Grateful Dead

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100% agree.

With Dead vinyl releases, anything Real Gone are involved in seems to cost over twice as much as the others. This PNW 5/19/74 was available for about $78 dollars last week ( it just seems to have sold out) - £60.00. Dicks Picks 19 - £160.00 plus that £30.00 VAT at the moment. I can justify all sorts of bad behaviour-and I can justify buying this - " I don't go to live gigs any more, so the money I would have spent on them can go on this" - sort of thing. But it's a rip off, whichever way you look at it.

but I'm never buying vinyl again."

- Husker Du paraphrase

warning: potential sacrilege ahead:

vinyl is overrated

Suits to wring the last dollar out of anything...

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”

Hunter S. Thompson

I agree with Daverock that Grateful Dead product seems to be much more expensive than their other reissues, but all their stuff is overpriced. These are reissues so the big expenses like recording costs don't have to be paid. I don't know how much they have to pay to licence the stuff and maybe Rhino ask a bigger licence fee than others. Oh, the ethics of greed.

tour announced for summer 2022

In the Weekend section of the Wall Street Journal last week an article by Alan Paul gave a pretty good update on Bob Weir's current endeavors. It mentioned The Wolf Brothers, the National Symphony gig , the 50th anniversary of Ace, Bob's unusual chord structures influenced by McCoy Tyner and Dead & Co. Apparently, Bob is working on a memoir, an opera and a musical about Satchel Page of the Negro League. The article ends with a quote from Bob that indicates that ' Retirement is not an option'. Good read if you can get your hands on it.

Last Dead - Still digesting the St. Louis shows. I'm not as fast as most of you and tend to sip my Dead and not chug...

Last 5 - Steve Winwood - Greatest Hits Live
Gov't Mule - Heavy Load Blues
Herbie Hancock - Headhunter
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew
The Pretenders - Deluxe edition of Pretenders and Pretenders II

The PNW 3cd "best of the box" is one of my all time favorites. As someone noted earlier it is a great road trip companion.

Best to all...!

Could not agree more. Way to slow. No juice at all. Same with Dead and Co. I caught one of Bob’s shows this tour and it was mediocre at best. Of all these iterations of the band, I still liked Futhur the best. Even then, all that did was make me appreciate Garcia so much more. After the Bob show, I had to pop in a CD so that I could listen to how the songs should be played.

I couldn't agree more with this comment.

I do like the after-carnations, but I think I am going to pass this summer. Sometimes it's great to meet old friend and groove to the music though.. music is healing, or as a very generous and kind person once said, music is the best.

I do miss the Terror of Garcia on a good night. I read something recently that summed up my thoughts on this. Let me look for it, I hope to update with a Lancelot Linque (secret chimp).

Found it.. on YouTube, search "Was Jerry Garcia a Good Guitarist?"

I've mentioned the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in Phoenix before...excellent place, mind blowing actually...anyway they sponsor a fairly eclectic concert series...It's where I saw Taj Mahal a couple of weeks ago...I've also seen Los Lobos there a few times, Albert Lee & Booker T Jones etc...one really cool gig was the night after The Stones played in Phoenix, a lot of the musicians that tour with them, the back up singers, Chuck Leavell, Karl Denson and Tim Ries along with other musician friends did a gig there, the highlight being Bernard Fowler's soulful rendition of Wild Horses....made me think it was how Otis would've done it if he had lived...made for a great evening of music...anyway, the Museum just released their Summer Series Line Up...mas cool stuff...what I wish I could go see is Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Pandit Subhen Chatterjee...Subhen Chatterjee is a tabla player who kicks ass and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt plays a modified acoustic guitar lap style and gets the craziest sitar and sarod sounds with a slide...look them up on youtube, you'll dig it...they're playing mid August so it's a no go for me...I'll have just returned from a four state swing from AZ, UT, CO & NM for the Tedeschi Trucks Band/Los Lobos gigs at Red Rocks and besides, it would take the second coming of Jimi Hendrix to get me to go to Phoenix in August...

Apparently there is a worldwide shortage of vinyl and many releases, especially from smaller labels, are being delayed or having to be released at greater cost because of the shortage. Still doesn’t excuse big hikes or make it any more palatable but might be a contributing factor. Gasp, shock horror admission - I only buy vinyl when I absolutely have to or when the artwork is sufficiently impressive. I don’t have much money either for a large collection or for a system of sufficient quality to detect any noticeable sound improvement.

