I Love Rock 'N' Roll

[peacetraveler22]

Do you know this great song by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts? In a recent post, I mentioned the band ZZ Top not expecting many Russians to know them. But most did! Many American bands have a global reputation, but I didn't think ZZ Top fell into this category. Once again, you taught me something new. :)

Travel is my primary passion in life and music is a close second. I love both for the same reason. Travel and songs provide an escape. They transport us to different worlds or bring us back to a familiar one. Both evoke real emotion for me. Some songs and places even make me teary-eyed. When I visit Amish land in Lancaster, Pennsylvania I almost always cry. The most recent example for music is the song "Stay" by Rihanna, reminding me of a wonderful long distance relationship that didn't survive for a multitude of reasons.

I spent most of my 20's going to concerts and clubs listening to live music, and still do so today. Almost all of my boyfriends back then were in bands or somehow connected to the music industry. So I went to many concerts for free, got backstage, and lived in this rock 'n' roll world. It was great! Over the years, I've kept all of my concert tickets. Hundreds of them piled up in a memory box, tucked neatly in the midst of other momentos. Here's a small sampling from the past few years. If these tickets could speak, oh the stories they would tell! :))

You probably know by now that I'm not the type of woman who wears jewelry, fancy clothes or carries designer handbags. Instead of a diamond ring, I'd prefer that a guy strum his acoustic guitar and sing to me. Romance! :)  And if I could have one talent in life, I'd wish for an angelic voice. Sadly I have zero musical skills.

In honor of my second passion, let's dedicate the weekend discussion to music! Which American bands or singers do you like? Do you play any instruments? I'm insanely bored today. Tired from the big holiday celebration, and it's too hot to be outside. Entertain me!

Comments

[sergey-usa.livejournal.com]

ZZ Top is actually a well known band in Russia. Well, among those who listen to rock anyway... What surprises me more is that not many people ever heard of Journey outside of the U.S. I consider it one of the greatest american bands.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yes, Journey is great and I think more widely known now since their song was featured on the popular show "The Sopranos." And how insane is it that they found a new singer who sounds exactly like the original lead singer Steve Perry! I think this new singer was discovered on YouTube. The power of the Internet! :)

[yarowind.livejournal.com]

Yes, when I was young, I'm going to concerts and clubs to:).
Rock'n Roll ferever!:)

Nirvana, Metallica, Dream Theater, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Offspring - my favorite US bands.
But the favorite European bands more:))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Metallica - one of the greatest live bands! Sadly I never saw Nirvana. Did you know the Offspring singer, Dexter Holland, is a genius? Valedictorian for his high school and then a doctorate candidate in molecular biology. But he abandoned his doctorate to purse Offspring. Well, rock 'n' roll and touring sounds more fun for sure! And much easier to pick up chicks. :)) What European bands do you like?

[mybathroom.livejournal.com]

Wow! I didn't think that you love rock'n'roll music so strong! We're on the same wave then :) I like American band such as: Metallica, Nirvana, System Of A Down, ZZ Top. By the way, do you know about Joanna Stingray? She were popular in Russia and she helped Russian musicians. She tried to promote Russian bands in the US.

I play the acoustic guitar but I have awful voice. Unfortunately,now I don't have time for this.

Shannon, do you like concerts in the clubs or you like open-airs?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

System of a Down - I've seen them in concert at a big metal festival. :) They're good, and I think the singer is from Armenian heritage. I don't know Joanna Stingray. Sounds interesting, I'll read about her. I tried to learn acoustic guitar also but lost patience.

I like concerts in smaller venues like clubs because they're more intimate and singers sound better in this environment. In large or open air stadiums, the quality of vocals is often lost. A lot of people just focus on the actual music but for me lyrics also are very important. So I want to understand what someone is saying. :) We're very lucky in the DC area because all big acts come here and we have a lot of different places for live music.

Btw, I like all types of music but rock music is my favorite. My sister listens mostly to country music and I sometimes go to country concerts with her.

[amandakysses.livejournal.com]

Music is like breathing for me. I need it. I am so passionate about it. A song can directly affect my mood good or bad, happy or sad. I love all kinds of music, except not a lot of mean angry screamy metal music. I usually like not mainstream artists the best, but also Love a good catchy pop or rock song. I used to play instruments. The cello, saxaphone, clarinet. And i taught myself to play basic piano. I havent done any in years, Im not sure if i would remember how. I sang in choir in school, but my voice is crap anymore. Reserved for the car, shower or putting little ones to sleep. Okay or while cleaning the house. Thats also where i flex my dancing skills. I would rather listen to music, especially live, than almost anything else. Great topic woman! Loves!
Ps- I think we saw that Tom Petty concert together. Aah.. Memories..

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you played those instruments. Cool! I know your passion for music and remember many concerts together. Especially Tim McGraw, where all the drunken rednecks were tripping over us or trying to hug us. :)) Good times!

