The Big Green House

Friday, January 31, 2003

 

I was a teenage jazz fusion/prog rock fan

or

Let us now praise famous wankers

At the risk of loosing the few tattered shreds of credibility I so desperately cling to, I am inspired by the new issue of Mojo to drag some of my less �cool� musical tastes out into the bright light of day.

As one careens around the go-kart track of life, one sometimes finds one�s self wishing to disavow certain preferences and choices one made earlier down the line � literary, fashion, tonsorial, musical. Especially musical. (Well, the hair thing usually comes back to haunt one, eventually, but I�m not gonna spend the evening defending the mullet. I�ll just say that it seemed like a good idea at the time and move on from there.) One spins a fave rave from X number of years ago & thinks, �Good lord, what could I possibly have been thinking?� or, if one is feeling charitable towards one�s self, �My goodness, this hasn�t aged well at all, has it?�

I am not immune to this phenomenon. Two words can sum it up quite nicely for me: Molly Hatchet. Yep. But aside from those guys & the odd Flock of Seagulls tune here & there, I find that A) I no longer the need to deny listening to the uncool, and B) I still like a lot of it. I don�t want to play it every day, but I don�t recoil in horror, either. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

So, without further ado � a trip through my boneyard. Bands that, at one time or another, I listened to on a regular basis & can still stomach to this very day, in no particular order:

Be-Bop Deluxe (I�m very glad to see this back in print. �Axe Victim� RAWKS!)
Little Feat (Lowell George version)
Journey. (Not, I hasten to add, the edition featuring numbnuts on vocals. You know, the guy that sings like a duck� I mean, let�s be serious: I�d rather lick a belt sander than listen to his helium squeal. No, I�m referring to the original line-up featured on the first three albums. I�d stack that first album up against any other prog-rock of a similar vintage.)
Rush (Geddy�s helium squeal, I like)
Supertramp (circa Crime of the Century)
Roxy Music (The stuff with Eno is best)
801 (Phil Manzanera�s side project)
King Crimson (I�m still pretty unfamiliar with their earlier stuff & haven�t heard anything past Three of a Perfect Pair, but Discipline got me through a bumpy patch in the early 80�s. Also, I�m told that I somewhat resemble Fripp, if you squint.)

I�m sure I could dig up a few more. I had originally included Kate Bush, but I�ve never felt compelled to deny that I liked her work. She was only here because I know so many people who despise her so vehemently. Y�all can go pound sand: Kate is an absolutely fearless vocalist, willing to fall on her ass in search of the proper sound for the song. I do wish she�d get around to releasing that new album hinted at in the Mojo story.

But that�s neither here nor there. I have laid myself bare to the slings and arrows of ridicule from absolute strangers; anyone else care to step up to the plate?







bmarkey 1/31/2003 07:09:00 PM