Jump to content

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


Liam

Recommended Posts

Never heard that Uptown Top Ranking tune before but it's very good. The vocals are amazing.

I really need to go through this thread again and check everything out. I ended up buying that Gil-Scott Herron album because I liked the song so much. The whole album is great and he has some good stuff after if anybody wants to further explore.

Currently digging more Althea and Donna.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm like "this is good but not great" with a lot Kate Bush and "Wuthering Heights" fits that bill for sure. I listen to it and go "oh this is pretty good" and then proceed to just not listen to it again until it pops up on shuffle. I know some people absolutely idolize her but I haven't been able to cross over into that group quite yet.

"Uptown Top Ranking" is so really smooth of a song. Like it feels as if it was done in the first take. Great stuff.

Plenty of good music on that recent list I haven't had a chance to give a proper listen to either, which I'll be checking out over the next day or two. But yes, I did want to come here to post my feelings on Kate Bush. An artist who by any conceivable metric I should love but I don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I Feel Love is my second favorite song of all time. It is transcendent. A lot of Donna Summers early records, in particular I Feel Love, are the birthplace of dance music as we know it today.

I have posted this before, but house music (and really all dance music post 1977) was influenced by its origins. House music is short for bathhouse music. Bathhouses are saunas where gay men go to fuck. What we know of today is house music was created so people can fuck. Donna Summers and other artists (disco, house, Hi NRG artists) were the sounds of the bathhouse.  It was performative; you needed to be able to fuck so it had to be repetitive, it needed a groove, and the vocals and singing was not the focal point but persistent. It needed to feel dirty and it needed to sound raw. Your lyrics needed to gravitate towards irony. Donna Summers can sing that she feels love, but everyone else wanted sex. Love was fine. Release was key and the goal. Get your audience off.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I Feel Love is good but I always preferred this one:

 

11 minutes ago, damsher hatfield said:

I'm like "this is good but not great" with a lot Kate Bush and "Wuthering Heights" fits that bill for sure. I listen to it and go "oh this is pretty good" and then proceed to just not listen to it again until it pops up on shuffle. I know some people absolutely idolize her but I haven't been able to cross over into that group quite yet.

 

I'm the same. I should like Kate Bush but I only ever really liked Running Up That Hill. And the Futureheads cover of Hounds of Love : / 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, metalman said:

I Feel Love is good but I always preferred this one:

 

This song is also amazing and also super instrumental to the development of dance and house music. How audacious. She was an icon.

Have you heard Donna Summers compilation The Dance Collection? It compiles all her twelve inches around that time and it is just 50 minutes of bliss. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, damsher hatfield said:

But yes, I did want to come here to post my feelings on Kate Bush. An artist who by any conceivable metric I should love but I don't.

I like some of Kate Bush's songs, but something that I struggle with is this perception that she's on some sort of godly creative plane. I think some of it comes from the fact that she doesn't do many interviews, which has lent itself to the common notion that she's a tortured genius. From the few interviews she has given, she just seems like a fairly normal person who likes having a private life.

My brother's ex-girlfriend said that Kate Bush was her idol, but she later admitted that she didn't know any of her songs. I think there are some people who just think that claiming to like her makes you quirky.

This isn't really Kate Bush's fault, though. I think she's a good singer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Kate Bush, but Wuthering Heights is silly. Impressive, interesting, but far from her best work. It feels like the artist distilled to her purest form, which is rarely what you actually want, you want some outside, guiding influences. Undeniably unique, though.

"Holidays In The Sun" was written after the Pistols were booked to play in Jersey, but were banned from performing and ended up stuck on the ferry. It's a decent song, but don't really know why it's made this list alongside two other Pistols tracks.

"Uptown Top Ranking" is lovely. I can't really explain why, but I love it. I first became aware of it through the very odd Black Box Recorder cover version.

Fela Kuti is an absolute genius. One of the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

461.      

‘Peg’, Steely Dan (1977)

Outside of being named after a sex toy and ‘Do It Again’, I know very little about Steely Dan. What I learned from this sub-four minute song is that they knew how to craft an enjoyable jazzy pop song. Alongside dynamic and harmonious vocals, the instruments create a lively background even as the lyrics hint at something slightly sleazier. The guitar solo in the middle could feel somewhat chucked in for the sake of it, yet it adds a further hint of funk to proceedings. Really fun work.

