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

[Hobo]

On 25/05/2020 at 17:54, Liam said:

Sail Away’, Randy Newman (1972)

I struggle a little to take Randy Newman seriously after he was joked about on Family Guy many, many years ago. It is probably a little bit harsh, especially as Family Guy isn’t particularly funny. What that looked to knock was Newman’s style mainly as he got older, whilst it undermined work such as this. What seems a very positive song if you don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics turns out to be a song about slavery. The clash of tone versus lyrical content is really effective, even utilising a racial slur to drive home the real message. A thought provoking song, that’s for sure.

I adore Randy Newman.

As I recall, Randy Newman was pretty bewildered by the Family Guy parody as isn't really even a decent parody of even his later work. Sail Away is fairly representative of the best of Randy Newman as a songwriter away from his soundtrack work. It's one of more earnest songs. There's so much humor (a lot of it satirical) in his work. He always returns to topics like race, wealth inequality, politics and sometimes he just writes a song about how he likes The Electric Light Orchestra.

[VerbalPuke]

4 hours ago, Skummy said:

100%! I love Jacques Brel, love Alex Harvey, and it's a perfect combination of the two.

Scott Walker is one of my favourite artists ever, but his Brel covers tend to be over-produced and a bit too crooner-y - the increasing desperation and insanity in Harvey's voice is perfect for Brel. His version of "Delilah" is superb for similar reasons.

Another great list for me, really - Jolene is superb, and 20th Century Boy is (as I think I've mentioned before) my favourite T-Rex song.

Agreed on 20th Century Boy, it's the song that got me into T. Rex. I love Bolans guitar work in this song. Very cool song, actually first heard it in Detroit Rock City (go figure that a movie about Kiss got me into them and the Ramones).

I only know a bit of Alex Harvey but like what I've heard. My dad is a fan and is where I first heard his music. Actually my dad turned me on to T. Rex, Bowie, Alex Harvey, Mott the Hoople, the Dolls, and recently Slade. Never really thought of it but he's big into that early glam sound it would seem.

[Bobfoc]

Steve Priest, bassist and vocalist from The Sweet, died yesterday.

[Liam]

379.      

‘Rock On’, David Essex (1973)

Apparently, this song – written by Essex – was played to Jeff Wayne by tapping it out on a wastepaper basket. With that sound in mind, he produced a tune that relied on percussive slapping and notes rather than chords. It makes for a very interesting song that sounds very unlike what has been on the list around here. Throwing in some almost atonal guitar alongside Essex’s every so slightly whiny vocals and this is aurally intriguing. It wasn’t used for its initial purpose, a theme tune to the film ‘That’ll Be The Day’, but it took risks perhaps beyond that which you might expect of a film soundtrack song.

380.      

‘Search and Destroy’, Iggy & The Stooges (1973)

Another step along the path to the punk movement, this was Iggy and the Stooges at a point where they’d largely been given up on by record labels. Columbia, who released the ‘Raw Power’ album that this song was cut from weren’t a big fan of the record as a whole, but it was probably more influential than it was designed to sell units. Driven forward by the rhythm section and accompanied by riffs that sound almost metallic in nature, Pop completed his vocals in one take.  There is something unhinged about the delivery, playing well into the anger and frustration that he was liable to be feeling having been almost passed by. A powerful opening tune.

381.      

‘Desperado’, Eagles (1973)

I’ll be honest with you – I’ve never wanted to listen to Eagles. There was an ‘American-ness’ about them that just didn’t interest me and I don’t think they were as successful over here (obviously, I could be entirely wrong here). A narrative about an outlaw trying to find his place in society plays into everything that I just didn’t really care for. It is perfectly fine as a song, yet it leaves me still with no desire to delve any further into their back catalogue. A big old meh from me.

[METALMAN]

I remember being quite surprised the first time I heard that David Essex song. I'd always thought he was the kind of pop star for the teenage girls to love. Indeed, that's always the impression I got from my mum, who was into David Essex along with the likes of T. rex and David Bowie when she was a kid. But Rock On isn't what you'd expect a teen idol to be singing. It's kind of weird. I'm not sure if I like it, but it's definitely interesting.

Search and Destroy is great. Most of the songs on Raw Power aren't really good enough to overcome that album's appalling production, but Search and Destroy is such a good song that it almost makes the production work for it.

Oh the Eagles. Take It Easy is amazing (although done better by Jackson Browne), Boys of Summer by Don Henley is brilliant and Joe Walsh has had a few good songs. And their first album has some decent moments, I guess. Desperado though? Desperado is boring. I remember in my music classes at school all the boring people would play Desperado on the piano, in the same way they'd play Mad World by those two boring cunts or that Thousand Miles song. Desperado is one of those songs. It's dreck.

