{"id":1064,"date":"2019-08-25T12:17:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T16:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/?p=1064"},"modified":"2019-10-30T19:56:58","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T23:56:58","slug":"stairway-to-heaven-is-nowhere-near-the-greatest-makeout-song-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/stairway-to-heaven-is-nowhere-near-the-greatest-makeout-song-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Stairway to Heaven’ is nowhere near the greatest makeout song ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peter<\/a>

Peter Beckett of Player, center, rocks out to “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin, during the encore with Elliot Lurie, left, and John Ford Coley, right, at the Yacht Rock 2019 show Aug. 23 at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

I do not like the music of Led Zeppelin. I never have. <\/span><\/p>\n

It all goes back to when I was a teenager in the 1970s. I had a girlfriend who liked to make out to Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d I was 16 years old, just starting to car date, and was dealing with raging hormones that many of us were experiencing at that age. I liked making out with her. I just didn\u2019t like making out to \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had no interest in Zeppelin\u2019s music then, and that\u2019s the way it is now, some 40-plus years later. Sure, I know a couple of their tunes, and can probably sing a couple of verses to some of their songs. But I do not have any Zeppelin in my vinyl or CD collections and don\u2019t plan on adding any.<\/p>\n

But the discussion over whether \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d is the \u201cgreatest makeout song ever\u201d still follows me today. It just so happens that The Blonde Accountant considers it at the top of the list of makeout songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you not like making out to a long song like \u2018Stairway to Heaven?\u2019\u201d she will say to me. \u201cIt\u2019s the greatest makeout song ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elliot<\/a>

Elliot Luris of Looking Glass, the writer and lead singer of the iconic hit “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl).”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

I may be old, but I\u2019m not dead. I still like making out. But \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d is not the greatest makeout song ever. It is, however, the greatest impotence-inducing song ever.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, it is in this context that we attended the Yacht Rock 2019 show at the Borgata in Atlantic City Aug. 23. The show featured Walter Egan (\u201cMagnet and Steel\u201d); Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass (\u201cBrandy (You\u2019re A Fine Girl\u201d); John Ford Coley of England Dan and John Ford Coley; Peter Beckett of Player (\u201cBaby Come Back\u201d); and Ambrosia, which backed all the other artists that evening, in addition to performing their greatest hits.<\/p>\n

I can say without question that there are at least three songs from the artists in that group that are better makeout songs than \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d: the aforementioned \u201cBaby Come Back\u201d by Player; \u201cI\u2019d Really Love to See You Tonight\u201d by England Dan and John Ford Coley; and \u201cHow Much I Feel\u201d by Ambrosia. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I can make the case that this group of artists has even more songs that are better makeout songs than \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d Walter Egan wrote \u201cMagnet and Steel\u201d because of his infatuation with Fleetwood Mac\u2019s Stevie Nicks. Ambrosia\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re the Only Woman (You and I)\u201d and Player\u2019s \u201cThis Time I\u2019m in it For Love\u201d fall into that category. I\u2019d put \u201cJimmy Loves Mary-Anne\u201d and \u201cNights Are Forever Without You\u201d by England Dan and John Ford Coley on the list of songs I\u2019d make out to before \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Ford Coley, of England Dan and John Ford Coley.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

And we heard all of those songs Saturday night. If I was ever going to be in the mood to make out, it would have been after that setlist.<\/p>\n

Now there is another aspect of this story that ties it all together. Within the past year, I have taken to rushing the stage at some concerts. To clarify, I don\u2019t actually \u201crush\u201d the stage at this age. I kind of limp and stumble my way down to the front of the stage. I had never gone down to the stage for all these years, content to stand at my seat for encores. But I\u2019ve had some seats recently that have allowed me easy access to the stage and I have taken advantage of that. It gets you up close and personal with the artists and I can shake a little booty more freely without being boxed in by my row. Plus it makes for some great photo opportunities, which I can use in the next volume of The Vinyl Dialogues. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because our seats were in the sixth row for the Yacht Rock show, I had to only get past two people to the aisle, where I could step-and-a-half it the 25 or so feet to the stage. Which is exactly what I did.<\/p>\n

\"Walter<\/a>

Walter Egan, who wrote the hit single “Magnet and Steel,” that was inspired by Stevie Nicks.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon, let\u2019s rush the stage,\u201d I said to TBA. She declined to join me. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the final song of the evening, all the artists reappeared together to perform . . . \u201cRock and Roll.\u201d By Led Zeppelin. To close a yacht rock show. Go figure.<\/p>\n

Certainly I had heard the song and was familiar with it. I just didn\u2019t know the name of the song or that it was a Zeppelin tune. Still, I rocked out with the rest of stage rushers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just want you to know that you rushed the stage for a Led Zeppelin song,\u201d said TBA after the show, as I hummed the song all the way back to the parking garage.<\/p>\n

I know, I know. The irony was not lost on me. But it didn\u2019t change the fact that \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d is nowhere near close to being the \u201cgreatest makeout song ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ambrosia,<\/a>

Ambrosia, featuring original bassist Joe Puerta, right.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do not like the music of Led Zeppelin. I never have.  It all goes back to when I was a teenager in the 1970s. I had a girlfriend who liked to make out to Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d I was 16 years old, just starting to car date, and was dealing with raging hormones […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":1162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20,43,91,95,198,241,298,301],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tvdbook","tag-ambrosia","tag-borgata","tag-elliot-lurie","tag-england-dan-and-john-ford-coley","tag-peter-beckett","tag-stairway-to-heaven","tag-walter-egan","tag-yacht-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}