462.      

‘Marquee Moon’, Television (1977)

I was very confused as I thought this was the band who did ‘Tequila’, but turns out that was Terrorvision. I’m sure you really needed to know about my stupidity, so there you go. Apparently, these were pioneers for New York punk, yet there is nothing very punk about this ten minute sprawling tune outside of perhaps the relative minimalism of the instrumentation, especially the bass. One of the things I’ll give it credit for is that it is put together in a manner that makes it feel that the length is warranted – it doesn’t feel artificially inflated. Two solos might have been too much, but the song builds to them in a way that is enjoyable throughout. This also feels pretty timeless, probably due to the amount of bands who could feasibly have been influenced by Television as a whole.

463.      

‘Like a Hurricane’, Neil Young (1977)

The book spends a lot of time talking about the genesis of this song – a woman called Gail that Young had become enamoured with during a trip to La Honda as he recuperated from surgery to his vocal chords. What followed was a song about what they term ‘corrosive longing’. I’ll be honest, it took me a few minutes to really ‘get it’, but by the time the solo kicked in, I was there. I think Young’s voice is one you either love or don’t necessarily care for and I oscillate between those two situations depending on what song he is singing. In this song, it works for me at least.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The entire "Marquee Moon" album is fantastic. I was curious which song they'd pick off of it, but the title track is probably the best choice. They had a lasting influence on a lot of bands because they made some rather complex music while being a stripped down rock band. A lot of the post-punk bands of the world owe them a lot. Richard Hell is also attributed with making popular a lot of the fashions that people associated with punk (spiked hair, torn clothes, safety pins), and the band played the same clubs and scene as punk contemporaries. Richard Hell also was in Neon Boys, played with Johnny Thunders, and led Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the latter of whom also had a landmark album come out in '77. The guy was busy. People have had trouble classifying them as punk because the punk sound totally diverged from them in and after '77 largely thanks to the Sex Pistols. But the NY punk scene up until then was a totally eclectic group of musical artists from Television to Blondie to Talking Heads to The Ramones.

Steely Dan have some nice tunes. It's still amazing they got as popular as they did playing something so heavily rooted in jazz without being fusion.

And Neil Young is one of the best songwriters ever. A worthy inclusion on this list. "Like a Hurricane" wouldn't be at the top of my list of his songs but he's got such a deep catalog you can throw darts at a wall and come up with a good one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are three brilliant ones.

Peg is amazing, Steely Dan is amazing. The guitar solo is amazing and should definitely be there. Get over it.

I actually thing Marquee Moon is a pretty patchy album. What used to be side 2 back in the old vinyl days is a bit dire. Fortunately the title track isn't on side 2 and it is very good.

I really like Like a Hurricane. Damshow is right, Neil Young has loads of songs that can get on there, but I'm happy to see Like a Hurricane here. I generally prefer the long meandering electric Neil Young to the acoustic Neil Young. Although I like both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, damsher hatfield said:

The entire "Marquee Moon" album is fantastic. I was curious which song they'd pick off of it, but the title track is probably the best choice. They had a lasting influence on a lot of bands because they made some rather complex music while being a stripped down rock band. A lot of the post-punk bands of the world owe them a lot. Richard Hell is also attributed with making popular a lot of the fashions that people associated with punk (spiked hair, torn clothes, safety pins), and the band played the same clubs and scene as punk contemporaries. Richard Hell also was in Neon Boys, played with Johnny Thunders, and led Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the latter of whom also had a landmark album come out in '77. The guy was busy. People have had trouble classifying them as punk because the punk sound totally diverged from them in and after '77 largely thanks to the Sex Pistols. But the NY punk scene up until then was a totally eclectic group of musical artists from Television to Blondie to Talking Heads to The Ramones.

Steely Dan have some nice tunes. It's still amazing they got as popular as they did playing something so heavily rooted in jazz without being fusion.

