Sadly, we lost these legends last year but that doesn’t mean they will be forgotten. Here are 10 songs that prove how great they were. Hello and welcome to my first music post of this year here on Ecency.
“Listen, I think every day is a blessing, you never know when your time is over; we all have a finite amount of time on this planet, and we just need to be grateful for that.” – Olivia Newton-John
All of these talented people, from all over the world, left their mark in music history and will never be forgotten.
I will give you 10 songs that you may or may never heard before, but that will make you love their work.
So, without further ado, let’s begin:
10 Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan in the video of Nearly Lost You (1992) (via: google.com)
The soundtrack of Singles (1992) is one of the best of the entire 1990s decade. There, in track 12, you will find a cool song that always sounds refreshing in the middle of more aggressive and profound songs by the likes of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden, and that song is by a band named Screaming Trees with ginger singer Mark Lanegan who was born in the state of Washington in 1964. He was a quarterback in high school but had a lots of alcohol and drug problems which lead him to be arrested multiple times. In 1984 he joined two musicians who were brothers and formed Screaming Trees; the band released 10 albums but it is mostly remembered for their 1992 song Nearly Lost You, the one that appeared in the Singles soundtrack. Mark battled with alcohol and drug addiction all his life. He also released two autobiographical books. He died in Southwestern Ireland last year, no cause of death was revealed.
The soundtrack of Singles (1992) went platinum twice. Listen to track 12 here:
Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You
9 Olivia Newton-John
Olivia, circa 1980s (via: google.com)
I discovered Olivia when I was a kid watching Grease for the first time in 1988. She was born in 1948 in Cambridge, England, but was raised in Australia since the age of five and, therefore, carried that Aussie accent with her for the rest of her life. She had many country hits in Australia and, at thirty years old, became an international star when she made Grease opposite John Travolta. She started in other films and in 1981 had the mega hit Physical. Then came a fallow period; in the late 1980s she tried a sort of comeback, but things weren’t the same for her anymore. When diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 1992 she always kept a positive attitude and remained beautiful.
Magical, innocent, ethereal, this is the song that made me fall in love with her when I first saw her in Grease:
GREASE | "Hopelessly Devoted" Clip | Paramount Movies
8 Vangelis
Vangelis (via: google.com)
This composer is a most reference of any lover of music for movies. Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou in 1943 in some place of Greece called Agria, he was a largely self-taught musician and a member of two Greek rock bands. He began his solo career in 1970 focusing on music for film. He was best known for the soundtrack of Chariots of Fire (1981) and won the Oscar for it. His next project, the soundtrack of Blade Runner (1982), is celebrated a one of the best soundtracks of all times. He went to compose music for other movies like 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and Alexander (2004).
Listen to my favorite piece from Vangelis, the main theme of Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise; it is the most epic score the Greek maestro ever created:
1492: Conquest of Paradise • Main Theme • Vangelis
7 Gary Brooker
Brooker in the video of A Whiter Shade of Pale (1967) (via: google.com)
Born in East London in 1945, Brooker was the son of a musician and learned to play the piano as a child. He founded a rock band in 1962 and went to form another band by the name of Procol Harum in 1966. The next year the band released their debut album which included A Whiter Shade of Pale, and this song went number 1 in the UK, became immensely popular worldwide and to this day it has sold more than 10 million copies.
It was in the year 2000 when I first heard A Whiter Shade of Pale; it is the first song and the one you hear over and over again in Martin Scorsese’s short film included in New York Stories (1989) where Nick Nolte plays the part of a painter that listens to this song while he works obsessively. My father used to love this song in his youth during the 1960s.
Procol Harum may be considered a one hit wonder, but their hit song is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it’s so much better than any stuff you are forced to listen to everyday. Gary Brooker died last year at age 76. Listen to his best creation here:
A Whiter Shade of Pale
6 Dan McCafferty
McCafferty performing live in the 1970s (via: google.com)
Although Love Hurts is a song originally released in 1960 by the Everly Brothers, it is Nazareth’s version of the song that is the most popular worldwide, proving that you don’t have to be the first to be the original, but you have to be the best. And it was the voice of Scottish Dan McCafferty the one who made that song a success. Born in southern Scotland in 1946, McCafferty formed Nazareth in 1968 and in 1975 the band released the LP Hair of the Dog which included Love Hurts. Dan continued touring and releasing material with Nazareth for more than 40 years. He died last year at age 76.
