"Rockstar" is set for global release on November 17 Rockstar" track listing: * Rockstar (special guest Richie Sambora) * World On Fire * Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting) * Open Arms (feat. Steve Perry) * Magic Man (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese) * Long As I Can See The Light (feat. John Fogerty) * Either Or (feat. Kid Rock) * I Want You Back (feat. Steven Tyler with special guest Warren Haynes) * What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel) * Purple Rain * Baby, I Love Your Way (feat. Peter Frampton) * I Hate Myself For Loving You (feat. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) * Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton) * Wrecking Ball (feat. Miley Cyrus) * (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (feat. P!nk & Brandi Carlile) * Keep On Loving You (feat. Kevin Cronin) * Heart Of Glass (feat. Debbie Harry) * Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (feat. Elton John) * Tried To Rock And Roll Me (feat. Melissa Etheridge) * Stairway To Heaven (feat. Lizzo & Sasha Flute) * We Are The Champions * Bygones (feat. Rob Halford with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5) * My Blue Tears (feat. Simon Le Bon) * What's Up? (feat. Linda Perry) * You're No Good (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow) * Heartbreaker (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo) * Bittersweet (feat. Michael McDonald) * I Dreamed About Elvis (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guest The Jordanaires) * Let It Be (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood) * Free Bird (feat. Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle and The Artimus Pyle Band)

If you listen to rock radio, there is probably a station in your town that counts down the top 100 or top 500 requested songs. In L.A., both KMET and KLOS would do their countdowns on Memorial Day weekend. Here is KLOS' countdown from exactly 40 years ago in 1982. Led Zeppelin placed 32 songs in the top 500, and was the only band to have two in the top 10, including Stairway at number one, natch. How many of your favourites can you find? How many of these songs are still played on radio today and how many have been squeezed out of the playlist? Stairway To Heaven — Led Zeppelin Free Bird — Lynyrd Skynyrd Born To Run — Bruce Springsteen Won’t Get Fooled Again — The Who L.A. Woman — The Doors Cocaine — Eric Clapton Imagine — John Lennon/The Plastic Ono Band Kashmir — Led Zeppelin The Spirit Of Radio — Rush Comfortably Numb — Pink Floyd (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction — The Rolling Stones Hotel California — Eagles Baba O’Riley — The Who Light My Fire — The Doors Aqualung — Jethro Tull Hey Jude — The Beatles Maggie May — Rod Stewart Dream On — Aerosmith Wheel In The Sky — Journey Roundabout — Yes Money — Pink Floyd Purple Haze — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple Behind Blue Eyes — The Who Roadhouse Blues — The Doors Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid (She’s Just A Woman) — Led Zeppelin A Day In The Life — The Beatles Sympathy For The Devil — The Rolling Stones Breakdown — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Layla —Derek & The Dominos Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends — The Beatles Green Grass & High Tides — Outlaws Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin Back In Black — AC/DC Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones Roll With The Changes — REO Speedwagon You Really Got Me — The Kinks All Along The Watchtower — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Dazed And Confused — Led Zeppelin Come Together — The Beatles Time — Pink Floyd Let It Be — The Beatles Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd Who Are You — The Who Back In The U.S.S.R. — The Beatles Under My Thumb — The Rolling Stones Ridin’ The Storm Out — REO Speedwagon Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy — Bad Company Revolution — The Beatles Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) — Pink Floyd Rock ‘N Roll — Led Zeppelin Foreplay/Long Time — Boston Riders On The Storm — The Doors Lola — The Kinks We’re Not Gonna Take It — The Who Sweet Emotion — Aerosmlth Take It Easy — Eagles Black Dog — Led Zeppelin Tom Sawyer — Rush Shattered — The Rolling Stones Bohemian Rhapsody — Queen Surrender — Cheap Trick Renegade — Styx Night Moves — Bob Seger Southern Man — Neil Young Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid — Pat Benatar Devil With The Blue Dress (Medley) — Bruce Springsteen You Better, You Bet — The Who Jumpin’ Jack Flash — The Rolling Stones Mystery Achievement — The Pretenders Rock ‘N Roll Music — The Beatles Bad Company — Bad Company Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones Woman From Tokyo — Deep Purple Carry On Wayward Son — Kansas Slow Ride — Foghat My Generation — The Who White Rabbit — Jefferson Airplane I’ve Seen All Good People — Yes American Girl — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Over The Hills And Far Away — Led Zeppelin In The Air Tonight — Phil Collins Foxy Lady — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Midnight Ramblers — The Rolling Stones Love Me Two Times — The Doors Gone, Gone, Gone — Bad Company Lady — Styx Rosalita — Bruce Springsteen Babe I’m Gonna Leave You — Led Zeppelin Love, Reign O’er Me — The Who Like A Rolling Stone — Bob Dylan Roxanne — The Police Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap — AC/DC Walk This Way — Aerosmith Hollywood Nights — Hollywood Nights Life In The Fast Lane — Eagles That Smell — Lynyrd Skynyrd Go Your Own Way — Fleetwood Mac The Logical Song — Supertramp Just What I Needed — Cars Houses Of The Holy — Led Zeppelin Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ — Journey (Don’t Fear) The Reaper — Blue Öyster Cult Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones Magic Man — Heart Suite: Judy Blue Eyes — Crosby, Stills & Nash Run Like Hell — Pink Floyd Badge — Cream The Rover — Led Zeppelin Runnin’ With The Devil — Van Halen Stone In Love — Journey Train Kept A Rollin’ — Aerosmith Locomotive Breath — Jethro Tull Watching The Wheels — John Lennon Message In A Bottle — The Police Running On Empty — Jackson Browne In The Evening — Led Zeppelin Badlands — Bruce Springsteen Miss America — Styx I’d Love To Change The World — Ten Years After Highway To Hell — AC/DC Fire And Ice — Pat Benatar Breakfast In America — Supertramp Pinball Wizard — The Who Crazy On You — Heart I Am The Walrus — The Beatles Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)) — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Hungry Heart — Bruce Springsteen Hey, Hey, What Can I Do — Led Zeppelin In The Dark — Billy Squier Refugee — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Hey You — Pink Floyd More Than A Feeling — Boston Urgent — Foreigner Bell Bottom Blues — Derek & The Dominos Out Of Time — The Rolling Stones Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd Life’s Been Good — Joe Walsh All Right Now — Free Let’s Go — The Cars All Day And All Of The Night — The Kinks Jamie’s Cryin’ — Van Halen Yesterday — The Beatles Man On The Silver Mountain — Rainbow Break On Through — The Doors You Really Got Me — Van Halen Tumbling Dice — The Rolling Stones Message Of Love — The Pretenders Going To California — Led Zeppelin Thunder Road — Bruce Springsteen Touch Me — The Doors Suffragette City — David Bowie Strawberry Fields Forever — The Beatles Truckin’ — The Grateful Dead And The Cradle Will Rock — Van Halen Good Times Bad Times — Led Zeppelin White Room — Cream Cinnamon Girl — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Brown Sugar — The Rolling Stones Join Together — The Who Rockin’ The Paradise — Styx Good Times Roll — Cars Radar Love — Golden Earring A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me) — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers The Promised Land — Bruce Springsteen All You Need Is Love — The Beatles Misty Mountain Hop — Led Zeppelin Rhiannon — Fleetwood Mac Come Sail Away — Styx Piece Of My Heart — Big Brother & The Holding Company Stay — Jackson Browne Rocky Mountain Way — Joe Walsh Lights — Journey Hush — Deep Purple Going Mobile — The Who All My Love — Led Zeppelin For What It’s Worth — Buffalo Springfield Snowblind — Styx Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds — The Beatles It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It) — The Rolling Stones Woodstock — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Desperado — Eagles Are You Experienced? — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Candy-O — Cars La Grange — ZZ Top A Thing About You —Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Us And Them — Pink Floyd Twist And Shout — The Beatles De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da — The Police Jane — Jefferson Starship Highway Star — Deep Purple Too Hot To Handle — UFO Fool For The City — Foghat Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen — Santana Thank You — Led Zeppelin The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em) — Greg Kihn Band The Party’s Over (Hopelessly In Love) — Journey James Dean — Eagles The Real Me — The Who Big Ten Inch Record — Aerosmith Dance The Night Away — Van Halen Can’t Get Enough — Bad Company You’re No Good — Linda Ronstadt Back Door Man — The Doors Help! — The Beatles Already Gone — Eagles Working For The Weekend — Loverboy Crossroads — Cream Train In Vain (Stand By Me) — The Clash Iron Man — Black Sabbath Have A Cigar — Pink Floyd Don’t Misunderstand Me — Rossington Collins Band Hit Me With Your Best Shot — Pat Benatar One Of These Nights — Eagles Brass In Pocket — The Pretenders The Pretender — Jackson Browne Immigrant Song — Led Zeppelin Get Back — The Beatles With Billy Preston The Ocean — Led Zeppelin Harden My Heart — Quarterflash Crystal Ball — Styx Don’t Do Me Like That — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Paranoid — Black Sabbath Thick As A Brick — Jethro Tull Even It Up — Heart Paint It Black — The Rolling Stones Find Your Way Back — Jefferson Starship Eleanor Rigby — The Beatles Even The Losers — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers My Best Friend’s Girl — Cars Since I’ve Been Loving You — Led Zeppelin Dear Prudence — The Beatles Come To Poppa — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) — The Moody Blues Every Picture Tells A Story — Rod Stewart Lonely Is The Night — Billy Squier Nicole — Point Blank Like A Hurricane — Neil Young Barracuda — Heart Stay With Me — Faces Flirtin’ With Disaster — Molly Hatchet When The Levee Breaks — Led Zeppelin The Wait — The Pretenders Space Truckin’ — Deep Purple Cowgirl In The Sand — Neil Young & Crazy Horse Girls Got Rhythm — AC/DC Dangerous Type — Cars All Down The Line — The Rolling Stones Song Is Over — The Who Don’t Stand So Close To Me — The Police Peaceful Easy Feeling — Eagles Instant Karma (We All Shine On) — John Lennon Double Vision — Foreigner Killer Queen — Queen Love Her Madly — The Doors Stone Free — The Jimi Hendrix Experience Penny Lane — The Beatles Don’t Stop Believing — Journey A Life Of Illusion — Joe Walsh Little T & A — The Rolling Stones Breakout — Shooting Star Rain Song — Led Zeppelin (Just Like) Starting Over — John Lennon In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed — The Allman Brothers Band Shapes Of Things — The Yardbirds Heaven And Hell — Black Sabbath Lunatic Fringe — Red Rider Rocks Off — The Rolling Stones Reeling In The Years — Steely Dan Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic — The Police Sugar Mountain — Neil Young What Is And What Should Never Be — Led Zeppelin Freewill — Rush Smokin’ — Boston The Fuse — Jackson Browne Fight The Good Fight — Triumph Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out — Bruce Springsteen Rivers (Of The Hidden Funk) — Joe Walsh Dancing Days — Led Zeppelin Me And Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin Sunshine Of Your Love — Cream Happy — The Rolling Stones Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) — Styx She’s Not There — Santana Hold On Loosely — .38 Special Keep Pushin’ — REO Speedwagon The Voice — The Moody Blues Let It Bleed — The Rolling Stones Waiting For A Girl Like You — Foreigner (I Know) I’m Losing You — Rod Stewart Hell Is For Children — Pat Benatar Listen To Her Heart — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Limelight — Rush Bitch — The Rolling Stones Just The Same Way — Journey Whipping Post — The Allman Brothers Band Birthday — The Beatles Stop Your Sobbing — The Pretenders You Can’t Always Get What You Want — The Rolling Stones For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) — AC/DC Born To Be Wild — Steppenwolf Poor Man’s Son — Survivor Redneck Friend — Jackson Browne Street Fighting Man — The Rolling Stones Games People Play — The Alan Parsons Project Roller — April Wine The River — Bruce Springsteen Do It Again — Steely Dan Jessica — The Allman Brothers Band From The Beginning — Emerson, Lake & Palmer For Your Love — The Yardbirds The Waiting — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers I Want You (She’s So Heavy) — The Beatles Move It On Over — George Thorogood & The Destroyers Can’t You Hear Me Knocking — The Rolling Stones Because The Night — Patti Smith Group How Many More Times — Led Zeppelin Breathe/On The Run — Pink Floyd Feel Like Makin’ Love — Bad Company Casey Jones — The Grateful Dead Ticket To Ride — The Beatles Ohio — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young The Last Time — The Rolling Stones Gimme Three Steps — Lynyrd Skynyrd Can’t Find My Way Home — Blind Faith Abacab — Genesis Can’t You See — Marshall Tucker Band Living After Midnight — Judas Priest Fly Away — Blackfoot She’s So Cold — The Rolling Stones Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser (Live) — Bob Seger Hello, I Love You — The Doors Prove It All Night — Bruce Springsteen Celluloid Heroes — The Kinks The Long Run — Eagles Ice Cream Man — Van Halen Boom, Boom (Out Goes The Lights) — Pat Travers Band You Shook Me All Night Long — AC/DC Cross-Eyed Mary — Jethro Tull Ready For Love — Bad Company Take Me To The River — Talking Heads Straight On — Heart Women — Foreigner Tush — ZZ Top Fantasy Girl — .38 Special Space Oddity — David Bowie Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) — The Hollies Sultans Of Swing — Dire Straits Portrait (He Knew) — Kansas Déjà Vu — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Manic Depression — The Jimi Hendrix Experience So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star — The Byrds South Bound Saurez — Led Zeppelin Evil Wind — Bad Company Edge Of Seventeen — Stevie Nicks I Just Want to Make Love to You — Foghat Better Things — The Kinks Fool In The Rain — Led Zeppelin Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) — The Beatles Come Together — Aerosmith Two Tickets To Paradise — Eddie Money The Core — Eric Clapton Head Games — Foreigner Rock & Roll Woman — Buffalo Springfield Take The Long Way Home — Supertramp Point Blank — Bruce Springsteen Going Down — Jeff Beck Group China Grove — The Doobie Brothers We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions — Queen On The Border — Eagles While My Guitar Gently Weeps — The Beatles Beatin’ The Odds — Molly Hatchet Mother’s Little Helper — The Rolling Stones Hot Blooded — Foreigner Long Live Rock — The Who Crosstown Traffic — The Jimi Hendrix Experience The Ties That Bind — Bruce Springsteen Trampled Underfoot — Led Zeppelin We’re An American Band — Grand Funk Railroad Rebel Rebel — David Bowie Saturday Night Special — Lynyrd Skynyrd Lady Jane — The Rolling Stones Here Comes My Girl — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Juke Box Hero — Foreigner Man On The Corner — Genesis Everybody Wants Some!! — Van Halen Evil Ways — Santana Love Hurts — Nazareth Bridge Of Sighs — Robin Trower Who’s Crying Now — Journey Bloody Well Right — Supertramp Don’t Let Him Go — REO Speedwagon Ruby Tuesday — The Rolling Stones Time For Me To Fly — REO Speedwagon I’m Eighteen — Alice Cooper The Boys Are Back In Town — Thin Lizzy Takin’ Care Of Business — Bachman-Turner Overdrive Find Another Fool — Quarterflash Catch Me Now I’m Falling — The Kinks Doctor My Eyes — Jackson Browne I Need To Know — Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Golden Years — David Bowie Keep On Loving You — REO