Readers Recommend Community
Readers Recommend has a
vibrant community of participants, music lovers all. And
while most hail from merry olde England, there are
participants from North America and Japan. Check
out the wonderful
Google Map created by Cauliflower to see where
everyone is from.
Below are short
biographical notes on some of the RR bloggers. If you
want similar notes on yourself added, simply
email me with the details. All information is
optional so leave out or add anything you like.
Abahachi
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Location:
Castle Cary, Somerset, UK
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Real Name: Neville
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Age: 40
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Marital status:
Married with two stepchildren
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Occupation: Professor
of Ancient History
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Joined RR Community: March
9th 2007, Songs about Musical Genres.
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Favorite Artists: obscure
European jazz (Tomasz Stanko, Marcin Wasilewski Trio, Ganelin
Trio, Zentralquartett); Miles Davis' 1960s quintet, Wayne
Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Charles Mingus; Ultravox, Kraftwerk, Neu!;
Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Free; Mogwai;
Spice Girls, Abba, Captain & Tenille, Bangles, Susannah Hoffs.
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Our Song (my wife's and mine
special song): Not entirely sure we can agree on anything like
that; possibly either kd lang's Constant Craving or The Rembrandts'
I'll Be There For You.
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First A-list: Hawkwind, Spiral
Galaxy 28948
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Favourite RR contribution: the
deployment of Claude Levi-Strauss' structuralist theory of mythology
to justify the nomination of Roxy Music's Avalon. And it
worked.
CaroleBristol
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Location:
Bristol, England
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Real Name:
Carole
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Age:
Past 50 physically but about 29 in my head.
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Marital status:
A long time relationship with my girlfriend
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Occupation:
I lead a team of mainframe database technical
experts for a large IT services company
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Joined
RR Community:
I lurked for ages but I think I first posted on
Celestial bodies in October 2007
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Favourite Artists:
The Grateful Dead, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Pink
Floyd, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Fairport
Convention, Sandy Denny, John Martyn, The Clash, My
Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins, Crosby, Stills,
Nash and Young either collectively, alone or in
combinations, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin,
Genesis in the Peter Gabriel years, The Who, Carole
King, David Bowie and many, many more.
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Least Favourite Music:
It has to be rap, I just don’t like it at all,
followed by gabba techno
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Proudest RR moment:
Getting Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” A-listed.
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RR goals:
I want to get King Crimson A-listed
and I am a proud member of the GTDITL tendency (Get
The Dead In The List)
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Our Song (my partner's and mine special song):
a tricky one, she is a bit of a rocker and a metal
head, but we both like Edith Piaf, so it is probably
“Je ne regrette rien”, because we don’t (regret
things, I mean).
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Musical guilty pleasure:
AOR power ballads, stuff like Boston’s “More than a
feeling” and Diane Warren songs (she is the queen of
the power ballad)
Chris7572
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Location: Manchester, UK
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Real Name: Chris
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Age: 57
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Marital status: Complicated (divorced,
re-partnered, separating)
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Occupation: Retired?
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Joined RR Community: Late 2007
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Favourite Artists: Grateful Dead,
Pavement/Stephen Malkmus, Talking Heads, PJ
Harvey, Throwing Muses, Velvet Underground/John
Cale, Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson, Miles Davis,
Bob Dylan, Fatima Mansions, Gomez, Beck, Little
Feat and a few others.
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Least Favourite Music:
X-factor-style power ballads, dull rap,
showtunes
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First A-list: VU's The Gift, Songs With A
Twist, April 2008
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Proudest RR contribution: Founded GTDITL
(Get The Dead In The List), which had its first
success in June, 2008; re-naming this great
resource The Marconium.
DarceysDad
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Location: Queensbury, West
Yorkshire
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Real Name: Rich
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Age: Mid-40s
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Marital status: "Two Daughters
And A Beautiful Wife"
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Occupation: There's so little
work around, I'm beginning to wonder myself!
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Joined RR Community: 'Listy'
Songs (2006) - a few months after gordonimmel
started nagging me to join in.
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Musical likes: Heavy/Classic
rock and Americana mostly, but everything
from punk to reggae to neo-classical
gets a look-in.
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Musical dis-likes:
As a generalization, traditional Classical,
hip-hop, jazz, and all dance from rave onwards. But even there,
there are pearls amongst the swine.
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Proudest RR moment: (i)
The first Drive-By Truckers A-listing
(Maddy, subbing for Dorian, picked My Sweet Annette for
'Infidelity' Songs. (ii) frogprincess
using a suggestion of mine as the soundtrack to her holiday-memory
DVD.
