...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!!!
31 comments:
Holy shit, what a great list!!! Now I'm going to have to dig very deep to come up with an addition to this list!!!
Captain Al
Okay,
Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful!
Cap
avante garde - top 20 - hmm - this is a tough one - after chewing it over i'm going to say "BIg Yellow Taxi" in its various incarnations, some of which had 20 or lower chart positions on various charts - see Wikipedia for the evidence -- the avantgardeness of it is the 1970 environmentalism
if you want to see 21sr century boomer, slow-doomer "whatever will be, will be" on the topic go see what I wrote/assembled at tinyurl.com/earthturns - if you're not sure if you want to, then don't
One more:
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadows!
- Rolling Stones
Cap
Multiple overdubs. Speeded up vocals. Weird lyrics. David Seville - Witch Doctor
Just plain weird, and still a head of it's time
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
from 1963 Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamito a song sung in Japanese was #10 on Billboard.
rs
FWIW I don't believe "I Put a Spell on You" made the pop charts.
"How High the Moon" by Les Paul and Mary Ford. I first heard it in 1984 (when it was about 20 years old) and thought to myself, "this must have sounded insane when it came out."
Bob in IL
I Want Candy by Strangeloves
The Mayor of Simpleton by XTC
They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! by Napoleon XIV
A couple that are unique and still iconic:
Jefferson Airplane - “White Rabbit”
Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Judy in Disguise ...John Fred & His Playboy Band
'Bohemian Rhapsody' is so ubiquitous that it's easy to forget its weird impact upon release; In time, it has merged with the Muppets cover. I would be happy to never hear it again.
IF we count UK hits, I would propose Laurie Anderson's 'O Superman.'
OTOH, can Lieutenant Pigeon's 'Mouldy Old Dough' (a number one!) be considered Avant-Garde?
Laurie Anderson fer sure, albeit across the pond.
"Pop Music" - M
"Autobahn" - Kraftwerk
"Black Betty" - Ram Jam
"Valley Girl" - Moon Zappa
"Hooked On A Feeling" - Blue Swede
"Dang Me" - Roger Miller
"Boy Named Sue" - Johnny Cash
Israelites - Desmond Dekker & the aces
That really was the first reggae record to break in the USA. Before people knew what reggae was.😎
My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small predates Israelites by 4 years introducing reggae/ to international audiences. definitely A G at the time.
Lollipop was really more like ska.
Rumble by Link Wray
This ties in with last week's Friday topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clD6J9OmkJI
Hugh Masekela
Grazing In the Grass
My first 45 (I asked my grandmother to buy it for me; I was 3 or 4).
Sally Go 'Round the Roses - The Jaynetts. Certainly different from everything else on the radio that year.
To this day, nobody knows what that song is about. 😎
MBL was Ska
Mason Williams
Classical Gas
1968, #1 Billboard Top 100
Same year - Henry Mancini
Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet
#1 billboard
Don't forget Johnny Nash's "Hold Her Tight" from '68, pre-dates "Israelites." Both ska records.
Great call on "I Feel Love," I finally found the 12" single of that for maximum enjoyment.
Also in Summer-land, I gave her "Hot Stuff" a re-listen after learning that Skunk Baxter plays the guitar solo on it. Much better than I remembered (but I was the guy with the Disco Sucks tee-shirt at the time. I've since come around.).
Bob in IL
Tubular Bells
When Dark Side of the Moon ended, Tubular Bells were next up on the turntable
Wow — I should have picked that.
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