Speedwagon Rip This Joint — The Rolling Stones Gimme Some Lovin’ — The Spencer Davis Group Gallows Pole — Led Zeppelin Love Stinks — The J. Geils Band Helter Skelter — The Beatles Frankenstein — The Edgar Winter Group It’s My Life — The Animals Turn Me Loose — Loverboy Fresh Air — Quicksilver Messenger Service I Saw Her Standing There — The Beatles Heart Of Gold — Neil Young Her Strut — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band You Wear It Well — Rod Stewart Magic Power — Triumph People Are Strange — The Doors Easy Livin’ — Uriah Heep Oh Well (Live) — Fleetwood Mac A Hard Day’s Night — The Beatles When The Music’s Over — The Doors Living In The U.S.A. — The Steve Miller Band Jailbreak — Thin Lizzy Primera Invasion/Searchin’ — Santana Darkness On The Edge Of Town — Bruce Springsteen Lady Madonna — The Beatles Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne 30 Days In The Hole — Humble Pie Walk On The Wild Side — Lou Reed All The Young Dudes — Mott The Hoople Anytime — Journey Blue Morning, Blue Day — Foreigner Call Me The Breeze — Lynyrd Skynyrd 5:15 — The Who Tell Her No — The Zombies Katmandu — Bob Seger While You See A Chance — Steve Winwood Centerfold — The J. Geils Band Let’s Spend The Night Together — The Rolling Stones Jealous Lover — Rainbow Magic Bus — The Who Ten Years Gone — Led Zeppelin Don’t Look Back — Boston Victim Of Love — Eagles I’m Going Home — Ten Years After Hand Of Fate — The Rolling Stones Livin’ In The Limelight — Peter Cetera Magic Carpet Ride — Steppenwolf Back In The Saddle — Aerosmith The Loner — Neil Young Against The Wind — Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band Michelle — The Beatles Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? — The Rolling Stones Our Lips Are Sealed — Go-Go’s She’s Not There — The Zombies Hypnotized — Fleetwood Mac Stranger — Jefferson Starship Green River — Creedence Clearwater Revival Movin’ On — Bad Company Sexy Sadie — The Beatles The Chain — Fleetwood Mac I’m A Man — The Yardbirds That Girl Could Sing — Jackson Browne Somebody To Love — Jefferson Airplane Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man — Bob Seger System Lyin’ Eyes — Eagles Communication Breakdown — Led Zeppelin Welcome To The Machine — Pink Floyd Baby Hold On — Eddie Money Heavy Metal (Takin’ A Ride) — Don Felder Any Way You Want It — Journey Mississippi Queen — Mountain Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around — Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Long Train Runnin’ — The Doobie Brothers I Got A Line On You — Spirit Touch And Go — The Cars Talk To Ya Later — The Tubes Over, Under, Sideways, Down — The Yardbirds Treat Me Right — Pat Benatar Too Daze Gone — Billy Squier Back Street Girl — The Rolling Stones Ah! Leah! — Donnie Iris Give A Little Bit — Supertramp In The City — Eagles Tales Of Brave Ulysses — Cream I Love Rock ‘N Roll — Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Burnin’ For You — Blue Öyster Cult Run With The Pack — Bad Company Don’t Let Him Know — Prism You Shook Me — Led Zeppelin Winning — Santana Ramblin’ Man — The Allman Brothers Band Fire — The Jimi Hendrix Experience The Horizontal Bop — Bob Seger I Can’t Stand It — Eric Clapton And His Band Hells Bells — AC/DC Back On The Road Again — REO Speedwagon Drive My Car — The Beatles Bringing On The Heartbreak — Def Leppard

Hey guys, Here is my tribute to Stairway to Heaven. It's a psychedelic arpeggio that I've come up randomly and I'm planning to put this into my ep or lp with my future (hopefully) band. I recorded it on my phone for now and it's simply a demo yet but I will have a professional record as well. Please leave comments if you like. Here is the link :

The first time I ever heard Zep was on Casey Kasem's Top 40 Countdown...back in '74 or '75..."Stairway to Heaven" was in the top 40, even though it was several years after the album release...I'm almost positive the Top 40 was all singles..yet I've read Stairway was never released as a single, so how is this possible? I think it MUST have been released as a single, at least in the US. Can anyone clear up this mystery?

