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It’s time for another manifestation of my obsessive-compulsive disorder.
I blame this one on nicolas, who got me thinking with his (half) joking comment that being a 1960s artist counts for triple points, as in Scrabble. I posted an appreciation of nicolas’ wit, and ruefully mused yet again how heavily biased critics are towards the “classic” rock from between 1966 and 1972. If only there was some way one could correct for that bias, to put artists from the 1950s and 1990s on a level playing field with artists from the 1960s and 1970s…
Then I realized how to do it. Are you ready for…the Unscrabble List?
The explanation for how I did this is slightly complicated, so I’m going to skip it here and put it in a post labeled “Nitty Gritty,” where it can be read by anyone who cares and ignored by anyone who doesn’t.
For now, I’ll just give you the BOTTOM LINE: This will be a list of the top 100 artists of all time, if we assume that one year is as good as any other. The 1950s and 1990s are proportionally as well-represented on this list as the 1960s and 1970s. On this list, 2005 is as good as 1967, and 1944 is as good as 1978.
For instance, here’s the decade breakdown for the current AM top ten (based on which decade each artist is ranked the highest in):
1950s: 1 (Elvis)
1960s: 4 (Beatles, Dylan, The Who, Hendrix)
1970s: 3 (Stones, Bowie, Led Zep)
1980s: 2 (Springsteen, Prince)
1990s: 0
In the Unscrabble List, the breakdown is:
1950s: 2
1960s: 2
1970s: 1
1980s: 3
1990s: 2
I hope at least a few of you are intrigued by this; I’m really tickled with how the top 100 shook out. There are a lot of surprises, mostly (from my point of view) pleasant ones.
It should go without saying that I mean no disrespect to Henrik’s list in rejiggering it this way. My list is not “better,” whatever that would mean. It happens to line up much more closely with my own tastes, but even from my point of view it’s still far from perfect. The official AM list is still the standard, and I won’t hear a word against it.
I’ll be doing this countdown-style, as I did with Best Years of Their Lives. However, this time I’ll post a few times every day. So, here’s the plan: I’ll give everybody time to read this heartlessly long post, and I’ll post the Nitty Gritty below for those who care. Then I’ll start with #100-96 in about an hour.
Yes Dr. schleuse, we're ready for it. 
OK, bear with me, because this explanation is a bit complicated. What I’ve done is to recalculate each artist’s ranking, BUT, instead of using the all-time rankings for their top six albums and songs, I’ve used the highest six rankings for whatever year albums and songs came out.
I should give an example…I’ll use Bowie. In the standard rankings, his top six albums look like this:
16. Ziggy Stardust
59. Hunky Dory
91. Low
236. Heroes
269. Station to Station
452. Aladdin Sane
But if you go by YEAR rankings, as I’ve done here, they look like this:
2. Ziggy Stardust
5. Station to Station
6. Low
7. Hunky Dory
13. Heroes
14. Scary Monsters
It doesn’t matter that Station to Station is more than 200 places behind Hunky Dory on the AM list; all that matters for my purposes is that it’s the #5 album of 1976, and Hunky Dory is “only” the #7 album of 1971. And, as you can see, the albums are slightly different—Scary Monsters is ranked higher in 1980 than Aladdin Sane is ranked in 1973.
So, what difference does that make?
Well, for instance, the Human League now gets exactly as much credit for Dare! as the Beach Boys get for Pet Sounds. Each is the most acclaimed album of the year it came out, so, in this new calculation, they get the same weight. In other words, this system doesn’t “know” that one came out in 1981, the other in 1966. This may seem perverse to some of you; if it’s any consolation, the Human League still doesn’t make the top 100 artists.
The same thing is true of songs: Missy Elliott gets the same credit for “Get Ur Freak On” (2001) that Bob Dylan gets for “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965). Otherwise, the system works exactly as Henrik designed it (except that I set the default ranking at 101 instead of 3001). I’m sure Henrik, or anyone who knows more math than me, could create a better system, but this is the tool I have, and to the man who only has a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I’m confident that any system which cancels out decade bias would produce similar results.
