The Other 35

 

Not quite two years ago I blogged about my 65 favorite musical artists. I know 65 seems like a rather odd number for a list of this sort, but I did have my reasons. I’m not going to tell you what those reasons were, though, since I already wrote an entire blog about it, but if you missed it, you can read about it here.

Of course, even though I had my reasons, I’m sure the fact that I did a Top 65 list and not a Top 100 list bugged a lot of my more OCD readers. Indeed, I’m guessing that there were some who found it so blasphemous that they thought it upset the natural order of things, and may well have pointed to that blog as the thing that set off the pandemic less than three months later.

Well, don’t despair my neurotic friends, because today I aim to set things right. Yes, my Hanukkah gift to my faithful fans is to provide a list of the remaining 35 musical artists that flesh out my Top 100 list. So, without further ado, let’s rock and roll right into it with number…

100. Lynyrd Skynyrd – I’m not generally that into southern classic rock bands. You’ll not see the Allman Brothers or Credence Clearwater Revival anywhere on my list, for example. But of that genre, Lynyrd Skynyrd is the one I like best. Of course, they are best known for “Free Bird,” which is a great song that has become of a bit of a cliché for people to drunkenly call out requests for at concerts. I won’t claim to know a ton of their music, but there are a handful of their songs that I really like. Favorite song: “Simple Man”

99. Beastie Boys – Fellow Brooklyn Jews, Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, and Adam Horovitz make up this unique punk-rap hybrid band. Not long after their debut album, Licensed to Ill came out in 1986 I and my high school buddies latched onto it despite the fact that it was completely unlike anything else we were listening to at the time. It was fun and in your face and perfect for our adolescent partying mindset. Favorite song: “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”

98. Jewel – While there are certainly much more famous one-named female artists like Madonna and Cher, my favorite in this unique category is Jewel. Her 1995 debut album Pieces of You was endearingly sweet and wistful and managed to capture a place in my heart at just the right time in my life. I’ll admit that I’m not very familiar with her work after this album, but this one album was strong enough to edge her onto this list. Favorite song: “Foolish Games”

97. Billy Idol – With his signature sneer and great rock yowl, Idol churned out a bunch of iconic radio hits in the 80s. We didn’t hear too much about him after that decade, but the hard punk new wave tunes he produced during that decade were all pretty solid. And, on a side note, he got me into a bit of trouble at a friend’s wedding in the early 90s when the DJ played his song “Mony Mony” and I was the only one to sing the alternative lyrics, that I incorrectly assumed everyone else would join in on. Favorite song: “Rebel Yell”

96. Fleetwood Mac – Here is a band that formed in 1967 and has had so many different lineup changes over the years that besides their regular entry on Wikipedia, there is a separate entry called “List of Fleetwood Mac Members.” Of course, the two members who have been with the band the entire time are the two that the band is named after—Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. But for all their different incarnations, the lineup that is best known is the one that also included Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie. These five gave us the album Rumours, which went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. Favorite song: “Go Your Own Way”

95. Stevie Wonder – Child prodigy Stevie Wonder had his first number one single in 1963 at age 13. By the time he reached age 18, he had released 11 albums and had seven top ten singles. Oh, and of course he did all this while being completely blind. By the time I was 18 I still didn’t know how to do my own laundry. Kind of puts things in perspective. Favorite song: “Superstition”

94. John Mellencamp – With his straightforward grassroots approach to rock, John Mellencamp, aka Johnny Cougar, aka John Cougar, aka John Cougar Mellencamp (yes, he has more aliases than a KGB spy in a comic book) is sort of like a Midwestern version of Bruce Springsteen. Throughout the 1980s, Mellencamp put forth a load of catchy guitar-driven hits making him a pop icon of the times. Favorite song: “Jack and Diane”

