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Middle Aged Dummies - Artist - Round 5 - #22's have been posted. Link in OP. (55 Viewers)

Otis Redding
As per chatgpt and song titles except one removed

Otis Redding was a powerful and passionate American soul singer and songwriter whose music and voice left a lasting mark on the world, even though his life was tragically cut short.
Otis Redding was known for his raw, emotional voice and his ability to blend gospel, R&B, and soul. His music often dealt with themes of love, heartbreak, and longing.
He was a central figure at Stax Records, one of the key labels in soul and R&B during the 1960s. His style influenced countless artists, from Al Green to The Rolling Stones.

Otis Redding was born on September 9, 1941, in Dawson, Georgia, and raised in Macon, Georgia. He started singing in the church and competed in local talent shows before breaking into the music industry.
He worked hard to rise through the ranks, first touring with bands like Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers. His big break came in the early 1960s with Stax Records, where he quickly became one of the label’s leading stars.
Redding was also a savvy businessman and began taking more control of his songwriting and publishing. He co-wrote many of his songs, often with producer Steve Cropper, and helped bridge the gap between Southern soul and mainstream pop.
Tragically, Otis Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, at just 26 years old, along with several members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays. Just days before, he had recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” which became a posthumous #1 hit and a timeless classic.

Legacy

Otis Redding is often called the "King of Soul" for his profound influence on soul music. His legacy lives on through his recordings, the artists he inspired, and honors like his 1989 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He remains one of the most beloved voices in music history—a symbol of soul’s depth, humanity, and enduring power.
 
If people are going to post AI write-ups during the countdown, I think it would be good if they're acknowledged as such.
 
Here is my intro/summary from Wik.AI.pedia:

“Excellent question, Yo Mama. I always relish our conversations. Here are the results for your prompt Summarize The English Beat + General Public + Fine Young Cannibals + Family Tree:

Background

The English Beat
[1] is a musical style popularized in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s known for its heavy use of percussion and mallet-struck instruments. It draws heavy influences from earlier musical styles Disco [iii] from the late 1870s and Gangster Rap [ǒ] from the 1920s.


Critical Reception

This genre quickly achieved mainstream popularity from music critics as well as the General Public and spread rapidly across Europe and into the United States [link to article Popular English Beat Artists].


Controversy and Legal Troubles

On February 31 of 2023 a fan of this musical genre, citing satanic messages heard through backwards masking, tied up and killed an innocent Family to a nearby Tree [link to photo of family who somehow all have six fingers per hand]. No conviction was made, however, due to lack of evidence after a notorious group of Fine and Young Cannibals disposed of the bodies.”
 
No AI here, just 100% Steiner's brain:

John Waite began his musical career in the mid-1970s, finding moderate success with the English band The Babys. He then went solo in the early 80s, joined a new band with old bandmates, Bad English, in the late 80s and returned to recording and performing as a solo act in the early 90s, remaining active to this day. His style has consistently included pop, power pop and rock. John's singing voice reminds me of a cross between Robert Palmer and T. Rex's Marc Bolan, a kind of not quite masculine and not quite androgynous but rather boyish in quality that can also belt them out when the moment calls for it.

As an artist with a small amount of chart success, there simply isn't a lot to say about him that doesn't come from my own thoughts and memories, so those will be my main source of material for my write-ups, along with referencing music from the same time. My goal is mainly just for adding context, but I will have to share some mundane details from my earlier years along the way to better accomplish that goal.

Based on my familiarity with his material, I will be covering the first three parts of his career, from The Babys to his solo material and then his time with Bad English. He has released six studio albums since Bad English broke up in the early 90s, but they were unknown to me until I began choosing songs for this countdown. While including selections from this later period would have made the countdown more representative of his entire career arc, I chose to focus instead on the songs I knew.
 
No AI here, just 100% Steiner's brain:

John Waite began his musical career in the mid-1970s, finding moderate success with the English band The Babys. He then went solo in the early 80s, joined a new band with old bandmates, Bad English, in the late 80s and returned to recording and performing as a solo act in the early 90s, remaining active to this day. His style has consistently included pop, power pop and rock. John's singing voice reminds me of a cross between Robert Palmer and T. Rex's Marc Bolan, a kind of not quite masculine and not quite androgynous but rather boyish in quality that can also belt them out when the moment calls for it.

As an artist with a small amount of chart success, there simply isn't a lot to say about him that doesn't come from my own thoughts and memories, so those will be my main source of material for my write-ups, along with referencing music from the same time. My goal is mainly just for adding context, but I will have to share some mundane details from my earlier years along the way to better accomplish that goal.

