The 100 Greatest Moments in Rock History - By Bill Wyman [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : The 100 Greatest Moments in Rock History - By Bill Wyman



Swish
10-29-2013, 11:07 AM
Not sure if anyone posted this here, or if I did personally, but I thought everyone would enjoy this list as much as I did. I certainly don't agree with many of his 'moments', but they're his, not mine.

100. Lou Reed in "Coney Island Baby": "I'm sending this one out to Lou and Rachel..."
99. "Satisfaction."
98. The lack of inflection in Johnny Cash's vocals on "Ring of Fire."
97. The clattery drums and gentle guitar washes in Pavement's "Summer Babe."
96. Bob Mould groaning "I'm hardly getting over it" on Candy Apple Grey.
95. "You look like you been whupped with an ugly stick" (Jerome in Bo Diddley's "Say Man").
94. The opening echoey bass on "For the Love of Money."
93. Ernie Isley's silky guitar on "That Lady (Parts 1 & 2)."
92. Shane MacGowan's dissolute vocals in the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York."
91. The key change in "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)."
90. "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
89. The explosive start to Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower."
88. The dissonant, raspy violin--and dissonant, raspy harmonies--of the Raincoats' "In Love."
87. "Maybe someday your name will be in lights / Sayin' 'Johnny B. Goode tonight!'"
86. Tom Waits's gutter stage patter on Nighthawks: "I'm so goddamn horny that the crack of dawn better be careful around me."
85. The utterly nonsensical lyrics of Elton John's "Grey Seal."
84. Robin Zander yelling "We're all all right" at the end of the live version of Cheap Trick's "Surrender."
83. The doo-doo-doos in New Order's "Temptation."
82. The scratchy guitar sample in the Geto Boys' "Mind Playin' Tricks on Me."
81. David Lindley's slide guitar on the second Jackson Browne album.
80. Teddy Pendergrass's sultry voice in "Wake Up Everybody."
79. Keith Moon's drumming on "Won't Get Fooled Again."
78. The spaciousness of the arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')."
77. The Flaming Lips' dissonant, magnanimous take on "What a Wonderful World."
76. The French horns on Aretha's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."
75. Kim Deal's "How do you think it feels?" cameo in Ultra Vivid Scene's "Special One."
74. Eddie Van Halen's synth line in "Jump."
73. The wall o' guitars on Dwight Twilley's "I'm on Fire."
72. Run-D.M.C. calling themselves the "King of Rock" not rap.
71-70. John Doe and Exene's caustic Balin and Slick-style harmonies on "Johny Hit and Run Pauline"; Billy Zoom's cranked guitar.
69. "Bruce Berry was a workin' man / He used to love that Econoline van."
68. The bass line in "Stayin' Alive."
67. The box-tap drumming on Buddy Holly's "Everyday."
66. "What's Going On."
65. Elvis's "Don'tcha know I'm" interjection in "Suspicious Minds."
64. The concussive beginning of Portishead's "Sour Times."
63. Prince Be claiming his hip-hop props on PM Dawn's "Plastic."
62-61. Joey Ramone's cry of betrayal in "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg"; the glockenspiel.
60. All 18:05 of Stereolab's "Jenny Ondioline."
59. The utterly dry recording of the guitars in Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot."
58. KRS-One spitting out "Tell me what the **** am I supposed to do?" in "Love's Gonna Get 'Cha."
57. The swirling synth in Patti Smith's "Frederick."
56. Lou Reed's liner notes to Metal Machine Music.
55. Richard Manuel's tearful voice on "Tears of Rage."
54. Barry White's "Love Theme."
53. The "See the trees my forefathers hung from" line on Arrested Development's "Tennessee."
52. Johnny Marr's guitar reverb on the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?"
51. David Lowery moaning "Just give me some tension relief" in Camper Van Beethoven's "(I Was Born in a) Laundromat."
50. The southerner listing the northern ghettos in Randy Newman's "Rednecks."
49. Mick Jones's guitar solo on Elvis Costello's "Tiny Steps."
48. Ricky Wilson's rattling guitar in "Private Idaho" by the B-52's.
47. The fax machine sound in the Breeders' "Cannonball."
46. Chrissie Hynde yelping "I got a kid / I'm 33!" on "Middle of the Road."
45-44. The dead stops in Suede's "Metal Mickey" and R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe."
43. The apocalyptic wails in the background of the Clash's "White Man in the Hammersmith Palais."
42. The 1:57 instrumental beginning of the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."
41. The anomie of the vocals in Chic's "Good Times."
40. The piano 'n' slide coda of "Layla."
39-38. Mick Jones's soft, gentle vocals on "Stay Free"; the burst of guitar at the end.
37. Sylvester wailing "You make me feel / Mighty mighty real."
36. Prince's "Maybe I'm just like my father" line in "When Doves Cry."
35. Elvis Presley's lugubrious, repulsive, mesmerizing performance of "My Way" at the end of This Is Elvis.
34. The opening thunderous bass in Urge Overkill's "The Candidate."
33. Jerry Butler singing "For Your Precious Love."
32. The floating alarm clock in "A Day in the Life."
31. The sampled squeals in LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out."
30. The last verse of John Fogerty's "Wrote a Song for Everyone."
29. Polly Harvey howling "I'm walking on water!" on Dry.
28. Chuck D's indignant "Elvis was a hero to most but not me" in "Fight the Power."
27. The rattling aridity--intellectually, atmospherically, morally--of Dr. Dre's "Dre Day."
26. "Shake Some Action."
25. The production of Tusk.
24. The on-the-three-beat thump of almost any Al Green single.
23. The opening 30 seconds of "I Want You Back."
22. The way Bob Marley enunciates "in the government yard in Trenchtown" in "No Woman, No Cry."
21. Rick Rubin's Zep sample on the Beastie Boys' "She's Crafty."
20. The harmonies in the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset."
19. The "launderette," "leatherette," "dinette set," etc. rhymes in David Johansen's "Frenchette."
18. The four a cappella seconds at the beginning of Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine."
17. The pedal steel and strings crescendoing in George Jones's "He Stopped Loving Her Today."
16. The earsplitting homage to "Be My Baby" at the beginning of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey."
15. "Be My Baby."
14. The last verse of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
13. "September Gurls."
12. Keith Richards's guitar solo in "Gimme Shelter."
11. D. Boon murmuring "Me and Mike Watt, playing guitar" in the Minutemen's "History Lesson--Part II."
10. "The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance!"
9. Neil Tennant singing "I love you / You pay my rent."
8. Jon Langford screaming "I'm born inside the belly of rock 'n' roll" in the Mekons' "Memphis, Egypt."
7-6. The guitars in the Replacements'
"Left of the Dial"; Paul Westerberg's moan.
5. The sax break on Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic."
4. The opening chord, hit nine times, of "Anarchy in the UK."
3. Kurt Cobain singing the "My heart is broke" verse of "Dumb."
2. "Walk Away Renee."
1. The guitar falling out and the synthesizer welling
up in the ninth bar of "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Davey
10-29-2013, 06:36 PM
We revisited it a couple months ago, but fun list ....

