50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, Part 5

Podcast Link | Format: MP3 | Duration: 1 Hour

The higher we climb, the stranger the view….
For the past four weeks, we’ve been ‘counting up’ a list entitled “50 Albums that Changed Music”, as compiled by the London Observer. There have been a fair number of selections that we disagreed with on this list, but our biggest objection now revolves around the entire concept; Since they allow each artist to appear only once (probably in the name of diversity), the list is irreparably skewed away from the most influential artists (only one Beatles album?) Nevertheless, today’s entries appear to be fairly well-chosen. I can’t say I agree with each choice (especially considering who is missing from the list (no Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin?), but there is little doubt that each of these entries changed music one way or another. Here is a list of the artists/albums covered in today’s show;

34) Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
35) The Ramones – The Ramones
36) The Who – My Generation
37) Massive Attack – Blue Lines
38) Radiohead – The Bends
39) Michael Jackson – Thriller
40) Run DMC – Run DMC
41) Chic – Chic
42) The Smiths – The Smiths

50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, Part 4

50 Albums that Changed Music, Part 4

On we go, starting the second half of our countdown of the London Observer’s list of “50 Albums that Changed Music.” Interestingly, we have few arguments with their choices for this section of the list (except perhaps their position – shouldn’t Jimi Hendrix have appeared higher on the list?). I certainly agree with the inclusion of each of the American artists that appear here. Even the Eurocentric choices are mostly spot-on, although I doubt many Americans would include the Stone Roses on any list such as this. Nevertheless, here are the albums that we cover in today’s show. A good time is guaranteed for all!
25) Jamrs Brown – Live at the Apollo
26) Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
27) Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced?
28) Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
29) Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
30) The Wailers – Catch a Fire
31) The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
32) Otis Redding – Otis Blue
33) Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters

50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, Part 3

50 Albums that Changed Music, Part 3

This week, we continue our exploration of The London Observer’s list of “Fifty Albums that Changed Music,” and we can hardly believe our eyes (or our ears). To be blunt, are they serious????
Up until now, I had a few disagreements with the Observer’s choices (placing Kraftwerk’s “Trans Euro Express” at #3 is laughable), but at this point, their list moves from the occasionally sublime to the utterly ridiculous. Things start off well enough with today’s show, but at #21, they throw in a curveball that sails right over my head…and out of the ballpark. What right-thinking adult human being would praise the Spice Girls for their influence on pop music? I can only presume that their point was to convey how present day pop music contains an unhealthy amount of formulaic product disguised as music, but is that innovative or influential? Furthermore, why single out the Spice Girls, when there were dozens of other bands that pre-dated them, and lasted longer (ever hear of the Monkees, for instance??)?
The most maddening aspect of the Spice Girls appearance on this list? When you consider who is NOT anywhere on their list of 50 influential albums…like, the Rolling Stones, fer instance. How can you take them seriously if they place the Spice Girls ahead of Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown? And no Rolling Stones? None????? Even if you HATE the Rolling Stones, you cannot deny that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are genetically perfect rock stars, providing the look and the attitude that influenced virtually every music act in their wake. So, with their credibility seriously shaken, and with a renewed resolve to compile my OWN list of “50 Albums that Changed Music”, here is the continuation of our presentation of the Observer’s list, starting at…
16) Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
17) The Stooges – Raw Power
18) The Clash – London Calling
19) Mary J. Blige – What’s the 411?
20) The Byrds – Sweethearts of the Rodeo
21) The Spice Girls – Spice
22) Kate Bush – The Hounds of Love
23) Augustus Pablo – King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
24) Youssou N’Dour – Immigres

50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, Part 2

50 Albums that Changed Music, Part 2

With today’s show, we continue with our run-through of the London Observer’s list of “Fifty Albums that Changed Music.” A couple of albums that we covered last week gave us cause to pause, but this week’s entries don’t have us scratching our heads in wonder. In fact, I’d say that each of these albums would have made our own list of the 50 most influential albums, with perhaps one exception (I’ll leave it to you to decide which album that is….or you could listen to the show and find out!
Here’s a list of the albums covered in today’s program;
8) Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
9) Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley
10) The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
11) David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
12) Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
13) Frank Sinatra – Songs for Swingin’ Lovers
14) Joni Mitchell – Blue
15) Brian Eno – Discreet Music

50 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MUSIC, PART 1

50 Albums that Changed Music, Part 1

Why is it that Western culture is obsessed with lists? If something can be categorized, rated, and arranged, we do it. I personally am incredibly guilty of this, and even though I’m aware of its inherent worthlessness, I just cannot be stopped. Since I wrote the book “American Hit Radio” (which is essentially a list of my favorite 600 pop songs), the number one question that people ask me is, “Name your top ten favorite songs of all time.” That’s an impossible task, and even if I could do it, the list would need to be changed every other day, so why bother?
I blame this obsession with lists on the way that Western culture operates. In the workplace, all of us have become a gigantic horde of pencil-pushers and number-crunchers, analyzing and organizing information into quantifiable lists so we may determine a better way to make a profit from something that we do not manufacture. Since it is our collective job to analyze information all day long, it’s only natural that we apply these same tendencies to our leisure time.
For some reason or another, it seems that the English are especially obsessed with list-making, especially when it comes to matters of music. In the past few years, I have encountered lists in English magazines that attempt to compile the best music from every decade since the fifties, the most important artists for the same, and another that allegedly compiles the best albums of all time. All of these lists are by definition incredibly subjective, and because Englishmen and women have compiled them, they are also very Euro-centric, with a heavy British slant.
The latest and perhaps not greatest of these lists appeared recently in ‘The Observer,” a popular British magazine that could be considered their version of ‘Time’ magazine. This list attempts to compile the fifty most influential albums of all time (which is to say in the past fifty some-odd years, since long-playing albums first came into existence in the mid-fifties) or as the heading puts it, “The Fifty Albums that Changed Music.” Looking it over, I noticed that I had an opinion about virtually every single entry; occasionally I agreed, and at other times I was horrified by what I saw. For example, they actually include a Human League album on their list (I told you it was Euro-centric…), and another by LFO, whoever they are…
For today’s show, we thought it might be fun to count ‘up’ their list of the most influential and vent our own opinions along the way. Feel free to join in and yell along with us as we play and discuss the following albums, in the order of their alleged importance and/or relevance to the condition of contemporary music;
1) The Velvet Underground and Nico (the ‘Banana’ Album)
2) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
3) Kraftwerk – Trans-Euro Express
4) NWA – Straight Outta Compton
5) Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers
6) Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
7) Patti Smith – Horses
...to be continued