Lori reads Rolling Stone so you don't have to

[pantryslut]

I get Rolling Stone out of a sense of professional duty. You know, I review music, I should see who they're covering, blah blah blah. I don't particularly like RS. I like them even less after they hired an editor from FHM to give them a new, modern, snazzy (i.e. Maxim-like) look. And their attempts to get hip to the young folks are beginning to be painfully obvious.

The most recent issue has a huge feature: "The 500 Best Albums of All Time."

I have tallied some statistics for you. Presented without commentary.

Beatles albums (including solo projects and such): 15
Dylan albums (including work by the Band sans Dylan himself): 12
Rolling Stones albums: 10

Albums by/including women (vocals only, sorry): 52
Albums by/including women of color: 12
Albums by women of color not including Aretha Franklin: 10

Albums by people of color: 95
Albums by p.o.c. minus Sly, Jimi, P-Funk, and Stevie Wonder: 80
Albums by p.o.c. thrown in for cred (i.e. jazz and blues albums): 20
Albums by non-black people of color: 5

Best-ofs, anthologies, and compilations: 45

Albums from before 1950: 3
Albums from the 50's: 16
Albums from the 60's: 114
Albums from the 70's: 190
Albums from the 80's: 80
Albums from the 90's: 59
Albums from 2000 and beyond: 16

Hip-hop albums: 26
Albums from bands that appear on Rhino's punk compilation No Thanks: 22

Albums by English acts: 130
Albums by American acts: 335
Albums by Irish acts: 9
Albums from the rest of the world: 17
Albums from the rest of the world, minus Bob Marley: 11
Albums from the rest of the world, minus Neil Young: 13

Not all numbers will add up, and there is certainly some error involved.

Addendum: redbird asked for one of these stats, and I forgot to post the other two.

Albums in the top 5 released after 1970: 0
Albums in the top 10 released after 1980: 0

Albums with lyrics primarily or exclusively in a language other than English: 1 (unless I am mis-remembering or mistaken about Getz/Gilberto -- the album with "The Girl from Ipanema" on it -- in which case it's 2)

Comments

[redbird]

There's one more number I'd like: Albums with lyrics primarily or exclusively in a language other than English.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Will do.

[stopword.livejournal.com]

Thanks for taking one for the team!
This was interesting.

[redbird]

Thank you.

alternatively

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Consider Richard Thompson's take on "1000 Years of Popular Music," as he says at:
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=117

"The idea for this project came from Playboy Magazine - I was asked by submit a list, in late 1999, of the ten greatest songs of the Millenium. Hah! I thought, hypocrites - they don't mean millennium, they mean twenty years - I'll call their bluff and do a real thousand-year selection. My list was similar to the choices here on this CD, starting in about 1068, and winding slowly up to 2001. That they failed to print my list among others submitted by rock's luminaries, is but a slight wound ..."

I think he might really have a list of about 50 songs, somewhere, from which he compiles a couple of standard sets, and a great many encores for his regular performances. My favorite is probably, "So Ben Mi A Ca Bon Tempo," but my boss speaks well of "Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt" (trad arr, from Brittany, of course.) His take on Prince's "Kiss" is WAY hotter than the original, in case anyone was considering listening to it at work.

Re: alternatively

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

That's cool :) Thanks for passing this on.