I'm almost there. I had hoped to finish up this weekend, but I was distracted by both a book and a messy house.
I'd like to address this comment (
here):
Nothing before 1969? The first known organized attempt at songmaking is recorded as having happened several centuries ago.
Yeah, I know. This is a personal taste list and I don't much care for Gregorian chants either, but there are some great songs from the forties and fifties not to mention some of Schubert's lieder.
If you are going to diss my list, make sure to read it carefully before you post your comments. A cursory glance through the list tells me that there are at
least eight songs that are pre-1969.
Another thing I will do when I annotate the list is put the years of the song. Eventually, this will all go into a sortable Excel file so you can check the list by artist, year and possibly genre.
Also, as I've mentioned previousl, a simple CTRL F will keep you from suggesting songs or artists that are already on the list.
I'm at 357 now and all of you pure metal fans will he happy to see that Motorhead's
Ace of Spades finally makes a grand entrance.
The last 100 will be the hardest. I don't want to end up filling the list with crap just to get to the end. These are all honestly songs that I love for one reason or another. It's at this point in the endeavor that I'm really going to need you to rattle my brain. The best thing to do before making a suggestion is
really read the list to figure out what I like and not offer up suggestions based strictly on what
you like.
The conspicous absence of any Beatles or Stones songs has been noted many times already, by the way.
Update: Damn.
Pril made it
531!
Comments
357 and Motohead is just now making an entrance? Well, I suppose if such a long-running oversight was going to occur, they entered at the right number/caliber.
Posted by: doc grosz | November 28, 2004 11:18 AM
Tell Me Something Good - Rufus & Chaka Khan
Posted by: Rox | November 28, 2004 12:16 PM
It takes a brave soul to compile such a list. It is a serious undertaking. You have my respect.
Posted by: bobby | November 28, 2004 12:26 PM
If it makes you feel any better, you're not alone. I don't know when or how it happened, but at some point in the past 5 years or so, I started changing the channel when a Beatles or Stones track came on. And while I bought Beatles "One" I've only played it once at the insistance of a friend who came over for dinner. I still submit that "Rocky Racoon" is the best they ever did, but if you haven't figured it out yet, I have a vast appreciation for the silly.
I thought I was going to run right out and buy "40 Licks" but once I got to it I looked at the price and looked at the "Licks" and thought...I don't want that licking me...no...thank you.
Posted by: Timmer | November 28, 2004 12:30 PM
When I noticed some of your forays into the 50's, even 40's (Andrew Sisters) I realized you, like me, have other songs from era's not our own we enjoy.
Which is why I made some suggestions -- Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee -- based on stuff I got to love growing up listening to what my parents (or grandparents) were playing. So ... a few more tweaks
:-)
George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Dean Martin - That's Amore
Posted by: Darleen | November 28, 2004 01:03 PM
Another in the same vein as Darleen's last three...
Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Posted by: Sunidesus | November 28, 2004 01:41 PM
reading your list rattled a lot of mine out. at the risk of leaving the kind of comment you hate, maybe mine would rattle yours? (it's up) I was gonna go for 600 but i was about as rattled as i could stand ;P
Posted by: pril | November 28, 2004 02:22 PM
Oddballl favs
T-Bone Burnett 0- Humans From Earth
NRBQ - Little Floater
Rascals - Good Lovin'
Soul Survivors - Expressway To Your Heart
Rmones - Surf City
The Bad Plus - Iron Man (yep, that one)
Television - Glory
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Violent Femmes - Black Girls
Posted by: spd rdr | November 28, 2004 02:31 PM
I noticed a certain absence of Jim Steinman on your list. Personal prejudice? If not, I cheerfully toss out for consideration the following:
Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Lights
- I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
- Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back)
- Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Celine Dion - It's All Coming Back To Me
And now for the grotesquely pop:
Mike & The Mechanics - Word Of Mouth
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
(Covering up my head)
J.
Posted by: Jay Tea | November 28, 2004 02:36 PM
These songs seem to fit the general composition of your list; I hope they help.
