Nightman Listens To – The Rolling Stones – Between The Buttons!

Greetings, Glancers! Although I’ve gone on the record numerous times to say that I’m not a Rolling Stones fan (outside of a few notable songs), I happily enjoyed their last album Aftermath. It’s been quite some time since I listened to that album, but today I was in the mood for some more Stones, so here we are.

Looking down the tracklist, I recognise the names of a couple of songs, but I don’t think I’d be able to hum either of them or tell you anything about them. I know I’ve heard the album before, but obviously it made no impact. As always, I’m listening to the UK version of the album. Lets do this.

Yesterday’s Papers: One of the song titles I recognised, and after listening to it I remembered its lead melody. It’s a catchy one, but it highlights one of the problems I have with the album and the band in general; the melodies are always so simplistic, childlike, and repetitive. They’re like a nursery rhyme. They get away with it here because the melody isn’t annoying and the song is short, and the surrounding music is engaging.

My Obsession: Another good song, but it highlights the second problem I have with the band and the album. The fucking honkey tonk piano – get it right out of here. It adds nothing to the song and in fact is to the song’s detriment. Excellent bass and drum work – the drums are one of the highlights of the album. If they simply chose a different piano or tone I wouldn’t mind as much – it doesn’t ruin a good song, but it adds an unnecessary bitter taste.

Back Street Girl: Third good song in a row, and on my first listen I was willing to call myself a fool for not fully embracing the band in my younger days. It’s a sweet melody, even if the lyrics aren’t quite the lovey dovey stuff the music suggests. There’s quite a lot of this ironic wordplay on the album. The childlike, simple vocal melody is here again, but once more the song overcomes this.

Connection: A song with major The Who vibes, a very Swinging 60s feel. The piano doesn’t really need to be there, but at least it’s not in an annoying tone. A decent catchy rocker, but in danger of being easily forgotten.

She Smiled Sweetly: Another good song ensuring the bulk of Side A is strong. Jagger’s vocals are rarely to my taste and another singer would probably ensure this song had a bigger impact on me.

Cool, Calm, And Collected: Right back with the honky tonk. Is that a kazoo in there too? The piano doesn’t run riot through the whole thing – it’s there enough to make me wish it wasn’t, but the energy of the song and the guitar jangling distract me and allow me to give the thumb’s up.

All Sold Out: Kicks off the second half of the album in fairly unremarkable fashion. It’s catchy garage rock with top notch drums, but elsewhere it’s a bit uneventful. Even some tasty licks and flutes don’t do enough to raise this into a stronger tier.

Please Go Home: Feels somewhat chaotic but melodically it’s very similar to a few other tracks on the album. There’s growth and experimentation beyond their first couple of albums, but the emotional impact and melody isn’t quite there for me.

Who’s Been Sleeping Here: I was wondering when the harmonica would make an appearance. This is a much strong song melodically, piano is present but doesn’t really get in the way. Good song all around.

Complicated: This one mainly suffers because it feels like another of the uptempo rock songs on the album without its own identity. The ‘ah-ah-ah-ah’ refrain is catchy though and we have some bubbly organ instead of the piano as well as some dirty fuzz distortion. Not a bad song.

Miss Amanda Jones: The weakest song on the album -a throwback to the weaker blues rock songs on previous albums. It’s not terrible, it’s just yet more of the same without trying to do anything remotely different, and with more shitty piano. Even some squeezy guitar and catchy vocal bits can’t help it.

Something Happened To Me Yesterday: The other song I remembered hearing as soon as it started. It’s a good ending – they resist ruining it with piano and slap some bumpy brass in there instead. It’s a very nursery rhyme melody, but its charm overcomes any nonsense. It should absolutely scrap the talking crap at the end, but I get why it’s there.

Not as strong as Aftermath, but more of the same. Less stand out songs, but generally consistent with teeny flickers of inspiration and experimentation. Plenty of the flaws, or the things I don’t like about the band, are out in force but while these would have annoyed me more in earlier albums the songwriting and confidence here are higher and mean I can overlook them. A few songs make the playlist, but even those aren’t top tier – everything else will likely be forgotten in a matter of days.

Let us know what you think of Between The Buttons in the comments!

Nightman’s Playlist Picks: Yesterday’s Papers. Back Street Girl. Something Happened To Me Yesterday.

Nightman Listens To – The Rolling Stones – Aftermath!

Greetings, Glancers! It’s fair to say that I haven’t got off to a flying start with respect to my Rolling Stones journey. It’s mimicking my first attempt, back when I was a lad – assuming there would be a treasure trove of new rock classics for me to discover, but instead finding a multitude of Blues covers and copies which did little to excite me. The bad news is that so far I still feel the same. The good news is that I remember Aftermath being the first album to actually excite me and contain some of those hoped for golden nuggets of goodness. So I go into Aftermath this time knowing and liking a few of the songs, but most of them I’ve since allowed to crumble into the darkest recesses of my memory. Here we go with Round 2.

‘Mother’s Little Helper‘ is thankfully one of the band’s first songs which doesn’t feel like a Blues rip-off. If anything it has more in common with the growing Mod movement than it does with Southern Blues. That strange little guitar riff is gold, the melodies are stronger than their previous originals, and while Jagger really goes all in on the guv’ner vocals, it’s an unusual little mystical ditty I had forgotten about.

‘Stupid Girl‘ feels full 60s, with the zany Scooby Doo keyboards and the shuffle rhythm. It’s another I’d largely forgotten about but it’s a step up from what they had done till this point. They take the melodies of The Beatles and spice it up with a grittier lyric. Two good ones and another two good ones right after this that I do remember.

‘Lady Jane‘ is one of the band’s more famous songs of this era and sees them in rare soulful, tender form. It’s lovely, though my one criticism is the stilted, overly theatrical vocal delivery as if Jagger has just been to elocution classes and been handed the lyrics to recite rather than sing.

‘Under My Thumb‘ has long been one of my favourite Stones songs. Probably since I first heard this album – this was the song where the band finally clicked with me as something more than Blues copycats. It’s fantastic all round – melody, instrumentation, that honking bass, the riffs. They even get away with making the handclaps not sound awful.

‘Doncha Bother Me’ is straight back into generic blues material. That’s a little harsh because there are twists on the formula, but it feels like a step down after the opening tracks. Love those cymbals coming in though and the little slip into falsetto. This is (mo) better blues though with a nice riff that stops just short of becoming annoying. 

