I heard on country music radio (I was listening at work and had no choice on the radio station) and they wished a happy birthday to former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. I thought that was a bit bizarre but I appreciated the heads up. And because of that I decided to write a blog in honor of John Paul Jones, plus I wanted to listen to some Led Zeppelin songs. Happy birthday John!!
First up a couple of songs from John Paul Jones' super group Them Crooked Vultures.
"Mind Eraser, No Chaser":
"New Fang":
This is a muted version of "All My Love":
This is the version I think of when I hear "All My Love":
I just barely finished the blog for my #25 musician Janet Jackson and I've started working on my blog for my #24 musician Ronnie James Dio. Next on the countdown is one of the bands that's has had a ton of drama over the years, although they've released two of the most influential CDs ever, "Dark Side of The Moon" and "The Wall". Other than the hundreds of times I've listened to the songs from their 80's era CDs, now I need to listen to them in prep for their countdown blogs. I haven't listened to them yet with fresh ears, so I'm posting this blog of some of their best non 80's era songs.
Ronald James Padavona was born on July 10th, 1942 and died way too young on May 16th, 2010. Padavona was better known as Ronnie James Dio. Dio had a wide and varied career. He sang with Rainbow, Black Sabbath- two of their best CDs were with him as the singer- Heaven and Hell and of course his own band, Dio. He also sang on the Queensryche CD, "Operation: Mindcrime 2". These Dio countdown blogs cover from 1980's Black Sabbath CD "Heaven and Hell" to 1993's "Strange Highways".
Dio, the band, released 10 CDs over their career. I suggest their classic CD is 1984's "Last In Line", I rated all the songs 5.0 on that CD. My highest rating is 5.0. I couldn't find a sales total, but I'm sure Ronnie sold millions of CDs in his illustrious career. Ronnie James Dio has yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is hard to believe. Loudwire magazine has an article about this on their website about a prejudice against heavy metal music. Iron Maiden and Soundgarden also haven't been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
This Dio blog countdown focuses mostly on Dio's CDs. However since Ronnie James Dio was a vital part of two Black Sabbath CDs I've included those CDs in these countdown blogs. Including the two Black Sabbath CDs, I have 61 Dio songs on my iTunes. Now on with the Top 63 80's Era Dio songs.
63) "Overlove":
This is one of the 13 Ronnie James Dio led Black Sabbath songs. 62) "Die Young":
61) "Evil On Queen Street":
This is one of the six songs from 1993's "Strange Highways". The Heavy Metal genre usually doesn't have a lot of flexibility on sound. However the band Dio expanded their sound somewhat on this CD. Did it work, sort of. There are some interesting cool sounds and songs on this CD.
What were some of the best songs, from 30 years ago, from all genres? Well this list is a start.
Dan Seals "Addicted":
Alabama is the only country band that broke into my Top ? Greatest 80's era bands, their countdown blogs will be here in a couple of weeks- hopefully. Alabama "Fallin' Again":
Without a doubt one of the greatest songs of all-time. Keith Whitley "When You Say Nothing At All":
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Workin' Man (Nowhere To Go)":
Living Colour "Cult of Personality":
Belinda Carlisle "Heaven Is A Place On Earth":
Terence Trent D'Arby "Wishing Well":
Billy Ocean "Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car":
Janet Jackson was born May 16th, 1966, which makes 51. Janet is the little sister of Michael and a slew of other Jacksons. In fact Janet is the youngest child of Joe and Katherine. While never quite equalling the amazing legacy of Michael, she still has had an amazing career. I'm glad she met Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis or I'm afraid she would have never met her full potential. Her first two CDs "Janet Jackson" and "Dream Street" were probably only made because of her last name value.
She was able to leave that part of her career behind though and hit her peek with "Control", Rhythm Nation" and "janet.". Janet has also had some other interesting moments in her career, from her very provocative Rolling Stone cover to that Super Bowl performance. She's made 11 CDs, her latest CD is 2015's "Unbreakable", which isn't very good. Actually it's a complete disappointment. She's also appeared in movies and television, although I haven't seen any of the movies she's been in. I vaguely remember her in "Facts of Life".
Like Ronnie James Dio, my #24 80's era artist, Miss Jackson hasn't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet. And as with Ronnie, there's somebody claiming bias as the reason they aren't in the Hall of Fame. For some reason other women not in the Hall of Fame include Pat Benatar, Tina Turner, Cher, Stevie Nicks, Whitney Houston (coming up on this countdown), Dionne Warwick and Cyndi Lauper. I'm a bit mystified why none of those amazing ladies is in the Hall of Fame.
