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Michael Bachman
Member
Username: Michael_bachman

Post Number: 61
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 05:44 pm:   

Maybe it's time we started this topic?

I'll lead off with a few, you should have a least a couple of albums by them to qualify and you also
should have listened to them in the last 10 years, so old Uriah Heep vinyl albums that you haven't played since the 70's don't count!

Deep Purple (Mk 1 1966-69)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Shania Twain
Alan Jackson
Marshall Tucker Band
Lee Ann Womack
Belinda Carlisle
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 266
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 05:55 pm:   

wow, that's easy. i've got a laundry list of embarrassing favorites.

fleetwood mac
led zeppelin
thin lizzy
slayer (only 80s stuff)
metallica (only their first three albums)
heaven 17
depeche mode
abc
frente (only that first album)
michael jackson's thriller (!!!)
prince (mainly early to mid 80s)
madonna's first two albums (*now* we're getting revealing here)
strawberry switchblade

is that enough?
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Kurt Stephan
Member
Username: Slothbert

Post Number: 251
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 05:57 pm:   

Wow, Michael, you're brave. Hats off to you for making a list like that on this board! Here are some of mine, in the order of how likely I am to listen to them now:

Steely Dan (a guilty pleasure because their post-'77 work is such complete and utter shite)
Fleetwood Mac (the '75-80 era)
Led Zeppelin (which is funny because I hated them when I was a teen and they were still roaming the earth like the bloated dinosaurs they were)
B-52's
Devo
Steve Miller Band (some catchy singles)
Elton John (nothing past '75, though)
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 268
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 05:59 pm:   

oh, i forgot steely dan! i get more shit for liking some of their stuff than anyone else in my above list.

kurt - surely devo shouldn't be a guilty pleasure!
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 217
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:02 pm:   

This one really pains me to admit, Michael...I was in my local used shop and they were playing a new compilation of early Black Sabbath...it really sounded f-ing great! Fresh, fun - there was something about the simplicity of it that was appealing...so I went back under cover of darkness, wearing a disguise, and bought it.

Deeply vexing to like their racket, since I think Ozzie is pretty much the King of All Morons and I detest metal, Ozfest and everything it represents...hopefully this is just a phase...

During my wasted youth, all the cool kids liked the Zep, so that was what I was into, though I later completely grew out of them and that whole "look at me I've got a big willie" school of rock (as E. Costello calls it)...

And this is probably worse...I think Mariah Carey has an amazing set of pipes, if you can get past her incredibly age-inappropriate attire and the plastic quality some of her arrangements have...

I forget the title of it and what disc it comes from, but Alan Jackson has an excellent and deeply moving post 9/11 ballad...
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 218
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:08 pm:   

Some brave admissions people, but...I'm puzzled Jeff, why is Prince a guilty pleasure? Is he not a bonafide genius (in a world where that word is tossed around too loosely)? Certainly during that period you mention...he really ruled the world back then.

And, Devo, as you point out, probably shouldn't be either...fun factoid from "Rip it Up" that I didn't know: Richard Branson tried to convince Devo to make John Lydon their lead singer.
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Kurt Stephan
Member
Username: Slothbert

Post Number: 253
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:25 pm:   

Yeah, I agree about Prince. He went from being "Co-King of Pop" with MJ to weird cult artist, making himself cool again. Possibly the weirdest/most subversive performer ever to have a lot of #1 hits.

Devo got pretty embarrassing in the early '80s after "Whip It," don't you think? Have you seen their new DEV2.O project? Old Devo songs sung by a group of children in the flowerpot hats?
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 269
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:38 pm:   

Hardin - Black Sabbath rules my world so much that there's no way I could put them in the guilty pleasures list. I parade my enthusiasm for them with pride!

Okay, I probably only listen to them about once a year, but still!
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 219
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:43 pm:   

True that ...this helps me understand why you guys are so maddeningly specific about eras of artists you prefer...I won't make a special pleading for Devo, haven't really followed their career, but it hasn't escaped my notice that they've gone to seed (there must be a flowerpot joke there somewhere)...But once upon a time they were the shit, truly unique, truly original...perhaps I'm unduly influenced by the chapter on them in "Rip it Up" which makes a great case for them, but but back then they were truly the toast of the alterna-music community or whatever they called it then...

