Music Heroes: Part 1

There are a few people in the music world that I really love, respect and admire. People that not only create amazing, timeless music, but people that carry themselves with integrity and ooze awesomeness.

Tom Petty is one of my greatest music heroes. I hold him in the highest regard, mostly because he has made some truly amazing music throughout his career, but also because he is just so damn likeable and really stands by his beliefs. He is a visionary and a perfectionist and an absolute craftsman.

I recently watched a four hour-long documentary about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (I think it’s called Running Down a Dream), and while it may sound long and arduous, I was completely captivated, mostly due to Tom’s amazing storytelling abilities. Throughout the film he talks at great length about his hometown in Florida, his relationships with his family, his band mates, his experiences on tour and details of his personal life. He also talks about how he took on the music industry…and won (I’ll post more on this later). He also has a truly soothing speaking voice…seriously, people, it could melt butter.

And I love his (their?) music no end. Two of my all-time favourite albums are Tom Petty’s debut solo album, Full Moon Fever, and the Heartbreakers’ record, Southern Accents. Tom can tell a story in a song like nobody’s business. Reading the lyrics to Rebels or Dogs on the Run is like reading the first chapter of a great American road novel (think On The Road). He really is a great American songwriter and half of the appeal of his music is his narrative-style lyrics.

Anyways, I could go on all day about my love for Tom Petty, but let me just finish by saying that he is a musical genius…and seems to have the integrity to back it up.

The List

You know how I said that I love a good list? Well, I really love a good list. A few months back I made a very selective list, which I then turned into a playlist (how good is technology, right?), of my favourite songs of all time. It started out as a top 20, which then morphed into a top 50 and now it’s a top 57.

These, to me, are classic songs by classic bands. Some of them are obvious classics, some of them are (maybe questionable) personal classics, and some of them have just stuck with me for a very long time.

There were a few self-imposed rules applied to the list – one song only per band/artist, the songs had to mean something to me etc. I must also point out that the list isn’t completely reflective of my overall music collection or taste (for example, there is a U2 song on the list and I’m definitely not a U2 fan…I think Bono is a turd). Also, the list is not in any particular order…that would have been way too hard.

Anyways, enough prefacing. Here is the list! And feel free to judge…haters to the left!

1. Longview – Green Day

2. Don’t Forget Me – Red Hot Chili Peppers

3. Everlong – Foo Fighters

4. Rat Fink – The Misfits

5. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

6. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

7. Sweet Thing – Van Morrison

8. A Man Needs a Maid – Neil Young

9. This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

10. Neighborhood #2 (Laika) – The Arcade Fire

11. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

12. Boiled Frogs – Alexisonfire

13. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division

14. Close to Me – The Cure

15. Bigmouth Strikes Again – The Smiths

16. Know Your Quarry – Biffy Clyro

17.Baba O’Riley – The Who

18. I Never Came – Queens of the Stone Age

19. Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

20. Bandoliers – Them Crooked Vultures

21. Rearview Mirror – Pearl Jam

22. Havana Affair – The Ramones

23. Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie

24. Ashes to Ashes – Faith No More

25. Temptation – New Order

26. Plug in Baby – Muse

27. An Ode to No One – Smashing Pumpkins

28. Love, You Should Come Over – Jeff Buckley

29. These Foolish Things – Ella Fitzgerald

30. New York, New York – Frank Sinatra

31. Money Money 2020 – The Network

32. Parabola – Tool

33. This is the Day – The The

34. Breed – Nirvana

35. Fireball – Deep Purple

36. Carvel – John Frusciante

37. Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles

38. Sabotage – Beastie Boys

39. Wild Horses – The Rolling Stones

40. The Perfect Drug – Nine Inch Nails

41. Emo – Blink 182

42. London Calling – The Clash

43. Good Die Young – The Divinyls

44. Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N’Roses

45. There Was a Time – James Brown

46. Fight the Feeling – The Music

47. Summer Cannibals – Patti Smith

48. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

49. Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead

50. America – Simon and Garfunkel

51. Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2

52. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love – Van Halen

53. Tiny Dancer – Elton John

54. Rebels – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

55. Smallpox Champion – Fugazi

56. Massive – The Loved Ones

57. Paper Tiger - Beck

Reviewed: The Cure, Sydney Opera House 31.05.2011

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Cure’s Reflections concert at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall as part of the Vivid Live festival. Now, I should preface this by saying that I go to a lot of gigs. I’ve seen a lot of bands over the years and have been to all manner of concerts and festivals. Of all the concerts I’ve been to over the years, this was definitely one of the most special and the most memorable gigs I have ever experienced.

