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

[METALMAN]

Bloody Nora, I've not heard Beat the Clock in about ten years, completely forgot it existed. I really like that tune. Lovely thrumming synths.

I like Oliver's Army. Had absolutely no idea it had a rude word in it. Obviously haven't been listening to it closely enough.

I like Tusk. It might even by my favourite Fleetwood Mac. Slow burner, cool drums. It's a fun song.

Would I Lie to You by Charles and Eddie is brilliant, and is far better than any of the songs in this section. It better be in this book or I'm gonna kick off. Late 80s/early 90s soul was so good and it deserves at least 10 of the 1001 slots.

Gloria is much better than the other Gloria that Them and P Smith did.

I really like Nick Drake and have listened to him a lot but had never heard this song before. I've barely listened to his posthumous songs. Jury's out, sounds okay I guess.

Are Friends Electric is a good tune but I never want to hear Gary Numan's voice again because Cars is the hold music for British Gas and I am fucking sick of calling them.

Edited August 2, 2020 by metalman

[Liam]

513.      

‘Boys Don’t Cry’, The Cure (1979)

Influenced by: Love You More • Buzzcocks (1978)  

Influence on: Feed Me with Your Kiss • My Bloody Valentine (1988)   

Covered by: Tuscadero (1995) • Lostprophets (2004) • Superbus (2005) • Grant-Lee Phillips (2006) • Reel Big Fish (2006) • Razorlight (2006)

Not my favourite song by The Cure, but definitely up high on the list, ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ is a poppier song than a lot of their other offerings. It flopped, though that couldn’t have been helped by it initially not even ending up on their debut album (it was re-released a year later, then another six years later with a different vocal). To me, it is very no thrills, but all the better for it. Poppy rock at its best.

514.      

‘Good Times’, Chic (1979)

With a huge backlash already underway against disco as a musical genre, this was the last successful song released by Chic. I run the risk of going back to my ‘groovy’ descriptions of yesteryear, but it really is – the guitar work underneath everything lays the groundwork for lyrics that actually jabs at the ‘good times’, coming as they did during a rather large recession. What I have noticed throughout these disco songs is that the clap is a core component of any song has been produced with the hopes of getting people on the floor.

515.      

       What I think is most amazing about this song was that it came from his debut album and was the first song in which Jackson had artistic control. Whatever you think of the man he became, this is insanely good record to bring out as the first one that has any of your fingerprints on it. Perhaps lacking some of the lyrical interest and slightly deeper tones of other songs by Jackson that were still to come, it does still compare quite favourably with the rest of his catalogue. He comes out of this song fully formed, vocal tics that became his trademark and all.

516.      

‘Lost In Music’, Sister Sledge (1979)

Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were given the pick of Atlantic’s roster to produce music for, choosing to eschew choices like the Rolling Stones to work with Sister Sledge instead. The plan wasn’t to be the guys who ‘turned an act disco’, but try and push an act on to bigger heights, something they clearly achieved. Sister Sledge were four singers, with Kathy providing the bulk of the main vocals, vocals that are warm and emotive. This takes some of the elements of disco without losing some of the…I guess rhythm and blues…that the group were able to provide. As could be expected, Rodgers (I’m guessing) guitar work is great.

517      

‘Brass In Pocket’, The Pretenders (1979)

Based on the band and the way it was spoken about in the book as a sure fire hit, I assumed I’d know this as soon as I listened to it, and that was exactly the case. Had no idea what it was called or that it was the Pretenders, but hey ho. It is weird I’d never attributed it to the Pretenders as Hynde’s vocals are very distinctive, vocals that I particularly enjoy in the few songs I’ve heard. Apparently she hated the commercial nature of the song, but when you have a hit on your hands, I guess you’ve got to put it out there for the masses. It doesn’t do too much instrumentally (with a riff possibly taken from a Barry White song), allowing Hynde’s yearning vocals to do most of the work.

518.      

‘Outdoor Miner’, Wire (1979)

I really don’t know what to make of this. What makes it even more interesting is watching the lyrics video as I listened to it – apparently it is about an insect, but the lyrics seem to go much further beyond that. The book seem to include this song mainly because of it being a departure from the band’s sound and their most popular song. The layering of the two vocals towards the end is a neat way to bring this to a crescendo and a finish, whilst the overall song is very catchy for its admittedly short run time. I enjoyed it enough that I played it again after I’d finished – probably as much to get my head around it as anything.