93. America – This is one of a handful of bands that I got into because of my mom, the others being Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. Ha, ha – just kidding! I had you going there for a second, didn’t I! No, my mom was not into thrash metal, but rather soft rock with catchy melodies that could easily be turned into elevator music. America was at the height of their popularity in the early 1970s and, when I was a kid, my mom would often put one of their albums on the turntable in between playing show tunes and Barbra Streisand. Eventually I came to like them via osmosis. I also came to have terrible grammar from repeatedly hearing the lyrics: “In the desert, you can remember your name/'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain.” Favorite song: “Ventura Highway”

92. The Smithereens – Here’s another entry that made it to this list purely on the strength of one album. The Smithereens released their debut album Especially For You in 1986 and I played it a lot over the next year or two. The catchy tunes on this album are somehow simultaneously rocking and mellow and filled with interesting lyrics. They made a few albums after this one but, in all honesty, I never checked them out, so I could be missing some great stuff by them. Favorite song: “Behind the Wall of Sleep”

91. The Beach Boys – One of the most successful bands of all time, the Beach Boys had more Top 40 hits between the 1960s and 2010s than any other American band. (At least according to Wikipedia, which I believe wholeheartedly.) The Beach Boys delivered on their name, churning out a ton of songs about surfing and having fun in the California son. Personally, their songs, while enjoyable, are a bit too repetitious for me to put them any higher on my list than this. Favorite song: “God Only Knows”

90. Hall & Oates – Although they were making albums since the early 1970s, and had a couple of hits along the way, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that they became mega-stars. From 1980 to 1982, this rock-pop (or pop-rock, depending on who you ask) duo saw four of their singles hit number one on the US Billboard charts, and had a couple of others land in the top ten. Their stuff was never flashy—just solid songs that made them a mainstay on the radio during my junior high school years. Favorite song: “Sara Smile”

89. REO Speedwagon – A straightforward rock and pop band from the 70s and 80s, these guys reached their peak with the 1980 album Hi Infidelity, which had several hits that got lots of airplay. Their previous album, while probably not as good, has the distinction of having my favorite album title of all time: You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish. Favorite song: “Take It on the Run”

88. Melting Hopefuls – Far and away the most obscure band on this list, there is a pretty strong chance nobody reading this will have heard of them. When I lived in Manhattan in the early to mid-1990s I stumbled across them headlining at a small club that I went to in order to see my friend’s brother-in-law’s band play. I don’t remember much about the band I went to see, but when the Melting Hopefuls came on, I was entranced by their quirky brand of alternative folk rock. I’ll also admit I was a bit entranced by their lead singer Renee LoBue, and I became sort of a groupie of theirs for a couple of years, following them around to their various gigs throughout Manhattan. They released a couple of CDs on an independent label, but I lost track of them when I moved to Arizona and found out later that they broke up in the late 90s (maybe because they didn’t have me supporting them at their gigs anymore.) Favorite song: “Don’t Touch Me”

87. Supertramp – This keyboard heavy prog-pop band debuted in 1970 and hit their commercial and critical peak in 1979 with their nearly perfect album Breakfast in America, which included three Top 40 hits. The album also featured a very memorable cover photo of a happy waitress holding up a glass of orange juice in front of the Twin Towers. The band never came close to matching the success of this album again, but I like their catchy tunes enough to put them in this spot. Favorite song: “Take the Long Way Home”

86. Queensryche – This band has a unique place in the pantheon of heavy metal. I always used to describe them as “this is what it would sound like if Pink Floyd and Metallica had a baby.” In fact, their amazing concept album Operation: Mindcrime is to me, essentially a heavy metal version of Floyd’s The Wall. Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s I got to see them open for Def Leppard and it was definitely one of those scenarios where I went to the concert for the opening act, not the headliner. To my mind Queensryche blew Leppard out of the water. Favorite song: “Speak”

