For our 11th selection, BF & the BFFs are excited to add a little bit of World flair to our line-up. We select one of the most influential groups in modern electronic music... from Paris, France, electronic superduo, the missing link between human beings and robots, Daft Punk!
In similar company with new-school French progressive dance artists such as Motorbass, Air, Cassius, and Dimitri from Paris, Parisian duo Daft Punk quickly rose to acclaim by adapting a love for first-wave acid house and techno to their younger roots in pop, indie rock, and hip-hop.
Pretty sure this guy is still on the board. Probably should be put under songwriter but as I have that category already filled I'll put him as my Wildcard Vocalist. Huddie William Ledbetter or Leadbelly. Jack White and Kurt Cobain have taken cues from this man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbelly
Check out Son House too who has been covered most notably by the White Stripes. Quite eerie listening to this now and its great.
Man, there's a couple of great picks Habby and dooz...well done. Can't believe Robert Johnson was still on the board actually!
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
"Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released on the album Steppenwolf the Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at #3 in the US, and becoming the band's second-biggest hit, surpassed only by "Born to Be Wild". The single version differs noticeably from the album version with a different vocal take by Kay used for the first verse of the song and differing instrumental balances. The single version is also much shorter than the album version, with a running time of 2 minutes and 55 seconds (the album version is 4 minutes and 27 seconds long).
As a drummer my next pick is Carter Beauford of the dave Matthews Band.
I'm a big fan of Carter's playing. He was one of my two drummer picks. Excellent choice.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
With our 12th selection, BF & the BFFs are excited to add some controversy and flair to our stable of talented musicians... In order to make room, we will be moving Lemmy to the bass player category, opening up the Male Singer category in order to select, from Madchester, UK, frontman from arguably the most important English band from the 80s... Always courting controversy, whether advocating that Meat is Murder or the destruction of Margaret Thatcher; the man dubbed by NME as "the most influential artist ever", lead singer and lyricist from The Smiths, the one, the only... Morrissey!
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Steven Patrick Morrissey (IPA: /ˈmɒɹɪsiː/; born May 22, 1959), who goes by his surname Morrissey, is a British singer and lyricist. After a short stint in the punk rock band The Nosebleeds in the late 1970s, he rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The UK music magazine NME called him the "most influential artist ever" for his role in the band. When the band broke up in 1987, Morrissey began a solo career, in which he continued the jangle pop sound of The Smiths. His solo albums have garnered ten Top 10 singles in the United Kingdom.
His sardonic, literate lyrics tend to be "dramatic...bleak, funny vignettes about doomed relationships, lonely nightclubs, the burden of the past and the prison of the home." [1] He sings with a baritone voice, occasionally using a high falsetto voice for emphasis. His "forthright, often contrary opinions" led to a number of media controversies, such as his criticism of the Band Aid hunger-relief effort and his statements against political leaders from 1980s-era Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to US President George W. Bush. As well, he has also attracted media attention from his advocacy of vegetarianism and animal rights.
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As the lead singer of the Smiths, arguably the most important indie band in Britain during the '80s, Morrissey's theatrical crooning and literate, poetic lyrics -- filled with romantic angst, social alienation, and cutting wit -- connected powerfully with a legion of similarly sensitive, disaffected youth. These fans turned The Smiths into stars in Britain, exerting tremendous pull over much of the country's guitar-based music for many years after their breakup, and even if the group remained underground cult artists in the States, they had a fanbase that slowly, steadily grew larger over the years. Indeed, a few years after The Smiths's breakup in 1987, Morrissey's American cult had grown to the point where he became more popular in the U.S. than in his homeland, where he neverthless was never far from the music press headlines.
Megadeth is an Americanthrash metal band led by founder, frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine. Formed in 1983 following Mustaine's departure from Metallica, the band has since released eleven studio albums, six live albums, two EPs, and two compilations.
As a pioneer of the American thrash metal movement, Megadeth rose to international fame in the 1980s, but were plagued by constant lineup changes, due partly to the band's notorious substance abuse problems. After finding sobriety and securing a stable lineup, Megadeth went on to release a string of platinum and gold albums, including the platinum-selling thrash metal landmark Rust in Peace in 1990 and the Grammy nominated, multi-platinum Countdown to Extinction in 1992. Megadeth disbanded in 2002 after Mustaine suffered a severe nerve injury to his left arm, but following extensive physical therapy, Mustaine reformed the band in 2004 and released The System Has Failed, followed by United Abominations in 2007; the albums debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #18 and #8, respectively.
Megadeth is known for a distinctive guitar style, often involving complex, intricate musical passages, and trade offguitar solos. Mustaine is also known for his original "snarling" vocal style, as well as his recurring lyrical themes, often involving politics, war, addiction, and personal relationships.
As one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands of all time, Megadeth has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide,[1] including six consecutive platinum albums, with seven consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance. In their 23 active years, Megadeth has had 20 official members, with Dave Mustaine remaining as the driving force, main songwriter, and sole original member. Megadeth is mentioned as one of the bands among the "Big Four of Thrash," along with Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, who were responsible for creating and popularizing the genre in the 1980s.
Anyone ever see Dave Mustaine on Rock N Roll Jeopardy? Dude cleaned up! Of course, George Clinton and Moon Unit Zappa probably weren't the greatest competition, but that doesn't change the fact that Mustaine knew almost every answer.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
