“The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.” – Aaron Copland
The RustedRobot passed me a musical baton a few days ago. I will now do my part by picking it up off the stadium floor to keep the sonic relay going…
Total volume of music files on my computer: 5GB
The last CD I bought was: yesterday – “A sides win – singles 1992-2005” by Sloan
Song playing right now: “Still Be Around” by Uncle Tupelo (live)
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me: These are in my 64M Nomad IIc that I use while working out, so I hear these at least 3 times a week:
1. “Whatshername” by Green Day
2. “Prove it All Night” (live in NYC) by Bruce Springsteen
3. “Rock Your Ass” by The Supersuckers
4. “Cold Hard Bitch” by Jet
5. “Ready for You” by Sloan (June 15th at TT The Bears – Cambridge)
I now elect to pass the baton to:
Megan, Barb, Dave and Mary
Leave yours in the comments field…
The musical baton has awaken me–
Total volume of music files on my computer: 1.84 GB (sad I know)
The last CD I bought was: “Devils & Dust” by Bruce Springsteen
Song playing right now: “All Blues” by Miles Davis
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
1. “Birdland” by Weather Report
2. “Mary’s Place” by Bruce Springsteen
3. “While We Cry (Live)” by Kenny Wayne Shepherd
4. “Am I Losing You” by Coco Montoya
5. “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by David Lanz with Matthew Fisher
Mary passes it on to…..
So, I digress slightly from the assignment, but at this point Leo expects that of me.
A couple of months ago, I was living in Philly but I was supposed to be packing for a move to Massachusetts. Known for my independence and risk-taking, it was hard to admit that I was scared out of my mind about the move.
On this particular rainy Sunday, instead of packing, I went to my favorite used book store in downtown Philly, bought a book, and retreated to the Starbucks down the block. A Venti triple latte later, I was in a comfy chair, reading. In the speakers overhead I was distracted by a song, and I kept thinking to myself, “Is this Nick Lowe?”. It was. The record playing was Elvis Costello’s “Music that Matters to Him”, which is a series that is produced by Starbucks. The objective is for artists we know and love to tell us about the ‘music that matters to them’. Think about that – not a greatest song ever list, but what matters. Matters Most. Wow.
It so happened that I was going to see, my beloved, Mr. Costello, the last week in April with 3 close friends. So, I challenged them, and in turn myself, with a little project: Create a CD, along with appropriate documentation, on the topic: Music that Matters to Us and present at the bar before the concert. Same as Starbucks, the rules were: only 1 hour of music max, and you had to write a story about why that particular song or artist matters to you. It turned into one of the most interesting self explorations I have ever had. I highly recommend this project to each of you. Though you are missing-out on the wit and interesting 12 page commentary (so I would like to think), here they are. The Music that Matters to Me:
Frank Sinatra, “Come Fly With Me”
Gene Kelly, “S’Wonderful”
Bobby Darin, “Mack the Knife”
Aretha Franklin, “Natural Woman”
Jackson Browne, “Doctor My Eyes”
Bruce Springsteen, “Growin’ Up”
Bob Marley, “Satisfy My Soul”
The Pretenders, “Message of Love”
The Kinks, “Apeman”
The Police, “So Lonely”
Elvis Costello, “Peace, Love and Understanding”
Ramones, “I Want to be Sedated”
B-52’s, “Private Idaho”
The Clash, “Rudie Can’t Fail”
Madness, “Embarrassment”
The Cure, “Love Song”
REM, “Perfect Circle”
U-2, “Desire”
Pearl Jam, “Release”
The Strokes, “Last Night”
Oh, btw, The Last CD I bought: Outlandous D’Amour, The Police. Now why would I buy my all time favorite record? It was a gift for someone. This is someone unexpectedly special to me, just like this record was when I first heard it. I hope they like it.
I pass the baton to…