Posts by Dr. John

  • Female Voices

    OK, I'll try to come up with a female voices list. I'm doing this at lunch break at work, so I'll probably overlook some artists in my collection.


    1. Tori Amos - Ribbons Undone
    2. The B-52s - Deadbeat Club
    3. Jonatha Brooke - Crumbs
    4. Buckingham Nicks - Crying In the Night
    5. Kate Bush - The Morning Fog
    6. The [Dixie] Chicks - White Trash Wedding
    7. Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
    8. Crash Vegas - On and On (Lodestar)
    9. Dalbello - Gonna Get Close to You
    10. Ani DiFranco - Imperfectly
    11. Echobelly - Dark Therapy
    12. Emm Gryner - Stereochrome
    13. Aretha Franklin - Mary Don't You Weep
    14. Indigo Girls - Galileo
    15. Aimee Mann - Could've Been Anyone
    16. Martha and the Vandellas - Dancing In the Street
    17. Kate and Anna McGarrigle - NaCl
    18. Maria McKee - Breathe
    19. Sarah McLachlan - Mercy
    20. Milla - The Gentleman Who Fell
    21. Joni Mitchell - Conversation
    22. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
    23. Sinead O'Connor - Troy
    24. Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue
    25. The Roches - Ing
    26. Jane Siberry - The Walking (and Constantly)
    27. Richard and Linda Thompson - Dimming of the Day
    28. Weeping Tile - Dogs and Thunder
    29. Gillian Welch - Tear My Stillhouse Down
    30. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
    31. Suzanne Vega - Book of Dreams

    And I have already run out of numbers! So many others that should be mentioned.

  • Female Voices

    Quote from Backdrifter

    Her voice on this song with its tricky melody line is like a bird soaring, swooping and diving in the air. It was one of the first ones I thought of including.

    I also really love her album Heart Food. Some gorgeous stuff on that too.

    Quote from Backdrifter

    I first saw LG as part of Simple Minds touring band then bought Happiness on impulse and didn't regret it. This is the standout track for me and one of my favourite songs of the 90s. Your "off-kilter" kind of applies to this one as everything sounds at cross-purposes but in a way that creates an implied drone, then you get those little rising sequences of skewed organ that sound quite Banksian. I love how it all hangs together.


    You're the only other person I'm aware of who's got or at least heard that album!

    I also recommend her first album On the Way Down From the Moon Palace if you haven't already heard it.

  • Best decade for music?

    I'm assuming we're skipping decades before the 50s because we are focusing on rock music? I like a fair bit of jazz/pop from the 40s and even the 30s, including musicals.


    If I were to pick a decade, it would be the 70s. This is simply because many of my favourite artists had peak output during this decade. Although I was born in 1968, I'm not sure it had anything to do with it as I did not start listening to pop and rock until the 80s.


    If I were to rank the decades, it would be something like 70s > 60s > 80s > 90s > 50s > 10s > 00s.

  • GENESIS live in Hannover 1987 on YouTube

    Quote from pawciob1

    I meant among others about songs for example Living Forever or Do The Neurothic, which were played during rehearsals, but not at concerts :) To this day, we do not know if the songs that were not played at concerts were also practiced on other tours - that's what I meant. :) I just wish the band would release it sometime. :) I see the chance on average, but you can always try. :) Let's not pursue this topic anymore - let's be happy about this video in Hannover because it's really great. :)

    While I think hearing rehearsals would be cool, I think it is far less likely to see such releases. More likely would be great live performances that are unreleased and as has been mentioned, the band and management don't seem interested in pursuing even this further. Nonetheless, there is lots of stuff already available and we can't have everything.

  • Release bootlegs with rehearsals Genesis

    I think that if it is hard to get them to release existing multitrack concerts and soundboard tapes, it might be even harder to get them to release rehearsal tapes. They don't have a lot of interest in mining their history now.


    That said, they did release that one-camera video of a Mama tour rehearsal, which I found fascinating. So one can always hope.

  • Genesis lack of cover versions or collaboratiions.

    I think the other possible issue is that many of the artists that Genesis members admired and admitted as influences were very different than the music the band was itself creating. Imagine a set with The Musical Box, then a version of Marvin Gaye's Ain't That Peculiar, then Watcher of the Skies, then a cover of The Beach Boys' God Only Knows, etc. While I might have enjoyed it, it might have thrown much of their audience at the time.

  • Your latest music acquisition.

    Thanks for the info. I will investigate further.

  • Your latest music acquisition.

    Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

    Prince & The Revolution - Live At the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY, March 30th, 1985.

