My Top 20 Lists that I compiled as a kid 1973-1990

[Catfish]

March 1978 List
---------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Rush (No change)
3. Led Zeppelin (No change)
4. Aerosmith (No change)
5. Eagles (+4)
6. Foghat (+1)
7. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-2)
8. Ted Nugent (-2)
9. Bruce Springsteen (-1)
10. Moody Blues (No change)
11. Steve Miller Band (+5)
12. Fleetwood Mac (-1)
13. Boz Scaggs (No chagne)
14. Queen (-2)
15. ZZ Top (No change)
16. Peter Frampton (-2)
17. Chicago (New)
18. Alice Cooper (-1)
19. Nazreth (No change)
20. Robin Trower (-2)

Vinyl/Tape added
------------------------
Karla Bonoff- Won it off the radio as the Xth caller. Anyone for frisbee?
Aerosmith- Draw the Line
Linda Ronstadt- Hasten Down the Wind

 

[Catfish]

April 1978 List
-----------------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Rush (No change)
3. Led Zeppelin (No change)
4. Aerosmith (No change)
5. Eagles (No change)
6. Ted Nugent (+2)
7. Foghat (-1)
8. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-1)
9. Moody Blues (+1)
10. Steve Miller Band (+1)
11. Boz Scaggs (+2)
12. Fleetwood Mac (No change)
13. Bruce Springsteen (-4)
14. Chicago (+3)
15. ZZ Top (No change)
16. Queen (-2)
17. Kansas (New)
18. Nazareth (+1)
19. Robin Trower (+1)
20. Peter Frampton (-4)

Vinyl/Tapes added
------------------------
10 Years After- Greatest Hits
The Moody Blues- Days of Future Past

Question for debate... What was the first progessive rock album?

Pet Sounds from The Beach Boys?- May 1966
Sgt Peppers from the Beatles?- May 1967
In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson?- October 1969
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack by The Nice?- March 1968
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd? August 1967

My opinion it is the Days of Future Past by the Moody Blues, released in November 1967. But that's jut my opinion. Or is another not listed?

 

[dr wu]

We actually have two prog threads....'Who Invented Prog?' and 'Favorite Progressive Rock Bands'.

Who Invented Prog? Ask Steven Tyler. He Knows

Without checking lists.... I thought Tomorrow were heading that way. Some Beatles Revolver tracks. King Crimson and The Moody Blues... not forgetting 'Mister Moog'.

www.classicrockforums.com

Favorite progressive rock bands?

www.classicrockforums.com

Being a prog fan and a member of Prog Rock Archives , I have discussed this many times and it always comes down to a matter of subjective opinion. Many cite early lps from 67-68 but many also name 'In The Court Of'....I don't think there is a true consensus opinion.
IMHO King Crimson's 'In The Court of the Crimson King ' was the first full blown true prog rock lp.
The earlier lps ,like the ones mentioned-as well as many others, had elements of going beyond standard rock structures but never really achieved that complete goal imho. Of all the others mentioned I would say Days Of Future Passed by The Moody Blues to be a contender as well as Shine On Brightly by Procol Harum...they both used mellotron which for me was the beginning of prog.
As far as I know neither Nice nor Beatles used mellotron then on their lps until a little later.
Again its very subjective and Fripp once said that after hearing Sgt Pepper he realized what one could do in the studio and it influenced him to do something different with King Crimson.

 

[TACdtf]

@dr wu

Not sure what Catfish is listing...lps that came out in 74 or bands that he liked during the year in general since most of the bands had lps out before 74....?"
"
Back when I age 15-33 (1973-1990), I would take time every month listing my 20 favorite bands at that time. Kind of a way I could track by tastes during those years. Notice that each list has a month heading.

That notebook is also where where I documented what tapes and albums, I got. And 3rd, it also is where I stapled my ticket stubs of concerts that I attended during those years.

Kind of a vanity thread that I thought might interest a few reminisce about those days.

