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ROCK AND ROLL! => All Them Other Guys => Topic started by: Charger on March 04, 2025, 06:46:30 AM
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So this go around we'll be doing 10 songs about historical people.
Songs about real life heroes or anti-heroes or villains that have left a mark in the books of history.
I'm gonna kick things off with and ICED EARTH tune about one of the most known killers in history.
This is a bit of a different take on the topic and surely takes some creative freedoms but the song is still a pretty good rockin' tune about the man they called JACK THE RIPPER!
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Iron Maiden - Alexander the Great. Because, of course :)
Also, this was the last IM record I purchased contemporaneously. It was many years before I picked up another one, and it was used. But I enjoyed this record and I think Bruce's vocals did a great job with dynamics over the course of this lengthy tune.
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My first pick is
Lard - Sylvestre Matuschka
From the Lard album The Last Temptation of Reid, the band comprised Jello Biafra and members of Ministry.
I thought this was song about a real person (actually spelled Szilveszter Matuska) but googled it just to make sure... he is real and the lyrics pretty much covers the notorious elements of his life.
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The land rush is on! Grab the Saxon songs while you can!
And this one's a two-fer, gets us Kublai Khan and Marco Polo! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:
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Oh come on! 2 from my list already gone! And the funny thing was I was seriously thinking about starting my list with Alexander but on the last minute decided not to! Bugger!
Well I'm gonna do this one now then before someone takes that away from me too!
Let's go to Scotland and the middle ages with this one...this is about a man called William Wallace who by all accounts was THE CLANSMAN!
If I'd be doing these in the best of order this would be #1. As this is my all time favourite Iron Maiden song and probably one of my all time favourite songs period. A total masterpiece!
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It's Maiden vs Saxon in this thread! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!
Saxon - Dallas 1PM
About the JFK assassination, great live version here:
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If I had remembered Dallas 1AM I might well have included it!
For my next pick I'll go with...
Chris de Burgh - Crusader
The song covers Saladin the Saracen King who captures Jerusalem and Richard the Lion Heart who recaptures it. Off Chris de Burghs 1979 album of the same name and only a few short years before he becomes a ghastly person by releasing Lady in Red and other tripe!!!
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Heroes End by Judas Priest. About Marilyn Monroe
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^^^
Is it?? Wow I never knew that!
Well I'm gonna go the bad guy route again...this is about a certain doctor that did unspeakable things to innocent people during World War 2
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I too thought about that one!
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I'm kicking around ideas today, thought of using Deep Purple's "Smooth Dancer", as it's about Ritchie Blackmore, but felt he's not "historical" enough for the list, so I'll pass over that one.
But I won't pass over James Brown's song about Gerald Ford, it's a gas...
James Brown - "Funky President", one of many, many songs to emerge from the funk/soul genre about the Watergate scandal and its fallout.
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Is it?? Wow I never knew that!
Yep! Blew my mind when I first learned that. Nothing in that title suggests such a thing.
This one here is about Erwin Rommel and the armor he commanded in WWII, Ghost Division by Sabaton:
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For my 3rd pick I've gone quite modern (this person is still alive albeit in his late 80s)
The Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles
The person in question is Californian Governor Jerry Brown. I'm not particularly familiar with the guy but the song makes him out to be some sort of ultra right wing poliitician... in fact he was a Democrat!!
Second song so far to have Jello Biafra on vocals, I promise not to include him again!!
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I'm not too hip on California politics, but since the guy ran for President and was in the news all the damn time, I got the impression that people in California really liked Jerry Brown. No one outside of California could understand it.
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^ Was wondering when Sabaton would show up. They're all over the bonus content HOI4 and EU4 soundtracks because they're history and stuff. :D
And punk rock songs about politicians are always a great go-to. Suicidal Tendencies' "I Shot the Devil" is on the table for anyone that wants to grab it.
But for me, I choose...
Saxon "Lionheart" ... about one King Richard the First of England...
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My #4 is gonna be about a warlord that conquered half of Asia AND half of Europe only to fall at the gates of Rome...
This is about ATTILA the Hun by ICED EARTH!
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^^^
That one was on my radar but I haven't decided which of the 100s of IE songs to choose from! :D
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Yeah...! :D
For me the two were pretty clear as I had used Waterloo already for the places one....
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For my fourth pick I'm going with an author who died the same day as JFK... and so his death didn't get much coverage (a bit like Mother Teresa and Farah Fawcett when they died the same day as Princess Diana and Michael Jackson respectively).
