Frontmen

So quite some time ago I did a "favorite drummers" post. It got a decent amount of discussion going (decent for my blog, where typically a good discussion is more than 2 comments). So I thought I would do a "favorite frontmen" post.

By frontman I don't just mean who I think is the best singer in the world. A frontman has to captivate the audience - work a crowd. They need to be a showman of some variety, dancing, strutting, whatever it may be. And some kind of vocal style is needed... maybe they are a brilliant singer, or maybe they just have a vocal style that's unique and sucks you in. Anyway, these are not ranked, just my favorite 10 frontmen. I haven't seen all of these people live (obviously), but it's based on what footage and performances I have seen and different things I've read about these performers over the years.

A. Freddy Mercury (Queen). What a stage prescense Freddy had and a big, powerful, operatic style of vocal to go with it. All the performances I've seen of Queen you can tell Freddy is giving everything he has to each performance. Great pasion.

B. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). This guy defined what a rock front man should be like. Great screaming vocals. Whatever Elvis did to make himself sexy to the ladies, Plant did that to the power of 10. Every rock and roll frontman since owes something to Robert Plant. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll!

D. Elvis. If you don't know the impact Elvis had on how to be a rock and roll singer, you may have been locked in the trunk of a car. Great looks, great voice, and a shakin' leg that drove the girls wild.

D. Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones). Mick is one unique lead singer to be sure. I've seen countless people imitate his chicken strut. In the late 60's and early 70's Mick began using his voice as almost another instrument in the band and that's when he truly became one of the all time greats in my opinion.

E. David Lee Roth (Van Halen). Frontmen for all of the 80's hair bands stole their act in some part from David Lee Roth. Spandex, the blond hair, the ego as big as an auditorium.

F. Bono (U2). Bono does it in a much different way than alot of great frontmen. He doesn't dance around on stage, but somehow he manages to grab a hold of the audience and you don't want to blink. Ive seen U2 3 times live and each time he seems to be a better performer. His voice has lost a bit over the years, but his unwaivering passion for his music comes across in each performance.

G. Prince - An amazing performer. Amazing. He's a true band leader when he performs. Many of the songs they perform live Prince leads them as they go. He's notorious for deciding mid song to keep jamming more, throw in a quick horn break, you name it. You can't help but watch him when he dances and his energy is unmatched by any other performer I've seen live.

H. James Brown - See above. Prince owes a lot to James Brown... a lot of people owe a lot to James Brown. He has to be on the list, he's the hardest working man in show business.

I. Madonna - But Jason, she's not a man! You are correct sir... but I didn't want to put "frontman/woman" everywhere. You get the idea... anyway, Madonna is one of the most influential artists of my generation for sure. And if you were born in 1974 like I was, then when she really blew up on the scene in 1984 you were guaranteed to have a crush on her. She was controversial and finally after a few albums began writing about things that mattered besides "You just keep on pushing my love, over the borderline". I've yet to see her in person, but Heather owns a couple of dvd performances and they are amazing. She puts a HUGE show with tons of choreography and acting. It's quite the live show, and no lip syncing. Take that Britney!

J. Jimi Hendrix - if you're a pretty good singer and showman AND you might just be the greatest guitar player to ever live, well... you make the list. This is one of the few people that if I turn the channel and there is some kind of performance of his.. I'm going to watch. You can't help but watch Jimi... the guitar was an extension of him and you never knew what he was going to do next... light his guitar on fire, play with his teeth, smash it into a billion bits? I understand he would make any "top guitarist" list, but he was the leader of The Experience and sang so he's deserving of being on a frontman list as well.

So, who on this list shouldn't be? Who would be on your list? There are a few that should probably be on my list but I'm just not familiar enough personally to include them... Little Richard, Chuck Berry come to mind.

YYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Well the Who Concert was last Friday night (3/23) and despite RogerDaltrey just being cleared to start performing again, it was pretty darn cool. Granted it's not like seeing The Who in 1973, but it was still Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey performing songs you've heard a zillion times. Really awesome.