It's actually really cool. I have all of my stubs in a scrapbook, but the band list and documented purchases is next level. Bravo!

 

[Catfish]

May 1978 List
-----------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Aerosmith (+2)
3. Rush (-1)
4. Led Zeppelin (-1)
5. Fleetwood Mac (+7)
6. Eagles (-1)
7. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-1)
8. Foghat (-1)
9. Ted Nugent (-3)
10. Moody Blues (-1)
11. Kansas (+6)
12. Stever Miller (-2)
13. Bob Seger (New)
14. Styx (New)
15. Boz Scaggs (-4)
16. Bruce Soringsteen (-3)
17. Chicago (-3)
18. ZZ Top (-3)
19. Queen (-3)
20. Nazareth (-2)

Vinyl/Tapes added
-------------------------
Kansas- Point of Know Return

Bob Seger- - Legendary rocker with incredible catalog of massive hits and overall good album content through out the '70's and '80's. As I mentioned in an earlier post, his best (IMO) LP, "Against the Wind" is in my favorite 10 albums of all time. I can count maybe 15-20 albums in history, where there are no bad tracks in the entire work..... This album is one of them..

 

[Catfish]

June 1978 List
-------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Aerosmith (No change)
3. Led Zeppelin (+1)
4. Rush (-1)
5. Kansas (+6)
6. Eagles (No change)
7. Foghat (+1)
8. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-1)
9. Styx (+5)
10. Fleetwood Mac (-5)
11. Ted Nugent (-2)
12. Moody Blues (-2)
13. Bob Seger (No change)
14. Steve Miller Band (-2)
15. Boz Scaggs (No change)
16. ZZ Top )(+2)
17. Chicago (No change)
18. Queen (+1)
19. Nazareth (+1)
20. Bruce Springsteen (-4)

Vinyl/Tapes added-
------------------------
Grand Funk- Survival

 

[Catfish]

July 1978 List
--------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Aerosmith (No change)
3. Led Zeppelin (No change)
4. Rush (No change)
5. Eagles (+1)
6, Kansas (-1)
7. Foghat (No change)
8. Styx (+1)
9. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-1)
10. Moody Blues (+2)
11. Fleetwood Mac (-1)
12. Ted Nugent (-1)
13. Steve Miller Band (+1)
14. Boz Scaggs (+1)
15. Bob Seger (-2)
16. ZZ Top (No change)
17. Chicago (No change)
18. Nazareth (+1)
19. Queen (-1)
20. Bruce Springsteen (No change)

Vinyl/Tape Additions-
-------------------------------
Fleetwood Mac- Rumours

 

[Catfish]

August 1978 list
----------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Aerosmith (No change)
3. Rush (+1)
4. Led Zeppelin (-1)
5. Eagles (No change)
6. Foghat (+1)
7. Kansas (-1)
8. Foreigner (New)
9. Styx (-1)
10. Moody Blues (No change)
11. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-2)
12. Fleetwood Mac (-1)
13. Al Stewart (New)
14. Steve Miller (-1)
15. Boz Scaggs (-1)
16. Bob Seger (-1)
17. Ted Nugent (-5)
18. Chicago (-1)
19. ZZ Top (-3)
20. Nazareth (-2)

Vinyl/Tape additions
----------------------------
Al Stewart- Year of the Cat
Boston - Don't Look Back (most anxiously anticipated album since Physical Graffiti- bought August 18, 1978...major disappointment .)
Van Halen- Self title (will cover VH in next installment- bought August 29, 1978)

Foreigner- Really really liked this band. Though a tad formulaic, they were excellent song writers, and wrote tunes that rocked. "Hot Blooded" was easily one of my top 3 favorite tunes of that year. Their first 5 studio albums ALL made it into the Top 5 Billboard sales. They paid off like a slot machine with good albums and an obligatory 2-4 hits per album. Got to see them about 6 years later in their Agent Provocateur tour, and it did not disappoint.

