I disagree about Lou Reed, Alex. He probably won't make his way onto my ballot until his resurgence with New York, Magic and Loss, and (to a lesser extent) Songs for Drella. No doubt Transformer is a great album, but for me, not good enough to push him into the top ten until he builds on that. (I'll be honest... I don't know "Berlin" at all.)
I'm done with the Supremes. All and all, I thing they should be in. However, the Jackson 5 give me lots more joy, and if I can't find room for them, why should I find room for the Supremes just because they had more commercial hits. The Temptations, however, feel more essential to me.
1. Django Reinhardt - I'm not giving up on Django.
2. Stevie Wonder -- And the dam breaks open. Obviously, I thought him worthy of admission before Music of My Mind, but boy oh boy is there a lovely string to come.
3. The Impressions -- I don't seem to be swaying anybody with my advocacy of the Impressions.
4. Charlie Parker - However, maybe we can get Parker in this year.
5. David Bowie -I'm still wondering if I should have put him in my top-10 last year.
6. Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young)
7. The Temptations
I've got a five-way battle for the last three spots... long time list entrant Patsy Cline, already-admitted-with-the-Beatles John Lennon, should-already-be-admitted-with-the-Impressions Curtis Mayfield, the good Rev. Al Green, and long-time-door-knocking-at-the-list Grateful Dead. With Lennon and the Dead their wonderful songs are too often undercut by not totally winning performances on the recordings. (I know... live the Dead were even worse - protestations of the Deadheads notwithstanding.) So I'm inclined toward voting for the other three. I reserve the right to be fickle and change mind year to year.
Taking a glance at years ahead, I'm not too sure Mr. Reed will make it in next year, and skipping ahead to the late 80s doesn't seem so likely either. Maybe if we get a down year, he'll slip through the cracks, but I'm not too sure about that.
1. David Bowie – Even Ziggy represented just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the rest of the decade had in store from the greatest chameleon in rock history, but it’s a pretty significant tip. AaaaaaaaaaWHAMBAMTHANKYOUMA’AM!!!!!
2. Stevie Wonder – The great period merely starts here, but the singles he made during his first decade (!) of recording were pretty damn good, too.
3. Joni Mitchell – The greatest and most musically adventurous of the singer-songwriters. Her most innovative albums are yet to come, but with BLUE she had already attained unmatchable perfection.
4. John Lennon – Those first two albums are more than enough to merit his induction as a solo artist.
5. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – The Captain isn’t all that popular around these parts, but here’s a Hall of Acclaim vote for just about the orneriest, prickliest SOB – both musically and personality-wise – to ever set foot in a studio.
6. Ornette Coleman
7. Black Sabbath
8. Frank Zappa
9. Sonny Rollins
10. Deep Purple
BACKSTAGE WING
1. Nicky Hopkins
2. Jann Wenner
3. Rudy Van Gelder
Honorable mention: "Some stupid with a flare gun" - the inept, accidental arsonist who inadvertently inspired "Smoke on the Water." Without this young man, we would have been deprived of the now-36-year-old earworm that is: Dun-dun-DUN! Dun-dun-dun-DUN! Dun-dun-DUN! DUN-dun!
