Thursday, September 4, 2008

In which I discover I like music I thought I hated, or at least was ambivalent about.

One of the awesome things about having so many friends who are so into music is that once in a while, I get totally schooled on something i thought I hated or at least thought I didn't care enough about to formulate an opinion on.

Last year, it was Bob Seger. If you'd asked, I woulda told you Bob Seger was my LEAST FAVORITE MUSICIAN OF ALL TIME. He was the guy that made me run screaming for the radio dial, begging and pleading with the gods to MAKE THE SONG END and ease my pain. But then someone at my online haunt The Record Room hipped me to his first couple records, which are, in fact, whip-ass white-guy rippin' psych-soul a la the MC5, and bear no resemblance to the later stuff that made me want to gouge out my eardrums.



Today? The Steve Miller Band. Now -- y'know, I didn't HATE Steve Miller at all. I mean, when "Fly Like An Eagle" comes on, you bet I don't change the channel. But that's all I knew were the hits, and I didn't like them enough to love them. But Ian Wagner o'er at that self-same record room hipped me to his first two records, "Children of the Future" and "Sailor," and HOO BOY WOW, those are some amazing records. They sound more like the Band or Procol Harum than, like, shufflebluesboogierock. Y'know?



Anybody else have stuff they want to tell me about bands I hate? Like, uh -- wow, the number keeps shrinking the more I learn.

18 comments:

superbadfriend said...

:-)

Did you like the Surf Punks? Dead Milkmen? What about the Pixies?

Marne said...

hey Jonny, I used to listen to SMB a lot in high school, and their old stuff you would dig I think maybe...I played the Anthology album a lot and it has two great tunes, very melodic with lots of pretty harmonies...check out "I love you" and "Journey from Eden." The rest of it I can take or leave, but those two songs I always really dug.

Jon Hunt said...

Jessie: yes, yes, and YES YES YES!!!!

Marne: I'll check 'em out!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I've got to know what you hate...then I'll see what I can do.

Anonymous said...

Yes! I am honoured to get a mention on Ye Olde Blogue and happy you are deriving joy from these records.

Anonymous said...

I'm probably preaching to converted, but have you heard the Bee Gees' early stuff.

Anonymous said...

(sorry) *the converted

Jon Hunt said...

Heard, taken in, imbibed, loved, worshipped. The 'Gees are, like, my maybe fourth or fifth favorite band of ALL TIME. The question isn't the early stuff, it's "how do you feel about the disco-era stuff," and or "the stuff from the 80s?" 'Cause I would absolutely swear by "Children of the World" and thanks to Keith Patterson in Mpls, I even like Robin Gibb's "Boys Do Fall In Love!"

Luke Witten said...

Yes, yes, I love it all. Though I'm only 21, so until recently I only ever knew them for their disco-era and 80s stuff. So as you could imagine I was pretty shocked when I heard there first few albums.

superbadfriend said...

L-L-L-LOVED THE BEE GEES. What about Paul Evans? Did you like him too?

"Seven Little Girls" was a catchy tune!

superbadfriend said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hey Jon, what's your take on Rush, Kinks, Knack, Ted Nugent, Heart, Cheap Trick, Eagles (a band that seems to be burning out a lot of folks lately) and Tori Amos...

Bee Gees=Indispensable -- I think the Main Course-Children of The World era is my favorite...I also think Spirits Having Flown is a very underrated album...

Anonymous said...

i hate to say it, but i turned to some country. some of its good. hank III, dixie chicks, even toby keith. really.

FEZ BEAR said...

Very early Kenny Winker is worth a trip to the record store.

Jon Hunt said...

>>>Hey Jon, what's your take on Rush<<<

Love them. Like, perhaps more than I should. I dig the 80s Rush more than the 70s Rush -- "Tom Sawyer" over "The Trees," y'know? And have a real soft spot for the LATER 80s, like Hold Yr. Fire and Roll The Bones.

>>> Kinks <<<

Ray Davies is an indesputable genius, and "Village Green Preservation Society" is unstoppably brilliant.

>>> Knack <<<

I've got the Knack, baby!

>>> Ted Nugent <<<

I'm a little down on the Nuge because, y'know, he's the NUGE, but man, the Amboy Dukes were kickass.

>>> Heart <<<

70s Heart is mindbogglingly great. "Dog and Butterfly" -- hoo!

>>> Cheap Trick <<<

Love 'em, but don't know 'em well enough. I'm saving them for JUUUUST the right moment.

>>> Eagles (a band that seems to be burning out a lot of folks lately) <<<

Again, soft spot for 'em -- esp. the first few albums, which I just love. Especially when Jackson Browne is writing for 'em, y'know? I hate "Hotel California" and points thereafter.

>>> and Tori Amos...<<<

RESPECT and ADMIRE but never, ever listen to.

>>>I also think Spirits Having Flown is a very underrated album...<<<

Undoubtedly!!

>>> i hate to say it, but i turned to some country. some of its good. hank III, dixie chicks, even toby keith. really.<<<

You don't have to convince me, country is my bread and butter!

Luke Witten said...

Love the Kinks.'Face to Face' and 'Lola vs Powerman' are two of my favourite albums. I think Ray Davies is a really underrated songwriter.

Anonymous said...

Awesome feedback, Jon...thanks!

I just adored Village Green from the moment I heard it; one classic that lived up to the hype...and I always thought it was cool that I heard Picture Book ages before it became a commercial :-) --But my fave Kinks song has to be "A Rock and Roll Fantasy"...As for Heart, I saw them 5 times between '77 and '86....Opening band for them in '77? The Sanford-Townsend Band :-) (which was so cool because they were from Tuscaloosa in my home state...I still love "Smoke From A Distant Fire"...) Ann Wilson is a vocalist par none and why she and Nance aren't in the Rock Hall is beyond me.

Same goes for Cheap Trick...and make sure (when you're ready) you grab their first 4 studio albums, especially the debut and In Color...and the best from the post Budokan era are: Dream Police, All Shook Up (produced by George Martin), Standing On The Edge (my fave CT album after Budokan with "She's Got Motion", "Tonight It's You" and a beautiful song called "Love Comes") and Cheap Trick '96 (aka the Red Ant album...and make sure you have a hankie ready after "Shelter"; devastatingly beautiful song...Robin Zander is just an amazing singer...like Lennon and McCartney in the same throat :-)

Nick Tangborn said...

I was DJing with my friend Jon at DuNord up here in SF a few years ago. We played a Firefall record, then a Hall and Oates record (Abandoned Luncheonette if you need to know), then some Gentle Giant song. At that point, we both sorta looked at each other and said "is there going to be a point where we wind up liking EVERYTHING we used to hate?"