The Devo 2 thing(I can't be arsed to even try to spell it correctly)thing is a little sad. I was confused about it, seeing it in the aisle at Target, till I figured out what it was...

Believe it or not, not that I follow Prince particularly anymore, I did pick up his new disc and it's actually quite good.
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 221
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:49 pm:   

Jeff, thanks for the validation. I needed it after the cognitive dissonance I suffered upon realizing whose music I was enjoying so much :-)
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Kurt Stephan
Member
Username: Slothbert

Post Number: 254
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 06:53 pm:   

Hardin, I bought Devo's original "Jocko Homo/Mongoloid" single on Booji Boy in '77 or whatever and thought I had the most subversive, underground record on earth. They were SO weird in the early days--have you heard the "Hardcore Devo" album? And I realize their ultimate triumph was turning the Devo thing into commercial schtick, but not that much of their music holds up. I still like the first album, though.
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 222
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:12 pm:   

Despite my more or less defending them, I don't own anything by them (hey, that shouldn't matter,right?) Wait, I do have a Stiff box set that has a coupla songs...I still like Whip It and Beautiful World, probably most of the first, and whatever album it came off of, "Gut Feeling".

I think they, like so many artists, have exhausted their creative oomph and have milked their little schtick, their message, their worldview, dry...

Though they no doubt think it's some kind of clever, subversive, "conquer from within" strategy to have little kids singin' their stuff.

And, you know, who's to say they're not right?
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 270
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:13 pm:   

I think Devo was totally brilliant! Has anyone seen the DVD with all their videos? It contains extensive interviews and commentary with Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, and wow, these guys are absolute geniuses. Devo's whole conceptual MO was sheer genius (which encompassed every single detail of what they did, from every note and word right down to the goggles, creepy masks, and energy dome hats). The scathing socio-political commentary, the hilarious spot-on satire, and the wonderfully creative and catchy music (well, on the first 4 albums anyway), were in many ways ahead of their time. I think a lot of it went over peoples' heads and many saw Devo as more of a joke band.

Sadly, like many artists, Devo just ran out of ideas after about their 4th album, and instead of calling it a day, they kept it up, clinging desperately to the few threads of commercial momentum they had left until they turned into a sad self-parody. They kind of turned into a kiddie's band by '83 or so.

But their last good album, "New Traditionalists," had some great moments, like "Beautiful World" and "We're Through Being Cool."
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Jerry Clark
Member
Username: Jerry

Post Number: 239
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:15 pm:   

The Cardigans first 3 albums & B-side collection The Other Side Of The Moon.
ABC
Early Depeche Mode
Early Erasure
Anything Vince Clarke did in the '80's actually.
Grace Jones/Sly & Robbie
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Guy Ewald
Member
Username: Guy_ewald

Post Number: 138
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:38 pm:   

Some of you Go-Betweens fans are listening to some real crapola!

I'll say The Bee Gees. I've probably listened to their '67-'69 recordings more than the disco years and I didn't follow through to the senior citizen years.
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 224
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 07:59 pm:   

Did you ever see Denis Leary's hilarious "No Cure for Cancer"? He says, "I take music very seriously. See this scar on my wrist? I heard the Bee Gees were getting back together..."

But that's a total cheap shot, because they are capable of writing really great songs, or at least they were, before they became the disco-meisters...okay, even some of those songs from that era had their charm, though it's difficult to shake the image of Travolta in that silly white suit when you hear them....

Love the Flying Burritos' version of "To Love Somebody", btw...
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Bob Mail
Member
Username: Bob

Post Number: 22
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 08:26 pm:   

re The Caridigans I think they are a very good band much underated their last two albums have been their least succesful but they actually their best in my view. Even better then the first three in my opinion also the A Camp a spin off of their singer which she did with Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse was a good album also.
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spence
Member
Username: Spence

Post Number: 315
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 09:18 pm:   

B-52's & Devo Kurt are cool NOT embaressing!
Oh dear. here goes:
Billy Joel, best of, although I have played it, i don't own it, but like it, esp my life..
Police best of
David Gray, sorry, but I rate him, having had a good friend of mine play with him everywhere when he started, he's a great writer and singer.
jamiraqui (cant spell it)
Haircut 100 best of!
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 273
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - 10:12 pm:   

I have "Life" and "First Band on the Moon" by the Cardigans and I love them both. I lost interest in their work after that, but I rate these two albums very highly! I don't think they're embarrassing at all!

