Music is a HUGE part of my life. Some of my earliest memories revolve around singing and listening to music. I remember vividly my first record player (yes record player) - it was plastic and it was purple. I loved it and played it endlessly. Now I prefer my iPod with its 1000+ songs. :)
So here are the top 15 albums in my life. In no particular order:
2. Billy Joel: Greatest Hits - all 3 CDs! That counts as one, right? Sure!
3. Bryan Adams: The Best of Me. I adore Bryan Adams. He's got a great edgy voice and his songs are pretty diverse. He's great no matter what my mood is.
4. Shania Twain: her self titled album - the one where she really made a name for herself. This album is full of fun songs and upbeat rhythms. And watching Shania (who came from another small city here in Northern Ontario) change the face of country music and even fashion itself was so much fun!
5. Barry Manilow: The Ultimate Manilow. Yup - I'm a Manilow fan. Big Time! Sad, but true :) Barry gets a bad rap, but his song writing ability is incredible. Many of his songs reach right into me. There are so many good memories associated with his songs. In fact, I'd probably take along a few more of his CDs with me. Maybe I could bring the boxed set?
6. Barbra Streisand: the Concert Album. Babs has the ultimate voice. When I'm in the mood I can listen to her for hours on end.
8. Something by Sharon, Lois & Bram. My kids didn't watch tons of TV when they were little, but they were mesmerized by reruns of SL&B's Elephant Show. I have no idea which CD to take, but I'd want one for all the memories it would bring me of my kids.
9. Burton Cummings: Best of Burton Cummings. I've always loved this album. He's got such a unique sound. And it would send me right back to my teen years. And my first concert. Great stuff!
10. Genesis: probably The Way We Walk: The Shorts - although there are several from this band I could choose. And maybe one of Phil Collins solo albums too.
11. Phantom of the Opera: the album with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Their voices send chills through me.
12. Nylons: Most of their albums are short, so I'd like to compile a few together. They have awesome a capella harmonies and great tunes from the 50s, 60s and 70s - as well as some beautiful tunes of their own. Human Family and Buy Back the Amazon are incredible songs with powerful messages.
13. Cher: One of her greatest hits albums - probably If I Could Turn Back Time. From the time I heard that voice, I was a huge fan. She's an amazing lady.
15. Bon Jovi - The boxed set counts? Super because 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong. Okay then, the Live From the Have a Nice Day Tour instead. :)
Okay that was really hard!! There are so many more I could include. I didn't include any of my more modern faves - these are the ones that have stood the test of time for me. But I'd really like Daughtry, Nickelback, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson... Then there's the James Taylor, Carly Simon... Then the classical composers... And Aerosmith. Journey. John Cougar Mellancamp. Yikes I forgot the Barenaked Ladies!!
I'm not changing it anymore! This is so hard... *sigh*
Pop on over to Lee's blog to follow the blog hop!
So, who be the artist you couldn't live without?
114 comments:
Well, it's now official, Jemi. We are twins separated at birth!
We love exactly the same type of music. I especially love Elton John, whom I had the privilege of seeing some years ago in London.
And of course, the lovely Tina Turner. She is, Simply the Best!
Good post, sister :)
Lot of great songs here. But how could you forget the Barenaked Ladies? I first heard them years ago when we got our satellite (the huge dish kind) and was able to see several Canadian channels. BTW, love the Canadian programming and miss it so much.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Wendy - Woohoo! Our separation at birth has been confirmed :)
Elton John is amazing - I'm lucky enough to have tickets to see him this summer. I'm so excited!!
Thanks sis!
Mason - I know! BNL is such a great group - from the moment I first heard the Million Dollar song I've been hooked. And Beautiful is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I know.
I'm agreeing you for about half of those. I would leave Barry at home though. LOL
Susan - lol :) I think most people would agree with you! I know my hubby would leave him behind without even a second thought. :)
Love your selections Jemi! Maybe not what I would take myself, but I'd certainly enjoy having you next to me on the island. :) And I love the idea of this challenge. I'm heading over to Arlee's to check it out. I've been working hard all weekend. This could be the perfect distraction.
Thanks VR!
Music is so personal - it's always interesting to see what different people would take. I bet we'd be pretty good island buddies!
My husband just Bryan Adams in concert a few months back. It was all acoustic and my husband said it was one of the best he'd ever been too. (he works at the theater occasionally, and was happy to get that show and be paid to see it.)
Mary - Lucky!!! Adams is awesome - entertaining with such a great voice :) How nice to not only see it, but get paid too! Wow.
Ahh, Jemi, now I'm going to have to change my list for Arlee's challenge! You had a few I forgot about. My girlfriend swears Bryan Adams blew her a kiss at one of his first concerts through our town.
(Poor Habs had a rough go of it tonight.)
