THE MUSIC SALON: classical music, popular culture, philosophy and anything else that catches my fancy...
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Great Pop Songs
Even though I have been a classical musician for, oh, a long, long time, I did start out as a popular musician and I have a continued interest in and enjoyment of popular music. Wandering around the web, I ran across the top ten songs from Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Here are the top ten from that list:
Does anyone else think that the list is a bit weird? Other than me? Bob Dylan, "Like a Rolling Stone," sure, that could be #1, certainly in the top ten. And maybe "Satisfaction." But isn't "Gimme Shelter" or "Sympathy for the Devil" a much better choice from the Stones? As for "Imagine" c'mon! That isn't even in the top ten songs by John Lennon! "A Day in the Life," "Come Together," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "All You Need Is Love," and even "Nobody Told Me" are all better songs than "Imagine" though that one might be more popular. "Hey Jude" you could make an argument for, but I would vote for a different McCartney song like "Yesterday" or "Got to Get You Into My Life." The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" is a good choice as is "Johnny B. Goode" and "Respect." But I would really like to see B. B. King's "The Thrill is Gone" in there. Instead of Nirvana, who aren't aging well in my book, why not "Enter Sandman" by Metallica? I wouldn't mind seeing something by the Talking Heads or David Bowie or The Police in there as well. Heck, if I got a vote, I might opt for "We're Going Wrong" from the reunion concerts that Cream gave in 2005. Now that was something special:
Now, sure, this is about 50% just to provoke some reactions. Let's hear what you have to say!
Ok, you've poked the bear. Moving away from a Rolling Stone-centric stance, this would be a rough top 10 of the most essential/greatest rock songs in my listening experience. In no order, the artists I would go with are Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground, Television, Pere Ubu, Talking Heads, Pixies, Fugazi, Minutemen (masters of miniatures), Faust (first album), and Dead Kennedys (the great punk rock has aged well if you know where to look, unlike the watered-down "alternative" Nirvana, as you mentioned).
I'd put Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" on a top ten far sooner than the entirety of Nirvana's catalog.
For Talking Heads I'd say Remain in Light might be the easiest entry point for their catalog. I'm partial to "Houses in Motion" myself. Belew has some fun guitar solos on "The Great Curve".
I found Nirvana annoying decades ago and my complaint about Cobain's approach to songwriting is he basically vamped the same small range of chords and used purely timbrel changes to indicate structural changes. Quiet to loud, clean to dirty ... I'm not averse to punk as such even if it's not my preferred style but I do get tired quickly of songs where the main structural indicators are not harmonic or melodic changes as much as stomping on this pedal verses that one.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" always sounded like the chorus to Boston's "More than a Feeling" shoved into the parallel minor mode. Which reminds me ... there are Boston songs I'd put in the top ten list sooner than a Nirvana song, too.
Pere Ubu - 'The Modern Dance' Television - 'See No Evil' Dead Kennedys - 'California Uber Alles' Fugazi - 'Turnover' Faust - 'Why Don't You Eat Carrots?' oh, and from Captain Beefheart's first album, either 'Sure Nuff N Yes I Do' or the extraordinary 'Dropout Boogie'.
The interesting thing is that even here, on a basically classical music blog, the quickest way to start an argument is to talk about pop songs. I don't think that the same would be true if I put up a post on the ten best Romantic symphonies. Prove me wrong!
Thanks, Anon. I know where the name Pere Ubu comes from, but I have never listened to the music group of that name. And I will check out the others as well. Maybe not Captain Beefheart as I seem to be allergic!
Wenatchee, I might vote for Burning Down the House from Speaking in Tongues by the Talking Heads. And wait! How could I forget: my favorite song from the 80s has to be Mirror in the Bathroom by the English Beat.
The most I can say is that I recognize each of the songs, except for the Ray Charles-- maybe I've heard it but the title doesn't bring anything to mind. Tsk; now I must go look for it.
Anything from the studio album of Cream's Wheels of Fire is, to me, as good as it gets, but hardly "popular". If you really mean "rock," there are a thousand great songs but, in the end, except for maybe Brahms I hear virtually everything after 1750 as pretty noisy.
Ok, you've poked the bear. Moving away from a Rolling Stone-centric stance, this would be a rough top 10 of the most essential/greatest rock songs in my listening experience. In no order, the artists I would go with are Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground, Television, Pere Ubu, Talking Heads, Pixies, Fugazi, Minutemen (masters of miniatures), Faust (first album), and Dead Kennedys (the great punk rock has aged well if you know where to look, unlike the watered-down "alternative" Nirvana, as you mentioned).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous! There are two or three on your list that I need to have a listen to. Care to mention particular songs?
ReplyDeleteI'd put Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" on a top ten far sooner than the entirety of Nirvana's catalog.
ReplyDeleteFor Talking Heads I'd say Remain in Light might be the easiest entry point for their catalog. I'm partial to "Houses in Motion" myself. Belew has some fun guitar solos on "The Great Curve".
I found Nirvana annoying decades ago and my complaint about Cobain's approach to songwriting is he basically vamped the same small range of chords and used purely timbrel changes to indicate structural changes. Quiet to loud, clean to dirty ... I'm not averse to punk as such even if it's not my preferred style but I do get tired quickly of songs where the main structural indicators are not harmonic or melodic changes as much as stomping on this pedal verses that one.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" always sounded like the chorus to Boston's "More than a Feeling" shoved into the parallel minor mode. Which reminds me ... there are Boston songs I'd put in the top ten list sooner than a Nirvana song, too.
Pere Ubu - 'The Modern Dance'
ReplyDeleteTelevision - 'See No Evil'
Dead Kennedys - 'California Uber Alles'
Fugazi - 'Turnover'
Faust - 'Why Don't You Eat Carrots?'
oh, and from Captain Beefheart's first album, either 'Sure Nuff N Yes I Do' or the extraordinary 'Dropout Boogie'.
The interesting thing is that even here, on a basically classical music blog, the quickest way to start an argument is to talk about pop songs. I don't think that the same would be true if I put up a post on the ten best Romantic symphonies. Prove me wrong!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anon. I know where the name Pere Ubu comes from, but I have never listened to the music group of that name. And I will check out the others as well. Maybe not Captain Beefheart as I seem to be allergic!
Wenatchee, I might vote for Burning Down the House from Speaking in Tongues by the Talking Heads. And wait! How could I forget: my favorite song from the 80s has to be Mirror in the Bathroom by the English Beat.
The most I can say is that I recognize each of the songs, except for the Ray Charles-- maybe I've heard it but the title doesn't bring anything to mind. Tsk; now I must go look for it.
ReplyDeleteWe've all got some homework!
ReplyDeleteAnything from the studio album of Cream's Wheels of Fire is, to me, as good as it gets, but hardly "popular". If you really mean "rock," there are a thousand great songs but, in the end, except for maybe Brahms I hear virtually everything after 1750 as pretty noisy.
ReplyDeleteWill, that was one of the iconic albums of my youth, certainly.
ReplyDelete