‘Goin Home‘ is a risk. An eleven minute song by a band known for their short blues numbers – blues by its very nature a genre based on repetition. The first couple of minutes breeze by harmlessly enough. That final repetition of verse and chorus feels a little unnecessary and then the freestyling comes in to shake things up. This is largely Jagger grunting and singing a la Morrison in The End while the band mess about, growing and pulling back. This is okay for about three minutes but then it starts to get silly and they lose their ideas.

‘Flight 505‘ starts out with some distant old timey saloon piano before the rest of the band crash in with a party blues stomp. The only other notable thing here is the fat bass which tumbles over everything else when it comes, though the occasional machine gun drums are tasty.

‘High And Dry‘ continues the blues and Country sound but they give it their own voice instead of merely sounding like every other 60s band covering the blues. Interesting percussive stuff going on, some great harmonica and guitar all the way through – most bands simply had a fw pieces of harmonica but this cruises from start to finish.

‘Out Of Time‘ was the one I knew before I heard the album first time around. For whatever reason this seemed to be on the radio a lot when I was young, though it could have been one of the many covers. In any case it’s a song I’ve known for a long time – naturally I love the Manic Street Preachers version but this is fantastic too even if it’s a minute too long.

‘It’s Not Easy‘ has more of that fat bass sound and an effective blend of rock and blues. Again you can tell where their influences are coming from, but the formula has been shifted enough that it feels like a Stones song instead of something from the US from thirty years earlier.

‘I Am Waiting‘ is another sort of experiment. Hazy and more laid back in nature. Some of the vocals have that uber-heavy accent which I don’t go in for. About one minute in it kicks into another gear with a great vocal and melody before withdrawing for another laid-back – like an early version of the quiet verse loud chorus dynamic which other bands would run with.

‘Take It Or Leave It‘ starts with guitars and little bells like a sweet ballad. Indeed it progresses in that fashion musically. Lyrically it’s another matter. Most importantly you can see people singing along with any part of it, especially the la la ta ta stuff.

‘Think‘ continues the nice blend of acoustic and electric and better melodies. Both the verse and chorus are hook filled and the playing from all fronts feels loose and jubilant. Another good one.

‘What To Do‘ returns to the country swing and the barfly piano. As mentioned, till this album the band hadn’t managed to pull off that style in an interesting way but here they have. It has that sense of cynical fun and confidence merged with the melodic competence which had been lacking previously. I might tire of this one quicker than others, but for now it sounds fresh.

It’s easily their best album so far and the first which sounds like a full original. They had been relying on their swagger and energy on the previous outings’ dull covers and inadequate originals. The opening four songs here are gold before we take a detour into blues land. Luckily the more blues driven tracks sound more authentic – songs created by the band rather than borrowed ideas. I think finding their own voice is the big change here, followed by adopting a stronger sense of melody; plenty of the songs here are packed with hooks and choruses which crowds can easily latch on to while before the blues standards didn’t offer much in the way of melody. There’s a couple of songs I’d forgotten that I liked first time around, and they still sound good this time – I’m more hopeful now that there will be more surprises like this in future albums. It’s hard not to recommend this one.

Nightman’s Playlist Pics: Mother’s Little Helper. Stupid Girl. Lady Jane. Under My Thumb. Out Of Time. I Am Waiting. Think. What To Do.

Nightman Listens To – Out Of Our Heads – The Rolling Stones!

We’re three albums deep and the band is still mostly a cover act. I’m aware that the US version of this album features Satisfaction, which it seems didn’t get a UK album release. That’s a shame, because I’m only listening to their UK stuff. Out of the twelve songs here, it looks like only three are Jagger/Richards originals, so that sucks. Let’s crack on.

She Said Yeah: I know this one, maybe not this version though. The production is terrible, leaving a very tinny sound and making everything sound muddled. A shame because they’re letting rip. This was always a fun song, and the band tears it a new ass. In a good way.

Mercy, Mercy: A nice guitar intro turns into an almost completely different song. The song is fine and is given that swagger and edge which the band had in spades, as well as added punch in the overdrive.

Hitch Hike: A more boring song with not much variance from the original. Any song which comes accompanied with a dance is probably going to be balls.

That’s How Strong My Love Is: A more interesting song which Jagger attacks with verve. The drums are decent, the guitar very repetitive. It’s under two and a half minutes long, but there’s a hell of a lot of repetition in there.

Good Times: A smoother song, as you would expect from a Sam Cooke original. The style suits Jagger’s vocals yet anytime he sings in this less raw style I always feel like he’s being disingenuous. It’s another song built on repetition, but it gets a pass thanks to being short and smooth.

Gotta Get Away: Another Stones original, this one is pretty smooth itself. Better melodies, unfortunate handclaps, rather nice. Even though I’ve heard the album before I don’t remember this, so it can’t have made much of an impression first time. I like it.

Talkin’ ‘Bout You: A lesser known Chuck Berry song, this one doesn’t really move. It’s very basic.

Cry To Me: Another slow one. I would have thought by this point that ‘the greatest rock band in the world’ would have been rocking a little bit more. I’ve never agreed with that term being assigned to the band though. Nothing wrong here, just I’ve heard the like of this five billion times before. Jagger gives it his all in the louder moments.

Oh Baby: More of a rocker, a straight enough cover of the great Barbara Lynn, it’s still not too different from any other blues song you’ve heard. But for Jagger’s mesmeric stage persona and a decent performance there’s nothing amazing here.

Heart Of Stone: Another Stones original, this one is as boring a rote as you could possibly get, aside from the more British downbeat, discordant feel. It may as well be a cover. Jagger’s solo is pretty tasty and the chorus is catchy, but the shell is worn.

The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man: There’s that honky tonk style I can’t stand. It may as well be Country. Guitars from fifty years before, repeat each lyric, 4/4, and completely drain any melody or hue from the vocals. I know some people love this stuff, but it’s just not for me.

I’m Free: This one though, I’ve always enjoyed. One of their first major self written hits and one which has stood the test of time. Here they don’t sound like anyone else, they’re not aping their Blues forefathers. They sound like themselves while being in tune with the other newly formed rock bands of the time.

If you’ve read any of my Beatles reviews then you’ll know how I feel about the early 60s practice of bands covering R’n’B songs to bulk out their repertoire. This is another of those albums – essentially a covers album with a few originals. The band don’t do anything out of the ordinary with the covers but by and large they still sprinkle each with their own style. The original Stones songs fare a little better, but we’re not reaching any exceptional heights. What we have is a talented, excitable band playing a bunch of average songs by people they looked up to, just to get another record on the charts. Mostly one for Stones fans only.

