Jonathan Richman is the ultimate cult artist. “Cult artist” means, “artist who has six fans who think [artist] is the greatest thing to happen to music since notes, while the rest of the world has never heard of [artist].” As a self-proclaimed music junkie, I can proudly say I’ve heard of “Roadrunner.” Not heard it, mind you—for all I know, it’s a cover of the cartoon theme song. Which would be awesome in its own way.
Rock
John Mellencamp
John “Johnny Cougar” Mellencamp burst onto the scene with the awesomely bombastic/vaguely misogynistic “I Need a Lover.” Then he sucked for a while. Then he remembered his last name, grew up, and was awesome for a long time. He gets knocked as “Springsteen lite,” but I’d rather listen to his good stuff than just about any of Springsteen’s stuff any day. I know, more rungs down the cred ladder …
John Lennon
Both as a member of the group and solo, George Harrison is my favorite Beatle, hands down. So I feel bad about not giving him a list. As much as I love his crazy mashup of spirituality and quirky humor, it’s hard to argue that he has 10 “important, influential, or interesting” songs. McCartney gets one, or my sister would never speak to me again. But, with apologies to Ringo, I think it’s clear that John Lennon had the most interesting solo career of any ex-Beatle by far. And that’s before you factor in Yoko “People of earth … how are you?” Ono.
John Hiatt
Because a) I like to make things up, b) I don’t know anything about their music, and c) in my clearly limited worldview they are the same person, I was going to combine John Hiatt and John Prine into one list. But then I realized that they are the kinds of cult artists who have rabid fans, and then I’d be fielding “They are not a thing alike!” comments all day. Which would give me a headache. So: separate lists.
Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson started out sounding like Elvis Costello. Then he decided to sound like Louis Jordan, then Cole Porter, then any number of vaguely Latin-influenced jazz band leaders. Then I lost track, though at some point I believe he wrote a symphony. I guess the only person left to sound like was Mozart?
Joan Armatrading
Over the years, Joan Armatrading tried everything from pop-folkie to electro-pop-punky … and she still couldn’t buy a hit to save her life. So then she decided to screw it all and just sound like Sade.
Jimi Hendrix
Often when I run into acquaintances (my real friends know better), they think it’s funny to bust out with, “Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?” It’s not.
Jerry Lee Lewis
I can forgive the “marrying the underage cousin” thing—there’s a whole range of cultural norms outside of what any one of us might consider “proper.” (Shoot … one of my great-grandmothers married her brother-in-law, while another was the illegitimate daughter of an itinerant Italian railway worker. So much for traditional family values.) The hair, on the other hand—I just can’t with the hair.
Jefferson Airplane/Starship
Jefferson Airplane/Starship morphed from trippy psychedelic rock in the 60s to wispy folk rock in the 70s to peppy pop rock in the 80s. Not sure it that’s progress. “We Built This City” might be the worst song in the history of popular music, ever. Plus: Winner of “how many times we can rename our band?” contest.
Jefferson Airplane AllMusic page
Jeff Beck
Another one of those rock legend/guitar gods I feel like I should know more about, but don’t. Credit for naming one of his songs a bolero (whatever that is), because … well, “Beck’s Bolero” just sounds cool.
Playlist of the Day 