https://rockcritics.com/2013/10/22/simo ... 0-fall-92/
It isn’t a list of the best or even of my favourite records–many of which are etched so clearly into the soundscape (of my memory) that I feel no need to keep them. The only explanation I can give is that these are the records I feel the need to have by me to play to people. They are a source of explanation…
The order is as randomly chosen as the list:
1. Bob Dylan: “Positively 4th Street” (1965) — The aesthetic of the sneer I–the definitive boy’s bedroom song.
2. Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon: “(Blame It) On the Pony Express” (1970) — Now that intellectuals like Frank Kogan and Chuck Eddy have discovered Boney M they should check out an earlier root of Euro-pop: black GIs meet Denmark Street hacks to make the pop dance sound from which, eventually, came Pete Waterman (in whose shop I probably bought this).
3. Stephen Duffy: “I Love You” EP (1985) — Four perfect mod-pop songs written and recorded twenty years after the event.
4. Fatal Microbes: “Violence Grows” (1979) — Female singer who captured better than anyone else punk’s peculiar self-pitying glee.
5. Spoonie Gee: “Street Girl” and Toddy Tee: “Batter Ram” (nd) — Tracks from a tape Andy Schwartz once made for me–the obsession of language.
6. Bunny Wailer: Struggle (1979) — The singer who more than anyone else (except perhaps Burning Spear live) performs reggae as a religious rite.
7. Bunny Wailer: “Redemption Song” (from Tribute, 1981) — I’d never listened to the words before.
8. King Tubby Meets the Upsetter at the Grass Roots of Dub (nd) — With a pin-up of the mixing desks.
9. Don Williams: Greatest Hits Volume 1 (1975) — How to sing without opening your mouth.
10. David Allen Coe: Just Divorced (1984) — Puzzle time. What’s real and what’s fake? What’s touching and what’s tacky? What’s the difference?
11. A Billie Holiday Memorial (nd) — Has the advantage over later tributes in including those late tracks when she couldn’t, um, sing.
12. David Bowie: Low (1977) — The Sound of the Seventies (though see 41 below).
13. Associates: “PartyFearsTwo” (1982) — Further adventures of the ballad.
14. Misty in Roots: Live at the Counter-Eurovision (1979) — The most perfect reggae record ever made.
15. Bobby Vinton: Blue Velvet (1963) — Previous adventures of the ballad.
16. Cocteau Twins: “Aikea-Guinea” EP (1985) — New age music for people who pretend they don’t like new age music.
17. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: Thokozile (1988) — Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes eat your hearts out.
18. Bobby Bare: (Margie’s at) the Lincoln Park Inn and Other Controversial Country Songs (1969) — When it comes right down to it country music is essentially a comic form.
19. Temptations: Puzzle People (1969) — Those voices in pursuit of pure pop.
20. “Past, Present and Future” on the Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las (1966) — Excerpt from a teenage ballet.
21. The Jive 5’s Greatest Hits (nd) — Doo-wop at its most exhilarating and most weird.
22. The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys: The Columbia Sessions 1949-56 (1980) — Shut your eyes and belieeeeeve.
23. Eagles: “Lyin’ Eyes” on Their Greatest Hits (1976) — The most perfect pop single ever made.
24. Michel Legrand: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (nd) — Life reduced to a song, part 1.
25. Djeli Moussa Diawara: 1st LP (nd) — What is meant, I assume, by “the music of the spheres.”
26. Otis Redding: Live in Europe (1972 Japanese reissue) — Complete with transcribed grunts and groans.
27. Culturcide: “Bruce” from Tacky Souvenirs of Pre-Revolutionary America (nd) — Uniquely effective rock criticism.
28. Dolly Parton: Dolly at Her Best (1972) — Just for the segue from “How Great Thou Art” to “Just the Way I Am.”
29. Tom T. Hall: In Search of a Song (1971) — Life reduced to a song, part 2.
30. Carol Jianni: “Hit ‘n’ Run Lover” (1981) — The Montreal disco sound–the girl group comes out of the closet.
31. Patti Smith: Horses (1975) — The sexiest record ever made.
32. Tabou Combo: 8th Sacrament (1974) — Tumbling percussion.
33. Kool and the Gang: “Get Down On It” (1974) — American minimalism–on the (low) dance floor.
34. Philip Glass: Dance Pieces (1987) — American minimalism–on the (high) dance floor.
35. Sharon Redd: “Never Give You Up” (1982) — The excitement of sexual dependency.
36. Mathilde Santing (10-inch promotional LP, 1982) — The coolest of cover versions.
37. Creation Rebel: Starship Africa (1980) — Space music.
38. Sona Diabate and M’mah Sylha: Sahel (1988) – Women’s talk.
39. Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Umthombo Wamanzi (1988) — Men’s talk.
40. Johnny Taylor: Just Ain’t Good Enough (1982) — For three tracks–“I’m So Proud,” “Don’t Wait,” “Just Ain’t Good Enough”–the most perfect soul record ever made.
41. Culture: Two Sevens Clash (1977) — The record from which the Clash took their name.
42. Butch Hancock: The Wind’s Dominion (1979) — Texan intellectuals at play.
43. Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) — The aesthetic of the sneer II–the definitive boys’ street sound.
44. Various Artists: Serious Beats Vol 3 (1991) — Or why Belgians don’t want to dance.
45. Paolo Conti: Concerti (nd) — An Italian chansonnier.
46. Kraftwerk: The Mix (1991) — All those glossy tunes in a single glossy packet.
47. Laurie Anderson: Strange Angels (1989) — I could listen to her for hours.
48. Sinead O’Connor: “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990)
49. Carlos D’Alessio et Marguerite Duras: India Song et Autres Musique des Films (1984) — Euro-pop.
50. The John Barry Seven and Orchestra: Hit and Miss (1979) — Hits from 1958-1962–the last great instrumental era.
Top 50 Music according Simon Frith (1992)
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