Music Vote: Which musical artist would you choose?

[DennisN]

Of course, if the list was expanded [...]

For fun, I tried expanding the list for me, and here is how it went:
(Edit 1: I did not think of only deceased, I thought of all my favorite bands I've never seen)

Other artists I wish I would have seen live are R.E.M., Pink Floyd (with Roger Waters present), Guns N' Roses (when they were good), Soundgarden, Eurythmics (at ca 1983-85) and Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill tour; regrettably she canceled a concert I was planning to go to).

Among these, I don't know which one I would buy a ticket to, it would be a VERY hard choice for me.
Hmm, let's cut it down to four:

• David Bowie
• R.E.M.
• Pink Floyd
• Eurythmics

From there it's almost impossible for me to choose only one of them!

Ok, scrap Pink Floyd, they can be rather depressing. Please note I am a huge fan, though .

Ok, David Bowie, R.E.M., Eurythmics...

Darn, they all got so many good songs each of them.

It hurts a lot, but I think I scrap Eurythmics.

Ok, David Bowie versus R.E.M..

Let's try listing five awesome songs with each one:

David Bowie: Life on Mars, Heroes, Ziggy Stardust, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, Let's Dance.
R.E.M.: The One I Love, Get Up, Drive, What's The Frequency, Kenneth?, Losing My Religion.

Do I really have to choose only one of the artists? It's like torture!
First I thought I would go for R.E.M., but then I listened to the five songs by Bowie above.
Again, I choose David Bowie as number one. The songs are just fantastic.

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Luckily I have seen a lot of my other favorites live, among them Pixies (2004 Reunion), The Cure (Disintegration tour 1990), U2 (Achtung Baby tour) and Massive Attack (Mezzanine tour) which are among the most memorable live concerts I've been to.

------------------------------------

Edit 2: I forgot two of the really big ones, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, which of course I also would have loved to see. Other bands I wouldn't mind seeing is Swedish ABBA (of course!)*, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and some of the famous funk bands/funk artists.

* Three awesome ABBA songs of many:

• Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (it is SO well composed, in my opinion, and even Madonna used it)
• The Winner Takes It All (fantastic)
• The Visitors (awesomely haunting, and it's about dissidents in the Soviet Union, Poland maybe, I don't know)

 

[Astronuc]

which are among the most memorable live concerts I've been to.

My memorable concerts were in the 1970s with Spirit, Santana, Yes, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, . . . .

The most memorable was Yes 1978.

 

[BillTre]

Interesting post @DennisN!

It would not surprise me if everybody had a list of favorites many of which would be different or unique.
For example, I really like the band Little Feat (1970's New Orleans-ish funky rock and blues band with fun lyrics).
They were big in the DC area where I regrew up, but mostly southern region:


There several other less popular performers I really like.
As well as some I have seen a lot of.
However, with respect to the original question, some of these guys I have seen a lot of and therefore would be less of a draw for a viewing, compared with seeing some completely different performance(r).

I guess some of this would be age related; what music was current when one's favorites were developing?

Never seen Yes, but I like them!
Did they put on a good show?

 

[Vanadium 50]

DC area where I regrew up, but mostly southern region

DC is the south. The Mason-Dixon Line is the northern border of Maryland.
And, ironically, Lowell George died in the DC area.

 

[BillTre]

DC is the south. The Mason-Dixon Line is the northern border of Maryland.

Culturally, but not politically and with a mixed history.

 

[DennisN]

Little Feat (1970's New Orleans-ish funky rock and blues band with fun lyrics)

I've never heard them before, but they sound very good! I love that kind of groove, and also the musical setup on stage. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[pinball1970]

My memorable concerts were in the 1970s with Spirit, Santana, Yes, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, . . . .

The most memorable was Yes 1978.