http://forums.audioreview.com/rave-recordings/half-gone-2013-maybe-lost-but-not-forgotten-39341.html#post395868

Feanor
10-30-2013, 04:12 AM
Wow! Quite list; lots of thought went into it I don't doubt.

I can't comment on it, though, 'cause I've never much listened to Rock music.

3LB
10-30-2013, 05:38 AM
I guess I shouldn't comment 'cuz he went through the trouble and I didn't, but...

I understand that R&R took Johnny Cash in after C&W ditched him, but WTF is George Jones doing on a list about anything other than country music or famous drunken wife beaters.

More like a "what's the first 100 things that pops into my head" kinda list.

Ex Lion Tamer
10-30-2013, 03:12 PM
If I were to pick one artist that most shaped my musical journey Lou Reed would be that artist. While his solo work is spotty - the high points are among my all-time favorites, and I'm sure that if you polled my favorite artists and asked them about their influences, Lou Reed (or the Velvets) would be the most often named. The news really saddens me and I've been listening to Lou's music every chance I get since I heard it. Tonight Coney Island Baby and the Velvets self-titled get their turn on the turntable. R.I.P. Lou

Davey
11-01-2013, 01:42 PM
If I were to pick one artist that most shaped my musical journey Lou Reed would be that artist. While his solo work is spotty - the high points are among my all-time favorites, and I'm sure that if you polled my favorite artists and asked them about their influences, Lou Reed (or the Velvets) would be the most often named.

I think you probably said it for me too, Mark. Take Lou Reed and Neil Young, add some Lennon and McCartney, some Bowie, and that gets you almost all the way to my heart. Add in some jangly guitars, and that's pretty much the mix. Of course that doesn't fully capture the Americana side that is so big for me, but gets a lot of it. Lou and Bowie below, fun clip ...

Lou Reed Plays 'Queen *****' With David Bowie in 1997 - Video | Rolling Stone (http://tinyurl.com/mp4hnoh)

MasterCylinder
11-07-2013, 04:37 PM
Way off !

Jim Clark
11-08-2013, 06:16 AM
I am duly impressed with that list. Makes me a bigger fan of Bill Wyman, that's for dang sure. I wouldn't have thought for one second that Joy Division, Smiths, Neil Tennant, etc. would have ever even been on his radar. It's kind of freaky how his list mirrors my record collection.

Ok, so upon further review I don't think this is the Bill Wyman I was thinking of so it's not quite as striking as I originally thought : (

Davey
11-08-2013, 08:23 AM
Ok, so upon further review I don't think this is the Bill Wyman I was thinking of so it's not quite as striking as I originally thought : (

Yea, not the Stone, the music critic ... that list was when he was at the Chicago Reader in the 90s ... below is a recent conversation about R. Kelly with him and a couple other critics ...



<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ef1ok_6D6X4?feature=player_embedded" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

dean_martin
11-08-2013, 12:10 PM
I guess I shouldn't comment 'cuz he went through the trouble and I didn't, but...

I understand that R&R took Johnny Cash in after C&W ditched him, but WTF is George Jones doing on a list about anything other than country music or famous drunken wife beaters.

More like a "what's the first 100 things that pops into my head" kinda list.
I gotta come to George Jones' defense. That song transcends genre. It's a great song. Nobody could take his heart out, lay it on the table and show you exactly where it's broken like George.