16 Musicians/Bands I Enjoy

WARNING...YOU MAY DISAGREE!!!

Music is probably the Universal Language...next to English (Some will say Esperanto), but there's some musicians I like more than others, and here's another Top-16 List...This Time it's Bands/Musicians I like.





Chicago is known for many things, Deep-Dish Pizzas, Their format of Hot Dogs (I enjoy a Chicago Dog once in awhile, I don't even miss the ketchup), skyscrapers, The Cubs that CAN'T get to The World Series (And I thought The Cleveland Indians HAD Bad Luck), but Chicago is known for their Band called...what else?...Chicago! Known as The Chicago Transist Authority...they had it shortened for the Chicago Mayor so that there'd be NO lawsuits. Most of the band IS from Chicago, except for Robert Lamm the keyboard player who was from Brooklyn. But the Rock band with Horns NEVER lost their sound even after the death of guitarist of Terry Kath and the vocalist/bassist of Peter Cetara.



The duo that once called themselves Tom and Jerry...No, NOT like the Cat and Mouse Duo...were one of the many influential bands of the 60's who had a that Bob Dylan-esque style and with a hint of The Everly Brothers. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle worked as a team for 7 years. Starting with "Sound of Silence" and ending with a #1 Album called "Bridge Over Troubled Water"....





Why is everybody STILL talking about Nilsson? Here's why....

Harry Nilsson, born in 1941 has made many songs for films like "Midnight Cowboy", TV Shows like "Courtship of Eddie's Father", and many sountrack films like "Popeye" and Groucho Marx's Last film "Skidoo".

As you hear this song...you know why Lennon and McCartney said Nilsson was their favorite musician!...



Too bad alcoholism took Nilsson's life in 1994. :(





Todd Rundgren is a genius, he surpassed many decades from the 60's in Nazz to now where he does many concerts. Todd's best album is "Something/Anything?" A Double-Album that has Todd playing most of the instruments. And who can't forget Todd Rundgren's song "Hello, It's Me" playing on "That 70's Show"?





Billy "Piano Man" Joel has made many great hits ranking from "Piano Man" to "River of Dreams". Born in New York, Joel started playing piano ever since he was a boy. Billy Joel has made a few duds "We Didn't Start The Fire" but he made it up for other songs and albums, like "Piano Man", "The Stranger", and "An Innocent Man".



One says that they like Peter Gabriel's Genesis, others will say they like Phil Collins' Genesis. But I like BOTH versions of Genesis! Phil Collins was a good leader after Peter Gabriel left Genesis, he brought "Trick of the Tail" and "Abacab". Peter Gabriel brought "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" and "The Musical Box" which HAD Phil Collins...on Drums....





If you're from The United Kingdom...you may know about The Divine Comedy, but if you're from The States...The Divine Comedy are an underground band.

But mostly...The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon who formed The Divine Comedy in 1990, "The Fanfare for the Common Muse" was their 1st album...but not their true album, it would be 1993 when "Liberation" was released.

I still wish The Divine Comedy would make it big in The United States one day....





Though Francis Albert Sinatra may have NEVER embraced Rock Music, his 100th Birthday (2015) WILL be celebrated. He's the Chairman of the Board! He formed Reprise Records! He was part of The Rat Pack!

If there was NO Frank Sinatra...there'd be NO Rock and Roll! (Hey, how many people screamed and fainted by seeing Sinatra? It later happened to Elvis, The Beatles, and...*GULP*...Justin Beiber. But Beiber CAN'T be NO Sinatra)!







There were Two Bands that seemed to dominate the 70's...Led Zepelin and The Who. Zepplin was for The Stoners, The Who was for The Jocks!

Well...I side with The Who! The wacky drumming of Keith Moon, The Windmill Guitar Moves of Pete Townsend, The vocalazations of Roger Daltry, and there's John Entwhistle who's a great bass player.

The Who were too, like Zepelin were Album-Oriented-Rock with "Tommy", "Who's Next", and "Quadrophenia"!

Though I do like Led Zeppelin...give me The Who Anyday!





Now...Stevie Wonder has made 3 Grammy-winning albums in 4 years ("Innervisions", "Fufilligness First Finale", and "Songs in the Key of Life"). And like Todd Rundgren and Paul McCartney...Wonder did most of the music by playing keyboards and drums! Wonder plays harmonica too.

