Way OT: Music you missed the first time around

[tomcat]

I've wanted to post this one for a couple of years now and never got around to it. At a time when we're casting about for topics out of season, I thought this one might work well.

It is premised on the concept that many BYers are seriously into music (which I know to be true based on a variety of posts in the past) So here's the idea: I happened to go to college and was in my 20s and single (which I consider to be prime music-listening time) during the 70s, when a lot of important music was happening. Yet, looking back on which I listened to in the 70s and 80s, I realize that I missed a lot of music that, now, I really like and regret not having listened to back then.

Here's my list:
Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler. Now he's my favorite guitarist, but back then, I missed these guys completely. Don't know why, because their music is the style I liked even back then. If only I had heard "Romeo and Juliet" instead of "Sultans of Swing."
Pink Floyd. Guess I thought you had to be stoned to appreciate these guys. Now I listen to "Learning to Fly," or "On the Turning Away," and I cannot believe I missed out on a ton of really good music.
Queen. It took listening to some Queen-type bands that I really liked -- fun., for one and a band local to Arizona called Ladylike -- for me to appreciate what Queen brought to the table. Their music was all over, and I just thought it was pop. Which it was, plus more.

There are more, but those are my top three regrets. What are yours?

 

[lne001]

Interesting premise (and congrats on your three choices, gems all). The music I liked during my first 20 years on earth is too embarrassing to mention. For the next 35 years I was hooked on classic rock, with an alternative nod to The Talking Heads. That all changed 15 years ago with the internet and my stumbling on old time blues. Now you will find me listening to Big Bill Broonzy, Walter Horton, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson and hundreds of others. Better late than never.

Here's a taste -

 

[Kibitzer]

1974. I had just retired from the US Army (20 years including 2x in VN) and spotted a little recurring ad in The Boston Globe about a place called Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony. So off we went and sat in the massive (5,000 seats) shed to enjoy watching and listening to a youthful Pinchas Zukerman perform works by Bach and Vivaldi.

That was about the last time we sat inside because we noticed that the "regulars" were spread out comfortably all over the vast and meticulously manicured lawn, picnicking.

I went off to work in Saudi Arabia for a couple years where I met the future Mrs. Kibitzer. Entertainment opportunities were severely limited so we made do by picnicking in the desert. (You should see here this narrative is headed.) We learned, for example, how convenient it was to dine or recline on a 4x6 oriental rug, a practice we continued for 35+ years.

Fast forward to 1978, when picnicking at Tanglewood became a frequent family ritual, especially on sunny Sunday afternoons. At least once every year we would assemble, once peaking at 20+ members of our meshpuchah, to share some culinary masterpiece, listen to immortal music and be captivated by a host of legendary artists.

Among them: Leonard Bernstein, James Galway, Dave Brubeck, Lena Horne, Van Cliburn, Andre Previn, Arlo Guthrie. Itzhak Perlman, Roberta Peters, Zubin Mehta, and dozens of others -- classical, jazz, pop.

We thrilled to the fireworks (and cannons) during Tchaikowski's "1812 Overture" and got drenched during a cloudburst that magically arrived during the "Storm Movement" of Beethoven's 6th "Pastoral" Symphony. And our picnicking rose to an art form.

Oh yeah, my regrets. Only two:

- I didn't discover this heavenly destination until I was 40+; and,
- Couldn't make it this year for the Bob Dylan concert on July 7.

​

 

[wire chief]

I've wanted to post this one for a couple of years now and never got around to it. At a time when we're casting about for topics out of season, I thought this one might work well.

It is premised on the concept that many BYers are seriously into music (which I know to be true based on a variety of posts in the past) So here's the idea: I happened to go to college and was in my 20s and single (which I consider to be prime music-listening time) during the 70s, when a lot of important music was happening. Yet, looking back on which I listened to in the 70s and 80s, I realize that I missed a lot of music that, now, I really like and regret not having listened to back then.