Secret Chiefs 3-Safina
Secret Chiefs 3-The Owl in Daylight
Braid-Do You Love Coffee?
Strung Out-Wrong Side of the Tracks
Face to Face-It's Not Over
Electric Wizard-Dopethrone
Kyuss-Freedom Run
Skinny Puppy-VX Gas Attack
Ride-Vapour Trail
Napalm Death-You Suffer(But Why?)
Medicine-The Pink
Mastodon-Workhorse
The Dillinger Escape Plan-Sugar Coated Sour
Kate Bush-Experiment IV
Dead Can Dance-The Host of Seraphim
Thursday-Understanding in a Car Crash
Sunny Day Real Estate-Seven
Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant-Specter of Serling
Posted by: Christbait | November 28, 2004 02:47 PM
Spinning Deep
Agent Orange - Somebody To Love
Romeo Void- Girl In Trouble
Desmond Dekker - Israelites
Dave Edmonds - Jo Jo Gunne
Blue Oyster Cult - Before the Kiss (A Redcap)
Oingo Boingo - This is the Life
Posted by: spd rdr | November 28, 2004 03:27 PM
Um...
Oingo Boingo - Ain't This The Life
dummy.
Posted by: spd rdr | November 28, 2004 03:28 PM
How about something by Patsy Cline, Salt-n-Pepa, B-52s, and/or Louis Armstrong?
Posted by: Mary | November 28, 2004 06:16 PM
Icehouse-We Can Get Together
Felt-Primitive Painters
Wolfgang Press-Kansas
Pogues-If I Should Fall from Grace with God (the version on the Straight to Hell soundtrack)
Zander Schloss-Salsa Y Ketchup (from Straight to Hell again, it's a novelty song, but a damn good one)
Elvis Costello-Beyond Belief
Cheap Trick-Dream Police
Fuzzbox-Love is a Slug
Posted by: jon | November 28, 2004 06:34 PM
And the Bay City Rollers should be disqualified for having a Saturday Morning television program shared with various creations of Sid and Marty Krofft. If that doesn't cause a band to lose any hope of getting on a best of list, nothing will.
Of course I'm kidding about disqualification, but the memories (even if proven false) are quite painful.
Posted by: jon | November 28, 2004 06:39 PM
~~~~
"Life in a Northern Town" - Dream Academy, (it's not that far a leap from Birdhouse in your Soul to LiaNT)
Warren Zevon - Mohammed's Radio / Lawyers, Guns,and Money / I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Ain't That Pretty at All
Stones - Under Cover of the Night
New Order - Murder
Art of Noise - Close to the Edit / Yebo!
Golden Earring - Commissar
Posted by: BumperStickerist | November 28, 2004 07:37 PM
Isn't Der Kommissar a Falco song (later remade in English by After the Fire)? Forgive me if I'm wrong.
Posted by: jon | November 28, 2004 08:00 PM
Simon and Garfunkel songs are lacking...
I Am A Rock
Sound of Silence
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
Hollies - Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress
Beethoven - Ave Maria
Posted by: Michael J | November 29, 2004 12:34 AM
You are a sick, sick woman for even trying it.....(with all due respect)
Posted by: Easycure | November 29, 2004 09:54 AM
Anything by Queen.
Posted by: Teem | November 29, 2004 02:09 PM
Some suggestions for a most interesting list (and project):
Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing
Commander Cody: Hot Rod Lincoln
Electric Prunes: Too Much to Dream
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Born on the Bayou
Posted by: EvilJuan | November 30, 2004 12:05 PM
More NRBQ! If I had to pick just one, it would be Green Lights.
I have never tired of Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over.
Tower Of Power - Only So Much Oil In The Ground
Earth Wind & Fire - September
John Prine - Hello In There
Ben Folds Five - Where's Summer B
Posted by: RC | November 30, 2004 05:18 PM
Romeo's Song - Steve Forbert
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Telegraph Road - Dire Straits
Mary Anne - Marshall Crenshaw
Someday, Someway - Marshall Crenshaw
This is Easy - Marshall Crenshaw
Posted by: Timmer | December 2, 2004 11:09 AM