h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm listening to Jimi Hendrix. He's a whiz of a guitarist, as so many people have said he was. His lyrics are far more complex than those of the average pop singer. I'm sorry that he didn't live longer. He would have been quite a force in pop music.

Yes, there is more to Jimi than what first meets the ears. His way to handle the guitar was seemingly not of this world, but his lyrics were quite impressive as well

I'm also growing rather fond of Iron Maiden. I'm glad I decided to just listen and see how I liked it.

Can you tell me anything about two Swedish bands? One is Roxette and the other is Ace of Base.

Next to Abba these two bands you mention must have been the most popular from Sweden in the last two or three decades. They are/were veritable hit factories like their famous country men and women.
I think Ace of Base is no more. Rumour has it one of the female vocalists fell into deep depresssion which made it impossible for her to perform on stage.
Roxette rose to worldwide fame when the duo wrote the song "It must have been love" for the film "Pretty Woman" starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The female singer has had severe medical problems, but apparently the two are back in business again.
A third band worthy of your interest is "The Cardigans".
And then there is solo artist Robyn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn

It's amazing that a small population like the Swedish has had such a huge success worldwide. It is called "the Swedish pop wonder". These days there are still Swedes delivering, but now more behind the scene. They have have written songs and produced albums for Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

I'm listening to "Roxette" now. It's not my first choice, but it's tolerable. I'll wait to hear other groups before I decide whether to get it.

Yesterday I listened to "Folk Song America," a 4-CD set of recordings issued by the Smithsonian Institution and Sony records. There are 100 songs recorded between 1926 and 1987. I bought a set in the early 1990s, but misplaced them. This contains some of my all-time favorite songs. The selections in CD #1 were issued on LP in the early 1950s, and were a huge influence in the folk music movement of the 50s and 60s and beyond. I especially like "Big Rock Candy Mountain," "Water boy" [Paul Robeson], "Deep River" [Marian Anderson], "Marching to Pretoria," "Feels Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" [Country Joe and the Fish], "City of New Orleans" [Steve Goodman], "Amazing Grace" [Judy Collins], and many more.

Earlier today I head a greatest hits collection by Barry White, enjoying it immensely.

Regarding "Roxette." I like the later songs on the CD more than the earlier songs. It would be worth having after all, I think.

I thought "City of New Orleans" was an Arlo Guthrie song. He certainly had a big hit with it.

Barry White has a truly amazing voice. As had Paul Robeson of course. And Judy Collins! Oh my Bob, she's 74 already?

Arlo Guthrie did not write it. Steve Goodman did. Goodman had been doing campaign work for George McGovern in Chicago in 1972, and as he was riding the train south from that city, he was inspired by what he saw as he rode. It's one of my favorite songs, regardless of who sings it.
I'd like to have one of Arlo Guthrie's albums, too.

Arlo was one of my favourites back when the film about "Alice's Restaurant" was the sh*t (mind you, back then we said it was hip, I think )

Massachusetts has a State Song. Would you believe that the state song was written by Arlo Guthrie? He lives in the Berkshires in the Western part of the state.

Wow, what an honour. It also shows how much he has joined the establishment

I enjoy his candor. He said recently that as he has gotten older and more experienced, his music has gotten better, but he is still known only for his early material.

This leads me back to The Moody Blues. When I tell people about their older material they tend to ask "Are they still alive?"

Apparently many stopped listening to them in the 80's and 90's already

By the way I see the moodies are playing in Kansas City tonight and will be in New Jersey in spring:

http://www.moodybluestoday.com/

http://www.moodybluestoday.com/tour/

This afternoon I listened to library CDs by Gloria Estefan and Journey.

I have heard of both. I believe Journey had a mega-hit years ago, must check it out later

I continue to move down the list. Today I requested 4 more CDs from the library: The Eurhythmics, Bob Seger, Ace of Base, and UB40. I would much rather have single [or, at most, double, for artists with long creative lives] CDs with the best songs by the best artists, than to listen to pop radio stations. This is about putting my remaining years [however many or few there might be] to good use. It's also about having something to look forward to besides the enlightenment of my country's elected senators and congressmen, which may be a long time in coming [tries to resist urge to pull hair out]. I am reading at least six books simultaneously [meaning a few chapters in one, then a few chapters in the next, and so on].

It's a beautiful day, so I'm planning a long walk and a visit to my favorite burrito place for lunch. I hope the country will still be standing when I get back.

Listening to "Journey - Greatest Hits (Full Album) - 1988" on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzGrAoMA4s4

Youtube is a great way to explore music. Saves you the trip to the library (not that I dislike walking and/or the library, but in weather like this...)

I know about YouTube. It seems as though it takes longer to download from YouTube than it does to drive a mile and a half to the library to pick up items.

When [not if, but when] my computer bites the dust, it's likely that my Bose sound system will still be working fine. Being totally dependent on one machine, be it computer or stereo, risks losing everything when the one machine breaks down. For what it's worth, I have an auxiliary CD player that is called a "Dream machine." It was cheap [45 dollars or so], but the sound is good enough for the week or so that it would take for the Bose to be repaired and sent back to me.

I will probably order a treasury of bluegrass music. There are other regional genres [zydeco, for instance] that I might consider. I've also realized that I have nothing to represent punk rock. Is punk rock pretty much a British genre? Is it still going on, or has it died out?

I need to see if any punk rockers have every sold 50 million albums or more.

Yes, I believe punk is/was very much British. Check out Sex Pistols.
Their 1977 album "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" reached platinum sales in both UK and US, but I have no idea what that means in plain numbers.