Overture

“You should just write a blog.”

I’ve heard that all too often in the last four or five years, but it was when my boyfriend recently said it that it started to make the most sense. I had figured a whole bunch of reasons why it would never work, and it’s entirely possible that those reasons are entirely valid. However, without giving it the ol’ college try, I can’t say I can or can’t.

Most of the time, when I’m bitching or praising something, it’s music or sports, so that’ll more than likely be the bulk of the blog. That said, I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce my musical tastes and dislikes. Well do sports on the next blog. Anyone who knows me understands the list you are about to read is a truncated version from something that would be as long as an average insurance policy rider. Here we go…

· ***My iTunes library would overflow your computer. That is, if your computer’s hard drive is 350GB or less.

· *** In my digital music collection -which, these days, is the only game in town- Prince and Miles Davis take up the most room of any artists (almost tied). However, Miles has more studio albums than just about any artist in history, so you can imagine how many live shows of Prince I have. He’s probably my favorite musical artist, but I keep a cautious ear on all material that’s been released since around the turn of the century, even the mid-90s. As far as I’m concerned, “Chaos and Disorder” never happened. You hear me? Never… happened…

· *** I am a Joni Mitchell apologist. Most underrated songwriter/singer of her generation. Her worst album is better than your best. That’s right, yours.

· *** I just don’t get Neil Diamond. Look, you can talk to me all you want about this and that, and I will admit he’s a heck of a songwriter. But the voice is just non-chalant, and his fashion in the 70s was criminal for a man of his particular look.

· I jumped off the Pop Music train a long time ago. That’s not to say that I don’t listen to/purchase/desire to purchase some pop music from time to time. We all need our fluff. However, I guess in my later years, I need something more substantial on a regular basis.

· I’m also a Beatles apologist. That said, I think that The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” is the most important album in Rock and Roll history, and really where the whole game began in earnest. Without that album, the Beatles wouldn’t have been motivated to compose their masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

· *** Even with what I said about Sgt. Pepper’s being a masterpiece, I still like Abbey Road and The Beatles (White Album) better.

· *** Here’s where I come down on Lady Gaga: she was cuter as Madonna, and I really haven’t heard much meaningful come out of her mouth that didn’t come out of Madge’s first.

· *** Me: gay. My musical taste: not as much. Sure, I like the occasional dance music, but I’m not the biggest fan of musical theater or the staples in the gay community like Cher or the like. And since I like segues…

· *** I’m a closet Metallica fan. Say what you want about heavy metal, but there is nobody who writes for or plays the genre better on the planet. They don’t just shout, they have things to say, and their musicianship is top-notch. Not too many heavy metal bands could pull off a spectacular performance with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

· *** I used to be a vocal major, so I do enjoy some classical music. While I once performed things primarily between the 14^th and 18^th centuries, my listening tastes tend to border on the modern. Pretty much anything post-Romantic gets my attention. Gavin Bryars, John Adams, and Philip Glass are a few folks I dig.

· *** Quick likes: Radiohead, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, Diana Krall, Adele, Herbie Hancock, D’Angelo, Erasure, Jamiroquai, George Michael, Neil Finn related work (Crowded House being the most familiar to any of you), Pizzicato Five, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Tom Waits, They Might Be Giants.

· *** Quick dislikes: boy bands, bland uninteresting music disguised as power-ballads, meaningless metal (Metallica brings it, some bands just don’t), new country (80s pop with a fiddle, as far as I’m concerned), and anything without a soul.

Alrighty, that’s enough for now. Perhaps we’ll do a second-part to this music entry, but next up will be sports. I’m a Cubs fan. Stick around, I get angry.