85. Kansas – The first of three geographically named bands that will appear on this list, Kansas formed, not surprisingly, in Topeka, Kansas in the early 1970s. The band was a major force during that decade, putting out six albums including their two masterworks, Leftoverture and Point of Know Return. Those albums included two epic songs that would go on to be mainstays on classic rock radio—“Dust in the Wind,” and the one that’s my favorite song of theirs…Favorite song: “Carry on Wayward Son”

84. Aerosmith – One of the most iconic bands of the hard rock genre, Aerosmith hit it big in the early to mid-70s before having a bit of a lull and then a popularity resurgence in the mid-to-late 80s. I will admit that their output is a bit hit or miss for me, but there is enough in the “hit” category to land them in this spot on my list. At one time I may have ranked these guys higher, but I’ve read in multiple spots that when Rush (my favorite band) opened for them, Steven Tyler and his cohorts treated them like crap, so I’ve soured on them a bit. Favorite song: “Dream On”

83. The Temptations – This Motown group produced a ridiculous amount of hits in the 60s and 70s. What makes them somewhat unique, though, is their successful transition from more traditional Motown love songs like “My Girl” to a more funky psychedelic sound with songs like “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” They also often sported fun matching outfits and did dance routines to their songs. I dare you to watch their “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” video on YouTube and not smile. Favorite song: “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”

82. Chicago – This rock band with horns (yes, they had a full brass section of their band) had an interesting trajectory, starting out with a jazzier more intense sound and eventually evolving into more standard pop and soft rock. While I do like some of their later tunes, it’s really their earlier work that is more compelling to me. They also had an interesting naming convention for their albums, using numerical names (like Chicago VI or Chicago 19) for 24 of their 37 albums. For some reason I find this amusing, but I guess I’m easily amused. Favorite song: “25 or 6 to 4”

81. Motley Crue – First off, I want to apologize to purists who object to the fact that I didn’t include metal umlauts over the “O” and “U” in this band’s name. I didn’t have the patience to figure out how to do that. Motley Crue may be the epitome of the 80s heavy metal band. Not as heavy as bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica, but not as glam as bands like Cinderella and Poison, Crue existed right in the middle of that decade’s metal spectrum. From 1981’s Too Fast for Love through 1989’s Dr. Feelgood, they put out five straight platinum albums. The one time I had tickets to see them live in the summer of 1987, I had to give them up because one of my nephews was born that night, so I wound up at a hospital instead of a stadium. I think there was about the same amount of screaming in both locations. Favorite song: “Kickstart My Heart”

80. Bon Jovi – I can already feel the eye rolls I’m getting on this one, as I know there are a lot of rock connoisseurs who write this band off as mindless pop-metal. Whatever. The reality for me is that Bon Jovi’s multi-platinum album Slippery When Wet came out a couple of weeks before my senior year of high school and its songs are woven into the cultural fabric of my group of friends from that timeframe. In fact, the song “Never Say Goodbye” was the theme song for our senior prom and I get wistful and misty-eyed to this day if I hear it on the radio. Of course, Bon Jovi is led by Jon Bon Jovi, who is the rock star that my female friends swooned over more than any other during that period. Maybe that’s the real reason so many guys can’t stand him. Favorite song: “Runaway”

79. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – This folk rock super group, consisting of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, did not always include Young, but trying to divide them out as separate entries on this list, with and without Young, seems silly. Besides, in my opinion their best work is with Young, anyway. Indeed, their best-selling album, Déjà Vu, includes all four of them and has many of their most iconic songs. On a side note, the band Barenaked Ladies put out a Christmas album in which they replaced the lyrics of “Deck the Halls” with the name of the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young repeated over and over. It’s pretty amusing and worth a listen. Favorite song: “Ohio”

78. Deep Purple – DA-DA-DAAA…DA-DA-DA-DAAA…DA-DA-DAAA…DA-DA-DAAA. Clearly I don’t know musical notation, but hopefully you still got the fact that my DAs were supposed to be representative of one of the most iconic guitar riffs in the history of rock from Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” That song, which is Deep Purple’s most famous, comes from their flagship album Machine Head. But this heavy prog-rock band put out a lot of really intense tunes prior to their seminal album. This is one of those bands, though, that has gone through multiple lineup changes over the years, and while they put out 16 more albums after Machine Head, none came close to matching that LP’s grandeur. Favorite song: “Highway Star”

