Hi!

[Jenzi C Silverman <coop0001@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Good evening, FBOers! Or maybe I should say, "I'm back!" I was on FBO 
in
1998 and  actually never deliberately unsubscribed -- at one point the
old majordomo server at Stanford refused to recognize my address as
belonging to a list member, and I just said "who needs this?" But a 
week
or so ago, I was visiting Buckeye's website, remembered FBO, saw that
the list is actually in responsible hands now, and thought "what the
hell -- it would be cool to be in touch with other Zep fans again!" So
here I am, and, as Robert said at the LA Forum in Sept. 1970 ("Live on
Blueberry Hill"): "It's nice to be back!"

I think a re-intro is in order here. I'm going on 34, happily married,
two four-legged wet-nosed canine daughters -- both of whom seem to at
least tolerate Zep, if not like them! (Don't laugh too hard. My 
friend's
dogs used to howl and run from the room when she played their music!)
I'm in the Ph.D. program in educational psychology at the University 
of
MN...and I've been a passionately loyal Zephead for nearly half my 
life,
since about my senior year in high school. In a nutshell, it started
when I heard "Stairway" in its entirety for the first time, and
understood right away why it's been so popular. I was absolutely and
thoroughly blown away. I'd never heard such a beautiful song in my 
life,
and I figured I'd better check out the rest of Zep's music. Next to my
husband, that was about the best choice I ever made! My musical tastes
are pretty varied, actually, but Our Band has always remained my
all-time favorite. There is truly no other like them, needless to say!
"Stairway" is still my ultimate favorite, but only by a hair (and I
WOULD NOT ever request or order it at any of Robert's current shows, 
for
all the reasons Shar pointed out! Or "Freebird" for that matter :) -- 
I
love all the songs. There is literally no other musician, band, or
composer about whom I can honestly say that.

I won't go into my other musical interests in detail now except to say
I'm also a big fan of early music (medieval, renaissance, baroque
stuff), and a recorder player (the recorder being the pretty 
flute-like
instrument Mr. Jones plays in the STH intro). Sound about as far 
removed
from Zep -- and rock in general -- as possible? Think again: a LOT of
folks who play early music started out with rock or jazz, and many got
turned on to medieval and renaissance music EXACTLY because of songs
like STH and BoE. (There was even an episode of an early music radio
show called Harmonia about this in March, which concluded with none
other than BoE as "the prime example of Renaissance rock!") In fact,
I've thought for a long time that quite a few of Zep's songs would 
sound
amazing arranged for recorders, renaissance guitars, and other early
instruments, and, as my husband agrees, we may actually do it someday!
Anyone else interested, by any chance -- let me know! (And JPJ, if you
really are lurking on this list, we especially want to hear from you 
:)
:)

I have more to say, but this is plenty long enough, so I'll save it 
for
another message.

Cheers,
Jenzi