I'm definitely not a fan of tribute bands although they are usually pretty good. But I always think that if you can't have the original why bother.
Having the original is getting harder and harder as musicians die or stop performing.
So I thought it would be fun to list the top 20 artists/groups that have had the most impact on my life for a variety of reasons ranging from their music, their message, their humanity and many other things. Now of course this is just a personal list of those I hold musically dear. Some bring back memories and others are just there because I love their music which has always been with me. So here is my top 20.
1 Barclay James Harvest
2 Harry Chapin
3 David Bowie
4 The Beatles
5 Pink Floyd
6 Richard Harris
7 Jimmy Webb (as a composer)
8 John Stewart
9 The Beach Boys
10 The Strawbs
11 America
12 Neil Young
13 Phil Ochs
14 Joan Baez
15 Judy Collins
16 Lindisfarne
17 Paul Williams
18 The Carpenters
19 The Moody Blues
20 equal Supertramp
20 equal Simon and Garfunkel
Yes I know there's no Bob Dylan or Rolling Stones or Rod Stewart or Elvis but as I've said this is a personal choice with some rather off the wall entries like Richard Harris. After the first five or six it's difficult to put them into an order. I'm sure I will come across others who should be included like King Crimson, Dan Fogelberg, The Who, Wishbone Ash, Mike Oldfield, Genesis, Tom Waits - there are so many and so many reasons for inclusion in my top 20. So over to you. Who, apart from those mentioned above, should have been included in your opinion.
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Which Mexican artist? Stop right there. This question comes up time after time after time on quiz programmes. As many times as Banksy, Stormzy and NASA come up. I have mentioned this before.
Which American space agency? The answer is always NASA.
Which grime artist? The answer is always Stormzy.
Which graffiti/street artist? The answer is always Banksy.
After all, what other Mexican artist does anyone know other than Frida Kahlo.
What other American space agency does anyone know other than NASA?
What other grime artist is known outside of Stormzy and what other street artist is known outside of Banksy.
So I thought it was time I read a bit about Frida Kahlo I took an autobiography out of the library and it's joined the Army of books I have piled up to read.
I'm halfway through reading a book on the history of the New Musical Express. So far it seems to be a history of excess and drug taking on a music newspaper. We are told that Nick Kent and Charlie Murray were trailblazers when it comes to rock music journalism but to date there has been no examples to back up this claim. So far the music writing seems to have taken second place to tales of drug abuse. Perhaps things will change in the second half.
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We had a good evening on Saturday at the annual Little Melton village quiz which raises funds for Little Melton Church and a very good sum of about £850 was raised.
Modesty prevents me from telling you who won. Ok it was us. We retained the trophy but this time it was more through luck than judgement. We got a maximum score from our joker round where you get double points. It was one of only two rounds on which we got all 10 questions correct.
I was pleased with some of my answers like knowing the Welsh for good morning (Bore da) and the year that Barbie dolls hit the stores (1958). I knew the latter as it was a question on the quiz show Jeopardy a few days ago.
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Hethersett's panto is over. All 10 performances are over and early indications are that the retiring bucket collection has raised over £5000 for The Finnbar's Force charity which supports research into brain tumours amongst children and supports families.
Above all from messages on Facebook it looks as if the cast had as much fun as the audiences.
Jack and the Beanstalk played to sell out audiences and was one of the most colourful yet.
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Spent yesterday morning putting the finishing touches to the February Hethersett Herald which I hope to have online by Wednesday. Just a few more things to slot in.
Whilst I worked on Herald, I watched the end to a stunning cricket Victory by England on India. England looked to be well on the way to defeat but rallied in an extraordinary manner to turn almost satisfactory defeat into victory.