And Neil Young is one of the best songwriters ever. A worthy inclusion on this list. "Like a Hurricane" wouldn't be at the top of my list of his songs but he's got such a deep catalog you can throw darts at a wall and come up with a good one.

Pretty much sums my feelings up on Television. Wonderful album that I've always liked but enjoy more as I get older. 

Also a couple of fun facts, the Voidoids drummer was Mark Bell aka Marky Ramone. Marky was right after Tommy. Also there are outtakes out there where Richard Hell records with Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, though he was not on the final LAMF album.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

464.       

‘The Passenger’, Iggy Pop (1977)

I had absolutely no idea that this was Iggy Pop. It was a song that I never truly attributed to anyone and mainly remember from its use in adverts. Between the guitar work and the la-ing, this has too many hooky parts to not make it a favourite. The lyrics talk about the excesses of nights spent in Germany apparently, though the tune itself was created by Ricky Gardiner on an idyllic spring walk. Perhaps it is the juxtaposition of what could be a pleasant enough instrumental mixed with a darker lyrical content that make it truly work.

465.      

‘Stayin’ Alive’, Bee Gees (1977)

Influenced by: TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) • MFSB (1974)   

Influence on: I Was Made for Lovin’ You • Kiss (1979)   

Covered by: Mina (1978) • Happy Mondays (1991) Dweezil Zappa (1991) • N-Trance (1995) • Dimension Zero (2007) • MegaDriver (2007)

There have probably been other songs, but to me this feels like one of the first songs that showed the power of the film soundtrack. Written for ‘Saturday Night Fever’, it was interestingly created without reading either the essay the film was based on or the screenplay for the movie itself. With that in mind, they struggle that the Bee Gees explore in the song lyrically are quite in keeping with the tone of the film, even if the overall musical tone is somewhat lighter than some of the darker elements that the movie explored. Whilst the whole thing feels very 70s, it is testament to the quality of this disco tune that it still has staying power to this very day. Between the falsettos and the fashion, it could so easily have been mocked and ignored, but at base it is a very good song and it gets the recognition I feel it deserves.

466.      

‘Wonderous Stories’, Yes (1977)

Influenced by: I Believe in Father Christmas • Greg Lake (1975)   

Influence on: Northern Lights • Renaissance (1978)  

Covered by: Magenta (2009)   

Other key tracks: Close to the Edge (1972) • Awaken (1977) • Going for the One (1977)

There was a time in my musical interest that I can imagine really liking this song. 2020 is not that time. I’m sure that if you like Yes, you really like them, but this is all just a bit too twee for me. The woodwind, the reverb on the vocals in places, the synthesisers, the lyrics – one would be ok, but it just gets layered in a fashion that does so little for me. By the end, I was beginning to warm to it a little…but not enough to really enjoy it in the manner that many probably do.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Passenger is really good. It is probably the most overplayed Iggy Pop song but deservedly so - I also think it is his best. It has a real swagger to it.

Stayin' Alive is also great. I found the first incarnation of the Bee Gees sound pretty dull, but they really found themselves when they moved to disco. They were only at the top for a little while, but for that period they put out banger after banger. Stayin Alive is obviously the most iconic of those.

I really like Yes, but they'd kind of lost it a bit by Wonderous Stories, but they've always had friends in the music press which might explain its presence here. It's decent enough, but they were doing so much better five or six years earlier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everybody will say the same thing about The Bee Gees and it's pretty spot on. They were forgettable before making the switch to disco, but after that switch they became legends. Some real great hits in there, with "Stayin Alive" being what I think their absolute best.

I too tend to forget "The Passenger" is an Iggy Pop song. It's a good one either way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

467.      

‘Go Your Own Way’, Fleetwood Mac (1977)

Influenced by: Street Fighting Man • The Rolling Stones (1968)   

Influence on: The Game of Who Needs Who the Worst • Cursive (2000)   

Covered by: NOFX (1989) • Seaweed (1993) • The Cranberries (1998) • Wilson Phillips (2004)

Some of the best songs are written from a position of hate. With marriages falling apart all around the place, this was Lindsey Buckingham’s feelings about his relationship with Stevie Nicks laid bare. Unlike Nicks who took a slightly calmer take on things in ‘Dreams’, this is a very bitter song lyrically, but all the better for it. It clashes in a good way with the chorus, creating a song that defies you to singalong even though the feelings are so raw. Apparently, some of the lyrical choices left any chance of a friendship after their break-up practically non-existent, but it left a grand legacy in the form of this song.

