I have realised that most of my blog posts begin along the lines of ‘since I started uni…’ and well, this one is no exception.
It’s safe to say that since moving down to where I am now, music has been an ever-growing importance to me and well, a wonderful invention called CDs have made it something more. Perhaps now I have too many? Or I’d argue not enough, but regardless of how many I’ve somehow managed to squeeze on my shelf – isn’t it wonderful?
After purchasing a lava lamp Wednesday, I’ve noticed my mood chill out. The blue bubbles of lave bounce off each other in a kind of boring but weirdly relaxing way and have somehow inspired me to actually do something.
Considering the fact that my end of year exams are only a week away, you’d think that I’d do some revision, right?
No.
Well I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve been a little distracted. Continue reading
As I moved into my flat in student halls, I was too excited to care about all the nonsense people had warned me about. Nonsense like not spending too much in your first few weeks, look after your diet and more importantly, what James told me about getting out for a bit.
Instead, I overspent on everything, drank way too much and ate utter rubbish. The working side of things wasn’t an issue yet, I was settling in and meeting my new drinking buddies. I mean, I managed to get myself a part-time job the day after I moved in, but that was a weekend thing and the uni course wasn’t due to start for another few weeks. Instead, I became a student and followed all the routine student doings that new students do in a very student round about way.
For me, as we began to settle down on the course, the drinking slowed down and the Continue reading
Those six months went by fairly quickly with tonnes of end of year coursework and a dragged-out breakup but I made it to the door and rang the bell on the Monday morning ready to start work. I had no idea what I’d be doing and who I’d be meeting, so I was dressed smartly and prepared for anything. Or at least that’s what I thought. James met me at the door and showed me into a meeting room. We discussed what would be happening throughout the week and said that Metallica would be coming down on Wednesday and a phone interview with You Me At Six on Friday on top of the generic work experience jobs like sorting out the mail. Luckily for me, making cups of tea wasn’t a job in my task book!
WIN!
The mail job sounded pretty easy. Sort the post into piles of who’s they were before dishing them out accordingly. The only problem was, this is a music based radio station, that has a very popular unsigned show. This was also notably the peak time in the year for unsigned releases as they were sending in their demos ready for the summer and festival period. Postal sacks, yes, multiple, landed on my desk and I began to dig deep. It didn’t take me long to be overwhelmed with identical jiffy bags form unsigned bands trying to stand out from the crowd. Kind of ironic really. Continue reading
Twelve months ago, I had my first work experience in commercial radio.
It was offered to me six months earlier in the weirdest of ways and despite it only been a week or so in duration, there are things which I learned there that I could not have been taught elsewhere.
I received a text from one of my then-teachers saying that there was a gaming careers talk at the other college campus, which meant nothing to me. Why on earth would I be interested in a talk about how to get a career into game design and the world of COD? My teacher replied back with a ‘lol’ before explaining that one of the guest speakers was ‘someone who ran a local radio station’. The message came days after he found out my passion for radio was a hell of a lot bigger than making podcasts for an independent record label and so he made a call and I was there.
Being honest, I hadn’t an idea what was going on and had my mind on a recording session the following morning at a recording studio in central Birmingham. I still hadn’t properly learned the song (typical for a guitarist…) and here I was, sitting in a hot and stuffy room, listening to a bunch of men talk about gaming. That was until the radio dude stood up. I sat forward and took out my little jotters pad and pen ready to make notes on anything interesting he says. Continue reading
Having spent £9,000 on my first year at uni, you’d think I’d have learned a lot wouldn’t you?
Well, actually, I have.
As I begin to contemplate revising for my end of year exams, I came to realise that I learned way more than what was taught in lectures and seminars. In fact, putting the food poisoning to one side, I believe that I have become a different person.
For example, the embarrassment of having the lyrics to Grease Lightening blue-tacked to my mirror seen by girl has made me more socially awkward and having nearly been shot outside MI6, well that’s made me realise that you can’t take pictures of their building at midnight, wearing all black, half an hour after a terrorist attack in America. Continue reading
Today is a good day. It’s official.
