Screw you AC/DC and Bob Seger

So, I was Googling around as I’m wont to do, specifically for a playlist for my road trip, and I stumbled upon this one and got to downloading.  First I saw if all of them could be downloaded for free just by searching Google, hint, they can.  After a short deliberation and the realization that if I ever create something that I want to be paid for, I well, want to be paid for it, I decide to do the right thing and pay for the music.

So, I fire up iTunes and start from the bottom of the list (I already had 10 or so of the songs, I was just going to spend $40-$52 to fill it out) and I’m “Cruisin’” along until I get to AC/DC’s “Back in Black” I couldn’t find it on iTunes, thinking maybe they have a beef with Apple I check Amazon, not there either, hmm.  Turns out nothing of AC/DC’s is available for digital download, not even the Iron Man 2 soundtrack.  Well I’ll be buggered.

A little irked, I continue along knowing that there’s at least one more AC/DC song on the list that I’m not going to be able to get, “Highway to Hell.” I keep going up the list until I get to Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” and I can’t find that one either.  Bugger.  The shock of this one isn’t so bad as I already know from AC/DC’s excellent tutelage, that some artists decided they don’t want my, or any other digital consumer’s money anyway.

Here I was in the mist of a predicament, a conundrum if you will.  From a 50 song list I was able to easily download 47 of the songs, 94% if you will. But those 3 songs are really good.  What was I to do? I contemplated going to a big box store and buying 2 or 3 CDs for 3 songs - yeah right.  I debated if I was going to visit the local Half Price Books stores and look for it there - too much work, time consuming. After much hemming and hawing I decided that I would buy covers of the songs, but not just any covers, covers that were distinctly different from the original versions so I wouldn’t be stuck settling for something that sounds “like” they craptastic bands that don’t support digital distribution.

So, I bought:

• “Turn the Page” by Metallica (and if you know me, you know I’m not a fan of Metallica, I also find it odd that I’m buying a Metallica song digitally to stick it to another band that doesn’t, given that whole Napster thing)
• “Back in Black” by Hayseed Dixie (I’d rather give my money to a country artist that I’ve never heard of than give a dime to AC/DC)
• “Highway to Hell” by Marilyn Manson (I’m actually surprised I didn’t know about this, I was a huge fan of Manson during this stage, but I was never a completist like I am with Nine Inch Nails)

I also added a few songs to the list that I thought were woefully overlooked:

• “Machinehead” by Bush (I mean, come on.)
• “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi (I know his steel horse is supposed to be a tour bus in the song, but what is a motorcycle if not a steel horse - I know generally it’s referred to as an iron horse, but work with me)
• “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (it’s just an awesome song about touring)
• “Little Honda” by the Beach Boys (I am riding a Honda after all)
• “Gotta Travel On” by Billy Grammer (Catchy old country tune)
• “Six Days On The Road” by Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels (very catchy, good guitar licks)
• “Crossroads” by Cream (If you don’t know what the Crossroads are look up Robert Johnson)
• “Dragula” by Rob Zombie (it’s about a Satanic dragster, really?)
• “Sympathy For The Devil” by Various (I’ve got 3 Stones versions, 1 GNR and a few remixes - I think it works because )
• “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by Various (I have CDB’s version as well as the Zac Brown Band live version, oddly the ZBB version is more expensive than the CDB version - that’s just wrong)
• “The Devil’s Courtship/An Dro” by Battlefield Band (I just included this one because it’s my favorite song)

I really hope the covers cause AC/DC and Bob Seger to get royalties of 2 cents, because that’s what I want to give them.