Rose Hill Drive was the opening band. They are a young trio and play a bluesy style of throwback rock in the same vein as Led Zeppelin or Cream. We got there a little late so only saw them perform 2 songs, but they were pretty cool. I've read Pete Townshend is really into them.

The Who opened up with I Can't Explain which was killer. They have lots of video screens. 3 ginormous ones to show to all the angles of the venue and then 5 larges ones behind the band on stage that they can move up down right left all independent of each other so it's a good visual tool. During I Can't Explain they showed a bunch of early concert footage of The Who, some of it was them performing I Can't Explain in the 60's which was pretty neat.

They did most of their really big hits, Baba O'Reiley, My Generation, Won't Get Fooled Again, Who Are You, Behind Blue Eyes, Pinball Wizard, You Better, You Bet, Eminence Front... and more. They played some songs from their latest album, Endless Wire, which were pretty cool too. I've looked at setlists from early concerts and it seems they were playing more of their new album. There are a couple of songs on the new album I was looking forward to hearing that they didn't do for my show. I'm guessing it's because of Roger's illness and how it messed up his voice, they are probably trying to get the big hits in and save his voice for the next show.

(for my mom) Before they played Real Good Looking Boy Roger Daltrey talked about how he was inspired to become a singer when he was a kid... by the Real Good looking Boy, Elvis. During the performance of that song all the video screens behind the band were showing pictures and footage of Elvis. I tried to get a picture with my crappy cell phone camera, but no luck.

I was worried when they started doing Won't Get Fooled Again if Roger was going to wimp out on the big YYYEYEEEAAAAHHHH that's SO famous, but he didn't... he let it out and it was awesome! Pete Townshend is still a great guitar player and showman and he did plenty of his trademark windmill move.

All in all a great concert!

Here's the setlist I stole from a site on the web

I Can't Explain, The Seeker, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Fragments, Who Are You, Behind Blue Eyes, Real Good Looking Boy, Baba O'Reily, The Kids Are Alright, Substitute, Eminence Front, A Man In A Purple Dress, Black Widow's Eyes, Dirty Water, You Better You Bet, My Generation, Cry If You Want, Naked Eye, Won't Get Fooled Again, Pinball Wizard, Amazing Journey, Sparks, See Me Feel Me, Tea And Theatre

Floor excercise

Brooke's first day of gymnastics was today. It was an hour long session at the gym. There were 5 kids total, all of them 3 years old. Brooke was pretty timid about it but some of the things they did she seemed to really enjoy. They started with stretching and singing the "Happy and you know it" song. Then they practiced doing some somersaults and walking on their hands and feet. Then they went to the balance beam and followed that up with jumping on the trampoline runway thing. The last part of the session was swinging on a rope and dropping into a pit of foam blocks. Brooke wasn't interested in that part. Afterwards each kid got a dum-dum lollipop thing. She said she really had fun. The instructor is really nice and patient with the little kids.

It's hard for parents to get pictures so the only one worth looking at is her trying to walk on the balance beam. I took a couple out front of the house before we went.

For all you music collectors

My momma sent me a link to a list of the top 200 greatest albums of all time according to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame folks. It seems to be basically consistent with all the other lists I've seen like this (Rolling Stone, etc.). If you are a big music fan it's worth looking at.

You'll note The Police make the list at number 119 and I'll be going to Dallas June 26th to see them in concert! Our seats kind of suck, but it's still The (freakin'!) Police. It's also going to be a great trip because Heather and I are going with my friend Jamie and his wife. I talk to Jamie all the time but haven't actually seen him since my wedding in February 2000. Should be a good time.

Also in concert news Heather and I are going to see The Who in Oklahoma City in March. Granted it's not like seeing The Who in 1974, but I've heard they are still putting on a good show and if nothing else I'll get to here Roger Daltrey belt out the opening howl on 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and Pete Townshend do a windmill on the guitar.