Here we go…
100. AEROSMITH (up 9 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Rocks (1976, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Dream On (1973, #8); Walk This Way (1975, #6).
Let me explain the format. For each artist, I’ve indicated how their ranking here is different from the AM list; Aerosmith is #109 there, so they’re up 9 spots.
Below the artist’s name, I’ve given every album and every song of theirs which ranks in the top ten in the year they came out. These are NOT the only albums and songs used in the calculation, but I wanted to give some idea of why artists are ranked where they are.
Oh yeah…perhaps some of you are thinking, “Aerosmith? I thought this thing was supposed to favor artists from underrated decades, and here you’ve got effing AEROSMITH?”
It turns out that this system rewards artists with longer careers. Why? Well, there are only ten albums in the all-time top ten (duh), but in 50 years of top ten lists, there are 500 albums. That’s a lot more opportunities for artists who stick around for a long time to rack up points. It’s an unanticipated effect of the system, but it’s fine by me—in general, I like artists with longer careers.
Although maybe not Aerosmith in particular…
Four more for now:
99. LEONARD COHEN (down 12 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Songs of Leonard Cohen (1968, #9); I’m Your Man (1988, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
98. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS (up 5 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Siamese Dream (1993, #3); Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Today (1993, #8); 1979 (1995, #6).
97. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE (down 57 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971, #6).
TOP 10 SONG: Family Affair (1971, #8).
(Penalized both for being in the heart of the classic rock period and for having a short career.)
96. ART BLAKEY (up 213 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 (1954, #4); Moanin’ (1958, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
(WHAT?)
(Oh, yeah…jazz. The jazz artists who dominate the album rankings in the 1950s don’t have much competition, so about ten of them jumped into the top 100. Hope nobody minds too much…this is the one big area where this list doesn’t reflect my personal tastes very well, but maybe it’ll make me look harder at jazz.)
95. PAVEMENT (down 9 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Slanted and Enchanted (1992, #2); Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Summer Babe (1991, #10); Cut Your Hair (1994, #6).
94. BRIAN ENO (down 16 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Another Green World (1975, #8); My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981, #2).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
93. BILL EVANS (up 131 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961, #3); Waltz for Debby (1961, #4).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
92. WILCO (up 9 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Being There (1996, #9); Summer Teeth (1999, #8); Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002, #1); A Ghost Is Born (2004, #8).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
91. THE EVERLY BROTHERS (up 27 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: none.
TOP 10 SONGS: Bye Bye Love (1957, #5); Wake Up Little Susie (1957, #8), All I Have to Do Is Dream (1958, #4), Cathy’s Clown (1960, #5).
This is awesome! And by the way, I would have loved to see Human League make the top 100.
Not to criticize or anything or maybe I don't quite understand the math of this, but I see this:
"98. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS (up 5 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Siamese Dream (1993, #3); Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Today (1993, #8); 1979 (1995, #6).
97. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE (down 57 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971, #6).
TOP 10 SONG: Family Affair (1971, #8)."
And wonder why the Smashing Pumpkins are below Sly. The numbers don't seem to work out that way.
Interesting idea, Schleuse.
While I'm tempted to say that any method that moves Sly and Pavement down in the rankings is ipso facto flawed, I realize that's just my own personal preference talking. 
Penguin -
I think that while schleuse is only listing where the artist has a top-10 in the year, he is taking into account other albums and songs that are outside the top-10 for its year. So Sly got additional points for his string of 60's hits, whereas Smashing Pumpkins may not have had many more acclaimed songs and albums than those listed.
I think Aerosmith is critically underrated. Rocks is a really good album.
