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22 March 2007

And I'm done. →[More:] The countdown blog is completed after ingesting an amazing amount of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, my favorite 300 songs and the explanations why are now posted online. This was exhausting but very rewarding. I hope you liked the essays and more importantly, I hope you liked the songs themselves. here is the final list:

300. Magic Lanterns "Frisco Annie"
299. Bruce Dickinson "Tattooed Millionaire"
298. Eternals "Babalu's Wedding Day"
297. Rose Tattoo "The Butcher & Fast Eddie"
296. Dirtbombs "Livin' For The City"
295. Dion "Lookin' For The Heart Of Saturday Night"
294. Archies "Bang-Shang-A-Lang"
293. El Chords "Peppermint Stick"
292. Geechie Wiley "Last Kind Word Blues"
291. James McMurtry " Levelland"
290. Ly-Dells "Three Little Monkeys"
289. Charlie Daniels Band "Trudy"
288. Outkast "Hey Ya"
287. Pretenders "Kid"
286. Iron Maiden "The Number Of The Beast"
285. Dictators "The Next Big Thing"
284. Napoleon XIV "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!"
283. Boomtown Rats "I Don't Like Mondays"
282. Screamin' Jay Hawkins "Constipation Blues"
281. Johnny Thunders "Too Much Junkie Business"
280. Mott The hoople "Saturday Gigs"
279. Status Quo "Paper Plane"
278. Bottle Rockets "Gotta Get Up"
277. Stevie Ray Vaughn "Life by The Drop"
276. Billy Joel "Miami 2017 (Live at WTC Tribute)"
275. Hanson "Mmm Bop"
274. Grass Roots "Sooner Or Later"
273. Cream "Spoonful"
272. Billy Joe Royal "I Knew You When"
271. Allen Toussaint "Soul Sister"
270. Trust "Prefabricated"
269. Blackfoot "Highway Song"
268. Axe "Rock 'N' Roll Party In The Streets"
267. Los Canarios "Peppermint Frappe"
266. Bob Dylan & The Band "Tiny Montgomery"
265. Jackson Five "ABC"
264. Nick Lowe "Heart Of The City"
263. Jason & The Scorchers "White Lies"
262. Rod Stewart "Every Picture Tells A Story"
261. Jim Carroll "Day & Night"
260. Dictators "Stay With Me"
259. Sonics "Psycho"
258. Mamas & The Papas "Go Where You Wanna Go"
257. Social Distortion "I Was Wrong"
256. Monkees "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
255. Neil Young "Fuckin' Up (live acoustic)"
254. Iggy Pop "The Passenger"
253. Steve Earle "Copperhead Road"
252. Television "Marquee Moon"
251. Nick cave & The Bad Seeds "The Ballad Of Robert Moore & Betty Coltrane"
250. Wendy O. Williams "It's My Life"
249. Mountain "Theme From An Imaginary Western"
248. Patti Smith "Gloria"
247. Johnny Copeland "Sufferin' City"
246. J. Geils Band "Houseparty (live)"
245. Paul Revere & The Raiders "Just Like Me"
244. Impressions "This Is My Country"
243. ZZ Top "Jesus Just Left Chicago"
242. Harvey Averne Dozen "Never Learned to Dance"
241. Peppermint Trolley Company "Baby, You Come Rollin' Cross My Mind"
240. Elmore James "Blues Before Sunrise"
239. Motorhead & Girlschool "Please Don't Touch"
238. Hollies "Bus Stop"
237. Rainmakers "Downstream"
236. T-Rex "Children Of The Revolution"
235. Funkadelic "Super Stupid"
234. David Allan Coe "Longhaired Redneck"
233. Shirley Ellis "Nitty Gritty"
232. Captain Beefheart "Abba Zabba"
231. Bobby Womack "Across 100rth Street"
230. Rainbow "All Night Long"
229. Public Enemy "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos"
228. Graham Parker "Local Girls"
227. Monster Magnet "Space Lord (live)"
226. Chris Bell "I Got Kinda Lost"
225. Iron City Houserockers "Junior's Bar"
224. Canned Heat "On The Road Again"
223. Neil Young "Wonderin'"
222. Left Banke "Walk Away Renee"
221. Kinks "Waterloo Sunset"
220. Lynyrd Skynyrd "Was I Right Or Wrong?"
219. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts "Bad Reputation"
218. Little Eva "The Locomotion"
217. Dictators "I Stand Tall"
216. Miracles "I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying"
215. Lou Reed "Intro/Sweet Jane (live)"
214. Twisted Sister "You Can't Stop Rock And Roll"
213. Stevie Wonder "Sir Duke"
212. Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul "I Am A Patriot"
211. Bob Seger "Feel Like A Number"
210. Little Richard "The Girl Can't Help It"