Nightman’s Playlist Picks: Gotta Get Away. Mercy Mercy. I’m Free.

Nightman Listens To – The Rolling Stones – No.2

Greetings, Glancers! It’s time to dive down into some deep and dirty delta cuts and covers as we look at the second UK release by The Rolling Stones. Like the first album this is bolstered by a host of energetic covers of Blues and rock standards although this time we get multiple Jagger/Richards originals. I know a few of these songs and I know most of the covers, so this should be an easy enough ride. Lift-off!

Everybody Needs Somebody To Love: This is among my favourite Blues compositions, mainly down to its appearance in The Blues Brothers. It thumps along, Jagger gives his usual swagger to the opening spoken proceedings and his vocals rarely stray into what you would consider singing. It’s as good a cover of this one as you’re likely to hear. There’s no need it needs to go over four minutes, never mind five.

Down Home Girl: Not an original I’m overly familiar with. A mid-paced to slow Blues song about some dude’s obsession with some gal. A gal of a particular type from a particular place it seems. The lead riffs are catchy enough but I’ll have forgotten them by the end of the album. Some harmonica and piano thrown in there too – one to good effect, the other not so much.

You Can’t Catch Me: A speedy outing, as the name suggests. Another simplistic and formulaic structure, but the energy and cool carries it through. Jagger’s vocals are too monotone, not entirely his fault as the song doesn’t allow for much in the way of melody. Great solo and build to it though. This one is famous for The Beatles nicking some of the lyrics for Come Together. 

Time Is On My Side: I can’t say for sure which version I heard first, but either way the first time I heard The Rolling Stone’s play this I assumed they’d written it. They didn’t. Aside from the chorus and main hook, the song is a grittier version of the original, with a little more hammer to the drums, more punch to the guitar, and an edge to the vocals.

What A Shame: This now is an original composition. It follows your standard Blues structure, timing, and lyrical content to the extent that this could have been written forty years earlier. Richards is playing a little in the studio, those string bends have a character, but elsewhere there’s little to suggest the band are anything more than talented cover artists and copycats. Still, it gets the foot tapping.

Grown Up Wrong: The second original composition has a touch more individuality, while still treading familiar Blues paths. I can’t go so far as saying there’s anything inherently British in the lyrics or approach but something makes it different. It’s a quickie too, and under a couple of minutes.

Down The Road Apiece: This is a full-blooded blues rocker which gives Jagger a chance to stretch his cords more than usual. Hearing a lot of these on their own is a more enjoyable experience for me than hearing them in a sequence. This is probably the most fun song so far and would get the most reaction from me if heard standalone. Still, aside from the energy, there isn’t a lot to recommend it above any other Blues rocker – it hits the same beats and notes as many others.

Under The Boardwalk: This is one everyone should know, in some form or other. Jagger manages well enough with the softer, higher patched vocals and the rest of the band add what little flair they can. This is one of those songs it’s difficult to get wrong and every version I’ve heard has been good – here it breaks up the flow of the album nicely by being a distinctly pop song rather than the Blues tracks.

I Can’t Be Satisfied: After that brief interlude, we’re right back in the Blues heartland with a Muddy Waters cover. This one has some Country influence, the lead riff is a fun example of the standard ascending Blues riff, but elsewhere the song is quite sparse.

Pain In My Heart: One of the more interesting Blues covers here, this has more in common with 1950s rock ballads than Southern Blues. Jagger enjoys this one, grunting, sighing, and screaming at various points.

Off The Hook: The final original composition is the most unique of the three. It takes time in its intro and blasts into a verse with Beatles style verve. It’s a shame the melodies aren’t great, going for repetition over quality. This sounds like any number of British and American rock bands who emerged in the 60s, yet keeps Blues roots.

Suzie Q: I think I knew the name of this song long before I heard it, and it’s another I always assumed was a Stones original. In truth, I’m not sure why the song is held in such high-esteem. It doesn’t stand out from any other late 50s rocker, and this cover gives it a little more grit without making it any more or less appealing.

More of the same then. I think I enjoyed this more than the first album – maybe the songs chose to cover are better, maybe I’m feeling different today, or maybe it’s the inclusion of more original Jagger/Richards songs. Really, there isn’t a whole lot of variety between this and the first album, but if you’re into early blues rock there’s bound to be plenty to enjoy here.

Nightman’s Playlist Picks: Time Is On My Side. Under The Boardwalk.

 

Nightman Listens To: The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones

This could be a slog. Similar to my Beach Boys post, I’m going to go through all of the studio albums – no compilations or live albums etc. That still leaves 30 albums, of which I’ve already heard… less than 10? Like I mentioned in my announcement post, I started going through Rolling Stones albums many years ago but found them too samey and with not enough standout tracks. Listening to them alongside The Beatles I found myself going back to The Beatles more and more and eventually giving up on The Stones. Maybe I didn’t give them a fair chance. From a blues rock perspective, they paled in comparison to Zeppelin, and from a songwriting stance The Beatles were just more enjoyable in every way. Still, you gots to listen to these things to know, so I may as well go back to the start.

This debut album came out in 1964 and like most of the other bands at the time consisted of a bunch of covers. It took The Stones longer to get the most out of their songwriting partnership, so many of their early albums had lots of covers, and that’s going to be part of the slog for me. I’m more interested in the original compositions once they come along.

Route 66: You won’t enamour yourself to me by having hand claps in your first song. Standard US Blues rock, played by a British white guy who at this point had probably never been to any of the places mentioned. It’s played with a youthful intensity and energy, but without much edge. Jagger’s vocals have a persona of their own, if not completely unique.

I Just Want To Make Love To You: The Etta James version takes some beating, so instead The Rolling Stones go for a breakneck pace. Musically it is very scaled back and simple. Those handclaps are back though they are mostly drowned out by the frenzy. Good harmonica and Jagger gives it all in a manic vocal performance, all in all a furious cover.

Honest I Do: A much slower song in standard blues timing and with simple blues riffs, punctuated by slightly more unusual jangling pieces. When you think of the Blues, it’s something like this that you think of. It’s mostly boring, all told.

Mona: Craig Mclachlan anyone? I suppose the echoing guitar was innovative at the time. As with most of these songs, there are so many covers of each one that it’s not the easiest job to find a favourite or one which sticks out. There’s no need for this one to be three and a half minutes long since it is so repetitive and would likely be served better shaving 30 or 60 seconds off.