"It turns out that this system rewards artists with longer careers. Why? Well, there are only ten albums in the all-time top ten (duh), but in 50 years of top ten lists, there are 500 albums. That’s a lot more opportunities for artists who stick around for a long time to rack up points. It’s an unanticipated effect of the system, but it’s fine by me—in general, I like artists with longer careers."
I think that's the case with most systems- prolonged careers win out. Not only that, artists with long careers tend to get boosted by albums that are mediocre but get great reviews on name recognition or maybe it's just an honorary thing. Quantity always seems at the very least equal to quality.
Schwah, that is correct. Penguin, the rankings take into account the top six albums and top six songs (by year ranking). I decided not to show everything just to keep the entries (relatively) uncluttered and easy to read. I hope that clarifies more than it confuses...
By the way, Schwah, I'm not happy with Sly's precipitous drop either. The stuff I'm really happy about is much further up the list, say in the top 40 or so.
So why not keep moving? Here are five more (including one I'm really happy about at #87):
90. JAY-Z (up 53 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: The Blueprint (2001, #3).
TOP 10 SONG: 99 Problems (2003, #6).
89. PRIMAL SCREAM (down 6 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Screamadelica (1991, #3); Xtrmntr (2000, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Loaded (1990, #5); Higher Than the Sun (1991, #8).
88. CHARLIE PARKER (up 227 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Charlie Parker with Strings (1950, #3); Bird & Diz (1952, #2); Jazz at Massey Hall (1953, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Koko (1945, #1); Ornithology (1946, #4).
87. HÜSKER DÜ (up 17 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Zen Arcade (1984, #4); New Day Rising (1985, #6); Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
86. MASSIVE ATTACK (down 23 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Blue Lines (1991, #2); Mezzanine (1998, #5).
TOP 10 SONG: Unfinished Sympathy (1991, #3).
I really like this. It discounts all of those critics who forget there was music made after 1979 when putting together their so-called "all-time" charts.
I sense a huge jump for a certain lady who I know has at least a couple fans around here (including me). From out of the top 100 to top 20...maybe top 10? We'll see. I didn't do any math, it just seems that it could be the case.
Never mind. I was looking at the wrong top 100 list.
Let me correct myself: I still sense a huge jump only this time from middling to top ten, maybe top 5 status?
Very interesting 
. Anyway I suppose the first three ranked artists will still be at the top, along with the most acclaimed band of the last decade (specially if take into account the previous year).
It’s true that critic’s lists are biased towards the 60’s and the 70’s, but I’ve to admit that in general I also prefer the old stuff, comparing how many artists I like from each decade.
Leonard Cohen several spots down? Blasphemy!!! 
No, seriously, Schleuse, this is one heck of a fun idea. We ought to be paying you for keeping us well entertained.
(And having Hüsker Dü move upwards is quite a compensation for pushing Lenny downwards).
Very interesting reading and a neat idea. This list is very much like a football analogy where say Italy’s win at the 2006 World Cup isn’t as impressive as Brazil’s in 1970 because there was stiffer competition for that tournament. This is a way of levelling the playing field and saying “It doesn’t matter, they beat everyone that was put in front of them” and leave to the older experts to say that the Brazil team of 1970 would have thrashed them!
They probably would, Mitchell. Problem with football is, that the best team not always wins ...
Interesting concept, schleuse! Since the Beatles did not have a 'long' career, I'm pretty confident they will not end up at #1. Dylan? Same drop is to be expected for the Smiths, Nirvana, Joy Division, etc.
I think the Beatles will win, they have
#1 or #2 albums in pretty much every year and their songs are in general ranked much higher than Dylan's.. or anyone else's for that matter.
Ships, I forgot about the songs ... hmm, you might be right, Stephan.
great idea !
I'm flattered that you took this idea from my joke
Those alternative lists are fascinating !
100% with you on the Du, Schleuse. They're my 2nd favorite group and I think their 5 album streak (in 4 years) rivals just about anybody's in sheer start to finish, no filler quality.
