Did I miss something?

It just keeps getting worse for the Saints. The NFL handed out multi-game suspensions to 4 players, including a season-long suspension to Jonathan Vilma. Of course appeals will be made but I doubt the League will be dissuaded. I cheered so hard for New Orleans that Super Bowl year(it was obvious the Raiders weren't going anywhere), so to have all this shit come down leaves a bad taste in my mouth. A "feel-good" story has turned into a nightmare. At least they can't take away their Super Bowl rings...or can they?

I'm assuming you meant to write "Where" not "What"? Angels actually have won 2 games in a row...break up the Angels! I had my doubts about the Angels signing Pujols to that big contract, but I had no idea it would be this bad. It's supposed to be tougher going from the AL to the NL, not the other way around. Oh, and when the Red Sawx hired Bobby Valentine I said to all my baseball-loving friends that he'd be lucky to last the season. Bobby and Boston just isn't a good fit. As he always does. I may hate the Yankees but I will always have the utmost respect for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera for the way they play and have handled themselves throughout their careers. First ballot Hall of Famers all the way.

As a USC fan, this hits hard...I remember Junior Seau's days as a Trojan. Sometimes great college players don't transition well to the NFL, but you could tell that Seau wouldn't be one of those guys that flopped in the League. Incredible instincts and drive. Was disappointed the Chargers got him and not the Raiders. That is a weird stat that 8 players from that 1994 San Diego team have died.

Exiled on Main St.

You got a bad copy, as "Bron-Y-Aur" should be complete. Smack your friend with a wet noodle.

I like the Dirty Mac set. Of course, the Who set was the most memorable for me, but the Stones aren't as bad as Mick feared. I first saw the complete "Rock and Roll Circus" in 1987 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, as part of a Rock Film Festival that Bill Graham organized. That was also the first time I saw Robert Frank's by-now legendary "Cocksucker Blues"...Mick Jagger sent his personal print for the screening.

Not even May and the Angels are 9 games back already. Sheesh! Fire Scoscia...fire Mickey Hatcher(he should have never been hired in the first place)...fire the entire coaching staff!!!

Hey now, at least you got to see Tony Iommi in this early version of Jethro Tull. Funny to think how Jethro Tull got the gig because Mick Jagger passed on Led Zeppelin. Mick thought there were enough guitar-heavy groups on the bill already.

Lez Zeppelin is still the only Led Zeppelin "tribute" band I have ever seen. I saw them a few years ago at the El Rey Theatre. Don't know if it was their old vocalist or the new one; haven't really kept up with their personnel changes. But I have to admit, I enjoyed the show more than I thought I would...and yes, it did help that the band was easy on the eyes. One of the things that has always kept me from seeing Led Zeppelin tribute bands to begin with, was the fact that most of the "Robert Plant"'s looked hideous. I have their set list from that old El Rey show somewhere...heck, I might have even taped the show. I'll do some digging when I get a chance.

Well, IT'S here...the 2012 Coachella Music Festival begins this weekend, and as far as I am concerned, it marks the official beginning of the Festival season. Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza are coming up. But Coachella is first. Coachella is now in its 13th year, and has become so huge that it now encompasses two consecutive Fri-Sun weekends, with the same line-up playing both times. Then there's the country-oriented Stagecoach Fest, which takes place the weekend after Coachella, which makes three consecutive weeks that the Polo Grounds will host concerts. I don't like the fact that Goldenvoice makes you buy the entire three day package...you can't just pick one day. So I won't be going this year, unless a freebie drops in my lap. But obviously, they don't need my money, as most of the tickets sold out before a line-up was even confirmed, and when the rest of the tix went on sale earlier this year, they sold out both weekends in a snap. It just further confirms how useless it is to rant about today's kids and today's music...YOU may think rock is dead and today's generation sucks, but obviously, today's kids seem to like their music fine and two sold out weekends of Coachella is proof THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT! As usual with Coachella, there are some reunions...Pulp(YES!), Mazzy Star(double-YES!), At the Drive In, the Hives. Luckily, Pulp is playing a small venue show the week inbetween their Coachella dates...at the Fox Theatre in Pomona...so I will at least have a chance to see them there. But unless something changes, my streak of seeing every Radiohead tour since 1993 is about to end. Until now, I have never missed a time when Radiohead toured Los Angeles, so this kind of sucks that I will miss these Coachella shows. They are playing Santa Barbara tomorrow night, but I can't get away from work in time to make that show. Anybody here going, or know somebody that is going? If you want any tips on who to see, ask and I'll give you my preferences. Here's the line-up for the 2012 Coachella:

