Name your favorite musical artist for each letter of the alphabet.
There are rules:
Articles (a, an, the) are not considered. This is to prevent you from citing Rush under R and The Rolling Stones under T. If you have mad love for both of these groups, you gotsta choose one.
Surnames of individuals only (unless the artist – Adele, for example – goes by first name only). This is to prevent you from using B for Billy Joel, E for Elton John, and reserving your J for Tom Jones.
You can change your list at any time by re-posting (and explaining your revision).
My list:
Aerosmith
Beatles
Costello, Elvis
Dylan, Bob
Eminem
Fleetwood Mac
Gordon, Robert
Harrison, George
INXS
Jethro Tull
Kinks
Lennon, John
Mitchell, Joni
Nirvana
Orbison, Roy
Prine, John
Queen
Rolling Stones
Simon, Paul
Talking Heads
U2
Velvet Underground
White, Jack
XTC
Young, Neil
Zombies
A - Allman Bros.
B - Beatles
C - Camel
D - Dale, Dick
E - Eagles*
F - Fleetwood Mac (original version)
G - Genesis
H - Hackett, Steve
I - INXS*
J - Jackson, Joe (not Shoeless ;))
K - Kansas
L - Little Feat
M - Marley, Bob
N - Nektar
O - Old 97s
P - Phish
Q - Queen
R - Rush
S - Supertramp
T - Thompson, Richard
U - Uriah Heep
V - Vaughan, Stevie Ray
W - Wilco
X - XTC*
Y - Yes
Z - Zappa, Frank
these are the only E, I, and X in my collection and I only have one album of each, so I guess by default they are my favorites.
A- Alice In Chains
B- Beatles
C- Clash
D- Dandy Warhols
E- English Beat
F- Fluke
G- Gorillaz
H- Human League
I- Ice-T
J- Joywave
K- Kula Shaker
L- Love and Rockets
M- Morphine
N- New Order
O- Oingo Boingo
P- Pixies
Q- Queen
R- Rolling Stones
S- Spinal Tap
T- Talking Heads
U- U2
V- Vaughn, Stevie Ray
W- Wolfgang Press
X- X
Y- Yes
Z- Zager and Evans (?) this one is a big miss for me.
A - Agalloch
B - Kate Bush
C - The Church
D - Dead Can Dance
E - Echo & The Bunnymen
F - Fields Of The Nephilim
G - Peter Gabriel
H - Hüsker Dü
I - The Innocence Mission
J - Elton John
K - King Crimson
L - Led Zeppelin
M - Tie, Loreena McKennitt & The Moody Blues [sue me, cannot separate]
N - Nightwish
O - Oasis
P - Porcupine Tree
Q - Queen
R - Ride
S - Simple Minds
T - The Teardrop Explodes
U - U2
V - The Verve
W - The Who
X - XTC
Y - Yes
Z - Zappa, Frank
George Antheil
Johann Sebastian Bach
Frederic Chopin
Claude Debussy
Sir Edward Elgar
Cesar Franck
Charles Tomlinson Griffes
Franz Joseph Haydn
Charles Ives
Leos Janacek
Ernst Krenek
Gyorgy Ligeti
Gustav Mahler
Carl Nielsen
Carl Orff
Sergei Prokofiev
Johann Joachim Quantz
Max Reger
Karol Szymanowski
Georg Philip Telemann
Benjamin Carl Unseld
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Richard Wagner
Iannis Xenakis
Theophile Ysaye
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Phoo. Maybe I’ll come back later and do my jazz list.