Lynn - It's so hard, isn't it! I think I changed my list 100 times!
Your lucky friend! He does put on an awesome concert :)
The Habs had a horrible night! They'll have to put that behind them!
Queen is great! I was just talking to another teacher about how popular Queen is with our student body. It's pretty cool!
Wow, Jemi. You've sure got a sweet tooth for the popular, don't you? I know each and every one and am not a fan of any. LOL. Though I am in awe of Streisand. Never listened to her music much, but every time I hear her voice, my head pricks up like a little puppy. :)
The Nylons -- Never got much notice in the states but I have a number of cassettes of them that I got in the 80's-- they were so good.
You left off some of my real favorite Canadian artists: Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, Murray MacLaughlin. Then there was the Parachute Club -- I really like their music. I thought Lisa DalBello was pretty good as well. As was Luba. I used to like The Box as well---they were from Montreal. Gosh you got me going with Canadian artists now--It's sad that so many were basically ignored or underplayed in the U.S.
But good list anyway!
Lee
Tossing It Out
Nostalgic list!!!!
http://jostorm.blogspot.com/
Wow, Jemi, we must be exactly the same age! heehee
Ohh, I'm sorry to say, my dear, that your choices kind of showcase your age. But worry not, we're all in the same range, heh. ;)
Ah, I've left you (yet another) award on my blog. Psst, there's a challenge to go with, heh. ;)
Here's the link: http://mariblaser.blogspot.com/2010/05/uh-oh-randomities-won-creative-creepy.html
Joni Mitchel - Court & Spark
John Hiatt
Death, the Musical - from the hit musical - (ok I confess, I'm one of the writers)
Mahalia Jackson
Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
McGarrigle Sisters
Rufus Wainwright
Ian Tamblyn
Sweet Honey on the Rock
Angele Dubeau
Leonard Cohen
kd Lang
Canadian Piano Trio
Etta James
B.B.King
ok - that's it and I could tinker all day - that's the one for today's trip to a desert island...
Stephanie - I love Queen. It amazes me how often they become popular with my students. :)
AA - lol :)
You nailed it! I'm a complete & total sap! Streisand does have an incredible voice. :)
Thanks fot dropping by!
Lee - I adore the Nylons - great harmonies!
You've got more of my faves on that list. I do like a lot of Canadian music - and there are so many talented musicians who never get recognized much beyond our borders. Sad.
I'll have to wait until after work to check out yours and the other entries! Great job again Lee :)
Jojo - thanks - it really is. :)
Thanks for popping over - I'll check out your site after work today!
India - it's funny how those favourites come from when we were young. I love a lot of modern music - but my faves have a history with me :)
Mari - yup! Music shows our age for sure! Is it because we're so intense as teens that the music from that era means so much? Hmmm.
Thanks so much - you're a sweetie! :) I'll pop on over & see - you've got my curiousity going now!
Jan - love your choices - I'll have to check out Death, the Musical! :)
You've also got a ton of great Canadians on there - super stuff - we could hang out on that island! :)
I've tagged you. Find the details over at my blog
Al
Publish or Perish
I'm with you on a lot of these, Jemi. I'm a secret Manilow fan, too. :)
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
What a fun post! I really enjoyed reading about your favorite albums. If I had to pick one artist I couldn't live without, it would be the Goo Goo Dolls (just ask my kids, who don't even want to ride in my car anymore because they're sooo sick of the Goo Goo Dolls!)
Phantom of the Opera is the best! I loved the music so much I arranged it for flute choir.
LOL - I selected several 'best of' collections as well!
It is funny how music really gives a big hint to a peron's age!
I love your picks. And, I cheated and went with a few Greatest Hits albums, too. Including Billy Joel ;)
I posted my fifteen today!
Great albums, Jemi! Bryan Adams, who can wrong with him?
I knew all of these, a great list and a pleasure to look and recollect more memories with your collection.
Yvonne.
Great list!
Can't I just bring my iTunes library?
Please? But I know I'd have to have the Beatles, and probably Neil Diamond for nostalgic reasons, and Simon & Garfunkel, because they were a major influence in writing my first book.
You have some amazing picks here! Love Phantom of the Opera and Queen. Your deserted island would definitely have great tunes all the time :)
Wow, what a great list!! I have some favorites on here - Elton John, Billy Joel, and Tina Turner are awesome! I went to see Tina in concert a few years ago and she was incredible!!
Thanks for participating! :D
I have to admit that I'm also a Barry Manilow fan, as long as I don't have to see him singing the songs.
Stephen Tremp
Lee's on fire with all these wonderful blogfests!!!
I wouldn't have been has successful with this one since I'm not a huge music fan but I suppose an artist I couldn't live without would have to be A Fine Frenzy, I love the music and without it I don't think I would be near as happy!