The sun is out, I can’t hear any birds but that’s okay because it’s a great day.
For me, the day had been set in my diary as one that was going to be terrible because of an expected rota change at work, however after turning up at my new time, I figured that actually it wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Despite the stock-take happening tomorrow, the panic I was told to expect was fairly minimal as the senior staff shared out their checklists and left me training a new guy in hard-drives. In all honesty, I’m not sure how long he’s going to last as well, in a job where human interaction is well, necessary, he seems to not understand the concept of speaking.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though, for now, as I guess he’s nervous. We all were when starting the job and yes, he’s a lot younger than anyone in the store – trumping my spot as the youngest kid in the team – but still, to not say a word? While introducing myself, all he did was nod and even after asking him for his name, I had to check the rota what it was. But he seems a nice lad, as you can tell he’s quiet, but nice. Continue reading
I’ll be honest, I’m a little exhausted.
From the 2nd of January, working has become a part of my natural routine. Whether I be preparing reviews, or writing blog posts. I’ve directed a music video, podcasted for 12 weeks as well as producing a new radio programme. Featuring regularly too on the CityOnAir news bulletins, studying full time on a demanding course and then, nailing down a part-time job at weekends – yeah, it’s been interesting.
A lot of people ask how I do it, how do I cope?
I think I’ve always said that I don’t cope, but then I think I have. Continue reading
I had a reality check tonight while at a gig. After finishing a conversation with a pianist who had just performed twenty minutes improv on stage and when introducing myself to a photographer. It was quite a surreal moment and it all began when he asked if I could play any instrument.
For an eighteen year old, to have been playing for ten years and to have done gigs at the Cavern Club, NEC, Symphony Hall, Jam House, NIA, O2 Academy, HMV Institute, Birmingham Ballroom, Town Hall, Villa Park and well, if its in Birmingham, you can sure add it to the list too. That’s not bad. I then began thinking about when I met Roger Taylor as a kid and having Steven K Amos buying you pints, that’s not bad.
But these don’t really hit me as much as the next thought that passed my mind. Continue reading
The Stereophonics are set to release their 8th studio album, Graffiti on the Train, this coming Monday. Despite three of the songs being released as singles already, you can listen to the entire album on the Telegraph website.
Along with many other fans of the band, I have been waiting for a number of years since Keep Calm and Carry On for this new album and after listening to it online, I am not disappointed. The standard version, and the deluxe edition, are both on pre-sale in many places but In A Moment, Indian Summer and Violins and Tambourines are all out now and offer a great idea as to what the album entails.
The band are best known for hits including Dakota, Superman, A Thousand Trees, Vegas Two Times, Moviestar, Have A Nice Day and a duet with Tom Jones in his Mamma Told Me Not To Come.
It is with great excitement that I can write about the upcoming Rock and Pop Festival this year organised by the Solihull Music Service.
Backstage at last year’s festival
The Midlands based festival is set up by music teachers in Solihull so that young musicians have a platform to build confidence under the limelight and there’s been no better venues than the ones this service has found.
Apart from the festival, smaller gigs are run throughout the year in preparation for the bigger stages. In the time that I was a member of the service, I was doing regular gigs at venues across Birmingham and some of them included the Town Hall and NEC. I was even lucky enough to travel to Liverpool a couple of times to take to the stage at the Cavern Club – famous for the Beatles.
With the economy being the way it is, the future for these gigs and the festival has been a slippery slope but to hear that the festival is returning this year is more than fantastic and the announcement of its new venue, the O2 Academy Birmingham, is excellent.
More information on the festival can be found on their website, and for the music service itself you can find that information here. Tickets for this years festival will be available to purchase for £9 (£7 concessions) very soon but keep that date free in your diary!
Something which I failed to mention in my previous article, which is slightly important and thats the whole business side of things.
