Original video located here. Accessed 25th September 2019
Song title: He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother
Artist: The Hollies
Year: 1969
Why I like this song:
Still resonates years later. It packs an emotional punch and still stands strong as an anthem of unity and brotherhood.
It also doesn't hurt to have Elton John helping you out too.
Pearl Jam
I was nine years old when the grunge explosion of 1991 happened. Back then, it was either Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Me? I choose the latter. I don’t recall being at all interested in Nirvana but I do recall hearing ‘Alive’ for the first time and thinking it was the best song ever (what a smart kid I was).
My love for Pearl Jam also stems from the influence of my older siblings. Being the third child, it was only natural that I should pick up things from Kate and Cameron. And you hear Ten constantly coming from your sister’s room across the hallway, you know she’s onto something. Likewise, my brother played Vs (particularly Indifference) and No Code onto me, throughout my High School. But it was during college that I finally came around.
And I’m glad I did. Being a mid-teen, Eddie Vedder’s tales of rage and frustration struck a chord and I became a fan. Which goes to show that sometimes when you’re get older, things you picked up as a child suddenly start making sense.
Key Album: Ten (1991). What can I say? It still has bite after all these years and it certainly yielded an antidote to my difficult teen years. I did feel part of a minority when I liked them back in primary school (even if it was on the back of one song) but when I look back I think: ‘I was right’.
Faith No More
As with many people, I first got into Faith No More with their monumental smash Epic. It came from out of nowhere (pardon the pun) and left me impressed. Over the next eight years I followed them throughout my primary school years and right into my High School Years - I recall buying Album of the Year with a voucher I won in a school fundraiser and playing it many times since. But what is interesting is FNM broke up at the end of my time at High School. It felt like the end of an era and left a hole that would take a while to be filled.
Key Album: The Real Thing (1989) It has some great songs but really, this album’s reputation lies solely on Epic. I recall being seven years old, watching the Top Forty on rage and seeing this as no.1. This was something completely new and unlike anything that shared chart space - in turn leaving me stunned. In retrospect, it roared like a demon, it struck with the force of a sledgehammer, it sounded like a cataclysm and it was nothing like I had heard before. This was my first introduction to the world of metal....and I think I liked it.
Midnight Oil
During the eighties there was really no escaping the Oils. And why would you want to? Hearing them speak out for many people, defying conventions of a normal music career, cementing themselves as icons of Australian music and still pull off a damn snappy song. For me it was many factors: singalong choruses, Rob Hirst pounding his drum kit (still my favourite drummer EVER), the intricate use of the twin guitars but what made it for me was this was a band that was politically motivated. They wrote songs that were angry, passionate and aimed at liars, incompetents and injustices. Best of all, this only came across when one looked at the lyrics closely and realised a depth to the choruses one never picked up on first time around. It was through the Oils that I learnt that music can get a point across. After all, music can succeed where mere words fail.
Key Album: Earth, Sun and Moon (1993). That’s the problem with Midnight Oil. They have had so many great albums that it’s a tall order choosing one. So I went with perhaps they’re most underrated one. Sure they may but they find new ways to tell it. And that’s why this album succeeds. I particularly love My Country and the deception it creates: It comes across as patriotic at first but it’s only later when one realises it’s a biting and venomous nature.
Song title: How Bizarre
Artist: O.M.C.
Year: 1996
Why I like this song:
R.I.P. Pauly Fuemana
I have fond memories of this song: It reminds me of early 1996 and hearing it many times during the summertime. Looking back at it now, it sure seems an odd song with the Spanish guitar, mariachi trumpet, harmonica and.... unique rapping. But this oddness is what makes it compelling.
I know at the time I thought it was great but some people around me thought it was rubbish. Was I right? Maybe....
U2
Another childhood favourite – whom I subsequently up ended up following years later. So much has been said about this band already by so many people. So what U2 represent for me is that I’ve been following them all my life and can pick up key points when their music and my life connected: I remember being seven, hearing the closing guitar solo to All I Want is You and being impressed. I remember being ten and hearing One and being stunned by how much emotion was being conveyed in the song alone. And I remember being eighteen, saddened by a breakup – only to be cheered up upon hearing Beautiful Day for the first time.
Key Album: Achtung Baby (1991) Funny thing with U2 fans is it’s either this or the Joshua Tree. Me, I just think it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard.
