My 125 Favorite Rock & Roll Artists, Day 2

Boy! Last week was a disaster! From the clown show of an inauguration to my being over-medicated for my dental procedure to the new found pain in my jaw from said procedure, the next-to-last week of January 2025 became my Lost Week. Oh how I wish I had a better reason for a Lost Week. Nope! It was just the perils of growing old.

By the way, I did get to see a concert show that was described as being a Yacht Rock show. You know Yacht Rock. It was the stuff that our moms listened to whenever they got control of the car or kitchen radio. We called it Soft Rock back in the day.  At the time, I tolerated most of it because that’s all we had on AM and FM stations back then in the late-Seventies and early-Eighties here in central Indiana. While I was listening to everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top, with frequent stops in disco, punk, new wave, funk and this new thing called rap to go with my heaping load of classic rock, on my stereo, I had to tolerate Soft Rock when listening to the radio. Some of that stuff was great background music for our bogus teenage make-out sessions at our girlfriend’s house. Those of us who were obsessed with music referred to Yacht or Soft Rock by another name: Panty-Dropping Music. Not that any young women dropped their panties around me in high school, there were enough stories that floated around the locker rooms of sports teams to give rise to the notion that maybe it was the music putting the girls in the mood for a visit to the heavy petting zoo. In retrospect, it wasn’t the music. It may have helped a little for mood setting. No, it was all just plain old hormones. Those same pesky chemicals that are wasted on youth and taken from the older and more experienced. Bottom line, I got to see two-fifths of the band Ambrosia, who also played the roll of the backup band from one-half of England Dan & John Ford Coley in the form of JFC, and the lead singer of the actually two-hit wonder Player who is known as Peter Beckett (he actually spent nearly a decade touring with the Little River Band, so he’s made something of a name in the Yacht Rock world). Not a bad recovery at the end of the week.

So, now, I am ready to resume my countdown of my 125 Favorite Rock & Roll Artists of all time. Let’s cover another group of 25 as we move down the list from position 100.

100. Marshall Crenshaw – Best Album: Marshall Crenshaw (1982)

          Album Gem: Field Day (1983)

          Best Song: “Cynical Girl” (1982)

          Deep Cut: “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time” (1982)

99. ABBA* – Best Album: Arrival (1976)

           Album Gem: The Album (1977)

           Best Song: “Waterloo” (1974)

           Deep Cut: “Does Your Mother Know” (1979)

98. Stone Temple Pilots – Best Album: Purple (1994)

            Album Gem: Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996)

            Best Song: “Interstate Love Song” (1994)

            Deep Cut: “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart”  (1996)

97. Green Day* – Best Album: American Idiot (2004)

             Album Gem: 21st Century Breakdown (2009)

             Best Song: “Minority” (2000)

             Deep Cut: “21 Guns” (2009)

96. X – Best Album: Under the Big Black Sun (1982)

              Album Gem: Alphabetland (2020)

              Best Song: “The Hungry Wolf” (1982)

             Deep Cut: “Poor Girl” (1983)

95. The Go-Go’s* – Best Album: Beauty and the Beat (1981)

              Album Gem: Talk Show (1984)

              Best Song: “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981)

              Deep Cut: “Turn to You” (1984)

94. Metallica* – Best Album: Ride the Lightning (1984)

             Album Gem: Death Magnetic (2008)

             Best Song: “One” (1988)

             Deep Cut: “Turn to You” (1984)

93. Crosby, Stills, Nash & (sometimes) Young* – Best Album: Déjá Vu – CSNY (1970)

             Album Gem: CSN – CSN (1977)

             Best Song: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” – CSN (1969)

             Deep Cut: “I Almost Cut My Hair” – CSNY (1970)

92. Red Hot Chili Peppers* – Best Album: By the Way (2002)

             Album Gem: Freaky Styley (1985)

            Best Song: “The Zephyr Song” (2002)

            Deep Cut: “Love Rollercoaster” (1996)

91. Jellyfish – Best Album: Spilt Milk (1993)

            Album Gem: Live at Bogart’s (2012)

            Best Song: “Joining Fan Club” (1993)

            Deep Cut: “I Wanna Stay Home” (1990)

90. Pretenders* – Best Album: Pretenders (1980)

            Album Gem: Get Close (1986)

            Best Song: “My City Is Gone” (1982)

            Deep Cut: “Thin Line Between Love and Hate” (1984)

89. Pat Benatar* – Best Album: Crimes of Passion (1980)

            Album Gem: Get Nervous (1982)

            Best Song: “Promises in the Dark” (1981)

            Deep Cut: “Little Too Late” (1982)

88. The Killers – Best Album: Hot Fuss (2004)

            Album Gem: Imploding the Mirage (2020)

            Best Song: “Mr. Brightside” (2004)

            Deep Cut: “Caution” (2020)

87. Amy Winehouse – Best Album: Back to Black (2006)

            Album Gem: Frank (2003)

            Best Song: “Valerie” – Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse (2006)

            Deep Cut: “Love Is a Losing Game” (2006)

86. XTC – Best Album: Skylarking (1987)

            Album Gem: Nonsuch (1992)

            Best Song: “Senses Working Overtime” (1982)

           Deep Cut: “Peter Pumpkinhead” (1992)

85. The Bangles – Best Album: Different Light (1986)

            Album Gem: Doll Revolution (2003)

            Best Song: “Eternal Flame” (1988)

            Deep Cut: “September Gurls” (1986)

84. Thin Lizzy – Best Album: Jailbreak (1976)

            Album Gem: Bad Reputation (1977)

            Best Song: “The Boys Are Back in Town” (1976)

            Deep Cut: “Whiskey in the Jar” (1972)

83. Lynyrd Skynyrd* – Best Album: Second Helping (1974)

            Album Gem: Street Survivors (1977)

            Best Song: “Gimme Three Steps (live)” (1976)

            Deep Cut: “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” (1974)

82. Weezer – Best Album: Pinkerton (1996)

            Album Gem: Van Weezer (2021)

            Best Song: “Buddy Holly” (1994)

            Deep Cut: “Thank God for Girls” (2016)

81. The Jimi Hendrix Experience* – Best Album: Are You Experienced? (1967)

            Album Gem: Electric Ladyland (1968)

            Best Song: “Little Wing” (1967)

            Deep Cut: “Rainy Day, Dream Away” (1968)

80. Linda Ronstadt* – Best Album: Simple Dreams (1977)

            Album Gem: Mad Love (1980)

            Best Song: “Different Drum” – The Stone Poneys (1967)

            Deep Cut: “Hurts So Bad” (1980)

79. Devo – Best Album: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978)

            Album Gem: Something for Everyone (2010)

            Best Song: “Uncontrollable Urge” (1978)

            Deep Cut: “Gates of Steel” (1980)

78. The Smashing Pumpkins – Best Album: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)

              Album Gem: Gish (1991)

              Best Song: “1979” (1995)

             Deep Cut: “Landslide” (1994)

77. Sheryl Crow* – Best Album: Sheryl Crow (1996)

            Album Gem: Evolution (2024)

            Best Song: “Soak Up the Sun” (2002)

            Deep Cut: “Can’t Cry Anymore” (1993)

76. Joe Jackson – Best Album: Look Sharp! (1979)

            Album Gem: Body and Soul (1984)

           Best Song: “Steppin’ Out” (1982)

           Deep Cut: “It’s Different for the Girls” (1979)

See you all next time!