My (10) Greatest Bands/Artists

I, like many American’s suffer from an addiction, an addiction to Vh1’s (100) greatest… shows. This past weekend I got sucked into the 100 greatest artists. While watching the show I did what any normal viewer would do. When I wasn’t screaming at the screen in outrage of the ranking I was yelling out “Oh my GOD I LOVE THEM!” So during the hour long drive between my parents house and my apartment in the Soo, I compiled a list of my top 10. However, I realized that one can’t just state a list. No, the best part of these shows is when people talk about how amazing the artists are and play little clips from their popular songs. So, here for you is my list, my reasoning, and my favorite song by that artist. I would be thrilled to see your list. Send it my way and we’ll talk.

Drum roll please!

Honorable Mention: 11-20
11. Bob Marley
12. Pink Floyd
13. Dr. Dre
14. Stevie Nicks
15. Ozzy Osbourne
16. Aretha Franklin
17. Joni Mitchell
18. The Doors (Jim Morrison)
19. Queen
20. The Beach Boys

Bigger drum roll please!


Countdown Style 10-1.

10. Pink
Now, wait. I know what you’re thinking. Pink? Really? My answer is YES. Here’s the deal. The people that question me don’t know Pink. They don’t know she’s got one hell of a back story. A tale of survival despite hardship, she’s truly inspiring on that front. Then, there’s the career. Every single album she has dropped has been different. She started off R&B, went off into the “Pop-Punk,” world, veered off into Rock, and along the way has peppered it with beautiful singer/song writer gems. She’s been around for over a decade and is a world wide sensation. But, beyond allllll that stuff. There is her voice. When you hear Pink you know it’s Pink. That roughly polished sound that few singers can ever get away with. Her voice can pump you up or bring you down. Her music can get your ready for a party or help you recover from a break up. I love Pink because of everything she is, does, and stands for. (And she’s super hot too!)



The Song: Sober. Oh, my. Just so much love for this song. I think it’s safe to say most girls will have had a moment over this song. God knows I have. That what Pink does, she hits that emotion button and you get forced to ride through the wave of emotions until the song is over.

9.Eminem
Word. No, seriously. Eminem is the word, a truth in his own right. A white boy from Michigan that changed the face of rap music, he threw rap music onto the top 40 charts, spoke his mind the whole way, and came out of it all sober. Woah, just woah! Now, I used to have some serious issues with Em and some of his lyrical expressions. But here’s the deal. It’s the right to free speech and his whole act with Elton John kinda took the movement out of the whole Eminem is anti gay thing. He woke up a generation. My generation and exposed us to truth and reality and the nature of the human beast. He’s become a positive role model in the end through his path to sobriety and is a home state hero in a lot of ways. He changed up the whole music scene and I’ve got mad respect for anyone with the balls to change an industry and to stay real the whole way through.


This Eminem song needs no justification. Everybody loves it and if they don’t they clearly aren’t getting the proper blood supply to their brain.


8. Hanson
I know. Totally random, from Pink, to Eminem, to Hanson. That’s just how I do. So anybody that’s ever met me knows I have a deep seeded love for Hanson. It all starts back in 97’ … yeah that’s right 90 freaking 7. It started with a song called “Mmbop,” but it goes on so much further than that. There’s been 5 albums. That’s the major release albums, not counting the live albums, the Christmas album, and the overseas releases. There three brothers who caught a break riding the wave of pop music in the 90’s with a catchy hook and famous hair. But, when “Mmbop” died down what was left? The fans, that’s what was left, and three brothers who love making music. So the Hanson train kept on rolling. Their music and their fans grew up with them and their records tell a story of music. Their music tells the story of my life. Anyone that judges the validity of Hanson’s music has never scratched the surface and looked into what they’ve been doing musically. They’ve grown. They took off for Africa and made a whole album about political and social issues. They started an international campaign called “The Walk,” and continue to put on sold out shows globally. Hanson is one of the few 90’s pop bands to have survived the decade, continue selling records, and maintain fans. You can laugh all you want but they have a legitimate stake in the world of music, open your ears and explore.



“Been There Before.” It’s like Hanson’s answer to “Give me the beat boys…” It’s one of those songs about music that actually works. It came out on their “The Walk,” album and filled my heart and soul with the roots of my musical experience. Hanson’s always “been there” for me and I feel sorry for the people that haven’t been on a musical ride with Hanson.

7. Neil Young
First of all, a big shout out and thank you goes to Canada for supplying the world with this talent. Neil Young is one of those muscians that seems to have been around forever. You see, he surfaces in 66 with Buffalo Springfield, goes on to become the Young in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and then somewhere in that same time period he launches a solo career. Only a talent like Neil Young could bounce around the music industry like that and not fall flat on his face. No, that’s something Neil’s never done in his multi decade spanning career, he’s never failed to impress music lovers. His music has that politically driven edge that came out of the 1960’s coupled with his sheer poetic genius every song is a piece of art. He was relevant in the 60’s and 70’s and is still relevant today. He’s timeless.


Picking a Neil Young song, yeah like that was an easy task. So, I went with my all time favorite. The song I have bawled my eyes out to more times than I can count. It’s a bitter sweet sentiment from child to father. It was my Dad’s song to my Grandfather and it’s always been my song to my Dad.

6. John Fogerty
Now, for all you kids out there scratching your head wondering just who the hell John Fogerty is... I say FOR SHAME! But, for the sake of education, for those of you who don’t know John Fogerty is the voice by which you identify the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). He’s also top selling solo recording artist as well. But, most know him best for his years in CCR, you know, the years before they sucked. His voice made that band. I mean sure, the lyrics, the melody, the freaking music was amazing, but it was all centered around that voice. That identifiable voice. Oh, and he pretty much wrote entire albums worth of music. You know those songs like: Proud Mary, Down on the Corner, Run Through the Jungle, and Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Yeah, that’s all John Fogerty. Those are timeless songs. Songs with a message that span the test of time. Kids my age and younger still get down to CCR and I firmly believe that’s all because of the genius that is John Fogerty.