209. Kinky Friedman "They Ain't Makin Jews Like Jesus Anymore"
208. Rolling Stones "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows?"
207. Stooges "Gimme Danger"
206. Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers "Road Runner"
205. James Brown "Say It Loud"
204. Impressions "Choice of Colors"
203. Exciters "Do-Wah-Diddy"
202. Tom Waits "Step Right Up"
201. Fastbacks "On The Couch"
200. Jack Scott "Goodbye Baby"
199. War "Summer"
198. AC/DC "For Those About To Rock"
197. Faster Pussycat "Bathroom Wall"
196. Jive Five "My True Story"
195. Amboy Dukes "Journey To The Center Of The Mind"
194. Randy Newman "Sail Away"
193. Joe Cocker "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"
192. Deep Purple "Space Truckin' "
191. The Band "Don't Do It"
190. Rose Garden "Next Plane To London"
189. Clash "Remote Control"
188. Elvis Costello "Welcome To the Working Week"
187. Led Zeppelin "When The Levee Breaks"
186. Santana "Soul Sacrifice (live from Woodstock)"
185. Ramones "Rockaway Beach"
184. ZZ Top "Balinese"
183. Neil Young "Powderfinger (live)"
182. Boogie Down Productions "The Blueprint"
181. Alice Cooper "Eighteen"
180. Kiss "Beth"
179. Trashmen "Surfin' Bird"
178. Bruce Springsteen "Badlands"
177. Howlin' Wolf "How Many More Years"
176. Judas Priest "Livin' After Midnight"
175. Iron Maiden "Running Free"
174. Isley Brothers "It's Your Thing"
173. Joe Cocker "Cry Me A River (live)"
172. Chuck Berry "Memphis, Tennessee"
171. Detroit (feat. Mitch Ryder) "Rock 'n' Roll"
170. Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime"
169. Jethro Tull "Hymn 43"
168. Rolling Stones "Let's Spend The night Together"
167. The Who "My Wife"
166. Beach Boys "I Get Around"
165. Manowar "Carry On"
164. Bo Diddley "Ride On Josephine"
163. Faces "Stay With Me"
162. Vandalias "Hey Now"
161. Billy Joe Shaver "Live Forever (live)"
160. Willie Nelson "Whiskey River"
159. Cadillacs "Speedo"
158. Otis Redding & Carla Thomas "Tramp"
157. Thin Lizzy "It's Only Money"
156. Nazz "Open My Eyes"
155. Bob Marley & the Wailers "get Up Stand Up"
154. Raspberries "Go All The Way"
153. Stiff Little Fingers "Barbed Wire Love"
152. Buddy Holly "Rave On"
151. Kiss "Rock And Roll All Nite"
150. Irma Thomas "Wish Someone Would Care"
149. Isley Brothers "Shout"
148. Creedence Clearwater Revival "It Came Out Of The Sky"
147. Bobby 'Blue' Bland "Ain't No Love in The Heart Of The City"
146. Flamin' Groovies "Shake Some Action"
145. Flying Burrito Brothers "Sin City"
144. Fugs "I Couldn't Get High"
143. Gear Daddies "She's Fucked Again"
142. Little Feat "Willin'"
141. Glen Glenn "One Cup Of Coffee"
140. Raspberries "Overnight sensation (Hit Record)"
139. Move "Do Ya"
138. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers "Change Of Heart"
137. Ike & Tina Turner "Proud Mary"
136. Joe Bataan "Subway Joe"
135. Junior Walker & the All-Stars "Way back Home"
134. Metallica "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
133. Chris Farlowe "Handbags & Gladrags"
132. Rolling Stones "Under My Thumb"
131. Bruce Springsteen "Independence Day"
130. Lee Dorsey "Ride Your Pony"
129. Ramones "53rd & 3rd"
128. Small Faces "Itchycoo Park"
127. Rainbow "Since You've Been Gone"
126. Journey "Don't Stop Believin'"
125. Mudhoney "Touch Me, I'm Sick"
124. Huey 'Piano' Smith & the Clowns "Don't You Just Know It"
123. R.E.M. "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (live)"
122. Bob Dylan "Ballad Of a Thin Man"
121. Beatles "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
120. Replacements "Color Me Impressed"
119. Richard & Linda Thompson "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight"
118. Ricky Nelson "Hello mary Lou"
117. Robert Johnson "Come On In My Kitchen"
116. Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes "I Don't Want To Go Home"
115. Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"
114. Crystals "He's Sure The Boy I Love"
113. Ronnie Spector "She Talks To Rainbows"
112. Run DMC "Rock Box"
111. Soundgarden "Burden In My Hand"
110. Van Halen "Panama"
109. Spirit "Fresh Garbage"
