Argument Starters

There’s an interesting list at the music website Earvolution called “The Top 10 Corporate Moments in Rock,” devoted to egregious instances in which the art form that most values the outsider and the renegade got neutered by the demands of conformist capitalism.  Writer David Schultz got it right, especially by picking Woodstock ‘99 as Number One. (If mass-market rock had any soul left by 1999—an arguable proposition, I grant you—Woodstock ‘99 took the last of it.)  A couple of minutes’ thought about what might be missing from the list yields only this: the way in which alternative/indie rock, which was supposed to be the contemporary incarnation of the outsider spirit, taking music away from The Man and putting it back in the hands of musicians and fans, quickly gave birth to an ossified radio format with a canon every bit as predictable as classic rock’s “Stairway to Heaven”-”Free Bird”-”Layla” template.

I could quibble at Number 10, with CBS’s request for changes in the lyrics to “Light My Fire” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” when the Doors and the Stones appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Blaming CBS for being puritanical 40 years ago is a bit of a stretch—sure, the songs were getting played on the radio, but that was radio. In 1967, it had been only a year or two since TV dared show married couples sharing the same bed, and it would be another year before the Smothers Brothers and Laugh-In stretched the boundaries of acceptable content to truly encompass the rock generation’s attitudes. At worst, Sullivan, an old-school showbiz guy with a vast audience ranging from toddlers to grandparents, wasn’t willing to lead the way into a brave new world of acceptability. I can’t blame him for that. It was a different world in 1967.

Also making a list are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Association of Record Manufacturers, who are out with “the Definitive 200″–200 albums they think everybody should own. This is a guaranteed argument-starter, although probably not at the top of the list: Sgt. Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Thriller, Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album, The Joshua Tree, Exile on Main Street, Tapestry, Highway 61 Revisited, and Pet Sounds seem reasonable enough at the top. I can’t honestly say whether Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s Ten deserve to be at Numbers 10 and 11 (ahead of Abbey Road), but I can say that placing Santana’s Supernatural at Number 13 is ridiculous (especially when ignoring Abraxas entirely), but no more so than putting Shania Twain’s Come On Over at Number 21, ahead of Who’s Next, Rumours, and The Wall. Pop Matters has the list and its own take on it—and after you read the list, you’ll probably have a take on it, too. If so, have at it in the comments.