The top 100 – YOUR picks! Two weeks ago Tim De Lisle rocked readers with his top 100 albums. Your response? An avalanche of new suggestions…
Decades ago, while working for Smash Hits, I expressed mild disappointment in a new single by Madness. Shortly afterwards a notelet arrived that showed a cartoon character knocking on a door and carrying a gift. On the door was written T DE LISLE OFFICE, and on the gift BOMB. The past fortnight has had moments like that as Event readers responded to my choice of 100 albums you must own. ‘De Lisle,’ wrote S Leadbeater, ‘has the musical taste of a dead bank manager.’
After asking you to name the best records I’d left out, we received nominations for 934 albums by 548 artists. Some, we were expecting – Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead, The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main St. Others, not so much. There were votes for David Ackles, Doro, Pilot, The Wolfgang Press, Pandora’s Box, Pavlov’s Dog and eight different LPs by Barclay James Harvest. There was even a vote for Rancid.
In the end, all the men were trumped by Joni Mitchell, who was both the No 1 artist and the author of the No 1 album, Blue. Intelligent, emotional, highly distinctive, it passes the test of time with flying colours. I just wish I loved it as much as its fans do
The list was staggeringly eclectic, with no album receiving more than three per cent of the vote. A few young acts made it, including Wolf Alice and Sleaford Mods, but most voters leaned towards bands of a certain age, led by Steely Dan, Genesis and The Doors. The only solo male in the top ten was Meat Loaf, although a special nod goes to Eric Clapton, who amassed 57 votes, split between his solo work (16), Cream (24), Derek And The Dominos (10), Blind Faith (3), and collaborations with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (3) and BB King (1).
In the end, all these men were trumped by Joni Mitchell (28), who was both the No 1 artist and the author of the No 1 album, Blue. Intelligent, emotional, highly distinctive, it passes the test of time with flying colours. I just wish I loved it as much as its fans do.
Never mind the choices, the memories were entertaining too. Jacqui Smith, who advocated ELO’s Out Of The Blue, added a PS: ‘My beloved blue vinyl copy was bought in York market on a school trip from Lincoln with our French penfriends,’ she wrote. ‘The other abiding memory of that day is that a number of the French students were arrested for shoplifting in Boots.’
A few young acts made it, including Wolf Alice and Sleaford Mods, but most voters leaned towards bands of a certain age, led by Steely Dan, Genesis and The Doors
One reader, Richard Nowell, picked his own top 100, noting that 41 of them coincided with mine. Loving music is like that: half the time we tend to agree, and the other half we disagree so deeply that we tear our hair out. The guy who called me a dead bank manager turns out to be a big fan of Porcupine Tree. One man’s Meat Loaf is another man’s Rancid.
On one issue, though, we are all in perfect harmony. Not one reader nominated Ed Sheeran.
See Tim’s original Top 100 Albums here