“Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!”
Why isn’t Little Richard considered the greatest, ever? Is it the lipstick?
playlist
Little Jimmy Scott
See Fats Waller, swap in “Little Jimmy Scott” for “Fats Waller,” and swap in “little” for “fat.”
Leonard Cohen
So apparently the rule is, if you’re a singer-songwriter born just south of the US/Canada border (say, Minnesota), you get to have a long career, huge critical acclaim, and tons of hits. If you’re born on the north side, you get the same long career and acclaim, but only a rabid cult audience (and a hit or two if you are lucky). And of all the culty Canadian singer-songwriters out there (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, etc.), I would say that Leonard Cohen is probably the mostly rabidly culti-est.
Led Zeppelin
For a group labeled “thinking man’s hard rock,” these guys spent an awful lot of time trashing hotel rooms. And for the latest cred-drop: For all the glories of “Kashmir” and “Immigrant Song,” probably my favorite Zep tune is “Fool in the Rain.”
Lead Belly
I’d like to pretend I’m all badass and know a lot about Lead Belly … but mama taught me it wasn’t nice to tell lies. I do know he wrote “Goodnight Irene,” which … Irene? Did Lead Belly really hang around women named Irene? I picture a (very white) character in a 40s high-society rom-com starring Cary Grant.
Laura Nyro
Do I know (and dislike) Blood, Sweat, and Tears’s version of “And When I Die”? Yep. The Fifth Dimension covers of both “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Stoned Soul Picnic”? Absolutely. Have I ever heard Laura Nyro singing any of her own songs? Not a note. Bonus points for making “Wedding Bell Blues” about a guy named Bill, which was the actual name of the man Fifth Dimension singer Marilyn McCoo did marry. Psychic.
Latin Jazz
Another tribute to the awesomeness of Marcia, who rules in all things Latin and jazzy. Bonus points for taking me to see Chucho Valdes last summer, where not only was I blown away with the music, but also promptly fell in love with all the members of the band. (Not you, sorry, Chucho—you’re a little old even for me.)
Kraftwerk
Given my diatribes against synthesized music (if you haven’t heard one, you’re missing a rare treat), you’d think I would despise Kraftwerk. But, especially in their early stuff, their electronic beeps and farts are so over the top, it’s almost like they are parodying a sound that they themselves invented. That’s awesome in its own right.
Kinks
How awesome are the Kinks? a) Kept writing the same song over and over … and had a hit with it every time! b) First major group to have a hit with a song about a transvestite. c) Disco Superman.
That’s how awesome they are.
King Sunny Ade
How cool is my jazz buddy Marcia? When we saw a poster for a highlife band coming to a local club, she said, “Let’s go. I used to dance to highlife in New York all the time.” Of course, she—my white, Dutch Catholic friend from New Jersey—did. That’s how cool she is. (I know technically King Sunny is juju. Work with me here.)
Playlist of the Day 