It's quite sobering, reading people's thoughts on vinyl. It feels a bit ridiculous at the moment, paying such a massive price for something I already have, and only play once a year-if that. I still might go for the Wembley show from Europe 72 when it comes out on RSD - which should be under £100.00. But even saying that....what an indulgence!

My approach is similar to how Deadfeati describes his Dead listening now-in sips rather than chugs. And vinyl fits into this style quite nicely. 2 sides now. Maybe 2 later on. Carry on tomorrow. You can obviously do this with cds, too, but I'm more likely to collapse in a heap when I put one of those on, and wait till it's all over.

Nappy - I always thought it would be great to see Lisa Fischer of The Stones do a solo show. Her singing with them is always a highlight - especially on Gimme Shelter. She easily had the best stage presence as well in the 90s and 00's. Like watching a Goddess in the presence of a bunch of oiks.

I still have some, about 1000. Used to have about 5000 but during the 90's sold a lot of them as CD's were the new thing and only kept the old and favorites. I still will buy a vinyl record occasionally, the last one I purchased was Cat Stevens' soundtrack to Harold and Maude. A favorite movie of my wife's and there are several songs on the lp that are not released on any other Cat Stevens record or cd sprinkled in with tunes from Tea for the Tillerman. Purchased on record store day, it was 25 bucks for yellow vinyl. Also in my opinion, the colored vinyl doesn't seem to have the sound that black vinyl does, don't know why a color added to the vinyl would reduce or limit the sound, but it seems to do just that.
IMO the Grateful Dead live really don't lend themselves to vinyl and the time limitations on said medium. But let's look at the cost of vinyl records now days. Is the cost of producing vinyl the reason that the cost is so alarming? or is it tptb just making the most out of what they have to offer? My first long playing record that I purchased cost .99 cents, of course, that was a very long time ago.

Big Announcement Coming from Rhino today to tie you over until the next big release.

Oh wait, the tube socks are already on the site for sale, nevermind.

Back in the 1960s in England I remember buying singles for 6/8 (6 shillings and 8 pence) and LPs for 19/11 (19 shillings and 11 pence, just under £1). That was in the days of the old pounds shillings and pence. Younger readers will have no idea what I'm talking about. In those days they were called records, not vinyl, because that was the only format for recorded music. I'll stop now because I'm making myself feel old.

Yes she was quite the Vocal Goddess! Have you seen "20 Feet From Stardom"?...it's a killer documentary on back up singers...it has Merry Clayton, Lisa, Claudia Lennear and others...way cool...on the 2013 Rolling Stones tour I went to see them in San Jose...we had killer seats and during a "quiet" moment I screamed out "Lisa!!! Lisa!!!" ...she smiled and waved...then I screamed out "I want to have your baby!!!" I knew she heard that too because she visibly started with a kinda "Huh?" look...

... or I missed it.

Just brought to my attention, a new release of a rolling stones show from 1977. The vinyl is not cheap, but the cds were affordable. Looked like the "limited" color vinyl only available from the stones site.

The sucker/fool that I am, I bit!

I'm counting on these "limited" vinyl collections to fund my retirement. Hope they don't let me down. I planning on having bills no honest man could pay by then.

....AJS throwing shade!! Hilarious.

There was some talk the other day on one of the forums about ‘Schools Out’ by Alice Cooper and this reminded me that it was in the UK charts the year I left secondary school, 1972. This is 50 years ago so it also reminded me how old I am! I went for a nostalgic last 5 featuring LPs I owned while still in school. This obviously limited my selections because I didn’t have much money back then.

‘The Madcap Laughs’ - Syd Barrett
‘Blue’ - Joni Mitchell
‘Songs of Love and Hate’ - Leonard Cohen
‘Unicorn’ - Tyrannosaurus Rex
‘II’ - Led Zeppelin

Simon Rob - I was horrified when album prices went up to 19/11 the first few that I bought were a mere 17/6.

I have absolutely nothing to say, so I thought I'd pop in and say nothing............

Weekly awards go to:

Daverock: The Rolling Stones as "a bunch of oiks." Urban dicktionary: "an obnoxious or unpleasant person; in weakened senses, a 'nit-wit', a 'clot'. " Okay, gotta look up "clot," although now I have a clue.

Nappy: Shouting during a quiet moment in a Stones show to Lisa Fischer, causing her to enter years of therapy: "I want to have your baby!" Definitely extra credit for reversing the obvious: "You should have MY baby..." (Go Nappy!)

Dennis' reference to an "honest man." Earth to Dennis: such a person never existed. At least, not in my town...