Actually, Mitchell, come to think of it, I may have been inspired by efforts to compare baseball players and teams across eras, which I imagine is a similar question. Who was the best team of all time, the 1927 Yankees or the 1998 Yankees? It's hard to compare across over a century of baseball history...
(By the way, I haven't been to London in about six years, but those of you who have been there, are all the teenagers still running around in Yankees caps? What a sorry sight that was...imagine if American teenagers suddenly all decided to wear Man U jerseys.)
OK, back to the countdown. I'll try to get through a big chunk of it today.
We'll start with yet another jazzbo hopping into the top 100, followed by several more "classic era" artists who've slipped down the list.
****
85. ORNETTE COLEMAN (up 61 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959, #3); Change of the Century (1960, #7); Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1961, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
84. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL (down 48 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: none.
TOP 10 SONGS: Proud Mary (1969, #2); Fortunate Son (1969, #6).
83. PARLIAMENT/FUNKADELIC (down 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Mothership Connection (1975, #10); One Nation Under a Groove (1978, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
82. AL GREEN (down 15 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Call Me (1973, #10).
TOP 10 SONGS: Let’s Stay Together (1971, #4); Take Me to the River (1974, #7).
81. THE DOORS (down 51 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: The Doors (1967, #4).
TOP 10 SONG: Light My Fire (1967, #4).
schleuse, I'll refer to Doherty / Barât for that one.
"There are fewer more distressing sights, than that, of an Englishman in a baseball cap"
80. BUDDY HOLLY (up 5 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Chirpin’ Crickets (1957, #1); Buddy Holly (1958, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: That’ll Be the Day (1957, #1); Peggy Sue (1957, #3); Rave On (1958, #10).
79. COUNT BASIE (up 146 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (1955, #4); The Atomic Mr. Basie (1957, #5); April in Paris (1957, #10).
TOP 10 SONGS: One O’Clock Jump (1937, #3); Lester Leaps In (1939, #9).
78. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS (up 32 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Dig Your Own Hole (1997, #4).
TOP 10 SONGS: Setting Sun (1996, #4); Block Rockin’ Beats (1997, #4).
77. STAN GETZ (up 139 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Hamp & Getz (1955, #8); Jazz Samba (1962, #3); Getz/Gilberto (1963, #5).
TOP 10 SONG: The Girl from Ipanema (1963, #9).
76. SIMON AND GARFUNKEL (down 25 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966, #8); Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970, #7).
TOP 10 SONG: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970, #2).
***
There just weren't a lot of big names in the late 1990's; the Chemical Brothers benefit from that. To be fair, they were a critical fave at the time (I was not paying much attention to music at the time, but even I knew them).
On another note, I'll now have "The Girl from Ipanema" stuck in my head today...
Well, I'm an American who goes around in a Tottenham kit. But I can name the starting 11 and watch every game that's on FSC. Any Englishman who can name half the Yankees lineup is welcome to wear the cap.
75. JOHN LENNON (down 34 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970, #2); Imagine (1971, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: Instant Karma (We All Shine On) (1970, #6); Imagine (1971, #3).
74. THE WHITE STRIPES (down 3 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: White Blood Cells (2001, #2); Elephant (2003, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Fell in Love with a Girl (2001, #3); Seven Nation Army (2003, #3).
73. MISSY MISDEMEANOR ELLIOTT (up 15 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Miss E…So Addictive (2001, #7).
TOP 10 SONGS: Get Ur Freak On (2001, #1); Work It (2002, #1).
72. AC/DC (up 3 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Back in Black (1980, #3).
TOP 10 SONG: You Shook Me All Night Long (1980, #5).
71. METALLICA (up 5 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Kill ‘Em All (1983, #8); Master of Puppets (1986, #4); Metallica (“The Black Album”) (1991, #7).
TOP 10 SONG: Enter Sandman (1991, #5).
Great stuff so far schleuse.
