Video Vault Episode 30: Ramble On

This is Editorial Assistant Kaitlin Fontana’s last day at Bloomsbury. Here she is with her final Video Vault entry.

Well, kids, this is it: my last day at Bloomsbury, and the last time I’ll be posting to the 33 1/3 blog. It’s been an utter pleasure and a privilege to be a conduit to information about the Music and Sound Studies list at Bloomsbury, particularly the 33 1/3 series, which brought me here in the first place.

I’m on to other things, but I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the 33 1/3 authors and fans of the series who made my job here so rewarding and fun (as well as challenging–music nerds unite!). And I of course, and especially, want to thank series founder David Barker, who first hired me to the list and Ally Jane Grossan, who brilliantly took up the list and became a good friend and partner in crime after David left.

I’ll miss all of you, and to commemorate that I present Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On.” Why this goodbye song? It was a close call between this and Semisonic’s “Closing Time” (the stalwart goodbye song of my youth), but I ended on Zep for a few reasons related to my time with 33 1/3:

1) I will remain a fan of and friend of the series, so I’m not “closing” anything, just shuffling along down the road;
2) The sweet spot between classic rock and the contemporary music landscape is one the series always seeks, and this classic song is presented in a 1995 iteration, below;
3) Like me, this is a pretty cool song with a lot of nerdy stuff in it (references to Mordor, for example);
4) This live version captures what makes Zep great while also not being a perfect vocal performance by Plant nor a super on-point guitar turn by Page. That place of imperfection is what I love about music, particularly rock ‘n’roll.

I hope you enjoy. And happy trails, all. I’ll be reading forthcoming titles with joy and nerdly fandom, just like you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BDc5VbKJ0]