Both Devo's Satisfaction and B52's Rock Lobster hit my young ears like they came out of nowhere. Even more "out of nowhere" was Laurie Anderson's O Superman, but a previous poster beat me to that little gem.
First one that comes to mind for me is Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". First time I heard that song it blew open doors and blew my mind. I was writing the lines above your post here when I noticed the "other posts" and saw yours. Well said, great pick!
The chords and melody seem unlike anything ever (except for a police siren, of course). The forever descending major chords at the end...is there anything like that? Some classical thing maybe? I just read an interview with Martin where he talks about John telling him to do "something good", and he came up with not only the incredible string and brass arrangement (those sliding strings, just fantastic), but also the crazy vocalizations done by professional singers, which he said was hilarious watching them do it. I suppose his experience in comedy records, crazy sound effects, etc., came in handy.
“Tomorrow Never Knows” - The Beatles “I Can See for Miles” - The Who “Blitzkrieg Bop” - The Ramones “Marquee Moon” - Television
While driving into work this morning “Have a Cigar” came on...always loved its funkiness. Lots of Floyd’s music is unique, IMHO. “One of These Days”, “Time” etc. Aggressive and melodic, great guitars especially.
For pop music at the time... - Eleanor Rigby - Tomorrow Never Knows - Good Vibrations - Strawberry Fields Forever - I Feel Love To name just five.
Didn't hear this absolute Dylan classic until late '69. Wow! Was I impressed. Still one of the greatest songs ever, maybe the greatest. Some disagree though. Guy at work said it wasn't even a song. Just some guy talking over some dull music. Anybody could do that.
Tons of them, many or most sounding pretty dated within a few years. I think there’s not much controversy about those three Dylan albums in the 60’s though, if not in musical form but lyrical content. Nothing before or since in popular music to match it, not even Dylan. Listening to Blonde on Blonde right now and I still can’t figure it out.
I can kind of see where it came out of - Sakamoto is the obvious thing, however it's remarkable how such a sparse vocal piece can work with electronics
Lol...I would never go that far. But I must admit I'm among the few, I guess, that just doesn't really hear anything special in the track. I think like most Dylan songs, the issue is that I respect it far more than I want to re-hear it. Which is never good...lol. Yet, like I always say, it's definitely my loss. The song's greatness and acclaim speaks far louder volumes than me.