That would have been something, I would have liked to have seen Yes in the 70s

 

[PeroK]

The first band I saw live was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in Edinburgh in 1980 (my last year at school):

https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/rainbow--4

The last band I saw was King Crimson at the London Palladium in 2018. Despite the band's age (Robert Fripp is 75 now), they were on stage for nearly three hours. They were utterly brilliant.

 

[Astronuc]

Jimi Hendrix, Little Wing

 

[Klystron]

My memorable concerts were in the 1970s with Spirit, Santana, Yes, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, . . . .

The most memorable was Yes 1978.

Not to foment jealousy, but Carlos Santana formed his blues band and performed all over the San Francisco Bay Area from 1966 onward. I could not count the number of times I heard him and various bandmates play live. Santana opened for other Bay Area bands at fairs and parks, often playing to distracted audiences who came early expecting to hear some popular band.

"Who are these (people)? What are they doing onstage? Checking sound levels?"

Local Santana fans would patiently explain and quiet people down to listen to the great music. Santana provided innovation and mixed genres adding something different each live performance. When Santana opened nights for the Santa Clara County fair circa 1969, each show sounded unique. The first audio cassette tape I owned featured Santana's first album. Carlos would later lament on stage how they missed the early days.

"Now they all want to hear "Jingo Va"; and it better be note perfect to the recording on their album at home lest they complain."

 

[Astronuc]

I could not count the number of times I heard him and various bandmates play live. Santana opened for other Bay Area bands at fairs and parks,

One of the band members was Neal Schon, an American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, best known for his work with the bands Journey and Bad English. He was a member of the rock band Santana before forming Journey, . . . Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Schon

Another Santana member was Gregg Rolie, who served as lead singer of the bands Santana and Journey – both of which he co-founded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Rolie

I listened to Santana in the early 70s, and finally got to see them live in 1977 when Moonflower album was released. About the same time, I saw Journey in a separate concert. By that time, Journey had become more of a pop-rock band. I think there best album was the first one, the eponymous Journey (1975). My favorite Journey tune is "Of a Lifetime".

One band that I didn't see was Quicksilver Messenger Service, which also came out of the San Francisco Bay area. I would have liked to see John Cipollina perform. They had some great tunes like "Fresh Air" (1970), "What About Me" (1971).

 

[Klystron]

One band that I didn't see was Quicksilver Messenger Service, which also came out of the San Francisco Bay area. I would have liked to see John Cipollina perform. They had some great tunes like "Fresh Air" (1970), "What About Me" (1971).

Quicksilver Messenger Service had a large youthful fan base in the Bay Area in that period. The artwork for their "QMS" performances was also very popular with 'psychedelic' concert handouts and posters particularly for Fillmore West and The Family Dog.

I am/was quite poor at remembering the names of musicians, bands and even songs. I could remember and sometimes play musical phrases I heard but was hopeless at discussing band members and who was in and out of which band; a major topic of conversation among teens.

I do remember other 60's-70's local Bay Area band favorites Ace of Cups (all female musicians), It's a Beautiful Day, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and Jefferson Airplane; only the last two achieving international fame AFAIK.

It could be difficult to know for sure if a band was actually local. Many locals assumed Doctor John: The Night-Tripper (Mac Rebennack) to be from the Bay Area, mistaking his thick New Orleans accent for backwoods Northern Californian. On the obverse, many CCR fans assumed Berkeley natives John Fogarty and his brother came from the deep South. The accents can be confusing, particularly on recordings.

 

[BWV]

Have recordings of all of them, now hearing Beethoven, Liszt or Mozart improvise would have been something

 

[JT Smith]

Have recordings of all of them, now hearing Beethoven, Liszt or Mozart improvise would have been something

 

[JT Smith]

I would buy a ticket to any of them, all of them. But if I had to choose just one, it wouldn't be one of those on that odd, limited list. Where did that even come from? There are so many great artists, current as well as past.

 

[DennisN]

But if I had to choose just one, it wouldn't be one of those on that odd, limited list. Where did that even come from?

I'm part guilty, I started the thread. I got it from facebook. I thought it was a fun question so I shared it here.