[vasya-spb2000.livejournal.com]

From US - Metallica, Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Buckethead (my favorite guitar player in the world)
From Canada - Metric, Grimes
And almost all of my favorite bands from UK :)

Also I like Gogol Bordello. They are American or Russian or Ukrainian? I'm not sure.
Do you heard?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Buckethead - interesting character! :)) I don't know Gogol Bordello. I'll check them out, thanks.

[nar-row.livejournal.com]

I don't listen music much. But I would say, that my the most liked american singer is Louis Armstrong.
And, if we talk about foreign bands, my favourite band is swedish "Roxette".

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

My mom is like this, she never listens to music. It's strange for me! I like hearing jazz music live. It's perhaps one of the most soulful music genres.

[demonfrost.livejournal.com]

I have very similar perception of music.

My favorite American bands are Agalloch, Judas Iscariot, Morbid Angel, Death, Cannibal Corpse.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

These are hardcore bands! I like "chick metal" as my male friends say. :)) But they're still dragging me to these types of concerts all the time. Do you know the band Lamb of God? I saw them a few years ago. Scary! :)

[moebiuscat.livejournal.com]

Well, I play piano and keyboards, percussion and drums (a little bit) and I am a composer. You can listen to my music at http://www.moebiuscat.com and download my last CD for free.

I have a fairly broad spectrum of musical interests and I know many American bands. But for the last couple of years at least my favorite bands are not American: I like prog rock and I listen most to Jethro Tull (I'm sure you know that one) and Porcupine Tree, or Steven Wilson's solo project now. Amazing musicians, intricate arrangements, great energy, and still very accessible. I've been to Porcupine Tree and Wilson's concerts - they are sold out every time he visits Toronto.

Try this for size, but listen in its entirety, as it's long as many prog rock pieces are, but it doesn't disappoints if you like this kind of music. Best enjoyed full screen, loud and on a good speakers - my "computer speakers" are about my height when I'm sitting in front of my PC, plus a decent sub :-)

[moebiuscat.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what am I doing wrong, but I tried to post comments with link and a video and it gets marked as spam, and even without any links it's the same... Maybe something in your LJ settings? I hope this one gets through..

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I un-spammed it. Thanks. :) I'll check out your site. It's cool you have musical skills. Envious. :)

80's Hair Bands

[(Anonymous)]

Dokken ..Bon Jovi ..Poison ..Guns N Roses..
Motley Crue...Woo Hoo..
Kelly

Re: 80's Hair Bands

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You didn't have to leave your name for this one. I immediately knew it was you! Register a username on LiveJournal. It's easy. :)

[j1980.livejournal.com]

ЗиЗиТоп просто очень запоминающиеся чисто внешне.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Their beards are so cool. :))

[fesma94.livejournal.com]

If you ask about US rock 'n' roll I like old , Presley, Chack Berry ,Chubby Checker , for example. Upon the whole I like good music from around the world. On of my favorite is Meiko Kaji "Flowers Of Carnage"

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

What's your favorite Elvis song? I used to listen to him a lot in high school.

[fesma94.livejournal.com]

And your ? :-)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I like Jailhouse Rock, Teddy Bear, Blue Suede shoes. Lots of others!

[the-most-human.livejournal.com]

REM are cool.
White Stripes are funny.
And till this day I was pretty sure Tom Petty was British (facepalm)
Of course mid-80's chick-metal like Bon Jovi and all his kin.
A bit apart of them there was Great White - excellent hard rock band and one of the most underrated.
They do LedZeppelin tributes now.

And yea, Joan Jett rocked, Crissie Hynde also rocked there and then, and to my surprise Pretenders still do concerts.

[the-most-human.livejournal.com]

Eagles?
Anybody?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I like the Eagles and also Don Henley's solo stuff. I met him once at a book signing and he was very nice. He edited a book called "Heaven is Under Our Feet," a collection of essays by famous actors and figures. The essays were tributes to nature and proceeds benefited the Walden Woods Project, which pertains to the legacy of one of my favorite American authors (Henry David Thoreau). Here's the book page he signed for me. :)) The Eagles come to the DC area almost every summer.

Everyone in Russia knows ZZ Top!

[xpo-xpo-xpo.livejournal.com]

Everyone saw Lord of the Rings. Everyone can watch such a boring movie only with Goblin's comic translation. So everyone heard how "The Prancing Pony" inn-keeper asked Frodo (Fyodor Mikhailovich in this translation, implying Dostoevsky) something like:
-- Pandalf-Shmandalf, what's the fuck. A-a-ah, that old man like ZZ Top?
And everyone looked in Wikipedia who is this ZZ Top :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1W4rVtT4Ok -- American song every Russian knows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrYlX12wQj8 (picture is not important here but youtube is the simplest way).

And if not try to joke, I can tell about myself: from all American music I listen to Louis Armstrong about every day. He is recorded on CD I have in my car :) "Go down, Moses", "Kiss of fire", and "Mack the Knife".

