Tag: boybands

Bands that I love more than life itself

MiaLeave a comment
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I love music, and I listen to different kinds of music. I don’t like some music styles, but there are only a few. This post is about bands that I love more than life itself. They are bands I’ve listened to for decades. They are bands that no one can compare with today’s bands. I don’t follow the music scene as I used to when I was younger. If someone asked me about bands that young people listen to now, I wouldn’t know. I’m too busy listening to bands I already like. They still make music and perform for people. These bands are not in order. Let’s get started.

TAKE THAT

They are a boyband from Manchester, England. Members were/are called Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. You can’t longer call Take That a boyband since they are over 50. They were formed in 1989, but it was in 1992 when they released their debut album ‘Take That and Party’. They were most popular in the 1990s, mainly in Europe. I’ve liked them since 1992 when I saw an interview with them on cable. Their humour was one of the reasons why I took notice. They were a big part of my teenage years. Without Take That, life would have been empty. Also, the solo artist Robbie Williams wouldn’t be there without them. The band split up in 1996 but returned in 2005 as a four-piece. They are a trio today, and their new album ‘This life’ will be out on November 24, 2023. They still sound great. They’ve been to Finland twice, but that was 29 years ago. Their concert here this year was cancelled, which is a shame because I was looking forward to that. They’re going on tour next year but won’t come here. Their most famous song is ‘Back for Good’. It’s a single they released in the USA, but they didn’t get the big break over there. They’ve sold millions of albums and sold out concerts in the UK, so it doesn’t matter. They have so many good songs that I don’t know which is my number one favourite. It could be ‘Pray’ or songs that weren’t released as singles.

DURAN DURAN

Now, this is a band that I’ve seen live. It took them 40 years, but it was worth it. It’s already over a year ago since I saw them in concert. You can read about it over here. Since I saw the video of ‘The Reflex’, I wanted to see them live. They’re a band that was formed in Birmingham, England in 1978. There were 5 members: Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor and John Taylor (no relations). They’ve changed the number of band members over the years, but Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes have remained the same. I don’t know when I heard their music for the first time, but it must have been in the late 1980s. I remember my mother taped music from the radio and ‘A View to a Kill’ on that tape. It’s a James Bond tune, one of the few Bond songs that became number 1 in the US music charts. The song and video that could have been the first one I saw of them was ‘Rio’. It was released in 1982. Either way, it was in 2010 that I became a fan. Before that, they were a band that I liked and nothing else. I own all their albums except one because I didn’t find it anywhere. Their next album is called ‘Danse Macabre’ and is released on September 27, 2023. It’s their 16th studio album. I can’t wait for it. The most popular song of the band is ‘Ordinary World’. It’s been covered a few times by different artists. One of them is Adam Lambert, and that version is excellent. My all-time favourite song of Duran Duran is ‘Save a Prayer’. I have many others too because they have so many great songs, so choosing one is tricky.

PET SHOP BOYS

They’re a duo from London, but you can still call them a band. The members, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, started in 1981. Their music style is synth-pop. I saw them live this summer and loved every minute. I don’t remember when I heard their music for the first time. It must also been in the 1980s. The song could have been ‘It’s a Sin’ or ‘West End Girls’. Their videos were shown on MTV and other cable channels, so it could have been anything. Still, they make great music after all these years, and their older songs sound like they were made yesterday. My all-time favourite Pet Shop Boys song is ‘Heart’. FYI, the legendary actor Sir Ian McKellen appears as a vampire in the video. It’s an excellent video. The band have fantastic videos. YouTube is a great place to find them. PSB is also making and mixing songs for other artists. There will be a new album from them, but there is no release date yet. It will be their 15th album. Their talent will never die.

BON JOVI

The American rock band was formed in 1986 in New Jersey, USA. One of my classmates was a big fan of this band. She even had her hair a bit like Jon Bon Jovi. I also liked this band, but I didn’t become a fan. The band is one of my favourites, and that’s it. I don’t remember when I heard their songs the first time. Maybe it was ‘You gave love a bad name’. That’s one of my favourite songs of the band. ‘Living on a Prayer’ was the first video I saw of them. It was during the time when their album ‘New Jersey’ came out in 1988; that’s what I remember. The first album I got was ‘Keep the Faith’ when my friend made a copy of it. It doesn’t have the whole album because the tape ended. I liked the band already before that. Another album I got is ‘This House Is Not for Sale’, released in 2018. I’ve listened to the band on Spotify. They’ve often been to Finland for concerts, but I have never been able to go. Maybe I would if they came on tour over here. The drummer, Tico Torres, said in an interview that the band will record a new album in 2024. I will be looking forward to that. I hope it will come true.

I also like many other bands, but those are my favourites. To mention a few, Queen, The Rasmus(Finnish band), Aerosmith, Green Day, The Beatles, Toto (I saw them in concert a couple years ago) and Roxette. There are many more, but that list would be too long to post. I don’t like or care about some bands, but I only want to concentrate on the ones I like.