There are so many great artists, current as well as past.

I agree.

 

[pinball1970]

Wow, very cool!
If I remember correctly the (or one of) the Monterey concert(s) were filmed and considered to be one of the best concerts. According to one of my friends who is a huge fan of Hendrix (and if I remember correctly).

And I would pay a nice amount of cash to see this live, as I would be rocking out in the audience :

Jimi Hendrix - Johnny B Goode (Live at 'The Berkeley Community Theater', 1970)

I saw David Bowie in 2000 at Glastonbury, he was great, did all the old stuff. Hendrix for me though, a game changer.

 

[pinball1970]

I chose Whitney, because I think her performance would be maybe the most powerful/emotional. That kind of thing you can appreciate more live I think.



Jimmy Hendrix, at the time, was really different, and for that earns some points but I only like a few of his songs. His version of Along the Watchtower is one of my favorite songs, as is Little Wing. But his live performances weren't always that great.




He is not dead but this is a lovely little demo of what the pick ups can do on a guitar and he throws in Little Wing.

 

[symbolipoint]

I would buy a ticket to any of them, all of them. But if I had to choose just one, it wouldn't be one of those on that odd, limited list. Where did that even come from? There are so many great artists, current as well as past.

Somebody in the topic explained, the artists on the list are all very popular and are all dead now. I guess if they are all dead, then they WERE popular.

 

[DennisN]

My memorable concerts were in the 1970s with Spirit, Santana, Yes, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, . . . .

The most memorable was Yes 1978.

I just remembered a concert I did not think about before, and thought it would be fun to share a story of since there apparently are a lot of Hendrix fans here.

I once saw the US rock band The Hooters (song examples: Satellite, All You Zombies) on a musical festival in Denmark a long time ago. I knew about them and liked them but I didn't consider myself a huge fan.

It turned out to be one of the best concerts I've ever seen. They were astoundingly good live!
And they won the entire audience easily (a couple of thousand people, if I remember correctly).
The ecstatic audience made the band make several encores, which they did, going way overtime.

But the audience did not want them to go.
Finally they told the audience "we would love to play more, but we are out of rehearsed material" .
And then they started jamming instead, playing Jimi Hendrix songs to the ecstatic audience. And they performed it great.

It was marvellous.

 

[DennisN]

Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and Jefferson Airplane

I couldn't make out from your post if you had seen them live or not.
They did some great songs.

Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit. (wow)
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bad Moon Rising

 

[Klystron]

I couldn't make out from your post if you had seen them live or not.
They did some great songs.

Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit. (wow)
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bad Moon Rising

I cannot remember dates and venues but I saw Jefferson Airplane live a few times, IMS with LA band The Doors once at a concert in California. Never saw the reorganized Jefferson Starship live but enjoyed their albums. Grace Slick was one of my favorite vocalists. "White Rabbit" remains an all time classic.

I heard John Fogarty perform live at the outdoor auditorium in Golden Gate Park but disremember if CCR played sets that day, then again in Berkeley with his brother and bandmates.

Be-ins sprouted all over the San Francisco Bay Area from Summer of 1968 into the 70's. I rarely remember buying tickets or paying admission. As a teen my friends and I often helped bands set up equipment and tune instruments receiving free show passes as payment. Live music seemed ubiquitous back then from school dances (dress codes) to Elks Club (clothing optional swimming pools!) and seemingly every Summer night at Kelly Park in San Jose. Live concerts on the Pacific Coast from Big Sur to Santa Cruz Boardwalk to Half Moon Bay to the old Sutro Baths near Cliff House were legendary.

 

[Astronuc]

Meanwhile, in the UK

The Yardbirds

 

[Hornbein]

So, this musician dies and goes to hell. All the great musicians go to hell. The devil meets him there, and introduces him to his band - on guitars are Brian Jones and Duane Allman. Bass is John Entwistle, "but sometimes Jaco Pastorius sits in". Keyboards is Keith Emerson.