Allman Brothers Band
Bonzo Dog Band
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
Miles Davis
Dave Edmunds
Free
Grateful Dead
Hot Tuna
It’s a Beautiful Day
Spike Jones
Kak
The Lehrer
Moody Blues
Laura Nyro
Phil Ochs
Pink Floyd
Queen
Rolling Stones
Soft Machine
Traffic
United States of America (from a thin crowd; U2 is obvious, but I only like their early stuff, and I don’t know much about Uriah Heep)
The Ventures
The Who
XTC
Yardbirds
Frank Zappa
A - The Alan Parsons Project
B - The Beatles {sorry, other B’s}
C - Elvis Costello
D - Daniel Amos
E - Electric Light Orchestra
F - Fleetwood Mac {barely beating out Fountains of Wayne}
G - Gin Blossoms {several G’s are pretty good, none are great}
H - Mark Heard
I - Indigo Girls {out of slim pickings}
J - Billy Joel {not as many J’s to choose from as I thought there would be}
K - The Kinks
L - Lost Dogs
M - Madness {narrowly edging out the Moody Blues}
N - Nena {another surprisingly weak letter}
O - The Ocean Blue
P - Sam Phillips
Q - Queen {of course}
R - REO Speedwagon {guilty pleasure from my youth, since there are no R’s I’m really enthusiastic about}
S - Something Fierce {the 1980s Minnesota band}
T - Trip Shakespeare {coming in just ahead of They Might Be Giants}
U - Utopia
V - Vampire Weekend
W - Stevie Wonder
X - XTC
Y - Weird Al Yankovic
Z - The Zombies {default choice}
Alabama Shakes
Big Black (sorry, Black Sabbath and Bowie)
The Cramps
Dick Dale
Ed Hall (band name, not a person’s name)
The Flaming Lips
The Gories
Jimi Hendrix
Iron Maiden
Joy Division
The Kinks
Lyle Lovett
The Melvins
NOMEANSNO
The Oblivians
Pink Floyd
Queens of the Stone Age
Ramones
Sonic Youth
T. Rex
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
The Velvet Underground
Link Wray
X (sic)
The Yardbirds
ZZ Top
So where the hell do YOU disappear to every time I try to start a “Laura is a genius and I want to bear her children oh my god New York Tendaberry oh my god oh god” thread, and it drops to the bottom of the page and dies within a day because nobody but you and I know who Laura is anymore?
Back me up, bro, we Nyrovians got to stay proud and loud.
Alabama
Byrds
Chad Mitchell Trio
Durham, Judith
Everly Brothers
First Aid Kit
Gill, Vince
Harris, Emmylou
Ian and Sylvia
Jennings, Waylon
Kristofferson, Kris
Lobo
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Nelson, Ricky
Oak Ridge Boys
Paxton, Tom
Quantz, Johann Joachim
Rieu, Andre
Seekers
Three Dog Night
U
Vivaldi, Antonio
Wynette, Tammy
X
Yoakam, Dwight
Zydeco, Buckwheat
Aphex Twin
Buzzcocks
Cocteau Twins
Daft Punk
Echo and the Bunnymen
The Fall
can’t think of one I like
Husker Du
Iggy Pop and The Stooges (iffy, I know)
Joy Division
Killing Joke
Leftfield
Massive Attack
New Order
The Orb
Portishead (literally tossed a coin on this one - Pixies)
can’t think of one I like
The Rolling Stones
The Smiths
Television
Underworld
The Velvet Underground
Waterboys
The XX
Neil Young
The Zombies
Animals
Beatles
Ray Charles
Dr. Dre
Eminem
Aretha Franklin
Marvin Gaye
Jimi Hendrix
INXS
Michael Jackson Kesha
John Lennon
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nirvana
Offspring
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Queen
Rolling Stones
Snoop Dogg
Temptations
U2
Van Halen
Stevie Wonder
X - *see below
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Zombies
*I don’t have any favorite X artists. Therefore, I am changing the name of the Pointer Sisters to the Xointer Sisters. They were my favorite artists that didn’t make my list.
The tightest race was for O. I easily could have picked Outkast over The Offspring.
Henry “Red” Allen
Chet Baker
Benny Carter
Kenny Dorham
Gil Evans
Tommy Flanagan
Stan Getz
Johnny Hodges
Lee Konitz
Steve Lacy
Thelonious Monk
Fats Navarro
O
Charlie Parker
Ike Quebec
Sonny Rollins
Zoot Sims
Lennie Tristano
U
Joe Venuti
Ben Webster
X
Lester Young
Joe Zawinul
