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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Funny, I thought they hit senility years ago.
Assuming these were all post-1967 (after all, we're talking 40th anniversary here):
Judy Collins -- Both Sides Now
Leonard Cohen -- Suzanne
Crosby, Stills, and Nash - (pick one)
Eric Clapton - Layla
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
No Clash? "London Calling" doesn't make the top 40? Granted, the Sex Pistols are there, but come on... I'd consider the Clash far more influential...
Although I agree that pre-rock songs should be included on the list ("Rocket 88," anyone?) I was still shocked at how little I disagreed with the list. Did Rolling Stone pay Christgau, Marcus and Marsh under the table?
Just about all eras and styles were accounted for. Even the Britney choice made sense -- when you consider that the world can be changed for the worse. Unfortunately, pop music today still molds itself on the Britney/N'Synch template. While contemporary rock breaks almost no new ground.
My only suggested changes:
1) Bowie -- replace "Ziggy" with "Space Oddity." When the latter was first released in '69 and again in '72 it sounded like nothing else.
2) Zeppelin -- Can't believe "Whole Lotta Love" is on the list, but "Stairway" isn't.
3) Joni Mitchell -- The Eagles' "Take it Easy" is much more emblematic of the '70s mellow-California style than even the best of Joni's output.
3) Queen -- "Bohemian Raphsody" wasn't that popular until it was revived by "Wayne's World" 15 years after it was first released. For a song that opened up possibilities for meat-n-potatoes '70s rock, I would choose Tom Petty's "American Girl."
4) The Cure -- Glad to see English Gloom and Doom represented. But New Order's "Blue Monday" was far more influential.
Rolling Stone mag nowadays is about as germane as..... zzzzzzz...
Sorry, nodded off there. That's how strongly they hold my interest anymore.
But still, a fun passtime, so I'll bite. Here's 10 I pulled off the top of my head:
-- "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and the Comets: Honestly people, is this that hard?
-- "Radio Free Europe," by R.E.M.: semi-officially introduced the college radio scene to the rest of us
-- "Rock Lobster," by the B-52's: from the album that inspired John Lennon to get back into the studio to record Double Fantasy
-- "Head Like a Hole," by Nine Inch Nails: adds Angst as a silent partner to Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n Roll
-- "Stayin' Alive," by the Bee Gees: on the downside, they brought us John Travolta
-- "Born to be Wild," by Steppenwolf: Heavy Metal is born
-- "Enter Sandman," by Metallica: Metal goes mainstream
-- "Another Brick in the Wall," by Pink Floyd: from the mother of all concept albums
-- "Sexual Harrassment in the Workplace," by Frank Zappa: the birth (re-birth) of the nerd guitar god
-- "Caring is Creepy," by The Shins: this song will change your life! ;-)
Blitzkrieg Bop?
Sorry, Mr. M, but this is a white baby boomer's list. You can tell by the eager-to-impress, yet not-quite-hip token choices: the Stripes (the third record = the one RS finally noticed), Black Flag (is "TV Party" the proto-alternative choice? Cos it's goofy? "Nervous Breakdown" or even the hoary-but-potent "Rise Above" are much more representative of the Flag catalog), and Dr. Dre (love how RS goes with the ingratiating shorthand "Dre").
I understand that a list of "songs that changed the world" is going to have even more obvious choices than the typical Rolling Stone bagjob, but in Jann-land, the world was evidently called into being around 1955 (and I bet even including music from the 50s must be killing him inside). And I also get that there was a period from roughly 1964-1972 wherein - more or less - anything went, as far as rock expression/experimentation, so this era will always need to have heavy representation.
But I also know that any list without Louis Armstrong can kiss my ass. Ditto to Woody Guthrie (good call, Mr. M). Really good arguments ought to be made for Rhythim is Rhythim's "Strings of Life," Schooly D's "PSK," something from the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP, Neu!'s "Hallogallo," Minor Threat's "Out of Step," and about a hundred others. But krautrock doesn't really push the tequila, I guess.
I've got to go with something by the Beach Boys over Britney. Good Vibrations is a watershed, but Don't Worry Baby is one of the purest shots of bliss to hit the airwaves, and single-handedly invented Power Pop. And although it's minor, Barbara Ann did coin an entire foreign policy. For What It's Worth, as they say.
Maybe it's just me, but the only thing this song inspire me towards is humming the school boy version involving ownership of a shotgun...
Maybe it's my Gen X lack of historical perspective, but I just don't see how this song is truly that important. Maybe if you were a 60s flower child, but for the rest of us... it's just drivel and fodder for parody from schoolchildren.
It's hard to imagine a list of this nature without including a song from Carol King's Tapestry which, for years, was the biggest selling album of all time and which elevated the female singer/songwriter to new heights. I'd pick "I Feel the Earth Move" as the best one for this narrow list.
"Rocket 88" - pretty much the first rock n roll song ever.
But how come the "most influential songs" all come from the last 50+ years or so?
Let's face facts: it was Glenn Miller and Bennie Goodman who provided the popular soundtrack to the most pivotal era in modern American history. The G.I.s who stormed the beaches at Normandy weren't listening to Elvis or Bob Dylan or the Clash on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Once again, the boomers over-estimate their importance in history.
I have to agree with pbrown. Patti Smith has got to be on the list. otherwise it is crap. You can argue lots of other artists, but she had the most influential debut album of all time.
I hate to say it, but there is a BeeGees song that should probably be on the list. It may not have been a good influence, but it left a huge footprint.
There should be a few Vietnam era protest songs. Music made a difference back then.
Spears? Please!
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
