Top Ten (Part 1)

A lot of blogs and social networks posts have been talking about top albums, most influential albums and such. Loving music as you know I do, I figured it would be about time for me to put in my two cents. Or ten cents. My top ten favorite/influential albums with some semblance of explanation:

Donny Hathaway- A Donny Hathaway Collection
Purists would contest that a compilation isn’t exactly an artist album. This was my first jump into the world of Donny. Easily my favorite artist in a world of genius. Dramatic story of depression and leaving the world too soon. Father of great artist Lalah Hathaway. Half of wonderful duets with Roberta Flack. As a kid, the first remembrance of Donny was the Christmas song classic, This Christmas. I discovered his ballads that were painful, gritty, emotive and passionate: A Song For You, For All We Know, Giving Up. I can admit these songs have moved me to tears at times. I’ve drank a lot of whiskey to Donny, but there is something uplifting about even his saddest song. When I discovered Donny, my sister showed up in Tennessee with a new car and this tape in the tape deck. And I will admit now, I stole her tape. Took it back to Chicago/Evanston with me. The rest was history…There is another story about me and Donny, but I will share that later. Hands down, my number one.

Stevie Wonder: Hotter Than July
Growing up I had this fold out turntable. Heavy blue plastic beast. This was one of the first albums I ever had. I knew every word to every song. The ballads: Rocket Love, and Lately. I was too young to be singing such sad songs, but my little nine year old heart was pitiful and moved. I sang the civil stories of Cash In Your Face, Ain’t Gonna Stand For It and Happy Birthday. Dance and sing still to All I Do, As If You Read My Mind, the funness of Do Like You and Master Blaster (You will be jammin’ until the break of dawn!). And if you know me, you know I am a Stevie fan. This is where it all started.

Prince: Purple Rain
This movie and soundtrack wasn’t my first exposure to Prince. I had and uncle that saw himself as a player in the early 80’s. He lived in what was a store front in a really really really small town in TN. Walking into his “pad” he had animal skin carpet, red and blue lights, the bed as a central piece of furniture and a very large poster of Prince in his bikini briefs or maybe a shower. Creeped me the hell out. In sixth grade, I went with sister and her friends and my dad to go see Purple Rain. Entertained by the goofiness, sex, and melodrama of the story, but really struck by the music. I remember we convinced dad to by the record, him not realizing Darling Nikki’s words. Had turntable and even played the end of Purple Rain backward to figure out what he was saying. “Hello. How are you? I’m fine…” Baby, I’m A Star. Lets Go Crazy… Computer Blue... Take Me With U… Beautiful Ones (Wendy? Yes, Lisa)… There are more Prince songs I could mention. Concert fun (Hey, Hey I feel alright! One time!). Partying with the man in MN where he took over the DJ’s booth and flashed a light on me dancing… So, I’m not a uber-fan (Craig) but I respect his body of work, especially pre-’93.

John Coltrane: :Live at Birdland (1963)

Classic line up. This was one of my first forays into jazz. My dad had lots of jazz albums. One summer home from college I figured I would give myself some culture and I made it a point of listening to every album he had. Some really marvelous stuff. Eddie Harris, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Sonny Stitt… But it was this album, particularly Afro Blue that made me put the needle back again and again and try to figure out what it was I was feeling. Been a Coltrane fan since and I started buy up jazz albums after “borrowing” this album from my dad.

Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet

So after rocking Fight the Power all summer being pro-Black on the Westside of Chicago, where the point is kinda moot, I headed off to my freshman year in college and my Wisconsin rural roommate. It was a conflict. He was intimidated. My P.E. poster versus his Van Morrison. Malcolm X staring down Eric Clapton. Gotta say I won the battle of the posters. He stopped talking to me all together, leaving notes about phone bills even when I was sitting in the room. Still, this album rocked songs that were powerful, and led to temporary militant tangents like Poor Righteous Teachers, X-Clan (Vanglorious!), and the driving beats of Paris (Devil Made Me Do It). A time when Flavor Flav showed an inkling of talent (911 is a Joke) but clearly not enough to warrant his pseudo-resurgence as coon king.

More to come. Maybe. Even this five was tough...