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1,001 songs to listen to before you die...


Liam

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Love "Sail Away." Randy Newman during this time period was incredible, both Sail Away and Good Old Boys are great albums. It was weird listening to those in the last year and change and then getting a reminder of "I'm just singing the details of what's going on in this scene" Randy Newman when he performed his Toy Story 4 song at the Oscars this year.

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Nice. I like the so-called Krautrock in general but have never got round to listening to Faust properly. I've been meaning to for a while. Will get round to it one day.

Speaking of people I've been meaning to get into, here's Randy Newman. I already knew this song though. It's good.

Silver Machine is a lot of fun. That whooshing noise does make it sound a bit like someone's doing the hoovering as the song plays but it's a fun effect. Seeing as brought up HMV, I remember this song being a staple of practically every dadrock compiliation CD we'd sell near Father's Day when I worked there. Some of them were quite good, so we'd stick them on the CD player. More than anything else, Silver Machine - and it's weird whooshing noise - transports me back to working there.

Edited by metalman
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355.      

‘Tumbling Dice’, The Rolling Stones (1972)

Influenced by: Alimony • Ry Cooder (1970)   

Influence on: Bad Obsession • Guns N’ Roses (1991)

Covered by: Owen Gray (1973) • Linda Ronstadt (1977) • Pussy Galore (1986) • Bon Jovi (1995) • Johnny Copeland (1997) • Molly Hatchet (2000) • Barry Goldberg (2002) • Jill Johnson with Kim Carnes (2007)

A reworked version of ‘Good Time Woman’, this is a song that seemingly benefitted from different lyrics, a faster tempo and a shifting around of personnel. Keith Richards took over guitar from Mick Taylor and the pieces fell into place. The lyrics aren’t exactly the easiest to comprehend – Jagger claims they are about gambling; other things differently – but the main thing that the song has going for it is the overall groove of the guitar. I’m not overly fussed by the song as a whole, but the melody sure is catchy.

356.      

‘Thirteen’, Big Star (1972)

The product of Alex Chilton’s brief involvement with Big Star – most of these words meaning very little to me – this is a really good slice of whimsical pop that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The clarity of the guitar and the cleanness of the vocals set the scene for a song that explores ideas around relationships at junior high level. The harmonising vocals in the background help to give this song a bit more heft in places and what could have been an otherwise wanky nostalgia trip is anything but.

357.      

‘Big Eyed Beans from Venus’, Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (1972)

I wasn’t sure as to whether any more Captain Beefheart might make its way onto the list, so here we are. As a Clutch fan, there is a very Clutch-esque feeling to the delivery, though replacing the crunch with a pulsing tone that feels much more of its time. Underneath the swirling, changing music is a really hook-laden song that manages to be both weird and memorable (in a good way). It once again sees a range of different, disparate ideas thrown together to make a song, though perhaps a little bit on the tamer side than his previous effort.

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We're getting in to some stuff I absolutely love - Faust are one of my favourite bands, and I'm surprised not to have already seen a couple of other Krautrock tracks make the list; though I wouldn't complain with them being here broadly representative of the genre, and then Kraftwerk popping up later. Krautrock at its best was always intensive repetition with minor variations, and that's exactly what's going on here, without the more mechanical feel of later Faust, or Neu!.

Silver Machine is fantastic - Lemmy's contributions to Hawkwind always had a bit of a grungy, messy feel that made them a bit more rough around the edges and "heavier" than some of the more hippy-ish tracks they were doing around the same time. Silver Machine is a weird song - sort of Steppenwolf through a sci-fi filter - but has become such a classic that you almost overlook the oddness of it all.

Big Star are just lovely. They feel like a precursor of '80s/'90s indie rock more than a '70s rock band, and it's unsurprising that they're a major influence on the likes of R.E.M., just wonderful music.

I've already talked about my love of Captain Beefheart before, just fantastic stuff. This song has a groove to it that I adore.

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Yeah I'd have expected to have seen Peaches en Regalia, but I think it was released in 1970 so I guess we're past it now.

In any case...

Tumbling Dice is a really good song. Perhaps one of the last great Rolling Stones songs? Who knows. But yeah, it's really good. I love the groove, I love the backing vocals. I love feel of it.

I like Big Star and I like that album, but that song has never leapt out at me. It's fine.

