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alias

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Everything posted by alias

  1. Didn't know that. I just figured they'd attract the same people who were into P-Funk and Earth Wind & Fire. I was too young to see them live; but I remember hearing Cisco Kid on the radio a lot, also, my older sister had a couple of their albums. I believe they're still around.
  2. So jealous you got to see all those bands back in the day. I did actually catch Santana (Carlos, solo) back in the late 80s in NYC, and like you said, the crowd was multi-cultural. Played his butt off as usual. That was a very good show. I saw the Stones twice in '81, but that was in France, so basically it was just a French crowd (and me!).
  3. I can't answer your question for everybody, just me and my little group of friends. Other than Santana and the Stones (which Strider just mentioned), I really can't think of any other hard rockers that black folks were into. I didn't even know anyone my age (who was black) who was into Hendrix. When I bought 'Are You Experienced' in 9th grade, the only people I could really talk about it with were the 3-4 kids in the small hippie group at my school. :-) As far as white bands in general, folks liked the odd song here and there like 'Another Bites the Dust,' as you mentioned, and also stuff like the Average White Band song 'Pick Up the Pieces,' because it was funky. And Wild Cherry's 'Play that Funky Music.' Steely Dan was the go-to rock group for black people who were mostly into R&B and soul, but they were more on the jazz tip. I recall things being pretty segregated as far as the fan base was concerned. I grew up in a black neighborhood but I went to a predominantly white private school, so I was immersed in both worlds. Back in the days before Run DMC covered Walk This Way, rap was strictly a black phenomenon. None of my white friends could understand why I liked "that music." Likewise, my black friends didn't get why I was into punk. I took some ribbing from both sides. When you're talking about musicians though, they're mostly interested in musicality and don't care so much about race, so I'm not surprised for instance to hear about Branford Marsalis being into Zep. He also liked the Grateful Dead, as I recall. I was married to a jazz musician in my younger days, here was a guy who only listened to straight ahead music (Miles, Coltrane, etc.) but he thought Led Zeppelin were great. You mentioned the younger generation. I know at my son's high school, the kids of all races are mostly into rap and pop. But there's really no concept of "oh that's black music, oh that's white music, why are you listening to that" like when I was young. They don't seem to really care about that stuff. My son says the only kids who are into the older groups, like Zep, are the stoners. I'm always amazed when I see kids in a Zep or Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt. That music was like 40 years ago. That would have been like me us 70s/80s teen walking around in a Benny Goodman shirt when we were that age. Just didn't happen.
  4. Cool question! And I had to register just to answer it. :-) I was in 11th grade in 1982 when I first got into Zep. Growing up in the 70s and listening to FM radio I of course had heard all their hits, but at that time I was more into Peter Frampton, Fleetwood Mac and disco -- you know, the soft stuff. In high school I got very into punk and new wave. The Clash were my main band, saw them play a bunch of times. I had an asymmetrical haircut and wore black all the time. Smoked cigarettes and hated the world. Total misfit. One night I found myself hanging out with a few kids from school including one of the popular guys, a jock. The kind of person who normally wouldn't speak to a weirdo like me. But he turned out to be cool. We hung out on Riverside Drive in NYC, sat across from the river. It was also the night I smoked pot for the first time. Felt all funny and couldn't stop laughing. The night sky was beautiful. Later, we all went back to the jock's apartment (his mom was asleep) and he put on Houses of the Holy. It was The Ocean that really got me. I couldn't believe how hard they played, how much they rocked! That incredible blues guitar, Plant's over-the-top voice. And Bonzo, oh my god! A bunch of us were sitting on the bed and when the end part came on, where the band is all doo-wopping, we were all singing along with the record. I knew I was hooked for life. Amidst my punk collection, which included The Clash, Sex Pistols, the Damned, Crass, etc., I added pretty much everything up through Physical Graffiti. Like the punk bands I loved, Zep had energy. But more than that they could really play their instruments! And they were funky too. Coming from a soul background (I'm black so I grew up with Marvin Gaye, George Clinton, etc. around the house) that just made Zep the total package. Still hooked, 30 years later. I've listened to em on vinyl, cassette, CD and now mp3.
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