50 Rock Songs I Want Everyone To Hear

Absolutely.
First four albums are tremendous. Mother Of Pearl is one of my favorite songs by anyone.

 

Bobb Trimble - Glass Menagerie Fantasies (1980)

I'm pretty sure I first heard of Bobb Trimble through the Songs In The Key Of Z book on outsider musicians. I added lots of albums to my wantlist while reading that book. Unfortunately, most were expensive and/or impossible to find. Boob's two albums were definitely in both of those categories. I had been listening to tracks on YouTube for a while before it was announced that Secretly Canadian were going to release Iron Curtain Innocence (1980) and Harvest Of Dreams (1982.) This is the opening cut from his first album. I actually prefer his second album by a wide margin but I've posted tracks from it over the years here. I'd go with that one first if this is sparking your interest.

Bobb's quasi-falsetto might require some getting used to but those lyrics and arrangements should shine through no matter. I remember when my girlfriend emailed me THIS article and saying that there are some artists in there that she thinks I would like. I was like "This is that guy I wanted YOU to listen to!" She really loves both of his albums as well. BTW…that article also mentions "Jungle Rot" by George Brigham which was a serious contender for this list. Check that monster from 1975 out. Thunderous song.

 

I need to wrap this sucka up.

 

Some great tracks included in this eclectic list.

 

Indeed! I was wondering what had happened with this list, after noticing recently that our resident Russian Manowar/ONJ fanatic's "Top 50" list was back on the first page...so then, what's in store next?

 

Good to see your list back!

 

C'mon Synthfreek, a few more.

 

great list. who are you? seems like I should have met you at some point just based on this list!

 

lol, but seriously- 'lennon' and its varients is a rather common irish name, and since australia was basically colonized by the irish (though not voluntarily at the beginning) it's probably a pretty common name down there. means 'son of lennon, b.t.w.

cheers,
rob

 

u

curious what the joke is? (nosey git, me.)

cheers,
rob

 

kinda gone off bauhaus over the years, at least a lot of murphy's pretentiousness, but 'double dare' is truly a MONSTER bass riff

cheers,
rob

 

Arcwelder - What Did You Call It That For? (1993)

Hüsker Dü anyone? It's as though Arcwelder combined a pop sensibility, a somewhat typical Touch And Go sound and Bob Mould and went to town. Nothing groundbreaking, but very air guitar friendly and good for a sing-along. Pull is the only album of theirs that I own and it's probably all I need. Maybe someone knows more about their catalog than I. Every once in a while I get in a nostalgic early 90s mood and throw together a playlist that would include this as well as stuff like Quicksand, Jawbreaker, Shudder To Think, Pegboy and Gray Matter.

 

Xerxes is another good one -- nice guys, too.

 

How many do we have in the official count down? I am pretty sure it is 49...

 

That was #45. I'm only counting main entries. Those are the ones that are underlined, have the year posted, include a YouTube clip and artwork for either the single or album the song was on.

 

Boy I messed that up! I meant to be cute and put #1... I would really like to see you change it to 100 Rock Songs...

 

Nice tune, thanks for sharing!

 

I'm resurrecting my poor thread that I neglected. I believe I only need a few more picks to wrap up my 50 choices.

Thao Nguyen and her band The Get Down Stay Down's last three albums are all winners. Catchy, upbeat, singalongs by the dozens. Her collaboration with Mirah is also very cool and a little more "out there." She's also quite the human beatbox. I'd recommend We Brave Bee Stings And All on Kill Rock Stars as a good album to start with. EVERY song is great and it's certainly one of my favorites from the past 10 years.

My girlfriend and I talked with her at length after her first Austin appearance and she was just how we expected her to be. A ball of energy and wit. A few years later she recognized us and waved from the stage.

Beat (Health, Life and Fire) 2008

 

Well, I half-agree. "Starry Eyes" just never did it for me the way other tunes in the Power Pop category did. It's listenable but that's as far as I can go with it. I love "Shadow Dancing". It's classic Bee Gees and the 'aaahhh's' that open the guys' backing vocal part on the choruses are sublime, especially the last one where they hold it a little longer. Gibb Magic.

 

Geez, I just love this song. It may be the single greatest example of power pop there is.

 

It's too bad that Columbia decided to make "Silver & Gold" the first single. I really like the song but the main lead singer doesn't sing this one and it's a ballad on an album with some great rockers on it. "Wayside" would seem to be the most logical choice for the first 45. "It's Over" is another great track but maybe not quite as radio-friendly for a first single. I think Billy Paliselli did add his vocal to the "Silver & Gold" 45 version. Somebody also decided to add strings and some female singers to it as well. Again, I really like the song and the "I'm still falling down over you" vocal riff at the end is catchy and beautifully done along with Paliselli's ad-libs but still.....what could have been.......

 

Stephen Malkmus may agree with you. He was having fun covering it at the show at Slim's I caught last year, and apparently was doing it pretty often on that tour.

I need to dive further into early Roxy, I only own For Your Pleasure and don't know the others nearly as well.

 

Think Think would have been a better choice as well. The choice for first single doomed this band from the start.

 

I really like the Brett Smiley & Bobb Trimble tracks. Nice work.

 

Great thread. I like most of what you've posted. Many I was already familiar with, but all deserve a wider audience