Oh!!!! And I just remembered another guilty pleasure! And this one's really going to get people cringing and shifting uneasily in their seats:

I really have a thing for U2's first album, "Boy." I think the songs are great, w/ a nice balance of immediacy/directness (due to the youthful energy) and atmosphere/moody-ness (due in large part to the Edge's interesting, delayed guitar sound).

There, I said it. Got that off my chest!

I also think their next 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums have a few good tunes each. But I think everything after that is absolutely wretched. They've become so bloated, overbearing, and self-indulgent. Achtung Baby has to be one of the most bafflingly overrated records on the planet.
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 287
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 02:50 am:   

hmmm, what shyte do I embrace (besides some of the more dubious Hollies stuff from the 70s)?

1. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. I suspect most of you are either too young or too american to know of what I speak. I've played "The Legend of Zanadu" within the past three months. Loud. To another person even. And I'd cover "Hold Tight" and only wink a little bit. For those of you who don't know, think of them as the 60s Bay City Rollers.

2. In a similar vein, The Sweet.

3. Every once in a while, a small dose of the fatuous mellotron Moody Blues. Maybe something like "Candle of Life" or any of the stuff off of "In Search of the Lost Chord."

4. Is Nancy Sinatra's new album embarrassing? I just played it last night and still haven't decided. Right now I think it's cool.

5. Also last night I listened to a collection of the Searchers' obscure mid-70s recordings for RCA. There are some good things there but woo boy, their cover of "Vahevala"! That had me turning red. I guess that doesn't count, I didn't choose it.

6. Hawkwind. Every once in a while I have to hear "Mirror of Illusion." Wish I had some weed.

Guy (ok, did I name the right person this time?), I love the old pre-disco Bee Gees! I even have their squeaky Australian-era things all the way back to the truly embarrassing "Adventures of Jamie McPheeters" a Disney-sounding pubescent theme for an Oz adventure show. And some of their songs from the era you listen to, like "To Love Somebody" and possibly "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" are honestly great. Even when they're not great, some of the lyrics are fabulously portentous-sounding: "Down to earth, my merry (don't know the word), there's some help needed here and you're there. You can see if you stand on your chair, that there's millions and millions and millions and millions of people like you." I lap up shit like that.

I suspect that the guilty pleasures for most of us come from our young, less-discerning years. I think it's important to keep listening to crap. Humor is life-giving.
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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 260
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 03:20 am:   

Hardin wrote:
And this is probably worse...I think Mariah Carey has an amazing set of pipes, if you can get past her incredibly age-inappropriate attire and the plastic quality some of her arrangements have...

I really had expected a word other than "pipes" there Hardin and I was prepared to applaud your honesty and taste. However, you did write "pipes" and I have to lambast your terrible, terrible taste. I still applaud your honesty though.

I see nothing wrong with Mariah's attire.
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Jerry Clark
Member
Username: Jerry

Post Number: 242
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 12:03 pm:   

I think Hardin was implying she's a heavy smoker & collector. He can't have meant her voice.

I now feel justified with my Cardigans fetish. What put me off was when Nina became clothes-horse/tabloid favourite, she was always the perfect indie-babe in my small world. Gran Turismo was a step to far to the right.
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Geoff Holmes
Member
Username: Geoff

Post Number: 103
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 01:30 pm:   

Came to this thread late and just want to say that I agree that at least the first 4 Devo albums are cool in my book too. I just finally got the 2nd one "Duty Now for the Future" the other day and it's still puts a rather rude and laughing middle finger up to the mainstream "norms" of society like it should! Songs like Blockhead and Smart Patrol still ring true and Mark Mothersbaugh's singing on things like Wiggly world are truely demented.I now have all 4 on c.d. The Devo V.2 thing however is very sad.
The Police uncool???...I rate "Regatta de Blanc" as one of the great albums of the new wave era. "Walking on the Moon" as an amazing song with the way all 3 instruments seem to be independent of each other like some jazz piece. Sting is totally embarrassing by himself, of course, and way too stuck up his own arse to even care what others think of him.
Is "America embarrassing??" I guess so and I don't care! - the first album is classic and has a lot of memories attached to it for me.
Am also dipping my foot into the CSN(!!!!!!!!!) and Neil Young ponds too.
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TROU
Member
Username: Trou

Post Number: 23
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 03:07 pm:   

I'm not disturbed to say that I like Abba and some of the Bee Gees stuff..
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 236
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 03:54 pm:   

1) Hey Padraig - it's dirty pool to "lambast" people's picks on the Guilty Pleasures thread, given its AA meeting like atmosphere of solemnity and self-disclosure, hence the "guilty" part.