I can appreciate Captain Beefheart's music and I understand why people admire it. I can't say I really find it fun though, and I rarely listen to it. But that song's cool, Clear Spot is a decent album and the Magic Band - particularly the drummer - were some great musicians.

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Zappa features on 1001 Albums to Listen to Before You Die multiple times (Freak Out!, We're Only In It For the Money, Hot Rats) so I guess they just figured his stuff was better listened to as whole albums rather than isolated songs.

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After many, many years of not caring about the Stones at all, I once decided to try and look into their discography and see if there were some songs I liked. I've heard a few songs from every album and noticed I actually liked some of them. At the time, Exile on Main St was one of the albums that passed the test. One of the songs I liked was this one. Rocks Off and Rip This Joint were also cool. Simple but cool. I enjoyed them. Since then, I grew out of that sense of curiosity that made me investigate the Rolling Stones music and I haven't listened to them in a while. I still like the song, though.

 

Big Star is different. While also something I can't say I've enjoyed my whole life, at some point, already in my 30s, I started liking the style and still listen to them on occasion. I really like their first two albums. Thirteen, though, is probably the song I like the least out of them all. I just find it boring. Perhaps because I already knew it before I even listened to anything remotely similar to this and found it boring back then?

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Ah, I love "Thirteen." I think I came upon it at about the right time in my life that it really landed with me, and I think it threads the needle well of being sentimental without being really obvious. Kind of hits me in the same place Boyhood hit me, being about the fringes of adolescence and not trying to overreach or ascribe some major importance to it.

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10 hours ago, metalman said:

I can appreciate Captain Beefheart's music and I understand why people admire it. I can't say I really find it fun though, and I rarely listen to it. But that song's cool, Clear Spot is a decent album and the Magic Band - particularly the drummer - were some great musicians.

I think I mentioned the first time Beefheart came up, but I hung out with the drummer, John French, after seeing the Magic Band live a few years back. Since they reformed, he alternates between drumming and doing lead vocals, as he has a pretty spot-on Beefheart impression.

I've met a few old rock star types that have been really strung out and basically so burned out on drink and drugs that you can't get a coherent sentence out of them. When I had the opportunity to meet Drumbo, I was pretty convinced that anyone who had been with Captain Beefheart on-and-off since he was a teenager would be much the same, and almost backed out of it. When I first saw him, he shook my hand really firmly and held eye contact for a long time and I thought, "Oh fuck, here we go". 

Then everything else he said was just like chatting to a kid after their band has played their first ever gig; he wanted to know how I thought the gig went, what my favourite songs were, and was really apologetic that they didn't get to play the set he wanted, so I found myself telling one of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band what I used to tell young bands I booked - the audience don't know what you meant to play, they only know what you did play, so don't worry about it.

Yoshimi, the drummer from Boredoms (and also inspiration for Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots"), had told him earlier that day that he was her favourite drummer, and he was just genuinely gleeful about it, he told me and then just went "HOW COOL IS THAT?!". 

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358.      

‘Rocket Man’, Elton John (1972)

Influenced by: Rocket Man • Pearls Before Swine (1970)   

Influence on: 1st Man in Space • All Seeing I  (1999)

Covered by: Kate Bush (1991) • Hank Marvin (1993) • The Nixons (1998) • Angie Aparo (2002) • Carl Dixon (2003)

I unashamedly love Elton John’s singles. The mixture of his melodies and Bernie Taupin’s lyrics are just golden for me and ‘Rocket Man’ is up there amongst his best I feel. At a time when people were excited by the idea of space travel, this very mundane existence that is painted by John is definitely an interesting take. Inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story, it grounds things in the everyday in a way which juxtaposes effectively with the narrative. The harmonising, the twangy guitars and John’s vocals create a great slice of pop music that still sounds good to this day.

359.      

‘Mama Weer All Crazy Now’, Slade (1972)

Influenced by: L-O-N-D-O-N • Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends (1970)   

Influence on: Rock and Roll All Nite • Kiss (1975)   

Covered by: James Last (1973) • The Runaways (1978) • Mama’s Boys (1984) • Quiet Riot (1984) • The Oppressed (2001) • Reel Big Fish (2009)

As someone who only know Slade as a novelty Christmas act, this is at least a chance to hear what they were capable of when we were outside of the month of December. It is probable that I’d already heard it, but it didn’t really stick with me that time if I had. This is a driving, lively rock song and Slade were apparently an amazing live act, something that I can entirely imagine. However, when you think about what came – looking at the influence on list brings up Kiss – it just feels a little bit small time to me in a way that perhaps it shouldn’t, but it just does.