SELF EDIT: I had to then listen to it a third time as I realised I was playing the video at 1.25x speed. Still, my words remain the same.

[METALMAN]

I really like BDC and might even be minded to suggest that the Cure never topped it, regardless of how good much of their later music was. 

Good Times is an incredible song. Most of the songs on this book are good, unsurprisingly. Some are great. But Good Times is on that special astral plane that only very few songs - the likes of Mozart's Dove son I bet moments, McCartney's Eleanor Rigby and Nelly's Hot In Here - can aspire to reach.

Quote

it came from his debut album

Why must everybody forget Ben?  Anyway DSTYGE is good. Still has the shittest music video ever though.

Notwithstanding the best efforts of Mark E Smith, Lost In Music is a classic and almost as good as Good Times. That whole Sister Sledge album is amazing, pretty much every song is a hit. Lost In Music is the best though.

I've never really cared about the Pretenders or Brass in Pocket. It's decent enough. Cool little riff.

I have never really cared about Wire either, but dear God I have tried to because all the old men say they are amazing. That being said, Outdoor Miner is a really nice song. It is a song, while helps, and it is by no means guaranteed when it comes to Wire. It reminds me of Teenage Fanclub, which is silly because Teenage Fanclub came around about a decade later, but you know what I mean. Time is relative innit.

[Bobfoc]

I saw The Pretenders live as the co-headline band with Simple Minds in Newark-on-Trent a couple of years ago. They didn't play Brass in Pocket, sadly. It's a song that didn't do much for me the first couple of times I heard it, but I found myself humming to myself as time went on. Now I'm always happy to hear it.

[Liam]

519.      

 

‘Rapper’s Delight’, The Sugarhill Gang (1979)

I’ll leave it up to you as to which version you’d rather listen to. Largely considered (but perhaps controversially) the first ‘rap’ song, it was apparently spawned out of some messing around with largely throwaway rhymes and a reconstruction of the bass line from ‘Good Times’. Whatever it was, it is undeniably fun and there are few people I imagine who don’t come away from this song with at least the opening little rap stuck in their head. Apparently this was considered largely a joke by the New York hip-hop fraternity, but whatever it was, it sold a shedload and has had a lot of staying power. A song that is simply very enjoyable.

520.      

‘California Uber Alles’, Dead Kennedys

Influenced by: Holidays in the Sun • Sex Pistols (1977)   

Influence on: Giuliani Über Alles • Hasidic New Wave (1999)   

Covered by: Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (1992) • Six Feet Under (2000) • Jello Biafra with The Melvins (2005) • The Delgados (2006)

This is a great song. I vaguely remember Jello Biafra’s name popping up as I tried to get into more alternative music when I was in my twenties, but I don’t really remember exploring his back catalogue much in the grand scheme of things. However, this comes straight out of the speakers and slaps you about the face. Biafra’s vocal gymnastics are great throughout, moving from snarly to sarcastic with ease, while the chorus adds that element of pop that makes this a great song to headbang and sing along to in equal measure. I’m sure if I understood the politics a bit more, there are probably even more layers to enjoy.

521.      

‘Typical Girls’, The Slits (1979)

Influenced by: Identity • X Ray Spex (1978)  

Influence on: She Walks on Me • Hole (1994)   

Other key tracks: Adventures Close to Home (1979) • Instant Hit (1979) • Love und Romance (1979) • Shoplifting (1979) • Spend, Spend, Spend (1979)

This does feel like several songs thrown together, covering a range of different genres such as reggae, punk and girl pop. I don’t know how groundbreaking this song was or the band itself, but it is interesting to hear women producing more alternative music than what has ended up on the list thus far. The jagged changes in pace and rhythm could be considered awkward, yet they make this a more memorable song than it might otherwise. There is a swagger about the song that I do enjoy – there was no attempt to kowtow to what was popular or what might have been expected of them as a girl band.

522.      