Now I’ve Got A Witness: This speeds things up again. Standard blues scales and rhythm again, piano led this time, but the band are still giving their all. I think there’s something too laconic about most of the Stones songs which have always kept me from being a full blown fan. That and probably growing up in the 80s and 90s with rock music which felt much more vibrant and full blown and complex meant that I didn’t have as much affinity for the more stripped back stuff.

Little By Little: A harmonica intro leads to more standard blues stuff. It’s still played with energy but there’s only so many times you can hear the same riffs and scales before you get bored. The solo is good, the handclaps aren’t… I would have loved this at the time but all these decades on music has progressed so much for this to sound almost redundant. Using The Beatles comparison again, their songs from the same time just had that bit more creativity and something special. None of these songs are bad by any stretch, just even though they are new (ish) to me they feel like I’ve heard them a hundred times.

I’m A King Bee: Back to the slow Blues again. There’s a simple recipe – set your blues rhythm, select any random noun or subject, and write barely hidden simple euphemisms about love and sex and you’re done. It was fine in the 20s, 30s etc, but once we reach the 60s  with white guys adding their touches it doesn’t work as well. The repetition makes it feel more like mind-numbing dance music than soulful rock. That’s a huge part of the problem I always had with ACDC too.

Carol: And now we’re back to the faster blues. No difference in playing style or rhythm or anything really here. Still good as a standalone, or if you’re into that sort of thing, but an album full of it gets boring quickly.

Tell Me: Now this instantly feels different, and lo and behold when I check it turns out this is the first Jagger/Richards composition on the album. It doesn’t feel connected to The Blues in anyway and in more like a soft rock ballad or simple love song. It’s not quite the same style as what other British Invasion bands were writing – it has its own quality and is easily my favourite song on the album. I can’t say how much I actually like it, it’s probably made better by the fact that it’s so different from every other song so far. It’s sweet and simple and has a great chorus.

Can I Get A Witness: This song is almost always fun, this version is no different. As a standalone it will work great but surrounded by all the other similar songs it’s too much.

You Can Make It If You Try: The slower songs don’t even work as well as what I mentioned for the previous track. At least the faster ones have that effervescence, these ones sound too tired even if Jagger is spicing up the vocals.

Walking The Dog: More of a strutting rhythm. More annoying hand claps. Again.. pick your noun or subject and away you go. Even in 64 it sounds cliched, though I imagine the band brought this style to a much larger audience.

Pretty much what I remembered and what I was expecting – typical blues songs played well, but with not enough of a voice to make them stand out from any other version. The one original piece is good, the covers themselves are good, but there’s only so many of them I can take. I don’t have much to add – it’s not lackluster, it just seems that way, and there’s probably only one song I’d pick to listen to again. When I have my pick of cover artists and the originals, there’s nothing here to make me pick a Stones version over anything else.

Let us know in the comments what you think of The Rolling Stones!

Nightman’s Playlist Picks: Tell Me

Classic Rock Band Tier – Ranking Classic Rock Bands

Greetings, Glancers. It seems like this tier malarkey is all the rage these days, and every blogger, vlogger, and their embittered uncle is thrusting their own flaccid list into the unexpected orifices of subscribers. Not one to be out-thrust, this post will be my own grading of a list of bands. Before I get to that, I should point out that I only found out about this nonsense via my watching of Become The Night – a Youtube channel run by a musician and metal fan called Mike. If you’re into reaction videos, metal, prog, insightful and entertaining rants on the current state of popular music, then it’s one of the more eloquent and knowledgeable channels out there, while remaining fun to watch.

Mike seems to have used a site called tiermaker which allows you to create your own lists and categories, and drag and drop items into each, before sharing on Facebook or wherever. That link above takes you to the same list Mike uses in his video. In my post I’m going to go through the same artists, but give my ranking on each. It’s partly a response to Mike’s video, partly because I’m curious to see where I would rank each act, and partly because I couldn’t think of anything more interesting to write about today. I should talk a little at the outset about where Mike and I differ. Obviously, obviously, each person is different, with our own tastes, preferences, baggage and all of that will greatly determine how we rank anything, no matter how objective we try to be. If we’re being 100% objective, there would be no point in doing the list because one ranking would be the official ranking. Mike is big into production when it comes to music – listen to any of his song reaction videos, any of his videos really, and he’ll harp on about production quite a lot – the mix, the tone, the tools – he knows a hell of a lot more about it than I ever will and that’s mainly because I simply don’t weigh production as highly as he does in terms of making a song. I’m being slightly tongue in cheek, and admittedly naive because obviously Production is one of the most important aspects of recording music. It’s just that for me, it lies a hell of a long way behind talent, melody, emotion, and lyrics.

Lyrics and emotion are two points where I differ from Mike, and maybe from a lot of other fans. Where Production for me roughly falls into three large categories – crap, okay, and good, Mike has a highly trained ear for the slightest flaw (perceived or otherwise) in a recording and mix – I don’t. My ear is much more attuned to emotion – I can easily tell if something is false or disingenuous, much more so than your typical listener and (without getting too wanky) I have a finely tuned degree of empathy when hearing and feeling any song. In Mike’s own (near enough) words, he doesn’t give a shit about lyrics and considers music and the playing of instruments as the most important element in creating a song.

He’s wrong of course, and is not accurately defining the difference between music and song, at least as both have existed since the start of the 20th Century. Sure a song doesn’t have to have lyrics to be considered a song, but most do, while a song usually needs (but not always) music before being called a song. Ignoring lyrics is essentially ignoring half of a song. It’s one of the prime examples of how music and listeners and artists have been dumbed down over time, to the point that most people ignore lyrics unless they’re deliberately provocative or ridiculously inane. Otherwise intelligent people have been taught to ignore words in songs, because words in songs have lost all meaning. If music is to become intelligent again and move away from its current mass-market, junk food approach, then lyrics need to be part of that equation. As always, I’m writing this off the cuff and chucking generalizations around – I’m aware that lyrics have been silly for most 20th and 21st Century popular music, but even The Beatles grew from childish declarations of love to often near God tier poetry. In Epic Poetry, lyrics told the stories with a cast of hundreds, sung to music which has been lost over time while the words remains. Popular music began showcasing more intelligent lyrics in the mid-sixties, but since it there have been more troughs than peaks in the art form, with the best lyrics tending to come from either cult acts or those with a small following. Various sub-genres of rap obviously focus heavily on words, perhaps moreso than the music. From a Business perspective, lyrics don’t sell, music does. It’s a little frustrating then when he berates modern acts (correctly) for being vain, reductive, and repetitive in terms of music and lyrics, but then completely dismisses the lyrics of some of the best songwriters in history. It’s partly because his favourite acts are shitty lyricists anyway (Dream Theater anyone?) It’s fine though, he mainly defines songs in terms of music while I define songs in terms of the whole package which comprises a song – a piece of music usually designed to be sung.

