Yeah, Ed and Danny. All that. One magical summer at the Kon Tiki resort on Lake of the Ozarks when I was 12 years old, I found Stairway to Heaven and Walk This Way on the same jukebox, both songs for a quarter. I spent a lot of time in that arcade. I had never heard of an album at that point, but I made up for lost time. I wore out the first Boston album and then the first Van Halen. I bought two copies of both over the course of a couple of years.
Def Leppard didn't age particularly well, but in '81 High n Dry mashed a lot of buttons for where I was. The never-ending ending of No No No in particular, and of course Bringin' On the Heartbreak, which was the theme-song of my HS romantic experiences (along with the J. Geils Band's Love Stinks). It was worth my Columbia House Record Club selection.
I was playing a game with my son a few months back. The subject was "opening riffs" (not the song or album in total, but only the opening). Choose one of the following, and remember - it's just the opening:
- Walk This Way (Aerosmith) or Runnin' With the Devil (Van Halen)?
- Black Dog (Zeppelin) or Black Betty (Ram Jam)?
- Barracuda (Heart) or Spirit of Radio (Rush)?
- Thunderstruck (AC/DC) or Highway to Hell (also AC/DC)?
- Stairway to Heaven (Zeppelin) or Telegraph Road (Dire Straits)?
- Mary Jane's Last Dance (Tom Petty) or Danni California (RHCPs)?
- Hash Pipe (Weezer) or Come As You Are (Nirvana)?
- Rock n Roll Band (Boston) or Beverly Hills (Weezer)?
- Sweet Child of Mine (Guns n Roses) or Don't Fear the Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult)?
- Money for Nuthin' (Dire Straits) or We Will Rock You (Queen)?
The songs are not equal, and the opening riffs may not even be the strongest out there, but we were trying to closely match competing songs. Everybody's got an opinion, and it's kind of a fun game for men of a certain age.
The second game is, "Strongest Two-Song Coupling":
- We Will Rock You/ We Are the Champions (Queen) or Eruption/ Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (Van Halen)?
That one is particularly hard for me, but I've got to go with Van Halen.