The best part about Fleetwood Mac is that the two members the group is named for are the ones nobody’s ever heard of. Which goes to show that if you want hits, having a borderline genius/coke fiend, a pretty blonde, and a witch in your lineup beats two old guys with beards any day. On the other hand, Fleetwood and Mac (Mc?) are pretty smart: “You guys do all the work—we still split the money five ways!”
Rock
Everly Brothers
Proof that 50s music was more subversive than you might think, part 2: Despite their wholesome image, when Phil or Don (or both? the plot thickens) fell asleep in the car with little Susie, I’ll bet they weren’t discussing the impending Soviet threat. Just saying.
Eric Clapton/Derek & the Dominos /Cream/Yardbirds
AKA, the guy who was in a lot of bands. There are a lot of easy (and accurate) jokes to make about how the more sober and responsible Eric Clapton became in his personal life, the more boring his music got. I can’t even imagine losing a kid, so I’m giving him a pass. As long as I never have to hear “Wonderful Tonight” again.
Elvis Presley
OK, look: If I left out every racially suspect white performer from the 50s, thiis would be a much shorter blog. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue that someone nicknamed “The King” didn’t have some kind of influence in popular music—at least on other racially suspect white performers.
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello started out all poppy and punky, and was just about the best thing on the radio. Then he went country (bad idea), then started hanging out with folks like McCartney (ugh), string quartets (?), and Burt Bacharach (!?!). Then he married Diana “I’m blond! I can sing the notes!” Krall. Needless to say, pretty much everything after the poppy punky stuff has sucked.
Elton John
Champion of dumpy white gay guys who wear glasses everywhere. We can even forgive “Sad Songs Say So Much.” And marrying that woman. And all the Disney stuff. Maybe.
ELO
When I was 13, ELO was my favorite band. My sister got me their new album for Christmas, and my uncles took me to see them at the Spectrum in Philly. Thirteen was a good year.
Eighties Hair Metal
Calling Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and company “metal” is kind of like calling Rhianna a “singer.” You have to stretch your definition really far to make it fit.
Eighties Alt Rock
Because I went to a foofy liberal arts university in the 80s, I should know all these songs by heart. Unfortunately, I was too busy listening to the Go Gos.
Eagles
The Eagles are probably my least-favorite band of all time. “Hotel California” is definitely my least favorite song. When they reunited in the 2000s (for the fans, not for the money), they called the album “Hell Freezes Over.” To my ears, a better title would have been “Back in Hell.”
Playlist of the Day 