:: Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club ::

:: Sunday, March 28, 2004 ::

The Immortals

It's that time, again.

As some of you may know, Rolling Stone Magazine [RSM] and I have a long history together, like estranged lovers. Over the years, RSM has had a penchant for getting under my skin with these controversial "greatest" lists. Sure enough, another lover's quarrel is about to ensue with this month's issue entitled, The Immortals, listing the 50 greatest artists of all time in honor of the 50th anniversary of
Rock.

In an unprecedented move, The Beatles topped the list at #1, with (brace yourself) Bob Dylan right behind at #2. Dare RSM and its edgy writers risk the much anticipated controversy by listing these underdogs? Kidding. Again, I'm a big fan of The Beatles and would probably put them right up there as well, but recycling the same top 2 bands/artists/albums on every list you put out is a bit anti-climactic, no? A little variation never killed anyone. In this entry I have to point out something that truly baffled me. The voters were comprised of roughly 60 big names in the music industry, including producers, artists, and editors, with each ranked artist having a brief piece of praise written by a contributing big name in the music industry (i.e. #3 - Elvis Presley, by Bono; #10 - Ray Charles, by Van Morrison, and hysterical contribution on #8 himself - Little Richard). You get the idea. Elvis Costello, someone whose music I am fond of, wrote the contributing piece on the #1 ranked Beatles. In it he says:

"The Beatles arrived sounding like nothing else. Every record was a shock when it came out".

Umm... yeah. Elvis, don't quit your day job. Dude, the very first albums The Beatles put out were filled with covers of already established artists, including Chuck Berry! How can he say they arrived 'sounding like nothing else'? Even Joe Perry of Aerosmith, someone who's surely had enough drugs & alcohol in his lifetime to inebriate a small horse, seems to have some sense as evidenced by his giving his propers in his contributory piece on Mr. Berry. The truly sad part about all of this is that Chuck Berry is listed at a paltry #5, while The Rolling Stones and The Beatles - two groups whose initial major rock influence was Mr. Berry himself - are ranked ahead of him. There's irony for you.

PS. on a side note, every time i hear Michael Jackson's, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", I get uber pumped and inspired to start grabbin' crotches. Of little boys. Kidding.

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