Anyone seen this before (pics attached)? It’s a white vinyl, picture disc with live STH on one side and live Heartbreaker on the other. It sounds like the same recordings that are on BBC Sessions. BUT, I bought this at a record show circa 1982, decades before the BBC record was released. (I think.) I looked online and could not find any other evidence of its existence. Any idea where this came from, how rare it is, etc.? I’m mostly just curious. Thanks

I just read about a new pending lawsuit over Stairway to Heaven, and wanted to give my opinion. It's not the first time LZ has been sued, and probably won't be the last. Here's a link to the article at Businessweek. Note 1: I didn't proofread, edit, or spellcheck this. This is the web, FTLOG. Let the errors go. Note 2: This is one man's opinion. There's a detailed story in Businessweek about the latest copyright infringement lawsuit against Led Zeppelin, one of my favorite bands. I've read most of the biographies and sagas about LZ, plus I have all their music and videos. With that level of interest, I've followed the lawsuits. The suits ask interesting questions of us: what is a "basic" sound that simply exists for anyone to create a variation of, what is a song that loosely inspired another, and when is borrowing considered copying (or stealing) under the law? I feel bad for judges and juries who have to sort these things out, because it's an example of human culture being shoved into a rectangular box, and it can't possibly fit. That's probably why most of these lawsuits are settled prior to an official ruling. These kinds of lawsuits exist in nearly all aspects of life: technology -- hardware and software, books and other writing, cars, etc. I once read that 99% of all cell phones sold in the world yield some of the profits to Microsoft because the company owns so many technology patents. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and countless others, often buy companies not for their products or services, but to acquire the patent portfolio. It's complicated and fascinating. The latest lawsuit against LZ involves Stairway to Heaven, which sounds a lot like a song called Taurus, by the band Spirit. Does that mean it's copyright infringement? Hard to say. Many people have tried to say LZ's song White Summer (sometimes called Black Mountainside or White Summer / Black Mountain Side) is theft of a Bert Jansch song. To make things more interesting, Jimmy Page started doing the song with The Yardbirds, before LZ was formed. Jansch is (was) a British folk guitarist and singer who did his own version of the song, which he called Black Waterside. Turns out, Jansch's song is similar to a song called Mustapha, by Davy Graham, which came out a couple of years before Jancsh released his own version. Jansh's song is also similar to Graham's guitar version of She Moved Through the Fair. Some say LZ should credit and pay Jansch and Graham. However, Black Mountainside is a British (or maybe Scottish, I can't remember) folk song dating back hundreds of years. This makes it fair game for anyone to use for inspiration, and is likely the reason LZ hasn't been sued over their version. Another area of creativity I've enjoyed, and one that intersects with Led Zeppelin, is fantasy novels -- although not for many years. There just isn't enough good fantasy out there to get fired up (with a few notable exceptions). Tolkien is, of course, the Founding Father, and has never been bettered. When I plowed through The Lord of the Rings as a kid, I thought it was the most creative thing anybody had ever produced. I found out it's not nearly as creative as I thought, starting with elves. Elves existed in popular culture in Celtic and Dark Age Britain, and probably most Celtic areas, at least a thousand years before Tolkien came along. They were thought to exist in a parallel universe, traveling back and forth between their own world and ours through known gateways. The Isle of Avalon in Arthurian mythology is the most famous of these gateways. Myrlin the magician, of Arthurian mythology, could travel freely between both worlds, and he is rendered as Gandalf in LOTR. The elven folklore was so powerful that England's first king, Alfred, is associated with elves. Alfred, btw, was spelled Aelfred at the time, with the A and E combined in the Old English ash character. Today's "alf" could just as easily have been rendered "elf". The name means, literally, "elf councillor". One had to be very important to give advice to the elves, as the people of the time believed, because the race was considered wise and mysterious. In LOTR, Frodo was formally named Elf Friend by the elves. It was a high honor, borrowed by Tolkien wholly from real folklore that existed for thousands of years. To this day, there is some debate about whether "Alfred" was the name of the king, or his title, or both. The way people thought in the 9th century was so different from our own, we may never know. My opinion is that if a royal family in 9th century Anglo-Saxon / Danish England named a second or third son, as Alfred was, A Councillor to Elves, they would have been viewed as incredibly arrogant. Others probably gave him the title, and it was assumed as his name. This was fairly common at the time -- choosing, or