Worth noting that Youtube auto-played ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ next, so maybe I know a bit more Slade than I realised. I’m not particularly fussed by that song either. I get their appeal, just not for me.

360.      

‘Rocky Mountain High’, John Denver (1972)

Ah, my childhood. My Mum, not a noted music fan at all, was really into John Denver and this is up there with my favourite tracks by him. The book calls him one of the ‘blandest’ of the male 70s superstars and it is hard to argue against that. Between the lyrical content and the simple folksy country backing, it doesn’t do anything that excites – but it just sticks with me in a way that other songs just haven’t. This ode to the Colorado and the beauty of nature invites a singalong; sometimes songs don’t have to be earthshattering to be enjoyed.

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I never really cared so much for Rocket Man, or Elton John at all. But I listened again fairly recently and there are a lot of cool things going on. That little crying noise at 1:26 and 2:06. The lovely retro ARP synth from 2:15 onwards (which is the best part of the song for me), the slide guitar at 3:05 and 3:18. These little bits are wonderful. I think this song deserves to be here.

James Last covered Slate? Goodness me. Slade were nothing special, but they made a great noise, and Cum On Feel the Noise is a brilliant little racket and a hell of a lot of fun. It definitely deserves to be there over this one, which is a bit lumpen and plodding.

I don't think I know any John Denver, except from that one, obviously. This Rocky Mountain High is a nice little song though, based on my first listen.. I love James Taylor, so maybe that means I should like John Denver too, but John Denver seems a bit wussy in a way that James Taylor isn't.😕

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I really like "Rocket Man." One of those songs I don't really want in my music library but I'm always down to hear it if it's playing somewhere else. Kind of the way I feel about Elton John as a whole, though if I found a copy of Madman Across the Water at a cheap enough price at a used CD store I'd probably go for it.

I've always been kind of annoyed by Slade's "here's the song titles but we're spelling them WEIIIIIIIIIIRD" thing. I bet I wouldn't have minded it as much if I were around then but now it just reminds me of days past on message boards I'd rather forget. "Cum On Feel the Noize" is a great song, though.

I think in terms of what I associate John Denver with it's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," then the stuff he did with the Muppets, and then this. He's definitely a really mild personality from everything I've seen of him, it feels like to some extent he probably lucked out coming around in the AM Gold era.

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361.      

‘The Night’, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (1972)

With all of the components that could provide uplifting and joyful songs about love, it is quite interesting to hear a Valli and the Four Seasons song that tackles a break up instead. As well as being lyrically interesting, the harmonising actually adds a slightly haunting tone to the overall package as it makes everything seem that touch more dramatic.  I don’t have much more to say – it is a well put together song that makes the most of its component parts.

362.      

‘Reelin’ In The Years’, Steely Dan (1972)

I’m sure I’ve heard some Steely Dan in my years, yet not something I can pick out of a lineup. The introduction and the tone of the song clash somewhat for me, as the initial guitar sets you up for a rock and roll song, yet they provide a pop song with guitars. That’s not a knock on them at all, but it is just not quite what you might be expecting. The solo in the middle is the main nod – outside of the introduction – to this being a born and bred rock song, and it does the job. The chorus is an ear worm, though it just doesn’t really do much for me in the grand scheme of things. Perfectly decent; no more, no less.

363.      

‘Always On My Mind’, Elvis Presley (1972)

I believe my first introduction to this song was the Pet Shop Boys cover that I personally always enjoyed. This feels placed on the list primarily for its significance as the curtain began to come down on Presley’s rebirth in the public conscious. I mean, it is a fine song, but to me it isn’t anything overly special just because Elvis is singing it. The orchestration and vocal delivery are both good, I’ll give it that much.

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On 27/05/2020 at 20:35, GoGo Yubari said:

Zappa features on 1001 Albums to Listen to Before You Die multiple times (Freak Out!, We're Only In It For the Money, Hot Rats) so I guess they just figured his stuff was better listened to as whole albums rather than isolated songs.

Those are probably the three I would choose. Though I really like Chungas Revenge. 

I have that Steely Dan album, it was my dads. I best remember that song from an old NBA vhs where it showed basketball from the 50s-70s.

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