Similar to the Jam/Style Council thing, here we have the punky, glam New York Dolls; serious, straightforward David Johansen; and tongue-in-cheek faux lounge lizard Buster Poindexter. There’s only one song on this list I’ve ever heard. Guess whom it’s by?
top ten
Miriam Makeba
So I’m at brunch, and my friend Jerusalem is talking about how much she loves Miriam Makeba, and I’m thinking, “Perfect timing! I just posted my Miriam Makeba list!” And then I’m thinking, “Wait. Did I actually post the list? I don’t remember.” And I check, and sure enough … I completely skipped over it. And this time, I can’t even blame Joni Mitchell.
Michael Franti/ Beatnigs/Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprosy/Spearhead
I had the whole Ben Folds/Ben Harper thing, but I actually think Ben Harper and Michael Franti are the same person. Maybe that’s why Franti changes group names so often—to throw people off his/Ben’s trail.
Merle Haggard
All I can say is, if I drank as much as he appears to based on his songs, I’d be pretty haggard, too. (Thanks. I’ll be here all week.)
MC5
Is it OK to give a group a list if they only have three albums? I guess if their name only has three characters, it kind of balances it out, maybe?
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Mahavishnu Orchestra was founded by John McLaughlin. Not by Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, not by Swami Satchidananda. By John. McLaughlin. That tells you pretty much everything you need to know about why I hate fusion.
Los Van Van
I’ve heard Los Van Van referred to as “the Rolling Stones of Cuba.” I assume this doesn’t mean they released 10 years’ worth of classic albums, followed by 40 years of crappy ones.
Little Walter
His name was Walter. He was little*. That’s all I got.
(*His given name was Marion, and for all I know he was, a la Randy Newman, six feet tall.)
Leon Russell
The two songs that come to mind when I think of Leon Russell are “Right Place, Wrong Time” and “Frankenstein.” The former is by Dr. John, the latter by Edgar Winter. Which basically means I have no idea who Leon Russell actually is.
LaVern Baker
If someone told me that the only way I could ever hear LaVern Baker’s “Saved” again was to actually become saved, I’d … well, I’d need to think about it. On the one hand, it would be hard to give up boys. On the other, especially when you consider my luck with boys, LaVern starts to look pretty good.
Playlist of the Day 