This was MUCH harder than I anticipated! Turns out that 3 of my favourite Brazilian albums came out in 1972, and it was excruciating shortlisting so many great songs. I decided to only include one song by each artist on my top ten song list, but had to include two tracks from The Harder They Come Soundtrack as they represent two very different genres of reggae in it’s most interesting era (Studio One Presents Burning Spear was a close third choice!) Also had trouble choosing which song to include from Big Star’s #1 Record. I struggled a little with the inclusion of The Bonzo Dog Band’s Rawlinson End as its technically not a song, but it is one of my favourite recordings by Vivian Stanshall, and I highly recommend his continued stories of Henry Rawlinson that appear on Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (1978). Os Mutantes’ Balada Do Louco is a pretty song from a very heavy album – again – so hard to choose! Check out #4. Mr Destroyer (Poobah), its a great rare piece of Midwestern psychedelia – sounding like Blue Cheer playing Sabbath!
TOP TEN SONGS:
1. Cravo E Canela (Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges)
2. Thirteen (Big Star)
3. Johnny Too Bad (The Slickers)
4. Mr Destroyer (Poobah)
5. Hallogallo (Neu!)
6. Balada Do Louco (Os Mutantes)
7. The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)
8. Rawlinson End (The Bonzo Dog Band)
9. Zigy Zigy Za (Astrud Gilberto)
10. Lonesome Crow (Scorpions)
My Top Three albums were easy – Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges’ Clube Da Esquina is in my all time top ten – recorded at Abbey Road its a beautiful trippy easy-listening singer-songwriter masterwork. The rest were tricky – with so much Krautrock/Prog to choose from I had to cut Can’s Ege Bamyasi, Yes’ Close To The Edge and Kalacakra’s Crawling to Lahasa in favour of Neu!, Lonesome Crow (Scorpions brilliant debut) and Focus III. Rita Lee’s awesome Hoje é o Primero Dia do Resto da Sua Vida came a close second to Os Mutantes’ psychedelic assault Mutantes E Seus Cometas No País Do Baurets. Finally I struggled with including Transformer, but in the end I couldn’t resist it!
TOP TEN ALBUMS:
1. Clube Da Esquina (Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges)
2. #1 Record (Big Star)
3. The Harder They Come Soundtrack (Various Artists)
4. Mutantes E Seus Cometas No País Do Baurets – (Os Mutantes)
5. Neu! (Neu!)
6. Lonesome Crow (Scorpions)
7. Now (Astrud Gilberto)
8. Transformer (Lou Reed)
9. Focus III (Focus)
10. Shakara – London Scene (Fela Kuti)
Great fun! Can’t wait to check out everyone else’s lists and find out what I missed!
Tim
Music Corner w/ Archive 