John Bonham

[Denis]

Growing up Led Zep was never my favorite band but I have always loved certain songs. As I grew older I began liking them even more although I always felt Jimmy Page was overrated as a guitar player. Honestly, I rather enjoyed Bonham's sometimes non-syncopatic drumming and thought he used it as an asset.

I always hated it that radio stations lumped LZ, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, etc into the "hard rock" category because it always seemed like a bullshit designation to me. Some of those bands created their own categories and never fit in any other.

Speaking of drummers, Carl Palmer has always amazed me and I think Nick Mason has always been underrated, especially when you listen to lots of that very early '70s live stuff.

[Lightyear]

I was a blissful Rush fan type teenager myself then in the fall of my junior year of highschool (1977) I spotted this beautiful, and I do mean beautiful, wack job of a girl with a fun house hair cut, and side show goofy clothes - yep, the only only punk girl in my little town of maybe 12,000 - could I pick 'em or what!.  God did I ever think her choice in music sucked!!  Ramones, Dictators, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Clash - WTF had I gotten myself into?  But, she was something else, and would have definately been out of my league, and she acted like she didn't hate me, so I stuck around   Somehow in the process all of the LZ, Rush, Kiss etc. started going unplayed and the other stuff started not seeming like the utter crap it started out as.

Long story short - I would still rather hear a Ramones song than one by LZ.  I can't help but grin when I hear ONETWOTHREEFOUR at the start of song!

I can say that her hairstyle and clothes have settled down in the last 33 years but damn if she still doesn't listen to some of the goofiest crap

[uwe]

So did you marry her?

[Highlander]

(I suspect by the last line she's Mrs Lightyear - if not, someone had better hope that the Mrs Lightyear doe not read Mr Lightyear's posts... )

[Psycho Bass Guy]

In a completely unrelated aside I often wonder if Michael Moore is doing the same exact thing. Nobody can be as stupid as he comes across most of the time and still be as successful as he is (this is just my opinion, of course). I could be wrong and he may not believe or even know it himself, but he comes across to me as a shining example of (one version of) the Capitalist system he so loves to abhor.

..can't say I disagree with you. Though I agree with most of Micheal Moores stated political stances, I find him tiresome, insincere and elitist. He's the perfect charicature for the right to use to call Democrats out-of-touch, overprivileged busybodies. If he actually cared for the causes he claims he does, he could try to be a little more respectable. He made ONE good movie, "Roger and Me." The only thing since then that didn't have me rolling my eyes completely was "Capitalism: A Love Story" because it at least had some of the wit and charm his past advocacy pieces lacked and didn't leave me feeling utterly depressed after watching it.

BTW, I like Bonzo. My favorite living drummers are Chad Smith, Chuck Biscuits, Puffy Borden, Dave Grohl and Kenny Arnoff.  Of those, Grohl plays most like Bonzo, but is far more technically capable.

[Pilgrim]

My favorite LZ album would be LZ II.  The bass on What is and What Should Never Be, The Lemon Song and Moby Dick is simply fantastic.  I really haven't followed them closely, but that 1969 album never gets old to me.

[uwe]

LZ II was undoubtedly a benchmark of its time, the music, the cover, everything. When I think of that phase when the late sixties merged into the seventies and flower power ended, I think of that cover and the one of Deep Purple in Rock (actually an album influenced by the concept of Led Zep II as the Purps have readily admitted).

[Lightyear]

So did you marry her?

Yep, I was a couple of weeks shy of 20 and she was 19   Wouldn't suggest getting married that young to anyone but it's worked out well for us.  Just as long as I follow directions...

Oh, and she still doesn't like LZ

[Highlander]

Hot Dog...

[uwe]

Hey, that's romantic! Congrats!!!

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Hats off to John Henry BONZO Bonham! What made him so wonderful?
His POWER! He hit the HARDEST & LONGEST & played 1 26" KICK!
A French woman called him Le Bete--a nickname which summed him up--THE BEAST!

Zep I was a HUGE part of the soundtrack for my life my first year in high school & that's when I saw 'em for the first time.
Tho they only had one album out they did extended versions of all the songs & added some Elvis songs & Blueberry Hill to their encore so it was a 3 hour show!!!
Zep II was released during my 2nd year in high school & I saw 'em do a 3 hour show again!!
Zep III then ROCKED my senior year & they played for 3 & a half hours that show with BONZO doing a 45 minute Moby Dick! I stood right behind him watching from a railing before he had a GONG that woulda blocked my view.
Watching him GO OFF from that angle was AMAZING!

What caused so much enthusiasm in Zep's fans was Zep's enthusiasm! They LOVED to play!!!!
They gave you your money's worth & you left feeling well satisfied.
Before Stairway made EVERYONE a Zep fan they were the Zep cult & it was so cool to be part of that secret faternity.

[Hornisse]

Amen to that Terr!  He played on quite a few classic tracks before age of 23.  Wish I had 1/4 the talent of those guys.  Don't get me wrong, I like The Ramones.  But I like the way Sir Paul yelled out "One, Two, Three, F$#k!!" on the classic "Saw Her Standing There" which came out quite a few years earlier.  (OK, maybe he did say "four", but after listening to the track on my Mono Box Set I'm not quite sure.....

[uwe]

Ok, Terr, you saw them then when they were breaking America. That is a good enough excuse for lifelong affection/affliction. Ramble on!

Uwe

[Dave W]

Before Stairway made EVERYONE a Zep fan they were the Zep cult & it was so cool to be part of that secret faternity.

Yeah, a cult so secretive that their first three albums went platinum several times over and they sold out arenas and stadiums all over North America well before Stairway. They were huge by the time Led Zeppelin II hit the charts.

[chromium]

I was a blissful Rush fan type teenager myself then in the fall of my junior year of highschool (1977) I spotted this beautiful, and I do mean beautiful, wack job of a girl with a fun house hair cut, and side show goofy clothes - yep, the only only punk girl in my little town of maybe 12,000 - could I pick 'em or what!.  God did I ever think her choice in music sucked!!  Ramones, Dictators, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Clash - WTF had I gotten myself into?  But, she was something else, and would have definately been out of my league, and she acted like she didn't hate me, so I stuck around   Somehow in the process all of the LZ, Rush, Kiss etc. started going unplayed and the other stuff started not seeming like the utter crap it started out as.

Long story short - I would still rather hear a Ramones song than one by LZ.  I can't help but grin when I hear ONETWOTHREEFOUR at the start of song!

I can say that her hairstyle and clothes have settled down in the last 33 years but damn if she still doesn't listen to some of the goofiest crap