am first and foremost an NBA fan. This has to do just as much with how I grew up as it does the fact that the NBA is better. I came of age during the mid to late 90's, which any true Indiana basketball fan would know as the glory years of the Pacers. Reggie Miller was tearing teams up in the playoffs every year for what seems like a decade. He scored the infamous 8 points in 9 seconds against the Knicks. He beat the holy living tar out of MJ at the end of Game 6 vs. The Bulls and didn't get called for a foul. We had the Davis brothers (who weren't actually brothers), The Dunking Dutchman, Mark "I'm 2nd all time assists but I will never be in the Hall of Fame, ever" Jackson, and the Big Smooth Sam Perkins.
Then the Pacers died. Or more accurately they probably actually killed someone, thus the game died. Now why am I talking about this? Simple. The Pacers have had a horrible season, but I am as excited about NBA basketball this year more than I have been in quite a long time. There are so many rivalries building. All we need is a couple good fights and the NBA will completely open up as a powerhouse of potent competition.
However, the NCAA lost my interest after the first two rounds of the tournament simply because I didn't do so well in my office pool. IU lost so what's the point. Now, I know I am a little jaded in this entire argument because of the absolute poopoo plummet that IU did towards the end, but you could make the same argument for my Pacers. I simply cannot convince myself to get consistently into college ball, but I can watch any regular season NBA game between two above-.500 teams and get into it (especially if there are playoff implications). The NBA is a better system than Division I college ball, and here is why...
1. The college game is severely limited by the offensive sets.
There is no penetration in the college game. There are always exceptions to generalizations like this, but they are not the norm. If I am watching a game between Temple and The University of Detroit, I am going to see three to four passes above the three point line, a pass into the post, a quick double team, a pass back out to the top of the key, and a desperation 3 near the end of the shot clock. Seriously how many times have you seen this play?? But in the NBA you are going to see Pick and Roll, fast break, and at least some creative post up moves. The 3-point-line is way too short to begin with (20 feet 9 inches). That line traps offensive sets into a specific concept. We would see less 3ball in Division I hoops if they expanded the 3-point-line to NBA length (23 feet 9 inches). But since they don't the game is trapped inside and outside of that arc preventing creativity and a certain grace to the game.
2. The college game's greatest asset-- The Tournament-- suffers from a lack of quality rivalries.
The NCAA Division I Tournament is one of the most hyped and exciting events in American sports (closest rivals are The Super Bowl and Wrestlemania, not even close in competition is the most awful "sport" of all-- NASCAR [I dare you to argue with that]). However, the reason for the hype of the tournament is not the games themselves, but the game of guessing who wins and loses. It's not just a money thing; it is the fun of the guessing game, which is something that human beings are obsessed with doing for fun. The excitement of the Tourney has nothing to do with the actual games. Think about the fact that Memphis played Michigan St. for the right to go to the Elite 8 this year. Where is the history between those two teams? That's right, there is none. This makes for a disappointing game with no excitement. The number of blowouts and easily won games in the tourney far outweighs the close games.
3. The NCAA is too expansive. There is too much to keep track of.
Realize that I am still only talking about Division I (leaving II and III out of this). There were, as of 2005, 327 Division I teams spread throughout 31 conferences (at least two teams have moved up recently but I can't keep track of them). Think about trying to keep up with all of those players. 327 multiplied by 12 is 3924. That is 3924 players. For a guy like me who can get obsessive when getting into a subject, that is just too much. There are more conferences in Division I hoops than there are teams in the NBA. The NBA is just easier to keep track of. I love being able to name players and get into their stats and styles. In the NBA I can get to know players from each and every team, but by the time the NCAA tourney rolls around I have to familiarize myself with entire teams of players that will probably get blown out by 30 to Kentucky or Duke (two teams that I hate).
I can't become attached to players I don't know. But the NBA is more public and their players more celebrity. I can follow them well and get into the games more because I know the players. Also there are enough rivalries in the NBA to keep me busy till June, and I won't get bogged down by the dinky 3-point-line. Now if you will excuse me, I have to shut off the Stanford-Texas game to watch Chris Paul and the Hornets vs Kevin Garnett and the Celtics.
And now for what you've been waiting for:
...or more accurately titled The NBA: Where Amazing Happens vs. The NCAA: Where Dick Vital Shutting Up Never Happens, or even more accurately titled The NBA Cares About the Community vs. The NCAA Cares about Coach K., or quite a bit more accurately titled The NBA with Ernie, Kenny, and Chuck "I need them for my footsies" Barkley vs. The NCAA with Digger, Coach Knight, and Jay "I am impressed by anyone who is 6'8" and can jump high" Bilas, or finally most accurately titled The NBA with CP3, The Mamba, and King James vs. The NCAA with Eric "Dwayne Wade with a lower ceiling" Gordon, Tyler Sucksborough, and O.J. Lame-o.
Whoohaa!
--QA
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