Max on Music

My musical tastes are VERY diverse.  In addition to my large movie collection, I also have a large music collection, but one that is quite different from most people's. I thrive on variety and so seldom like to listen to a particular artist for more than a few songs. There are some artists that are talented enough to be musically quite diverse, but even with that, they still have the same voice.

My collection consists of the top 20 or 40 songs from each year, going all the way back to the '20s. Much further if you include classical :) I was hooked on Time-Life for awhile and accumulated their compilations. They cover a wide range of genres and provide a fascinating look at how music has changed with culture (and yet in some ways, stays the same - there are many, many, remakes that most people just aren't aware of).

• the singers with the orchestras from the '20s and '30s
• swing with the big bands of the '40s
• the pop of the late '40s and '50s
• the progression into rock 'n' roll in the '50s
• the transition of the '60s
• the rock of the '70s,
• Disco,
• the wonderfully eclectic '80s.

I collected the compilations in the '90s so I don't have much from that era or newer.  Any newer music in my collection comes from my kid's collection.

I like:

• hip-hop (which I define as rap with melody) but NOT the monotonic rap (or the lyrics that accompany it)
• soul
• R&B
• latin
• gospel
• many (but not all) types of Jazz
• some C&W
• disco
• rock 'n' roll ('50s/'60s)
• most of the '80's
• swing
• dance
• classical -  I do attend the symphony on a fairly regular basis.

Apparently there isn't much I don't like!

Since I find the radio quite repetitive, I tend not to listen to it and therefore am not really up on the current music. I've loaded all my music into my computer (about 6000 songs) and put it on shuffle which results in the most eclectic mix of songs you'll ever hear! I listen to while I'm renovating and since it has to be loud to be heard over the noise of the renos, the neighbours can likely hear it at times. I'm sure it just gives them further reasons to shake their heads :)  One minute it will be AC-DC, then Bing Crosby, then Benny Goodman, then the Village People, etc.

Some of my favorite artists are Prince, George Michael, Elton John, Doris Day, Boston, Blues Brothers, Tommy Dorsey. There are many other favorites, but since I don't get to see the album cover when the song comes on and my computer doesn't announce the songs for me, I don't know who they are! Just to totally throw you, I also really like ABBA and the Bee Gees :)  I develop favorites for a variety of reasons, not all of which require the music to be technically sophisticated.  There is nothing wrong with fun music and the pleasure it evokes.

Clearly, I have some work to do on this part of my website.  I could write pages and pages and pages on this subject.

Things to incorporate:

Jo Stafford, showtunes, musicals, link to music I find beautiful