Billboard Magazine ran a special salute to The 40th Anniversary of The CD last week.
Man, I fought this new technology for as long as I could, determined not to go out and re-buy everything I already owned … boy, did I lose THAT battle.
The first CD I ever bought was Michael Jackson’s “Bad” … and what lured me in was the bonus track “Leave Me Alone,” not on the vinyl album that I already owned. And then I promised myself that I would ONLY buy something on CD if it offered me tracks I didn’t already have on vinyl. And that’s exactly how they enticed you … more and more bonus tracks and box sets started to flood the market … and there went my hard-earned money again!
Some of these sets were remarkable … and continue to be … but many others (like so many of the bootlegs I’ve also bought over the years) only continued to prove the fact that most of these tracks sat unreleased for a reason … they sucked!
Naturally, that didn’t stop me … and soon I was replacing everything. It just made the most sense … the sound was better (to my ears anyway – I’m sure we’ve got a LOT of readers out there who feel otherwise) … they were so much more “compact” for storage and didn’t weigh a ton if and when you had to move them … I still find it difficult to read a lot of the liner notes (even more so as I get older!), but I now have VERY little vinyl LPs anymore (and even then mostly material that, for one reason or another, has not been issued on CD) and am certainly NOT going to buy more vinyl at this point (and pay double or triple the cost of a CD in order to do so!)
Still, 40 years … wow, time sure flies.
DIDJAKNOW? The very first CD ever issued was Billy Joel’s “52nd Street”
I didn’t know that! (But now that I’ve read it, I think I probably DID know it at the time and just didn’t remember it – nor would it have been my guess, even if it was the million dollar question posed by Regis!) kk
Learn lots more here:
(Some of the perspective shown is quite fascinating!) kk
When I first read about the Genesis deal, I couldn’t help but wonder what the most enticing part about their catalog was.
Now I’ll admit … there probably aren’t many songs that have been used in all the different ways that Phil Collins’ classic “In The Air Tonight” has been used … but that’s not even technically a Genesis song (although the rights to it are most definitely part of the deal.)
So it got me to thinking …
How did our audience determine the biggest, most note-worthy, most ESSENTIAL Classic Rock Songs of this power trio.
Well, the only way to OFFICALLY find out, of course, is to check The Forgotten Hits TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME List …
So that’s exactly what we did.
Genesis placed sixteen songs on the list of your Top 3333 Favorites. Their highest ranking song was “That’s All,” which came in at #254. (Not too shabby!)
In fact, they placed SIX songs in the Top 1000 (plus one more that just missed, coming in at #1060) Others include “Misunderstanding,” “Follow You, Follow Me,” “Abacab,” “Turn It On Again” and “Invisible Touch.” (“Tonight Tonight Tonight” is the one that came in at #1060 … while one of MY favorites, “I Can’t Dance,” came in at #1127.)
Phil Collins’ solo records add another dozen titles to the coffer, with the expected “In The Air Tonight” finishing the highest at #41. Phil’s “Take Me Home” also made The Top 1000 … while his remake of “You Can’t Hurry Love” came in at #1044. (Of course that one, a Holland-Dozier-Holland tune, wouldn’t be part of the new deal.)
Mike + the Mechanics added three more titles to the list, ALL of which made The Top 1000. (“The Living Years” came in at #800, followed by “All I Need Is A Miracle” (#834) and “Silent Running” (#989.) I’m not sure if these qualify or not, but I believe that they do. (kk)
And, speaking of All-Time Greatest Classic Rock Songs, Ultimate Classic Rock has put a new spin on The Top 100 Classic Rock Songs List, limiting each artist to only ONE track that best represents their body of work.
Aerosmith topped their list with “Dream On,” followed by Led Zeppelin at #2 (represented by “Kashmir”), The Rolling Stones at #3 (“Gimme Shelter”), AC/DC at #4 (with “Back In Black’) and The Beatles at #5, represented by “A Day In The Life.”
It’s an interesting perspective … and an interesting list, sure to spice up some argumentative but stimulating debate. (In my case, I prefer to let the Classic Rock Fans speak their piece.) Even narrowing it down to one representative track for each artist would be a point of contention.
For example, while Aerosmith tops both of our lists with “Dream On,” Led Zeppelin is represented by “Kashmir” rather than their signature tune “Stairway To Heaven” …
The Beatles’ highest ranking tunes on our list were (incredibly) two George Harrisongs … “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes The Sun” … followed by “Hey Jude,” which I would expect to be the “universal” favorite … but UCR chose “A Day In The Life” as the songs to best represent The Fab Four … a great choice for sure … but the definitive one?
