Welcome to 60's Rock 1001
So yes, I could talk about my favorite band of all time until the cows came home. I really could. Seriously. But I don't really think it's fair because no one could even come close to competing with the genius they had packed into one little band, so today I'm going to talk about the alternatives. We're going to travel to an alternative, though much bleaker, universe, where Paul went on to university and became a teacher, John went on to be a professional hobo, Ringo stayed with Rory and the Hurricanes and George went on to still be totally hot and still save the world. Who would we be listening to if they weren't on top? Here are my picks of the bands who could never replace the Beatles, but could be considered pretty good substitutes. So sit up straight and pay attention, this is your swinging sixties musical education brought you by someone who's been listening to same decade of music since she was born.
1. The Kinks
This is probably my number 2 band from the sixties, which is why I'm putting them at number one for alternatives, duh... But seriously, they're early stuff was totally rock, like You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night. They're only downfall in these early numbers were that they tended to sound almost exactly alike. Some people like to pretend that Van Halen did a better job at covering You Really Got Me, but true fans know that it can't hold a candle to Dave Davies's original solo, which I like because it's reminiscent of this "three chord style" that he and George Harrison mimicked from Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. Like a lot of bands they eventually matured into writing more complex songs like A Well-Respected Man and This Time Tomorrow with witty and thoughtful lyrics and soon became more than "just a rock 'n' roll band" and eventually the satirical Sunny Afternoon toppled Paperback Writer on the American charts.
2. The Zombies
"What's your name? Who's your daddy? He rich--is he rich like me?" You can't say those aren't totally awesome lyrics. So definitely lacking in the looks department, but Rod Argent could play a mean organ, for real, check out the solo in Time of the Season, same for She's Not There. But seriously, their true genius is that background noise that starts off Time of the Season, a clap and someone sighing, almost like the sound of a can opening. There's something totally cool about it that I can't describe.
3. The Who
I really don't know what there is to be said about The Who, if you don't know about them already then you have no hope of passing this class. At the very least you should recognize Who Are You from CSI...Yikes Pete, stay away from the air tight pants over there, it looks like your crotch is in pain.
4. The Dave Clark Five
I'll be honest, I don't really know that much about this band. I know that they're considered the "2nd" band of the British invasion behind the Beatles. I didn't realize that I knew so many of their songs like Because, Glad All Over, Over and Over. Apparently they've been inducted into the hall of fame, so history hasn't been too bad to them. Ironically, their drummer looks like Jimmy Nicol, that weird dude that filled in for Ringo and thought he was better than him.
5. Herman's Hermits
They look like a group of people who would be in a band called Herman's Hermits.To my knowledge, they never really matured beyond poppy love songs, but they're a fun little band and I've enjoyed hearing them through the years. The cool background information about them is even though they have this kiddy image, their session musicians were people like Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who as we all know became two of the members of Led Zepplin.
Honorable Mentions:
The Searchers
The Monkees
The Association
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Gary Lewis and the Playboys
The Hollies
That's right, no Stones, you're either one or the other. So there you have it, your homework is to listen to the playlist I pained over making you!
1. The Kinks
This is probably my number 2 band from the sixties, which is why I'm putting them at number one for alternatives, duh... But seriously, they're early stuff was totally rock, like You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night. They're only downfall in these early numbers were that they tended to sound almost exactly alike. Some people like to pretend that Van Halen did a better job at covering You Really Got Me, but true fans know that it can't hold a candle to Dave Davies's original solo, which I like because it's reminiscent of this "three chord style" that he and George Harrison mimicked from Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. Like a lot of bands they eventually matured into writing more complex songs like A Well-Respected Man and This Time Tomorrow with witty and thoughtful lyrics and soon became more than "just a rock 'n' roll band" and eventually the satirical Sunny Afternoon toppled Paperback Writer on the American charts.
2. The Zombies
"What's your name? Who's your daddy? He rich--is he rich like me?" You can't say those aren't totally awesome lyrics. So definitely lacking in the looks department, but Rod Argent could play a mean organ, for real, check out the solo in Time of the Season, same for She's Not There. But seriously, their true genius is that background noise that starts off Time of the Season, a clap and someone sighing, almost like the sound of a can opening. There's something totally cool about it that I can't describe.
3. The Who
I really don't know what there is to be said about The Who, if you don't know about them already then you have no hope of passing this class. At the very least you should recognize Who Are You from CSI...Yikes Pete, stay away from the air tight pants over there, it looks like your crotch is in pain.
4. The Dave Clark Five
I'll be honest, I don't really know that much about this band. I know that they're considered the "2nd" band of the British invasion behind the Beatles. I didn't realize that I knew so many of their songs like Because, Glad All Over, Over and Over. Apparently they've been inducted into the hall of fame, so history hasn't been too bad to them. Ironically, their drummer looks like Jimmy Nicol, that weird dude that filled in for Ringo and thought he was better than him.
5. Herman's Hermits
They look like a group of people who would be in a band called Herman's Hermits.To my knowledge, they never really matured beyond poppy love songs, but they're a fun little band and I've enjoyed hearing them through the years. The cool background information about them is even though they have this kiddy image, their session musicians were people like Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who as we all know became two of the members of Led Zepplin.
Honorable Mentions:
The Searchers
The Monkees
The Association
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Gary Lewis and the Playboys
The Hollies
That's right, no Stones, you're either one or the other. So there you have it, your homework is to listen to the playlist I pained over making you!