Back in 2011, HMV had 19.1% of all music sales in the United Kingdom. At the same time, Apple’s iTunes had 17.9 – a close battle indeed but HMV were still ahead, just. Amazon managed to take up control of online CD sales by a LOT but these are companies that aren’t based in the UK, unlike HMV. Continue reading
Music is an industry that cannot die for many reasons – not just the fact that I love the stuff. Music is everywhere and as well as being a form of entertainment, it is used as a commodity, a way of messaging and a way of brainwashing people. Everywhere you turn, music is following your every move. It watches you sleep and is the hand that grabs you when you’re in the shower. It is everywhere.
Actually, unlike that creepy hand in the shower; it is in shops, on the bus, on the tube and in your head. It’s on the television, radio (of course), the laundrette and probably your mums kitchen too. Continue reading
After returning home from my weekly food shop, I clicked my way onto the internet and up come my home pages. Six of them in fact and in order, they are; Sky News, Facebook, Twitter, then the WordPress Dashboard for both my sites and then finally Moodle for university work.
On the first page, which took my attention straight away, “HMV Poised To Call In Administrators” is written in a scrolling message bar, bright yellow across my screen. Continue reading
Taking a couple of weeks out of the heat of the kitchen at home and living off your mum’s cooking doesn’t sound like a bad idea, in fact, it’s a wonderful idea. For the first time in three or so months, I tasted vegetables and meat cooked properly. I enjoyed lamb chops and parsnips, carrots too! However, this ultimate luxury wasn’t going to last for long as I would soon enough be returning to London and that would mean having to be independent, once again.
The whole idea of living independently sounds ace, until you realise that as soon as you dump your stuff in the flat, you have to immediately do a quick shop for toilet paper, a bottle of milk and a packet of chewing gum before TESCO closes. What is really scary, that return to the kitchen that you have to do. If you leave it too late, and you’ll forget how not to give yourself food poisoning, return too soon and you think you remember well enough, but it’ll turn out you really haven’t a clue.
Now that it’s been a week since my return, I decided to really venture out and cook something special. I combined all the things I learned since starting uni, and all the tips my wonderful mum has shown me over Christmas and managed to cook my favourite BBQ chicken and pasta.
It’s not really a favourite, just makes me feel like I’m a good chef because of it’s complicatedness, that’s all.
I began by sprinkling my marinade on a baking tray, before throwing some chunks of chicken on it. I washed my hands and sprinkled a little more of the powder over the top and let it begin it’s magic. It was then time to throw some pasta into the saucepan which was ready and waiting with boiling water. I felt so confident that I even took photos!
I continued to balance and juggle between the pasta and the meat, carefully selecting the spices that would add flavour to my meal, while also preparing extras; a packet of grated mozzarella cheese and a glass of water. The time came when the meat was ready for cooking and it was carefully placed on a frying pan before I whacked up the heat. It took a few moments to heat up
before the oil started spitting; I was even more brave with the camera now and took some close up photos, only to get caught out on my bare arms by the burning oil.
It looked delicious though and my stomach was rumbling louder than the music on my iPod. The smell of barbecue was incredible too, really setting the tastebuds on my mouth on fire as they warmed to the taste in the air.
Of course, that was all very well until I realised the pasta was sticking to the side of the pan and that the chicken began to burn. I took the meat of the heat and tipped the pasta into a waiting colander that was perched in the sink. I used some wooden ‘things’ to flip the chicken over to stop it from sticking to the pan and launched the pasta out onto a nearby plate. I slashed open the packet of cheese and poured it over, which began to melt. The chicken was too hot to pick up and the frying pan was balanced so I didn’t dare touch it.
The cupboard door flung open and I reached in for a pair of tongues to pick each and every piece of chicken from the pan. My chicken actually looked like it had been on a barbecue; unintentionally, but it looked the part.
Hello dinner. Welcome back, bad chef.
Unfortunately I’ve had to take an unexpected break from writing on here, but I am back with just as much flavour to treat your empty stomaches. Or something like that anyway, but as ‘they’ say, people come and go – life goes on and through.