2) If the word "pipes" translates more or less to "vocal prowess", I stand by my statement. Whether or not it's to your taste is a completely different issue, or whether that's what good music is all about...Her wardrobe makes me sad for her - she could/would still be sexy without going so over the top in the hoochie-mama department. What's that saying you Brits have? "mutton dressed as lamb"?
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 288
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 04:04 pm:   

daisies masquerading as orchids.
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 238
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 04:05 pm:   

You're not British. Are you trying to "pass", man? :-)
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 290
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 04:21 pm:   

Not a chance, the moment I open my mouth. But I remember somebody telling that expression once. I filed it away along with that colorful Oz epithet "fruitbat."
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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 268
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 12:43 am:   

I'm not British either Hardin. I'm Irish and Australian. I don't call you Canadian or Mexican do I? Irish people get annoyed when they are called British.
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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 269
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 12:46 am:   

I still think Mariah is a babe btw. But I'd pay good money never to have to hear her any of her 'music' again.
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 299
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 01:19 am:   

Actually, Padraig, some of us try to pass as Canucks when we go on international travels nowadays. It saves us so many explanations.
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XY765
Member
Username: Judge

Post Number: 48
Registered: 01-2006
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 09:57 am:   

I've spent some time in all three countries, especially Canada (BC). One of the most beautiful countries I've been to. It's funny when you are abroad in Europe, Asia or South America, the Canucks always have a Maple Leaf on their rucksacks to differentiate themselves from US Americans.
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Cichli Suite
Member
Username: Cichli_suite

Post Number: 101
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 10:18 am:   

Randy, XY766,

I live in Italy and I've recently met some American travellers with Maple leaves plastered across their backbacks. To mix metaphors, wearing the maple leaf seems to lessen the amount of baggage they have to haul around. There's certainly no need for it in Italy. Despite divided opinion on the war here, I think Italians generally hold the US in awe.

But you should have seen the affect this story had on a Canadian colleague of mine - I think he actually went purple!
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David Matheson
Member
Username: David_matheson

Post Number: 77
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 01:00 pm:   

There really are some true confessions in this thread. I'll admit that I still own a vinyl copy of Thriller, but I haven't played it for many years.
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kevin
Member
Username: Kevin

Post Number: 287
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 04:07 pm:   

i bought travis's debut album on the strength of some positive press reviews. lets just say i never made it halfway through the first listen, and promptly flogged it!
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 259
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 04:08 pm:   

Sorry, Padraig. Meant to cast no asparagus...though the first part of that little missive was explicitly addressed to you, the part where I asked about the Brit expression was addressed to my UK brothers, appealing for succor and assistance. Admittedly that ain't entirely clear and probably assumes the incredibly egotistical (and delusional) notion that everybody is always reading all of my posts....

BTW, you can call me Canuck or Mexican - I couldn't even put on a pretense of being offended...As Randy points out, life would be easier if everyone thought you hailed from the Great White North - whole lot less 'splainin' to do! And as for the Mexican thing, as I live in one of the great meccas of Latino culture, that's hardly an insult either. Long as I can get into a good guest worker program :-)
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 301
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:05 pm:   

Kevin, I forgot about that shameful confession! I still have Travis' second album and I even went to a concert of theirs. Interestingly, the thing they did (on stage) which I liked best of all was the really bubblegummy "I'm so Happy that You're so Happy."

That's a great story Cichli. I was kidding about doing that myself. Tell your Italian friends that this American holds Italy in awe. The Italians seem to have such a deep instinct for proportion and I don't just mean with physical objects. No awe for Berlusconi though.