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RR goal:
Getting a pre-Jonno AC/DC song A-listed.
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"Our" Song: Black's Wonderful
Life
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Possibly the Sole RR
flag-bearer for: Dakota Suite, 2
Tribes, Brad/Satchel, Gun, Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Family
Stand.
DebbyM
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Location:
Hamburg, Germany
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Real Name:
debby(m)
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Age: has now
overtaken my shoe size
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Marital status: no
spouse, 2 kids in the house
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Occupation: Mother,
CD-book-DVD salesperson, sometime translator & contributor
to travel guides, procrastinator extraordinaire
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Joined RR Community:
Trains - January 2008
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Musical likes: Folk, folk
rock, rock. Also jazz, soul and, surprisingly, countertenor
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Musical dislikes: Cembalo, the
soprano voice, anything involving German pop 'deity' Dieter Bohlen
Marconius7
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Location:
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
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Real Name:
Marco
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Age: 60
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Marital status:
Married with two adult children
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Occupation:
Television news feed coordinator
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Joined RR
Community: Jan. 11, 2008 - blog topic was Songs
about Guilt and Regret
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Favorite Artists:
Rankin Family, Garolou, Shania Twain,
Traveling Wilburys, Manhattan Transfer, Bette
Midler, Van Morrison, Chris de Burgh, 10CC, Tomita, Animals, Manfred Mann, Dave Clark
Five, Beatles, Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Platters, Les Paul & Mary Ford
and songs from musicals like Les Miserables,
Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors and Chicago. I
also like some jazz - Dave Brubeck Quartet comes to
mind, and some classical, especially the
romanticists like Rachmaninoff and Tschaikovsky but
I also like Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.
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Musical Dislikes:
Not a big fan of rap with some exceptions. I
particularly don't care for rap with crude lyrics
which I find unpleasant to listen to
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Our Song (my
wife's and mine special song): The Rose by Bette
Midler
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First A Listing:
Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis for the topic of
Science
Mnemonic
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Location: London
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Real
Name: Georgina
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Age:
Mid-60s
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Marital status: Divorced
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Occupation: Retired but looking for
part-time job
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Joined
RR Community: May 2007 "Songs about
other musicians"
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Musical likes: Americana, industrial
noise, folk, psychedelia, bass drone,
grime, post-punk, lots of others
-
Musical dis-likes: Modern R'n;B,
bhangra (you can blame my neighbours for
this)
RockingMitch
- Name: Mitch Mitchell
(no one gets my real first name!)
- Age: 62
- Residing: Mainly now in March, Cambridgeshire,
but also Sarf London.
- Occupation: Musician, Rock and Roll Historian,
Bouncer at Mothercare.
- Favourite Artists: Gene Vincent, Bill Haley,
Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Joe Turner, The Everly Brothers, Lavern
Baker, Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Arthur
Alexander, Connie Francis, Wanda Jackson, kd
lang, Brenda Lee, Jimmy Reed, Ronnie Hawkins,
Dion, Chuck Jackson, Garnett Mimms, The Coasters,
Jerry Lee Lewis
and many doo-wop bands.
- Totally dislike: Beatles, Rolling Stones, The
Who, Queen, what now passes for R & B, Celine
Dion
- Best Career Moment: Appearing at the Albert Hall
supporting Bill Haley & Duane Eddy with members
of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the
audience (May 1968)
- Status: Widowed with one son.
- Proudest moment on RR: Dorian described me as
"our resident rock & roll expert".
ShivSidecar
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Location: Redbridge, Essex
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Real Name: anag. [5,6]
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Age: 52
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Marital status: Married, DINK (Dual Income, No Kids)
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Occupation: Rock’n’Roll Reference Librarian. There, I’ve said it.
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Joined RR Community:
lurked for a while; didn’t contribute 'til I had
broadband. First contribution: RRSA
Homosexuality, June 29th, 2007.
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Favorite Artists:
I always thought I’d grow out of my dependence
on skinny young people playing electric guitars
semi-competently, but it hasn’t happened yet…
Byrds, Beatles, Velvets, Who, Move, Jam, Clash,
Wire, XTC, Beat, Smiths, Hornets Attack Victor
Mature… iconoclasts: Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Cale,
Eno, Wyatt, Cope, Rundgren, Kate Bush, Richard
Thompson, Bevis Frond, White Stripes, Banhart,
anybody who can sing in Welsh… folkies: M.Carthy,
E.Carthy, S.Collins, many more. 60s psychedelia,
70s reggae, classic soul, Paisley Underground,
power pop, Americana, African music. Despite
appearances I do listen to a lot of contemporary
stuff, but on current form it’ll be another
10-20 years before I start to retain it.