Without a shadow of doubt, things have gotten weird – in both logical and practical ways as I continue weekly life as both a student, part-timer et un amoureux de la musique. Yeah, my french exam earlier this afternoon worse than expected, but you can’t say I didn’t try!
If you ignore the actual working elements of the diary, university has been extraordinary. A recent night at ‘the Jazz Market’, thanks to Chaos Theory, was all I needed to keep on top of things. The night began with a glass of top shelf white which begun the hole into what was a replenished wallet after payday. My debit card dug deeper into my overdraft throughout the night with the purchase of my first cocktail – an Apple Martini. The flavours took over my tongue through my second, third and fourth before I tried the Porn-Star Martini. That too played with my mind, begging for more. It was unfortunately, the end of the night.
It is sometime before my next endeavour into the basement at The LUXE, where the jazz market is homed. In the meantime, I sit firmly at my desk writing what should be an essay due Friday, but instead is another couple of draft articles for the site – oh and before I leave you tonight, news that Angelo Uccello will be featuring in another review isn’t surprising, but gossip tells me that this is also going to be the announcement for some very exciting news.
Be strong, be vibrant. To be or not to be is not the question, but being is definitely an answer…
As you sit back in your chair and watch Saturday night ‘entertainment’ on the television, just ask yourself why…
This video was brought to me by Band Crusade on Facebook, who promote healthy music to it’s followers – promoting good music and pushing it back into the UK charts. Join the campaign by supporting real music.
The world has heard some iconic songs, but how many of us know their names or even the song in it’s entirety? Often enough, I will be asked “what the name of a song is that goes like this”, followed by intense humming and then a facial expression as if to ask “well..?”
I have grouped together a list of songs that everybody has heard. You probably don’t even realise you listen to some of these songs on a daily basis, however, they’re always there. Lurking somewhere in the background, on the telly. In adverts. These song’s will haunt you until the next generation of advert tunes makes it’s way into our lives, but until then, this is the list that I have drawn up.
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Next Tuesday will see the final Forerunner Records event this year, with a large variety of music performed by a huge number of artists. There will be two stages, with the first being an acoustic/urban stage that will open the night at 7pm. The second of the stages is the larger one of the two, with performances from bands taking place.
The confirmed line-up includes the already established Trivax, Eyes Wide Open, Delilah’s No.10, Musical Mini, Fariko Lopez and Bow Ties, with newer bands called Sonic Deathray, Mac Daddies, Distant Fantacy and Sustained Void. There will be performances by a few other artists, however these are yet to be announced!
Hosted by myself and Creative Director at Forerunner Records, Heather young, and with live sound from Adam (Mirrorball Productions) with Dean, the final showcase is going full of talent on and off the stage. I can tell already that it’s going to be a fantastic night, and I can’t wait to be there!
Doors open after 6pm, with the first artist on stage at 7pm. Refreshments are available throughout the event which will be located at Birmingham Metropolitan Campus, Birmingham, B4 7PS in the main hall on the ground floor – you can’t miss it! More information can be found on the Forerunner Records website here.
Is it true that doing less, is actually doing more? If you take a look around at all the people you know, and think about what they actually do around the place, what do you see? You look around the room, there’s someone in the middle of a large group of people telling all the funny jokes. He is the shepard, and they are his sheep. They follow him, worship him. Then, just behind this gathering, you catch a glimpse of the loner. He sits by himself quietly in the corner, getting on with his work while casually listening in on the conversations around him. He takes it all in, while his fingers type away. The end of the day, and he’s finished it all while nobody else has even started. But who gets all the credit for working? It’s the comedian.
