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Thursday, October 13, 2005
Modern classics
An email from D has tipped me off to an interesting new webcast called WOXY Vintage. D describes it as "a station for old farts" like me which is pretty funny coming for a guy in his mid 30s who drives a mini-van. For those of you who don't know WOXY it is not just the station whose name was made famous in Rain Man (97X! The future of Rock and roll!) but one of the country's best commercial radio stations and an alt rock leader for a couple decades. (Kevin Cole did a short stint there after the demise of REV105 which should give local 3WN readers an idea of what kind of station it is.) WOXY Vintage is a separate webcast of just classic alternative rock from the last 30 years or so. They're calling it a modern rock primer so it could be kind of fun. I'm listening to the English Beat as I type.
On their web site I also found a link to their most recent Top 500 modern rock songs list. They compile a new list every year and spend several days playing it on the regular WOXY station. It has been several years since I checked it out but it is interesting to see that the list is not as static as one would expect. Not only are there quite a few newer songs on there but opinion seems to evolve concerning the older songs as well. Lists like this of course never make everyone happy but they are more a vehicle for starting discussions than anything else. REM still puts quite a few songs into the list but overall they seem to be at lower positions than they used to be, which should make Hammer happy. I could stand to see a little less Weezer and a little more Wilco myself but it is still nice to see bands like Television and the Velvets get their due as alt rock pioneers. But only one Husker Du and "Alex Chilton" higher than "I Will Dare"? That doesn't seem right. And "Dodge Vegomatic" but not "Roadrunner"? Outrageous! But still, a pretty fun list so check it out and post your own quibbles.
17 Comments:
Pearl Jam and Jane's Addiction each have 2 songs in the top 25. The list is crap.
Soul Asylum's only appearance is for Somebody to Shove (#329). That's ignorant.
31 is hardly mid 30's, and the Honda Odyssey is not a minivan, but a way of life.
Steelers Dignity!
By 
, at
12:46 PM
But for their ill advised comeback tour and comeback album, I think Janes Addiction would still be high on the influence/hip-o-meter. If ever there was a band guilty of legacy tarnishing, it is Janes Addiction.
By , at
1:21 PM
I liked and like Jane's Addiction. They were a little too dark & preachy ("some people should die/that's just unconscious knowledge") but they had some really good songs.
But 2 songs in the top 25? And Been Caught Stealing over Stop? Makes no sense. And 9 Pixies songs. Whatever.
whoever made this list just threw darts at the billboard charts in teh 90s. it doesnt make sense that fucking modest mouse is on there at all. they are the most terrible band in the history of bands.
I stopped reading after that.
By , at
2:06 PM
oh ya, bitchn camaro isnt even really a song
is is a dialogue
By , at
2:23 PM
"Been Caught Stealing" at No. 7? That's just fucking stupid. "Under The Bridge" at No. 20? I hope everyone who contributed to that inclusion does, in fact, kill themselves in Los Angeles listening to that rubbish. Where's Soul Asylum's "Closer to the Stars" or "Easy Street"? And the best Mat's song is "Alex Chilton"? Do these guys not own Let it Be, Tim, or Hootenany? I feel dirty after reading that list.....
By , at
3:04 PM
Closer to the Stars, yes. Easy Street, no. I'd put Never Really Been, Made to be Broken, Passing Sad Daydream, P-9, and Freaks ahead of Easy Street. Even Sometime to Return and Cartoon.
And the Horse they Rode In On is a vastly underrated record - their best, in my estimation, followed closely by While You Were Out, then Hang Time, then Made To Be Broken. Pirner's writing is at its best on Horse. I'll give you Freaks, but not the rest of them...
By , at
3:38 PM
Dish's friend once said that Horse sounds like it was mixed by a drummer. There's good stuff on the CD, no doubt, but we should probably quit while we're ahead. Freaks and Closer to the Stars belong on the list.
"I Will Dare" from Let It Be did make the list but I think that is the only other Mats song on there. I would have included "Can't Hardly Wait" and a couple others. WOXY is in Cincinnati (I think) and I suspect that if Minnesota listeners rather than Ohio listeners were to make a list it would look quite different. Even tho they had a big influence on later bands I don't think the Mats, Husker Du, or even early period Soul Asylum have quite the status in the rest of the country that they do here.
Looking at this list made me smile today... My wedding songs are on there- Descendents ball and chain and ring of fire... and just when I was thinking they don't rate the cover like they rate the original. I like Bob Mould's version of Sheena is a Punk Rocker better. Anyway, I'd have most of this on my Ipod and I think you're peeing in a corner to argue where the mats or soul assylum rate here. I've never been able to figure out how they rate this shit... I'm just happy there's a list out there that reflects what I listen to. If you don't like it and haven't already, make your own list. Of course, someone's gonna come up and say it's wrong, but it's your list.
By , at
5:17 PM
You're right on 1 out of 3. I don't think Soul Asylum is considerd an influential band by anyone. But Husker Du and the Replacements are very influentially, nationally known bands. Maybe better known here, but I don't know how you start talking about modern alt rock without Bob Mould and Paul Westerberg.
nofx isnt even on here, thats stupid.
By , at
7:50 AM
No room after you include the entire Pixies ouvre.
FREEBIRD!
By , at
1:48 AM
