Category Archives: Music

2014 – That’s a wrap and now for 2015

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Well that’s 2014 over and 2015 has begun.

2014 has been about transition, getting over relevance deficit syndrome as I handed over my clients and relationships,embracing study, discovering country music(sorry to my wife, family and friends and my dear blogging friend, David Perry), comfortably meeting my cycling target of over 5000kms for the year and preparing for new experiences as I move from the comfort of working in professional services to something else.

It feels quite surreal. Normally, I find the period after Christmas quite a let down as it signifies the last few days before it all starts again, but this time it is quite different. That shouldn’t be surprising as in 2015 my focus will be completely different. I’m not thinking about finishing off client compliance work, billing targets, collecting cash or winning new work. That’s all for my successor who is now well ensconced.

2015 is about winding out of my firm and embarking on a new adventure. Completing Honours, focussing on building my academic credentials, and maybe some advisory boards. Also it is about planning an extended stay in Italy in 2015, something which has been on my wish list for the last few years.

It seems quite surreal, but as I sit at my desk writing this post, for the first time since 1978 I don’t have my year planned at all. Sure there are a list of “to dos”, not the least of which is a 20,000 word thesis but I don’t have a back log of work and a diary full of appointments that usually fill me with dread in the first week of January each year. What I do have is lots of “white space” and a question about how it will be filled?

So its on with 2015…

Well that’s done but it couldn’t have been done without the music or The future is Streaming!

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20,000 words, an exam and oral presentation and this academic year is done! Maybe just as significant is the amount of music listened too.

Day after day, Spotify has continued to provide a seemingly endless stream of music, supported by Pandora and my substantial iTunes library.

Through this year many of my posts have highlighted a new love of country, a revisiting of Dylan, and how music has been an integral part of my day.

I have since my late primary school days had an insatiable desire to buy Singles, LPs, and CDs. That is until now.

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My purchasing habit led to a brief foray into importing records. For a couple of years a close friend of mine and I started to import records for our friends, less for profit and more to bring down the price of our own purchases. It lasted until the local post office told us that we would be considered a business if we continued,

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Country Music – a new passion

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To anyone who has read browney237.com before, my love of listening to music will not be a surprise. Whether walking to or from work, at work or studying, I am always listening to something. As a result it’s always a constant challenge to look for something new and at the moment that’s Country.

Over the years my music collection has had a smattering of Country, Olivia Newton-John and Glen Campbell to name two, but it hasn’t been a major part of either my vinyl or CD collection.

It used to be a joke with my team at work that I liked both Country and Western Music. Always got a laugh, but the truth is that Country is an awesome genre. I have to say that my wife and daughter do not share that view! They are always insisting that I put my headphones on or just turn it off – whilst for me it is my new passion.

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Bob Dylan – The Beginning the Middle and the End or The Barometer of our Times?

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While I had friends whose older brothers introduced me to Bob Dylan in the late sixties it was a school teacher when I was about 15 who truly introduced me to Dylan.

I remember his words “Dylan is the beginning the middle and the end” and I have no doubt he meant it. I am not sure whether they were his own words, an adaption of someone else’s or a direct quote. Another quote I liked was “Dylan is the barometer of our times”. Again I’m not sure to whom that quote should be attributed, however through the sixties and seventies it seemed apt.

So,why the discussion about Dylan?

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1975 – The Best Year in Music?

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I was watching Max the music channel on Foxtel and they were playing songs from 1975. It gave me pause for thought as to whether this was in fact the greatest music year if my life? I have always considered the 70s as the golden age of music rather than the 60s. While there is no doubt that the emergence of The Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 60s were central to the era I think the 60s were formative rather than quintessential.

Using Wikipedia I trawled through what was released in 1975. Blood on the Tracks (Bob Dylan), Night at the Opera (Queen), Blue Jays (Justin Hayward and John Lodge), An Evening with John Denver (John Denver), Between the Lines ( Janis Ian), The Original Soundtrack (10cc), Face the Music ( Electric Light Orchestra), Siren (Roxy Music), All Around My Hat (Steeleye Span), Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon), Horses (Patti Smith), The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Welcome to My Nightmare (Alice Cooper), Venus and Mars (Paul Mccartney and Wings), One of These Nights (The Eagles), Have You Never Been Mellow (Olivia Newton-John) and Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen)  were my favourites of 1975.

Whilst I could discuss each and everyone of these at length I’ve singled out just a few for special mention.

Blood on the Tracks for its sheer consistency. From Tangled up in Blue to Buckets of a Rain, every song is brilliant however for me Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is my favourite. I just love the line,
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin’ to the Jack of Hearts .

Janis Ian’s, Between the Lines had At Seventeen which my wife tells me was every girl’s favourite song of the time. Whereas for me it was Olivia!

I know John Denver was often seen as homely and sweet however he was a great country singer. He was fabulous live and  An Evening with John Denver, truly captured the experience. Favourite off this album the soaring Rocky Mountain High.

The amazing a Night at the Opera showed the sheer talent of Queen. There are no duds on this album. Bohemian Rhapsody is the song most associate with the album, but there is so much more such as You’re my best Friend and Thirty Nine Nine.

Former keyboard player with Yes, Rick Wakeman was prominent in the 70s. The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth and Journey to the Centre of the Earth were great, however my favourite is Myths and Legends released in 1975 with The Last Battle showing Wakeman at his best.

The release of Venus and Mars by Wings continued to showcase McCartney in a band setting. The tour which accompanied its release was just amazing. It remains one of my all time favourite concerts.

The Eagles One of these Nights included Lyin’ Eyes and Take it to the Limit  as well as One of these Nights. ELO’s Face the Music had Evil Women and Strange Music, Roxy’s Siren included the classic Love is the Drug and Both Ends Burning.There was also Paul Simon’s Still Crazy after all these Years, which apart from the title track also included My Little Town, and 50 Ways to Leave your Lover. Alice Cooper’s Welcome to my Nightmare had the classic Only Women Bleed.

However there is no doubt which album was my favourite in 1975: Born to Run. This album simply has no flaws at all and is my opinion the greatest album of all time.

So my conclusion,1975 was the greatest year in music – what do you think?