The pretty person at the front with the loudest voice will always seem to win. However it’s the dark horse at the back who actually makes it happen. It’s strange to look around myself, and imagine what people would be like in years to come. Seeing what kind of attitudes people have to working, and trying to determine if they will make anything of themselves. Now is the time for people to be making those moves on their careers, deciding whether they need to work harder to reach those dreams. It pains me to hear how people speak non-stop of their dream, wanting to be this or be that, but you look back at them and what? They’re just another student. That’s it. They get up some mornings, get on a bus and ride into college. They sit the lesson, barely try at the work and then head home. Yet, they have this dream of being everything and everywhere, but all you can do is imagine them working in a shop. That’s not a dream, that’s a cover up for “I can’t be bothered”. If you really dream it, get up. Get out.
Fight for it and instead of saying how much you want to be something, start saying how much you’re going to be something. It really changes everything.
They’re a band who rebelled against certain politics during the bloody sunday and the forever fighting Ireland, but U2 are possibly one of the last iconic band to hit the world stage. With the last flame from the Foo Fighters burning away, have we lost touch with what music really stands for, or have we all become a saturated nation in computerised nonsense? Since the world of technology took off in the 80s and 90s, we saw the beginning of a new era in everything. Computers suddenly became highly sophisticated machines and the software dramatically improved. Into the new millennium and this was key to the creation of new music, and experiments with different sounds began. But has all of this experimenting taken away the pride of instruments?
If the likes of Freddie Mercury and Kurt Cobain were still alive, what would they think of all this electro-pop?
You could say then, that we’ve entered a new era of the music industry. An era where live guitars and large drum sounds are rare, and unless you look like you’re from Hollywood you have no chance of even touching the charts? And that’s true. Unfortunately, in today’s industry the music isn’t the first deciding factor of a band. It’s not even second. It’s stuck behind the sell factor, where as I just mentioned, you need to be thin and have a nice smile to get a number one single. And of course you only get one shot to do that, because as soon as it’s out, you’re done. The next week, somebody else is out doing the same thing and knocks you off the throne and you’re forgotten.
To prove my point, if you counted how many different artists get a single in the charts today against how many different artists reached the charts thirty or forty years ago, you’d see that today’s number would be much higher.
Is this any surprise though? We live in a society where everybody is saturated in music on a daily basis. From the alarm on your phone to wake you up each morning, to the soundtrack of the news bulletin on the television. As you do your shopping or even walk down your local high street. Music is everywhere now and so, just like the rest of the world, it needs to keep up with the ever going changes. It’s an explanation into what’s happened, but can it also shed light into how things are going to pan out for the future of music? Is it going to be used more scientifically to interfere with our minds? I say more, because it already is. Certain shops will play certain styles of music because it may stimulate a certain mood on the consumer. It could relax the consumer and almost bully them into making purchases, or excite them to buying a drink at a bar. It sounds a little far-fetched, but it’s true. A team in America have built a driver-less car. That’s also far-fetched, but it’s also true. Music has a massive mark on the human race and this is just another one ‘stand out’ moments in the entirety of the industry that follows the famous 70′s disco, grunge metal era and that of political rock. Or as a parent may say, “it’s just another little phase…”
So have we lost touch with music? My answer is no – it’s just trying to keep up with the rest of us.
One of the critical influences in live sound, has been our understanding and knowledge of the physics behind it. Like any type of wave, a sound wave doesn’t just stop when it reaches the end of the medium or when it encounters an obstacle in its path. Instead a sound wave will undergo different behaviours when it encounters the end of the medium or an obstacle. Possible behaviours include reflection off the obstacle, diffraction around the obstacle, and refraction into the obstacle or new medium.
Diffraction of sound waves is commonly observed. This occurs when sound diffracts around corners or through door openings, allowing us to hear others who are speaking to us from adjacent rooms. Low-pitched (long wavelength) sounds always carry further than high pitched (short wavelength) sounds.
As the wavelength of a wave becomes smaller than the obstacle which it encounters, the wave is no longer able to diffract around the obstacle, instead the wave reflects off the obstacle. Bats use ultrasonic waves with wavelengths smaller than the dimensions of their prey. These sound waves will encounter the prey, and instead of diffracting around the prey, will reflect off the prey and allow the bat to hunt by means of echo. The wavelength of a 50 000 Hz sound wave in air (speed of approximately 340 m/s) can be calculated as follows “wavelength = speed/frequency”.