77. The Clash – One of the pioneering bands of British punk rock, The Clash only made six albums from 1977 through 1985 and then broke up. But in that short timeframe they produced an incredible amount of great tunes. The Clash also didn’t stick with just a traditional punk sound, as they were also at the forefront of new wave and even delved into a more traditional pop rock sound at times. Indeed, their most notable album, London Calling, mixes all of these genres and more. On a side note, as I surfed YouTube to re-listen to some of their songs to write this, I stumbled across the fact that in 2009, Bruce Springsteen played a few Clash covers at his concerts. How cool would it be to be at a Springsteen concert and he suddenly breaks into a Clash song! But I digress. Favorite song: “London Calling”

76. Jim Crocce – Here’s another artist that I was exposed to mostly through my mom, who played Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits quite a lot during my childhood. Croce’s accessible brand of folk rock got a lot of airplay in the 70s, though tragically, Croce died in an airplane crash in 1973, at the height of his popularity. While he doesn’t get a lot of airplay these days, every once in a rare while I still hear “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” crop up on the radio. Favorite song: “I Got a Name”

75. Boston – “Well, we were just another band out of Boston,” starts the lyrics to “Rock & Roll Band,” which opens side two of Boston’s self-named debut album. That might be selling themselves a bit short—they weren’t “just another band,” they were a really good one. (Note: some research told me that I have two other Boston bands on this list—the previously mentioned Aerosmith and, as it happens, the very next band on this list.) I really dig Boston’s orchestral rock sound and use of harmonies. My one quibble with them is that every tune on their first two albums sounds exactly the same, just with different lyrics. But I really like the sound of that tune a lot, which is how they wound up here on my list despite the sameness. Favorite song: “Peace of Mind”

74. The Cars – This is not just another band out of Boston. The Cars were a hit machine from the late 70s through the mid-80s, with their signature brand of catchy new wave pop. They were also mainstays on MTV, with several very memorable videos to their credit, thanks to the distinctive look of their quirky lead singer, Ric Ocasek. (Note: That’s not a typo—Ocasek spelled “Ric” without the “k.” I guess he thought that made him quirkier.) Favorite song: “You Might Think”

73. The Moody Blues – One of the pioneering bands of the progressive rock genre, most of the Moody Blues songs fall into the “epic” category. Their 1967 concept album Days of Future Passed is best listened to straight through from beginning to end so that your mind is sufficiently blown. The album, which follows an everyman throughout the day, includes impressive orchestral bits, as well as occasional spoken word interludes. While the Moody Blues did have other successes throughout their 16-album career Days of Future Passed is certainly their signature work, which includes their most identifiable song, which also happens to be my favorite of theirs. Favorite song: “Nights in White Satin”

72. Peter Gabriel – Gabriel first came to fame as the lead singer of Genesis before leaving the group in 1975 to start a solo career, in which he had significant commercial success with seven songs reaching number three or higher on the US pop charts. In trying to find a way to characterize Gabriel’s sound, the phrase that keeps on coming to mind is “chill rock.” Not to be confused with soft rock (like the aforementioned America) chill rock is music you just hang out with your friends and chill to. Indeed, I saw Peter Gabriel live once in the mid-90s and it was probably the most chill stadium concert I’ve ever been to. Favorite song: “Solsbury Hill”

71. The Commodores – Before Lionel Richie went solo, this was his band. The Commodores were a later addition to the Motown label, putting out their first album in 1974. While they had some success with more funky, upbeat songs like “Brick House” and “Lady (You Bring Me Up),” it was really Richie’s swoon-worthy ballads like “Easy” and “Three Times a Lady” that they were best known for. Indeed, after Richie left the band in 1982 to start his solo career, they only had one significant hit with “Nightshift.” Favorite song: “Still”