Maybe where you lived, but cassettes were in all the cars in Southern California in the 1970s. Hell, go watch "Two-Lane Blacktop", which came out in 1971; Warren Oates plays nothing but cassettes in his GTO. Maxell tapes were everywhere in the 70's...who could forget those great ads? One of the rituals of buying albums in the 70s was along with the record, you would buy some blank Maxell C-60s or C-90s, so you could make copies of the record for the car and for your friends. Where I came from, 8-tracks were not desirable at all...their sound was inferior and they often screwed up the song order and long songs would get spliced into two and so on. 8-tracks were considered car stereos for poor people. Cassettes were better, fidelity-wise and for staying true to the original album's format, than 8-tracks...both in the car and in the home. Growing up, just about every car I remember my folks and friends having, had car stereos with cassette players. I can only recall a couple people who had 8-track players. One was this guy down the street who had a van, and even he replaced his 8-track with a cassette system by 1975. And if you had a Blaupunkt in your car, you truly were the envy of all your friends. That was everyone's dream...to get a Blaupunkt for their car. Or at the very least, an Alpine. Obviously, reel-to-reel trumped both cassette and 8-track for high fidelity, but try hooking up a reel-to-reel in your car.

Post #12: Happy Easter! Led Zeppelin Resurrected My computer is dead and my phone stolen, so I've been distracted a tad...and then, there was Easter last weekend, so I've missed a couple dates in my timeline. Until I am able to retrieve some of my lost materials, I won't be able to attach any images for the time being, as I don't have time to go back digging through my storage to find everything again...it's all buried. Anyway, carrying on... Date: Easter Sunday April 10, 1977 It was Easter 35 years ago today and I didn't do much that entire weekend...saving my money and my energies for the week to come. Led Zeppelin, on the other hand, was just over a week into their tour, and was on this very night playing the last of their 4 shows at Chicago Stadium...the "Stormtrooper" show. Led Zeppelin had definitely resurrected, and earlier in the week...on Tuesday April 5, 1977, to be exact...there was a Los Angeles Times article about the opening show of the tour in Dallas, written by the Chief Pop Music critic for the Times, Robert Hilburn. This was kind of a big deal, as usually Hilburn only reviewed out-of-town shows for acts that he considered legendary: the Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley. For Led Zeppelin, he would typically review the LA gig and that was it...and usually he would harp on what he felt was the band's lack of imagination and excess. For him to go out to Dallas for the opening of the 1977 tour was a big surprise to me and other long-time readers of Hilburn's work with the L.A. Times. The Concert Timeline section of this site only has part of the article in its Memorabilia archives, so I am reproducing it in full now...EXACTLY how it was written, not a word or letter changed. Los Angeles Times Tuesday April 5, 1977 View Section IV Page 1 Led Zeppelin Lands Safely in Dallas By Robert Hilburn Times Pop Music Critic DALLAS - Led Zeppelin, generally conceded to be the world's most popular rock 'n' roll band, has fond memories of this Texas city. It was here at the Dallas Pop Festival in 1969 that the then-recently formed English band climaxed a triumphant U.S. tour that established it as a major new force in rock. It was also in Dallas four years ago that a local oil man's daughter hired a private jet to follow Zeppelin's plane out of town. But neither those or other Dallas memories begin to match the importance-or emotionalism-of Zeppelin's appearance last weekend at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. The band, whose future has been in doubt since lead singer Robert Plant severely injured his right foot in a near-fatal 1975 auto crash, returned to live shows Friday night with a stirring performance that reassured both the group and its fans about Zeppelin's ability to continue. There were lots of rough spots in the band's first appearance in nearly two years, but there was only jubilation on the faces of Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham after the three-hour show as they raced to limousines for the ride to the airport. Later, inside the luxury Boeing 707 that the band has chartered for its U.S. tour, the group embraced with the emotionalism of a high school team that just won the state championship. "Sure, it was emotional," Plant said, relaxing in a New Orleans hotel room the next afternoon. "We had just cleared the biggest hurdle of our career. It was a chapter in my life that I never really knew if I'd be able to see. "I tried to keep a positive attitude in the months after the accident, but even after I was able to walk again I didn't know how the foot would holdup on stage. Even the rehearsals didn't prove it to me. I was so nervous before we went on stage last night that I almost threw up. I could feel the tenseness in my throat for the first couple of songs. I kept telling myself to loosen up. "The whole show possessed an element of emotionalism that I've never known before. I could just as easily have knelt on the stage and cried. I was so happy. I don't think I've ever sung better in America. I mean I'd have liked for everybody who ever wanted to see us to have been there..." Plant, 28, was vacationing with his wife and their two children when the auto accident occurred on a small Greek island. Doctors said he wouldn't be able to walk for at least six months. There was even a chance he would be crippled. Though touring was still out of the question, Plant had recovered well enough by late 1975 to record the "Presence" album with the band. But he had to sit on a stool during the 18 days of recording. With doctors warning another serious blow to the foot could leave him crippled, he went through a terrifying moment during the session. Caught up in the excitement of one of the tracks, he slipped and put his full weight on the foot for the first time since the accident. "Jimmy (Page) flew through the air and tried to hold me up, but I just sank. They took me to the hospital to make sure I hadn't reopened the fracture." In light of the incident, the band titled the track "Achilles Last Stand". With doctors' assurances that Plant's foot could stand up to the strain of his flashy, stallion-like prancing on stage, Zeppelin finally scheduled a U.S. tour for this spring. It was to have begun Feb. 27 in Ft. Worth. But it had to be canceled. Ironically, Plant was again the reason. He came down with tonsilitis just before the band, which had been rehearsing for weeks in England, was ready to come to the United States. The illness added to his frustration. "We had rehearsed right up until the week before we were due to come over here, which, I can see now, was probably pusghing things a bit too much," Plant said. "After the rehearsals, I went to Wales. I was in the hills when I woke up one morning with a soreness in my throat. I thought, 'Oh, good Lord, isn't there any end to this?' I had a fever that went clear off the thermometer. "I felt even worse because it was me again causing the problems. I haven't been away from performing this long since I was 14." On the first two legs of the rescheduled tour, Led Zeppelin will be seen by more than 700,000 persons in 40 shows. More than 108,000 will see the group in its six sold-out shows starting June 21 at the Inglewood Forum. It's the first time a rock group has ever played six nights at the 18,700-seat facility. Because of the delays, Plant, understandably, was the first member of the band to come to the hotel lobby Friday night for the ride to the auditorium. He chatted good-naturedly with a few fans and posed for pictures for amateur photographers. When the band stepped on stage just after 8, the audience roared its appreciation. Though much has been written about the aggressive nature of Zeppelin's audience in responding to the band's high-energy musical assault, the tone Friday was one of warmth. The audience, one sensed, was simply glad to see its band. "I was afraid we'd never be able to see them again," said Carol Morett, a 17-year-old from neighboring Ft. Worth. "When the tour was canceled the first time, I was afraid it was something wrong with Robert's leg. I thought the thing about tonsilitis was just an excuse. I'm so glad to see he's OK. He's the greatest. This whole band is the greatest." Never a critic's favorite, Zeppelin, too, played