Stuff Co. NZ, Five Artists that Got You Hooked
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...got-you-hooked
SIMON SWEETMAN , August 12, 2015
couple of weeks back we had some friends over for Friday fish'n'chips and a few drinks. A wee end of the week party that included a "show" in Oscar's room where he picked the music and danced and performed - and then, when he was asleep, we listened to a bit of music in the background and had our drinks and chats. Pretty standard. In our world, anyway.
And one of our friends, who I'll refer to her as Bronny (since that's her name) asked me a bunch of questions about music and writing and music-writing. And though I never mind answering those sorts of questions - favourite subject/occupational hazard - she threw down a very simple, enormous challenge. Name the five artists that had mean the most to me; been the biggest influence - the reason(s) I loved music. Not just a Top Five favourites, but the five most important...
You read these sorts of Top Fives and wonder why the person has decided to try to sound cool...there's no way Cabaret Voltaire was quite that important in their life; they discovered Kraftwerk in their 20s, not in their teens and it was The Rolling Stones they remember from the age of five, not The Smiths.
I love a good list. And particularly one where any ideas around "being cool" are off in the distance. That's probably the case with any list I make. And that's also just fine. So, here's the list I rattled off on that night. Can't say I'd ever really thought about the five acts that I considered lifelong hooks; gateways and such.
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3. Fleetwood Mac - I really do love all versions of this band. The blues band. The stadium pop act. And the "lost years" in between are, currently, the most interesting to me. A half-dozen albums there when the band was between Peter Green and Lindsey Buckingham, when the sadly underrated Bob Welch was a crucial part of the sound. The soap-opera story that clings to this band is part of the appeal, certainly. It's fascinating. But I love all of the music. And the "Fleetwood Mac at 21" documentary that first taught me about the 'other' versions of the band is a big reason I've been forever hooked on music docos, bios and biopics.