Love your choices. You're right though, there are too many artists to narrow it down. It was really hard for me to just put 15 down. heehee.
Some great music there, Jemi. I love the Best Of albums. I'd have to include the best of Bee Gees and best of Rod Stewart albums too if I had been doing this challenge but as I've only just logged on I won't have time.
Al - thanks! I'll pop on over and check it out! :)
Elizabeth - yay - another Manilow fan - I think most of us are in hiding :)
Susan - our kids do get sick of our favourite music & I guess sometimes the feeling is mutual!! :)
I like the GooGoo Dolls as well - they're fun!
Aubrie - that would be AWESOME!! I'd love to hear that. The songs are haunting - my class this year is now addicted to the CD :)
Diane - thank heavens for 'best ofs' I don't know what I would have done without them. :)
Tara - I totally agree - I think the music that has stayed with me the longest has been music I learned to love as a teen and pre-teen. :)
I'll be over to see you picks in a bit!
Alex - I bet our lists are very different! I'll check them out in a bit :)
Talli - I think Bryan Adams is amazing! He's definitely one of my all-time faves :)
Thanks Yvonne - I love all kinds of music - lot of faves from today's artists, but these artists have stuck with me over time!
Gregg - thanks! I know it's not most people's style, but it works for me! :)
Thanks for dropping by :)
Terry - those are great additions! I love all 3 of those - can't believe I didn't put a single Beatles song on here (Hope jmarting's not looking!!!)
Julie - thanks! I know I'd have fun - but I also know not everyone likes the same thing :)
I love Phantom :)
B - I'd love to see Tina in concert! She must put on an amazing show!! :)
Stephen - lol :) Barry is a great songwriter, but he's not a dancer!
I wish I'd been able to see him in concert when he was younger.
Jen - I agree - life is much stronger with our favourite songs. I can't imagine living life without music :)
Lee is on fire with these blogfests!
Lindsay - it is really, really hard to narrow it down to 15. I've thought of literally dozens I could add since I wrote this! :)
I'll pop over to your blog in a bit - supper's almost ready!
Rosalind - Rod Stewart! I forgot him too! *sigh* It's so hard to keep it to 15, but it was fun to try!! :)
I'd take your list, Jemi. There are only a couple of artists I don't know, and all the rest have a presence in my CD rack. The one thing that stopped me cold and made me say WOW! was learning you could play Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano. That is awesome.
Patricia - Yay! Another fan of light and sappy music :)
I love Bohemian Rhapsody - such a bizarre collection of melodies and harmonies. I can only play the first slow part now - and I haven't had access to a piano in probably 6 years, so I doubt I can even do that anymore :)
Hi,Thanks forthe visit,there was a long ,long space between blog and comments I don't know why but thanks for leaving it on the preceeding one much appreciated.
Yvonne.
Yvonne - yikes - I guess I just didn't scroll enough! Next time I'll check better - glad you found the comment though! :)
My list would include: U2, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, The Eagles, Credence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Leonard Skynard, The Who, B.B. King, and Strauss
Donna - Those are some great choices! There are several on there I'd like to add to my list: CCR, Eagles, BB King and of course Aretha! Wow - can't believe I forgot her!
I've got four of those, not albums, but CDs. My favorite album was/is Ina Gada Da Vida (not even sure if I'm spelling that correctly). I had it back when it was an album and loved it. Sooo wish I still had it.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Wow, I'll have to try this one... hard! Queen has always been my favorite band, though... A Night at the Opera is my second favorite of their albums (after Queen II). Always love seeing them on someone else's top list!
I KNEW I loved you for a reason! YAY! I am a total, Fanilow! I have loved Barry Manilow for as long as I can remember. My husband surprised me with a trip to Vegas to see him in concert for my 40th birthday. *sigh* It was wonderful. I also love, love, love Phantom of the Opera. :-)
Wow that's a lot of comments! A fun list.
Some great music there (some... not all) ..LOL
Helen - I don't know that one.
Actually my faves are all on CD, although I do have a couple of them as albums still :)
Lindsay - there's just something about that Queen sound - so distinctive, so much fun. I've seen them on a lot of the lists :)
Shannon - Yay another fan!! I've never seen him in concert - he was close twice (only 8 hours away by car) but both times I wasn't able to go. *sigh* Lucky you! Maybe your hubby could talk to my hubby... :)
Inside Out - thanks :) It was sure a lot of fun to put together! Thanks for dropping by!
Michelle - lol :)
Let me guess... not a Manilow fan I bet!
LOL! I think you got away with DOUBLE the number. I love the first Shania Twain album too, for all the reasons you mention.
Good luck with the last of school! And look! You're almost at 200 followers--congrats. :o)
I inadvertently ended up at a Barry Manilow concert about 15 years ago, and it was GREAT!!!! I liked his songs before that, but now consider myself a fan.