‘Atomic’, Blondie (1979)

Influenced by: I Feel Love • Donna Summer (1977)   

Influence on: Into the Groove • Madonna (1985)   

Covered by: The Mission (1992) • Sleeper (1996)   

Other key tracks: Rip Her to Shreds (1976) • Denis (1978) • Hanging on the Telephone (1978) • Picture This (1978) • Dreaming (1979) • Union City Blue (1979)

A song that begins with an intro that sounds like a disco in a spaghetti western, ‘Atomic’ is the second Blondie tune to make the list and the weaker of the two in my opinion. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a fun slice of disco-pop, it just does less for me especially as I do feel it loses momentum as the track progresses with the extended instrumental section. With Debbie Harry such a focal point, a song that reduces her role to being a bookend doesn’t totally work for me. This was another hit for the band though, who had 10 top 10s in three years – impressive output.

523.      

‘Gangsters’, The Specials (1979)

Influenced by: Al Capone • Prince Buster (1964)   

Influence on: The Prince • Madness (1979)   

Covered by: Fun Boy Three (1994) • Citizen King (1999) • The Louisville Sluggers (2001) • Dub Pistols (2007)   

Other key tracks: A Message to You, Rudy (1979) • Nite Klub (1979) • Too Much Too Young (1980)

This was a song that I assumed I’d know when I heard it, but had no actual clue once it began. That is probably due to the book choosing The Specials first song under that moniker, an attempt apparently to mix reggae and punk that ended up instead working as a ska revival. I’ll be completely honest – I’m not a huge fan of ska, or at least ska as I know it in the years I’ve been alive. However, what I’ve heard of the Specials has always sounded good, probably because it became the ‘authentic’ sound of ska revival that everyone sought to sound like. This isn’t as good as some of their songs in my opinion, but gets in off of historical importance at least.

524.      

‘Cars’, Gary Numan (1979)

Influenced by: Always Crashing in the Same Car • David Bowie (1977)   

Influence on: Koochy • Armand Van Helden (2000)   

Covered by: Frank Zappa (1980) • Hole (1995) • Shampoo (1995) • Fear Factory (1998) • The Leisure Society (2009) • Nine Inch Nails (2009)

This is a song that I love perhaps more than I realise. It isn’t one that ever pops into my head when I’m compiling playlists or collections of songs, yet whenever I hear it, I enjoy every last bit of it. The synth riffs and the overall melody set a tone that seems positive, though one that somewhat opposes the lyrics that are about being isolated and distanced from people. There is an extended instrumental that maintains the momentum whilst affording some variety to the tune. Top stuff.

 

‘California Uber Alles’, by Dead Kennedys is probably the best 'new' song for me. I've heard other stuff by them but somehow not that song.

[apsham]

Ahh fuck. Now I have to sit here for 15 minutes and make sure I remember all the lyrics to Rapper's Delight again.

[VerbalPuke]

WOW that most recent list is awesome. 

First off, Dead Kennedys are all-time favorite, love them. Great choice though the song posted is a slightly different version then whats on Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (their first album). The pace is just a bit slower. 

Rappers Delight is brilliant, you can't listen to it without wanting to move a bit.

I like Gary Numan a lot, Cars is a pretty obvious choice, but that whole album is good. 

Gangsters is my favorite Specials song, so no complaints. 

Also...Atomic is probably my favorite Blondie tune. 

The Slits somehow I've not really explored which i should change.

 

[gunnar hendershow]

For what it's worth I'm not super keen on "Rapper's Delight". It was the first focused attempt to take what was at its heart an anti-disco scene and attempt to discofy it a bit. Early hip-hop, as we know, was all about the breaks. You rarely had MCs and while controversial there's a lot of attribution to DJ Hollywood and NY's disco clubs for really laying the foundation for what the early MCs were. They were there to hype up their DJ. But then you get Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five among others, no less than 5 years after Kool Herc's party, laying the groundwork for MCs to really take the forefront. And then just on the heels of their emergence in the Bronx the Sugarhill Gang got assembled and so on. It's a really fun song and basically structured to be a pop hit, which hip-hop didn't really have down in the late 70s. It was anti-disco, this young and rough style of dance music. Then "Rapper's Delight" came along essentially to bridge the gap over to pop and disco. Idk if it's a great hip-hop song but it's a really fun and danceable and without it who knows where music would be. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five I feel are objectively better in every way but even their most accessible hit "The Message" isn't nearly as smooth as "Rapper's Delight". But hey, we're about to start seeing a ton of hip-hop on this I'm sure and boy will I have opinions.