Enough bullshit for now, lets look at how his tier looked at the end – if you’re curious it’s probably best to watch his video first (plus you’ll probably find it more entertaining than this).

That’s not the easiest to see, so here’s a more clear list:

S: Led Zeppelin. Pink Floyd. Steely Dan. Queen. The Beatles

A: Cream. Creedence Clearwater Revival. David Bowie. Elton John. The Rolling Stones

B: ACDC. Aerosmith. Billy Joel. Deep Purple. Jimi Hendrix. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rush

C: The Who. Fleetwood Mac. Black Sabbath

D: The Eagles. Grateful Dead. Bob Dylan

F: The Doors

Naturally, posting a list like this to a large audience on the internet is going to lead to all manner of angry frothing and gesturing. How dare someone else have an opinion, especially one that is so different from mine! Mike has a much larger audience than I do, so I imagine he’s got a lot of hate over some of these choices. Because people are precious of the things they love, and because people are dicks. I disagree with some of his choices, as I will show in my own ranking, but I understand that he is who he is and I’m not here to change his mind. Or anyone else’s. As always, leave a comment here and share your own ranking and reasoning. But there’s no sense in arguing because this is almost entirely subjective and based on our own shit. If we try to be objective, then we have to fall back on tangible metrics such as sales, chart history, longevity, influence, followed up by less tangible stuff like musicianship, lyrics, originality. I’m not sure who even came up with this list of artists, or how they define each tier – I think there are too many tiers and I would replace a few of these acts with ones I deem much more suitable, but I’ll cover these ones anyway.

So lets follow Mike’s ranking from the bottom. The Doors – it was pretty obvious from the outset that Mike would stick The Doors here. He’s not a lyrics guy, and perhaps more than any other act on this list The Doors relied more on lyrics and atmosphere than music. Being a lyrics and atmosphere guy, I rank The Doors much higher. The band were also massively influential (maybe more in terms of redefining what a front man can be) in terms of lyricism and songwriting, they’re undoubtedly one of the most iconic acts of all time, and of course they sold and charted a bunch and are still spoken of highly today. I love a lot of The Doors songs and for a while they were one of my favourite bands. I fully admit that a lot of their catalogue is a little iffy – I credit that to the use of keyboards more than anything else. I agree that Morrison doesn’t have the greatest voice from any technical standpoint, but it continues to moisten panties in every generation which is more than I can say for most vocalists. As much as I like The Doors, there’s really only a handful of songs which I can say I both love and which had an impact on a wider scale. For example, Love Streets is probably my favourite song by The Doors, but it’s not one you ever hear people talking about it. Ray Manzarek was a beast on the keys, it’s just that the sound now feels dated and cheesy. Densmore – a decent enough drummer, nothing special. Krieger had some great riffs and solos and as a band they all experimented and stretched the boundaries of popular music – something Mike claims to pine for.

Next up, The Eagles. In what is going to be a recurring theme for this post, I’ll have to take a step back and state that I’m not American. In my part of the world and in the time that I grew up in, no-one gave a shit about The Eagles. They made Hotel California and… that’s it? I know they were a massively successful band but I think most of that success was internal to the USA. For whatever reason they never crossed the shores to me. They’re a band whose back catalogue I have wanted to get into, and I’ll probably get to them in the future on this blog, but for now they are looking like an F. The same will go for The Grateful Dead, except they don’t even have Hotel California. Bob Dylan, I’ve never been a huge fan of and in most cases the songs he’s written that I have liked, have been performed by other artists whose versions I much prefer. Again, he’s someone I know I need to listen to and will. Known for his lyrics, I’m hoping those will have something I can enjoy and distract me from his voice. Either way, I probably wouldn’t include Dylan on this list at all.

The Who haven’t been given enough credit by Mike, presumably because he hasn’t heard enough by them (admitting again that many of the bands I will rank low will be because I haven’t heard a lot of their stuff). The Who are arguably the most energetic rock band of all time – Mike mentions that ACDC are ranked higher for him because he appreciates their energy even if he doesn’t like many of their songs. The Who knock ACDC out of the park in terms of energy. Keith Moon is unquestionably one of the great drummers, Roger Daltry’s voice can strip paint and lull a heart-attack victim to sleep, while Pete Townsend is at the forefront of progressive music. Of course Townsend would class his stuff as Rock Operas rather than concept or progressive albums, but they fall under the same wider umbrella of telling a larger story with linking themes and songs. The band is rarely mentioned as pioneers, but I think they influenced both metal and punk as well as rock overall. Admittedly they don’t have as many hits as some bands here, but their sales and longevity speak for themselves. Great lyrics too.

Fleetwood Mac is a band I should love but I haven’t bothered going from album to album yet. I do love quite a lot of their songs so I can only assume there will be others I’d like, and they crossed more successfully than other bands that bridge between rock and pop. Black Sabbath, as Mike points out, are probably the first metal band. At least in terms of what we think of as Metal today. We all know Ozzy isn’t the most appealing of vocalists nowadays, but back then he could belt it out and that’s what it was all about – being loud, being aggressive, and being in your face. Tony Iommi is probably second only to Jimmy Page in creating memorable guitar riffs. While the band quickly ran out of steam, their first few albums remain essential parts of metal. They’re far from my favourite band, but I appreciate what they did, the ground they broke, the fans they awakened. I take them more as a greatest hits band – a few songs from each album would make one single great album, leaving the majority of stuff I pass over.

The B and A tiers are where I will change most stuff around. Starting with ACDC. I’ve never been a fan – I think they’re the prime example of pop music under the guise of rock. I feel the same way towards ACDC as I do towards hair metal – sure ACDC is more authentic, but it’s marginal. ACDC is just a better Status Quo. They’re the Nickleback of the 70s and 80s. I just can’t take them seriously, with their lyrics like a bad Carry On movie or a thirteen year old boy’s idea of sex. Sure they have some memorable riffs and the odd decent song, and they’ve sold more albums than is humanly possible… doesn’t mean they’re any good. I’ve never liked any of their singers either – ever skinned a fox? While it’s still alive? Neither have I, but that’s what I think Brian and Bon sound like. Only their sales keep them from being lower.