On a sidenote, I have to shamefully admit to owning a Yankees cap and not knowing a single thing about the Yankees. I hardly ever wear it though, got it for my birthday a few years ago.
70. ELLA FITZGERALD (up 100 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, Vol. 1 (1956, #6); Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook, Vol. 1 (1956, #9); Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959, #9).
TOP 10 SONG: A-Tisket, A-Tasket (1938, #2).
69. MICHAEL JACKSON (down 31 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Off the Wall (1979, #3); Thriller (1982, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough (1979, #5); Billie Jean (1982, #2); Beat It (1982, #5).
68. RAMONES (down 18 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Ramones (1976, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Blitzkrieg Bop (1976, #4); Sheena Is a Punkrocker (1977, #7).
67. MUDDY WATERS (up 50 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Muddy Waters at Newport (1960, #3).
TOP 10 SONGS: I Can’t Be Satisfied (1948, #3); Rollin’ Stone (1950, #1); Hoochie Coochie Man (1954, #4); Mannish Boy (1955, #5); Got My Mojo Working (1957, #10).
66. OTIS REDDING (down 27 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965, #3); Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (1966, #10).
TOP 10 SONG: Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay (1968, #1).
I think Miles and Coltrane are going to have something to say about that #1 spot. I thought Madonna too but then I saw how underrated her first album and singles are and also Bedtime Stories. If those were higher she'd have a shot at the top 5.
Great list, Schleuse. I'm really enjoying it. For those outside of the U.S. who don't know, the Yankees are a hate-them-or-love-them team. Bandwagon fans and people from the Bronx love them, everyone else hates them because of the arrogance of their owner. It's kinda like the way people in England felt about Arsenal when I used to live there. I was glad to see my boys from Liverpool hand it to them in the Champions League. Maybe I'm dating myself here, but I remember when all the English teams had English players. The first leg of the Liverpool vs. Arsenal quarterfinal had exactly two Englishmen on the field at the start of the game.
I always thought Man U were the Yankees of the Premiership. I love the promotion and relegations in the Premiership, I wish we had a league that employed that in the States. That's such a great idea.
I have to say that although I hate the Yankees I like a lot of their players. You can't blame the homegrown ones for being born into the dark side and you can't hate ARod because he's the greatest player in the game right now. I really wish he would have gone to the Cubs...or the Twins
65. OASIS (down 13 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Definitely Maybe (1994, #2); (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995, #1)
TOP 10 SONGS: Live Forever (1994, #1); Supersonic (1994, #8); Wonderwall (1995, #2).
64. PET SHOP BOYS (up 36 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Behaviour (1990, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: West End Girls (1985, #3); Being Boring (1990, #9).
63. SONNY ROLLINS (up 85 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Work Time (1955, #10); Saxophone Colossus (1956, #3); Way Out West (1957, #9); The Bridge (1962, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
62. JAMES BROWN (down 30 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Live at the Apollo (1963, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (1965, #6); Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (1970, #3).
61. STEELY DAN (up 4 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Pretzel Logic (1974, #5).
TOP 10 SONG: Reeling in the Years (1972, #10).
****
I realize I just lost half of you, having the Pet Shop Boys over Oasis.
You gained all of me, Schleuse, because I don't rate Oasis at all!
"You gained all of me, Schleuse, because I don't rate Oasis at all!"
Hear, hear!
Yes, but I like Oasis. However, it's my list, so I can't run away.
****
60. ARETHA FRANKLIN (down 35 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967, #6); Lady Soul (1968, #6).
TOP 10 SONG: Respect (1967, #1).
59. THE POLICE (up 3 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Synchronicity (1983, #3).
TOP 10 SONGS: Roxanne (1978, #6); Every Breath You Take (1983, #1).
58. THE KINKS (down 25 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Face to Face (1966, #7).
TOP 10 SONGS: You Really Got Me (1964, #1); Waterloo Sunset (1967, #6).