468.      

‘”Heroes”’, David Bowie (1977)

Influenced by: Hero • NEU! (1975)   

Influence on: Heroes Symphony • Philip Glass (1996)

Covered by: Blondie (1980) • Nico (1981) • Pink Lincolns (1987) • Billy Preston (1993) • TV on the Radio (1996) • Oasis (1997) • Philip Glass (1997) • King Crimson (2000) • Peter Gabriel (2010)

A song about romantic defiance, this was recorded in Berlin and referenced Tony Visconti’s new love for a girlfriend whilst he was still married. The latter part of that sentence means very little to me, but the song did go on to be covered by a whole raft of artists as you can see. I like Bowie. However, I wouldn’t profess to being a huge fan and “Heroes” isn’t as good in my eyes as some of the other songs of his that I enjoy such as ‘Life on Mars’ and others. The emotive delivery does sell the narrative well, whilst there is an occasional bleakness in the instrumentation I enjoy. I get it, even if it doesn’t do as much for me as it does for some people.

469.      

‘Exodus’, Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977)

Random factoid: my ex-girlfriend’s uncle was a Wailer. With that out of the way, it is worth noting that the central piano tune for this was taken from the film ‘Exodus’, about the founding of the state of Israel. With Marley having moved to London following a failed attempt on his life, the lyrics felt pertinent to his situation and wider Rastafari ideologies. I feel there are more notable/popular songs by Marley, yet this was the album that really took him to the global musical world. Coupled with the message, this deserves a place on the list.

470.      

‘River Song’, Dennis Wilson (1977)

The first Beach Boy to release a solo album, Dennis Wilson released Pacific Ocean Blue in 1977. This was the opening track and apparently was indicative of the layered, somewhat overproduced tone of the album as a whole. Still, this hymn to country living is an epic little number, even though the sheer amount of ‘faffing about’ could be considered detrimental to some people. There is a brief moment of calm before the end, though that soon gives way to an exhortation to ‘do it’ and ‘run away’. I really liked this, considering it is a song (and an album) I’ve never even heard of.

471.      

‘Whole Lotta Rosie’, AC/DC (1977)

Influenced by: Lucille • Little Richard (1957)

Influence on: Welcome to the Jungle • Guns N’ Roses (1987)   

Covered by: Acid Drinkers (1994) • W.A.S.P. (1995) • Anthrax (2003) • Guns N’ Roses (2009)   

Other key track: Highway to Hell (1979)

I might be a little bit on the ‘AC/DC basically played the same song every single time’ bandwagon, which I know is a vast oversimplification of what they did, yet it also my belief that when you do what you do as well as they do, I’m not surprised. There are few bands who just get rock and roll in the way that they did. The noise, the lyrics, everything. Somewhat humorously, this is a song about a groupie who was on the larger side and her run in with Bon Scott, a man who was known for liking a bigger woman. You could debate as to the lyrical content and whether it would fly these days, but there is a dumb stupidity and genuine affection that rises it above being something a little too sleazy in nature.

472.      

‘Blank Generation’, Richard Hell and The Voidoids (1977)

Influenced by: The Beat Generation • Bob McFadden & Dor (1959)   

Influence on: Pretty Vacant • Sex Pistols (1977)   

Covered by: Angel Corpus Christi (1989) • The Heartbreakers (1991)  

Other key track: Love Comes in Spurts (1977)

Based off of a song called ‘The Beat Generation’, this was a much more nihilistic concept lyrically and anthemic due to its less than subtle chorus. Hookier and more complex than some of the other punk bands out at this time, it also inspired ‘Pretty Vacant’ as Malcolm McLaren wanted the Sex Pistols to write their own version of the song, yet more English. Perfectly enjoyable, if nothing that will stick with me for long afterwards.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. To learn more, see our Privacy Policy