Listen to the lyrics. This song came out in 69 and the words are still relevant in this country today. Music like this doesn’t just happen.

5. Jimi Hendrix
Do I even need to justify this one? Every once in a while a musician comes around that just changes everything. (The messed up thing is a lot of the musicians decided to show up in the 60’s and disappear before the 80’s) Hendrix was one of those musicians. When music fans talk about Hendrix they don’t talk about his lyrics, or his looks, or whatever, no, we talk about the guitar. Because that’s what Hendrix was, guitar. Dirty, sexy, raunchy, fluid, breath taking, fucking guitar. He did things with that instrument that no one had ever seen done before. He could make a guitar sing in a way no voice ever could (even though his voice is like candy to the ears). That’s the thing about Hendrix, if you really know his music it’s this weird fusion of rock, blues, jazz, soul, and the vibe of the 60’s. He wasn’t just guitar. He was everything. As far as I’m concerned he was the start of the panty dropper music, because if a chick isn’t dropping her panties when she hears some Hendrix, she’s just not worth it.


Have a little respect. Turn your volume up. Here’s my favorite Hendrix’s song…have you taken off your panties yet?


4. Janis Joplin
I was 15 when I discovered Janis Joplin. I don’t think I knew what soul was before I heard her sing. Oh Janis, Janis, Janis. First of all, talk about a woman with a life time of pain. It’s like she was born with the blues and heartache just followed her around. Janis knows pain and Janis will sing you through your pain. She’ll take that deep breath and start singing and the music will come from the depths of her soul out into the microphone and then it will creep into your ears and wrap it’s self around your organs. She is a part of that group of artist that gave the world so much in a small time. That group of artists that had it’s fill of the world long before the world had it’s fill of them. Oh Janis, Janis, Janis. Sing for me Janis. Sing for me.


Yeah, that’s live. As in for freaking real. That’s all I have to say about that.



3.Bob Dylan
I know that at this point you’re thinking. Wow, you have almost no love for music that began after 1975…and that’s pretty much true. Anyways, Bob Dylan, right. I never know whether to call him a musician or a poet…or both. He’s all those things and so much more. In many way’s he’s the anti star, the one who never wanted to be a legend. The asshole who pretty much broke Joni Mitchell’s heart. He’s Dylan. One of those artist that loses his first name because he’s become so legendary. He’s got his hits, the songs everybody knows, and then he has his hidden treasures. The ones that didn’t make it onto the radio, the songs only the fans know, and they’re all brilliant. You see, Dylan’s another one of those “voices.” I often wonder if he had emerged at anytime other than the 60’s if he would have been given the time of day. Maybe, in a quiet folk following, not the musical/poetic genius that he is recognized as today. He’s got a way with words and instrumental talent that just melds together and makes magic. If he’s not in the top 5 of any greatest artists list then the people making it have no clue what the hell they are talking about.

This is my favorite Dylan song. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, mostly because there is a line that mentions the girl having red hair. I’ve got an unlimited list of songs I love for Dylan, just like I do for every artist on this list. But, this one’s my fave.


2. John Lennon
I went back and forth on this one. Do I say “The Beatles,” or do I say John Lennon. Here’s the truth. If I messed up on this list it was not putting both Lennon and the Beatles in the top 10 list. Because they both deserve to be in the top 10 but this is my personal list and my love for John Lennon over shadows my love for The Beatles.  The Beatles were/are everything. But John Lennon was something more than everything, he was something. He had a message, a vision, and a voice. He gave the world music. Music it had never seen before. He gave the world his thoughts, thoughts no one else had the courage to say out loud when they most needed to be said. As an artist on my list Lennon made top 2 because of everything he was. He wasn’t just a musician. He was a force of nature. Someone I feel genuinely robbed of ever experiencing. I can’t imagine music today without The Beatles, and I can’t imagine The Beatles without John.


If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it.
-John Lennon



1.Paul Simon
There is a part of me that feels really, really, bad for the kid reading this that has no idea who Paul Simon is. For every kid like me who grew up on his music is a kid that lives the cold, deprived life, that is a lacking in Paul Simon. With Paul Simon it all began as a duo. He and his pal Art Garfunkel started off playing as “Tom and Jerry,” but eventually decided to keep it real and go as “Simon and Garfunkel” instead. But, no matter what the name, the driving musical force of this group was Paul Simon. The genius in Paul Simon can’t be pigeon holed like it can with some bands/artists. No, the genius of Paul Simon isn’t just lyrical, melodically, or visual. No, Paul Simon is all of those things all wrapped up in one sweet little package. He’s one of those emerging talents from the 60’s (are you beginning to see the trend?!) that provides us with music that is packaged perfectly with music and lyrics. His early work gives us works of art like “The Boxer,” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” songs not only rich in lyrics but in melody. Music that is so complete. His solo work is groundbreaking, legendary, stuff that only Paul Simon would ever be able to do. I keep saying genius over and over again because that is the only word I can come up with to even begin to describe Paul Simon. His career took off in 1965 and he just recently released an album in 2011. That’s a 46 year long career, with a tour ongoing. Artist like him aren’t just musicians. They’re prophets of the church of music. Amen brother, Amen.



Early Simon. Back when he was half of a duo. (The Better half)


Paul Simon solo…and doesn’t he just have the world’s sweetest speaking voice?