with an eagerness and joy that was contagious. I still think they'd be more effective-considering the limitation of much of their material-to cut an hour out of their set, thus shedding some of the excess. But the audience-even after two encores-seemed ready for more. The applause could still be heard from the hall as the limousines pulled onto the street after the show. "You can't pretend last night's concert was the greatest we've ever done, but there was something between us after that long gap that enabled us-in certain songs, where we really got hold of it-to go far beyond where we had been before," Plant said Saturday in New Orleans. Yes, he said, he had thought about not being able to return to the band. "I wouldn't have compromised. I couldn't have gone on a stage and sat on a stool all night. I've got to be able to move around. "As much as you can develop a wonderfully warm rapport with people, the natural thing is to watch someone's weak point, particularly when so much has been written about my foot. It would be just, 'Aw, look, he ain't doin' it right; he's slowed down.' And I just wouldn't have been able to take that. "I just kept kicking the foot down on the stage real hard last night to show myself I could do it. In fact, I paid the price. It got a little sore. But it'll come around. I'm just out of condition. "There are a few things I won't be able to do because of the foot. I can't play soccer because the contact could reinjure it. But it's not something to brood about. "After two more years off, there's nothing in the world I want to do more than get on that stage. If every night could be like last night, then I'll be overjoyed. I just can't wait." Zeppelin Song Book Led Zeppelin's opening-night song selection (subject to change on future dates): "The Song Remains the Same", "Sick Again", "Nobody's Fault but Mine", "In My Time of Dying", "Since I've Been Loving You", "No Quarter", "Ten Years Gone", "Battle of Evermore", "Going to California", "Black Country Woman", "Bron-y-ar", "Kashmir", "Moby Dick", "Dazed and Confused"(instrumental only), "Achilles Last Stand", "Stairway to Heaven". Encores: "Black Dog" and "Rock and Roll". Copyright Los Angeles Times. There was a photo of Robert Plant from the Dallas show, taken by Neal Preston, accompanying the article...the caption said "ROBERT PLANT...a joyous return to concerts." Now, the most important thing I took from this article was for the first time since I started going to see Led Zeppelin in concert, I had advance notice of what the setlist would most likely be. Previously, I could only guess...sure concert warhorses like Stairway, Rock and Roll, and Dazed and Confused were a given, and I had a few bootlegs of older tours. But the 1977 tour was the first time I knew going in what was going to be played, and in what order...I knew the opening would be TSRTS and what the acoustic set would entail. I was ecstatic that "Achilles" and "Ten Years Gone" were in...but somewhat bummed that yet again, no "The Rover" or "When the Levee Breaks" or "Immigrant Song". I was intrigued by what was meant by "Dazed and Confused"(instrumental only)...would they only play the fast solo part? The whole song but with no lyrics? What the hell did that mean? I have a feeling Mike Millard also read this article, and that it helped him plan on when to make his tape swaps...if you listen to "Listen to This, Eddie", it is remarkable how perfect he timed his flips and didn't miss much music, considering it was the first night. Oh, and this wasn't the only Led Zeppelin item in the Los Angeles Times that day...in that day's Sports Section, in the Morning Briefing on Page 2, was this little curio: Los Angeles Times Tuesday April 5, 1977 Sports Section III Page 2: Morning Briefing This week's Stanley Cup first-round playoffs between the New York Islanders and the Chicago Black Hawks have sent none other than Bugs Bunny hippety-hopping out of the Islanders' home rink. The Nassau Coliseum had been leased to a Bugs Bunny Easter extravaganza Thursday night, when the second game of the best-of-three series is scheduled. The Islanders bought out the show. Thursday's game was supposed to have been played in Chicago, but the Black Hawks had a scheduling problem too: a Led Zeppelin rock concert. Apparently, that show must go on. Copyright Los Angeles Times.