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Favourite artists introduced to by RR:
Angelique Kidjo, Beausoleil, Drive-By Truckers,
Okkervil River,
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Proudest RR moments:
First A-listing after 4 weeks with a very obscure song
indeed, and two A-listers the following
week! That’s how Dorian got ‘em hooked… oh, and
Amy Rigby owes me big time.
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Least favourite RR moment:
KingCroat.
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Our Song (my wife's and mine special song):
birdsong. [Mrs
Sidecar & I have no musical tastes in common at
all…]
sourpus
- Location:
Budapest, Hungary
- Real Name:
Loretta Blumfeld
- Joined RR Community:
Sometime in 2007
- Favorite Artists:
Oh, all of them.
- Favorite RR Topic so far:
Great middle eights
ToffeeBoy
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Location:
Watford, England
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Real Name:
Dave
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Age:
Closer to 50 than I'd like
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Marital
status: Married with two teenage
children
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Joined RR
Community: January 2008
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Favorite Artists: Prefab Sprout,
Jonathan Richman, The Decemberists, Belle &
Sebastian, Ben Folds, The Go-Betweens,
Sufjan Stevens, Death Cab For Cutie, 10,000
Maniacs, The High Llamas, Elbow, Shack, The
Blue Nile, Everything But The Girl,
Microdisney, Azure Ray, James Taylor, The
Cardigans, The Wedding Present, REM, Steely
Dan, Martin Stephenson, Elvis Costello,
Eels, Teenage Fanclub, Gene, McCarthy,
Crowded House, Badly Drawn Boy, Danny WIlson,
Babybird, Squeeze, Midlake, Cocteau Twins,
The Dentists, Flaming Lips, XTC, Orange
Juice, Caravan, Grandaddy, Frazier Chorus,
Arctic Monkeys
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Proudest RR moment: Nominating the
only Prefab Sprout track yet to make it on
to the A-List. Although I have to confess
it was ToffeeGirl's idea.
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RR
goal: Getting another song on an
A-List - sometime. Who knows? It might
happen.
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Our Song
(my wife's and mine special song):
Without You - Nillson. I know ...
TonNL
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Location:
Echt, Netherlands
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Real Name:
Ton
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Age:
50, but don't feel like it....
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Marital status:
Single
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Occupation:
Mainframe software
developer (contractor), currently
working at the largest private bank in
Holland
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Joined
RR Community:
mid-2006
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Favourite Artists:
Triifids, Wilco, Richard Thompson, Neu!,
Einstürzende Neubauten, REM, the Congos,
Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Steve
Wynn, Thievery Corporation, lots of dub
reggae, Americana etc. etc.
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Least Favourite Music:
Not that much into jazz....
treefrogdemon
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Location:
Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
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Real name:
Jocelyn
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Age: 60
-
Marital
status: Divorced, three grownup children,
two grandsons
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Occupation:
Health Improvement Lead, Mental Health and
Wellbeing
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Joined RR
community: Nov 9 2007 – end of Illness,
start of Smiling and Laughter
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Favourite
artists: Richard Thompson, Bruce
Springsteen, the Gourds, Buddy Holly, the Everly
Brothers, Gillian Welch, Diana Jones, Mary
Gauthier, the Who, Bob Dylan, the Band, Sandy
Denny, June Tabor, Shirley Collins, Show Of
Hands, Neil Young, Oysterband, Maggie Holland,
REM
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Son’s band:
The In And Outlaws
Zalamanda
- Location: North Hampshire, UK.
- Real Name: Amanda.
- Age: Not 40 yet...
- Marital Status: Married with two
small children.
- Occupation: Mother; Technical
Author, "resting".
- Joined RR Community: Sometime in
2005 or 2006. Definitely posted in SciFi and Space. Went away and came
back again.
- Artist that I always try to
nominate: All About Eve.
- First A-Lister: Paul Weller's
'Wildwood' in
Trees, Grass and
Flowers. Somewhat underwhelming as
I'd been trying /really/ hard to get AAE in that week (as you can tell
from the moniker I was using...).
- The One That Got Away: The Sea!
I'm pretty sure that I suggested the
topic (at least in part as a way of
getting AAE's big hit in a list...)
and then I wasn't around when it
came up. Fortunately, Babryn stepped
in with 'Martha's Harbour'.
- AKA: In the early days (before
permanent login names), I blogged
simply as 'Amanda' or, at least
once, as 'Amanda the All About Eve
fan'.
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