Hawkwind - Aldus Huxley
The British author best known for the book Brave New World. This is an ambient piece which uses recordings of Huxley and later his wife, Laura, and comes from the 2023 album The Future Never Waits
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Ex Deo teaches us about Romulus (was he real, was he myth? We'll never know, but one thing is for sure, Rome is a thing)
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Half way through!
This is gonna be bit on the left field but it (atleast sort of) is about Elvis Presley.
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Time for pick number five and I have to say these lists are incredibly fun to do! :awesome:
I'm going to dig through my Gospel trove for this next one, it's a two-parter:
Otis Jackson - "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt (Parts I & II)"
It's an amazing eulogy for FDR, done in an a capella style, so the backing vocals provide all the instrumentation. Elements of Boogie-Woogie show up in the bass line and the lyrics are a definite Blues structure. While not welcome in more staid, traditional churches, the Jubiliee style grew in popularity all through the 40s and early 50s... and led to secular musicians borrowing its elements for what became known as Rock and Roll.
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I forgot to post yesterday... I hope you wern't waiting for me! Anyhoo, my 5th pick is...
Iced Earth - Waterloo
I felt my IE choice came down to either this or Red Baron/Blue Max... but while the latter has grown on me it's still not a patch on Waterloo. Both songs come from The Glorious Burden, and recounts Wellington's victory over Napoleon at Waterloo... I suppose I could have done the ABBA song!!!
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I wasn't around yesterday either...so no problem.
Oh I had forgotten about the Red Baron! Shit. Actually that could have been my first choice instead of Jack...DAMNIT!
My 6th is going to be About John Fian and his alleged coven of witches and the NORTH BERWICK WITCH TRIALS ran by King James back in 1591
Great heavy doom rocker this one...and the lyrics flow great and have that usual Lee Dorrian twist.
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6th Pick! I do feel I should try to go with more genuinely olden time figures... however!
Weezer - Buddy Holly
This one just came to me earlier. It kinda rocks and the video is pretty good!
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That is easily the best Weezer song and the video is fun, brings back memories
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Grave Digger - Excalibur
Again, was King Arthur real or myth? We'll never know, but one things is for sure, a lot of money has been made by people writing books and movies about the dude!
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^^^
I'm inclined to believe Arthur was real...with maybe some legend thrown in...not so sure about Merlin though...
My 7th pick is going to be about not just one person but 3 American heroes that took the giant leap for mankind back in 1969.
SAXON and THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!
This live version from Wacken back in 2010 is rather brilliant!
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I've always liked that song, that was the first I've heard that live version and it kicks hard!
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I owe two picks since I was out the other day, so...
Pick #6 will be...
Blue Oyster Cult "Harvester of Eyes" - contains a reference to "ocular TB", which Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas cited as his reason for avoiding military service.
I could also use BOC's "ME 262", with its references to Goering and Hitler, but I had that tune in the vehicle list, so I'll let it be an honorable mention for this thread.
Pick #7 will be...
The Dogs - "John Rock 'n' Roll Sinclair" - about the Detroit activist John Sinclair who, among other things, managed the MC5, got Iggy Pop started, and was able to successfully win his freedom over being sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on marijuana possession charges.
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Misfits - Bullet
A thoughtful and tender song about JFK's assassination.
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Pick number 7... and a little bit of a stretch...
Rush - Manhattan Project
About the invention of the atomic bomb, and although it doesn't mention anyone by name, it basically means it is about J. Robert Openheimer!
It's off the mid-80s album Power Windows which is one of their weaker albums in my opinion, but this is one of the better ones
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^^^ WAS on my list :P
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^^^
Sorry about that! ;D
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I'm going to go with a bit more recent but historically very important figure next. This is about dr. STEPHEN HAWKING whose work on theoretical physics and Cosmology changed the way we view the universe.
so it's BLAZE BAYLEY telling the story of THE UNSTOPPABLE STEPHEN HAWKING!
I'm throwing in this live version, the quality is not the best but the preformance is great.
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Pick number 8 and I turn to SPORTS!
Elton John - "Philadelphia Freedom"
This one's live on Soul Train with the vocals and piano going out over the backing track. It's about Billie Jean King, tennis star! Elton was so honored to be asked to guest on the show, as he really loved the good soul music of the day.
Going back a little further, I got a pair of songs about the breaking down of the Color Line in Baseball:
Fat Man Humphries - "Doby at the Bat"
Freddie Mitchell - "Doby's Boogie"
Larry Doby was the first Black player in the American League, playing in the same year as Jackie Robinson (first Black player in the National League), but with less fanfare. Doby, along with Satchel Paige, were the first two Blacks to play in and win a World Series in 1948. He was also one of the first Americans to play on a Japanese baseball team when he came out of retirement in 1962 to play a season in Japan.