57. KRAFTWERK (no change)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Autobahn (1974, #6); Trans-Europa Express (1977, #7); Die Mensch Maschine (1978, #9); Computer Welt (1981, #5).
TOP 10 SONG: Autobahn (1974, #2).
56. JONI MITCHELL (down 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Blue (1971, #4); Court and Spark (1974, #2); Hejira (1976, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
I'm suprised at the Kinks tumble given their longevity.
I am, too--but notice that Face to Face (their third-highest ranked album) is the only one that cracked the top ten in any given year. The competition for Something Else in '67 and Village Green Preservation Society in '68 is just brutal.
They did have a relatively long career, but the heart of it runs from 1964-1971, which is almost exactly the period most penalized by this formula (which was my intent).
That said, I agree that #58 is a little harsh.
Glad to see Muddy ranking
So am I...although I would have preferred Bo Diddley.
The one thing that I hoped for this list, which didn't really happen, was that 50s rockers would do really well. Muddy and the Everlys do OK, and there's one 50s rock star with a dramatic gain (which you'll see later today), but Buddy Holly showed only a modest gain, and Little Richard actually fell out of the top 100.
Instead, the 50s slots went to the jazz guys. The formula emphasizes albums, which greatly favors jazz in the 1950's. Not that I mind Ella and Basie and Bird and Bill Evans making the list, but ten new jazz artists does seem a bit much.
55. THE JAM (up 9 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: All Mod Cons (1978, #4).
TOP 10 SONGS: Going Underground (1980, #4); That’s Entertainment (1980, #7).
54. NICK CAVE (up 30 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
53. EMINEM (up 17 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Slim Shady LP (1999, #7); The Marshall Mathers LP (2000, #2).
TOP 10 SONGS: My Name Is (1999, #1); Stan (2000, #2); Lose Yourself (2002, #4); Without Me (2002, #8).
52. OUTKAST (up 1 spot)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Stankonia (2000, #3); Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003, #2).
TOP 10 SONGS: Ms. Jackson (2000, #1); B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (2000, #3); Hey Ya! (2003, #1).
51. CHARLES MINGUS (up 55 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Jazz at Massey Hall (1953, #1); Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956, #8); Mingus Ah Um (1959, #5); Blues and Roots (1959, #8), Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (1960, #8); Money Jungle (1962, #7); The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963, #4).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
****
Now, THAT'S more like it!
50. LOU REED (down 3 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Transformer (1972, #3); Berlin (1973, #9); New York (1989, #8).
TOP 10 SONG: Walk on the Wild Side (1972, #2).
49. TOM WAITS (up 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Swordfishtrombones (1983, #2); Rain Dogs (1985, #2); Bone Machine (1992, #10); Mule Variations (1999, #9); Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (2006, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
48. PIXIES (down 4 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Surfer Rosa (1988, #3); Doolittle (1989, #2).
TOP 10 SONGS: Gigantic (1988, #7); Monkey Gone to Heaven (1989, #3); Debaser (1989, #5).
47. ROXY MUSIC (down 5 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Roxy Music (1972, #8); For Your Pleasure (1973, #3); Avalon (1982, #8).
TOP 10 SONG: Virginia Plain (1972, #4).
46. THE CURE (up 26 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Disintegration (1989, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Boys Don’t Cry (1979, #10); Inbetween Days (1985, #10); Just Like Heaven (1987, #7).
Hooray for The Cure!
I was wondering how The Cure could be above the Pixies and then I realized you are (and pointed out although I missed it) not just counting top ten entries. It all makes sense now. Let me flip-flop on Madonna once again. No innuendos there...unless it's the Bedtime Stories years.
45. JOHNNY CASH (down 2 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: none.
TOP 10 SONGS: I Walk the Line (1956, #5); Folsom Prison Blues (1956, #7); Ring of Fire (1963, #6); Hurt (2002, #5).
44. CHUCK BERRY (up 25 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: St. Louis to Liverpool (1964, #9).
TOP 10 SONGS: Maybellene (1955, #2); Johnny B. Goode (1958, #1).