Just getting over the Dark Star on the third '72 night and now contemplating the '73 shows in the "Listen" box. And randomly pulling E72 shows off the shelf to power my workouts. A troubling juxtaposition, to say the least.

As for the symphonic Jerry tribute, Wolf Bros. and D&Co, zero interest at my end, even if a friend offered to gift me a tic. Oh, what age will do! Just have to have a very compelling reason to wade into a crowd of more than a hundred (often incessantly talking) people. Give me a band just exploding with energy, like the top performing band in thid country for years: Tedeschi & Trucks. And give me the funkiest band of bros to open: Los Lobos. And bring 'em here to the Rocks for two nights: yeah! Two more years and I'll have done 50 years at the Rocks. Better than 50 years making little ones out of big ones, I say.

P.S. "Was Garcia a good guitarist?" Absolutely not. Garcia was one of the 20th century's most innovative and versatile guitarists who could (and did) play with anybody and everybody. He achieved greatness, musically, while also becoming an unwitting and irascible global icon, along with Elvis and James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. If a sacred, colorless, odorless liquid had anything to do with it, so be it.

Ah, Friday, April 1st! Nothing like a long post about nothing.... As you were!

I found myself about to go to a local show on Wednesday(not sold out/tickets available at the door). I then realized that I was really only going to check off a box on my "unseen bands" list. When it occurred to me that I would likely not have the best of times(standing up for 3-4 hours), I decided not to go. I too like small venues, audiences tend to be more respectful at small venues(but not always!!). So, I saved $40.00(DAVEROCK, I can spend that on CDS!!, I like the way you think!). My list of Artists/Bands I will continue to pay to see is getting smaller all the time.

Re: "albums"- I was quite surprised to see that the cost of a "normal' L.P. today-say $20-$25 bucks-is not that far off when you account for inflation, but I agree, all these other price points are silly, and the manufacturers know that us "collectors" ain't gonna be around forever!! They are really milking the cow.
When records was all I had, I thought nothing of getting up every 2-3 minutes(single) or 17-20 minutes(L.P.) Now, it seems so odd to me, and I bought my first "45" in 1965!! How times have changed.

By the way, the band I was going to see were Brian Jonestown Massacre(because 16 years ago, they cancelled the gig about 2 hours before showtime, typical for them at that time). I didn't find out until I was driving to the venue.

Music is the Best!!

Vinyl-- when cds came out in the mid-1980s, I got on board and haven't looked back. I never had much success with records and record players. It seemed I was always in need of a new needle or some other issue with it. I can have crisper sound and listen for 80 minutes without having to get off the couch. No contest. The only thing I miss is the bigger artwork.

Dead and Company tour-- this is the first year that I am probably going to pass entirely. They truly are too slow. The only appeal is getting together with a lot of like-minded people and having a fine time listening to familiar tunes. Now, if Billy and the Kids come around, sign me up. Like Hendrixfreak, I am looking forward to Tedeschi Trucks and Los Lobos in Chicagoland in July. They switched to all GA from a reserved seating setup. I still need to procure tix, but it doesn't appear to be a problem yet. Still working on companions.

One show note-- I played the Arrowhead 7/1/78 show (again, those cowboy faces must have melted that day) and listened for the first time to the Space. Is that Phil getting weird on vocals? I usually skip D/S as it is not my bag, but that is a good one.

....Tedeschi Trucks Band is one. Checking that off at Red Rocks. Pearl Jam is another. Checking that off in May. Another on my list is JRAD. Come to Sin City Joe & Co!!!

It’s official Marye recognition day here at Deadnet. Big THANKS to the Mar-ster for all she puts up with and does as our den mother and logistics nurse!

AND!, it’s our good buddy and deadnet fashion guru Dennis’s 42nd anniversary show too!

....One of the robbers grabs a bottle and asks the other guy, "Is this whisky?"
"Yeah. but not as whisky as wobbing a bank!"
I'll see myself out now.

...."Supplies!!"

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter has his first (!) solo album coming out this June. A great guitarist from those early Steely Dan releases and session player extraordinaire. I’m really looking forward to this one. His connection to Bobby & the Midnites? He played in concert with them, but never was an official member.

Proudfoot - I agree 100% about vinyl being overrated.

VGuy - One of my adult kids is visiting me from out west, and I can never have enough bad Dad jokes, so keep ‘em coming!

PS - Congrats to the phenom from Arizona Auston Matthews for hitting 50 goals! You are a phenomenal player.

