Govt.Waste & Airwaves/Louisville Public Radio Station, Listeners Name "Greatest Artists of All Time"

RonPaulLives | 01/04/03 | RonPaulLives

[RonPaulLives]

Lists, and especially musical lists, are always a joy, as they guarantee much discussion, debate and controversy over who made what position on said list. My reasons for posting this thread are two-fold:

(1.) To demonstrate the worthlessness of wasting valuable taxdollars on public radio. As we all know, the largest portion of the listenership to public radio are very well-to-do (dare I say RICH ) liberals, who can support their own damned musical choices, without your and my public support...which leads me to the kicker: This countdown was compiled by combining the votes cast by only 1,800 listeners (if we are to assume there was no ballot-stuffing. And can we really assume that? Hell, that's how they elect their officials??) But, anyway, 1,800!! And the station, with a signal that reaches approximately a million people, is bragging about what a great volume of people that is!! The 15th or 16th best talk radio host garners that many listeners in a given zip code!!!

(2.)To show the interesting choices their listeners did make for "Greatest Artist." There are some rare good selections, some relative unknowns, and some obviously left-wing propaganda artists ranked way-too high for anyone's lists. If nothing else, it gives Freepers something fun to talk about, once you get past the fact that your taxdollars fund this stuff, which is very hard to do.

If you want to see the station's top 500 "Greatest Artists of All Time," you can go to their website by clicking this link . However, I wouldn't encourage doing so, in that it may look like they are getting much more support, by your going there, than they really are. Without further delay, here is what their whopping 1800 listeners voted as their top 100:

100 The Moody Blues http://www.moodyblues.co.uk/
99 Carole King http://www.caroleking.com/
98 Steve Earle http://www.steveearle.com/
97 Billy Joel http://www.billyjoel.com/
96 John Mellencamp http://mellencamp.com/
95 Parliament/Funkadelic http://ubl.artistdirect.com/music/artist/card/0,,477141,00.html
94 Bill Monroe http://www.billmonroe.com/
93 Merle Haggard http://www.merlehaggard.com/
92 Chuck Berry http://www.chuckberry.com/
91 Velvet underground http://www.velvetunderground.com
90 Ramones http://www.ramones.com/
89 Buddy Holly http://www.buddyholly.com/
88 Jerry Garcia Band http://www.jerrygarcia.com/
87 Beethoven http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven.html
86 Madonna http://www.madonna.com
85 Patsy Cline http://www.patsycline.com/
84 Richard Thompson http://www.thebeesknees.com/bk-rt-bi.html
83 Emmylou Harris http://www.emmylouharris.com/
82 Patti Smith http://www.aristarec.com/psmith/home.html
81 Fleetwood Mac http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/
80 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mozart.html
79 B.B. King http://www.bbking.com/
78 Beach Boys http://www.beachboys.com/
77 James Brown http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/
76 Santana http://www.santana.com/
75 Duke Ellington http://www.dukeellington.com/
74 Jackson Browne http://www.jacksonbrowne.com/choices.html
73 Ray Charles http://www.raycharles.com/
72 The Kinks http://www.thekinks.com/
71 Muddy Waters http://www.muddywaters.com/
70 Yes http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/9021/
69 Wilco http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
68 Bjork http://www.bjork.com/
67 Indigo Girls http://www.indigogirls.com/index2.html
66 The Replacements http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=2:54:16|PM&sql=B1so20r3ac48c
65 Otis Redding http://www.otisredding.com/
64 Nirvana http://www.timpatton.com/nirvana/
63 Alison Krauss & Union Station http://www.alisonkrauss.com/
62 Sting http://www.sting.com/
61 Billie Holiday http://www.billieholiday.com/
60 Dave Matthews Band http://www.davematthewsband.com/
59 Willie Nelson http://www.willienelson.com/
58 Frank Zappa http://www.zappa.com/splash.html
57 Talking Heads http://www.talking-heads.net/
56 Stevie Wonder http://www.stevie-wonder.com/
55 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young http://www.csny.com/
54 The Police http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=B5163
53 Prince http://www.prince.org/
52 Marvin Gaye http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8177/
51 Radiohead http://www.radiohead.com/
50 Al Green http://www.algreen.com/
49 Peter Gabriel http://www.petergabriel.com/
48 The Eagles http://www.eaglesmusic.com/
47 The Clash http://www.epicrecords.com/theclash/
46 Paul McCartney http://www.paulmccartney.com/
45 Ani Difranco http://www.righteousbabe.com
44 Paul Simon http://www.paulsimon.com
43 Allman Brothers http://www.allmanbrothers.com
42 Lyle Lovett http://www.lylelovett.net
41 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers http://tompetty.warnerreprise.com
40 Stevie Ray Vaughan http://www.awpi.com/SRV/
39 Ella Fitzgerald http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/
38 Bonnie Raitt http://www.bonnieraitt.com/
37 John Prine http://www.ohboy.com/johnprine.html
36 Creedence Clearwater Revival http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~petkasi/ccr-jcf/
35 Tom Waits http://www.tomwaits.com/
34 Lucinda Williams http://www.lucindawilliams.com/
33 James Taylor http://www.jamestaylor.com/
32 Jimmy Buffett http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
31 David Bowie http://www.davidbowie.com/splash/
30 The Doors http://www.thedoors.com/
29 Elton John http://www.eltonjohn.com/flash_index.asp
28 Aretha Franklin http://www.aretha-franklin.com/
27 Hank Williams http://www.hankwilliamssr.com
26
John Coltrane http://www.johncoltrane.com/ 25 Elvis Costello http://www.islandrecords.com/elviscostello/home.las
24 Frank Sinatra http://www.sinatrafamily.com/index.php
23 Steely Dan http://www.steelydan.com/siteguide.html
22 Louis Armstrong http://www.satchmo.net
21 The Who http://www.thewho.net/
20 The Grateful Dead http://www.gratefuldead.com/
19 John Lennon http://www.john-lennon.com/
18 R.E.M. http://www.remhq.com/
17 Joni Mitchell http://www.jodimitchell.com/
16 Bob Marley http://www.bobmarley.com/
15 Eric Clapton http://www.ericclapton.com/
14 Jimi Hendrix http://www.jimihendrix.com/
13 Pink Floyd http://www.pinkfloyd.com/home/22.html
12 Johnny Cash http://www.johnnycash.com
11 Miles Davis http://www.milesdavis.com/
10 U2 http://www.u2.com/intro.html
9 Led Zeppelin http://www.led-zeppelin.org/
8 Elvis Presley http://www.elvispresley.com/main.htm
7 Tori Amos http://www.toriamos.com/
6 Van Morrison http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/van.html
5 Bruce Springsteen http://www.brucespringsteen.com/
4 Neil Young http://www.neilyoung.com/
3 The Rolling Stones http://www.rollingstones.com/home.php
2 Bob Dylan http://www.bobdylan.com/
1 The Beatles http://www.beatles.com/