My few concert experiences

MiaLeave a comment
concert
Photo by Sebastian Ervi on Pexels.com

I wanted to go to a concert when I was a teenager in the 1990s, but my mother didn’t let me. At the time, foreign bands didn’t come to Finland that often. You had to travel to Stockholm, Sweden. But sometimes, they did, which was great. The American boyband, New kids on the block, was the first band I wanted to see live in concert. Perhaps the tickets were expensive, so my mother didn’t want to pay for them. The same with the British boyband, Take That. They haven’t been here since then. I’ve only seen their concert on TV and once in a movie theatre. But it’s not the same. They’re still around, but they succeed more in their own country. I haven’t heard their songs on the radio anymore. But thanks to Spotify, I can listen to them.

I have never been into festivals. I think I have only been in one, but that was a free one. I have no memory of it, but I’m sure I have been into one. There are always some bands or artists I can’t stand at festivals. Concerts are more my kind of events. It took until 2017 that I got the courage to go to a concert. Before that, I didn’t like big crowds and didn’t have the money to go, either. The first concert was by Robbie Williams. That was the moment I got the going to concerts- bug. It was such a great experience. It’s the atmosphere and feeling of seeing your favourite artist in real life. You’re there with other people who have the same favourite as yours. The best part of a concert is when the audience sings along to the songs. The performer loves the feeling too.

This year, as you might know, I went to two other concerts. The one I really looked forward to seeing was Duran Duran. (FYI, today it’s Duran Duran Appreciation Day) You can read about the concert from the link to the band’s name in this paragraph, so I don’t need to repeat it. It was worth waiting for. Who knows if they will come back to Finland again. I can’t afford to travel aboard to see concerts, so they better get here instead.

I don’t usually do things without thinking, but when the American band Toto would come to my city, I didn’t think twice about it to go. I’m not that familiar with their music, but I know their hits. They’ve been around since 1977, with different line-ups since then. I listened to their other songs before I went to the concert. They composed most of the soundtrack to the original movie, Dune, in 1984, so they’ve also done songs without words. In the concert, there were awesome different instrument solos. I’ve always been fascinated by how some people can play instruments so well. I can hardly play easy songs.

In concerts, the volume is so loud, so sometimes you don’t hear what a band is playing or saying between songs. No wonder they have earplugs in their ears when they perform. Loud noises are not suitable for your hearing in the long run. I haven’t used earplugs. It’s a bit scary to put them inside my ears. My hearing is still great, anyway. The concerts should be heard as intended, loud and live. It’s only for a short period anyway. It can take years before I go to concerts again. If only that Elton John concert wouldn’t have been cancelled. It would have been next year. Oh, well that’s how it goes sometimes. You can’t always get what you want. Not even in concerts.

Boy bands and not so screaming fans

Mia3 Comments

Ahh, teenage years. Those were the days. Seeing teens today and their taste in music, I was glad I was a teen in the 90’s. None of the teen idols of today are my taste. I can’t even imagine what they see in them.

First love of a teen age crush was the American boy band ‘New kids a block‘ Especially Jordan Knight. I had my first sexual feelings. There were no internet where you could search for news. There were only teen magazines or MTV. I think they performed in Finland once but my mother didn’t let me go. I bought a lot of merchandise like badges and a calendar. I still have some of them dusting somewhere. I had posters on the wall that I got from magazines and of course cassettes on the music. Thinking about it now, I don’t know what I saw in them. There’s only a few songs I’m able to listen to. Actually I’m a bit embarrassed for liking them. They did some kind of comeback later but I haven’t paid much attention.

Then in 1992 I discovered the band ‘Take That‘ The guys are from Manchester, England. For you American’s, that’s the band Robbie Williams got started in. They’re biggest hit in the US is ‘Back for good’ They’re still very popular in the UK. I loved the band since I saw their music videos on TV. It was the interviews that made me like them even more. I loved their interviews. They’re the funniest band I know. I taped everything I saw on MTV or any other channel. I bought every album and learned the songs by heart. When Robbie left the band people were heartbroken. Some girls even thought of suicide which was a bit extreme. The band tried to continue with 4 members a while. Then in 1996 the band split altogether. That was quite a shock for me. But then 10 years later they came back.

Thanks to the internet I can listen to them online and they’re also on social media. They’re only 3 members now but they’re still going strong. I saw their concert in the movie theater last year and they’re still great. I wish I could see them live for real. But that’s kind a far-fetched dream. I was never one of those hysterical fans. I don’t know why some act like that. In a way I still live my teenage years but now it’s more mature. They’ve also grown up and fans have matured with them. Now it’s much nicer to see them perform on stage without those terrible screaming fans. I think I’ll always be some kind of fan of the band. They were a big part of my teen life and I’ll never forget that.

(FYI to The Daily Post, I still go “ga-ga” for Duran Duran 😉 So it’s not just a teen idol thing.)