Refraction of waves involves a change in the direction of waves as they pass from one medium to another. Refraction, or also known as bending of the path of the waves, is accompanied by a change in speed and wavelength of the waves. So if the medium and its properties are changed, the speeds of the waves are changed. So, waves passing from one medium to another will go though refraction.
Refraction of sound waves is most evident in situations in which the sound wave passes through a medium with gradually varying properties. An example of this is during the day and during the night. During the day, the temperature of the surface of the earth tends to be much warmer than far above the ground. Because of this change in temperature, or medium, the sound waves are refracted up towards the sky. At night, the complete opposite happens. The air on the surface is much cooler than above, and so the sound waves are refracted downwards towards the ground.
When a wave reaches the boundary between one medium another medium, a portion of the wave undergoes reflection and a portion of the wave undergoes transmission across the boundary. The amount of reflection is dependent upon the differences of the two mediums. For this reason, acoustically minded builders of auditoriums and concert halls have to understand the use of hard, smooth materials in the construction of their inside halls. A hard material such as concrete so most of the sound wave is reflected by the walls and little is absorbed. Walls and ceilings of concert halls are made softer materials such as fibreglass and acoustic tiles. These materials are more similar to air than concrete and so have a greater ability to absorb sound. This gives the room more pleasing acoustic properties.
Reflection of sound waves off surfaces can lead to one of two phenomenons – an echo or a reverberation. A reverberation often occurs in a small room with height, width, and length dimensions of approximately 17 metres or less. (The “magic 17” referred to earlier). The affect of a particular sound wave upon the brain endures for more than a tiny fraction of a second; the human brain keeps a sound in memory for up to 0.1 seconds. If a reflected sound wave reaches the ear within 0.1 seconds of the initial sound, then it seems to the person that the sound is prolonged.
The reception of multiple reflections off walls and ceilings within 0.1 seconds of each other causes reverberations – the prolonging of a sound. Since sound waves travel at about 340 metres per second at room temperature, it will take approximately 0.1 s for a sound to travel the length of a 17 meter room and back, therefore causing a reverberation. This is why reverberations are common in rooms with dimensions of approximately 17 metres or less. Examples of reverberations are when you talk in an empty room, when honking the horn while driving through a highway tunnel, or when singing in the shower. In auditoriums and concert halls, reverberations occasionally occur and lead to the displeasing garbling of sound.
Reflection of sound waves in auditoriums and concert halls sometimes lead to spectacular results, especially if the reflections are designed right. Smooth walls have a tendency to direct sound waves in a specific direction. Subsequently the use of smooth walls in an auditorium will cause spectators to receive a large amount of sound from one location along the wall; there would be only one possible path by which sound waves could travel from the speakers to the listener. The auditorium would not seem to be as lively and full of sound. Rough walls tend to diffuse sound, reflecting it in a variety of directions. This allows a spectator to perceive sounds from every part of the room, making it seem lively and full. For this reason, auditorium and concert hall designers prefer construction materials which are rough rather than smooth.
Reflection of sound waves also leads to echoes. Echoes are different than reverberations. Echoes occur when a reflected sound wave reaches the ear more than 0.1 seconds after the original sound wave was heard. If the elapsed time between the arrivals of the two sound waves is more than 0.1 seconds, then the sensation of the first sound will have died out. In this case, the arrival of the second sound wave will be perceived as a second sound rather than the prolonging of the first sound. There will be an echo instead of a reverberation.
Reflection of sound waves off surfaces is also affected by the shape of the surface. Flat or plain surfaces reflect sound waves in such a way that the angle at which the wave approaches the surface equals the angle at which the wave leaves the surface. Reflection of sound waves off curved surfaces leads to a more interesting phenomenon. Curved surfaces with a parabolic shape have the habit of focusing sound waves to a point. Sound waves reflecting off parabolic surfaces concentrate all their energy to a single point in space; at that point, the sound is amplified. Perhaps you have seen a museum exhibit which utilizes a parabolic-shaped disk to collect a large amount of sound and focus it at a focal point. If you place your ear at the focal point, you can hear even the faintest whisper of a friend standing across the room. Parabolic-shaped satellite disks use this same principle of reflection to gather large amounts of electromagnetic waves and focus it at a point where the receptor is located.
