A few weeks back, VH1’s Labor Day weekend special treat was to unveil their new Top 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time list. My husband and I watched in dismay as all sorts of weird choices were revealed throughout the hours of the countdown. I mean, Def Leppard? N.W.A.?? L.L. Cool J??? Tupac and Biggie???? Public Enemy?????? I definitely have respect for these artists, but I really take issue with these artists making a list that is supposed to be covering the impact of all genres of music on the world. I mean that’s what “Top 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time” means these days still, right?
So, I made my own Top 100. You will take issue with some of the artists on my list for all of the same reasons, but these are the artists that impacted my music taste the most, so I stand by all of them, even Dar Williams (who you’ve maybe never even heard of, unless, of course, you read my blog). Now I did attempt to put them in order, but I only spent a few hours on the order (4 hours), so I didn’t really do a big cross check and go “shoot, I have Fleetwood Mac ahead of Bob Dylan”. Obviously it’s not really like that exactly—-it’s not really that Fleetwood Mac was better than Bob Dylan— but the placings are approximately what I feel (hence Bob Dylan is in the #20’s on my list, versus #2 on their list, because my top 20 are truly the artists I’ve listened to most in my life, and it ain’t him, babe, no no no).
Let me also note before you view two color annotations: in light grey are all of the artists that appear on both lists. Each of these artists will also have in parentheses the other list’s ranking number (i.e. Outkast= 95 on their list, 74 on my list). It’s actually surprising how few artists appear on both lists—-only 35 out of 100—-I seriously disagreed with a LOT of VH1’s choices, as you probably will as well (well, I doubt you’ll completely leave Elvis out of your list, but he’s just not Top 100 to me. He’s probably like #101. I get his influence, but I think it was more cultural than musical. I like a lot of his music, but, again, I like all of these artists MUCH MORE). Anyhoo, in dark grey are the rankings that have no change between their list and my list. This only happens twice—-Beatles at #1, obviously, and Peter Gabriel at #55, which was definitely just a coincidence. I didn’t think there would be more than one, frankly.
OK. So, enjoy. Fight me. Come on, let’s go!
VH1 vs. ME
Awful font! But got me thinking. I like yours better, too. Ranked position aside, “of all time” invokes Ali — 50+ years ago. so, going back 50 years (or more)… Where do we find: Frank Sinatra? Judy Garland? Glen Miller? Robert Goulet? Alright, that last one is a bit weak. But, you get the point. Keep blogging!!!!
You know what? I thought about Judy, Judy, Judy, but she didn’t write her music….she was definitely on the list, but I ultimately decided against it.
And Sinatra. Dude did not write his songs, and barely brought anything new to the arrangements. I’m exceedingly preferential to singer-songwriters, so if I’m going to consider people who did not write their music, then they have to be considered for their interpretations. And as far as evolving the art of arrangement, I think Nat King Cole is the standard and Mel Torme is the innovator. Rat Pack doesn’t hold a candle to those two.
I like yours a lot better.
…And agree 100% on Elvis. I’m a teacher, and you see scores of youth today listening to & talking about & wearing memorabilia from The Beatles, but youth who are that into Elvis are much rarer birds. I think that speaks scores of volumes to Elvis as a big cultural and marginal musical influence.
Thanks for the comment! I checked out your blog, and appreciate the form you’ve made for your posts. It keeps everything clear and concise. I’ve added you to my blogroll! Keep reading and keep blogging!