Aerosmith I used to like when I was a kid. They had a couple of decent albums in the late 70s, then again in the early 90s. I can’t say too many of their songs have really stayed with me over time – while I like them, they’ve fallen away while songs from other bands have kept afloat. Mostly a fringe band for me, I don’t have anything bad to say, but I don’t have any massive positives either, beyond liking (not loving) a lot of their songs. Billy Joel is an artist who, until a few years ago, I had no idea had sold so many records. This must come down to not being American again. As an outsider I knew Uptown Girl, and that one about not starting fires, and that was about it. Yet he is somehow one of the biggest selling artists of all time? How did I not know this? Is it like Garth Brooks syndrome and it’s only idiots buying multiple copies of his stuff? Actually, let me check Wikipedia to see if I know any of his other stuff – there must be songs I know that I wasn’t aware were by him. Nope. There are songs there which I have probably heard, but don’t recognise from name only. He’s another I’ll have to delve into on the blog. For the purposes of this post though, he’ll be going low.

Deep Purple was always a dad rock band to me, even when I was a kid. There was another kid on my street when I was growing up, and his dad loved Deep Purple. They were always playing when I was in his house. Incidentally, it was in that house that I first watched (most of) John Carpenter’s The Thing. Another example of a movie being put on and then us sneaking in unattended. Anyway, it took me a while to actually listen to Deep Purple for my own purposes, and in truth I still haven’t heard most of their stuff. I know their biggest songs, but little beyond that. Jimi Hendrix on the other hand I know fairly well. There’s no doubting Hendrix’s skill as a guitarist and there are quite a few songs I like. The problem is there are very few songs of his I truly love. He broke ground as a front man – ground which remains to this day largely, and sadly untouched in rock and metal. As a vocalist though he was quite limited, but I think it’s his style of singing which gets on my nerve more than his actual voice – a languid funk which never changes from song to song. Hendrix’s songs also come almost entirely from within the psychedelic period and are therefore of their time much more than many other artists here. If he’d been alive longer I have no doubt he would have branched into other territory and made stuff I liked more.

Lynyrd Skynrd. Another quintessential US band and therefore another band I don’t really give a shit about. Mike’s a Southern guy so I can understand him liking this lot. For me, there’s Free Bird and nothing else. Rush is a band people have been telling me to listen to for so long that I’ve given up caring. Maybe I’ll listen one day. The few songs I’ve heard have had elements I’ve liked. But they’ve also had Geddy Lee. I have little doubt I would like Rush if I took them time to listen to their stuff properly – I just haven’t done that, or been given the impetus to do so. Into A and Cream – nope. They didn’t last nearly long enough or sell nearly enough or chart highly enough to be in this tier. Sure, they were influential, but mainly in setting up acts a few months later who were much more influential and much better. Creedence Clearwater Revival – I used to think they were a made up band, like Spinal Tap. Then I found out they were real. I still didn’t care. Another band for Southern US guys trapped in time – a poor man’s, no, a destitute man’s Led Zep. Honestly, I only know a handful of their songs – their covers I don’t care for, Proud Mary annoys the nips off me, but I quite like Bad Moon Rising. 

Man, I should have made a video for this instead of typing. But that would take more effort. Bowie next – if you follow my blog you’ll have seen me going through the Bowie albums – I’m up to number 86 or something by now. I think it’s clear by now that Bowie is someone I appreciate and respect more than I actually like. He does have some songs I love, I have found some songs I’ve liked. I’m not a fan of his vocals or delivery, and too much of his stuff is in the glam genre which I like as much as I like Country music (not at all). But credit to changing the game, to always trying something new stylistically, and for pushing boundaries. Elton John I probably wouldn’t include on the list at all – he hasn’t been rock since the early 70s, and even then it was touch and go. I can’t think of a single Elton John song I love, and there are very few I like. I haven’t listened to a single album by him so there could be a treasure trove of stuff out there, but I’m very aware of all of his singles.

The Rolling Stones are wildly hit and miss for me. I can’t remember if I’ve posted it yet or not, but I am starting to go through their albums again. I’ve listened to all of their albums up until the mid 70s before, but they didn’t make an impact on me. 10 years later I’m doing it again to see if my opinion has changed. Just that short bluesy stuff doesn’t do a lot for me personally, and they had so many covers and almost covers in their early days that it’s a slog to get through. Jagger is a great front man without being a great singer, and the rest of the band are just okay. But they’ve sold so much and they’re still headlining, and some people genuinely prefer them to The Beatles. Led Zep – you know my feelings – I think they’re the greatest classic rock band of all time. Pink Floyd – immense in all the tangible categories, great lyrics and emotion too. I like patches of their early and later stuff, but it’s that run from Dark Side to The Wall which cements them – four flawless albums. Steely Dan – I haven’t posted it yet, but I have already listened to and written about one of their albums (A Royal Scam I believe) and as far as I know that’s the only stuff by them I’ve heard. I need to know more to adequately comment, but based on that single album they’re not top tier. Queen are as big as they’ve ever been and their songs have already proven to stand the test of time. The Beatles I probably wouldn’t have included here, but they were the turning point so it’s fine. Either way you cut it, they’re top tier anything. Lets take a look at my ranking:

A little different then. And because it’s not very clear, and because I don’t like the categories, I’m going to rejig it a little below:

A: Led Zeppelin. Pink Floyd. The Beatles

B: Queen. The Who. The Rolling Stones. David Bowie. The Doors.

C: ACDC. Aerosmith. Deep Purple. Jimi Hendrix. Fleetwood Mac. Black Sabbath

D: Cream. Elton John. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rush. Billy Joel.

E: The Eagles. Grateful Dead. Bob Dylan. Steely Dan. Creedence Clearwater Revival.

That looks better. Or worse. Who knows. If it was me, and because I am me it most likely is, I would have replaced Elton with Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles with Alice Cooper, Steely Dan with Thin Lizzy or Motorhead, Billy Joel with Santana, The Grateful Dead with The Kinks.

Right, I’m done with this. Think differently? Chuck in a comment. Want me to do more reaction type posts to Youtubers or lists or other nonsense? Tell me to. Want me to listen to any songs by any of the artists I’ve ranked low above? Let me know and I will. Adios for now!

