During the history of our podcast Friends Talking Nerdy, one aspect of the show we keep coming back to is music. While I, Tim the Nerd, certainly have my own tastes in music, I love how music in general can be a uniting force in terms of bringing people from different backgrounds together.
What I thought I would do is give you my list of my five favorite musicians/bands, a segment we call The Nerdy 5 on our podcast. The explanation as to why they’re on the list will be brief. The last place you’ve come to get a detailed history of the musicians in question would be this Substack. From there, I welcome your thoughts on the musicians in question in the comments below.
In no particular order…
The Rolling Stones: This is the band that helped shape my musical tastes. The first music video I remember seeing was Start Me Up from The Rolling Stones. What struck me initially was how happy they seemed to be. I was four or five when I saw this video. The adults in my life at that time were not happy. At all. Seeing that there could be adults out there who were happy due to creating music was exhilarating, intoxicating. Following their journey as a band left me with a great soundtrack of songs, like It’s Only Rock and Roll (And I Like It), Emotional Rescue, Mixed Emotions, among the multitude of other classics they created. On October 20th, 2023, they’re even going to be releasing a new album, Hackney Diamonds. While Professor Aubrey on a recent episode of Friends Talking Nerdy wasn’t too kind to the opening single of that album, Angry, I enjoyed the hell out of it. If you haven’t heard the band before, I would recommend starting with the album Some Girls.
Judas Priest: Judas Priest are metal gods for a reason. While they weren’t the originators of heavy metal, they helped shape the direction of that genre when they debuted in the 70’s. What I love about this band is how they’re able to craft metal songs that still have pop sensibilities. Take Breakin’ The Law. From first note to last, it is unmistakably metal, yet with how the song is crafted, even the most jaded person finds themselves singing along and playing air guitar to it by the time the song wraps up. And their guitar solos…they’re the kind of solos that will put hair on your chest. Such a great band. If you’re not familiar with their work, I’d recommend starting off with Screaming For Vengeance
The Who: I was at a friend’s house for a sleepover during middle school and I couldn’t sleep. Insomnia is something I’ve dealt with off and on over the years, thanks to an ever increasing usage of caffeine. While everyone slept, I went into the living room at three o’clock in the morning and turned on the television. A basic cable channel began showing the concert film from The Who, The Kids Are All Right. The opening footage was from the time the band appeared on The Smother’s Brothers Comedy Hour, a surprisingly edgy comedy show in the late 60’s, which gave us Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, and Super Dave Osbourne among others. The Who’s segment on the show is legendary. To end their song with a literal bang, the plan was for Keith Moon, their drummer, to blow up his drumkit. Little did the band know that Keith had actually bribed a stagehand to put in three times the amount of explosives into his drums. When Keith activated the switch, a BOOM erupted from the speakers of the television, and rock history was made. If you’re going to check out any work from The Who band, check out The Who By Numbers
The Monkees: Like most people my age, I fell in love with The Monkees by watching reruns of the show on MTV and Nickelodeon in the late 80’s. While there are some, like Jann Wenner, who feel that the band is simply manufactured and offers nothing to the history of rock music, I disagree. Starting out, yeah, on their first couple albums, other musicians primarily played the instruments. That was the setup that producer Don Kirschner preferred. That didn’t work for the band. Kirschner was let go, allowing the band to control the music making process going forward. As far as the songs themselves, when you have songwriters like Carol King, Neil Diamond, and Harry Nilsson, among others, contributing work for the band, the results are bound to be classics. There’s a reason why people argue The Monkees deserve a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and not The Archies, another music group that Don Kirschner produced. The Monkees took their work as a band seriously. The Archies were a group of musicians hired to do a job. The album from The Monkees I’d recommend checking out is Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones LTD
Jomo and the Possum Posse: Just so you, dear reader, can know that I have indeed enjoyed bands that have created music after 1970, I present to you your new favorite country band, Jomo and the Possum Posse. If you aren’t familiar with the band themselves, at the very least you may be aware of their YouTube fame from 2012 for the Guy on a Buffalo videos. Check them out at this link.
Guy On A Buffalo - Episode 1 (Bears, Indians & Such) - YouTube
I slept on these guys for a few years after discovering Guy on a Buffalo. I was missing out on some of the best country music being made today. Seriously, give these guys a listen. I don’t recommend one album from them. I recommend them all.
Music will continue to be a big part of Friends Talking Nerdy. We would love for you to start your week off with us. The show is available wherever you find podcasts. Check out this link for more information.