Hoodoo Gurus
I was fortunate enough to be born in the early eighties: Not only did it give me the rest of the decade to pick up on what music had to offer but it also was a strong decade for Australian music. In the form of the Gurus I got my introduction to pop music. But what an introduction! In their works, the Gurus pretty much tackle every form of rock they can: Pop, Surf, Garage, Ballad, Sixties, the works! But best of all, they still twist it in a fashion to create a voice of their own. Indeed, it was thought the Gurus that I picked up that music need not be confined to one genre and the strength of a pop music in singalong choruses and great guitar work. Such was this admiration that I followed them well into my teens.
Key Album: Mars Needs Guitars! (1985) A winner all the way: Witty, fun and it rocks hard. I remember being a little kid and thinking Like Wow Wipeout was the best thing ever for quite a few years.
So what bands do I like? Funny you should say that..
They say that as you go through life, music goes with you: You can pinpoint key moments in your life through the music at the time. So I am going to attempt this: I will list a number of bands which are important to me and explain how they shaped my life.
Icehouse
I grew up in the eighties, a decade which would be recognised as a very strong year for Australian music. And Icehouse were one of many bands that were played constantly on the radio. Okay, so some of their material may come across as dated now - even to the point of being designated as a guilty pleasure. But in retrospect it did teach me a lesson on the effects of atmosphere in music. And this is exemplified with their signature song Great Southern Land. It may be as old as I am but it’s a superbly crafted song that still manages to impress me no matter how many times I’ve heard it. I’ve also found it to be a great song to listen to whilst going for a wander out into the wilderness.
Key Album: Big Wheel (1993). Who would’ve guessed that sacking half your bandmates, bickering with your record label and disappearing from the public eye would result in Iva’s best album? For me, Big Wheel represents the point where Icehouse stop being such a guilty pleasure. Free from their late eighties pop heyday, they then start flexing some serious muscle.
This is the opening post for this blog so I may as well present a mission statement - both with this song and with the wall of text below.
I am a Music geek - It's a card carrying title that I wear like a badge of honor. I can state random facts about bands and eras without batting an eyelid. I can answer questions on Spicks and Specks that leave the participants struggling. I have my mp3 collection intricately organized by genre, band name and era. I like having my music in my Winamp browser arranged chronologically to note the evolution of taste and seeing how various acts have come and gone.
The truth is I love music in all forms. There is no such thing as genre, era or any type of classification: There is only good and bad. Thus, in my 8650+ strong mp3 collection (!) rock, metal, pop, rap and techno share file space with classical pieces, celtic folk, anime music and video game music. I base my musical tastes purely on anything that sounds awesome. And in some cases, such music can be found anywhere - it's just waiting to be found. Indeed through expanding one's tastes and thinking outside the box can reveal some buried treasure. What I find particularly sweet at times is finding a gem in a place where one originally wouldn't thought of to look. Indeed there have been several cases where something has found it's way into my mp3 collection only to be discovered weeks, even months, later.
Music is my friend: It keeps me company during long train rides and it comes with me for a drive in the car. It tells me what I want to hear when i need it and is always there to provide a hand of reassurance.
Music is my cushion: During difficult times, I can listen to music and it makes such a difference. It provides comfort in troubled times, happiness when i need smile, and a shot in the arm when all looks hopeless.
Music is my voice: Such is my diverse taste in music that I can find anything to be used to express my current state of mood. That being said, it is not unusual for my to make a playlist or disc made up of songs to establish a theme or a mood. Indeed I form a playlist/disc with the care and precision that I've got the act of forming a playlist/disc down to a science.
Music is a communicator: As well as being my voice, as stated above, it can be used to enhance an idea. It can be used in order to get me into a frame of mind when embarking on a creative venture. Sometimes it can even make a difference when words fail. After all it is universal language. Anyone can be intrigued by something new through hearing it by chance at the traffic lights from someone else's car. Indeed, I think success in music is measured by someone hearing something new, thinking 'What's this?' and taking steps to find out what they just heard was.
I don't want to be without a supply of music: As I found out last week, being with an mp3 player without earphones is like losing an arm. And being stuck in a car listening to something the driver chose, much to your chagrin, is torturous. After all, when all else is lost, music still remains, like a friend who's been with you for many years and never lets you down.
So to warp this up, I love my music with a passion. I love hearing it, finding new forms of it and sharing that love by getting people into something I find awesome (and hoping they like it).
Not unlike this essay.