 

Nightman Listens To – The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys

Greetings, Glancers. As I near the end of my adventures with Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, and Madonna (I’ve only started with Roxette) I’m already looking forward to which artists I should cover next. Fair enough, Bowie will take some time to finish and the Roxette posts will go on for a while – I’m also looking at the Iron Maiden solo input and Disney Soundtracks, God help me.

Ideally I want to cover those artists that I’ve always kind of liked, but whose albums I’ve never heard. The Beach Boys are a band you just can’t avoid. You hear there songs at an early age – certain songs are simply part of Western or even World culture – you’ll hear them in movies, on TV shows, on adverts, or of course on the radio (or whatever passes for radio these days). I want to cover artists who have been around for a while – those who have had more than 5 albums – ideally more than 10. They should be people I know with a few songs I know, but who for whatever reason I have just never got into. I thought about Bob Dylan, but then I’ve never heard a Dylan song (performed by him) that I’ve really liked (I’ll admit to only hearing a tiny amount). I thought about Elvis, but Elvis is too much of a cover artist. I pondered over ABBA and The Bee Gees, but I’m not convinced on their credentials on having great albums – they’re always seen as Singles bands, right?

Anyway, I’ll probably get to those guys some day, and maybe some of their albums are covered in my Top 1000 Albums Quest. For now, I’ve picked two bands who have stood the test of time – emerging in the 1960s and still playing and recording today (sort of). It’s time to be honest – I’ve never listened to a single Beach Boys Album. I know a tonne of their songs, even ones that weren’t singles to my knowledge, but I’ve never stuck on an album and listened from start to finish. The Rolling Stones however, I have listened to many of their albums, around the same time I started properly listening to The Beatles. At that time, to my mind, there was no comparison – The Beatles were smart, funny, talented, innovative, while The Rolling Stones seemed to be playing the same old blues songs over and over with the odd exception. It’s time to go back and listen again.

Both bands have written some of my favourite songs ever, but still I’ve never been fully sucked in. It’ll be interesting to see if I find any new favourites or a new appreciation. Everyone else loves them, so it’s about time I gave them their due respect. Why not join me on my adventure and share your thoughts and memories of their albums and songs? Because you don’t like me or my musical taste? I suppose that’s fair enough….

Chart Music – 1966

Yes! Back thanks to an almost universal lack of demand, I stretch back the scalp of time and feast upon the mushy innards of the past – in this instance I return to the UK music charts. If you’re interested, you can read my original post here – https://carlosnightman.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/the-uk-top-40/

1966 Glancers, 1966. The year which meany consider to be the pinnacle of music. A pivotal year by all accounts, for culture worldwide, for music, cinema, politics, civil rights and so on and so forth. Where were you? Where was I? Where am I? So many questions, and so few readers. As you may be aware, I was not yet part of this world, at least not as you understand it, but many people were and they bore witness to things such as England winning the World Cup, thousands more US troops landing in Vietnam, Time magazine asked if God Was Dead, The Church Of Satan was formed, Castro declared Martial Law, Star Trek debuted on TV, John met Yoko, and a maniac went on a shooting spree in Texas.

In the realm of music, David Bowie emerged, The Beatles became the first band to play the Nippon Budokan Hall, Van Morrison and The Doors appeared on stage together, and Bob Dylan turned Judas. A bunch of extraordinarily popular albums were released and many songs still played regularly today were recorded. Looking at the list of songs below, there are only three I know from the name but I’m sure once I listen I will know a few more. The list at a first glance doesn’t seem to be representative of the many great songs and albums which first appeared this year.

1.  Jim Reeves. Distant Drums.

Smooth vocals. Slow. Far away. Basic beat, simple piano. Strings arrive. Shifts to a more Western style pace. All very pleasant but out of time. Nothing wrong with it, a little too nice for my liking.

2. Dave Dee: Bend It!

Descending riff. Slower pace. Quickening like a Greek tune. Faster. Collapse. Funny. Even Greek guitars so I assume a deliberate choice. I always liked this sort of music from my travels. What exactly is he bending? Pretty good, though probably a novelty song.

3. The Who: I’m A Boy.

Back when they sounded like a nice little garage band, though they still manage to make plenty of noise in the chorus and bridge with those chugging guitars and bin lid drums. Great lyrics, good music.

4. New Vaudeville Band: Winchester Cathedral.

Ha ha, South Park. There’s something in my pocket for you. Waterloo melody. More novelty stuff but still good. Not a bad song yet, yay.

5. The Rolling Stones: Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow.

Fuzz and throbbing and sudden trumpets. All a bit chaotic with the trumpets out of tune with the vocals and guitar. The little break in the middle is nice. I was never a huge fan of early Stones but this is pretty good. The bass is probably the best part. It all collapses into a surprise bonus riff at the end. You wouldn’t get that in the charts these days.

6. The Supremes: You Can’t Hurry Love.

You know it, of course you do. Or the Phil Collins version. Sweet, melodic, beautiful. Can’t say much more about it, just enjoy!

7. Sandpipers: Guatanamera.

A song forever adopted by football crowds with ‘Guatanamera’ changed to… something else. I have no idea what it’s about but all very nice – dreamy verses and of course an incredibly catchy chorus. Oh, a spoken explanation. I didn’t really need that, but thanks.

8. Sonny And Cher: Little Man.

Greek fingering (madam) and bangs (sir). Yes, I know this. Horn beeps. Lots of pauses. It is a very odd song, then again it was 1966. Good though.

9. The Troggs: I Can’t Control Myself.

To be fair, most morning I wake up and scream ‘OH NO!’ This is a song with a marching beat and a simple structure, catchy chorus, verses okay, probably shouldn’t be stretched to three minutes.

10. Dusty Springfield: All I See Is You

Your standard Springfield ballad – big vocals, a little mournful, you know the score.  The chorus/rest of song is much better – even bigger vocals and more emotion, and it keeps getting bigger in every sense as it goes along.

