For our 15th pick, BF & the BFFs are proud to select in the category of Wildcard Band, another member of the late-70s CBGB scene, David Byrne's sometimes experimental, sometimes traditional, sometimes difficult, sometimes simple, but always engaging group... Patrick Bateman's favourite band... Talking Heads
Quote:
At the start of their career, Talking Heads were all nervous energy, detached emotion, and subdued minimalism. When they released their last album about 12 years later, the band had recorded everything from art-funk to polyrhythmic worldbeat explorations and simple, melodic guitar pop. Between their first album in 1977 and their last in 1988, Talking Heads became one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s, while managing to earn several pop hits. While some of their music can seem too self-consciously experimental, clever, and intellectual for its own good, at their best Talking Heads represent everything good about art-school punks.
Quote:
The avant-garde musical style of Talking Heads combined elements of punk rock, new wave, pop, funk, world music and art rock. Frontman and songwriter David Byrne contributed whimsical, esoteric lyrics to the band's songs, and emphasized their showmanship through various multimedia projects and performances. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes Talking Heads as being "one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s, while managing to earn several pop hits."[1]
In 2002, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of the band's albums appeared on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the Channel 4 100 Greatest Albums poll listed one album (Fear of Music) at number 76. Their concert film Stop Making Sense is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of the genre.[2]
Little known fact: the name Radiohead is taken from a Talking Heads song: Radio Head.
under the song category, I'll take The Beatles classic from Sgt Pepper's:
A Day in the Life
Definitely my favorite Beatles tune. Great choice man!
__________________ 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
Who's Next is the fifth album by the Englishrock band The Who. It was released on July 31, 1971 in the United States and August 25, 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project were compiled onto Who's Next as a collection of unrelated songs. Who's Next has been named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (#13) and Rolling Stone (#28). Upon its release it was named the best album of the year in The Village VoicePazz & Jop critics poll. It was also ranked #3 in Guitar World's Greatest Classic Rock Albums list. Many of its nine tracks are perennial favourites on classic rock radio, especially "Baba O'Riley", "Bargain", "Behind Blue Eyes", and the closing track "Won't Get Fooled Again". The album appeared at number 15 on Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1970s. The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2006, the album was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.
A former computer programmer and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty, fanciful lyrics about a variety of topics such as science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. He does not often write topical songs, but he did release a song titled "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, in 2005 and another called "Tom Cruise Crazy" in 2006. Most of Coulton's songs feature Coulton's vocals accompanied by guitar, bass, and drums, though they often feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, or glockenspiel.
Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game Portal, with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1st, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game Rock Band. A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the Orange Box Original Soundtrack, in addition to the one heard at the end of the game.
I'll take There There as my song but you must know that I hate the idea of choosing any one song as a favorite. Its like naming a favorite child. Impossible.
For our latest selection, BF & the BFFs will fill the category of female singer with one of the strangest but most infectious voices in the history of popular music... The English child prodigy... Discovered and mentored by David Gilmour... An artist with one of the most loyal and fanatic fan-bases you will ever see... Arguably the most influential artist to a new generation of female singer-songwriters - it would be a difficult task indeed to find a single female singer-songwriter whom has attained even marginal success over the last 20 years that does not cite this artist as a major influence... Equal parts talent and eccentricity...Kate Bush!
Quote:
One of the most successful and popular solo female performers of the past 20 years to come out of England, Kate Bush is also one of the most unusual, with her keening vocals and unusually literate and complex body of songs. As a girl, Catherine Bush studied piano and violin while attending the St. Joseph's Convent Grammar School in Abbey Wood in South London. She also amused herself playing an organ in the barn behind her parents' house. By the time she was a teenager, Bush was writing songs of her own. A family friend, Ricky Hopper, heard her music and brought Bush to the attention of Pink Floyd lead guitarist David Gilmour, who arranged for the 15-year-old Bush to record her first demo. With Gilmour's help, Bush was signed to EMI Records at age 16, though the company made the decision to bring her along slowly. She studied dance, mime, and voice, and continued writing. She also began thinking in terms of which of the 200 or so songs she'd written would be part of her first recording, and by 1977, she was ready to begin her formal career, which she did with an original song, "Wuthering Heights," based on material from Emily Bronte's novel (and more directly inspired by Bush's seeing the 1970 film directed by Robert Fuest and starring Timothy Dalton and Anna Caulder Marshall).
The song would set a pattern for much of her future work, which was filled with literary and other external thematic allusions, and sometimes made even fans feel as though her lyrics ideally would come with footnotes -- heady stuff for a teenage rock singer in the late '70s. Her precocity was demonstrated by the approach she took to the song, deliberately affecting what she felt -- in her mid-teens -- was the voice of a ghostly Cathy, whom she regarded as a dangerous, grasping figure, reaching out to her lover even from the grave. "Wuthering Heights" rose to number one on the British charts when it was released in 1978, and Bush became an overnight sensation at the age of 19. Her debut album, The Kick Inside, a collection of material that she had written from 15 onward, some of it displaying extremely provocative and sophisticated sexual references and images, reached number three and sold over a million copies in the U.K.