You must have a cleaned up version. The version I have(Badgeholders "Taking No Prisoners Tonight") has an overloaded bass sound that almost drowns out the rest of the band until the excellent-sounding Mike Millard recording takes over during Stairway until the end of the show. No matter...it's still one of my favourite shows and definitely one of the best, performance-wise, from the 1975 tour. If only the soundboard would make its way to us.

My phone was stolen while I was at the library and I just wanted to warn that whoever has my phone has access to this site, as I had the Forum bookmarked and my name and password were automatically remembered each time I pulled the site up. So far I haven't discovered any funny business in my profile page and I have already suspended my phone account and changed my passwords, etc., so that should prevent any trouble, but I just wanted to give a heads up.

I always have felt the Marlins were a joke, and if ever a team should be contracted, they are a leading candidate. But what the Marlins owner, Jeffrey Loria did today was almost beyond belief and pretty much cements him as the WORST OWNER IN SPORTS. Muhammad Ali a Poor Choice for First Pitch By: Deron Snyder | Posted: April 5, 2012 Muhammad Ali with Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) Maybe Muhammad Ali wanted to be on that golf cart Wednesday night. Maybe he wanted to hear a crowd's cheers one more time. Maybe he actually feels a real strong connection to Miami, where he beat Sonny Liston in 1964 and where the Marlins opened their brand-new stadium Wednesday. If that's the case, if "the Greatest of All Time" was eager and anxious to be part of Opening Day ceremonies at Marlins Park, officials should have come up with something else. Perhaps a brief shot of him on the video screen, waving from the owner's suite. Because putting him on a golf cart for an excruciatingly slow ride from the bullpen to the pitcher's mound was a total buzzkill. The scene didn't fit the rest of the evening, which was joyous, festive and celebratory. Instead, Ali's appearance was sad, awkward and eerie. When the crowd stopped trying to muster up cheers and a half-hearted "Ali, Ali!" chant, it watched in stunned silence. The 70-year-old former champion, his frail body ravaged by Parkinson's disease, trembled uncontrollably as Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria wrapped an arm around him. Loria, who isn't very popular among fans, likely would have been booed if Ali weren't next to him. That's one reason the move to include Ali seemed so exploitative -- Loria using him as a shield and as an unnecessary, high-profile prop. "I wanted to give the fans a sense that we're doing special things for them," Loria told reporters after Miami's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Loria said that he convinced Ali to participate about two months ago. "I thought it would be nostalgic, and his wife [Lonnie] thought it might be fun for him to come here," Loria said. If it was fun for the champ, we couldn't tell. He wore dark glasses and a blank expression, with no visible connection to the happenings around him. Incapable of throwing the first pitch, Ali was handed a ball and handed it to a player when the ride ended. The moment was nothing like the image of Ali lighting the 1996 Olympic Torch in Atlanta, when the trembling didn't overshadow his dignity, strength and conquering spirit. As the Huffington Post noted, "The crowd both in stadium and on Twitter reacted with an apparent mix of depressed sympathy, mass confusion, and, at least online, open suspicion over Loria's motives." Is it selfish not to want to see Ali like that? Absolutely. We have our memories and don't want them ruffled by disturbing images from the present. Surely Ali's loved ones understand, keeping his public appearances to a bare minimum. Surely they don't want Ali to be a downer to his fans. Ali's connection to Miami is so faint -- a fight that occurred 48 years ago -- that he seemed out of place at Marlins Park. Especially since there are no known ties to baseball itself. Again, having him wave at fans from a suite would have been one thing, sparing everyone the prolonged image of his shaky ride. But putting him on full display for several minutes in the middle of the field seemed like a cheap publicity stunt gone horribly wrong. "The opening of Marlins Park started off with a parade of showgirls and Jose Feliciano singing the National Anthem," wrote Deadspin's Erik Malinowski. "It ended with the sad, shameless sight of Loria trotting out Ali's disease-ravaged body for a forced on-field ceremony. Happy Opening Day, everyone." Loria was as clueless afterward as he was when the idea struck him. "The disease is debilitating, but he is still the most famous person on the face of the earth," the owner said. "It's a big up for the crowd and for me. That's what it's all about." No, it was about using an all-time legend for selfish purposes. It was a disgrace. Ali deserved better, and so did everyone who watched.