Tough choice on AC/DC – their two best known, best loved tracks (“You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back In Black”) finished just inches apart in our fan-voted countdown, coming in at numbers 34 and 49 respectively … but UCR chose “Back In Black” as their top pick. (I can live with that … both songs were literally neck-to-neck in the Forgotten Hits Poll.)
But the very idea of reducing The Rolling Stones to just one track (even if it IS “Gimme Shelter,” their top pick on both our lists) seems ludicrous in retrospect …
The Stones placed an incredible SIX songs in our Top 40 Ranking, eclipsing every other artist by a landslide.
You can check out their list here …
(But give it some time to load as I had ALL kinds of connection problems yesterday when I was trying to check it out!)
And OUR list here: https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-top-3333-most-essential-classic.html
[We will send you a copy of the complete list if you request it]
And please note … my hope is to review that list in greater detail in the months to come and better refine it. Since it was first published, a number of readers have made observations and contributions to help “tighten things up” a bit … and I would like to incorporate all of that into some slightly revamped final standings … which would then replace the list currently on display via the link above. (Several of those videos that we originally linked to are no longer available … and talk about a long time to load!!!)
A more traditional list (showing The Top 3333 Rankings as well as broken down rankings by song title and artist) would probably make more sense … and become more accessible to others wanting to see where their favorites happened to fall.)
kk
I finally received my copy of the new David Leaf greatly revamped book (now titled “God Only Knows: The Story Of Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and The California Myth” last week … and I can’t wait to start reading it. The reviews have been outstanding. (Leaf went from writing a book on The Beach Boys to actually becoming part of Brian Wilson’s inner circle, actually working for him and putting together a couple of award-winning documentaries … a pretty fascinating tale, offering perspective that only he can offer.)
And Harvey Kubernik tells us that you can catch David live via this streaming link on Wednesday, October 12th, talking all about it!
God Only Knows: Celebrating the Release of David Leaf’s Brian Wilson Biography
Wednesday, October 12th at 4 pm in Lani Hall
FREE ADMISSION
Come join Peabody Award winning author and UCLA Professor David Leaf in an event celebrating the release of his critically-acclaimed book God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys and the California Myth. Originally released in 1978, the new edition of what’s been called “The Beach Boys bible” has been massively updated. With new chapters that are more than half the length of the original, readers are getting “two books in one.” This new edition includes exclusive contributions from Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Barry Gibb, Jimmy Webb and Brian Wilson’s wife, Melinda Wilson, and many more.
Emmy Award winning broadcaster Roy Firestone will interview Leaf in Lani Hall in front of a live audience and the event will be livestreamed. Attendees of the live event can stay for a book signing afterwards. Readers are encouraged to purchase a copy of the book to bring to the event for a signing
(you can order it here: https://amzn.to/3zNkbbp) and visit David Leaf’s website for more information about the God Only Knows VIP Experience.
David Leaf became a friend and collaborator of Brian Wilson’s after the publication of his 1978 edition of God Only Knows. For this new edition, Brian Wilson himself wrote that “For over thirty years I’ve trusted David Leaf with my music and my story.” An early review of the book calls it “eloquently written, well-structured, and told with warmth and affection for the subject matter.”
Don’t miss this exciting chance to meet the author of what is considered to be the definitive book about a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and a genuine legend in American music.
Kent,
In regards to Chuck Berry's MY DING-A-LING, it didn't make our weekly top 40 radio survey. That doesn't mean that it wasn't played a time or two. However, his live version of REELIN' & ROCKIN' made the survey and peaked at #8 for the week of March 14, 1973. Also, that very same week, Shel Silverstein's SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT (WOULD NOT TAKE THE GARGAGE OUT) peaked at #10. A record I have not thought of until his name was mentioned in today's FH.
Larry
Shel Silverstein was a regular fixture on the old Dr. Demento shows … I always enjoyed his work, both musically and in book form … we owned several of his books and CDs when our girls were growing up. (I can’t believe “Sarah …” was a Top Ten Record ‘tho!!! Lol) Must have been a listener favorite to achieve that! (Nationally, it actually DID manage to "bubble under" in both Billboard and Record World, reaching #107 in Billboard ... but taking seven weeks to climb that high!) kk
