Today at the gym, I saw myself in the reflection of the window and thought to myself, "I wonder what people would think if they knew the type of music I was listening to." I was wearing a very bright tye-dye t-shirt that I made at Girl Scout Camp, black shorts, my hair was up, and bright blue and green tennis shoes. From this description alone, you probably wouldn't think I was listening to rock, metal (much less heavy metal) or anything else in those genres.
Well that is exactly what I was listening to.
When that thought popped in my head I was listening to Judas Priest followed by Black Sabbath. I had to stop lifting at that moment because I was laughing too hard.
So what do you listen to when you work out? Is it a contradiction to what you wear too?
A long long time ago (back in the 50's), there was this man named Buddy Holy. Buddy Holly was one of the first musicians to write all of his own songs; this was not appreciated by many because the majority of the audience does not care who wrote the songs, they just cared that they can listen to the final product. Buddy Holly also did experiments in the recording studio which led to new techniques that are used today, such as echo effects and close miking, or the use of several microphones instead of just one which hung from the ceiling.
The Day the Music Died Day, today, commemorates the death of singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper. These three Rock singers died in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959. They were at the height of their career and popularity. These three were among the top of the 1950's generation's music idols. Those who grew up in the fifties mourned the premature deaths of their music idols. Memorials and remembrances occurred for years. Today, there are many websites memorializing their deaths, and detailing the events before and after the tragedy, but the most famous is the song by Don McLean: Bye Bye Miss American Pie. This song, one of the longest of it's time at a record eight and a half minutes mourns their deaths, relating them to The Father (Holly), Son (Big Bopper), and Holy Ghost (Valens).
Buddy Holly did a lot in his short cut life to revitalize the music industry. Who knows what he could have done and where our music would be today if his life was not cut short by that plane crash.
So I assign you this: go listen to some Buddy Holly, maybe you like Not Fade Away, or Everyday, maybe you would prefer Holly Hop or That'll Be The Day is more your thing. Please listen to this music and think about how incredible it was for him to revolutionize music as we know it today.
Today is one for the record books. Today, back in 1969 Led Zeppelin released their debut album. Many of you probably don't even know who The New Yardbirds where or why I am talking about them with Led Zeppelin. If you don't, that's fine, you will gain a little Rock 'N' Roll knowledge right now and if you do, you still might learn something fun. They Yardbirds, with member Jimmy Page, was on tour when they broke up in '68. Page felt committed to the tour so he called on Robert Plant, who wasn't Page's first choice for vocals, John Paul Jones for bass and John Bonham on drums which Page continued to play the guitar. Page remained the band from The Yardbirds to The New Yardbirds. Once the tour ended, they signed with Atlantic Records who said their music would go over like a lead zeppelin (remember, this is the same time as The Beatles were hitting it big and a year before they would split, and The Rolling Stones). Page and the gang liked the name and recorded their debut album in less than 30 hours!
Led Zeppelin's biggest selling album (Led Zeppelin IV) never reached #1 in the U.S. but that never stopped Led Zeppelin doing what they did best, which was looking for new way to make music. Most notably was Jimmy Page who wanted mastered the double neck guitar, play mind blowing solos and using a violin bow instead of strumming with a traditional pick.
If it wasn't for Jimmy Page wanting to keep the tour contract, we would never have such great albums from Led Zeppelin that inspired new musicians to come up with their own form of rock. Thank you Jimmy Page.
