One thoughtful reply

I don't know what's going to be more fun: writing the book or the debates that ensue with my friends.

Here are two of the more thoughtful responses. They chose to e-mail them to me, rather than publish them, so I'll give them aliases derived from the Nixon administration to protect their anonymity.

HR Haldeman wrote:

Aerosmith, Chuck Berry, Creedence, Ozzy, Elvis, Queen, and Bruce all get lost to the rock book, if I had to guess. Cash is lost to the country book, as are Loretta and Dolly, and maybe Shania and Wynonna. In what book is Dylan?

To my mind the five biggest stretches here are: TLC, Run-DMC, Al Green, Dixie Chicks, Bon Jovi. Gimme instead Boy George, Christina Aguilera, "disco," the Carpenters, and NWA.

I'll concede the points on the overlaps, and I imagine The Beatles, Beach Boys are probably not safe either. I'll have to fight for those, which I'm prepared to do.

I thought Johnny Cash was a bigger crossover artist. But upon further review, he was a pretty marginal pop artist. In fact, his only top 10 pop hit was "Boy Named Sue" in 1969. So he'll likely be gone, as will Wynnona, Dolly and Loretta. Even though it's hard to think of a more "popular" country stars. In fact, over the last 15 years or so, I'd venture to say that country artists sell better than rock, which will make some deliniation even harder.

Dylan is almost certainly rock. I can't think of a universe in which he's pop.

I'll stand by the Dixie Chicks, since you don't sell those kinds of numbers without being "pop." I would also argue that their music has more in common with the Eagles, Bonnie Raitt and Fleetwood Mac than Hank Williams of Ernest Tubb.

Al Green is a no-brainer at five top 10 singles in a row, and a key bridge between soul music of the 60s and disco. (I flirted with including the Spinners, but ultimately dropped them).

TLC is an easy keeper with ten top 10 hits and six #1 hits on the pop charts. Plus being black they certainly won't make it into either of the other books.

I'm pretty sure disco gets covered by "The Sound Of Philadelphia," "Bee Gees" and "Donna Summer." I'm open to other disco suggestions. But I want to avoid novelty acts (Village People) and would prefer people with some assemblence of resonance.

I think you need Run DMC, because a pop book is deficient at best and racist at worst if you exclude hip hop. And Run DMC were the first in hip hop to really break through to the pop charts. I respect the cultural resonance of NWA and Public Enemy, but I don't see them as pop stars. Influential, yes. But I'll mull that some more.

And yes, I realize that I'm entering an ugly place here by defining pop music as things that white people need to like to qualify. I will continue to wrestle with that. Nevertheless, NWA put out one album that was considered a landmark. Just like I wouldn't expect the band Love to make it into the rock book, similarly NWA wouldn't make the cut. (The highest inroad NWA made in dance or rap charts was #45).

I will consider lumping in Dre with Snoop Doggy Dogg. Since no one defined the sound of hip hop in the 90s like Dre. Now if you were to say LL Cool J, you would be making a strong argument. In fact, I may drop some of the country folks for LL.

I loathe Bon Jovi. But the numbers don't lie: nine Top 10 hit, five #1 hits. The shithead even had a #1 country hit two years ago. And the fucker is still around! He won't go away! He stays in the book.

I thought about Culture Club. My starting point was Joel Whitburn's books. One lists the top artists by decade and a bunch of other lists. When Culture Club failed to place highly. I dropped them. But I may reconsider. The Cars were another one that didn't make the cut, in that vein.

I don't think I could find 300 nice words to say about the Carpenters. But looking at the numbers, you're absolutely right. They had quite a run. Nice pick. They lose points for lack of longevity and being very much "of their era." There's nothing timeless about their music. They don't do anything to change the vocabulary of pop music. They only had hits. Maybe that's enough to win a spot in the book. I'll have to think on that.

I can't tell the difference between Aguilara and Spears. If a publisher makes me write about her, I will.

To which Haldeman replied:

The book isn't fully written yet on the white teen queens of the late 90s. But right now, only X-Tina is taken seriously as a recording artist, if Rolling Stone is to be believed. Britney is all about the crotch shots, Avril Lavigne doesn't sell any more, and Mandy Moore has fully crossed over to acting. If I had to guess which of these will be the no-brainer for the 2017 edition of this book, it would be X-Tina, and as such I think she ought to be in the 2007 edition

A fair point.


Several people mentioned Simon & Garfunkel/Paul Simon. I originally thought the rock book would claim them, for reasons that are no longer clear. They definitely belong.