Hey now, wait a minute! What's wrong with Sean? I've liked a lot of his stuff...both solo and with Yoko. Much more than Julian Lennon's output. Sean definitely has cred...as does Zak Starkey after his stint with the Who. I admit I don't know much about the other two, other than Dhani's uncanny likeness to his father.

Awesome! Thanks jabe...and thanks to conneyfogle.

I wrote the following on Sept. 25, 2010...the 30th anniversary of his passing: 30 years ago today my world crumbled. It was a bright sunny Southern California morning and I had just arrived at school just before 8am when the rumours started swirling about Bonham dying. At first we all felt like it had to be a hoax...no way could the Hammer of the Gods be dead! I had just started saving up money for the impending Led Zeppelin tour that was sure to come LA's way in 1981, and I intended to take my little brothers to their first concert when Zeppelin next played Los Angeles. Right after my first class, around 9am PST, confirmation came that yes, indeed, John Henry Bonham had shuffled of this mortal coil. I felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under me...the rest of the day was spent under a fog of sadness and despair. As soon as I got home I immediately holed up in my room and turned my stereo to KMET 94.7 FM, THE premiere rock and roll station in Los Angeles during the '70's. I didn't come out for dinner or anything...just spent the night alone as Mary "the Burner" Turner and then Jim Ladd spent their entire shows paying tribute to Bonzo. There were interviews, press statements, memorials and testimonials from fans and other musicians alike...along with wall-to-wall Zeppelin music. I wanted it to be some horrible nightmare...that I would wake up and find out it wasn't true, that Bonzo was still alive and that Zeppelin was still in flight. One of the things I do remember occuring at school in the days after we had official confirmation of Bonham's passing, was some kids speculating about the prospects of Led Zeppelin carrying on. Names of Bonzo's possible replacement were bandied about: Cozy Powell, Carmine Apice, Alan White, Carl Palmer, Neil Peart...and with each name mentioned, it seemed sillier and sillier until I was hit with the sudden realization that THIS WAS IT! There was NO replacing Bonham, which meant that, unlike the Who and the Rolling Stones, Jimmy, Robert and John Paul would honour their fallen comrad and call it a day. It hit me with the force and clarity of Bonham's right foot: LED ZEPPELIN WAS OVER! No more albums, no more tours...my little brothers would not get to experience what I, and millions of others lucky to have been born earlier did: the incandescent thrill and power of Led Zeppelin in concert. The next day back at school, I made plans with friends to go see that night's(it was a Friday) midnight screening of "The Song Remains the Same" at the United Artists Theatres at the Tyler Mall in Riverside, CA. First we hit the usual post-game party at the river, drank some beer and smoked some pot...so that by the time we made it to the theatre, we were thoroughly baked. I remember the line to the movie being humongous...it was even longer than the line to see "Rocky Horror", which also played Friday and Saturday at midnight at this theatre. Eventually they had to cut off the line because it was sold out...we got there just in time. Just to give you a taste of what screenings of "The Song Remains the Same" were like back then, the theatre would set up big stacks of JBL speakers on both sides of the screen to go along with the Altec Lansings already wired around the theatre and they would crank the sound as LOUD as humanly possible. This was years before THX and DTS Digital and all the surround sound stuff you have now...but it was quite effective. During Jimmy's bow solo the sound would ricochet around the threatre...when you were stoned it was mind-blowing. And trust me, that night EVERYONE was either drunk or stoned; frequently both. Even before the movie started, the room was filling up with the haze of marijuana and/or hash smoke...and every so often you would hear the clink or clank of beer bottles/cans hitting the floor. Of course, for that night's screening everyone was there to pay respects to Bonham, and accordingly, whenever Bonham showed up on screen the theatre would explode in applause...and "Moby Dick" got the loudest and longest ovation I've ever heard it receive in the more than 80 times I've seen it in theatres. I was in tears myself for most of the film...I still couldn't believe he was dead and that I would never get to see the band in concert again. Then I thought about his family...the part where little Jason shows up during "Moby Dick", playing along with his dad, was heart-breaking. So sad. I thought about going again Saturday night...but I just didn't think I could handle it emotionally. You can laugh...but Led Zeppelin was my LIFE back then! It was the one thing that kept me sane with all the craziness that was going on with my family and school, etc. There were many other bands I liked but there was only ONE LED ZEPPELIN; they were my life-line. 30 years ago today, I was decimated by the death of Bonzo and my optimism for the coming decade took a turn for the worse; suddenly the 80's looked bleak and dreary. R.I.P. JOHN HENRY BONHAM.

