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There have been many good records, but most did not change the world of music. There have been some that did and here is my top 10. (Please feel free to argue and let me know your top 10. It is all subjective after all.) These either changed the direction of music or were the pinnacle of their genre. each record comes with a brief explanation which I will expand on later posts.
1. Tutti Frutti (Little Richard)
There are many early rock and roll records that could claim to have laid the fundamentals for what was to follow. However Tutti Frutti is my choice for its sheer power and energy. Coupled with with the fact that this was a major hit for a black artist at a time when that was almost unheard of means that Tutti Frutti just has to be on my list.
2. Move It. (Cliff Richard)
Sir Cliff. This is widely acknowledged as one of the first rock and roll records made outside of the USA. No matter that S.C.R. was a pale shadow of Elvis, this record told the youth in Britain that we could play real rock and roll and make it ours. there are those that would argue for Rock Island Line by Lonnie Donegan but for my money this record deserves its place in history.
3. Revolver (The Beatles)
Revolver is perhaps the most contentious inclusion in this list. There is no Sgt Pepper, no White Album, in this list, this is The Beatles at their best. This is the pinnacle of good, catchy pop songs, never equalled and often copied. It is also the only Beatles album I own.
4. Trout Mask Replica (Captain Beefheart)
Suddenly it was alright to meld Blues and Jazz and shake them both up to produce something not of this world. It was also alright to use free form lyrics, stream of consciousness writing. It was alright to be an artist and to work in rock. With this album rock came of age.
5. Velvet Underground and Nico (VU & N)
The cliche is that not many people bought this album but everyone who did started a band. Well, I bought this album when it was released and did not start a band. The list of those that now claim this as a major influence makes the inclusion of this, flawed, magical album inevitable, and deserved.
6. Horses (Patti Smith)
1975 and music is boring. Born of a passion for Hendrix, The Who, and other rock acts from the 60's Patti Smith launched herself on the album buying public with this stunning debut. the breadth of her vision and the execution of that vision is a sensation. Punk attitude with an artist's honesty. Simply a must have album.
7. Thriller (Michael Jackson)
before Thriller most albums spawned one or two singles. After Thriller albums would be packed with possible singles. For better or worse this album changed the music industry for ever. (Personally, I think it was for the worse, and I hate this album).
8. King of the Delta Blues (Robert Johnson)
RJ was not the father of the blues as some claimed in the 60s, but he was a very close relative. The reason that this album has to be included in this list is not that it was unique when the tracks were recorded in 1937. The reason is that this album changed white music forever when it was released as a double album on CBS in 1967. It was the first time that most of us white kids had heard real, traditional blues. That so many of us still listen to it and that the music still speaks to the following generations proves how influential this record was, and is. It led directly to the revival of the fortunes of John Lee Hooker, Muddy waters and the rest. If ever a record changed the world of music it is this one.
9. Apache (The Shadows)
Love it or hate it (guess which camp I am in!) This record changed the face of music in the UK. Hank Marvin was voted the best guitar player in the NME for years. Strat rock in the UK was born and countless budding guitarists bought Bert Weedon's 'Play in a Day'.
10. My Favourite Things (John Coltrane)
I had not heard this record for years. About 18 months ago I walked into the studio to prepare for my radio show. The proceeding programme was on and this was on. I was stunned at how good this still sounded. There is genius at work here. JC takes a small insignificant and mundane song and turns it into something sublime. This made improvisation not only acceptable it made it fundamental for any musician. If only more musicians were as good at it as JC.
Well, that is my list. What is yours?
We've heard them all before—the wheel, the car, the rocket ship, the airplane, the atomic bomb, the Internet. There are a few technologies that have obviously changed our world—some for the better, some for the worse. But in all the hubbub over these obviously world-changing inventions, some equally important technologies have been forgotten. Below are some inventions that have had an undeniable impact on our world—technologies that you wouldn't at first suspect.
The stirrup. That's right, that little metal hoop that hangs off a saddle. The partnership of horse and human is undeniably important in the development of warfare—a horse can run approximately three times faster than a person. But the stirrup gave added stability. It gives riders the support that makes it possible to ride all day—no conquering force could travel as far and as quickly as they needed to without it. It also gives an undeniable advantage in battle: maneuverability. A warrior with stirrups can stand, lean from side to side, swing an axe, shoot a bow, or throw a spear without danger of falling off. Chances are, without the stirrup, many battles that have shaped the political landscape and history of our world would have gone differently.
The battery. Everyone thinks the invention of electricity was extremely important—and it was. But the battery gives us that electricity in a portable form, making it possible for us to have flashlights, mobile phones, cars, mp3 players, pacemakers—anything that relies on electric power and that isn't practical to plug into the wall. Batteries have made devices both lifesaving and mundane possible, and our world wouldn't look the same without them.
Traffic sensors. Most people would cite cars as an important invention. But traffic sensors are an invention that makes car travel possible—especially in crowded cities. In bucolic towns, sensors are a convenience—they sense when your car is waiting at a light, and if there is no car at the opposing light, it will change early and let you go through. But in a big city with millions of intersections to coordinate, traffic sensors play a crucial role in keeping lights properly timed and congestion to a minimum. Traffic would be much more complicated to manage without traffic sensors.
Cement. Without it, we would have no skyscrapers or highways. We would also have no Egyptian Pyramids or Appian Way. Cement has played an incredibly important role throughout the history of civilization, as a durable building material that holds up under extreme stress and seriously long-term erosive forces. It's strong yet flexible enough to support a skyscraper, durable enough to hold up under millions of cars and trucks per day on our nation's busiest highways, and long-lasting enough to have held the Great Pyramid together for over four thousand years.
These inventions are all undeniably crucial—although they wouldn't be at the top of the list for best-known important technologies. So next time you drop your keys at night, read about the fall of Rome, sit in traffic at an intersection, or take to the highway, think about where we'd be without the battery, the stirrup, the traffic sensor, and cement. We're lucky these technologies came along.