Hardin, I read ALL your posts.
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 264
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:09 pm:   

Oh shit. Please accept my apologies then, Randy!
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 266
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:16 pm:   

ps - On Berlusconi: have you seen that video making the rounds on cable and the "Internets" of him, how would you put, "making inappropriate advances" to the meter maid? Incredibly humourous, though I think it's now been proven that it wasn't him...apparently a pretty reprehensible human being...
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Randy Adams
Member
Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 303
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:23 pm:   

It can't be him. He's celibate until the election, remember?
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Hardin Smith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 267
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:34 pm:   

Oh yeah...what a scumbag. I can think of some parallels to things going on in our own country, but I won't mention them...Trying to be a good boy, and there really is no percentage in discussing politics...However, that's one of my other big obsessions, besides music. I mean, how can you not be obsessed with politics, living in this country (really, this world) at this time? Reminds me of Denis Leary's joke about how his (which is mine, too) generation saw Kennedy and Oswald get killed on TV, and we were afraid after that to quit watching, in case we missed something. That's why we watch so much TV.
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Jeff Whiteaker
Member
Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 283
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 05:43 pm:   

cichli suite - if you don't mind me asking, what area of italy do you live in? i've got a long running obsession with italia. and it's kind of amazing how un-selfconscious one can feel as an american there (though the fact that my girlfriend can speak italian probably helps).
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Cichli Suite
Member
Username: Cichli_suite

Post Number: 102
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 11:45 pm:   

Yes, I saw the Berlusconi metre maid video. I was fooled but my Italian colleagues spotted the imposter immediately. Apparently, there are several impersonators doing the rounds.

Berluscon's latest outburst is that the people who do not vote for him in this election are 'coglioni' - literally 'bollocks' but generally meaning idiots, arseholes etc. The Guardian newspaper has translated the phrase as 'dick head' which sounds about right. The election here is a bit scary as Berlusconi has turned everything into a vote for or against the cult of his peronsality. Those who question him are either 'coglioni' or 'comuniste' - communists.

I stopped to get petrol on the way home from work this evening and the guy who owns the petrol station advised me to vote for Berlusconi. He told me he was advising all his customers to do the same. It wasn't unfriendly but he vehemently described Romano Prodi, Berlusconi's rival, as poor idiot of the left who will bring the country into ruin. This 'poor idiot' phrase is the same insult Berlusconi has been mouthing about Prodi for the past few weeks.

Currently, Italy has the lowest growth in the EU and an inflation problem. It's incredible how Berlusconi has been able to convince people that they've never had it so good.

After all that, I don't even have a vote here! However, it will be a disaster for Italy if Berlusconi wins. If that happens Italy is on the fast track to a new type of dictatorship, I feel.

Jeff, I live in Trento in the province of Trentino-Alto Adige which is in the north east of the country, at the foothills of the Alps. This area was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire before WW1 so many of the outlying areas are strongly influenced by Austrian or 'South Tyrolian' culture. Many people in the more remote valleys speak strange dialects which cannot be understood by Italians or Germans! The restaurants here serve German sausages, sauerkraut and beer as well as spaghetti dishes. The further north you go the less Italian the culture becomes. In Bolzano, 60 km from here, the majority of people speak German as their first language and Italian with a strong German accent. Although, it is still well within the Italian border it really feels like part of Austria.

Since, this message board is about music ostensibly, I should say that one of the affects of the Berlusconi regime - he owns or controls most of the media – is that Italy has the worst television and radio in world. I haven’t been able to find a single tv or radio show that I can watch or listen to for more than 5 minutes. When I arrived here 2 years ago, I was keen to find contemporary Italian artists that I might like. I’m still looking! The radio only plays sob-laden ballads by over wrought middle-aged men singing about the treachery of l’amore! The TV stations seem to show one game show after another. However they do have a peculiar type of comic zombie sex movie which is shown late at night (on channel 7) in which the zombies invariably tend to fall to pieces during the act (pre-viagra, I guess).

Although, Italy has a glorious cultural heritage I feel, unfortunately, that it's culture is in a period of stasis. I don't have the impression of anything new being produced. That's a terrible generalisation to make, I know. However, my main feeling about Italy is of a great country with great people being brought to its knees by dick head politicians.

Sorry for going on for so long. I guess I have got caught up in the election fever, afterall.
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Jeff Whiteaker
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Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 289
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 12:15 am:   

Cichli - what a fascinating post! Everything I've heard about Berlusconi sounds dreadful. Is there a feeling that he will win? How strong is his opposition?

I'm familiar with the Tyrolian culture and dialects. One of my cousins got his Phd with a dissertation on a particular Tyrolian dialect, and he spent a lot of time in that area. I can't remember where, specifically. But it really is an interesting area, culturally.