 

[Catfish]

September 1978 List
---------------------------
1. Boston- (No change)
2. Aerosmith (No change)
3. Led Zeppelin (+1)
4. Van Halen (New)
5. Rush (-2)
6. Foreigner (+2)
7. Foghat (-1)
8. Eagles (-3)
9. Kansas (-2)
10. Styx (-1)
11. Moody Blues (-1)
12. Bob Seger (+4)
13. Emerson Lake and Palmer (-2)
14. Fleetwood Mac (-2)
15. Al Stewart (-2)
16. Boz Scaggs (-1)
17. Chicago (+1)
18. ZZ Top (+1)
19. Steve Miller Band (-5)
20. Ted Nugent (-3)

New Vinyl/Tapes
--------------------------
Rush- Archives
Mott the Hoople- Live

Van Halen- The guitar wizardry of Eddie Van Halen is well documented, and out like a buzz saw in their entire collection. No one, and I mean no one had ever sounded like this. VH had many hits that are etched in archive now on classic rock FM stations. They sold a plethora of albums over nearly 25 years, and spawned one of the oldest debates in rock. David Lee Roth vs Sammy Hagar. Personally, I love their big hits, and their are close to a dozen that clog my Ipod play list. But one other fact in my opinion is that as good as VH was, many of their albums had 2nd and 3rd tier filler that pretty much was unlistenable. Here's my favorite cut from the band.

Now for an anecdotal tale of the time... On September 8, 1978, I parked my car in front of my university library, sat my first serious girl friend on the hood of my car. Cranked up this tune on my Craig Power Play 8-Track, and sang the song it to her, as if I was Joey himself. Afterwards, I got applause much like it would be at movie scene. Ah, yes I am the romantic

 

[Catfish]

October 1978 List
-------------------------
1. Boston (No change)
2. Aerosmith (No change)
3. Van Halen (+1)
4. Foreigner (+2)
5. Led Zeppelin (-2)
6. Styx (+4)
7. Rush (-2)
8. Eages (No change)
9. Foghat (-2)
10. Kansas (-1)
11. Bob Seger (+1)
12. Moody Blues (-1)
13. Emerson Lake and Palmer (No change)
14. Fleetwood Mac (No change)
15. Al Stewart (No change)
16. ZZ Top (+2)
17. Boz Scaggs (-1)
18. Chicago (-1)
19. Steve Miller Band (No change)
20. Ted Nugent (No change)

Vinyl/Tape additions
--------------------------
Foreigner- Double Vision
Neil Young- Harvest
Bad Company- Straight Shooter
Willie Nelson- Before his Time
Kiss- Rock and Roll Animal
ZZ Top- Rio Grande Mud
Ted Nugent- Live Gonzo

Neil Young- This is about the time (within a year) of a turning point in my musical tastes, where though I continue with Prog tendencies, the Singer Songwriter genre starts seeping in. On surface, NY is easy in my top 10 to this day, but in retrospect in put me in a meloncoly mood for probably a decade. Listening to a lot of sad and retrospective tunes will do that to you. But as far as Neil Young, his career is beyond legend. Think about it, he took part in the response to the British Invasion with Buffalo Springfield, did Woodstock with CSN&Y, broke away as a solo artist, then took the legend to the point of being able to use Pearl Jam as your back up band on an album. He pretty much lived the ultimate rock and roll expeerience.

There was a point in time in the '90's that I owned every NY album, which was no easy feat. With one exception, I enjoyed his absolute chamelon like change of styles that were pretty much trademark for him. I spent many hours with headphones on trying to figure out and interpret his enigmatic lyrics, and what the meanings were. But again, I can't put a finger on why his music could influence a mood so much. In the past 10-15 my listening has dropped considerably. Back then I considered it edgy and profound. Now.... more just kind of whiney.

And finally, I will go on record and say that one of the two concerts of his that I attended, was the absolute worst in my life. Details of that will come later.

For samples, I'll go with a couple that rock, instead of folkilize.

Here's one him doing at age 70+

Shredding the Les Paul this time