70. Elvis Presley – Arguably the most iconic figure in the history of rock music, for years I claimed I didn’t like Elvis, though I’m not quite sure why I took that stance. Maybe it was because I preferred “classic rock” to “rock and roll,” or because of Elvis’s pretty boy status that made me roll my eyes. But these days, if I try to be objective, there is no doubt that Elvis was an incredible performer and recorded a ton of hits that made rock what it is today. Of course, Elvis didn’t write any of his hits, which is why I wouldn’t put him any higher than this spot on my list. Favorite song: “Heartbreak Hotel”

69. Pearl Jam – Along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam helped usher the grunge sound into the mainstream in the early 1990s. But it wasn’t just the sound that got ushered in, as it was the entire vibe. Flannel quickly replaced spandex as the material of choice for young rock fans, as everyone tried to mimic Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder’s brooding aesthetic. But I’m not here to talk about fabric, so much as I am to talk about music. Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten, which weirdly had eleven tracks, is one of the great debut albums in the history of rock, with its aggressive guitar sound combined with compelling, personal lyrics. The album, which has gone on to sell more than 13 million copies, spawned three Top 20 radio hits. But these boys from Seattle didn’t stop there, as they amassed an additional 24 Top 20 hits after their first album. Favorite song: “Better Man”

68. The Spinners – An R&B group that got its start in the early 1960s, the Spinners were with Motown during that decade but, for whatever reason, couldn’t get a foothold with that label. It wasn’t until they switched over to Atlantic in the early 1970s that they really took off. At that point they started churning out a bunch of catchy hits, including seven that ended up in the Top 10 on the Billboard charts. Interestingly, their only number one hit came as a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, when they made “Then Came You.” A few years ago I bought a greatest hits CD of theirs called Flashback With The Spinners and I’ve played the heck out of that thing. (Sorry for the strong language there. I get fired up about the Spinners.) Favorite song: “The Rubberband Man”

67. Genesis – My hunch is that if I were to reorder my Top 100 music artists lists one year from now, Genesis would land in a much higher spot on the list—possibly in the Top 30. But since I’m writing this now, here is where they stand. Here’s the deal—Genesis essentially had two main phases of their career, the first with Peter Gabriel as the frontman that had a distinctly more progressive rock feel, and the second with Phil Collins as the frontman that started out a bit proggy and eventually went to more straightforward rock and pop. It’s the second phase that I am much more familiar with and what I am basing their ranking on. But just in the past 30 minutes, as I’ve been doing my research for this blog, I’ve been listening to some of their earlier work and am blown away. Why didn’t I listen to this stuff before??? I guess I’ve got some catching up to do. In any event, my favorite album of theirs for many years has been the Collins-led Duke, but maybe that will change soon. And my favorite song of theirs may change soon, too, but for now…Favorite song: “That’s All”

66. The Animals – Rounding out my “Other 35” is a British band that hit it big during the same timeframe as the Beatles and Rolling Stones. While The Animals obviously did not have the longevity or cultural impact of the two aforementioned bands, they did have a string of wildly successful hits during the mid-1960s. Led by singer Eric Burdon, whose incredibly rich voice sounded like it should have come from a man 30 years his senior, The Animals songs seem to fall into two categories—straightforward rock and roll or gritty organ-driven blues. Either way, their output in the short time they were together was incredibly impressive. And the video of them performing “House of the Rising Sun” in matching grey suits as they slowly and sullenly walk around the stage together may be my all-time favorite thing on YouTube. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Favorite song: “House of the Rising Sun”

Thank you for indulging me, once again, with one of my self-indulgent lists. If you want to find out numbers 65 through 1 on my list and you missed the link earlier, here it is again.

If you’re sick of my lists and want to read a blog I wrote five years ago about athletic equipment stuck in trees, click here.

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