The few times I've been to Italy I've never made it further north than Venice, and spent most of my time in Tuscany. I do want to explore the Alps (and Italy's northern regions in general) someday.
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Cichli Suite
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Username: Cichli_suite

Post Number: 104
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 12:36 am:   

Hi Jeff - thanks,

Berlusconi was slightly behind in the last published polls but new polls cannot be published in the week prior to the election day so nobody knows. However, very many people had declared themselves undecided. The feeling is that he could very well pull it off. He has been pulling out the usual scare tactics - he only ever refers to his opponents as 'communists' who will bankrupt people with high taxes. He is promising to cut taxes but with the highest public spending in the EU, cutting taxes will bankrupt the country. He has also been lobbying the strong conservative catholic tradition here -again by extraordinary means. Last week, in an attempt to disparage his 'communist' opponents, he stated that it is well known that the Chinese boiled babies into fertiliser. No you haven't read that incorrectly - that is what he said! Of course, this is a veiled reference to the possibly more liberal approach his opponents might take to the subject of abortion. Of course, this caused a protest by the Chinese ambassador to Italy.

The next time you are in Italy - head directly north from Venice to a town called Dobbiaco. There is fantatic cross country skiiing in the Winter and wonderful hill walking in the summer. It's not expensive place to stay and you'll experience top class Tyrolian grub and beer - the perfect thing after a long day wandering in the mountains!
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 304
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 03:23 am:   

Thanks for the great info, Cichli, however depressing some of it is. I can't help wondering how you can lose an election if you control all the media. One weakness I've observed from this distance is that Italy has no culture of opposing monopoly. I choose to trust that ultimately the EU's controls will keep Italy in order and restrain Berlusconi.
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 270
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 07:28 am:   

Hardin: No worries mate.

Cichli: What fascinating posts! I have to say though, no culture which features stripping housewives on prime time TV can be entirely in stasis. I hope your neighbours ignore the gas station dude and vote for change (but that they don't boil their babies for fertilizer).
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 272
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 07:36 am:   

Kevin: A few years ago, whenever I would hear that awful Travis song Why Does It Always Rain On Me, I used to always shout out "Because you're a c***" (the last three letters were not asterixes though). It amused me anyway.
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 296
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 11:53 am:   

Padraig, strangely enough I dont mind Fran Healy, he seems an ok kind of guy who seems unphased by success. I actually quite liked a single they had a few years back which was basically a Teenage Fanclub rip off, cant remember the title but the video featured a large bouncing orange thingy. And he is also a Celtic fan. Isnt it strange how many musicians or celebrities are fans of Celtic and regularly attended matches?
Off the top of my head:
Noel Gallacher
Rod Stewart
Teenage Fanclub (Gerry Love and the ex-drummer Paul Quinn have seats near me at Celtic Park)
Mogwai
Billy Connolly
Sean Connery
There are lots more, but I had a late night last night and I am still coming to, my brain is like a plate of spaghetti :-)
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 282
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 12:29 pm:   

Mogwai watched the 2001 Scottish League Cup final in an Irish bar in Austin, Texas. I watched the re-showing of the game in the same bar at a much more civilised time later that day. Matthew Sweet was also watching it! I'm convinced it was him. He was in town and I'd seen him play two nights earlier. A Scottish guy I used to meet here watching Celtic games sometimes was telling me about being at the 2003 UEFA final. I asked him if he had a good seat. He said: "Well, Roy Keane was behind me. Bill Connolly was behind him and Rod Stewart was behind him. Yeah, it was a pretty good seat!"

Most of Glasgow's music people that are into football seem to be Celtic fans. Marty Pillow of Wet Blanket and the Creation Records founder being notable exceptions. Plus there was a Glasgow band a few years ago who had a Canadian singer who was a mad Partick fan. One of their songs, written during a very dry patch for Partick, was called Not Til Partick score again. I've never heard it, just read about it.
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 301
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 03:19 pm:   

And the Undertones of course. I remember being at a European tie a few years ago (may have been Celtic vs Barcelona) and the reformed Undertones played a 6 song set on the pitch prior to the game. Of course it wasnt the same without Feargal on vocals, but at least I got to hear Teenage Kicks live for the first time!
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 302
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006 - 04:46 pm:   

just remembered a few more famous Celtic fans Padraig:
Shane McGowan
Mani and Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream
Mickey Rourke (yes that one!)
Altered Images
Belle and Sebastian
Its interesting what you say Padraig about the affection these people have for Celtic, and not for Rangers. But thats for another message board :-)
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 288
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Sunday, April 09, 2006 - 07:02 am:   

