It’s a list, so there will be much arguing, teeth gnashing, and hand wringing.
But don’t get too wrapped up in all that. All the usual suspects are there. Who cares who’s on top?
It’s the bottom and middle of the list that I really found interesting. There’s Otis Blackwell, who wrote a string of hits for Elvis, including the great Don’t Be Cruel. There’s Felice and Boudreaux Bryant, who wrote Love Hurts. There’s Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, Sam Cooke, Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Curtis Mayfield.
This is about songwriting, not performing. Dig through the list. You may discover some new musical gems.
No George and Ira Gershwin?
No Cole Porter?
Useless list.
Fun and somewhat insightful list, but um…Sting? Ludicrous omission.
Gee, one Swede (Benny&Björn are one), one Jamaican (Marley), one Icelandic Björk and the Bee Gees.
Well, no such list will ever be agreeable for everybody, but the list of omissions here is quite staggering. Sting, John Cale, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Gil Scott-Heron, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Rufus Wainwright, Julian Cope, Joe Jackson, Nina Simone… and these are the ones I came up with in the first minute. But Madonna? ROFL.
Uhm… no Nick Cave?
Roger Waters isn’t on the list. Wow. Seriously, what other songwriter created works to compare with The Wall and The Final Cut? Not only were many Pink Floyd songs individually beautiful and thought-provoking, but each of the later albums were an evolving narrative which, taken as a whole, conveyed very deep messages.
As I suspected – Crap list. Rolling Stone hasn’t been relevant for like 40 years. Can’t argue much with a handful of the more obvious sections, but the order (and the omissions) are craptastic. Reads like a committee action item list compiled by Millennials and their parents.
Right. I could make a list of omissions that would be arguably better than this one (with maybe 10 or so exceptions – they did get a few of the more obvious ones…)
I was hoping the comments here were wrong, they’re not. Sigh.
Desmond Child?
Pharrel Williams?
Sting?
Robert Smith (the cure)
Peter Gabriel / Phil Collins
Clicked link.
Saw Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at only #100.
Closed browser tab.