re: The Music Board Poster Profile and SmackdownThunderdome- All are welcome

I am obsessed, and have been obsessed with music since the crib. I prefer the music at the party to the party. Shhhh...Elaine...the music. God blessed me with perfect tone and pitch and a deep feeling for music. I read music but can play no instrument well.

I have an adrenaline rush everytime I hear 70's British rock-The Faces, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. When I hear the The Floyd doing the white-boy funk thing on Meddle I lose my shite. When I roll out The Band I marvel although Jimi Hendrix overwhelms me at times and I have to pick my spots. I literally cried when SRV died. The Police and The Clash and The Pretenders were the backdrop of my teen years.

I think a well-crafted, melodic pop song with harmonies and rhythm section groove is a very hard thing to achieve indeed. I think Crowded House and Neil Finn particularly is a veritable Kiwi Paul McCartney. I saw Lyle Lovett in concert over a dozen times and consider those amongst the greatest musical displays I have ever seen. Steely Dan is kind of the Holy Grail for me as is Mark Knopfler, particularly his solo work of the last decade. I have mad love for 70's soul, Al Green and Marvin Gaye especially, and 60's Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.

I am a sucker for a good melody, believe that a song needs a beginning middle and end. The last rap album I truly enjoyed was "3 feet high and rising" by De La Soul. I think the most perfect song ever written is Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding.

As I have gotten older I gravitated towards bluegrass and American Roots music. I have no particular favorite genre of music and think I can find the genius in almost any authentic expression.

I think that digital killed the superior album format, that popular music gets worse every year and that the lack of under-18 venues has taken away one of the primary experiences of youth.

I am willing to defend even the most hated songs on my ipod . I think that the Allman Brothers and Allison Krauss are porch and Whisky bands for a Sunday afternoon. I think Van Morrison was a genius and that Randy Newman is brilliant.

I think that to really "get" music, it helps to be grounded in classical and understand how popular music evolved from the blues to do-wop to rock to the amazing period from 68-78.

I think it's sad that the best musicians the world produces today toil in obscurity. I think God has rewarded my passion by giving Pimp Jr. all the Les Paul prowess I was too lazy and intimidated by my musical virtuoso friends to earn.

Today I am listening to a Bob Marley compilation and The Rolling stones "Black and Blue." Pimp Jr is playing a reasonable rendition of Communication Breakdown in his room and one of the Pimpettes is learning a Sufjan Stevens song "Chicago" on her acoustic.