Sitting just seven rows back in a 2,000 capacity venue with a clear, uninterrupted view of the stage (and the legendary Robert Smith in his classic garb, wild hair and red lipstick), I experienced over three and a half hours of Cure gold.

Most people associate the Cure with gothic get up and quirky ‘80s pop songs like The Love Cats and Friday I’m in Love, but during the Reflections gig, we were treated to their first three albums, played in their entirety.

Image courtesy of smh.com.au

When they first appeared on the side of the stage, Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper were greeted with a standing ovation and a roar of cheers. Given the overly enthusiastic reactions, it was clear that the audience was made up of truly dedicated fans (the fact that tickets sold on eBay for up to $1,700 hammered this home).

After soaking up the gratitude of their fans for a few moments, the band launched into the first song from their first album – 10:15 Saturday Night from the Three Imaginary Boys album. They powered through their debut album, full of short sharp post-punk classics. While Robert Smith didn’t interact with the crowd a great deal, he did finish each song with a big smile and a “CUE!” (“thank you” in abbreviated Robert Smith slang), and often interjected with some mild banter (“In the olden days, that’s all you’d get at a gig…but we’re coming back to play two more records!”).

After a short break, the band reappeared with the addition of Roger O’Donnell on keyboards and launched into the Seventeen Seconds album (my favourite Cure album of all time). By the time they ripped into Play for Today, I was in heaven. Their performance of the album was note perfect, but still managed to capture that raw energy that only a live performance can deliver. The performance of this album really got the crowd going, and 30 seconds into the first song, the whole crowd was on their feet, dancing awkwardly and singing along to every lyric.

After another short break (a wee wee break, as Robert Smith suggested), the band returned once again, adding Lol Tolhurst on percussion, to perform the album Faith. Hearing this album in its entirety was beautifully melancholic with the highlight being the hauntingly ethereal song, The Funeral Party. This song in particular had the audience completely captivated and if it weren’t for the music, I’m sure you could have heard a pin drop.

Once they finished Faith, the entire audience seemed completely enraptured and the screams of gratitude kept getting louder and louder. Luckily, after they finished their first three albums, they returned to the stage and performed not one, not two, but three encores. That’s right. Three encores full of b-sides, album tracks and hit singles.

The first encore was full of older b-sides such as Plastic Passion and Killing an Arab (which Robert Smith, observing political correctness, sung as “killing another”…which was a bit pointless as he was drowned out by the crowd singing “Arab” anyway), while the second encore contained more otherworldly melancholy treats like Descent and The Hanging Garden.

The final encore was the obvious crowd pleaser with three upbeat pop gems, Let’s Go To Bed, The Walk and (the cherry on top) The Love Cats rounding it all off. Robert used The Love Cats as an opportunity to ham it up and let his quirky persona shine…which thrilled the crowd no end.

The whole experience was surreal. The sheer volume of material played was incredible. The acoustics in the Concert Hall and the intimate feel of the gig were mind blowing. The fact that true music legends were a mere 15 meters away, playing some of my favourite songs of all time was overwhelming. And the fact that it was all being filmed and will be turned into a DVD will be the greatest bit of gig memorabilia ever.

Why Hello There

Hello and welcome. This is my first adventure into the world of blogging. Working in PR, I write for a living. I used to love writing until I had to do it eight hours a day, five days a week….about real estate. Fun times. I guess this is my way of rekindling the love and getting my creativity back.

I am also completely obsessed with music. When I’m not chained to ye old work desk, I’m listening to, thinking about and reading about music. I also spend most of my spare cash on gig tickets, new albums, music DVDs and the odd bit of merch.

So I guess this blog serves two purposes – 1) to get back my love of writing and 2) as an outlet to release my inner music nerd.

I’m also a BIG fan of lists, so expect many lists on many topics.

Enjoy!



This is where I'd rather be right now...