Our musician is wondering "Who's the drummer? John Bonham? Ginger Baker? Maybe Moon? Sure...got to be Keith Moon"

In comes a skinny girl, sits at the drums and she says, "All right everybody. Rainy Days and Mondays, in E-flat".

Karen Carpenter was a really good bebop style drummer. She would get along great with Charlie Parker. That's the band I'd want to see/hear.

 

[pinball1970]

Karen Carpenter was a really good bebop style drummer. She would get along great with Charlie Parker. That's the band I'd want to see/hear.

I have read stories of the fact management had to practically drag her from behind the kit to front the band to sing.

Not many voices like that a beautiful rich velvet tone especially in the lower register where women struggle a little bit.

Lana Del Ray has nice lower tone although I have not heard a huge amount.

Kate Bush for me you may remember ticks all the boxes in terms of having it all.

Those first 3 albums written played sang recorded all before she was 22, she produced the next one which took two years.

Live she sang, played, piano, danced and choreographed the shows, sadly she did not do many and was done by 1980 I think.

Very easy to call her a genius.

 

[DennisN]

Lana Del Ray has nice lower tone although I have not heard a huge amount.

What I've heard with her I like, but same here, I have not heard very much.

Kate Bush for me you may remember ticks all the boxes in terms of having it all.

Those first 3 albums written played sang recorded all before she was 22, she produced the next one which took two years.

Live she sang, played, piano, danced and choreographed the shows, sadly she did not do many and was done by 1980 I think.

She is excellent. She apparently did some live show(s ?) a couple of years ago. One of my friends is a huge fan, and he told me he went to London just to see her perform live. If I remember correctly he told me it was very difficult to get tickets.

 

[pinball1970]

What I've heard with her I like, but same here, I have not heard very much.She is excellent. She apparently did some live show(s ?) a couple of years ago. One of my friends is a huge fan, and he told me he went to London just to see her perform live. If I remember correctly he told me it was very difficult to get tickets.

Yes there is a lot on YouTube and my friend and I celebrated finishing out A levels by watching the video of her live. 1979/80 at the Hammersmith. From memory I think it's the first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart.
Bear in mind the recording equipment they had then the sound is just great.
Why they did not do do a live album is beyond me. I think they developed a special Mike for her so she could dance and sing at the same time.

 

[Hornbein]

I have read stories of the fact management had to practically drag her from behind the kit to front the band to sing.

They say Karen Carpenter wasn't interested in singing and didn't practice. And some say there is no such thing as talent...

Kate Bush invented the modern pop music show focused on dance and costumes. It has taken over the world. First to use a head-mounted microphone. Once I was watching the Hammersmith show and someone said, "She's copying Madonna," Nope, 1979, it's the other way around.

Kate would never board an airplane and in general didn't like performing. As far as I know it was one tour of western Europe tour and that was it.

I think The Ninth Wave is a work of "pop" music that will endure "forever," though it is too dark to be popular. For the playful Kate I like this. That's her husband on guitar.

The dark Kate:



"I chose to film it in a very handsome old military hospital that was derelict at the time. It was a huge, labyrinthine hospital with incredibly long corridors, which was one reason for choosing it. Florence Nightingale had been involved in the design of the hospital. Not something she is well known for but she actually had a huge impact on hospital design that was pioneering and changed the way hospitals were designed from then on.

The video was an intense project and not a comfortable shoot, as you can imagine - a giant of a building, damp and full of shadows with no lighting or heating but it was like a dream to work with such a talented crew and cast with Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Peter Vaughn and Richard Vernon in the staring roles. It was a strange and eerie feeling bringing parts of the hospital to life again. Not long after our work there it was converted into luxury apartments. I can imagine that some of those glamorous rooms have uninvited soldiers and nurses dropping by for a cup of tea and a hobnob."

 

[sysprog]

Well, Whitney was the only one in the collection who could actually sing.

