My musical tastes have changed over the years. My first musical memories are of my parents listening to rock music. I grew up with healthy doses of Pink Floyd, Rush, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, etc.
During the 80's I began to find my own musical tastes. I remember dad taking me to Wherehouse Records on Moana Lane and picking up tapes of Huey Lewis and the News, The Police, and Wang Chung (don't judge me!). Later I moved into groups like Night Ranger, Y&T, Tesla, and Warrant.
By the 90's I was listening to groups like Live, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, Soundgarden, Eve 6, and Alice in Chains. Later in the 90's, I jumped into the Swing Music scene and listened to bands like Cherry Poppin Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, and The Bryan Setzer Orchestra. This phase lasted into the early 2000's.
Nowadays, my tastes have gone less mainstream. I listen to Pandora and have an odd selection of music. While I am writing this post some of the bands I have listened to are: The Lonely Island, Garfunkel and Oates, Tenacious D, The Axis of Awesome, Flight of the Conchords, Tripod, Jonathan Coulton, and Epic Rap Battles of History.
Below, I've listed what I would say are my 10 favorite bands. Some are nostalgic, most are current favorites that get a regular play on my iPod.
10) Night Ranger
This was my first hair band concert. My favorite Night Ranger songs are (You can Still) Rock in America, Don't Tell Me You Love Me, Sing Me Away, and Four in the Morning. I was introduced to this band by my good friend Stephen. I haven't listened to them in years and just found out they released an album in 2011. I'm gonna have to check it out.
9) Pink Floyd
This is a nostalgic choice. Floyd was my dad's favorite and they've always held a special place in my musical heart. I still remember singing Wish You Were Here during a party in college and my friend Aileen being surprised that I knew the words since I didn't fit the stereotype of a Floyd fan. Favorite songs: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, On the Turning Away, Brain Damage, and Us and Them.
This is another nostalgic choice. Seger was mom's favorite and thus another important band to me. So many good songs. I remember growing up wanting to play the saxophone so I could be like Alto Reed, which is probably one of the coolest names ever. Favorite songs: Turn the Page, Mainstreet, his version of Nutbush City Limits, New Coat of Paint, and Real Mean Bottle.
The first time I heard Cake was when John and I were driving through Carson City and the song The Distance came on the radio. I remember being struck by the lead singers voice. It was really powerful and so much different than anything I was listening to at the time. Since then, I have purchased many more of their songs and they get a regular rotation. Favorite songs: The Distance, Shadow Stabbing, Multiply the Heartaches, Short Skirt, Long Jacket, Stickshifts and Safetybelts, and It's Coming Down.
I honestly can't remember how I got into this group. I think I was reading about video games and how some bands were using the old 8-bit game music in their songs and came across I Fight Dragons. They are a really fun band. Cool stuff using the old game music. A couple of the songs I remember from playing the games back in the day. Favorite songs: The Faster the Treadmill, Heads Up, Hearts Down, Save World Get Girl, cRaZie$, and Give It Up.
This was a band I really liked back in the day, and then got out of within a few years. It wasn't until recently that I started listening to them again through Pandora. Just crazy, weird songs about bugs and two string, one string, no string guitars. Bizarre, but funny stuff at a time when everything was so serious. Favorite songs: Kitty, Dune Buggy, Back Porch, Japan, Naked and Famous, Munky River, and Tiki Gods.
This band was introduced to my by my friend Tess. Good stuff. They were a band that wrote some really deep stuff in one track, and in the next they were cracking a joke about making you say underwear. During part of their career they even recorded children's albums. It was fun introducing the boys to them at an early age, even if the name can raise some eyebrows! Favorite songs: If I had a $1000000, Bank Job, Wind it Up, When I Fall, One Week, and Another Postcard.
No More Kings. Yep. Named for the Schoolhouse Rock song. Another band I stumbled across by accident. Surfing for new music and this band came up on Pandora. Very eclectic selection of songs. They have a very diverse style. Some numbers are dance songs. Others are somber. They just released an old-timey song called Knikkerbakker. There are a ton of cultural references in their songs. Songs about Knight Rider, Zombies, the robot from Short Circuit, Richard Nixon, The Karate Kid, and Bruce Lee to name a few. One song I must mention that drives me crazy is called Schroeder. It's about the piano player from Peanuts. However, the girl they mention that's in love with him is Sally Brown. Now, maybe they are going for a different take on the story, but it's Lucy that loves Schroeder! Anyway... Favorite songs: Critical Hit, Enter the Dragon, The Living Dead, Leaving Lilliput, God Breathed, and This.
I got turned on to Kirby Krackle from reading an article on a comic book website about how the Joe Quesada, former Marvel Comics Editor in Chief, got up on stage and jammed with this group. I had never heard of them before then. However, I instantly fell in love with them. Their songs are all about things I can relate to. Mostly super-heroes, but other things I grew up with, like Transformers, cartoons, Star Wars, and video games. Favorite songs: Hunt 'Em All Down, Rainbow Bridge, Nerd Money, Back to the Beginning, Ring Capacity, On and On, and Going Home.
Jonathan Coulton is my idol. He did what I only dreamed of doing. He quit his job and through hard work and perseverance became an Internet legend. He tends to write songs with sci-fi themes, zombies, love, lost love, and just...look...he's really talented and he can sing about whatever he wants, okay?!?! I was first introduced to his music during a Rifftrax event. He sang Re: Your Brains, and by the next morning, I had downloaded every song he had put out at the time. Favorite songs? Way too many to list, so here are the top 10 songs according to my iTunes playlist record. (Whoa! A top 10 list in a top 10 list!)
1) Still Alive (J.C. Mix)
2) Sticking It To Myself
3) W's Duty
4) The Big Boom
5) Big Bad World One
6) See You All In Hell
7) Under The Pines
8) Brand New Sucker
9) I Feel Fantastic
10) My Monkey
However, there are several other songs I like more than those. Redshirt, My Beige Bear, Space Doggity, I Crush Everything, Big Dick Farts A Polka, Ikea, I'm Your Moon, Code Monkey, The First of May...
Oh man! The list goes on and on! Check him out! You won't regret it.
Phew. I sat down to write this post 3.5 hours ago. This has taken so long to write!
Weight was down to 228.6 today. Cool, but we shall see what tomorrow brings.
Food Diary for Wednesday the 17th of April:
2 slices of Canadian Bacon
10 oz of Coffee with Kal Stevia Sweetener and Trader Joe's Organic Heavy Cream
AM Snack: 10 Macadamias
Lunch: Big Ol' Salad w/balsamic and olive oil
Better Butter Chicken
PM Snack: 10 Green Beans
Dinner: Bacon Meatloaf
Big ol Salad with Balsamic and Olive Oil
2 of Noah's Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 Squares of Lindt 88% Cacao
Water: About 80 oz
Sleep: about 6 hours of sleep
Exercise: Normal Walking around
Tomorrow it's my favorite books. This should be hard to narrow down!
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