    Now this is truly interesting. I have the original VHS. I had been a fan since 1999 and the Purple Rain tour was once of my first concerts (preceded only by Rush and Yes I think). I then bought the Purple Rain deluxe version to get CD versions of extra tracks like Erotic City, the full length Let's Go Crazy, Irresistible Bitch, etc., plus the concert on DVD. How much better is this DVD version?

  • Genesis lack of cover versions or collaboratiions.

    Quote from Thelawnmower

    yes I think so, especially for the bigger bands where there may be some covers early on but less so as their songwriting develops. I think as Genesis set out to be songwriters it makes sense that they started as they meant to go on

    I agree with this. Many bands started off playing covers before they developed as songwriters. So covers remained in their concert sets and even made it onto albums. Genesis started with the intention of being songwriters, hence having only their own material on albums and in concert.

  • TotW 6/13/2022 - 6/19/2022: GENESIS - Mama

    Quote from rkive

    @DrJohn.

    For example That's All, Land of Confusion, No Son of Mine have more "variations" than Mama. :/

    Agreed. Many of the songs from their pop era have more chords and sometimes more complicated chords.


    My point is that chord complexity does not alone establish how interesting or effective the song is. Mama has only a few chords, but that is not the main feature of the song. The song is much more about building an atmosphere and it does so very effectively.

  • TotW 6/13/2022 - 6/19/2022: GENESIS - Mama

    Quote from rkive

    ... too simple as chords.

    Quote from Noni

    Being Genesis and not long after they left the Progressive roots of the past. I find Mama to be an OK track, nothing outstanding but just Good in my rating. I would still prefer their progressive music any day over the commercial poppier songs that transformed this great band.

    Although there can be a tendency to lump complex chords with being more progressive overall, I think this is an oversimplification. As mentioned above, Carpet Crawlers (if we exclude the intro, which borrows its chords from TLLDOB) has only 6 straightforward major and minor chords, and is generally seen as part of Genesis's progressive era. Hold On My Heart has all kinds of complicated chords and yet is very much part of the more pop-oriented part of their career. I think there are other aspects of songs that can determine how pop or progressive a song is beyond the chords.


    Mama, despite it being on an album with some catchier singles, is not particularly pop-oriented to my ears. It is not danceable. Tony's initial synth line is in the melodic minor scale, emphasizing the natural 6th and 7th, which is hardly a catchy intro overtop the drum machine pattern. The hook, if it even is that, is just that last line at the end of each verse. I find it odd (and great) that it was used as the lead single instead of catchier options on the album.

  • TotW 6/13/2022 - 6/19/2022: GENESIS - Mama

    I still remember sitting around with friends with the vinyl single and putting it on for the first time. We all thought "What the...?" after getting into Genesis with the likes of Firth of Fifth. But as we listened to it repeatedly, we all began to appreciate it more.


    I love how it builds atmosphere, with the drum machine pattern and the low pedal note. Then Tony comes in with the eerie lead line and Mike adds a few sinister guitar notes. Then Tony's pulsing chords start to fade in. All a perfect set-up for perhaps Phil's scariest vocal performance. Yes the laugh is cool. And the walloping drums in the second half complete the picture.


    This would be the peak in many a band's catalogue. For Genesis, it was one of many.

  • What are you listening to right now?

    Quote from MoonlitKnight

    Heard this one on the radio yesterday for the first time in years. Talk about a classic :)


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    Haven't been on this thread in awhile. Acadian Driftwood is one of my favourite Band songs and doesn't get the same level of attention as other classics in their catalogue. A great story about the challenges that the Acadians experienced historically, with great playing and singing from all members.

  • Nothing from Abacab again

    Quote from nes75

    I was really just curious to hear peoples perspective as to why they think the band might not want to play songs from this album.

    I think there were 3 major factors affecting the song choices. Firstly they had to be songs that they liked to play. That does not necessarily match what we on this forum most want to hear. Secondly they wanted to cover songs that they felt the attendees would enjoy. This always involves a balance of their popular songs, which is what the majority of the crowd wants, and the older songs, which is what a vocal minority wants. Thirdly, they had to take into account Phil's current limitations, both as a vocalist and because he can't drum. So they limited songs that have long instrumentals (I was a bit surprised they kept Firth of Fifth) and likely never considered or quickly got rid of songs Phil can no longer sing, regardless of the key.

  • Could Genesis Be Tempted to play Glastonbury?.

    I don't think the members of Genesis are particularly concerned about generating more sales of their catalogue. And if they wanted to play live a bit more, they could have simply extended this recent tour to additional countries and cities. I'm guessing they would far more enjoy play to an audience of fans than a undifferentiated festival crowd.