Any time I play a classic rock song from the 70's, I refer to it as "Drug Music". Let's be honest here. If you're looking out at a sea of 50ish male faces in class, there's a good chance that more than a few "experimented" during their teenage years. A huge part of that experimentation included vinyl LPs from early 70's Rock Bands like; Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush (Amy's person favorite), Deep Purple, David Bowie, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith and others. You can add your favorites below.
During this less than healthful period in my youth, if I was going to be spending some time in a darkened living room, in the middle of the day, (there was a period of my life where I considered school attendance optional) Black Sabbath was my absolute favorite. I was a wanna-be Rock-and-Roll bass player. Sabbath's bassist Geezer Butler was my hero. I spent hours with my pawnshop bass & 200 watt Plush guitar amp, trying to play along to each track on Paranoid - Sabbath's second (and most popular) album and Master of Reality.
Digital sources of those early Sabbath albums were unavailable until iTunes announced this week that they had the complete Sabbath collection - awesome! I bought their greatest hits album {link} as none of these are on Spotify or Deezer.
Caution: although Spotify and Deezer do offer a bunch of live recordings, Ozzy Osbourne has a very fowl mouth - so I suggest sticking with the clean original versions.
Here are a few excellent mashups featuring Black Sabbath that I would appreciate hearing in your class 🙂
This track combines Sabbath's War Pigs and Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love masterfully.
https://soundcloud.com/mixesandmashups/black-sabbath-vs-led-zeppelin
Not all Sabbath was Head Banger hard rock. 94 RPM Planet Caravan makes an excellent Flat/Tempo transition between intervals.
https://soundcloud.com/ygor-ferro/black-sabbath-planet-caravan
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John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.