"1001 Songs you Must Hear Before you Die" list thoughts.

The book "1001 Songs..." is, one that gives me a lot of thoughts, and not always positive.

I'm gonna comment on the list here, but for the most part, I don't think the guys compiling the list knew anything about music.

To give you an idea about the issues the list has, the list has the original Slade version of "Cum on Feel the Noize" when it's pretty much accepted by most that Quiet Riot did the song much better, to the point where most people would consider it their song. They also have the original Nine Inch Nails version of "Hurt", where even Trent Reznor said Johnny Cash did a better cover.

The list has an odd thing about it where, the selection of many of the more important artists to a genre, kind of get glanced over. I'm not asking for the book to be filled with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Metallica, but maybe a few more than three songs each would be nice. Robert Johnson, arguably the godfather of rock and roll, only has two songs in the book, Louis Armstrong has just one, Pink Floyd has two, Slayer has one, Queen only has three (Two if we include "Under Pressure" as a David Bowie song), Rush has one, The Cure has four, The Cult has one, Madonna has two, Tupac only has one, Nirvana has three, Black Sabbath only has one, KISS only has one, Guns N' Roses only has one, David Bowie has five (Four if we include "Under Pressure" as a Queen song), and I could honestly go on.

Many of the important artists don't get a lot of recognition, and sometimes, aren't even included at all! Bauhaus isn't mentioned, Arthur Brown is left behind, Megadeth didn't sell, There's no Alice in Chains, Linkin Park only get's a featuring credit, Rancid isn't there, Grandmaster Flash is absent, there is no Son House, Dream Theater, Dio, System of a Down, Anthrax, Tragically Hip, Guess Who, Hell they only have one Def Leppard song.

*Note: In the first writing of this blog, I noted that the list did not contain a song by Grandmaster Flash. This is however, untrue as the list does contain the song "The Message". I apologize for this misinformation. [09/05/2018]

Which brings me to the songs they don't have. I'm just gonna list them off.

1. Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny
2. When the Levee Breaks - Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie
3. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire - The Ink Spots
4. Spoonful - Howlin' Wolf
5. Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson
6. Octavarium - Dream Theater
7. Stargazer - Rainbow
8. Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
9. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
10. The Show Must Go On - Queen
11. Santeria - Sublime
12. Blow at High Dough - The Tragically Hip
13. Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter Paul and Mary
14. Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
15. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
16. Highway to Hell - Ac/DC
17. All Along the Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
18. Hurt - Johnny Cash
19. Cum on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot
20. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
21. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
22. Fade to Black - Metallica
23. Sugar - System of a Down
24. Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
25. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
26. American Pie - Don McLean
27. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
28. Dream On - Aerosmith

Believe me when I say that is a small sample.

"Well, they don't want it to be all obvious" one might say, to which I reply, bollocks! Born in the U.S.A., Purple Rain, Rock the Casbah, London Calling, Thriller, Sweet Dreams, Tom Sawyer, Under Pressure, Crossroad Blues, Back in Black, Hotel California, Anarchy in the U.K., Smells Like Teen Spirit, Dancing Queen and More Than a Feeling are all on the list, among more.

It's clear they wanted to mix some obvious songs in with some lesser known songs, and I'm okay with that, but do "Zungguzungguguzungguzung" or "Mbube" really need to be in the book? Why pick "Java Jive" over "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"? Is "Hellhound on my Trail" really on of Robert Johnson's best songs? Why does "Rum and Coca-cola" warrant a spot on the list?

There are some great songs that aren't too well known in the book too, "La Mer" by Charles Trenet is one of my all-time favourite songs, and I would not have heard it if it weren't for this list. "Strange Fruit" is a dark song from Billie Holiday and it is a must listen. The first song in the book is "O Sole Mio" by Enrico Caruso, and it is a beautiful song.

Then you have "Vincent" by Don McLean, "Tangled Up in Blue" by Bob Dylan which I doubt people would miss if they were taken out of the list.

The version of the list I have (Which may be the first edition) has "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" on it, and I swear a newer edition I looked at had "Super Bass" on it. If you want a current pop song, why not something like "Lights" or "Get Lucky" or Hell, if you want to put meme's in the book, go for "We Are Number One" or "Ocean Man", which are good songs on their own.

Hell, if you want more obscure songs to add, try a song like "Ne Ne Na Na Na Na Nu Nu" by Bad Manners, which is some really good Ska. Maybe try "Innocent" by Aurelio Voltaire, which is a beautiful song about the social issues and the gothic community. How about "The Wolf of Velvet Fortune"? The album it was on made it into the 1001 albums list, so why not pick a song from the album to include in the book?

I should make my own list, since I am a huge fan of music, of course, the challenge is choosing which songs to keep and which to toss. As a whole though, the list has problems. Not every song on it is bad, but they do have a few.

While I'm at it, I am going through the list right now, and so far, I have decided to keep twenty-three songs and ditch seventeen. As I am going in order, it's going to take me a while to get to many of the songs I've already heard. With that said, here are the songs themselves.

1. O sole mio - Enrico Caruso (A)
2. St. Louis Blues - Bessie Smith (A)
3. Allons a Lafayette - Joe & Cleoma Falcon (R; Not bad, but don't think it's a "Must Hear")
4. Lagrimas negras - Trio Matamoros (R; Same thing)
5. Pokarekare - Ana Hato (w/ Deane Waretini) (A)
6. St. James Infirmary Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five (A)
7. El manisero - Don Azpiazu & His Havana Casino Orchestra (A)
8. Minnie the Moocher - Cab Colloway & His Orchestra (A)
9. Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl - Bessie Smith (R; Something about these trying to be vague, but very blunt sexy songs just makes me feel weird, and not in a good way.)

10. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? - Bing Crosby (A)
11. Mal hombre - Lydia Mendoza (A)
12. Hula Girl - Sol Hoopii (R; Don't even think this is that great a song)
13. Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) - The Carter Family (R; This song sucks)
14. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson (A)

15. Hellhound on My Trail - Robert Johnson (R; Should be replaced by "Sweet Home Chicago")
16. Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday (A)
17. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland (A)
18. The Gallis Pole - Lead Belly (A)
19. Mbube - Solomon Linda & The Evening Birds (R; Not that great)
20. Java Jive - The Ink Spots (R; Should be replaced with "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire")
21. Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday (A)
22. Guantanamera - Joseito Fernandez (A)
23. God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday (R; Not one of Billie Holdiay's best)
24. Stormy Weather - Lena Horne (A)
25. Rum and Coca-Cola - Lord Invader (R; Not that great a song)
26. This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie (R; Why do I feel like this was the Anarchist anthem before Rise Against?)
27. Lili Marleen - Marlene Dietrich (R; Don't think this is a "Must Hear")
28. (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 - The Nat King Cole Trio (A)
29. Al gurugu - La Nina de los Peines (R; This song is kind of forgettable)
30. La vie en rose - Edith Piaf (A)
31. La mer - Charles Trenet (A)
32. White Christmas - Bing Crosby (A)
33. Good Rockin' Tonight - Roy Brown (R; Not great)
34. Nature Boy - The Nat King Cole Trio (A)
35. Saturday Night Fish Fry - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (R; I don't really like this song that much)

36. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams (A)

37. Autumn Leaves - Jo Stafford (R; Kind of boring)
38. Summertime - Sarah Vaughan (R; I do not like Sarah Vaughan's voice)
39. Goodnight, Irene - The Weavers (A)
40. Mambo No. 5 - Perez Prado (A)

I have a fair bit to go, but maybe there will be more songs accepted than rejected.