Two blog posts, back-to-back.  Nobody reads this blog to hear about me being happy that it snowed.  Nope, they read it to learn.  I like music.  My mom studies music.  She plays the piano/organ at mass EVERY Sunday.  I mean EVERY time she is needed.  But she can’t sing.  Dad sings loud.  Mom drug me to symphony’s, plays and other crap when I was a kid.  I was in an unbelievable chorus at Shattuck High School.  Seriously, you were considered OFF if you weren’t in Ms. Smith’s choir during the 80’s.  We won contests, sang at the state capitol and put on killer concerts.  She could make a bunch of deriIicts sing.   I’ve even got medals from contests.  I can’t play any instruments,(they tried to make me play a saxophone in grade school–not good).  Actually, I have been known to play the living heck out of guitar hero.   I can’t write music and I don’t sing solo very well.  However, I hear music REAL good.  No, seriously.  I can hear a song and immediately know if it will be a hit or not.  Even if I don’t like the song.  

     Music is always playing around me.  I can drive for miles and miles, flipping channels and name the singer.  Ask Tyke.  The barn has an iPod on speaker.  All of my vehicles have Xm radio.  The computers are packed with iTunes.  And my phone, it’s best purpose is an iPod.  I work better when the music is playing.  Thus, the reason that I have earphones plugged in to my head–at a show, clipping, on a tractor, welding, etc.  I’ve never smoked any dope, but music always mellows me out.  Helps me deal with dumb sh!t$.  Doesn’t  matter what kind of music–just good.  Rock–classic, hard, metal, soft; Country–good, old, some of this new crap that they try to pass off as country; Pop–if it’s good; Rap–old school, some new; Classical; Instrumental and my favorite–Christmas songs.  My favorite songs are “The Little Drummer Boy” by Bob Seger and “Amazing Grace” by the Dropkick Murphy’s.  Go look that stuff up.  Throw in Metallica’s “Whiskey in the Jar”, George Strait’s “Blame it on Mexico” and Waylon Jennings’ “Lonesome, Onery & Mean” and I’m in a good mood.  Are these the best songs ever?  No.  But, I like them a lot.

      There currently aren’t any new rock bands worth a dang.  Country singers are trying to figure out if they are country, pop or rock.  Some rap is good, some makes me want to eat crayons.  Presently, there are a lot of dynamic female artists–Adele, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, etc.  I watch the grammy’s and the cma’s.  Even watch a few music award shows on BET.  I love watching VH1’s top 100 countdowns and I always end up being pissed.  They never get it right.

Best rock album ever–Def Leppard–Hysteria

Best live show–KISS

Best artist of all time–Elvis–RUSM?  Is there any other option? 

Best country artist–George Strait

Best song of all time–TIE–either Amazing Grace (you can play it at a wedding, funeral, irish pub, wherever, it fits) and Happy Birthday (Who isn’t in a good mood when they hear this one?)

      Now, for some trivia.  What do the Beach Boys, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Who and KISS all have in common?  None ever won a grammy award.  Which one of these bands is not in the rock & roll hall of fame?  Even though they have had 28 gold albums (most of any American rock band), over 40 million records sold in the U.S. and 100 million records sold worldwide KISS is not in the rock & roll hall of fame.  WTH?  I don’t care if you like them or not, you know who KISS is.  Iconic.  Maybe the most famous band ever.  Everybody knows who they are.  Are they the most talented? NO.  Do they play good music.  YES.  Are they campy, cheesy, over-the-top?  Yes.  Are they famous?  YES.  Do they play rock?  ROCK & ROLL ALL NIGHT, PARTY EVERY DAY.  Are you kidding me?  Do other artists list them as influences?  Go through the rock & roll of fame and read the bios.  Even Garth Brooks lists KISS as a major influence.  Hhmm?  Thus, the reason for his bigger than life stage shows.  Guns & Roses (there’s your goat reference) members list them as the reason that they play rock.  And they only had one HUGE album and they are in the hall of fame.  

      I’ve seen KISS in concert, on their first farewell tour.  It was awesome.  They are the ones that originated the big stage shows.  Throw in Skid Row and Ted Nugent and it was a LARGE time.  I used to attend concerts, then real life kicked in.  I’ve seen a pile of huge acts in big venues and small shows–George, Garth, Reba & the Oak Ridge Boys (awesome) in places like the Astrodome.  Van Halen, Aerosmith & a personal favorite AC/DC ( a banker in Perry took me because his fiancee couldn’t go–Thank You).  I’ve been back stage with Motley Crue and Bob Childers.  The Crue was fresh out of rehab, Bob wasn’t.  

      What I’m getting at is, that I really like good music and whoever is voting for the rock & roll hall of fame is turning it into a joke by not voting for the and I quote “The greatest band in the land; you wanted the best, you got the best–KISS!!”  You don’t have to like them or their music, but you know who they are.  That, my friends, is fame.

Who am I listening to as I finish this post?  Lee Greenwood with “GOD bless the USA”.  Talk about making a career out of one song.  But it’s a good one.

Have a good one.  

Turn it up.  

If the music is too loud, then you’re too old.

Stay flexible, but not limp.