01-02-2025, 07:24 PM
[Music Thread 2024 is here: https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=24903]
Is brobdingnagian a software thing now?
I did not grow up in as cool a household musically as Mick. Although to be fair, while Dad was really (really) into ABBA, we had Oscar Brand records in the old RCA console that needed some warm up time for the tubes and Mom did purchase Beatle albums for us without listening first. (Note 1) The shock on her face when I blasted Helter Skelter on Dad's power stereo in the basement was priceless. (Note 2) We all played instruments. Mom was the church choir organist, so we had a real live Hammond B3 organ in the dining room. My grandfather had a cornet, so guess what? I played cornet and eventually a nice Conn silver trumpet by high school. Symphony band, marching band, stage/jazz band, the next BST in John R's basement 'cause chicks dig BST, right? That part was fun. And spinning vinyl into the wee small hours of the morning with friends. All the greats, right up until the early '80s when high school ended and we all went our separate ways. Discovered the B52s and REM at Kevin K's basement party before going Athens adjacent the next year. What was it about all those basements? Hello darkness our old and new liberating friend. Anyway Kevin K was the ex-footballer stud of the earth drum major. I was the complete opposite, but music baby; music unites!
For a Podunk public high school in Colorado, our music program was insanely good. Two symphony bands (basically the music room would only hold so many that we were split by talent) that combined into a massive marching band, two stage bands, a full separate chamber orchestra, a full separate choir, and lots of side projects. I made third chair once when I just had it during the challenge. Big deal. Our trumpet section had kids going to Julliard, Eastman (2), and Berkeley Berklee my senior year. (I was quickly crushed back into the second section by an immediate challenge; which was allowed. Competition is king.) Anyway, we marched to the likes of Dvorak, Bernstein, Copland, Little Feat, Les Brers Allman, and yes, even Zappa. The latter was a form of protest against the head football coach Springsteen (of all names, who I had for history) who wanted to adopt the Rocky theme song (Gonna Fly Now) as the new fight song. Fine, but every break? Screw that. He did turn around between third and fourth quarters when we busted Dirty Love out instead. Just instruments of course, but half of us did the vocal interlude in full throat:
The poodle bites (come on, Frenchie)
The poodle chews it (snap it)
He had no idea what we were playing or saying; just that it wasn't those familiar strains to Rocky Balboa climbing the art museum steps. (And if you want to see a bootleg video of Mrs. Jacketree doing exactly that decades later from behind with my accompaniment, let me know.) Stands erupted. Longhairs beat crewcut coach. No repercussions that we were made aware of. I'm sure there was a discussion. Dirty Love was a one-off.
But 1971. That's the year it all started for 8-year-old me. I was mowing our lawn and even using the heavy two-cycle prison-style brush cutter. Not for an allowance, but for room and board as Dad explained. Yup, times were different back then. I realized that if I could mow my parents' yard for free, I could mow neighbors' yards for money. Within a year or two I had cornered the local (two cul-de-sacs) landscaping market except for the Fishers two doors down who had a golf course green quality lawn and to hell with being in his 70s, Mr. Fisher wasn't letting anyone touch that. Fair enough. I was full service. Everything hauled off site and burned in our backyard incinerator. I made a deal with Dad to use our equipment and consumables (gas and oil) and all proceeds were mine. No FICA; no air board permits to burn the mix of grass, leaves, dogshit, and severed snake heads I'd pull out of the bag, load in my wagon, and haul back home. I spent almost if not all those proceeds on records and a few 8 track tapes. I still have the records. The tapes? Landfill somewhere. Check out nineteen freaking seventy one as ranked by SPIN. An asterisk means I still have my copy.
50. Janis Joplin - Pearl*
49. Comus - First Utterance
48. Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
47. Carly Simon - Anticipation
46. Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice and Rats in the Loft
45. Bonnie Raitt*
44. War - All Day Music*
43. Booker T & The MGs - Melting Pot*
42. Fleetwood Mac - Future Games
41. Focus - Moving Waves
40. The Stylistics*
39. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
38. Elton John - Madman Across the Water*
37. Curtis Mayfield - Roots*
36. ELP - Tarkus*
35. Gong - Camembert Electrique
34. Santana - III*
33. Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson*
32. Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda*
31. Beach Boys - Surf's Up
30. Al Green - Al Green Gets Next to You*
29. Flower Travellin' Band - Satori
28. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat*
27. Gentle Giant - Acquiring the Taste
26. Stevie Wonder - Where I'm Coming From*
25. T. Rex - Electric Warrior
24. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
23. Doors - LA Woman*
22. Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys*
21. Pink Floyd - Meddle*
20. Bill Withers - Just as I Am*
19. The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
18. John Lennon - Imagine
17. Can - Tago Mago
16. Genesis - Nursery Cryme*
15. Yes - The Yes Album*
14. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain*
13. Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram
12. Jethro Tull - Aqualung*
11. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers*
10. Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On*
9. Carole King - Tapestry*
8. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality*
7. Yes - Fragile*
6. David Bowie - Hunky Dory*
5. The Who - Who's Next*
4. Joni Mitchell - Blue*
3. The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East*
2. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On*
1. Led Zeppelin IV*
Right? I guess I remembered a different list for Who's Next, but what kind of year is it when Sticky Fingers doesn't even make the top ten?
Note 1. What do Frank Zappa, Dee Snyder, and John Denver have in common. (Easy)
Note 2. What's the big deal, Mom?
