WXPN's 885 Greatest Artists - It's That Time of Year Again



Following up last year's 885 Greatest Albums, which itself was a sequel to 2004's 885 Greatest Songs, WXPN has launched this year's listener survey to determine the 885 Greatest Artists of all time. Dismissed as silly by some but hotly debated and agonized over by others, these surveys provide great fun during the voting and a great listen when the results get counted down on the air. Go to xpn's website to submit your top ten list which also enters you in a contest to win the complete cd catalog of each of the top three artists as voted by the listenership. Voting deadline is September 10th. Check out the xpn discussion boards which will heat up as the countdown gets closer, with real time critiques, reaction and tears as the results are revealed. Also check out xpn's staff and artist picks, and xpn's music blog.



Listener JimGPhynn of Horsham got the ball rolling very nicely on the discussion board with this post, Letterman style, of the top ten reasons not to vote for the Beatles:


  1. Everyone else is doing it. Be different.
  2. You'd be giving an effective rubber stamp to the fact that countless radio stations have overplayed most of their songs.
  3. Michael Jackson owns the rights to their music.
  4. Paul McCartney is trying to change the credits to "McCartney/Lennon" from "Lennon/McCartney"
  5. What the hell is a "four of fish and finger pies" anyway?
  6. The album 'Yellow Submarine.'
  7. Can you listen to the song "Birthday" without seeing that obnoxious kid from the movie Sixteen Candles? I can't.
  8. You've got everything you want. And your bird can sing.
  9. They never did answer whether or not Paul is dead.
  10. They just don't have the staying power of bands like Arrested Development or Strawberry Alarm Clock...
My first move is to compile a list of every artist who would be worthy of inclusion on a top ten all time list. I think my number one and two positions are locked in already, the rest are up for grabs. Here we go:

1. The Beatles
2. Stevie Wonder

Here comes the hard part, picking 8 out of the following list, each one of which seems worthy on their own of an all time top ten berth. Here's the rest of the field:

The Allman Brothers Band
Louis Armstrong
Chet Atkins
Brian Auger
Average White Band
Burt Bacharach
George Benson
Karla Bonoff
Greg Brown
Jackson Browne
Lelia Broussard
The Carpenters
Valerie Carter
Ray Charles
Eric Clapton/Cream/Derek & Dominoes
Nat King Cole
The Corrs
Elvis Costello
CSN&Y
Del Amitri
Tina Dico
Dido
The Doors
Bob Dylan
Keith Emerson/ELP
Ella Fitzgerald
John Fogerty/Creedence Clearwater Revival
Julia Fordham
Melody Gardot
Genesis
Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead
Lowell George/Little Feat
Jimi Hendrix
The Hooters
B.B. King
Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits
Leo Kottke
k.d. lang
Led Zeppelin
Dougie MacLean
Bob Marley
Rebecca Martin/Once Blue
Nellie McKay
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
Holly Palmer
Pink Floyd
Chris Rea
Rolling Stones
Joe Sample
Sia
The Spinners
Bruce Springsteen
Steely Dan
Sting
Swing Out Sister
James Taylor
Tanita Tikaram
Tower of Power
Traffic
Tom Waits
Brian Wilson/Beach Boys
The Who
Yes
Zero 7

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