Edited June 6, 2020 by metalman

[VerbalPuke]

Raw Power is one of the greatest albums of all-time. That's a screamer of an album, great from top to bottom. Hard to argue Search and Destroy since it's the opener and everybody's covered it. I think it's their best work, it literally is raw power. 

[Malenko]

Second time we see the stooges n this list, I believe? I like every album from them, even the weirdness that is... The weirdness, but Raw Power is definitely my number 1. There was no question this was going to be the song they'd pick because it was by far the most successful song in terms of sales, although it wouldn't be my personal pick. I like it but not as much as others. 

[VerbalPuke]

5 hours ago, Malenko said:

Second time we see the stooges n this list, I believe? I like every album from them, even the weirdness that is... The weirdness, but Raw Power is definitely my number 1. There was no question this was going to be the song they'd pick because it was by far the most successful song in terms of sales, although it wouldn't be my personal pick. I like it but not as much as others. 

Yeah, I'd be thinking You're Pretty Face is going to hell, Raw Power, or Penetration. 

[Liam]

382.      

‘Child’s Christmas in Wales’, John Cale (1973)

I really didn’t know what to expect with this, between the title and Cale’s associations with the Velvet Underground. I don’t think it was this. With a title shared with a Dylan Thomas memoir, the lyrics are tell a fairly elusive narrative with some organ giving it a touch of a Christmas feel and a slide guitar that makes it slightly more interesting than it otherwise might have been. There is nothing ostensibly bad with this, it just doesn’t really do much for me. As a singer, Cale has nothing going on personally that I find interesting.

383.      

‘Solid Air’, John Martyn (1973)

A song inspired by Nick Drake, this is drenched in a dark and melancholic mood from the opening. Martyn’s vocals are the very definition of drawling, but it is that edge and interest that I found to be lacking on the previous track. There is sparse instrumentation allowing the vocals and the lyrics, still largely understandable even with Martyn’s style, to do most of the work. The book talks about Martyn straddling folk/rock and this song does highlight that for me; the singer songwriter style playing into the folkier aspect, whilst the edgier tone more rock in nature. Perhaps it helps that I like Nick Drake, but yeah, I like this song.

384.      

‘I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), Genesis (1973)

I have a friend who is a huge Genesis fans and swears by a lot of their work, yet I’ve only ever heard most of their chart friendly hits. Apparently this came about from some messing around during rehearsals, serving as light relief from the long, multi-part epics that they were creating. Underneath it all, alongside some of the proggier elements, is a good pop song, one that speaks more to Genesis as I know them. Electric sitar and Mellotron gives the song some of its more interesting aural elements and the whole things feels very playful throughout.

[METALMAN]

Oh I like all of these ones. Solid Air really carries this incredible, smoky atmosphere. It's not a special song by itself, but the feel and the instrumentation are incredible.

And that's one of the few Peter Gabriel era Genesis songs where I can actually recall the tune. It's good fun.

[GoGo Yubari]

I prefer the title track off of Paris 1919 to "Child's Christmas in Wales," personally. John Cale's singing voice (which he didn't really use much with the Velvets) always sounds a bit like your history professor's having a go at singing, so it fits really well in a song like that.

[Liam]

385.      

‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, Slade (1973)

Influenced by: Revolution • The Beatles (1968)   

Influence on: Come on Feel the Illinoise • Sufjan Stevens (2005)   

Covered by: Quiet Riot (1983) • One Way System (1983) • The Glitter Band (1996) • Oasis (1996) • Bran Van 3000 (1997)

Some more Slade for your lugholes. I think I can safely say that I prefer this to their first offering on the list of ‘Mama Weer All Crazy Now’. Maybe I do brush them off a bit too much as a novelty as this is a pretty good slice of pop rock and they did have more hits than I perhaps give them credit for. This feels very lowest common denominator, but that is the appeal – shout along and clap your hands and make a lot of noise. As I said before, I get the appeal even if it isn’t entirely for me.

386.      

‘Living for the City’, Stevie Wonder (1973)

Influenced by: Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) • Marvin Gaye (1971)   Influence on: The Message • Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1982)   Covered by: Ike & Tina Turner (1974) • Ray Charles (1975) • Bonnie Tyler (1978)

This project offers up some interesting songs with regards to my own personal listening, as it draws attention to songs that are not as ‘big’ in the oeuvre of some big name acts. I guess this probably is a bigger song if you were already a Wonder fan, and it does sound vaguely familiar, but this politics-driven narrative isn’t really in keeping with a lot of what Wonder is remembered for by music fans at large. At least, as far as I am aware. The music sounds a little dated – the synthesizer in particular – but the tale of a man moving to New York and facing the difficulties of life in the big city as a black man showcases Wonder’s talent for singing, production and so much more. He is someone that has come out of this project in a much more positive light for me as it has helped to spotlight how talented he was.