If there was no Kate Bush, there would be no Tori Amos. For that reason alone, I will be exploring her work someday soon. I've always known about her, but I've never gone out of my way to get her stuff....and of course....radio is useless.
Nice pick Liam.
__________________ 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
Last edited by Displaced Flames fan; 09-07-2008 at 07:28 PM.
If there was no Kate Bush, there would be no Tori Amos. For that reason alone, I will be exploring her work someday soon. I've always known about her, but I've never gone out of my way to get her stuf....and of course....radio is useless.
Nice pick Liam.
Thanks Dis... You know what's funny is that I'm the exact opposite from you.. Have never quite found the time to really dig into Tori Amos' stuff, but have always meant to, as like you say, Tori Amos is pointed to as Kate Bush's successor.
for male vocalist, Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution is proud to select the lead singer of The Cult, Mr Ian Astbury
Astbury's career began in 1981, with the gothic rock band Southern Death Cult. At that time, he was going by the name Ian Lindsay. Southern Death Cult gigged to support its "Moya" single, and secured a slot as an opening act for Bauhaus in 1983. Shortly after that tour, the band split up.
Along with guitaristBilly Duffy, bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Ray Mondo, Astbury (now going by the surname "Astbury") formed a new band, Death Cult, released the Death Cult (EP) and later dropped Death from the name.
The Cult
The Cult was a successful British rock band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the 1984 release of their first album, Dreamtime, The Cult became the darling of the Indie post-punk scene, their chart topping single "Spiritwalker" having held at number one for three months. Their second album, Love, evoked memories of 1960s psychedelia such as The Doors and the Pretty Things. It also featured their now classic hit "She Sells Sanctuary," which introduced them to an international audience. On their third album, Electric, The Cult made a radical transformation to hard rock reminiscent of AC/DC and Aerosmith with the help of Rick Rubin. This further broadened their audience as rock began making a comeback in the late 1980s. Guns n' Roses, which was heavily influenced by Electric, opened for The Cult on their 1987 North American tour, before going on to sell millions of copies of their debut album, Appetite for Destruction.
Although they went on to greater heights with their mainstream hit single "Fire Woman," (from the followup 1989 album Sonic Temple, The Cult began to get criticized by many hardcore fans on artistic merits. Soured on the band's more commercial direction, The Cult were now characterized as pretentious and as having sold out, particularly among their legion of British fans. Around this time, Astbury relocated to Los Angeles, California. He became friends with The Fuzztones, often jumping up onstage with them at live concerts. One such concert, at Scream in Downtown LA, was recorded and a cover of The Stooges song "Down on the Street" was released as a picture disc in the UK on Situation Two Records. It featured Astbury on vocals and the In Heat-era Fuzztones (John Carlucci, Jordan Tarlow, Mike Czekaj, and Jason Savall) as his backing band
Although they went on to greater heights with their mainstream hit single "Fire Woman," (from the followup 1989 album Sonic Temple, The Cult began to get criticized by many hardcore fans on artistic merits. Soured on the band's more commercial direction, The Cult were now characterized as pretentious and as having sold out, particularly among their legion of British fans. Around this time, Astbury relocated to Los Angeles, California. He became friends with The Fuzztones, often jumping up onstage with them at live concerts. One such concert, at Scream in Downtown LA, was recorded and a cover of The Stooges song "Down on the Street" was released as a picture disc in the UK on Situation Two Records. It featured Astbury on vocals and the In Heat-era Fuzztones (John Carlucci, Jordan Tarlow, Mike Czekaj, and Jason Savall) as his backing band.
In the world category i will go with INXS.. I don't think they have been taken yet.. i am trying to get kids to bed so i will try and get up more later.
My first thought in the female category was Kate Bush (ask Aeneas who saw my first draft). Had to give Ms. Hynde the edge. There are two others I would have picked (will reveal after the draft).
I am so going to get ribbed for this one...but there is a bit of a reason behind my choice. In junior high school, we had to choose between either taking French and Music, or Art and something else I can't remember (maybe drama or something). I chose French and Music. I chose that because I couldn't draw worth a crap, and whatever else was being offered didn't interest me. I didn't have any experience in music either, but it seemed like a better choice.
When choosing our instruments, I took the tenor saxophone, and was bugged about it a bit because the damn thing was pretty much as big as I was. I don't really remember why I took that, but it may have been somewhat of an inspirational choice by this man (my mom used to play his albums):
In the instrumental category, I select saxophonist Kenny G.
Commence the abuse. And no, I can't play at any of your family Christmas gatherings, I gave up the sax after three pathetic years of playing it.