Dead Kennedys are one of those groups I go back to from time to time. There's some select songs of theirs that just always work and "California Uber Alles" is extremely high on that list. Their music is so aggressive and no matter what always feels relevant, like the shit they were angry about 40 years ago is the same shit I'm angry about now.

"Typical Girls" sounds like an early 90s alternative song with how much of a hogepodge it is.

"Atomic" is much more that bridge between pop and punk I expected with Blondie. It's a little weird at times, but the intro is just so fucking perfect. And at times Harry's vocals while great almost weaken the song because of how much of a fucking groove it is.

Oddly I had never heard this song by The Specials. I haven't listened to them as much as I should. It was a fun song. Much like everything else I've heard from them. One day I'll dive deeper into their work.

"Cars" is a great song and really helped set in motion the space for so much other great synth-heavy music to hit the forefront in the coming decade. I really love the song even if I don't actively seek it out due to having heard it so many times already.

[METALMAN]

Hmmmmmmmm. I don't think I need to listen to any of these before I die.

I don't think I've ever actually listened to Rappers Delight out of choice before, or listened to the full thing. It's fine, brilliant sample obviously, but I don't think I'll listen to it out of choice again. I don't really care about it.

I really haven't listened to many Dead Kennedys songs. I've been meaning to give them a proper go some day, but there's so many others I want to listen to too so who knows when that will happen. FWIW I don't think I've heard this one before. It's good. Punchy, but it doesn't make me feel like I need to  drop everything and go and listen to more of the Dorling Kindersleys. And the vibrato when they say California Uber Alles annoys me a bit. It's a bit Woody Woodpecker.

I tried to listen to the Slits a lot a decade or so ago because a lot of people say they are good. I never really got into them for the most part, but this is a good song. I always liked this one.

Atomic is quite good but not that good. Not sure Blondie need two songs here. I mean put Heart of Glass on absolutely but the other tunes they did are just kinda decent tunes but nothing to write home about.

I like Gangsters. It's probably the best of this group for me.

I think I mentioned elsewhere that Cars has been utterly ruined for me by British Gas using it as their hold music. And, unlike the other Gary Numan  we had it doesn't have the saving grace of having been sampled for a quite good Sugababes song. 

Edited August 3, 2020 by metalman

[Liam]

525.      

‘Babylon’s Burning’, The Ruts (1979)

Influenced by: War in a Babylon • Max Romeo (1976)   

Influence on: Babylon’s Burning the Ghetto • Lethal Bizzle (2007)   

Covered by: Zion Train (1996) • London Punkharmonic Orchestra (1998) • Die Toten Hosen (2000) • Don Letts (2005) • Kid Loco (2005)

Wow, this is good. This was like a punch straight to the face as I’m sure it was intended to be. Linking to a more modern act that I’ve always liked what I’ve heard from, this reminds me of a punkier Skindred. There had been a lot of cross pollination between punk and reggae in terms of influences, yet this is the first song on the list that really wears its influences on its sleeves in this fashion. The guitar work is great and searing in its intensity; the sound effects add a sense of tension, channeling the ‘anxiety’ that is prominent in the lyrics. Sad to hear that the main singer’s heroin addiction saw him die only a year later.

526.      

‘Message In a Bottle’, The Police (1979)

Influenced by: Watching the Detectives • Elvis Costello (1977)   Influence on: Daylight Goes • Grand National (2004)   Covered by: Excel (1989) • Leatherface (1991) • Maxi Priest (1996) • Machine Head (1999) • Wolfgang (2001) • John Mayer (2003)

Listening to this song after ‘Roxanne’, it is clear that The Police are good at minimal, engaging openings. This has a sense of momentum from the start that never really lets up, especially as it shifts engagingly from chorus to verse and back again. Though the lyrics are quite bleak until the final verse, there is an upbeat tone throughout most of it; the guitar work isn’t overly complex, yet is very catchy. It all adds up to a crowd pleaser.

527.      