As mentioned earlier, 1966 had a wealth of quality releases – Sounds Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, Boots by Nancy Sinatra, Blonde On Blonde, Pet Sounds, Revolver, Freak Out, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, A Quick One, and many others. Out of the top selling singles of the year in the US, three were by The Beatles, one by The Beach Boys, and one by Frank Sinatra – four out of five ain’t bad. For an alternative list of 10 great songs from 1966 (though most are incredibly famous) have a click on the links below:

1. The Beatles: We Can Work It Out

2. James Brown: I Got You (I Feel Good)

3. The Mamas And The Papas: California Dreamin

4. The Rolling Stones: Paint It Black

5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hey Joe

6. The Velvet Underground & Nico: I’ll Be Your Mirror

7. Janis Ian: Society’s Child

8. Jefferson Airplane: Let Me In

9. The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon

10. The Who: Boris The Spider

What is your favourite song from 1966? Let us know in the comments!

Chart Music Through The Years – 1963

Yes! Back thanks to an almost universal lack of demand, I stretch back the scalp of time and feast upon the mushy innards of the past – in this instance I return to the UK music charts. If you’re interested, you can read my original post here – https://carlosnightman.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/the-uk-top-40/

‘I wish it was the sixties, I wish we could be happy, I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen’. But what did happen in 1963, Mr Spindly Yorke? Things, that’s what! These things – In Asia, there were troubling rumblings in Vietnam, Japan saw it’s first Anime show hit the screens; in Europe Lamborghini was born, James Bond made his first official movie, and Hindley and Brady began terrorizing the Moors, while in the US the Civil Rights movement saw important moments amidst violence and riots with Martin Luther King telling us he had a dream, and JFK being assassinated.

In music, the world was about to be shocked into rock and roll goodness by four lads from Liverpool as The Beatles released their first singles and album, leading to a massive influx of British bands. The Rolling Stones were signed, Patsy Cline died, and both The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan released their second albums. The music industry was still dominated by old school jazz and country artists, each covering and re-recording each others’ songs, but that was all due to change thanks to the British Invasion and numerous cultural shifts across the globe. The times they were a changing. What of October’s Top 10 singles? Read on, my young Padawan.

1. Brian Poole And The Tremeloes: Do You Love Me

If it was good for Jazz and Country, then why not R’n’B? British Invasion bands were in such demand at this time that most of them supplemented their own material with covers of recent hits, this one being a fairly a standard attempt. It’s energetic and fast, but all of these covers begin to merge into one after a while.

2. Crystals: Then He Kissed Me

I’ve never heard of the group or the song from the title, but that opening riff sounds familiar. It sounds quite dated, but has a Supremes feel too. Ahh yeah, this was in Goodfellas, that’s where I recognise it from. It’s a nice enough song but pretty twee and non-eventful.

3. The Beatles: She Loves You

One of my favourites by The Beatles (I don’t think I’ve done a Favourite Beatles Songs post yet, get on that…). Glorious from start to finish, melodies, the howls, the guitar echoing the ‘yeah yeah yeah’ sound, perfect.

4. Roy Orbison: Blue Bayou

As a guitar player you’d think I’d know more Roy Orbinson songs, but I really don’t. I didn’t recognise the title of this one either, and from the opening verse I don’t think I’ve heard it. It’s a nice enough ballad, not too sure about the backing vocals, but I do like the shift in Roy’s vocals from deep to high.

5. Adam Faith: The First Time

I was expecting another slow, soft ballad, but this has some thumping percussion and growled vocals. It definitely has a rougher edge which presumably was influenced by The Beatles etc. An okay song, again nothing that is going to become lodged in my memory.

6. Trini Lopez: If I Had A Hammer

Hmm. Fast, getting something familiar from it. Wait, I thought Trini was a woman. It’s another light, catchy song. A little repetitive, but fun throughout. Seems to be some sort of protest song from the snippets of lyrics I’m picking up.

7. Gerry And The Pacemakers: You’ll Never Walk Alone

Well, obviously I know this one. As a Liverpool FC fan, we sing this song at every game. This is still my favourite version. It’s a wonderful anthem, regardless of its sporting ties, with great message and powerful melodies to really punch the emotion skywards. And of course any swelling of strings gets top votes from me.

8. The Shadows: Shindig

As a guitar player, you’d think I’d know more songs by The Shadows, but I don’t. This is good stuff, great guitars, good beat, but isn’t it a bit odd to have an instrumental song in the top 10 – in the 60s at least? Sure with Dance music being all the rage these days, and with pop music being nonsense, words are pretty much an afterthought.

9. Tommy Roe: Everybody

Another foot stomper with prominent guitar and drums. I don’t believe I know this one either. Pretty catchy again, more oohing, something which has appeared on quite a few of these songs so far. Not bad.

10. Shirley Bassey: I Who Have Nothing

A dramatic intro, with a little bit of Leone Western to it, though a few years before his big hits. Booming voice. Silence. Haunting string backing. Very nice, though this particular recording I’m listening too is of dire quality. Beast of a voice for those loud moments. There isn’t a lot to the song, and the actual vocal melodies aren’t memorable, but it’s Bassey so you know she’s going to blast it out.

So then, 1963? What do these 10 songs tell us about the year as a whole? We know Beatlemania was on the rise, and as such we have a number of Scouse written or influenced tracks, along with other British artists. We can tell it is a transitional period as many of the songs here are still hanging on to what had come before while trying their damndest to compete with the fresh young upstarts coming from the Mersey. That seems reasonable as The Beatles scored the biggest selling single of the year with She Loves You and a bunch of their other songs and songs which were influenced by them became hits while you still had traditional ballads, Swing, and Country songs stinking up da place. From a quality perspective, are these 10 songs indicative of 1963? Basically, yes – The Beatles released their first two albums which ushered in the aforementioned wave of imitators – with new bands being signed up left, wrong, and centre, and with already established artists covering their hits and trying their hand at the new sound. For an alternative Top 10 songs of 1963, have a gander at these boyos.

1. The Beatles: From Me To You
2. The Beach Boys: Surfin’ USA
3. The Rolling Stones: I Wanna Be Your Man
4. Johnny Cash: Ring Of Fire
5. Louie Louie: Kingsmen
6. Cliff Richard And The Shadows: Summer Holiday
7. The Miracles: You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me
8. Boots Randolph: Yakety Sax
9. Bob Dylan: A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall
10. The Beatles: It Won’t Be Long

Yes, I know I cheated there with multiple Beatle entries, but what are you gonna do? My list isn’t too different from the actual Top 10 so there is plenty of good music for you to experience if you haven’t already, though as most are established hits I expect 99% of readers will know these songs inside out. As always, let us know what your musical memories of 1963 are by sharing in the comments. Which artists or songs have I missed? Do any of the tracks featured here have a special meaning for you? Let us know below!