Based on my familiarity with his material, I will be covering the first three parts of his career, from The Babys to his solo material and then his time with Bad English. He has released six studio albums since Bad English broke up in the early 90s, but they were unknown to me until I began choosing songs for this countdown. While including selections from this later period would have made the countdown more representative of his entire career arc, I chose to focus instead on the songs I knew.
First video I ever saw on MTV was by him solo. To avoid spoiling, I won't say the title even though it's probably pretty obvious.
 
No AI here, just 100% Steiner's brain:

John Waite began his musical career in the mid-1970s, finding moderate success with the English band The Babys. He then went solo in the early 80s, joined a new band with old bandmates, Bad English, in the late 80s and returned to recording and performing as a solo act in the early 90s, remaining active to this day. His style has consistently included pop, power pop and rock. John's singing voice reminds me of a cross between Robert Palmer and T. Rex's Marc Bolan, a kind of not quite masculine and not quite androgynous but rather boyish in quality that can also belt them out when the moment calls for it.

As an artist with a small amount of chart success, there simply isn't a lot to say about him that doesn't come from my own thoughts and memories, so those will be my main source of material for my write-ups, along with referencing music from the same time. My goal is mainly just for adding context, but I will have to share some mundane details from my earlier years along the way to better accomplish that goal.

Based on my familiarity with his material, I will be covering the first three parts of his career, from The Babys to his solo material and then his time with Bad English. He has released six studio albums since Bad English broke up in the early 90s, but they were unknown to me until I began choosing songs for this countdown. While including selections from this later period would have made the countdown more representative of his entire career arc, I chose to focus instead on the songs I knew.
First video I ever saw on MTV was by him solo. To avoid spoiling, I won't say the title even though it's probably pretty obvious.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, I will mention that there's a quality to it that I was going to touch on about his career in general, and this isn't much of a spoiler; he was very self-referential and liked to call back to previous work. Great if you're a fanboy/girl but :tumbleweed: if you're not.

I'm pretty sure it's on the list even though it's not a personal favorite.
 
I'll see if I can't narrow down my artist today/soon. Not that I had a choice sniped or anything, I'm just torn several directions per usual.

Intriguing mix of artists so far. Most I know at least a little about, just relying on memory. But at the same time few (to none) that I feel like I really know well.
 
No AI here, just 100% Steiner's brain:

John Waite began his musical career in the mid-1970s, finding moderate success with the English band The Babys. He then went solo in the early 80s, joined a new band with old bandmates, Bad English, in the late 80s and returned to recording and performing as a solo act in the early 90s, remaining active to this day. His style has consistently included pop, power pop and rock. John's singing voice reminds me of a cross between Robert Palmer and T. Rex's Marc Bolan, a kind of not quite masculine and not quite androgynous but rather boyish in quality that can also belt them out when the moment calls for it.

As an artist with a small amount of chart success, there simply isn't a lot to say about him that doesn't come from my own thoughts and memories, so those will be my main source of material for my write-ups, along with referencing music from the same time. My goal is mainly just for adding context, but I will have to share some mundane details from my earlier years along the way to better accomplish that goal.

Based on my familiarity with his material, I will be covering the first three parts of his career, from The Babys to his solo material and then his time with Bad English. He has released six studio albums since Bad English broke up in the early 90s, but they were unknown to me until I began choosing songs for this countdown. While including selections from this later period would have made the countdown more representative of his entire career arc, I chose to focus instead on the songs I knew.
First video I ever saw on MTV was by him solo. To avoid spoiling, I won't say the title even though it's probably pretty obvious.
Narrator: it's not so obvious.
 
The Commodores

For those that don't know, this was a pop-R&B band most popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They weren't nearly as stacked with talent as Earth, Wind, & Fire or P-Funk or Stevie Wonder (who is a HOFer in about 5 different disciplines). To me, you need these kind of second-tier acts that prop up movements. My warped mind compares them to AOR bands like Bad Company or KISS.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the (L.A.) Forum. They started having massive pop hits. They found a lane that worked for their talents and were throwing darts at the Top 5 on the pop charts in one of the hardest eras to score there.

I'll talk about individual members as we go along.

Trigger Warning! There's is going to be a lot of schmaltz and/or songs you've heard a bazillion times. I have some deeper cuts to mix in, but I'm not trying to impress anyone here so there is going to be a ton of chalk. Don't like it, edit the Spotify playlist. These songs meant a lot to me when I was young and they still do.
 
Belinda Jo Carlisle (/ˈkɑːrlaɪl/ KAR-lyle; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.

Raised in Southern California, Carlisle was the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, which she co-founded in 1978. With their chart-topping debut studio album Beauty and the Beat in 1981, the group helped popularize new wave music in the United States. The Go-Go's have sold over seven million records worldwide

After the break-up of the Go-Go's in 1985, Carlisle went on to have a successful solo career with radio hits such as "Mad About You", "I Get Weak", "Circle in the Sand", "Leave a Light On", "Summer Rain", and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth". The Go-Go's reformed in 1999; Carlisle maintained her solo career and performed with the band until its disbandment in 2022, returning for two festival performances in 2025.