PPS - A dozen Scarlet Begonias to Mary E for all she selflessly does so well for all of us here! Cheers Mary!

Fun times on the Deads home turf.

Nappy - no, I've never heard of that one. I'll keep my eyes open - cheers! For no apparent reason, I find myself thinking of Buddy Guy's appearance with The Stones on that film by Martin Scorsese, "Shine A Light", blasting "Champagne and Reefer". Way to go!

I got my first album for Christmas 1971-T.Rex's "Electric Warrior." The first one I bought with my own money was a few weeks after that-"Fireball" by Deep Purple. I think that one cost £2.45, which was quite pricey for the time. Others I got in 1972 seemed to range between that and £2.10, if my memory serves me well.

Mr Ones - now I have decided not get Dicks Picks 19 on vinyl, I have an extra £200.00 to spend on cds !

Billy, 4/1, that was part of those Marin Vet shows?
Had some good tapes of part of those. Recall there was some good stuff?
Would love to hear any specifics you remember!

MIKE: The Skunk played with the Midnights?
Did you get to see!
I only saw them with Bobby Cochran. A few times with Alfonso, but first time on Election Day 1980 at Kleinhans music hall with Tim Bogart on bass! Of course being a tadpole I didn’t know who he was at the time.
Let us know how you like Skunks album, might have to check that out!

EDIT: I’m already spreading the dad jokes around. Sent to my accountant, but the poor bastards so far in the mire even those didn’t work : ( we keep kidding him that’s he’s gonna dye in his chair working too damn much, but to him that would be like dying on stage, so…it’s go time Jerry!

Love this discussion as I've been going through some audio system changes the last few years. I need both CDs and vinyl as I grew up with vinyl and it is still maybe half my total collection. Those of us who grew up with that sound find it appealing in a number of ways, not just audibly. There is a certain formality to the tedious process of playing vinyl that went with playing music as an event, usually followed by other, shall we say, sacred rituals. There was no portable music yet before the advent of the Walkman and boom boxes. One only used headphones at home. Your "stereo" was a symbol that you maybe had a job, a little money and likely were someone hip or cool enough to "get it". It was a purchase you made maybe before even owning a car. It was our main entertainment when pre-cable TV generally wasn't enough, and you really couldn't throw a party without one.
Enter the CD in the mid-eighties and we all went there immediately. The "stereos" weren't generally good enough to show the faults we now find annoying about how early CDs were mastered. Most of my pre-2000 CDs sound terrible through my more modern high current MOSFET amp/preamp with the complaint mostly about the tinny harsh high end. Even some produced much later sound that way. Of course we all loved the improved clarity and dynamic peaks the CD could achieve and the total experience is still in favor of the CD. I definitely prefer hearing Dick's or Dave's on CD but have also become intrigued with vinyl remasters of some of my old worn out favorites.
Full disclosure: This is from a guy who never went A/V. Had I gone to surrounds with 5 to 7 speakers I'm sure my opinion would be different. There were many years that I didn't own a TV and frankly back then I didn't miss it.
I need both vinyl and CDs, and for that matter I still need my tape deck for all those prized auds since I don't stream or do any downloading. Just an old fart too cheap to pony up for the good stuff, I guess.
Cheers all!

Oro - Mr Skunk actually produced “Where The Beat Meets The Street” for Bobby & the Midnites, and played some shows with them. A lot of good players in the Midnites, somehow it never translated to a better sound. As for Tim Bogert, his grouping with Jeff Beck and Carmine Appice produced one decent studio album, with a killer version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. I think this solo release by Baxter should prove interesting.

As for the Rolling Stones pending release, Live At The El Mocambo, from 1977, I had a friend from high school days who was one of the lucky 300 that was there. It was some kind of radio promotion to see this band (April Wine), but they get to the club, and Keith and Ronnie plug in, and the rest is history. There are some decent bootlegs floating around of the show, but this will, obviously, be a step up in sound production.