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Well for my 8th choice, I fear I may step on someone elses choice again...
Ozzy Osbourne - Mr Crowley
The late English occultist and author Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) gets his very own song here!
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Phew! Thank goodness I chose another Ozzy tune for my next one... :D
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Neil Young - Cortez the Killer
A song about, you guessed it, Hernan Cortes
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My second to last pick is something I had to rethink as originally this spot was reserved for a certain Saxon song about a certain Venician and his travels but alas...well...bugger.
So I'm returning to the world of bad guys here and this dude was pretty bad...as cult leaders tend to be.
This is OZZY OSBOURNE talking about Charlie Manson!
Here's a killer live version filmed in Philadelphia back in 1989!
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I don't think this was on anyone's list except maybe KDC's, so I'm pretty sure this is not a ninja move:
Goats Don't Shave - "Las Vegas (In the Hills of Donegal)"
It's about Donald Trump building casinos in Donegal, done back in 1992 and it even mentions building a wall for purposes of immigration control, innnnnnteresting!
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:redcard:
Donald Trump is very much alive so I don't think he counts as a historical figure!
:naughty:
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He's declared himself to be part of history! Appeal!
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Well ofcourse he'll one day BE part of history as he is two time president of the United States but he is still alive so he's not history yet! :)
Appeal denied.
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I've not really had a list, always coming up with a selection each day... I was struggling after day 8, so I flicked through my music libray and suddenly remembered this one, and it would have most definitely have made my list if I had one! Pick number 9...
Metallica - Murder One
In memory of Lemmy, and quite possibly the best track off Hardwired... To self-Destruct
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Amigo the Devil brings us a song about a serial killer: Dahmer Does Hollywood
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And since I seem to be behind a bit , here is number 9 from me.
Pink Floyd singing about John Latham:
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My final pick will be about one of the history's greatest scientists who was persecuted by the religious madmen of the Catholic church for his findings about the solar system.
So this is BLAZE BAYLEY telling the story of what happened to GALILEO GALILEI back in 1633.
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I'm gonna appeal my appeal...
Meanwhile, here's a tune I loved to sing when I was a kid:
Johnny Horton "Sink the Bismarck"
There is a loose paraphrase of Winston Churchill in the song... :smug:
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I'm gonna appeal my appeal...
Supreme court denied the appeal.
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For my final pick I'll go with one of best known songs about a real life character...
Pink Floyd - Shine on you Crazy Diamond
A song written as a tribute to -- as well as about --Syd Barrett. I'll only post Part 1 here!
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Eddie - by The Red Hot Chili Peppers comes in as my No. 10
About Eddie Van Halen.
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^^^
I tried to listen to that but Red Hot Chili Peppers cause me an instant gag reflex when ever I hear a single note from them so after 5 seconds I had to give up.
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Bonus Song! No lyrics, but today is the Ides of March, and of course Caesar was stabbed to death on this day in 44BC, so it's apropos as a bonus!
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^^^
I tried to listen to that but Red Hot Chili Peppers cause me an instant gag reflex when ever I hear a single note from them so after 5 seconds I had to give up.
You're forgiven. I enjoy some of their stuff, I think it's the funk groove they bring that pulls me in. They can get a bit far out for even my broad palette sometimes though.
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Some (dis-) honourable mentions...
I decided not to go with...
The Damned - Leader of the Gang. It's about Gary Glitter and not in as negative a way as I would have liked!
As previously indicated there was also
Iced Earth - Red Baron / Blue Max. About the WW I fighter ace.
And lastly...
Elton John - Candle in the Wind. About Marilyn Monroe (I wasn't a huge fan on it's re-working for Princess Diana)
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I'm gonna appeal my appeal...
Supreme court denied the appeal.
I'm gonna appeal the appeal of the appeal! :P
Johnny Cash - "Mr. Garfield"
The 1880s version of "Dallas 1PM", kinda sorta. I found this because of the Song Chain thread, happened to have it in my supply. This is a strong track, I really like it.
And this is one from Stevie Wonder about Richard Nixon, "He's Misstra Know-It-All"
Another song about Richard Nixon: The Honeydrippers "Impeach the President"
I always find the funk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to be somewhat ersatz. Like they're trying REAL HARD to be funky when they should just let it flow with them. But, yeah, I like the uncut funk from the 70s.
Speaking of the funk, this is another track from Stevie Wonder about Nixon, harder edged than the first:
And for more of that sweet original recipe funk, we got Marvin Gaye singing about all the candidates in the 1972 election with "You're the Man". Gaye's clash with Berry Gordy's more conservative leanings led to the album getting shelved after this song had some success in spite of Gordy's refusal to promote it.