‘The Winner Takes It All’, ABBA (1980)

Influenced by: Go Your Own Way • Fleetwood Mac (1977)   

Influence on: Total Eclipse of the Heart • Bonnie Tyler (1983)   

Covered by: The Corrs (1999) • Martine McCutcheon (2002) • Anne Sofie von Otter (2006)

Into the 80s with an ABBA tune that I think benefits from not having been unduly overplayed like some. This saw them move away from the more disco-tinged work of the 70s and produce a song that laid bare a lot of the sadness in their lives at this moment. While Bjorn suggested that his divorce from Agnetha the previous year wasn’t being channelled in this song, the vocals by her carry an earnest anguish that could only really use that upset as a starting point. It is great pop – it is what ABBA is all about, but it is also perhaps them at their best in terms of lyrics.

528.      

‘Rapture’, Blondie (1980)

Influenced by: Rapper’s Delight • The Sugarhill Gang (1979)   

Influence on: The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel • Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1981)   

Covered by: Erasure (1997) • Alicia Keys (2010)

I don’t think I have ever heard this song, which surprised me as I just assumed that anything that was a Blondie hit would have crossed my path at some point or other. This is a song that makes the list because it was groundbreaking (the first ‘hip-hop’ number one), yet I don’t think it dates well at all. It doesn’t help that it felt like two songs welded together rather than a natural segue from one to the other. Maybe if I’d heard it when I was younger (or magically when it was released in the 80s) this might have meant a bit more to me. I’ll give the saxophone work its due – the best bit of the song for me.

529.      

‘While You See A Chance’, Steve Winwood (1980)

The book proclaims this as having the DNA of the AOR (adult oriented rock) musical movement and I can see what they are getting at as it doesn’t sound too dissimilar to the types of song Phil Collins will make a lot of money off. Unfortunately, the synth keyboard doesn’t age well at all, sounding high pitched and squelchy, for lack of a better word. However, Winwood himself provides a decent vocal, a sign of things to come with this style of music: catchy, largely inoffensive, untaxing.

530.      

‘Heartattack and Vine’, Tom Waits (1980)

This is more of the Tom Waits I had expected to hear on this list. Raspy vocals that sound spat out, world weary and beaten down. The instrumentation is sparse to allow Waits to do his thing, exploring the less than salubrious life of a person in Los Angeles. I’ll be honest – I’m not a huge fan of Waits’ voice, but his has always been a voice that I can imagine if you ‘get’ it, you’ll love it. Mainly, it has character, something that is all too lacking in a lot of modern (admittedly, popular) music.

 

Ok, so Babylon's Burning is my new favourite 'new' song.

[apsham]

Higher Love or gtfo.

[Malenko]

I'm mostly amazed there are people who haven't heard California Uber Alles previously. Loving most of these songs. Keep those lists the way they are, please. 

[Liam]

8 minutes ago, Malenko said:

I'm mostly amazed there are people who haven't heard California Uber Alles previously. Loving most of these songs. Keep those lists the way they are, please. 

I might be wrong, but Dead Kennedys aren't that big a band out here except I'm assuming in punk circles, which is a genre I don't really listen to.

I do know Holiday in Cambodia. 

[METALMAN]

Babylon's Burning is good, though I actually knew the Lethal Bizzle one for a v long time before I knew this, which is pretty lame I guess.

Mensonge in a Bottle is pretty good. I tried to play it on guitar once but my hands weren't big enough. The Police always had a great singles. Rest of their stuff is hit and miss, but the singles are top dolla.

I like Abba but I have never really cared for TWTIA. Bit of a dirge.

Rapture is pretty fucking shite. Is it the worst song in this book? Maybe! I guess it depends what Radiohead songs get in.

Fuck you Liam. While You See a Chance is an amazing tune from probs the best LP of the 80s. The "high-pitched and squelchy" keyboard is sublime. It has aged beautifully and I think you should be a bit more grateful to Steve Winwood for putting it out there for you to listen to. Plus I reject the viability of the ageing argument in music criticism. So what if something sounds of its time? IT'S YOU THAT IS DATED. In any case, every song from this album should be in this book. They should get rid of the other songs and they should call it 7 songs you need to listen to before you die and they are all from Arc of a Diver by Steve Winwood and there will be no other music and the world will be perfect.

I like this Tom Waits song but it isn't Steve Winwood, is it?