So I’ve preordered Jeff Baxter, the Rolling Stones, and 3 - yup 3! - soon to be released Neil Young albums (previous bootlegs). Now, about that box set we are (over)due for the Dead…

distilling is a whisky business

"work's over so let's start drinkin'"

Please let this be the last one!!!

other old time hockey freaks.
RJ, the greatest Sabre of ALL TIME! is retiring after 51 years. Tonight they honored the master and hoisted a banner to the rafters, top shelf, where mama hides the cookies!
Very touching and made me think of the dead!
Chris Collinsworth, as well known globally as he is, will not get a send off of love like what RJ just received in Buffalo.
Throughout all the ups and lots of downs, the one consistency that made one keep coming back, now matter how dismal a season, was Mr Rick Jeanneret! Thanks RJ for five decades of being the best! Perhaps the last of the laid back, old school guys that knew when to step on the gas, and when to shut up. Not this incessant praddling on that has become modern broadcasting where some wanna be jock on too many energy drinks has to show you how much he knows ad nauseam! Hanging with RJ was like hanging at the quiet neighbor bar. You Sir will be missed!
The JG of sports!
I’m still tingling as it made me remember what it was like to feel that much energy, love etc by only a hockey rink of people. Multiply that, tonight, by X factor multiple, and you can perhaps understand how truly powerful it was to be there at a Dead show! Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be there indeed!

To the rest of you, sorry, back to your regularly scheduled Me & my Uncle…

I used to have two copies of double LP's like Live Dead, The White Album, Bitches Brew, Exile on Main Street, Uncle Meat and Umma Gumma so I could stack 'em in order on my changer and not have to get up....

Jonah Hill Busted Down On Bourbon Street While Preparing For Grateful Dead Biopic
Search engine it. Just pick one and go.
April Fools!!

Vinyl is luxury; now it's like 25€ .
As I saw a copy of Paris olympia 72-05-3, I bought a new Rega turntable and enjoy the analogic sound. I found it in Budapest and was "Wrapped with love by M...". So I began a new collection and soon St Louis 71 and Portland 74 flew through my door. the best one is 72: the recording and the show are exeptional. The sound on Skull & roses is better than St Louis.
I don't understand those double Lp with 3 songs on each side for 12 or 15 minutes. (Bob Dylan Love & Theft /Time out of time) Why is it possible for Deutsche Gramophon to put 27 minutes on a side for a Mozart concerto, and to get only 15 for RnRoll or Blues? last 5 Lp :Tom Petty alternate Finding Wildflowers, Ry Cooder Prodigal Son, Al Di Meola Opus, Sonny Landreth Bound by the blues, Rich Thompson Live in Austin.
and waiting the delivery for JGB warfield 90.

Oro - You will remember and appreciate RJ for some of his real classics, such as “lalalalalafontaine” for Pat Lafontaine, or his Number One with a bullet “May Day! May Day! May Day!”
They don’t build them like Mr Jeanneret anymore.

Sopwith Camel - The Miraculous hump returns from the moon
Doors - LA Woman
Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
Jade Warrior - Jade Warrior
Harold and Maude soundtrack - Cat Stevens

Sheik - 3 sides of the vinyl 5/19/74 clock in at under 10 minutes, with both Peggy O and U.S. Blues having a whole side to themselves. Obviously done that way to preserve the continuity of the show. They could have snuck Peggy O on to the previous side easily enough though -that one's only 16 and half minutes long in itself. And U.S. Blues could have slotted in at the end of the side with China Cat/Rider for me.
Still a great album though, for all it's peccadillos.

DaveRock, I was lucky to see her perform solo (with band) ten years ago or so. She did a 50 minute set or so at a fundraiser for my company. I loved it, especially the rearranged Gimme Shelter, but it was definitely the wrong crowd for her. Buncha stuffy old farts. No one had any clue who she was.

Convoy was a huge hit
And a kewl song for a 6th grader (i was at the time)

Leboswki99 - yes, lucky you ! Although it sounds a bit unfortunate about the dumb crowd. If I had the choice later this year between seeing Lisa live, performing solo ( with band), or The Stones, I would choose Lisa without hesitation.

I think most of us have a 'music awakening' between 10-14 years old. Seeing mention of Alice Cooper made me think of my 'trajectory' with music between 12-14 years old ('72-'74)...that time period in which we feel like a door opened to a Grand Canyon of music...every corner, every crevice had a great new song or an incredible new album or band that we just had to hear (at least they were new to us as young 'uns). I also devoured any R & R mags I could get my hands on: Circus, Creem, Rolling Stone etc. It seemed like there were no limits or boundaries...it was a great feeling and a great time for music.

Starting in '72 my music trajectory went: Alice Cooper > David Bowie > GD > ABB > Yes > Genesis/Gabriel > Velvet Underground.
Starting in '73 my concert trajectory: David Bowie > GD > Genesis/Gabriel > ABB > Blue Oyster Cult/T.Rex > Nektar. I saw GD & ABB (separate concerts) at The Providence (R.I.) Civic Center...all other concerts at the Tower Theatre, Phila., Pa. (actually located in Upper Darby).

