You know, as an old teach of mine once said,
"Don't B-sharp. Don't B-flat.
Be natural."
Listen, I didn't write that.
I just stole it from an old teacher.
[beep] People have been asking me
about music and what kind of music I listen to.
This ought to be easy.
I only like everything.
[music starts]
So all my life I've been a giant music fan.
I mean, from the moment I heard it for
the very first time as a little child.
You know, children's records and Disney stuff, right?
And it just went from there.
I mean, growing up I was listening
to all sorts of things. I mean, I remember
the first time I heard The Beatles. I went
out of my mind. I couldn't believe it.
It was so great. I mean,
people like Stevie Wonder, right.
Of course I liked him. He's one of my peeps.
Elton John I liked.
I liked old Chicago. The old
Jackson 5 stuff. The Motown stuff.
The Four Tops. The Supremes.
The Temptations. Then as I got a little bit
older I started listening to things like Pink Floyd
and Queen. I mean,
that stuff was really cool and that kind of introduced me
to stereo and all the fun you can have
with two speakers instead of one. You know,
I loved hearing somebody play the guitar like
Jimi Hendrix, you know. What a monster.
Absolute legend. You know,
Bob Dylan, right. The Ramones.
I love Dave Edmunds. Elvis Costello.
Nick Lowe. The Bee Gees.
You know, even Bruce -- well
the first four Bruce Springstein albums anyway
and then we had a fight. But you know
I've never forgiven him. Marvin Gaye.
KC and the Sunshine Band, right.
Carly Simon. James Taylor.
Simon and Garfunkel.
Just tons and tons of stuff growing up.
Even solo Paul Simon records, of course.
Everybody likes those. I mean, there's more...
The Beach Boys, Santana,
Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and Wings.
All the solo Beatles stuff.
The John Lennon stuff. George Harrison.
Even the Ringo Starr stuff I liked.
So then after high school I discovered a guy who had become
my all-time favorite. Seriously.
His name is Prince.
Now, it's funny because people always
said to me. "You know, if you knew what he
looked like, you wouldn't like him."
I always found that to be insulting. See, here's the thing
I like about Prince so much. He's a triple threat.
He's a great singer,
a songwriter, and great
guitar player. And in my opinion
there hasn't been a guy like that since Jimi Hendrix
[music plays]
You know, and then the 80s there was all sorts
of music to listen like the Art of Noise, right.
The later Michael Jackson stuff. You know, Thriller
and all that. His sister Janet.
I liked her. Level 42.
The Police, Tina Turner,
some of the chill stuff like Sade
and Simply Red. Eurythmics,
Phil Collins - solo and with Genesis.
I love that 80s pop music they made.
You know, and a couple of guys from General Hospital too.
Yes I watched it back in the day.
Jack Wagner, right. Rick Springfield.
Remember, Dr. Noah Drake? Of course, I like
The Rolling Stones, as well. Culture Club.
Boy George - what a great singer he was.
And of course Hip Hop was happening as well.
I'm listening to people like DeLa Soul.
Tribe Called Quest. Whodini.
LL Cool J. The Beasties.
Public Enemy. Digital Underground. MARRS.
Remember, "pump up the volume, pump up the volume."
What a great track that was. I never heard
a record like that before. Tone Loc, of course.
Young MC. He's the guy who wrote those
Tone Loc records. And then, he had his own.
Remember "Bust a Move?" You can't leave out
Eric B. and Rakim. Come on, I'm paid in full, baby.
[music plays]
Then you get into the 90s. Of course, Snoop.
Right, all that California rap. Pac.
And of course Biggie. The Notorious B.I.G.
You know, "party and uh uh"
(chuckles)
You can't forget all that alternative stuff, right.
The Clash. Tears for Fears.
King Crimson. Laurie Anderson.
Psychedelic Furs. Remember them?
XTC.
The Cure and Depeche Mode.
The Human League. Yazoo.
And then I started working at a jazz station and that
turned me on to a whole bunch of other stuff.
Like, the some of the classic jazz
like Miles, right. John Coltrane.
And even further back into the bop with
Charlie Parker and Diz and stuff.
And then back before they called it Smooth Jazz.
People like Michael Franks and Joe Sample.
Spira Gira.
All that stuff. I love it all.
Everything but the Girl. Massive Attack.
Gypsy Kings.
Dionne Farris and Arrested Development.
She was great with and without them.
Then you got like C&C Music Factory and Black Box.
Although that's Martha Wash.
That's the draw for those records. I love
her. What a great singer.
There's more like the County Crows, right.
Morcheeba. I always liked
those guys. Moby.
He's a Connecticut guy, so you got to big him up.
Barenaked Ladies from Canada, right.
Tom Petty and the Heatbreakers.
You know, and there's more like Dolly Parton
started putting out some really interesting things in the 90s.
Zero 7, right.
He's a little later, but Jose Gonzales from Sweden.
Cibo Matto from Japan.
Of course, PM Dawn. I actually met
Prince B once. That was cool.
More recently. Things like Daft Punk, right.
That Gnarles Barkley record back in '06.
The Killers.
Kanye West, of course. Some Jay Z.
Cee Lo Green. Imogen Heap.
Disclosure. Skrillex.
Laura Mvula. These guys from
France called Justice, right. They had a great record
called D.A.N.C.E.
Listen, I'm man enough. I can even admit I even like Miley Cyrus.
Justin Bieber I like.
And there's stuff on the charts right Elle King.
One Republic. Kygo.
Ellie Goulding.
The Weeknd from Canada.
My man Seasick Steve, right. You know what they call him "Seasick"
because he is.
I like Jess Glynne. Chase & Status.
Sub Focus. Rudemental.
Tinie Tempah. Ed Sheeran.
Are you sorry you asked? (laughs)
[credits music]
So, the thing is this, I love music, right.
And I used to be a DJ too. You know, I was on the radio
for a long time. And I'm back.
I'm doing it again. But I'm just on the internet this time.
So it's really cool. And I'm not just playing
the stuff I like. No, no, no.
I'm taking your requests too. So, I'm live
Monday nights 9:00 Eastern.
And you can just go to TommyEdison.com/Radio
to find out how to listen.
And of course I'll never say no to an iTunes gitt card.
Believe me. (chuckles)
[silence]