Without a doubt she was the prettiest.

 

[Hornbein]

Without a doubt she was the prettiest.

Michael Jackson. It wasn't an accident that he made the best selling album of all time with 70 million copies. That's 1% of Earth's population. Though his face was like blackjack. Say "hit me" one time too many and you go bust.

 

[fresh_42]

Michael Jackson. It wasn't an accident that he made the best selling album of all time with 70 million copies. That's 1% of Earth's population. Though his face was like blackjack. Say "hit me" one time too many and you go bust.

Spoiler: On your own risk!

 

[pinball1970]

They say Karen Carpenter wasn't interested in singing and didn't practice. And some say there is no such thing as talent...

Kate Bush invented the modern pop music show focused on dance and costumes. It has taken over the world. First to use a head-mounted microphone. Once I was watching the Hammersmith show and someone said, "She's copying Madonna," Nope, 1979, it's the other way around.

Kate would never board an airplane and in general didn't like performing. As far as I know it was one tour of western Europe tour and that was it.

I think The Ninth Wave is a work of "pop" music that will endure "forever," though it is too dark to be popular. For the playful Kate I like this. That's her husband on guitar.

The dark Kate:



"I chose to film it in a very handsome old military hospital that was derelict at the time. It was a huge, labyrinthine hospital with incredibly long corridors, which was one reason for choosing it. Florence Nightingale had been involved in the design of the hospital. Not something she is well known for but she actually had a huge impact on hospital design that was pioneering and changed the way hospitals were designed from then on.

The video was an intense project and not a comfortable shoot, as you can imagine - a giant of a building, damp and full of shadows with no lighting or heating but it was like a dream to work with such a talented crew and cast with Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Peter Vaughn and Richard Vernon in the staring roles. It was a strange and eerie feeling bringing parts of the hospital to life again. Not long after our work there it was converted into luxury apartments. I can imagine that some of those glamorous rooms have uninvited soldiers and nurses dropping by for a cup of tea and a hobnob."

There was a good documentary on her, she preferred drums and was reluctant to sing,.

Imagine hearing that voice in the studio as a producer only to be told, ”I am not that bothered about singing!”

It was very sad what happened to her.

Yes Kate Bush- just pure eccentric crazy talent. She wrote man with Child in his eyes when she was 14 or something!

People go crazy over Adele, Beyonce, Lady Ga Ga, Madonna Pink Riannah and such. Kate Bush is a different league.

Carly Simon, Debbie Harry, Carol King more the type of female artist that impresses me. Good writers players performers, not circus acts in their underwear.

 

[Hornbein]

Carly Simon, Debbie Harry, Carol King more the type of female artist that impresses me. Good writers players performers, not circus acts in their underwear.

Art and entertainment. Two different games.

 

[DennisN]

not circus acts in their underwear

A tough but lovely comment. And quite on point in some cases.

 

[fresh_42]

A tough but lovely comment. And quite on point.

... why did I have Miley Cirus in mind ...

 

[pinball1970]

... why did I have Miley Cirus in mind ...

Yes Miley.
I was very surprised to see this.
No outfits, no tongue sticking out or gyrating.
She can actually sing

 

[pinball1970]

Art and entertainment. Two different games.

Yes but not mutually exclusive. Hendrix won the poll and ticked both boxes.
He loved his art and was a pain for producers because he wanted to do tracks over and over.
On stage he just oozed cool. He didn't need the gimmicks because he was so good.
Freddie bless him was the other way round. He struggled like hell on stage, in the studio and writing he was a genius. Trying to sing it live though? No.

 

[Jodo]

There are more tragic cases outside 27 besides Buddy Holly. Eva Cassidy (33), Melanie Thornton (34). It's not always drugs and Rock'n'Roll.

Eva Cassidy...omg. She had the voice of an angel

 

[Jodo]

Well, Whitney was the only one in the collection who could actually sing.

Errrrr... Freddy Mercury. If I remember correctly he could actually sing.