Not only did I see her opening set, but she also played WITH Page & Plant during their set at the shows I saw. As for my list, haha...yeah, I probably left out a few.

Nearly his centennial...Happy Birthday to the one and only Muddy Waters! Muddy KNOWS how to celebrate birthdays...

Pretty tough to just pick 3 from each decade(and I'll assume you have your reasons for excluding the 60s, 90s and 00s). This required me to set up some ground rules to winnow the field to a manageable size. Basically, for a band or solo artist to qualify for my list I had to like them as much at the end of the decade as I did at the beginning(sayonara Stones and Pink Floyd), or whenever it was I first heard them...and it had to be a period of 5 years or more. That eliminated any flash in the pans, or bands that were hot for an album or two, then petered out(I'm looking at you T. Rex). Of course, that meant that bands whose best years straddled the decades, like most first-wave punk bands, Van Halen, Elvis Costello or My Bloody Valentine, didn't make the cut for either the 70s or 80s. Oh well, c'est la vie. Another criteria was that not only did they have to have put out great albums, but they also had to be great live. And I have to enjoy their music as much today as I did back then. 1970s: Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye 1980s: Sonic Youth, The Cure, Prince Just missing the cut: 1970s: Rory Gallagher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Parliament-Funkadelic, David Bowie, Queen, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Rolling Stones, Kraftwerk. 1980s: Jane's Addiction, Iron Maiden, Cocteau Twins, Replacements, Smiths, Hüsker Dü, Dream Syndicate, Metallica.

Interesting. I always think of Human League and Suzanne Vega as 80s artists. Did Human League release any albums in the 90s? Hard to believe the 90s are already 20 years ago. So here are the people I dug the most in the 90s, including some who began in the 80s but still carried on with good shit in the 90s. Robert Plant(both solo and the Page & Plant years) John Paul Jones Jane's Addiction Thelonious Monster Los Lobos Fishbone Mary's Danish Sonic Youth Pixies Dinosaur Jr. My Bloody Valentine Cocteau Twins Lush Galaxie 500 The Cure Talk Talk Depeche Mode Jesus and Mary Chain P.W.E.I. Beastie Boys Pet Shop Boys Moby Madonna Morrissey U2 Cowboy Junkies Neil Young Prince En Vogue Snoop Dog Dr. Dre Wu-Tang Clan A Tribe Called Quest Outkast Erykah Badu Diamanda Galás Tool Ministry Nine Inch Nails Stereolab Olivia Tremor Control Radiohead Suede The Verve Primal Scream Supergrass Pulp PJ Harvey Bjork Beck Jeff Buckley Black Crowes Uncle Tupelo Wilco Son Volt Billy Bragg Nick Cave Chris Isaak Lyle Lovett Dwight Yoakam Steve Earle Whiskeytown Robyn Hitchcock Elliott Smith Aimee Mann Michael Penn Jon Brion Fiona Apple Tori Amos Sarah McLachlan Nanci Griffith Beth Orton Low Mogwai Massive Attack Portishead Aphex Twin Air Orb Orbital Spacemen 3 Spiritualized Soundgarden Sleater-Kinney L7 Pavement Nirvana Foo Fighters Shellac Kyuss Garbage Flaming Lips Mercury Rev Grandaddy Super Furry Animals 10 acts I couldn't stand in the 90s: Creed Hoobastank Hootie & the Blowfish Counting Crowes Limp Bizkit Spin Doctors Insane Clown Posse Sublime 311 Marilyn Manson

