...MOST AVANT-GARDE POST-ELVIS POP/ROCK/FOLK/JAZZ/COUNTRY/SOUL RECORD (SINGLE, NOT ALBUM) EVER TO CRACK THE TOP TWENTY!
DISCUSS!
No arbitrary rules whatsoever, so you can define avant-garde any way you want. I am, however, gonna be a stickler for the Top Twenty thing. And the single rather than album thing. And don't give me any of the Ramones-and-punk-rock stuff because admirable as those records may be not one of them was ever toppermost of the poppermost.
And now, in no particular order, my totally Top of My Head Top Seven is...
7. The Beach Boys -- Good Vibrations
Low register cellos and a theremin -- yeah, THAT's something you hear at the diner on a normal basis.
6. Buddy Holly -- Peggy Sue
Hiccuped vocals, drums fading in and out, and a guitar that suddenly gets way louder? It still sounds weird now -- can you imagine what it must have been like for delicate virgin boomer ears back when it was new?
5. The Beatles -- Strawberry Fields Forever
Forgetting the song itself -- that video is one kinda masterpiece of abstract cinema.
4. Sly and the Family Stone -- Dance to the Music
If ever a band was collectively possessed of genius, it was those guys.
3. (a tie) The Byrds -- Mr. Tambourine Man/Eight Miles High
Electric twelve-string guitar as gorgeous/atonal melodic as it gets.
2. Donna Summer -- I Feel Love
Synths, anyone?
And the Numero Uno weirdo freaking record of all time absolutely has to be there's no doubt about it is...
1. The Yardbirds -- I'm a Man
A singer who sounds likes his harmonica and a guitarist who ends the whole thing by just making noise. Works for me.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be????
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
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