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by metalman

[gunnar hendershow]

The Ruts have this raw energy to them that's really too much at times. Not a knock on the song, it's really great and aggressive and wears so many influences on its sleeve. But not the kind of music I'm really going out of my way for in my 30s. That guitar at the start though. Wow.

"Message in a Bottle" is getting more into The Police music I really like. This was their first song of theirs I probably heavily listened to as well. And when I saw them live they opened with it.

What more needs to be said about ABBA? Just great, great pop music. This is one of their absolute best. Perhaps a masterpiece.

Three Blondie songs? Well then. "Rapture" is what it is. It's like a solo McCartney song where it can't decide exactly what it wants to be so it does 2 or 3 different things. This is just more prominent because it's a nod to the burgeoning and now capitalized upon hip-hop scene. It hasn't aged too well.

Steve Winwood is just timeless, inoffensive adult rock. I quite like "While You See a Chance" but it's nothing compared to what he was doing later in the decade. These synths are weak, which is a shame because synths sound timeless when done right. Winwood is like a non-distinctive Phil Collins. So despite hearing his music a ton growing up and such I never really attached a name to it.

I'll let his real die-hards heap praise of Tom Waits, but he deserves all of that praise. I enjoy just about everything I listen to from him, even if my listening to him is usually in small batches.

 

[GoGo Yubari]

God, I hate "Rapture." It's not even the best song in the "People From the mid-to-late '70s CBGB's Scene Try Their Hand at This Weird Rap Thing" lane, because the Tom Tom Club's "Wordy Rappinghood" at least goes way more absurd with it where Debbie Harry's actually trying to sound cool. I'd struggle to think of a worse song that's come up in the book as well, I might love to dunk on "Imagine" but at least I get it and it's as much a victim of overhype as anything else. I think "Rapture" probably did have to be in this book, representing the way mainstream music responded to hip-hop and all, but it's not good.

Conversely, I really love "Heartattack and Vine." Listened to the full album for 1001 Albums a few months ago and I thought it was great, but this one was the clear standout.

[Malenko]

1 hour ago, Liam said:

I might be wrong, but Dead Kennedys aren't that big a band out here except I'm assuming in punk circles, which is a genre I don't really listen to.

I do know Holiday in Cambodia. 

I'm aware and I know what you mean but usually if a song is massively overplayed in the punk circles you mention, it usually means you'll hear it in rock pubs on occasion.

Like you say, you've heard Holiday in Cambodia despite not really listening to the genre. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Malenko

[Liam]

6 minutes ago, Malenko said:

I'm aware and I know what you mean but usually if a song is massively overplayed in the punk circles you mention, it usually means you'll hear it in rock pubs on occasion.

Like you say, you've heard Holiday in Cambodia despite not really listening to the genre. 

I heard it because of me checking out some of Jello Biafra's work, but not the Dead Kennedys specifically. I can't quite remember why - I thought it might have been due to his involvement in a collaboration (so could be Sepultura, the Melvins, or Napalm Death perhaps) or possibly even a spoken word piece. I never remember actively seeking them out, nor does any of Biafra's work leap out at me as being the song I remember first hearing. Very odd.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Liam

[Malenko]

2 minutes ago, Liam said:

I heard it because of me checking out some of Jello Biafra's work, but not the Dead Kennedys specifically. I can't quite remember why - I thought it might have been due to his involvement in a collaboration (so could be Sepultura, the Melvins, or Napalm Death perhaps) or possibly even a spoken word piece. I never remember actively seeking them out.

I actually own those albums with the Melvins but never heard his stuff with Sepultura or Napalm Death. I may need to check those out.

[VerbalPuke]

He's got a ton of cool stuff with other bands. Also worked DOA, Nomeansno, Mojo Nixon, Lard, and his current band the Guantanamo School of Medicine. All good stuff. It's all a bit different as well, Lard is a lot like heavier Ministry stuff (because the band is basically Ministry featuring Jello Biafra). 

6 minutes ago, Malenko said:

I actually own those albums with the Melvins but never heard his stuff with Sepultura or Napalm Death. I may need to check those out.

I know Napalm Death covered Nazi Punks Fuck Off but didn't know he collaborated with them. Sounds cool.