Jackee - you're so right! I snuck in so many 'best ofs' and double albums!
Shania's got such fun music :)
Layinda - that's so awesome! I'd love to inadvertently end up at one of his concerts! He does get the audience involved a lot :)
Although I did own "A Night At The Opera" when I was a teenager, I was never really a fan of Queen. However, I gotta say that they did come up with one of the best lyric lines of all time, and one which I still fairly regularly catch myself singing:
"Told my girl I'd have to forget her
Rather buy me a new carburetor"
Ha! That's truly a classic!
~ "Lonesome Dogg" McD-Fens
Stephen - that is a great lyric. I find Queen one of those 'oh so easy to identify' bands. Which is probably while only 1 album would ever make my faves :)
Fun post. :) My tastes are eclectic. I like All-American Rejects, Beyonce, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Black Eyed Peas...I'm kind of all over the board.
Dawn - lol :) I actually liked all the artists you listed - so I guess I'm pretty all over the place myself!
Totally have to throw in some Steve Miller, Journey and Fleetwood Mac.
I love me some classic "Alabama" as well from time to time and I couldn't live without the Shrek sound track or newsboys greatest hits.
Fun post.
Cat - I love your additions! Definitely need some Journey. There are so many artists I'd love to include :)
Not big on Barry, but Tina and Cher and Sarah B. are way up on my list of favorites.
Great list. Like you said, the majority of your artists have stood the test of time! I like some of your more modern favorites, too. :)
I love music so I loved this list on your blog! Nice job on it! I should do something like this, thanks for the idea!
C Lee - yeah - not too many people are big on Barry :)
Tina, Sarah and Cher can sure belt it out though!
Lisa - there are some albums, songs, artists I can listen to over and over and over again! They never get old even when they go out of style :)
Thanks so much for dropping by!
Jessica - it was a lot of fun to compile the list - but a lot of anguish too! I keep reading other posts and finding more artists I didn't even consider that I'd love to include! :)
We've got a lot of the same -- but I would definitely have the Beatles, especially "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul." I might take Crosby, Stills and Nash, too. I think I still have their albums for totally sentimental reasons. And Frank Sinatra...
Ha, ha! This is one reason I didn't do the album post... I'd just list the greatest hits collections of so many people too. I agree with many of yours... LOVE Elton John and Billy Joel, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. I'd throw Les Mis soundtrack in with Phantom (or surely there is some huge box set of Broadway scores?) and add quite a bit of contemporary Christian as well. And the Beatles. Great list!
Buttercup - Those are some really good additions too! I have so many albums and artists I enjoy! Hard stuff :)
Thanks Melody - thank heavens for 'best of' albums! :)
I didn't think of Les Mis - but it's awesome as well! I do have a couple of 'best of Broadway' CDs I use in my classroom all the time. Great stuff!
I really enjoyed this blogfest! Though I wouldn't have been much to participate I love seeing everyone's music choices!
Gosh, it's actually hard to say! I think I am a reincarnated hippie...I love all the old 60s and 70s stuff.
Plus U2. Gotta have U2.
Jen - it was a fun blogfest - although I haven't made it to everyone's blogs yet.
It was so tough coming up with the top choices!
Jen - I agree - you gotta have U2 - I need a bigger list!
And I love the stuff from the 60s and 70s too :)
Oooh, I love most of those too (especially Bryan Adams, Queen, and Bon Jovi)! You must be an '80's chick like me.
Lorel - yup! 80s chick indeed :) There was some really good (and some really bad!) music in those years!
There's no one quite like Michael Crawford or Sarah Brightman, too bad they've retired. *Sigh* :(
Love Phantom! I'd have to go with the Gerard Butler/Emmy Rossum one, though. Something about her voice just gets me every time. :)
Elizabeth - yes - their voices are spectacular - nothing quite like them. :)
KM - Phantom is incredible! I don't know their voices as well but they're probably just as spectacular. :)
#3, #13, #14 and #15 -- for sure.
OMG -- I hope I'm marooned on your island! Great list, Jemi!
Agnes - Bryan Adams has shown up on a lot of lists! I'm surprised not to have seen more Cher and Tina & Bon Jovi though. I thoughts more people would have them.
Thanks so much for stopping by :)
Nicole - thanks Nicole :) I know my faves wouldn't fit on everyone's list, but I love them!
You've got a great list here, but you're missing Maroon 5. I don't make a single CD without the voice of Adam Levine. He is divine. :)
Elana - I like Maroon 5 too. That was the was first grown up CD my daughter ever bought! Forget them too *sigh*
You know I've seen at least two of those you mentioned in concert. How's that for showing my age?
Lisa - me too! Nothing like fave music to give away the age :)
I've seen 2 of them live as well - I'd like to see a few more!
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