h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You can make many different "Top 500" lists. For instance "number of times a tune/song has been played on the radio" or "how many copies of single records with this tune/song have been sold"

So how was this compiled?

The site claims that it was a combination of consultation with experts and public input. The whole process is subjective, so one could ][as you point out] get lots of very different lists depending on who was doing the choosing. Rolling tone magazine's list is very, very different, completely omitting the first 48 years of the 20th century. I like Digitaldreamdoor's list because it's more evenhanded about recordings that were made before rock music came along. I would like to have seen more show tunes on DDD's list, but what can I do? Many songs from hit shows acquire a life of their own, and one forgets their origin. "Blue Moon" was revived in the 60s and 70s [notably in the show and movie "Grease," but also in a doo-wop setting by the Marcels in 1961], but started as a Rodgers & Hart song in the 1934 film "Hollywood Party."

Another way to compile a list is to look at the frequency with which "classic" songs are requested or performed by top entertainers. Numerous singers have released "Great American Songbook" CDs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook

As the Wikipedia article suggests, there is no definitive list. In 1972, a critic and composer named Alec Wilder analyzed the canon of great songs from 1900 to 1950 in his book "American Popular Song." To me this suggests that the 20th Century is torn by a schism that occurred around 1950, when jazz-related genres were peaking and rock music was rising.

I would like to build a bridge across that schism. Wilder does a good job with the first half of the century, and Rolling Stone's list is a good place to start in appreciating the second half.

The schism is based on understandable human emotions, I think. The world wars and Depression were ghastly. The people who survived them had every reason to want to look forward, not backward. Plus, there was a huge generation of younger people who were perplexed by their elders' inhibitions and group-think. The syrupy nature of a lot of 40s tunes must have disgusted young adults who wanted to put their own imprint on their world. hence, the jail-break nature of 50s rock and the later punk and heavy metal genres.

You have a whole number of good points, my dear friend

The first chart we ever heard on Danish radio back in the 1960's was said to be compiled by a secretly compiled group of people who secretly researched how many record had been sold during one week in a secret certain group of record stores. Phoning the record companies and asking them would have been futile because there was no chance of proving them right or wrong.

The result was that this "sales only" chart mostly consisted of pop- and beat (later called rock) singles - but often children songs or songs from the various Danish "summer revues" topped the list - much to the chagrin of our radio host and his young listeners - including yours truly

For my own idiosyncratic purposes, the more variety I can get from my collection, the better. Being able to go from Harry Lauder's silly Scottish songs to a suite from an opera by Rameau, and thence to a set of Chopin etudes makes my day interesting. Each of my collections is scrambled so that no single composer can be repeated within a week or two. Then, each collection is scrambled between instrumental and vocal music, and between popular and classical. In Autumn and Winter, Christmas music regularly gets added to the mix.

Right now I'm listening to 20th century choral music by the American composer Randall Thompson. After that I will hear some instrumental chamber music by Handel. After Handel, we go to Monty Python's "Spamalot," and then hear piano music by Schumann.

Diversity is the name of the game

Old friend of mine (72 he is, close to 73) doesn't like singing and hates distorted electric guitars and such. He prefers electronic and ambient music. I tell him that's fine with me but that he's missing out. Sadly he thinks we hate his music as much as he hates some of ours. Sheesh some people are just - well - some people

The Classical music station I listen to has done listener surveys, which paint a picture of people who only want instrumental music. Reading between the lines, I interpret that to mean that a large percent of them like to hear music while they're working or driving. Trust ,e when I tell you that trying to work or read or do anything that requires concentration becomes much harder when you're trying to decipher song lyrics. Symphonies and concertos? No problem. Choruses, songs, and arias? Harder. I tend to read while my instrumental CDs are playing. Then I do other things when the vocal music is playing. This prevents me from sitting down reading for too long.

The listeners didn't like organ music either. I'm not sure why. Maybe they compartmentalize organ music as something that's only suitable for Sunday morning. Never mind that Saint-Saens wrote an organ symphony, while Handel and Haydn wrote some delightful organ concertos. I once had a lovely collection of Fats Waller songs that were recorded on piano rolls and then programmed to play on a theater organ. Like a very tuneful day spent at the skating rink.

I'm not sure what to make of your friend's disinclination for singing. A really beautiful voice can make my heart beat faster and make the moment seem transcendant. A great choral piece can be unforgettable.

I used to play music all the time when I was at work. Being one of the senior employees other people in the office seldom commented or complained, but organ music was NOT popular with my coworkers

Many people didn't understand how I could listen to music while working. Truth is I didn't, really. Here's how it worked for me: The music was never so loud that it drowned out all other sounds in the office, but it would immediately occupy any parts of my mind that weren't concentrated on working, thus preventing me from being disturbed by coworkers talking and other sounds that might distract me. In short the music acted like a kind of a mental lightning conductor. Does this make sense to you?

You are probably right about singing distracting more than instrumental music while reading, but it hasn't really bothered me much.

But sometimes when I played music that my closest colleague liked she would start singing, humming or whistling along - now THAT bothered me!

I was a reference librarian in a public area for 23 years. Music would have been frowned on. Retirement gave me a chance to hear music any time I was home, but 23 years is a long time to catch up on. I'm always going to be playing catch-up, I fear. That's why I don't yet feel I have the time for individual albums: I would hardly know where to start. Some artists and bands were prolific. Frank Zappa released about 60 albums during his lifetime, and his executors found enough unreleased material for 30 more. A lot of bands and artists seem to have very long careers these days. Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Tony Bennett, the beach Boys, and many other venerable artists/groups have released new albums in the last two or three years. Diana Ross and Barry Manilow have given concerts in the last few months in Boston. Can recordings be far behind? On the other hand, audiences are apt to want at least some new familiar material. Manilow told a reporter that he finds it a great pleasure to sing his old hits.