108. Joe South "Games People Play"
107. Steely Dan "Dirty Work"
106. Frank Zappa "Joe's Garage"
105. Gary 'U.S.' Bonds "Quarter To Three"
104. Michael nesmith "Different Drum"
103. Stooges "Search & Destroy'
102. Patti Smith Group "Babelogue/Rock N' Roll Nigger"
101. Sweet "Little Willy"
100. Bellrays "Minds Eye"
99. Jefferson Airplane "Mexico"
98. Dr. Dre "Dre Day"
97. Tom Waits "Ol' 55"
96. Toots & the Maytals "Pressure Drop"
95. U2 "Jesus Christ"
94. Johnny Cash "Guess Things Happen That Way"
93. Bob Dylan "Tangled Up In Blue"
92. Ann Peebles " I Can't Stand The Rain"
91. Warren Zevon "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
90. The Who "Pure & Easy"
89. Beatles "Ticket To Ride"
88. Yardbirds "Shapes Of Things"
87. Bruce Springsteen "Born In The U.S.A."
86. Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"
85. Marvin Gaye "What's Going On?"
84. Big Star "Thirteen"
83. Bob Luman "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers"
82. Blondie "Rip Her To Shreds"
81. Blasters "Border Radio"
80. Funkadelic "Can You get To That?"
79. Lynyrd Skynyrd "Free Bird"
78. Premiers "Farmer John"
77. The Band "The Weight"
76. Prince "Let's Go Crazy (Extended Version)"
75. Pete Townshend "Rough Boys"
74. Ramones "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll radio"
73. Dictators "Pussy & Money"
72. Ray Charles "What'd I Say"
71. Coasters "Yakety Yak"
70. Chuck Berry "Too Much Monkey Business"
69. Rocket From the Tombs "Ain't It Fun?"
68. Rolling Stones "Paint It Black"
67. Ronettes "Be My Baby"
66. Gene Vincent & his Blue Caps "Be-Bop-A-Lula"
65. Beach Boys "Don't Worry Baby"
64. Bottle Rockets "Welfare Music"
63. Dion "The Wanderer"
62. Animals "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
61. Creedence Clearwater Revival "Run Through The Jungle"
60. MC5 "Kick Out The Jams"
59. David Bowie "Oh! You Pretty Things"
58. New York Dolls "Trash"
57. Black Sabbath "War Pigs"
56. Dolly Parton "Jolene"
55. Lovin' Spoonful "Summer In The City"
54. Easybeats "Friday On My Mind"
53. Eddie Floyd "Big Bird"
52. Elvis Costello "Psycho (live)"
51. Roy Orbison "Oh, Pretty Woman"
50. Everclear "Father Of Mine (Unplugged)"
49. Fastbacks "I'm Cold"
48. Jerry Lee Lewis "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
47. Janis Joplin "Down On Me (live)"
46. Lone Justice "Ways To Be Wicked"
45. Sly & the Family Stone "Dance To The Music"
44. Bruce Sprinsteen "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (live)"
43. Buffalo Springfield "Bluebird"
42. Van Morrison & the Holmes Brothers "That's Where It's At"
41. Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
40. The Band "It Makes No Difference"
39. Elvis Presley "Suspicious Minds"
38. Crystals "Da Doo Ron Ron"
37. Kinks "You Really Got Me"
36. Beatles "I Saw her Standing There"
35. Bruce Springsteen "Backstreets"
34. Ramones "We're a Happy Family"
33. Merle Haggard "Mama Tried"
32. The Who "Baba O'Reily"
31. Beach Boys "California Girls"
30. Jackson Five "I Want You Back"
29. Jimi Hendrix "Are You Experienced?"
28. Sly & the Family Stone "Everyday People"
27. Love "Alone Again Or"
26. Manfred Mann "Pretty Flamingo"
25. Joan Jett "Light Of Day"
24. Fats Domino "Ain't That A Shame"
23. Elvis Presley "Trouble"
22. Tim Hardin "Reason To Believe"
21. Junior Walker & the All-Stars "Shotgun
20. Guns & Roses "Get In The Ring"
19. Jimi Hendrix "Little Wing"
18. Miracles "Tracks of My Tears"
17. James McMurtry "Where's Johnny"
16. Little Richard "Good Golly, Miss Molly"
15. Replacements "Bastards Of Young"
14. Bruce Springsteen "Thunder Road"
13. Four Tops "Reach Out (I'll Be There)"
12. Aretha Franklin "I never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)"
11. John Prine "All The Best"
10. Beatles "A Day In The Life"
9. Rolling Stones "Sympathy For The Devil"
8. Derek & the Dominos "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?"
7. Bruce Springsteen "Jungleland"
6. Rolling Stones "Rocks Off"
5. Kingsmen "Louie Louie"
4. Dobie Gray "Drift Away"
3. Byrds "Eight Miles High"
2. Cheap Trick "Surrender"
1. Bob Dylan "Like A Rolling Stone"

