I also like lists...duh. Top 10 lists are a favorite of mine.
Like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, a recurring top-ten list and my love of music are two great tastes that taste great together. Also, I freaking LOVE Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Maybe even a little more than top-ten lists.
When I feel the whim, I shall post a 10FTW list here for artists that have at least 10 songs I enjoy listening to. The songs don't have to be their most popular or represent the artist's creative zenith; just their best as determined by my two ears. It doesn't matter how big of a hit the song may have been; if I don't like it or am sick of hearing it, it's probably not going to make the list. Immediate example: "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Huge hit for them? Check. Enabled them to acquire a more mainstream audience than they previously had enjoyed? Check. Iconic (for some) in the annals of popular music history? Check checkity check check check. That said, the first milliseconds of the opening riff results in my changing the radio station immediately. If this 'classic' comes on in someone else's car, I'll take my chances with a good ol' tuck and roll. If I'm in a store and this atrocity is forced upon the masses, you'll spot me running out of it it like I'm an incredibly confused contestant on Supermarket Sweep.
What to choose for a first 10FTW? The options are limitless, so let's go with an act that's timeless (and insanely hard for me to commit only 10 songs to). And these are not in any intended order.
There are at least another 10 songs that deserve a spot on this list - Paperback Writer, In My Life, Eleanor Rigby, Glass Onion...I could go on. It's probably more like 20. The selections above just hit me in all the right spots - musically, lyrically, emotionally. The Fab Four changed the game when they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in front of a captive American audience, hungry for something new, fresh, and exciting. They then spent the remainder of the Sixties reinventing the art of production, reimagining song structures, and redefining the sound of popular music. Millions of words have been written about the band, but it's the words and music John, Paul, George and Ringo wrote that will forever resonate with me and generation after generation that discovers their historical output.
No comments:
Post a Comment