Last night, during our Valentine’s dinner at the Hard Rock Café in downtown, Todd and I began talking about music, specifically, that which we think is important.
We’ve longed discussed that we want our children (whenever they come into the picture) to be well-versed in as many genres of music as we can possibly expose them to. This brought up the topic of what can be classified as “important” music. For me, that list includes….SEVERAL artists. Todd reminded me that while some music maybe important to ME (Lisa Loeb and The Indigo Girls), it’s not necessarily the prime example of music from our generation, so should be kept out of the “Important Music” category and placed in the “Important Music to Me” category.
That said, here are the beginnings of my two lists:
Important Music (spanning several generations
Count Basie
Glenn Miller & Band (a personal favorite)
Benny Goodman
The Rat Pack
Frankie Vallie & the Four Seasons
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
Lesley Gore
The Beach Boys
Jimmy Hendrix
The Who
The Doors
The Rolling Stones
Donna Summer
ABBA
The Bee Gees
CCR
Simon & Garfunkle
Fleetwood Mac
Diana Ross
Stevie Wonder
Janis Joplin
Metallica
The
Michael Jackson
Tiffany
New Kids on the Block
Nirvana
The Beastie Boys
Rage Against the Machine
Pearl Jam
No Doubt
Britney Spears
Celine Dion
Mariah Carey
Justin Timberlake
New Found Glory
Eminem
Kelly Clarkson
Fall Out Boy
Panic! At The Disco
Important Music to Me (all in addition to previous list)
Lisa Loeb
Sarah McLachlan
Fiona Apple
Sixpence None The Richer
Michael Bublé
Selena
Indigo Girls
Jennifer Knapp
*NSYNC
Tim McGraw
Faith Hill
Kanye West
Jem
Matchbox 20
Godsmack
Ace of Base
DC Talk
Michael W. Smith
Plain White T’s
Beck
Waterdeep
Oasis (but only so that I can reference SNL from time to time)
Jason Mraz
The Fray
Jump, Little Children
Rihanna
Fergie
The Black Eyed Peas
Paramore
Imogen Heap
…just to name a few
So with all of that said, what are some of YOUR important artists? Or what are some over-arching artists/musicians that you think I’ve missed and should definitely be heard? To make it onto the overarching list, remember that it should be generally important and history-making music…it doesn’t have to be music you necessarily like (I don’t particularly care for Nirvana, but it’s important that future generations know their music and their impact)...
[Karla, I know that Radiohead will be the top of your “me music” list :o))
Um, YEAH they will!
ReplyDeleteMusic is so important.
Yeah, our kids will probably be familiar with everything from Beethoven to Paul Oakenfold by the time they're ten, and I'm totally okay with that. Whether or not they decide to be musicians, the concepts found in music reflect humanity really well --- the politics of harmony, the routine of rhythm, these help to symbolize our struggles in a way that neither fiction nor dry school lessons can.
ReplyDeletePlus, the study of generations is always made more interesting by what music they were listening to at the time. Compare 1950's America to today, for example.
Word verif: "chedium". Sounds like a thick yellow element on the periodic table.
it's so weird to me to see "godsmack" and "the fray" appear in a list together.
ReplyDeletevery cool! did you ever think about breaking the general important list down to decades? not exactly necessary, but it could make things easier. (c:
ReplyDeletesome of my favs (a few that didn't appear on either list, anyway:
the damnwells
jon foreman
the frames
ben folds
pedro the lion
matthew perryman jones
cake
damien rice
the raconteurs
we are scientists
ugh. i could totally go at this for a while...i'm gonna leave it there. (c;
frick! how did i forget CAKE?!?
ReplyDeletei would also include Alanis on the "general" list.
i made a half-hearted attempt at breaking it down by decade...it starts with the 40s (more or less) and moves through today...it gets a little messy in the 70s/80s hahaha!