As a music student, I get asked all the time what my favourite band is. To be perfectly honest, I don’t have a single favourite band, or a favourite song either. Instead, I have a collection of music I enjoy listening to that include a large variety of different music. To settle the argument straight, I’ve decided to name a couple of iconic songs that build up some of my playlists on my iPod.
First of all, Kings and Queens is a stadium anthem released on the This is War album in 2009. 30 Seconds to Mars are known for their epic music videos, and Kings and Queens isn’t any different. The short film is titled The Ride and lasts approximately 8-9 minutes long. Performed live, this song will send adrenaline though the bodies of everybody in the crowd. The arena comes alive, lifting off the ground with the exciting energy.
Next up is a bit of a contrast, by a band that has been around since the 90′s. Elbow have released some iconic songs in their past, and this is sure to be on that list. Grounds of Divorce has a really hard hitting riff that is instantly recognisable, even to those who don’t know the band. It’s a song that you can have stuck in your head for days and not get bored. It’s constantly exciting, keeping you on edge all throughout.
This song doesn’t really need an introduction, it’s a classic. Everybody knows this song, released by The Verve in 1997. Bittersweet Symphony is amongst the most famous anthems in the world, despite having it’s own controversy over licences and sampling rights. Still, the politics behind the music industry doesn’t change how great this song is, making it one of the most loved tracks by a lot of respectable music magazines and newer artists.
I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned this song already, but here it is. Nirvana are one of the most influential bands ever. Before coming to a sudden end in 1994, the band produced songs including Lithium, Polly, Come as You Are, Silver, All Apologies and of course, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Many young bands cover this song for it’s ease, but also because it is such a well known song. In my opinion, well known is an understatement, but that’s just me. Released in 1991 on the Nevermind album, the song received a lot of criticism by the media – and it was only after Kurt Cobain’s death that it became known as the best rock song in the world.
Time now for the closest thing to my favourite band. The Stereophonics has been the centre of my inspiration as a musician from the beginning, so choosing one song to talk about is rather difficult. Having produced seven studio albums, including the successful singles A Thousand Trees, Vegas Two Times and Moviestar, they are set to release an eighth very soon. The song featuring in this post is Dakota from Language Sex Violence, reached #1 in the UK charts on release, and stayed in the charts for a further 22 weeks.
Another one of those classic bands, Dire Straits was fronted by Mark Knopfler, producing this great classic in 1985. While controversy struck with some of the content behind the lyrics as being sexist, racist and homophobic, it hasn’t stopped modern artists sampling and covering the song as I found out when an R&B version of the song appeared in a shop I was browsing. Despite having it’s own political background, I believe this is another iconic song that has inspired many other musicians, which is why Money for Nothing appears on my list.
These are just a few examples of what defines real music, a small collection of iconic and recognisable songs. It’s a list that can continue for days, even weeks. It’s a list which can be argued over for every reason, but I believe we can all come to one agreement. The ultimate song ever written.
In 1975, the world heard the definition of stadium anthem when Queen bought out Bohemian Rhapsody. The song isn’t set out like ordinary songs, where it has verses broken up by a couple of chorus’, with a bridge or middle eight thrown in. Instead, it is made up of three distinct parts. Beginning with a ballad segment ending with the most iconic guitar solo ever written, followed by an operatic section before a heavier ending. The classic British rock band were famous globally, reaching #1 in the UK, Canadian, Netherlands, New Zealand and US charts. You can ask anybody to sing the song, with everybody knowing every lyric without fail. If this isn’t the most famous rock song in the world, then I don’t know what the world is coming to. This is the one.
