Re: The Led Zeppelin Mailing List Digest V1 #64

["Dan Barron" <dbarron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> "Rob O'Reilly" <roreill@xxxxxxxxx> 03/12/98 05:17PM >>>
> I personally don't think there's anything wrong with a performer =
chastising the=20
> audience if he/she has a legitimate reason to do so (e.g. the audience =
is=20
> unruly or obnoxious or violent).   =20

I agree. And I know we can't see/hear what Plant was seeing/hearing, so
perhaps he was provoked. But sometimes it just seems gratuitous. 'Nuff =
said,
I guess. It's not really that important, and it's a bit unfair to =
second-guess the
guy 20-some years later. Just an observation. Actually, Plant is my =
favorite
member. (Gad, remember 'who's your favorite Beatle? :-D)

> I wish someone would explain to me exactly WHAT makes Hot Dog a bad (or =
not very good)
> song? The fact that it is country, or at least country-ish is not good =
enough. Anybody who listens
> to a lot of 60's and 70's rock should be aware of the LARGE influence =
country has played on
> the groups of that time...

>> It's certainly true that many bands from the 1960's and 1970's were
influenced to some extent or another by country music, but I don't see
what that has to do with whether "Hot Dog" is a good song. =20

Only to the extent that I've heard people trash Hot Dog because it's =
"country" and then
remark how much they like song like, oh...Country Tonk or the Girl With =
Faraway Eyes.=20
Seems incongruous to me, that's all.

Perhaps my remarks were poorly written. I certainly didn't mean to be one =
who implies you're
not a 'real fan' if you don't like it. Heaven forfend. What spurred me to =
post was the assertion that
"by itself, Hot Dog is not a great song, but..." and I just wanted to =
challenge that assertion.
And I've just heard the knee-jerk reaction, "It's country" too often I =
guess.

>> What if you just don't like country music?  Why isn't that a legitimate =
reason to
dislike the song?

I suppose it is. I guess I was just interested in a more in-depth answer, =
but sure, OK.

>> As for "Hot Dog" specifically, I've never liked the song in large part
because of Page's guitar playing; I think that song is perhaps his worst
studio performance on any Zeppelin album.  And the music for the song
always struck me as being rather mundane and uninteresting. Plant's
lyrics are funny, and the song is amusing to listen to on occasion, but I
don't think it's of the same standard as the other material on ITTOD.

Fair enough. See? That's what I was trying to get at. You get a gold star! =
:-)

>> Personally, I think the band should have left "Hot Dog" off the album =
and
put "Wearing and Tearing" on in its place.

I'd say just add W&T. I'm a glutton, what can I say? :-) I've also always =
thought that
"We're Gonna Groove" would have been a great first song/first album. I =
think it
sums up Zep's career pretty well! :D

>>> "Ron Del Ciello" <rfd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 03/12/98 06:19PM >>>
> Being a fan of a band doesnt mean to me that I must like everything they
> ever did.

> What I really don`t understand on this list is the attitudes of many =
people
> who like something a lot. Like you, there seems to be some confusion =
over why
> someone else would feel differently.=20

Don't get me wrong, Ron. I didn't mean to imply that at all. I was not =
confused but
honestly interested in what people don't like about it. But I can see =
where you got
that feeling given recent history on the list and the way my post was =
written. My bad.

> I (or anyone else) could be allowed to dislike something in peace, =
without
being questioned on *why* I don`t agree with them.

I asked the list. If you didn't want to answer, you should have just =
zapped me into
the bit bucket. As I said, I wasn't trying to antagonize, just honestly =
curious.

> Please do not get yourself worked up over the fact that I detest that =
song.=20

Not to worry, I won't. :-) I'm am a live-and-let-live person to the core. =
Thanks for=20
responding.


Dan Barron
Badgeholder #820

"We're gonna love, love, love, love....until the break of day!"