Here's my list:
Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler. Now he's my favorite guitarist, but back then, I missed these guys completely. Don't know why, because their music is the style I liked even back then. If only I had heard "Romeo and Juliet" instead of "Sultans of Swing."
Pink Floyd. Guess I thought you had to be stoned to appreciate these guys. Now I listen to "Learning to Fly," or "On the Turning Away," and I cannot believe I missed out on a ton of really good music.
Queen. It took listening to some Queen-type bands that I really liked -- fun., for one and a band local to Arizona called Ladylike -- for me to appreciate what Queen brought to the table. Their music was all over, and I just thought it was pop. Which it was, plus more.

There are more, but those are my top three regrets. What are yours?

Let me help you figure it all out.

1) Once Princess Diana (despite her general popularity) announced that Dire Straits was her favorite band, dj's, fearful of getting a nerdy reputation, stopped playing their music.
2) You missed learning that there is a drug for all occasions. Where would Sinatra's SET 'EM UP JOE be without a bevy of drunkards
3) Once the Detroit Lions started playing ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST after every touchdown, the team quickly ran out of TD's,
and there went the group.

I hope that's been enlightening. Now I myself didn't scrimp on 70's music, just all that came after. The only band I'm familiar with
this century is Evanescence. Oh, the shame of it all.

 

[bags27]

1974. I had just retired from the US Army (20 years including 2x in VN) and spotted a little recurring ad in The Boston Globe about a place called Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony. So off we went and sat in the massive (5,000 seats) shed to enjoy watching and listening to a youthful Pinchas Zukerman perform works by Bach and Vivaldi.

That was about the last time we sat inside because we noticed that the "regulars" were spread out comfortably all over the vast and meticulously manicured lawn, picnicking.

I went off to work in Saudi Arabia for a couple years where I met the future Mrs. Kibitzer. Entertainment opportunities were severely limited so we made do by picnicking in the desert. (You should see here this narrative is headed.) We learned, for example, how convenient it was to dine or recline on a 4x6 oriental rug, a practice we continued for 35+ years.

Fast forward to 1978, when picnicking at Tanglewood became a frequent family ritual, especially on sunny Sunday afternoons. At least once every year we would assemble, once peaking at 20+ members of our meshpuchah, to share some culinary masterpiece, listen to immortal music and be captivated by a host of legendary artists.

Among them: Leonard Bernstein, James Galway, Dave Brubeck, Lena Horne, Van Cliburn, Andre Previn, Arlo Guthrie. Itzhak Perlman, Roberta Peters, Zubin Mehta, and dozens of others -- classical, jazz, pop.

We thrilled to the fireworks (and cannons) during Tchaikowski's "1812 Overture" and got drenched during a cloudburst that magically arrived during the "Storm Movement" of Beethoven's 6th "Pastoral" Symphony. And our picnicking rose to an art form.

Oh yeah, my regrets. Only two:

- I didn't discover this heavenly destination until I was 40+; and,
- Couldn't make it this year for the Bob Dylan concert on July 7.

​

Great post! Tanglewood's a treasure, Kibitzer, that we embarrassingly don't take enough advantage of, living only 2 hrs drive away. A rule in life: the closer you live to something important, the less often you take advantage of it (just ask all those New Yorkers!). One of my favorite memories is driving through upstate New York one summer on the way back from Cooperstown (Glimmerglass!) and quite spontaneously dropping in on Saratoga Springs, where we scored great seats to the Philadelphia Orchestra doing Beethoven's 9th!! What a glorious evening. So much great summer music in New England.

BTW, while I can't comment on Dylan at Tanglewood, I have a friend, a professional Dylan head (writes on and teaches about him), who saw him in Maine in July--and said he was fantastic: spontaneous and inventive, like his old self. I saw him maybe 18 months ago, and he was very self-controlled. Same playlist everywhere and very self-protective and mannered on stage. But apparently, he's going through yet another metamorphosis.

 

[UcMiami]

Someone mentioned it in passing above - Frank Sinatra - watching Twyla Tharp's choreography to a selection of Sinatra tunes changed my mind about him and I went back and discovered his early work - so much better than the Vegas production of his later years.

Elvis - the rocker vs. the las vegas production was another revelation.

Patsy Cline - same kind of thing, going back to discover something that i had dismissed as 'country'.