Top Artists of ALL TIME:
1. The Rolling Stones
I don't want to hear any noise about the Beatles. They were okay up until they went all Hari Krishna and Yoko put the dork hex on Lennon. The Stones are still rockin' even though they're all older than dirt and Keith Richards has ingested enough drugs to kill all the Beatles five times over. What man wouldn't trade his life for that of Mick Jagger? Damn few.
Best Singles.
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Street Fightin' Man
Sympathy For The Devil
Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's Only Rock 'N' Roll
Paint It Black
Brown Sugar
You Can't Always Get What You Want
2. Prince
Mentally unstable? Maybe. Obsessed with sex? Seriously, deep down aren't we all? But my God, did anyone put out more high energy funky hits in the 80's? No. And, he actually played an instrument, unlike all these lame-ass rap pretenders we're saddled with today.
Best Singles.
Let's Go Crazy
Little Red Corvette
U Got The Look
The Beautiful Ones
Kiss
Baby I'm A Star
Raspberry Beret
3. Elton John
He owned the early and mid-seventies with his classic piano ballads with lyrics by long time collaborator Bernie Taupin. He's sold more than 250 million records and had 50 top 40 hits. Appeals to the masses? Yeah. And that 'flamboyant phase' was just a tad embarrassing. But still, the masses aren't always wrong and light-up glasses and feather boas are...forgivable. Just too much talent.
Best Singles.
Bennie And The Jets
Rocket Man
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Saturday's Alright For Fightin'
Daniel
Levon
Your Song
Honky Cat
The Bitch Is Back
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
4. The Eagles
Arguably the best harmony ever with killer guitar riffs and inspired lyrics. A singular mix of folk, country and rock that continues to sell out concerts all over the world. Haunting stuff.
Best Singles:
Hotel California
Sunset Grill
Rocky Mountain Way
Life In The Fast Lane
Desperado
Lyin' Eyes
The Boys Of Summer
One Of These Nights
In The City
5. The Temptations
One of the greatest groups to come out of the golden years of MoTown. Known for their choreography and stylized harmonies, the Temps put the smooth to the turbulent 60's.
Best Singles:
My Girl
Get Ready
(I Know) I'm Losing You
I Wish It Would Rain
I Can't Get Next To You
Ball Of Confusion
Just My Imagination
Cloud Nine
The rest of my top ten.
6. Led Zeppelin
7. Tina Turner
8. Aerosmith
9. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
10. AC/DC
Honorable Mention.
The Moody Blues; Marvin Gaye; David Bowie; The Cars; James Brown; The Beach Boys; Bruce Springsteen; Aretha Franklin; Guns n' Roses; Fleetwood Mac; The Kinks; Parliment; Otis Reading; Def Leppard; Earth, Wind and Fire.
Let the debate begin!
ROCK N' ROLL FOREVER!
4 comments:
I agree with your top three or maybe the top four. Another top Stones single was "Start Me Up". Elton John single "Friends" was pretty good. Anybody remember Prince at Superbowl halftime a couple years ago in the pouring rain? What a performance by a real professional.
I understand the Beatles aren't #1 but you didnt even put them in the top 10 !?!!?? Kinks get honorable mention and no Beatles...or even just Paul or John as solo artists?? How about Neil Diamond??? Love em or hate him a great performer !!! I Do agree with the choice of Prince !! Amazing artist!! Much like his father before him he has said he ( Prince) has trunks full of music including a classic opera that he knows has no commercial appeal...but he just wanted to see if he could do it!
The honorable mention list could get long I suppose....would add Paul Simon, KISS and possibly Stevie Wonder. What about Michael Jackson...a fruitcake but a legend...and how about MeatLoaf ??( Earth Wind and Fire ??? Really !? )
Walt
Yo Walt,
Loved your comment. I hoped my list would create a little friendly debate.
My lack of love for The Beatles is primarily due to three reasons. 1. They were the first mega-group of Rock, thanks largely to teenage girls, which gave them a big advantage. 2. Lenon's reliance on LSD for inspiration turns me off. 3. The Hari Krishna thing makes me laugh, and think the Fab Four were just ridiculous. Still, if my honorable mention list had been a bit longer I'd of included them.
Meatloaf was a gross oversight on my part. I'm acutally a huge fan. He deserves to be an honorable mention. Of the others you mentioned I would only consider Jackson, but I find ALL of his music so commercial and seriously lacking in any real emotion or innovation that I left him out.
What about Sly and the Family Stone then?? Didnt they take music in a different direction ?? Even if only for a while ? How about REM ?? (I see they just broke up) The WHO or even Guess Who. Their were some amazing Viet era groups....late 60s early 70s. Well, guess thats why these lists seem to go forever and nobody ever agrees. I liked Meatloaf a lot !! Saw him in concert in Omaha once. Hmmmm also maybe ZZ Top. Of course, everything gets colored by what is rock...what is pop etc. Remember when 1/4 of the girls tried to BE Pat Benatar ?
Walt
Post a Comment