Yeah, that's more of a one for the Celtic chatroom on the BBC site - which I read occasionally just for a laugh. I don't contribute to it. Bobbie Gillespie is an unusual one, being a mad Celtic fan but not from a Catholic background. All of Primal Scream are huge Celtic fans. There was a hilarious story in the Melody Maker a few years ago where the Scream were talking being out with Cocaine Kate Moss and other models in London and having such a good time that the models asked the boys to come out again the next night. Throbert said to one of them: "Sorry hen, we're all going to Paris." "Oh, do you have a concert there?" "No, Celtic are playing Paris San Germain". The model was quite taken aback that her company was being shunned for a mere football match!
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Jeff Whiteaker
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Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 300
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 08:47 pm:   

So, my girlfriend tells me that I should be embarrassed for liking Nick Heyward's first solo album "North of a Miracle," particularly the song "Whistle down the Wind." And I really do like both the album and that song, so guess I have to add that to my list of guilty pleasures.
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 316
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 02:08 am:   

Isn't that the Haircut 100 guy?
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Jeff Whiteaker
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Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 303
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 05:45 am:   

Yeah he is the Haircut 100 guy. And oddly, my girlfriend doensn't find Haircut 100 nearly as embarrassing. But, that song "Love Plus One" is pretty amazing.
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 319
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 06:13 am:   

Haven't heard that in years, no idea what I'd think of it now. At the time I pretty much thought they were well-named.
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 293
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 06:23 am:   

I don't think of anything I like as a guilty pleasure. If I like it, I like it. No guilt applies. Surely only axe murderers and the like should feel guilty about their pleasures?

Jeff, I was listening to a best of Nick Heyward the other day which features half of North of a Miracle, the best Haircut 100 songs and some other solo stuff. I had not played it in ages, it's a great collection. No guilt.
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Cichli Suite
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Username: Cichli_suite

Post Number: 108
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 12:58 pm:   

I don't know, Pádraig. The forbidden fruit is often the sweetest.

Having said that I don't think anybody has admitted anything outrageous here -like listening to the 'Birdie song' or 'Grandma We Love You' by St Winifred's School Choir or anything by Chris De Burgh.

Jerry suggested 'ABC' as a guilty pleasure. I'll have to join him in that although I didn't know they were so unhip. I think 'Lexicon of Love' is just wonderful. I've had it for years in several formats.

Following from Jeff's post, when I was a teenager in the eighties, Haircut 100 were on top on my list of bands I really liked but couldn't admit to publically. Fantastic Day is just a great pop song.

I think now I may actually order that CD Pádraig just mentioned!
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 296
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 01:18 pm:   

It's here http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000070W1/qid=1144757873/sr=8-3/ref=sr _8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/202-6810113-4856602 Cichli.
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 298
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 01:50 pm:   

What a song On A Sunday is. It's pure XTC. There, that should turn a few more of you onto Nick Heyward.

Cichli, yeah, you're right, listening to Chris de Burgh et al would be something to feel guilty about.
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 325
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 06:17 pm:   

Wasnt there a Nick Heyward album that was featured in one of those "Buried Treasures",or "All time classics" in Mojo or Uncut? You know, where they basically "big up" an album that is now considered a classic, but maybe wasnt at the time? Cant remember the name of it though
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Jeff Whiteaker
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Username: Jeff_whiteaker

Post Number: 304
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 06:38 pm:   

Padraig - On a Sunday *is* a wonderful song. I also quite like Blue Hat For a Blue Day and Club Boy at Sea. Don't know if those are on the comp you speak of, but they should be!. It's really tasteful, melodic, sophisto pop, though the lyrics can be a bit flaky.

That song he did in the early 90s, Kite, is also pretty amazing. A former band of mine used to cover it at shows.
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Jerry Clark
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Username: Jerry

Post Number: 256
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 08:10 pm:   

Guilt isn't neccesarily what you should feel. There's the embarassment factor.

Picture this scene. If a large gruff man taps you on the shoulder & asks you what you're listening too, it's Erasure's greatest hits & you are
reluctant to say so. Tell him a default, manly answer (The Clash, Iggy, Pistols) something aggressive. The guilt comes later, when you realise you aren't in touch with who or what you are, or perceive yourself to be.