In any event, I'm on the map now. I may not be at the center of it, but I've got a sense of who the major players are and what they're all about. Even in genres that I wasn't sure I wanted to explore, I found a few bands that I actually liked. Exploration is like that sometimes.

Sorri, I meant "familiar material, not new familiar material.

I was wondering about that

But then I thought about it as "new material soon to become familiar". That made good sense to me.

"I'm always going to be playing catch-up, I fear". Never fear! what if you ran out of "new" music - wouldn't that be worse?

Douglas Adams once talked with Pete Townshend (of famed British rock band The Who) about being locked in a certain position by his audience because Adams had written "Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy". If I remember correctly Townshend taught Adams to embrace his success by saying "people love you for it, just like people love us for creating the rock opera "Tommy". Live with it! And do something else to show them that there is more to you".

I believe that is was Adams did. And I love him for it. His "Last Chance to See" and his Dirk Gently novels are certainly worth reading

I like Dirk Gently a lot. I love the idea that the universe is interconnected, and that you can get where you are going no matter which direction you set out on. It's humorous, but there's some truth [maybe even some Zen truth] in it.

As I wind down my collection building, I picked up some last CDs today, by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Ace of Base.

I will never run out of things to look forward to.

There was a time in the late 1970's when I thought I was running out of new music, because contemporary music at that time was not to my liking. But a friend said: "Who cares? We have probably only heard a fraction of the good music that was made in the 60's and 70's. I'm sure their must be some regional musicians in the US we have never heard of yet".
He was right, that's how we got to know Bob Seger (who never came to Europe because he was afraid of flying, but was big in the US).
And then came Bruce Springsteen.
And Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and Van Morrison were still very creative and productive - still are.

Actually, after hearing what my friend had said I went down to the library and borrowed a few vinyls with Van Morrison. I had heard of him and the group "Them" he used to play with - but I had never really listened to any of his work. I struck gold! And after that I have been exploring lots of other "forgotten" musicians when their names popped up in my brain.

Did either of us ever mention the band Steely Dan? It was formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, which is less than 200 miles west of Boston, so practically in your backyard.

I had heard of it, but it was many years after the release of the band's 7th album "Goucho" that I actually listened to its music, which is much to my liking

I have CDs for all the artists you mentioned in post 152. I don't have Steely Dan. I'm not buying anything more, but I plan to have a list of artists to hear on CDs that I borrow from the library. I already have to include Donna Summers and Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler. Pink and Rihanna and Justin Bieber will also have to be on the list.

You're right about good artists who take a while to be discovered. Sixto Domingo is a prime example. The songwriter who wrote "I shot the sheriff" was unable to get anyone to perform it until Eric Clapton heard it and decided to record it. After that it was picked up by Bob Marley and others.

According to my memory - and (at least apparently) confirmed by what I could find on the internet - "I Shot the Sheriff" is a song written by Bob Marley. The song was first released on The Wailers’ album Burnin’. Eric Clapton recorded a cover version that was included on his album, 461 Ocean Boulevard. It is the most successful version of the song, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Clapton’s only chart-topping hit in the U.S.

That differs from the story I read when I was researching Clapton's version. Wikipedia does seem to support your story, though.

Musicians have had some vicious feuds over ownership of songs. The last track of Paul Simon's "Graceland" is a case in point. Heck, even when ownership is not an issue, creative disputes can tear a band apart, as with the Eagles.

One case where the participants acted like gentlemen was the late 1930's song "Don't fence me in." Someone else wrote the song, or one very much like the finished product. Cole Porter paid for the rights and tweaked it into his own version. After the song became a big hit, the original songwriter complained that he had been taken advantage of. Porter quietly gave him some money out of his own pocket.

I've asked Google "Who wrote I shot the Sheriff"

One answer was: "it was actually written by an old country singer named Timothy Kuykendall (he's little known) but many musicians have covered it since. Marley and me take credit for it though."

All other answers were: Bob Marley

I tried googling "Timothy Kuykendall" "I shot the sheriff" and only got one answer: The afore mentioned. Which I believe to be a hoax because of the last sentence in it.

I'm listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash. Great songs, great individual voices, great blend. It's tempting to think that the band I heard most recently is my favorite, but I think CS&N has some staying power. I love Queen, and I found a lot of pleasure in listening to Duran Duran. Forever Plaid has all the gifts, but they were chosen for their pipes and their blend; the songs they sang were not theirs but rather hits of the late 50s/early 60s.

The hardest band to pick CDs for was Pink Floyd. I tried some of their individual albums but thought they were tedious. The greatest hits CD turned out to be great. Leonard Cohen's greatest hits compilation was praised in some of the Amazon user comments because his greatest material was often mixed in with lesser efforts.

Thursday night I went to a concert with Pink Floyd Project, a band of Danish copycats. It was great! Impressively close to the real thing. Of course you can't put a stadium concert with enormous special effects into a cigar box like our local theater but apart from that everything was just fine. I bet the sax player could join the real thing any time

And I fell in love with the three female singers

What I noticed about the Pink Floyd compilation disc was the high quality of PF's instrumental selections.