43. VAN MORRISON (down 19 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Astral Weeks (1968, #1); Moondance (1970, #4).
TOP 10 SONG: Brown Eyed Girl (1967, #7).
42. JIMI HENDRIX (down 32 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Are You Experienced? (1967, #3); Axis: Bold As Love (1967, #9); Electric Ladyland (1968, #3).
TOP 10 SONGS: Purple Haze (1967, #5); All Along the Watchtower (1968, #6).
41. MARVIN GAYE (down 27 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: What’s Going On (1971, #1); Let’s Get It On (1973, #8).
TOP 10 SONGS: I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1968, #2); What’s Going On (1971, #2); Let’s Get It On (1973, #4); Sexual Healing (1982, #4).
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By the way, I do not endorse Hendrix falling that far. The man was much, much more than just a fancy guitar player.
I'll start the Top 40 tomorrow.
The made the same mistake John.
This list is a bit heavier on earlier artists, but there has been a surprising lack of recent stuff (or at least less than I expected).
A pity about Jimi - of course with a short career during just that period, it would happen in this format.
But so good to see Nick Cave rise. (And Chuck Berry too, really).
Penguin, once Henrik updates later this year to include '07, I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple more acts from this decade crack the list--say, Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, perhaps.
On we go:
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40. BJÖRK (up 28 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Debut (1993, #2); Post (1995, #7); Homogenic (1997, #8); Vespertine (2001, #6).
TOP 10 SONG: Venus as a Boy (1993, #9).
39. THE BYRDS (down 11 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965, #8); Fifth Dimension (1966, #9); Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968, #7).
TOP 10 SONGS: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965, #4); Eight Miles High (1966, #6).
38. PJ HARVEY (up 23 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Dry (1992, #6); Rid of Me (1993, #6); To Bring You My Love (1995, #5); Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000, #4).
TOP 10 SONG: Rid of Me (1993, #4).
37. THELONIOUS MONK (up 65 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (1951, #1); Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2 (1952, #1); Brilliant Corners (1957, #3); Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (1957, #6); Monk’s Music (1958, #8).
TOP 10 SONG: Round Midnight (1946, #1).
36. DIZZY GILLESPIE (up 281 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Bird & Diz (1952, #2); Jazz at Massey Hall (1953, #1); Dizzy Gillespie with Roy Eldridge (1954, #7); Groovin’ High (1955, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: Groovin’ High (1945, #6); A Night in Tunisia (1946, #5); Manteca (1947, #6).
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Dizzy holds the record for largest jump, going all the way from #317 to #36. Notice, by the way, that three artists who made the top 100 (Diz, Bird, and Mingus) all get credit for having the #1 album of 1954 (Jazz at Massey Hall). I'm not sure how I feel about that...
Eh...actually I give a lower score to "second name artists" in my artist ranking. I don't have the algorithm in front of me now, but when I get home I can check exactly how this "penalty" works.
Awesome to see Björk in the top 40!
35. NEW ORDER (up 23 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Power, Corruption and Lies (1983, #6); Low-Life (1985, #8); Technique (1989, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: Blue Monday (1983, #2); Crystal (2001, #6).
34. PINK FLOYD (down 13 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967, #7); The Dark Side of the Moon (1973, #1); Wish You Were Here (1975, #6); The Wall (1979, #5).
TOP 10 SONG: Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 (1979, #9).
33. JOHN COLTRANE (up 27 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Blue Train (1957, #4); Giant Steps (1959, #2); My Favorite Things (1961, #1); Live at the Village Vanguard (1962, #4); Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (1962, #9); John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963, #10); A Love Supreme (1965, #5).
TOP 10 SONGS: none.
32. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (down 20 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967, #1); White Light/White Heat (1968, #10).
TOP 10 SONG: I’m Waiting for the Man (1967, #10).