If you are not prepared to tell a stranger or friend the truth, that's a guilty pleasure.

Arctic Monkeys covering Girls Aloud's Love Machine, is both guilt-ridden & damn good fun.
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 299
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 11:09 pm:   

Yeah Kevin, the Mojo article on North of a Miracle is exactly what sent me to the Nick Heyward comp. Six of the 10 track from North of a Miracle are on the comp. Jeff, it also includes Blue Hat but not Club Boy.
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 328
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 06:09 am:   

Stephen Duffy
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spence
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Username: Spence

Post Number: 350
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 12:40 pm:   

love duffy to kev.

i really like, and its a guilty pleasure, old TV themes, circ 1970's. even things like the moog driven theme to one man and his dog! therte was something quite endearing about those ditties way back when. I like obscure stuff too, like old TV tunes, there wwas once a show on a Saturday morning about 1979. It was showing you how to build a canoe or boat or something a 6 part series. And it had the most cheesy type musak you've ever heard, but I loved it. Its like the easy listening renaissance of '95 I suppose, where everyone got outthe slippers. I just need to get hold of the stuff, more internet investigations reqired...
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XY765
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Username: Judge

Post Number: 60
Registered: 01-2006
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 12:51 pm:   

Maybe check out Delia Derbyshire who wrote the Dr. Who soundtrack Spence??
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 329
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 01:47 pm:   

i always loved the soundtrack to robinson crusoe, that series that always showed during the summer holidays back in the 70s. its weird, but the songs always reminded me of joy division on side 2 of Closer, or am i going mad?
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Allen Belz
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Username: Abpositive

Post Number: 40
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 02:14 am:   

One of my favorite quotes: "Fuck guilty pleasures. Pleasure is nothing to feel guilty about."

The closest I come in that regard is the near-mindless, intensely addictive chewy pop of my mid-70s teen years:

ELO
The Cars
Cheap Trick
ABBA
Paul McCartney solo
and so on

I don't feel guilty when listening...slightly empty maybe, but there are times when only this stuff will do.
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Allen Belz
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Username: Abpositive

Post Number: 41
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 02:25 am:   

And in reference to a couple of the earliest posts up there: I don't think there's one reason to feel embarrassed about liking Fleetwood Mac 75-80...that's some uncommonly beautiful music. And they were hardly slouches before that...the early Peter Green white-blues era and the laid-back Bob Welch/Christine McVie days are worth checking out too.
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Little Keith
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Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 891
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 02:27 am:   

I dig your guilty pleasures, man, and second that notion, that "guilty pleasures? bullshit!" idea...

ELO are enjoying a bit of a hipster resurgence, I'm given to understand, and nothing gives me that "ditch school, drink a big 40 oz., and speed through town" feeling like the Cars...

"Surrender" has to be one of the great, bad-ass and kinky anthems and ABBA have tons of great tunes, not to mention the babelicious singers...
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Allen Belz
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Username: Abpositive

Post Number: 42
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 03:09 am:   

Hadn't heard about the ELO resurgence, though with Randy Newman doing the liner notes for their CD reissues (man, what a wonderful idea) I should have known something like that was up...
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Little Keith
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Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 892
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 03:55 am:   

That's funny - guess he appreciates the musicianship they obviously possess in ample quantities...
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Allen Belz
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Username: Abpositive

Post Number: 43
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 08:21 pm:   

Well, he claims to have been a fan from the beginning..."The Story of a Rock and Roll Band" was taken by most at the time as a slam, but he says it was always a tribute. I'm not sure I completely buy that - I suspect it's more likely a case of his feelings changing over time, but what the hell, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. His liner notes might clarify things - haven't read them yet, but would love to.
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Little Keith
Member
Username: Manosludge

Post Number: 895
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 11:22 pm:   

THAT was a tribute? I'd hate to hear the slam...

Have you heard his rip on the Boss, "My Life Is Good", with Randy's mocking impression of Bruce exhorting Clarence Clemons, "Blow, Big Man, Blow"? Funny funny stuff and I happen to be a huge Springsteen fan.
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Allen Belz
Member
Username: Abpositive

Post Number: 44
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Tuesday, October 03, 2006 - 05:52 am:   

A fine piece of work indeed...I saw him live in the mid-80s, and with that song he had the audience in the palm of his hand from the first line to the last.

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