Today, I woke up with "Music" (John Miles, Jazz/Rock) in my head. Suddenly, I wanted to listen some old songs, bring back some memories hidden somewhere in my brain.
"True" song (Spandau ballet, slow rock) and other songs by some of my favorite 70s and 80s bands and singers like:
Rock: U2, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Doors, Rolling Stones, Toto, Chicago, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Police, Joe Cocker, Eagles, Kiss, Aerosmith, Eurythmics, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, Guns N'Roses, Steve Miller Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Bowie, Robert Plant, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Yes, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, and more....
Rock/New Wave/ Neo romantic: Depeche Mode, The Cure, OMD, and more...
R&B/Soul/Funk: Sade, Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Kool and the Gang, Earth-Wind and Fire, Gill Scott-Heron, Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Terence Trent d'Arby, Marvin Gaye, Commodores, Bobie Brown, Lionel Richie, The Jackson family, Bobby McFerrin, Donna Summer, Soul to Soul and more...
Pop/Rock: Simple Minds, Beatles, Tears for Fears, Simply Red, Frankie goes to Hollywood, The Smiths, Queen, John Lennon, A-Ha, Talk-Talk, Beach Boys, Blondie, Culture Club, Elton John, B52's, Genesis, Cutting Crew, Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, Fine Young Canibals, R.E.M, Murray Head, Simple Minds, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Supertramp, Soft Cell, Paul McCartney, Madness, INXS, George Michael, Huey Lewis and the News, Madonna, Paul Young, Mr. Mister, Sting, Level 42, Midnight Oil, Erasure and more...
Hard Rock/ Metal: Metallica, Iron Maiden, ACDC, Trust, and more...
Rock/Reggae: Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, UB40, Alpha Blondy, Burning Spear, and more...
Jazz from various times: Miles davis, Herbie Hancock, Max Roach, Charlie Mingus, Dizzy Gillepsie, Telonious Monk, Fats Navarro, George Benson, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Art Blakey, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett Trio, Michel Petrucciani, Sinatra, and more...
As usual, I put my Ipod on and started listening to some of my favorites tunes on my way to "Take the A train" (Duke Ellington, Jazz).
The train arrived, I set down and all of us were going "Somewhere only we know" (Keane, Pop/Rock). All trying to avoid the looks, "Eye in the sky" (The Allan Parsons Project, Rock), or should I say down in our book, playstation, Ipod or up on the advertisement and the ceiling of the wagon.
Everybody trying to "Enjoy the Silence" (Depeche Mode, Rock), lost in their thoughts, squeezed and surrounded by too many people, and somewhat already disturbed by the smells while "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" (U2, Rock) on my Ipod.
Switching through the many songs and artists, I thought about the early 90s and how I came to fall into the Electronica / Dance movement growing up rapidly in the heart of this rebel teenager that I was. Computers started to urge the pace and were spreading around the world.
A new method of communication and information was born, somewhat accelerating the beat of our everyday life and the rhythms on the dance floor evolving from Punk, Grunge, Hard rock, to Rock, to New Wave, Gothic New Romantic, Alternative, then Acid House, House, Dance, Ambient, Chill-out, Techno, Dance, Atmospheric to be finally known up until now as electronic or electronica.
A band has really marked my life by the mid 90s and remains one of my favorites bands of all times: Faithless (thanks to the lyrics of Maxi Jazz, the music of Sister Bliss, and the mix/production of Rollo, and of course all of the great artists that worked with them). So many of their songs and beats have inspired my life and my actions in many ways. This band kept me going strong and somehow influenced me physically on the dance floor and spiritually every day of my life. It brought me energy.
Amongst my favorites bands of the 80s, quite a few continued to please me during the 90s (U2, Depeche Mode, etc...). However, there were quite a few other bands and singers that I loved.
They are still very important for me to this day and bring back a lot of memories to my mind (good and bad):
Massive Attack, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvanna, Simply Red, Eagle Eye Cherry, Garbage, R.E.M, Duran Duran, Seal, Lenny Kravitz, Fat Boy Slim, Chemical Brothers, The Verve, Oasis, Beastie Boys, Finley Quaye, Travis, Everything but the girl, Foo fighters, Moby, Prince, Jamiroquai, Bjork, Cardigans, Limp Bizkit, Chicane, Aaron Neville, Groove Armada, Jeff Buckley, Jestofunk, Keziah Jones, Royksopp and surely a few more...
The end of the 90s and early 2000s marked the beginning of a new era for me, first because I met my future wife and because it was the opening on a new millennium full of "Hopes and Fears" (Keane, Rock).
The last 8 years brought a lot to my life in general and personally, because I moved to the United States in 2002 after nearly 5 years in England; I married my wife twice (2004 in New York, USA and 2005 in Bordeaux, France) and it resulted a beautiful child born in 2006.
All these events were "rhythmed" by all sort of musics, sounds and beats...and the most memorable were and still are from bands like:
Faithless, Keane, Depeche Mode, U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, Bowie, Simply red, John Legend, Daft punk, Nouvelle Vague, Air, Blur, Beck, Blue States, Blue Six, Ben Harper, Bob Marley, Buena vista Social Club, Erykah Badu, Estelle, Gabrielle, Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, Green Day, Jack Johnson, James Morrison, Michael bubble, Jehro, Korn, Mark Ronson, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Morrissey, Muse, Norah Jones, Queen Latifah, Seal, Sade, Scissor Sisters, Telepopmusik, Thievery Corporation, and many more...
I nearly forgot the french singers, bands and actors that inspired me over the last 35 years:
Serge Gainsbourg, Henri Salvador, Cali, Benabar, Calogero, Manu Chao, Sinclair, MC Solaar, Alain Souchon, Sebastien Tellier, Charlelie Couture, Etienne Daho, Claude Francois, Yves Duteil, Jacques Dutronc, Raphael, Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura, Gerard Depardieu, Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Arthur H, Michel Jonaz, Eddy Mitchell, Jeanne Moreau, Yannick Noah, Pascal Obispo, Florent Pagny, Jean-Louis Murat, Patricia Kaas, Julien Clerc, Telephone, Paul Personne, Gilbert Becot, Charles Aznavour, Leo Ferre, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Francis Cabrel, Jean-Michel Jarre, Laurent Voulzy, Edith Piaf, Charles Trennet, Bourvil, Fernandel, Maurice Chevalier, Boris Vian, Ray Ventura, Luis Mariano, Francis Lemarque, Claude Nougaro, Daniel balavoine, Coluche, Antoine, Carlos, Barbara, Guy Beart, Bobby Lapointe, Alain Bashung, Michel Berger, Jacques Brel, et tellement d'autres....
Here are most of my favorites singers, bands and music artists of the last 35 years, I probably forgot quite a few and didn't necessarily wrote the name of some that only had one good songs through a short period of time.
And I didn't mention Classic music, but I love:
Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Vivaldi, Carl Orff: Carmina Burana, Chopin, Handel, Bach, Wagner, Brahms.
As you can see, like when I buy wines for the store or for myself, I like to be eclectic and open minded with my music and in my life in general.
I hope you agreed with me on some of the above artists, singers and bands, and if you didn't, it is fine too, because after all music is like wine, everybody has his own taste for it.
Enjoy,
LeDom (du Vin)