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide,
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride,
Till I get to the bottom, and I see you again,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Is brobdingnagian a software thing now?
I did not grow up in as cool a household musically as Mick. Although to be fair, while Dad was really (really) into ABBA, we had Oscar Brand records in the old RCA console that needed some warm up time for the tubes and Mom did purchase Beatle albums for us without listening first. (Note 1) The shock on her face when I blasted Helter Skelter on Dad's power stereo in the basement was priceless. (Note 2) We all played instruments. Mom was the church choir organist, so we had a real live Hammond B3 organ in the dining room. My grandfather had a cornet, so guess what? I played cornet and eventually a nice Conn silver trumpet by high school. Symphony band, marching band, stage/jazz band, the next BST in John R's basement 'cause chicks dig BST, right? That part was fun. And spinning vinyl into the wee small hours of the morning with friends. All the greats, right up until the early '80s when high school ended and we all went our separate ways. Discovered the B52s and REM at Kevin K's basement party before going Athens adjacent the next year. What was it about all those basements? Hello darkness our old and new liberating friend. Anyway Kevin K was the ex-footballer stud of the earth drum major. I was the complete opposite, but music baby; music unites!
For a Podunk public high school in Colorado, our music program was insanely good. Two symphony bands (basically the music room would only hold so many that we were split by talent) that combined into a massive marching band, two stage bands, a full separate chamber orchestra, a full separate choir, and lots of side projects. I made third chair once when I just had it during the challenge. Big deal. Our trumpet section had kids going to Julliard, Eastman (2), and Berkeley Berklee my senior year. (I was quickly crushed back into the second section by an immediate challenge; which was allowed. Competition is king.) Anyway, we marched to the likes of Dvorak, Bernstein, Copland, Little Feat, Les Brers Allman, and yes, even Zappa. The latter was a form of protest against the head football coach Springsteen (of all names, who I had for history) who wanted to adopt the Rocky theme song (Gonna Fly Now) as the new fight song. Fine, but every break? Screw that. He did turn around between third and fourth quarters when we busted Dirty Love out instead. Just instruments of course, but half of us did the vocal interlude in full throat:
The poodle bites (come on, Frenchie)
The poodle chews it (snap it)
He had no idea what we were playing or saying; just that it wasn't those familiar strains to Rocky Balboa climbing the art museum steps. (And if you want to see a bootleg video of Mrs. Jacketree doing exactly that decades later from behind with my accompaniment, let me know.) Stands erupted. Longhairs beat crewcut coach. No repercussions that we were made aware of. I'm sure there was a discussion. Dirty Love was a one-off.
But 1971. That's the year it all started for 8-year-old me. I was mowing our lawn and even using the heavy two-cycle prison-style brush cutter. Not for an allowance, but for room and board as Dad explained. Yup, times were different back then. I realized that if I could mow my parents' yard for free, I could mow neighbors' yards for money. Within a year or two I had cornered the local (two cul-de-sacs) landscaping market except for the Fishers two doors down who had a golf course green quality lawn and to hell with being in his 70s, Mr. Fisher wasn't letting anyone touch that. Fair enough. I was full service. Everything hauled off site and burned in our backyard incinerator. I made a deal with Dad to use our equipment and consumables (gas and oil) and all proceeds were mine. No FICA; no air board permits to burn the mix of grass, leaves, dogshit, and severed snake heads I'd pull out of the bag, load in my wagon, and haul back home. I spent almost if not all those proceeds on records and a few 8 track tapes. I still have the records. The tapes? Landfill somewhere. Check out nineteen freaking seventy one as ranked by SPIN. An asterisk means I still have my copy.
50. Janis Joplin - Pearl*
49. Comus - First Utterance
48. Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
47. Carly Simon - Anticipation
46. Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice and Rats in the Loft
45. Bonnie Raitt*
44. War - All Day Music*
43. Booker T & The MGs - Melting Pot*
42. Fleetwood Mac - Future Games
41. Focus - Moving Waves
40. The Stylistics*
39. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
38. Elton John - Madman Across the Water*
37. Curtis Mayfield - Roots*
36. ELP - Tarkus*
35. Gong - Camembert Electrique
34. Santana - III*
33. Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson*
32. Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda*
31. Beach Boys - Surf's Up
30. Al Green - Al Green Gets Next to You*
29. Flower Travellin' Band - Satori
28. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat*
27. Gentle Giant - Acquiring the Taste
26. Stevie Wonder - Where I'm Coming From*
25. T. Rex - Electric Warrior
24. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
23. Doors - LA Woman*
22. Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys*
21. Pink Floyd - Meddle*
20. Bill Withers - Just as I Am*
19. The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
18. John Lennon - Imagine
17. Can - Tago Mago
16. Genesis - Nursery Cryme*
15. Yes - The Yes Album*
14. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain*
13. Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram
12. Jethro Tull - Aqualung*
11. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers*
10. Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On*
9. Carole King - Tapestry*
8. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality*
7. Yes - Fragile*
6. David Bowie - Hunky Dory*
5. The Who - Who's Next*
4. Joni Mitchell - Blue*
3. The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East*
2. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On*
1. Led Zeppelin IV*
Right? I guess I remembered a different list for Who's Next, but what kind of year is it when Sticky Fingers doesn't even make the top ten?
Note 1. What do Frank Zappa, Dee Snyder, and John Denver have in common. (Easy)
Note 2. What's the big deal, Mom?
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide,
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride,
Till I get to the bottom, and I see you again,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!