Carlisle's autobiography, Lips Unsealed, published in June 2010, was a New York Times Best Seller and received favorable reviews. In 1999, Carlisle was ranked No. 76 with the Go-Go's in VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.In 2011, Carlisle, as a member of the Go-Go's, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021
 
The Commodores

For those that don't know, this was a pop-R&B band most popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They weren't nearly as stacked with talent as Earth, Wind, & Fire or P-Funk or Stevie Wonder (who is a HOFer in about 5 different disciplines). To me, you need these kind of second-tier acts that prop up movements. My warped mind compares them to AOR bands like Bad Company or KISS.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the (L.A.) Forum. They started having massive pop hits. They found a lane that worked for their talents and were throwing darts at the Top 5 on the pop charts in one of the hardest eras to score there.

I'll talk about individual members as we go along.

Trigger Warning! There's is going to be a lot of schmaltz and/or songs you've heard a bazillion times. I have some deeper cuts to mix in, but I'm not trying to impress anyone here so there is going to be a ton of chalk. Don't like it, edit the Spotify playlist. These songs meant a lot to me when I was young and they still do.
This is where I seem to be landing as well. I am doing my due diligence in going through the over 400 song catalog, but not finding much that hits like the early stuff that really resonated with me.
 
Pip's Invitation(Arthur Lee and) Love
Zegras11Belinda Carlisle
-OZ-Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw
MrsKarmaPoliceCity and Colour
tuffnutConor Oberst
Tau837Eric Clapton
titusbrambleFerry Cortsen
Dr. OctopusGolden Smog
Mister CIAHugh Dillon
Charlie SteinerJohn Waite
landrys hatLuna
SnellmanMeatloaf
eephusMichael Head
Mrs. RannousNeil Diamond
John Maddens LunchboxOtis Redding
Karma PolicePeople Under The Stars
zamboniSteve Marriott
Uruk-HaiThe Commodores
Yo MamaThe English Beat Family Tree
Don QuixoteThe Gap Band/Charlie Wilson
YambagThe Smashing Pumpkins
Iluv80sThe Waterboys
Northern VoiceTV on the Radio
 
So I had an inner debate, mostly because the ones i think I have time to probably do had some personal qualms. But looking back?
But yeah, the idea the that first 4 albums would be around half of it while Death Magnetic/Hardwired/72 Seasons might get 5 songs combined (and St. Anger 0) is part of why I've been spinning my wheels on it.
Nah, screw that guy.
No remorse, no repent
My Pick is this little indie band named Metallica
Concentrating on (10 of the 11 of) the studio albums, EPs, and Garage Inc. Maybe with some Live Version influence, but I've got plenty to work with already.
Fuller writeup some other time.
 
My #1 song for this exercise would have been an excellent addition to jwb's songs that sound great on a decent 2-channel system list.
That theme and discussions have definitely changed my listening over the last couple months. One of the many reasons I fell for my artist is the music sounds so damn good in the headphones, especially some of the later albums as they have better tech and more knowledge.
 
So I had an inner debate, mostly because the ones i think I have time to probably do had some personal qualms. But looking back?
But yeah, the idea the that first 4 albums would be around half of it while Death Magnetic/Hardwired/72 Seasons might get 5 songs combined (and St. Anger 0) is part of why I've been spinning my wheels on it.
Nah, screw that guy.
No remorse, no repent
My Pick is this little indie band named Metallica
Concentrating on (10 of the 11 of) the studio albums, EPs, and Garage Inc. Maybe with some Live Version influence, but I've got plenty to work with already.
Fuller writeup some other time.
Who is more scared heading into Round 5: Eephus seeing Metallica, or me seeing Meatloaf.?? :lol:
 
So I had an inner debate, mostly because the ones i think I have time to probably do had some personal qualms. But looking back?
But yeah, the idea the that first 4 albums would be around half of it while Death Magnetic/Hardwired/72 Seasons might get 5 songs combined (and St. Anger 0) is part of why I've been spinning my wheels on it.
Nah, screw that guy.
No remorse, no repent
My Pick is this little indie band named Metallica
Concentrating on (10 of the 11 of) the studio albums, EPs, and Garage Inc. Maybe with some Live Version influence, but I've got plenty to work with already.
Fuller writeup some other time.
Hoping for "The Ecstasy of Gold" with Michael Kamen as the opener. A great way to start a concert.
 