As a kid you tried to gain as much (useless) info as possible on your favorite rocker(s) of the moment. Reading comments about Alice reminded me of the following useless tidbit: the snake that adorns the cover of the 'Killer' album was Alice's pet boa constrictor. Her name was Yvonne, so named after Yvonne DeCarlo who portrayed Lily on 'The Munsters', one of Alice's favorite TV series. I'm sure others know this, but it was the first one that came to mind.

Anyone else, music/concert trajectory or useless tidbits?

Last 5 or so:

1. Screaming Trees - Sweet Oblivion

2. V/A - Stax-Volt: Complete Singles Vol. 3 1972-1975 Disc 3

3. The Roches - 1st S/T. Robert Fripp did the smartest thing in taking a Hands Off approach...let the vocals do the talking...and there's nothing like sibling harmonies. One of my desert island albums.

4. Chris Whitley - Din Of Ecstasy

5. David Bowie - Toy

6. Poi Dog Pondering - Volo Volo

7. The Pogues - Peace And Love

Hope all are well.

Thanks for the nod to RJ. Truly an all time great. I know he has had some health concerns. As classy as they come.

All Spinal Tap kidding aside, the drummers are always the first to go. Keith Moon. John Bonham. Ginger did outlast Jack, but not by much. Of late, Taylor Hawkins... Charlie was preceded by Brian Jones but that was lifetimes ago. Joey Kramer has bowed out of the upcoming Aerosmith Vegas residency, and Peter Criss could never play 90 minutes with KISS again. Let us not forget Neil Peart, Nick Menza... the list is endless. Lars won't be able to play like he does now in 20 years - maybe ten. Metallica will reinvent themselves.

I am excited to catch the D&C shows again as Summer tour arrives. Without Billy. Will he ever return? Does it matter? Not to discount him - I love the man, and to me the best and tightest the band ever was was when he singularly owned the drum chair. But the show must go on.

I love Dead & Co. Yes the tempos are leaden, but my god Wolf Bros. makes D&C sound like Ministry on methamphetamine. Someone tell Bob to stop dumping a bottle of Log Cabin over his fretboard before taking the stage. John Mayer, Oteil and Chimenti are so goddamn good. Bobby hangs his hat on them and it all meshes beautifully. Last summer at Red Rocks, Jay Lane ably took up for Kreutzmann and you could hardly tell, except there wasn't any coke on the side cymbal (heh-heh).

The vibe at D&C shows is so goddamn good... all across the country. I have had some of the best times in the parking lots, Shakedown Street and in the venues with like minded brothers and sisters who carry the spirit of the Dead onward.

I had to stick up for them. Be well everyone.

\m/

....as you were.
I discovered music when I was 12.
The year was 1980. Ergo, my influences. Started with The Beatles.
Then new wave and heavy metal.
Used to make fun of Duran Duran back then. High school cliq shit.
Now, I realize they kick ass.
Headbangers Ball anyone? MTv Gen here.
Music is indeed the best Mr. Ones.
Edit. The Scorpions are doing a residency here. They also put out a record recently. It's pretty good.

My first gigs were when I was 15, in 1972. They were T.Rex in the summer - at which there was a riot of teenage girls who temporarily stopped the show. Then David Bowie in the December. This was at a venue called "The Hardrock", and it featured what they referred to as "festival seating". This meant everyone sat on the concrete floor in as close a proximity to the lotus position as they could manage. Everyone stayed down, too. Older people at this one than T.Rex.

1973 things gathered pace - I saw Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Genesis, Uriah Heep and The Rolling Stones.

Records were really important too, of course- and going to record shops. Which could account for why I still like vinyl today over other formats.
And television-I never saw Alice Cooper live - but I saw a film of them on the Old Grey Whistle Test, and in summer 1972 he had the big hit - "School's Out"
And the music press-the N.M.E being the fount of all knowledge. Iggy and the Stooges didn't have a record out in 1972, and they only played one gig in England - in London, which I didn't go to. But it was well written up and photographed, so that it assumed mythic proportions. I snapped up their first album from the bargain bins - and "Raw Power" the day it came out in 1973. When Iggy Pop finally came to the these shores, in 1977, it was like a visit from the Messiah. Unfortunately, The Stooges were no more- David Bowie played keyboards, and people in the audience flocked to his side of the stage to watch him rather than the Ig.
But those years 1972 - 1973, when I was 15-16, were magical times.