Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Bee Gees, Van Morrison, Queen, and Freddie Mercury top my list…….
I am 70. I have been in love with music since the early age of five, when I would listen to my turquoise music radio box that sat on my nightstand. Sure, I only listened to the number one radio station in the country, KOMA, which sent its signal out to the far reaches of the western part of the United States as of its huge wattage coverage. But KOMA played the hits of the day and had the largest radio audience in places like Montana, Arizona, Idaho, and West Texas, not to mention Oklahoma City where the station resides. Nothing touched KOMA, not even Wolfman Jack.
I will just say that I listened to all music platforms, including radio, movie soundtracks, artistic legends, TV greats, and instrumentals. Opera and musical Broadway shows included. My mother took me to various Broadway hits of the day, including South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, and of course, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma. I was never in my car without the radio playing. Never, and if it was not a football game or basketball contest, it was KOMA or WKY Radio while in OKC.
My favorite stand-alone singers:
Joe Cocker, Elton John, Dean Martin, Janis Joplin, Bob Seger, Buddy Holly, Linda Ronstadt, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Freddie Mercury, Warren Zevon, Leon Russell.
My favorite groups: Bee Gees, Beatles, Queen, The Animals, Manfred Mann’s Earth Bank, The Delfonics, The Spinners, The Supremes, The Rolling Stones, The Killers.
My favorite original music soundtracks: Once Upon a Time in America, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, Jaws, The Magnificent Seven, Chinatown, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
My favorite musical composers: Ennio Marricone, Maurice Jarre, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer.
My favorite Broadway musicals: Evita, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific
My favorite musical movies: Jesus Christ Superstar, La La Land, Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Feature photo of Janis Joplin:
