Who’s That Again?

Interesting memory test in Rollling Stone’s 10 Singer-Songwriter Albums … You’ve Never Heard.  Forgive me if I abbreviate the ridiculously long title.

Anyway, the 70’s was the heyday of the singer-songwriter, and I remember a lot of it - some good, some angst-ridden cheddar.  But I guess I didn’t notice it all.

I remember Hoyt Axton because I remember Three Dog Night.  I remember Thank You For Being A Friend, but not Andrew Gold.  I remember Tony Joe White because Polk Salad Annie was a fun tune.  Jesse Winchester?  Vaguely remember the name is all.

Elliott Murphy?  Steven Grossman?  Wendy Waldman?  Randall Bramblett?  David Forman?  Rory Block?  I gotta believe my FM station played all these artists, because they were pretty diverse.  But sorry, don’t recall them.   Goes to show our memories make us all smaller over time.

Thanks for the homework, RS.

On Time

Gibson’s 10 Classic Rock Bands That Deserve Another Look shows how reductivist corporate radio has denied us some fantastic music.

All of these bands used to be mainstays on the radio – but sadly are now rarely heard at all.

Chicago created a revolution.  Three Dog Night were massive.  Rare Earth were fantastic musicians who cranked out monster hits.  Spirit were regarded as geniuses.  Everyone loved Steppenwolf.  The music has aged well.  So how come no airplay?  It’s a mystery.

What strikes me most about the list is the range of musical styles covered, and the fact that you could hear of of these bands on the same station in the same afternoon - a happy reflection of the time when these bands thrived, and perhaps another sad reflection of today’s radio.

Thanks for the reminder, Gibson.  Luckily, I have most of this music on my iPod.  Time to go have a listen.

It’s Cold In Oz

In the guilty pleasures department, one of my favourite bands, who just fell out of favour and dropped out of our consciousness, is Three Dog Night.

It’s curious: not one but three talented lead singers, a terrific band featuring solid keys and good guitar work.  Maybe a tad on the poppy side as compared to, say Led Zeppelin, but they had a long string of hits that you would think should hold their own against some of the over-played stuff on classic rock radio.

Maybe it’s because most of their material was written by other people?

They spread some solid joy to the world.  Too bad they still aren’t embraced by the family of man.