Are you high? First off, "best side of vinyl to come out of Canada"? In a country that produced Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, Anvil might squeak into the top ten...barely. Look, I loved the Anvil documentary as much as anyone, and applaud their tenacity and belief in themselves. But after seeing the movie, and curious as to why I had forgotten about them, I went back and dug out a couple old Anvil records I had and gave them a listen. After listening, I remembered why they had faded from memory. They simply weren't all that great. Metal on Metal is one of those boring, leaden, stock riffs that had been done to death already. Mothra only reminded me that Blue Öyster Cult had been there, done that. Really, the only two songs that stick out for me are March of the Crabs and 666. Pentagram has better guitar tones, better riffs(listen to "Relentless"), better vocals, a better groove. And this is just from listening to 1973 demo tapes. Anvil is portrayed as the link between old-school metal like Maiden and Priest and the thrash bands to come like Metallica and Slayer. Frankly, it doesn't really matter to me. Priest and Maiden and Motorhead all sounded superior to Anvil...and they were just as fast. Actually there was a metal album that came out in 1982 that pointed the way to the future more than Anvil. I was fortunate to get stationed in Germany in the fall of 1982, where a nice German girl named Uschi played me a record that would blow my socks off...and make Anvil sound old and slow.

Yes, it is jumping ahead, but since you asked... No, I didn't really have any thoughts of going up north to see them...I definitely didn't think about going to Tempe to see them. There were several factors why that was. One was the fact that I was now living in an entirely different situation than in 1973 when I went to see Led Zeppelin at Kezar. My dad was remarried(his third wife) and I had long ceased having any contact with my previous stepmother and her relatives/friends, including the ones that took me to that '73 Kezar show. Second, after the 1976 Who and 1977 Pink Floyd shows at Anaheim Stadium, I was developing a distaste for outdoor stadium shows. The sound was sometimes dodgy and totally reliant upon wind conditions. The crowds were oversized and overloaded on booze and drugs and it could be an unpleasant experience all-around. In fact, that May 7, 1977 Pink Floyd show might rank as one of the all-time worst concerts I've ever seen...it's in there with REM/Luscious Jackson@the Forum in 1995 and Marilyn Manson/Hole@the Forum in 1999. Ahhh, but I'm getting ahead of myself...I'll expound more on the dehumanizing effect that Pink Floyd Animals concert had when May 7 rolls around. Third was the fact that quite simply, Led Zeppelin was out of sight, out of mind. Remember they were on a long break after those LA Forum shows...Robert even made mention several times during the last show that the band was flying back to England. It was treated like the end of the tour. Unlike today, where you can check the internet for a band's tour dates, back then, very few outlets existed that carried the full itinerary of the Led Zeppelin tour. I wasn't a regular reader of Rolling Stone anymore and Creem and Circus would only post tour dates for that month's issue. Most newspapers were only interested in their own city, so once Led Zeppelin came and went, that was usually the end of it. By mid-July, there other things going on and I don't think I heard anything about the Oakland shows until the Times printed a small piece about the fight backstage. The fourth and last factor in my lack of interest going to the Oakland shows, was the simple fact that I was grounded that weekend...in fact, I'd been grounded that whole week. So even if I had kept up with the tour schedule and gotten tickets, I couldn't go anyway. Besides, nobody else I knew showed any interest in going to see Led Zeppelin in Oakland. We seemed to have had our Zeppelin lust sated by those Forum shows.