Re: Everyone in Russia knows ZZ Top!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I have not seen Lord of the Rings. :) Yes, Louis Armstrong is wonderful.

[orion-5.livejournal.com]

The Doors.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

It was interesting to visit Jim Morrison's grave at Pere Lachaise in Paris. A lot of people gathered there both times I went. There's a cool memory tree right by the grave where people from all over the world write messages, including me. :)

[boytsev.livejournal.com]

I love Agalloch.

It's a rather underground band, but this one really spoke to me when i heard it. Never stopped listening to it since.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of them but just watched a quick video on YouTube. I like the music, but the singer's voice is too harsh for me. :)

[al-greek.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am a real admirer of american music. Now I prefer soul/funk/disco music of 70s. Mostly female artists, such as Betty Wright, Bettye Swann, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Soul Chidren, The Three Degrees, Candi Staton, Ann Peebles... Check, for example, the following albums if you are intersted:
http://www.discogs.com/Betty-Wright-Danger-High-Voltage/master/40690
http://www.discogs.com/Bettye-Swann-Dont-You-Ever-Get-Tired-Of-Hurting-Me/release/2985083
http://www.discogs.com/Soul-Children-The-Friction/master/506562

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Cool! :)

[mujlan01.livejournal.com]

I guess ZZ top is actually a well known in Russia. Especially among those in their 40’s.
What do we got else? Of course Metallica, then Nirvana, not forget to mention Guns N Roses.
Recently I’ve discovered the Grateful Dead. Never knew that «Whiskey in a Jar» belongs not only to Metallica. So I’m Deadhead now :)

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

"Whiskey in the jar" is originally of Luke Kelly and The Dubliners.

www. youtube. com/watch?v=vBiwcemOOx4
(remove spaces)

Another his tune I love. "Rocky road to Dublin."
www. youtube. com/watch?v=wtEKUWRpUWg

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

Different.

I like heavy music but it should be melodic.
The same way, I like 50s' jazz standards but do not like contemporary jazz, progressive rock and such.
Such things are just overcompicated to drive me.

Early Rock'n'Roll, heavy metal, Metallica, of course, as I said before.
Old country music like Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe ...

Just everything that have melody and passion.

Rammstein are wonderful but they are not American.

"Let the sunshine" - one of the strongest scenes of all musicals:

www. youtube. com/watch?v=fhNrqc6yvTU

Krishna Das - another American singer :)

www. youtube. com/watch?v=rq-1bxJc7F0

I listened it today on my way from dacha.
This tune is a necessary instrument for practice ...

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Dolly Parton is an amazing person! I've traveled many times to her hometown area of Pigeon Forge, TN. She really built up the entire area and made it a tourist haven in the Smoky Mountains. Her theme park, Dollywood, is cool.

[muthafunk.livejournal.com]

oh Satan, someone even suggested Roxette! Most russians are complete dummies when it comes to rock music, but not all of them. There's another crowd raised on mp3's, these guys are always on the hunt for some fresh stuff.

By the way, do you like the new Alice in Chains album at all? Not quite as the old ones of course, but still good.

I'm following this band for a while now, they are already very big in the UK, but not too many people know them in the US for some reason. Fresh from the oven, album comes out tomorrow (July 9):

http://www.thisisletlive.com/

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard the new Alice in Chains album, but I've seen them in concert a few times. The new singer sounds exactly like Layne Stayley when performing live. Such a tragedy all these talented musicians dying so young.

Thank you

[habarforever.livejournal.com]

Hi, Shannon, great post, music is a big part of my life. And now a bit about bears and vodka. Everybody who was born in 60, 70, know ZZ-Top, I like`em. Is it tru, that they refused the offer of Gillette to cut the beards for 1 million bucks? And, look, same interesting facts about American music, I`am a fan of Janis Joplin, and I`ve watched a great movie “The Rose”, Bette Midler star, was dedicated to Janis Joplin memory, fantastic! Imagine, Janis Joplin themу in US remake of “Nikita” is realy good I guess the one of two remakes of French movies Hollywood could do. The second one is “True lie” Arnie star. “Nikita” remake is “Point Of No Return” Brigitte Fonda star, very good movie.
I like music very match, I have about 5 hour MP3 in my cell phone, I gonna send you 3 tracks US, Russian and Italian. I need this music because I don`t have a ride, and use metro every day. Music and books in the phone, one second the trip is over. And a joke, try to reaD mp3 in kirilika. Эм эр зэ

Re: Thank you

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hi! I received your emails, thanks. I'll listen to the attachments. i haven't heard this story about one million dollars to shave the beards! But I'm not surprised they would reject it because the beards are the band's trademark. :)

Janis Joplin was iconic back in the day and again a tragic end for another talented musician. Music to me is essential. I couldn't live without it. :)