[Teacher317]

Tori Amos #7?
Ani DiFranco 3 spots above the Eagles?
Mozart 80, and Beethoven 87, with Joni Mitchell 17 and Bob Marley 16?
I'm surprised Madonna is only 86th.

[Tigercap]

I'm totally for de-funding NPR and PBS.
But, at least, Van Morrison rightfully made the top-ten.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

And a century from now, probably about 95 of these names will be utterly forgotten.

[Tango Whiskey Papa]

Carole King; maybe not one of the really "great artist" but definitely one of the great songwriters of the mid 20th century.

[Once-Ler]

This list looks no different than most lists from Rolling Stone or Q. It's a popularity list, that soarly needs some musical life. Bleech.

No Sex Pistols?

I've never been a fan of popular music...gimmie Spiritual Beggars, Sneaker Pimps, and Ministry.

Your point is well taken about the programing on public radio/TV. Why the heck is my tax dollar paying for this drivel.

[RonPaulLives]

bump

[gg188]

Glancing through the list I was struck by the lack of females. A quick count got about 18 females or groups with a female even IN the group (e.g., Talking Heads.)

Shouldn't a public radio station apply some sort of affirmative action or something to the list to make it more FAIR? Aren't they embarrassed by their listeners---a bunch of misogynist pigs?

NOW needs to work at defunding this outfit!

[Fred Mertz]

I see your point in posting this. Defund public radio now!

[mhking]

Most of these lists and awards shows are so much used food to begin with - the only pleasant surprises are Parliament-Funkadelic at 95, Miles Davis at 11 and John Coltrane at 26 (but no Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald or Dave Brubeck? Please!)

[the irate magistrate]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Lion Den Dan]

Racists. All racists. Harry Belefonte is not represented.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Where are The Dust Rhinos?!?!?!?