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!