31. PUBLIC ENEMY (down 2 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987, #7); It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988, #1); Fear of a Black Planet (1990, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Bring the Noise (1987, #3); Rebel Without a Pause (1987, #8); Don’t Believe the Hype (1988, #8); Fight the Power (1989, #1).
30. STEVIE WONDER (down 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Talking Book (1972, #4); Innervisions (1973, #2); Songs in the Key of Life (1976, #2).
TOP 10 SONGS: Superstition (1972, #1); Living for the City (1973, #6).
29. THE CLASH (down 13 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: The Clash (1977, #3); London Calling (1979, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (1978, #1); London Calling (1979, #1); Train in Vain (Stand by Me) (1979, #8); Rock the Casbah (1982, #10).
28. NIRVANA (down 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Nevermind (1991, #1); In Utero (1993, #1)
TOP 10 SONGS: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991, #1); Heart-Shaped Box (1993, #3); All Apologies (1993, #5).
27. BEASTIE BOYS (up 7 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Licensed to Ill (1986, #3); Paul’s Boutique (1989, #4); Check Your Head (1992, #5); Ill Communication (1994, #7).
TOP 10 SONGS: Fight for Your Right (To Party) (1986, #4); Sabotage (1994, #3); Intergalactic (1998, #2).
26. THE BEACH BOYS (down 15 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUM: Pet Sounds (1966, #1).
TOP 10 SONGS: Surfin’ U.S.A. (1963, #8); Don’t Worry Baby (1964, #9); Good Vibrations (1966, #1); God Only Knows (1966, #4).
Wow, PJ Harvey really coming into her own. And the staple names tumbling. Not that I'm sure they all deserve it, but it's a mighty interesting exercise. And those jazz names just leapfrogging the list -- maybe I should get around to checking out other stuff than just my three Miles Davis albums and a Parker compilation. 
25. SONIC YOUTH (up 23 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: EVOL (1986, #10); Sister (1987, #4); Daydream Nation (1988, #2); Goo (1990, #7).
TOP 10 SONG: Teenage Riot (1988, #1).
24. BECK (up 11 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Mellow Gold (1994, #10); Odelay (1996, #1); Midnite Vultures (1999, #10).
TOP 10 SONGS: Loser (1993, #1); Where It’s At (1996, #2); Devil’s Haircut (1996, #9).
23. BLUR (up 26 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Parklife (1994, #4); Think Tank (2003, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: For Tomorrow (1993, #6); Girls and Boys (1994, #2); Song 2 (1997, #2).
22. TALKING HEADS (up 4 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978, #8); Fear of Music (1979, #9); Remain in Light (1980, #1); Stop Making Sense (1984, #10).
TOP 10 SONGS: Psycho Killer (1977, #6); Once in a Lifetime (1980, #2).
21. MILES DAVIS (up 10 spots)
TOP 10 ALBUMS: Birth of the Cool (1954, #1); Miles Ahead (1957, #7); Porgy & Bess (1958, #1); Milestones (1958, #6); Kind of Blue (1959, #1); Sketches of Spain (1960, #1); Steamin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (1961, #7); Bitches Brew (1970, #6).
TOP 10 SONGS: So What (1959, #7).
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All very deserving artists, I think--and a good balance. We've got two great experimental acts, and two bands who made brilliant but underappreciated pop (underappreciated in the US, at least).
And I doubt anyone will quibble with Miles. I thought he might go even higher--he's the only artist to have the #1 acclaimed album in four different years, including three in a row from from 1958-1960.
The weather here is insanely beautiful, so I'm gonna go outside and play. The Unscrabble Top 20 will be revealed on Monday.
Well, we were just hit with snow in the middle of April so I'm not going anywhere right now. Tomorrow should be nice though. Minnesota: 65 degrees and sunny one day, 30 degrees and blizzard conditions the next.
I'm really surprised that Miles wasn't higher after seeing all the other jazzies jump so high.