One pledge I made when I started this project was to be rigorously honest about what songs I loved and why, no substituting to make myself sound cooler or more authoritative, and I've stuck to that,a nd I hope that's for the better. Any thoughts and opinions are welcome.

post by: jonmc at: 21:20 | 48 comments

Congratulations! I saw you were fast approaching #1; I figured you'd finish today. Good choice for song #1. (I considered referencing the Bob Dylan/Twyla Tharp musical and its version of this song, which was lovely, but it just seemed wrong).

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 22 March | 21:24

Congrats! "Like a Rolling Stone" deserves top billing. I'm embarrassed to admit my kids know most of the Surrender lyrics. I'm such a bad parent.

posted by LoriFLA 22 March | 21:33

LoriFLA, you're alright. and Daddy's alright, too.

posted by jonmc 22 March | 21:36

You just seem a little weird.

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 22 March | 21:42

This is cool. I always have fun riffing off of your picks jon. By the way, if I haven't said so before, your Cockeyed Absurdist site is an awful lot of fun. Rock on pal.

posted by caddis 22 March | 21:43

well, jeez, folks. don't be so nice. arguing about this stuff is half the fun. start picking and riffing...

posted by jonmc 22 March | 21:45

While it wouldn't be my top 300, it's an excellent, truly excellent list. And the essays have been great too. I wish I could snark on it.

(more Beatles? I would have more Beatles. oh, and you know you forgot The Smiths...heh)

posted by gaspode 22 March | 21:48

Yeah, and where's The Cure? hee.

#18 should have been closer to the top. Off to listen to Smokey.

posted by LoriFLA 22 March | 21:54

*pokes Jonmc with fork*

posted by bunnyfire 22 March | 21:55

well. at least you have a social distortion song on there.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 22 March | 22:02

don't be so nice

Fine, Iron Maiden? scratch those talentless bastards from your list. Everything else is fine, except Cheap Trick needs to float further up the list. Well then, there is "Marquee Moon" 250 effing 2? How about 12? Then we come to the real omission, Jim Carroll. One song, in the 200's, and it's not even City Drops Into The Night? That song is top ten, top one perhaps. OK, other than these minor nit picks, I love the list.

It's all about personal taste and I will cull your list for songs I don't know and find them on YouTube or whatever to try them out. Thanks.

posted by caddis 22 March | 22:06

caddis: just listen to the audio on the site. (also, it was killing me on the Jim Carroll to decide between"City..." and "day & Night"..but the latter won the day.

posted by jonmc 22 March | 22:10

I saw Chaeap Trick at Summerfest in Milwaukee last year. It was sorta a fluke - we went to the stage that Styx was supposed to be on and then Cheap Trick walked out. They had moved Styx to a bigger stage, but didn't change the signs. So we stuck around for a couple songs and some beer before stumbling over to the Styx stage.

