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D'yer Mak'er not liked by its main writers?


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There's some interviews where JPJ is adamant that neither he nor Bonham were keen on "Jamaica" (oops, I mean D'yer Mak'er); in one interview, he said Bonzo "hated it", and did not "work at his part"; that thesong was Robert's idea. So I was surprised to notice on the songwriting credit that it is attributed to : "Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant". Well, if you hated a song why would you be the principal writer? ( I personally like the tune, and do not agree with the book "John Bonham-A Thunder of Drums" that states that Bonzo "sounds like he's demolishing a shed, and rather untidily at that".

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There's some interviews where JPJ is adamant that neither he nor Bonham were keen on "Jamaica" (oops, I mean D'yer Mak'er); in one interview, he said Bonzo "hated it", and did not "work at his part"; that thesong was Robert's idea. So I was surprised to notice on the songwriting credit that it is attributed to : "Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant". Well, if you hated a song why would you be the principal writer? ( I personally like the tune, and do not agree with the book "John Bonham-A Thunder of Drums" that states that Bonzo "sounds like he's demolishing a shed, and rather untidily at that".

I'm sure lots of artists have taken part in the writing process for songs they're not particularly fond of, "principal" writer or not. Bonzo's writing credit on "D'yer Mak'er" is no exception.

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Major Major nailed it...their names were simply listed in alphabetical order; it doesn't mean Bonham was the main writer of the song.

Besides, Jimmy supposedly hates "Living Loving Maid". Last time I checked, his name was still listed on the credits.

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With as much material as they had at this time, if any of the band members actively "hated" it then would it have made the cut on the album? I know Atlantic would have wanted some influence, but by the time of HOTH wouldn't the band have achieved the creative control to not put out something they hated? For god's sake, they got The Crunge on that album.

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I've never been too fond of this song. There are not many LZ songs I don't like, but this is one of them. What bothers me is the amount of FM airplay this song still gets and not deserved.

I love it! I think it's just a "fun" song, kinda in the same vein as Misty... and Livin' Lovin', Fool In The Rain, etc. To me it's another demension of the most diverse rock band ever!

Edited by Walter
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I love it! I think it's just a "fun" song, kinda in the same vein as Misty... and Livin' Lovin', Fool In The Rain, etc. To me it's another demension of the most diverse rock band ever!

It is a fun song, but I just get a bit sick of all the excess airplay. Although, others like STH, Black Dog and WLL don't both me being played a lot. If it were played on occasion that would be fine and I wouldn't grow tired of it.

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I also don't like DM, and think it's the only mistake in their catalog, out of style, out of taste,

Reggae to Led Zeppelin - the same as a saddle for the cow,

and ruined rather fragile and intimate atmosphere / spirit of HOtH

About Bonzo's credits there - Page usually put credits for all four members of the group when they played standards/ or blues covers, or not complicated stuff that came out of jams

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"The Crunge" is amazing - it's also pretty clear the band liked that exploration of funk, considering that they perfomed it (via medley) throughout 1972-1975.

That's exactly my point...that it is on the album because the band wanted it there. I used it as an example of something the suits at the record company might push back on, to illustrate the authority over the music that the band must have enjoyed by that time.

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It is a fun song, but I just get a bit sick of all the excess airplay. Although, others like STH, Black Dog and WLL don't both me being played a lot. If it were played on occasion that would be fine and I wouldn't grow tired of it.

Agreed! I don't listen to the radio that often, so I choose to hear it when I do.

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some like it and some don't but it is a mish mash. half of it wants to be reggae and half wants to be doo wop. bonham kind of ignores both and ploughs straight through. i have read that jonesy didn't care for it and that he thought bonzo was in agreement with him.

of the two "fun" songs on HOTH i think i'd opt for the crunge and that they shouldn't have included both on the same album. the song HOTH is in my opinion better than both of them

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