And despite Stevie Wonder having a vision disablity (He's blind) he can play the keyboards, drums, and harmonica like no one else.





No doubt the best guitarist ever HAS to be on this list! James Marshall Hendrix didn't need three decades...he just had three years to show what he can do with a guitar. Jimi didn't get much response in the U.S., so he went to The United Kingdom to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience (No Member is alive as we speak) and Paul McCartney suggested that Hendrix play at The Monterrey Pop International Festival.

Only Five albums were released when Jimi Hendrix was around, with The Experience it was..."Are You Experienced", "AXIS: Bold As Love", and "Electric Ladyland" (Hendrix actually HATED The U.K. Cover with the Naked Ladies...true story). Hendrix would have an album called "Band of Gypsies" before his death and when he died..."The Cry of Love".

Known Fact...during The Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, Hendrix jammed with Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer (The band would supposed to be named HELP) but when Hendrix died in 1970...Emerson, Lake, and Palmer would reform...without Hendrix.:(





If you take the lyrics of Bob Dylan, the guitar works of Jimi Hendrix, the organ movements of Johan Sebastian Bach, and the vocals of Ray Charles...you get Procol Harum!

Procol Harum had their moment with "A Whiter Shade of Pale", but they've had many great songs after that...songs such as "Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)", "Piggy Pig Pig", "Grand Hotel", and "Skating on Thin Ice" to name a few!

Highly underappreciated...Procol Harum is the pinnacle of Baroque-Rock! I hope one day The Rock Hall Nominates Procol Harum...but they'll be in when Cleveland wins a Championship!





The Moody Blues started as a Blues Band with Denny Laine (Who would later join Paul McCartmey's band Wings), but in 1966...The Moody Blues became Moody when John Lodge and Justin Hayward would join The Moody Blues and had 7 Albums that would be the origins of Progressive Rock. I enjoy "Nights in White Satin", but the album "On a Threshold of a Dream" is the best Moody Blues album out there.





The Barenaked Ladies have the witty humor of Ray Stevens and "Weird Al" Yankovic and the seriousness of The Band and Buffalo Springfield. Barenaked Ladies had their moment with Steve Page and Ed Robertson, but since Page has gone solo...I wonder if The Barenaked Ladies will STILL make humorus albums?





The ONLY band to outrival The Beatles were...The Beach Boys! It was more of a friendly rivalry because once The Beatles released "Rubber Soul", Brian Wilson would make the BEST Beach Boys album ever..."Pet Sounds", even Paul McCartney LOVED the album...especially "God Only Knows". But The Beach Boys would collapse in 1967 once "Smile" would be shelved for 30+ years...after Brian Wilson would release it in 2004.

The Beach Boys WAS Brian Wilson, Mike Love now controls The Beach Boys and has since 1967 once Brian Wilson went AWOL after "Smile" didn't get released. Today, The Beach Boys celebrate their 50th anniversary...I hope to see them this year, though I prefer to see Brian Wilson with The Beach Boys because despite all the drugs and such...Brian Wilson IS A Genius!





No Surprise here...The Beatles HAD eight years and that's all they need to shock Rock Music! John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were just adequate musicians, but BOTH Lennon and McCartney have made a lot of songs that changed the decade and lifetime. In 1964, The Beatles came to The United States three months after John Fitzgerald Kennedy's death. It seemed the young people at that time needed someone to look up to, the sure couldn't get that with Lyndon Johnson.

But what The Beatles did to recreate Rock and Roll was that The Beatles released "Yesterday" which basically bridged the gap between the new music and the older music that The Builders would listen to (Glen Miller and Benny Goodman). McCartney enjoyed the music of yesteryear because his father James was a musician too.

In 1970...The Beatles broke-up. John Lennon would make music alongside with Yoko Ono in New York City...but would face his fate in 1980 by Mark David Chapman. Paul McCartney would form Wings after the Break-up with his 1st Wife Linda Eastman and Denny Laine, but it would end in 1980 when Mccartney was arrested in Japan for marijuana posession...but Paul McCartney still makes music at the age of 70, despite losing Linda Eastman in 1998. George Harrison made "All Things Must Pass" after the break-up as well as "Give me Love (Give me Peace on Earth)", but 30 years after his #1 album...he died of cancer. And Ringo Starr is STILL touring with his All-Starr Band.

And like in the song The End...