Doesn't it sorta make you "that guy" when you wear your own band's shirt when playing a concert?
≡ Click to see image ≡

I'm excited about the list in general... I plan to make a playlist because I see a lot of bands/artists I like with songs I may not have heard of or paid attention to. You put a lot of work into this - and here I thought you just smoke, drank and ate wonderful food all day. ;)

posted by youngergirl44 22 March | 22:11

OMG you put each of these songs up? Now that is cool! I missed that. This makes your list extra good. Thanks. I am already putting a hit on your bandwidth.

posted by caddis 22 March | 22:22

no substituting to make myself sound cooler or more authoritative

there's nothing cooler than that.

Glad you got so much out of this, jon, and entertained and enlightened a lot of people in the bargain.

posted by Miko 22 March | 22:22

streaming mp3 only caddis, although there's a way (involving the rss feed) to download them, but that's not my area of expertise.

miko, glad you dug it. I figured you'd dig the amount of Jersey Shore sound stuff. I only hope that my writing was at least vaguely on target for these songs.

posted by jonmc 22 March | 22:26

Way to see this through to the end! Great project, jon. Congratulations.

posted by interrobang 22 March | 22:30

Thanks, interrobang. Coming from you (someone who disgrees with a lot of my musical opinions, although in interesting ways) that means a lot. I'm hoping to maybe use this as a portfolio for freelance work. I hope it's up to snuff.

posted by jonmc 22 March | 22:34

I enjoyed the writing very much. You're a good writer and critic jon. I'm not much of a critic. I couldn't tell you why I like a song. I just like it.

For some reason I thought The Temptations made your list. I must be thinking of something else.

Congrats again!

posted by LoriFLA 22 March | 22:37

streaming mp3 only
I know, and that is all one needs to listen and decide about a band. It's not about acquiring the recording as much as it is about acquiring the knowledge. Now that radio is dead I am loving the mp3 blogs for finding new sounds.

posted by caddis 22 March | 22:39

Thanks for this jonmc.

I listened to the songs you put earlier today (#5-8, I think) and was thinking that a day was gonna be a long wait to finally see the top four. I guess you're more impatient than me!

posted by mullacc 22 March | 23:11

It's hard to argue with someone's Favorite list, unlike someone's Best list. I know a lot of my favorite songs would not come close to being on my list of best songs; in fact, I downright hate and never did like a lot of songs that would be on my Best list.

posted by mischief 22 March | 23:12

BTW, I bookmarked this post.

posted by mischief 22 March | 23:13

I'd have a really hard time doing both a best and favorites list. I don't think I have any concept of what the best songs actually are, I just know what I like.

posted by youngergirl44 22 March | 23:18

This is very awesome. Idiosyncratic, to be sure. . .but I am very impressed. I have learned a lot, and it's given me a new "hit" on all the So Cal stuff. . .hearing it through different ears, or sumthin.

Thanks for doing this. You should be proud.

posted by danf 22 March | 23:38

Keep it up, Mr. McNally!

posted by brujita 22 March | 23:41

The scope of this project is just...well, it will be a very long time before I can even hope to know half as much about songs. I grew up being fed nothing but classical, so there's all those years of implicit "well that stuff isn't going to be relevant in a couple decades anyway" attitude (never mind that the classical audience has never done anything but grow old and shrink) to work against, and this list has done a lot for pulling out and burning the last bits of that mindset.

posted by casarkos 23 March | 00:10

I call a big "WTF" on including Marvin Gaye but not Sam Cooke. And there actually was rock music made after the 80s, you know. Most of it is godawful, but it was made.

I'm just trying to being mean because you asked for it, actually. Great list. Bravo on steering clear of the grunge.

posted by drjimmy11 23 March | 00:22

Many thanks jonmc, I really enjoyed the show.

posted by misteraitch 23 March | 01:53

I've been wondering what would be in your top 10 for a while now and it doesn't disappoint. Very nice. And the Maiden should absolutely be in there, they're an excellent group, as their longevity has proven.

posted by TheDonF 23 March | 01:57

Wow, nice.

posted by danostuporstar 23 March | 07:37

drjimmy11: look at #111.