Listen to Love Hurts here:
Love Hurts
5 Christine McVie
Christine McVie, circa 1987(via: google.com)
Vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter, this multitalented amazing woman left us on November 30th last year. Born in Lancashire, England, in 1943, she started playing the piano as a child and in the 1960s played the piano in different blues bands. She joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970, this band achieved massive success and its 1977’s album Rumours won the Grammy for Album of the Year. She continued with the band through the 1980s and was the force behind hits like "Don't Stop", "Everywhere" and "Little Lies", this one was the band’s last Top Ten in the US. She continued a solo career and joined the band again for Fleetwood Mac’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Here is the first song I ever heard from Fleetwood Mac. Without Christine McVie in the vocals this one wouldn't have been the same:
Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies (Official Music Video)
4 Alec John Such
Alec John Such playing live in the 1990s (via: google.com)
A native from Yonkers, New York, Alec John such was born in 1951 and started playing the bass in bands in the early 1980s. In 1983 he was asked to join a new band with a young singer from New Jersey called Jon Bon Jovi. It was Alec who then brought drummer Tico Torres to this band. Bon Jovi became hugely successful worldwide, releasing more than 10 albums, selling millions of copies and playing in sold-out venues all over the world. Then, in 1994, Alec was mysteriously let go of the band and the reasons for Alec’s dismissal from the band have always been hazy, with the band refusing to talk about it for years. Alec went to manage a few rock bands from New Jersey and opened a motorcycle shop in New York City.
Alec died last year at age 70 due to natural causes. Let’s remember him with this classic:
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead Or Alive (Official Music Video)
3 Andy Fletcher
Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher behind his keyboard (via: marca.com)
“Fletch” to the fans, the quiet member of Depeche Mode was born in 1961 in Nottingham. He started playing the bass guitar, but in 1980 change to the synthesizer and formed a band with guitarist/songwriter Martin Gore and in 1980 the band changed its name to Depeche Mode, and like they say: the rest is history. With albums like Violator (1990) and Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993), Depeche Mode made it big all over the world, and Andy Fletcher was always there behind his keyboards. He once said about himself and the rest of the band: "Martin's the songwriter, Alan's the good musician, Dave's the vocalist, and I bum around". He died at his home in May last year.
Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands of all times, it should be in everyone list of favorite bands. I leave you here with track seven of their 2013 album Delta Machine called Broken, a song that will prove to you how great was Andy Fletcher at the synthesizer:
Depeche Mode - Broken (Live Studio Session)
2 Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf in 1993 (via: telegraph.co.uk)
This chubby guy from Texas really had a thing for music and went for it despite all the criticism he faced when he first started singing on stage. People used to yell at him things like: “Get off there, fatty boy” and “Go eat a salad”. He never gave up, continued singing and achieved massive success with his debut album of 1977 Bat Out of Hell, which to this day has sold more than 40 million copies. Born in 1947, he released 13 albums and even acted in several movies; it is memorable his part as the bodybuilder with man boobs in David Fincher’s 1999 Fight Club. He died in January, 2022 at age 74. No official cause of death has been released so far.
The first time I heard Meat Loaf was in 1993 with this hit, number one in 28 countries:
Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) (Official Music Video)
1 Taylor Hawkins
Taylor Hawkins (via: thesun.co.uk)
One of the greatest (perhaps the best) drummers of his generation. Born in Texas in 1972, he joined the Alanis Morissette band in 1995. I remember him in those videos with her and then, in 1997, I saw him in the Everlong video with the rest of the Foo Fighters and I thought “Man, that guy really knows how to play those drums”. With the years passing, Taylor improved his skill and solidified his reputation as a great drummer; very few musicians in the world could be that good and the Foo Fighters were to be referred to as a very underrated band. Taylor went to release 9 albums with the band.
Unfortunately, his drug addiction took the best of him and left a void that will be very difficult to fill. Rest in peace, Taylor.
I leave you with my favorite song from the Foo Fighters; the video is sort of a spoof of the great 1993 movie Falling Down with Michael Douglas.
Foo Fighters. Walk.
So, what do you think? Which one of these songs by those amazing musicians is your favorite? Leave your answer in the comment section.
Now, check my other posts about music:
@thereadingman/i-give-you-10-good
(Image at the beginning via google.com)
Thank you so much for stopping by, please recommend this post and don’t forget to upvote!
MUSIC IS FREEDOM!
Until next time
Your friend
Orlando Caine.