adopting a name chosen by others, after attaining a high office. Midieval kings did this as a matter of routine. This ancient history can be seen today in the way Popes change their name upon attaining the office. As for Tolkien, his major works were loosely designed to provide a creation myth for Great Britain, so they needed to feel like they originated in the Dark Ages or earlier -- hence the similarities to the folklore and literature of the period. If you read the Niebelungenlied (sp?) and the Kalevala (sp?) and Arthurian literature and some other Dark Age stories, you quickly discover that Tolkien is not nearly as creative as most people seem to believe. He had some novelties, and was a great writer, and crafted a heavyweight story on things that mostly existed earlier. He plagiarized nothing, yet invented little. His greatness was the story and the writing. Magic rings? Like elves, commonplace for the era, and not invented by Tolkien. Today we see an echo of this ancient history whenever a wedding ring is placed on a finger. Tolkien was influenced by many sources, and he in turn was a major influence on Robert Plant, the primary lyricist for Led Zeppelin. Many LZ songs contain references to LOTR. And, just like Tolkien's writings, many LZ songs can be traced back to older sources -- other rock songs or earlier blues songs, but that doesn't necessarily mean theft. If it was that easy, Robert Jordan would have been sued by Tolkien's estate for the Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels. Tennyson's estate, if it still existed, would sue both, except that copyrights expire after awhile. The descendants of Beowulf's author would sue everyone. Tolkien was, after all, an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) scholar and considered one of the best translators of Beowulf. A recent lawsuit was that of Dan Brown over his authorship of The Da Vinci Code. The authors of a non-fiction (although highly speculative) book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail sued Brown because, they said, Brown fictionalized their book. I don't believe Brown denied this, and after reading both of those books, I can say he would have been foolish to deny it -- they're nearly identical at the idea level. Brown won because, as the British court said, an idea can't be copyrighted. The main idea in both books is the Holy Grail, a powerful motif of Arthurian mythology, which greatly influenced Tolkien, who greatly influenced Robert Plant. This why I wrote this long-winded post -- so many parallels, so many connections, so much gray area, and occasionally a court of law has to sort out the meaning of it all and how the law applies. Ridiculous and fascinating. Oh, I also wrote this because I love LZ and Tolkien, and also because I believe law must exist, and because it's a mostly rational concept that deals with irrational human beings, it will never function well. So, what's the dividing line between an idea and an original work of creativity, protected by copyright laws? LZ will win the new lawsuit if they can demonstrate that the song Taurus had nothing to do with Stairway to Heaven or that Taurus was merely the idea that prompted an original work. The Businessweek article shines a light on this: "Ultimately, the legal test isn’t what experts say. Under U.S. law, the standard a jury or judge would apply is whether the song in question sounds like a copy to an ordinary lay listener." Tolkien's estate will never have to deal with these types of lawsuits because the copyright on Dark Age literature is long expired, and also because the exact authorship of many of the works is impossible to prove, but these are the only reasons. I've read most of the source material that influenced Tolkien, such as the Arthurian stuff, the Kalevala, the Norse sagas, the Niebelungenleid, Beowulf, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Taleisin, Aneirin, etc. I've also listened to most LZ music, as well as the source material. The parallels are uncanny. If LZ stole Taurus and re-worked it as Stairway to Heaven, then Tolkien stole Gandalf from Old Welsh writers. I don't hold it against Tolkien -- I don't consider him a thief -- and I don't consider LZ a thief over Taurus. The inspiration seems clear, but I think it stops well short of copyright infringement. I'd give you 10:1 the suit is settled out of court with a small monetary payout and a new credit appearing on future releases of Stairway to Heaven.

Hi, Does anybody know what's the type of font of the song Stairway to heaven? The one with the picture of the Hermit holding a lamp. I want to put the last paragraph on my bedhead. I would appreciate any help. Thank you

🧡 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19lTVzPbqAc

Hi, everyone. My name is Terri, and I am brand new to the forum. I have already introduced myself in the "Meet and Greet" forum. I have a question about a lyric in "Stairway to Heaven." I was hoping to find it on the main site, under "Discography,'' but that was no help. Anyway, it is the use of the word, "soul'' vs "sole." The following line is: "Our shadows are taller than our souls." Now, someone told me that it is "SOLE," like the soles of your feet. I had always thought it was "soul." Help? Thanks in advance.