TheDonF:it was sometimes agonizing deciding which songs to include and which to cut. I've actually stared at the list a lot to see if I can find any sort of common threads between all the songs, but I'm not sure there is one.

posted by jonmc 23 March | 07:40

The list needs more cowbell and more Kinks... I kid. Although I did think of you, jon, the other day when The Kinks' "A Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy" came on the radio.

I think you should post this to Metafilter Projects.

Bravo.

posted by terrapin 23 March | 07:53

I did, back at the beginning, terrapin. (and FWIW 'Sleepwalker' almost made it as a third Kinks song)

posted by jonmc 23 March | 07:57

Sorry I missed in on Projects, but glad I am able to see the whole thing now. I am reading and watching too many photo-a-day, comic-a-day, song-a-day blogs right now. It is nice to see the Finished Product, even I completely appreciate the day-to-day work that goes into these sorts of projects. I'm on Page 6 now. :)

You write very well, obviously, but you need to spell-check. :)

posted by terrapin 23 March | 08:23

Where's the fuckin' Magma, dude? You got something against Kobaïan?

And "Theme From an Imaginary Western" clocks in at only 249? You put that tune on the juke every time we're at a bar, expressly so we can sway in our cups and you can make guitar fingers and talk about how fucking great it is. It should be numbers 249, 130, 87, 65 and somewhere in the top twenty! Ditto Ratt: they didn't even make it. What gives?

Fine, fine, I understand you don't like the Scorps as much as I do and it's easy to get the wrong Toots & the Maytals song in there, but I know you don't like, say, "Mmm-Bop" better than "Round and Round," or you'd put it on every time we're at the Remote, right?

*shakes fist*

Well, you asked me to pick and riff. Congratulations, buddy. It's a great list, and I've got headphones at work today so I can surreptitiously listen to some of your favorites. Great stuff!

posted by Hugh Janus 23 March | 08:29

Dude, if I put MmmBop on at the Remote we'd get our asses kicked.

posted by jonmc 23 March | 08:33

Obsession is a wonderful thing.

posted by warbaby 23 March | 08:35

It would be a glorious ass-kicking, though. Like Ronceveaux Pass or Isandlwhana, only without all the courage..

posted by Hugh Janus 23 March | 08:42

I enjoyed the series very much. What's next?

posted by getoffmylawn 23 March | 09:14

damn... I don't check projects enough. (the link for this project is here.)

Someone should post this to the blue. I would (and still might if nobody else steps in), but I'm rushed for time, and can't concentrate well enough to sit and put together a nice writeup at the moment.

posted by taz 23 March | 09:27

Okay, I hesitate to post in the blue these days, but it's up. Get yer flinging mud ready, jon.

posted by Hellbient 23 March | 10:48

*puts on football helmet*

posted by jonmc 23 March | 10:51

The commenting process on Vox always annoys me, and I've gone a couple of times and gotten more wrapped up in listening than writing anything back, but I have been reading it. Just so ya know.

The couple things I'd say to this steamer are that a) I can never do this, and as such am a bad critic. I can give you the best songs for a video on self-defense or the best ten-song run on any given jukebox, but I can't ever make a statement about what my favorites are. They're too fucking broad, and I've never really understood the ranking process. That's why when I was 11, my list of the top 20 greatest guitarists ever included Stevie Ray Vaughn at 18 or so, and then tricked down into endless formulas that looked more like Time Cube Math meeting Dr. Bronner metaphysics. I just new that it had to end with Jimi Hendrix, because that was who I'd been told was the greatest guitarist ever.
B), the other complaint that I always have, and this list dodges it somewhat but not completely, is that the top 10 should nearly always be left off. The interesting writing, the new discoveries, the beautiful reading moments (and thinking moments and listening moments) always come for me in the top half of the list. At some point, I'll compile a list of the "Last 30" or so on a bunch of top 200 lists and argue that they're a better view of any given time or aesthetic, especially when the lists are compiled out of many people's votes.

posted by klangklangston 23 March | 12:54

You son of a bitch! Now mr. rossi is going to be occupied with your blog this weekend and will neglect his newborn son. Homewrecker!

posted by jrossi4r 23 March | 14:39

Fontella Bass - Home Wrecker

posted by box 23 March | 14:44

"What's next, jon?" I would really like to see jon's Top 50 overrated songs.

posted by mischief 23 March | 16:49

I'm actually thinking of posting the weirdest stuff in the collection. That could bend a few minds.

posted by jonmc 24 March | 00:30

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