387.      

‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’, Ann Peebles (1973)

Soulful and somewhat timeless in sound, Peebles’ song came about in the time before a concert in which she voiced her disdain for the falling rain. The song gets in, does its job, and gets out. Blares and blasts of trumpet add a bit of noise to proceedings, but the star of the show is Peebles’ voice. I wouldn’t argue that it was amongst the greatest, but it definitely has a mellowness that works wonderfully for this song.

[METALMAN]

I can't believe how many of these songs I don't know. I mean, I know the first two obvs but I've never heard of Ann Peebles or that song. At first listen, it's fine, it's a good song but I might need to listen to it a few more times to work out what it's doing here.

I love Cum On Feel the Noize. I'm not a huge fan of glam rock. The music that T-Rex, David Bowie, Slade and many more less notable acts were pumping out in the glam rock era was largely plodding, unimaginative and melodically and harmonically stunted. Visually colourful, musically monochrome. COFTN is one of the few songs to transcend that. It's just a lot of fun.

Living for the City is great and Innervisions is probs my favourite Stevie Wonder album. For what's worth I love those early 70s analogue synthesisers. I guess the main reason it might sound dated is because we moved onto digital synthesisers pretty quickly but there's nothing quick like a nice analogue Moog.

 

[apsham]

Is it controversial to say I greatly prefer the Quiet Riot version of Noize?

[METALMAN]

I guess that was the one you'd have first heard in North America? It's barely known here. I just listened to remind myself of it and I don't mind it. It's similar to the original but a bit more beefed up and 80s. Maybe it verges a bit too close to hair metal but me to be entirely comfortable with it. And the drums are too loud.

Edited June 10, 2020 by metalman

[apsham]

I must have heard it a thousand times over because it was for sure the version that was in GTA: Vice City and I don't think I really knew it wasn't their song originally for a very long time, and before reading this post today I had forgotten again that it wasn't and was kind of confused when I didn't hear those heavy drums.

[Bobfoc]

Quiet Riot had a thing for covering Slade songs. It caused William Regal to try to beat up their lead singer on a radio show.

[apsham]

2 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

Quiet Riot had a thing for covering Slade songs. It caused William Regal to try to beat up their lead singer on a radio show.

I just looked this up and what the fuck.

[Liam]

388.      

‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, Elton John (1973)

I am a big fan of what I know of Elton John’s catalogue, though I hadn’t properly heard this until I bought his Diamond collection of singles. It is weird to not have heard this until then, but I also don’t think – based on a lot of reading around – that John was always the best when it came to albums. ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ might be different as it is supposedly a good album, whilst I can definitely vouch that I think the song itself is a strong offering. There are elements that feel somewhat psychedelic as well as fantastical, playing into the Wizard of Oz reference, whilst the lyrics speak to the rejection of a former lover – something I hadn’t realised until now. The little touches are just that, little, but they create a good pop song.

389.      

‘Future Days’, Can (1973)

I’ve never even heard of Can, so sticking a nine minute song in front of me could have really gone anywhere. This is all about delayed gratification and layers as it builds up over time, taking what feels like an age to get going but slowly adding elements that build to quite a chilled out overall tone. Unlike some other songs on the list, the vocals are really not intended to stand out above and beyond the instruments, which allows the playful nature of the melody be the focal point for long sections. I like it, yet I don’t necessarily feel that I like nine minutes of it…or at least I’m not sure I do. Your mileage may vary on this one.

390.      

‘Essiniya’, Nass El Ghiwane (1974)

This is another song that feels like it is here as much for its historical significance as for any specific musical leap forward. Nass El Ghiwane were a band who were likened to being Morocco’s Rolling Stones. Having mixed Southern Moroccan musical influences with lyrics that made them interesting to Northern African music fans, they released this song which was very controversial. Unlike the custom of the time, they refused to include any lyrics that praised the King. The percussive nature of African music often creates something that is listenable, though this song has lesser meaning for me due to time and place, I feel.

[METALMAN]

I love Can. Your mind might wander a bit when you listen to their interminable grooves, but that's kind of the point. Get lost in it or read a book or look out the window while it's going on. Can are like the cricket. You don't need to be there for the whole thing but it's nice to dip in and out of.