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Fair enough, dude. Still, when I see people linking to "Stairway to heaven", I get the impression they are trying to tell me, "look at me, I'm part of the crowd, I'm like you". No one learns anything new from that. I have read more than a few interviews with artists, and have known and spoken with some artists. What I learned from them at an early age was that their influences came from outside of the mainstream, outside from what everyone was listening to.

The most interesting things in arts, all arts, happen on the edges, come from the left field, and that's where I look, that's what I share with others, and that's what I hope others will share with me, because I'm always looking. So forgive me if I get annoyed and overreact seeing listings of mainstream. There is no there there. The kids on American Idol are imitators of mainstream artists, and how interesting is that? Who needs that? Christopher Columbus could have saved himself a lot of trouble, turned his ships around, back to the port, and reported to Queen Isabel that he discovered Portugal! The most popular car Honda Civic received unexpectedly negative reviews from Consumer Reports and other publications last year. It was disappointing, boring, lacking expected new features, or something like that. Yet, the public that follows what's popular and disdains critics, went out and bought it anyway. Peter Frampton was Honda Civic 2012.

The most popular beer, say, Bud Lite, isn't the best beer, is it? The most popular vodka, gin, whiskey? Want to hear something boring? Listen to Eric Clapton's new album. Hold your breath waiting for another Fleetwood Mac reunion coming later this year. Wanna hear something interesting? Here my list would be long, so I'll shorten it to a handful of band names: Filligar, Red Wanting Blue, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, and this band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bODrsgHU4g

I hear David Bowie's new album is interesting. But then, Bowie always experimented a little, not always successfully, but he never sank into a comfortable rut like so many others. If you discovered something interesting that few know about, share it. Some want to hear it, are anxious to find it and will appreciate it, while others live happy letting everyone know, sometimes bragging, that they are part of the crowd, and let you know as if they were Columbus discovering America that "Peter Frampton Comes Alive" is "amazing", "awesome", "incredible", "great". Which are the same words they'll use telling you about Dan Brown's new tome after it sold 20 million copies.

Cheers.

Okay, honestly, folks. This thread has me digging through YouTube like a crackhead rifling through a stolen purse!

Here’s some more hidden nuggets from my misspent youth:

Jericho Jones - There is Always a Train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHKIcHZg6hA

It was one of the first bass lines I learned for the bass guitar when I was a youngster.

After that, I was on to Frank Zappa and and Captain Beefheart. No need to link those, everybody knows them.

Of course, there’s some stuff I enjoyed back then that no one seems to know, like Necronomicon’s “Tips Zum Selbstmord.” (I think it means something like “tips for committing suicide) — I really dug that bluesy-funk bass line, man! (Check out the funk at the 1:27 time mark):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvvJvDqrNkA

And, Catapilla (See if you can pick out the Zappa/Beefheart flavor in this album):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8sX18hXD3I

And, whenever I watch “School of Rock,” I can’t help but think about Dr. Z’s “Three Parts to My Soul” whenever Jack Black starts singing about “Oh, You’re Not Hardcore, Unless You Live Hardcore” (and the legend of the rent was way hardcore!)— Go to about the 1:40 mark and listen for about a minute, you should be able to pick up on the “feel” of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlxucf8I5jA

And, if you dig those airy flute solos on Jethro Tull, then DO NOT miss this awesomeness from Focus’s “House of the King”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK2xQBsOvrY

Enjoy!