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (PUTS)

I have you all and these weird music adventures for me falling for this group and finding what is to me perfect music for the genre. Around Round 2 I was digging through ideas about possible artists for my silly "less than 1M monthly listeners" rule. I don't know much in the genre, and what I did had more than that. I dug around a bit on spotify for artists like The Roots after loving that deep dive, and saw these two. I remembered how much I liked their 3rd album, O.S.T. and was surprised how few listens they had and added them to my listen pile. I know the genre isn't a favorite in the group, and I didn't have real intentions of doing it for these, I just thought it would fun to do. I found myself listening to the albums a lot and then was a little surprised they were #4 on my end of year listens on Spotify. I really thought about it and went through all the albums a few times, made a playlist that started at 100+ songs and I felt I was being tough in my choices. Here we are...

People Under the Stairs are a hip hop duo from Los Angeles. Christopher Portugal (Thes One) and Micheal Turner (Double K) met at a record store while in High School. They went to two different schools, but this store was basically the 1/2 way point from the two schools. They played each other their beats, and were inseparable from that day on. After several hours of interviews I 100% picture the scene from Stepbrothers when they become best friends. I still don't understand it, but whatever technique and equipment they were using it was the same and they were the only ones doing it around them. I copy from wiki about their name. I am sure the movie was a reason I had been attracted to them and that one album I had of theirs...

The group decided to use the name "People Under the Stairs" because they felt it represented their music aesthetic; during a time when most other hip hop artists were forming large crews or collectives, they wanted to stay out of the spotlight and concentrate on the music, only coming out from "under the stairs" to perform before they went back again

...but evidently they didn't know about the movie. The above describes them perfectly from any interview I've seen of theirs yet. These two were just a couple years younger than me. They were two music nerds in High School who didn't have a ton of friends and spent a lot of time inside listening to all sorts of music and judging by their references and sensibilities they watched a lot of the same crap that I watched. To their financial detriment, they stuck to themselves and did everything themselves. They made all their albums themselves, so nobody else was involved in their music. They had a plan to do 12 albums (more on that later), stuck to that and went out exactly the way they wanted to.

As I posted in the theme thread, I listen to a little bit in the genre, but a big barrier for me is I listen to albums and I very rarely find albums I can listen in two in the genre start to finish. Two odd quirks I notice is I don't like when listening to albums: skits and guest appearances. Silly barrier to have, but it's there. PUTS has minimal skits and when they do often it mixes in movies or people they know. I grew to like them or not mind them enough to still like the songs. They have very few guest appearances, and have full albums with just the two of them. HUGE pluses here as I listened to the albums. In truth, that is just a small fraction of it. What makes them a perfect hip-hop artist to my ears is the music and the lyrics. Here is how I will try to sell them to even the biggest skeptic of the genre - these two would fit right in with the MAD crew and various TV, movie, and video game drafts. As for music - Double K's favorite band was P-Funk. They spent meager tour money on rare albums to make better music. They joked about listening to Michael McDonald straight for a leg of a tour. They loved a variety of music and you will hear that in the songs. You will also hear a TON of nods to 80s and 90s pop culture in the music alone with the samples.

THEN add in the lyrics, and that is what solidified them as a favorite. Again with the lyrical and song title references here, so many music, game, tv, movie references to keep me engaged and relistening. Also the songs were great whether it was a fun party song or a song about LA. They loved Parliament and 80s pop culture. They were about making the best music they possibly could, on their own terms, while having the most fun they could. They were our age, but young for the group, and their music and albums showed that. They matured to the point that at the end we have Costco and HGTV references.

They have "12" albums. According to them, they have 12 and that was a plan. To me, 3 of them felt like EPs. I focused solely on the 9 albums that I considered their main albums. It was hard enough to narrow it down to 31 songs from that. No other hip hop group could get more than 3-4 albums I loved for various reasons. I think all 9 of these albums are top to bottom great albums. I have 1 B-side, but otherwise all songs come from those albums and I will talk about them more when they come up. There are 5 albums in particular I love, and that is where I will get my last 5 out from, but even that I am now having trouble deciding on. Each album will have at least 2 songs and my favorite 2 albums have 5 each.

Sorry about the long post (I know, Pip - hold your beer). I will end on the song that hooked me on these two. I started randomly on their album 12 Step Program. It took me exactly 2 songs to grab my ears and heart. Neither song made the final cut, unfortunately. The first is good and features some Tribe Called Quest references, so my ears perked up. Then I hit this 7min prog/rap song. I was already very much interested then half way through I get a ton of references to my favorite movie??? It was a hard cut and an important song, but the playlist is better off for it. I hope you all enjoy the pivot to these guys even a fraction of how much I have enjoyed listening to them the last couple years. This will be some fun summer music.

 
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I was exploring options for my last five out and found this song I selected in the catch all MAD. Pretty artsy, eh?

 

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