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Where'd you go, Ohio? | Main | The dismal science

July 10, 2006

The last day of the first half of my life

Posted by Phil on July 10, 2006 11:25 AM

I guess I was on a de facto hiatus there, although I didn't go anywhere or anything. You know how it is at PuddingTime!--I'm in, I'm out. But you'll notice the LinkLog is bursting today--and, by the way, if you ever have a comment on a LinkLog entry, you can always click the LinkLog head and be taken to the page itself, where you can comment on entries as you would any blog post. And please do--it's so demoralizing to have a comments feature that attracts only rxpe-pxrn spam.

So, the header means I turn 40 tomorrow, and I guess I'm thinking more about endings than beginnings. I'm not really bummed about it, but it doesn't feel as fun as turning 30 did. I'm not doing anything much to observe it. Cindy wanted to have a party, but we've been too busy to plan it, and I'm not really in the mood, anyway. I'll have a martini and watch the All-Star Game. It's nice to always have the All-Star Game on or near my birthday. (Max, unfortunately, gets the State of the Union address. I watched the "Axis of Evil" speech in the hospital when he was a day old.)

Anyway, for no reason other than a desire to think more about beginnings--and the fact that I was thwarted from posting this on a certain corporate music site after going to the trouble of creating it--here's my list of the 30 Greatest Debut Albums in Rock History. They're numbered, but they're not really in any order, except "Sorry Ma" is most fucking definitely Number 1. Your complaints and additions are most welcome. Anyone with an oversight that makes me slap my forehead wins a gumball.

  1. The Replacements, “Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash”
  2. Ramones
  3. New York Dolls
  4. The Clash
  5. X, “Los Angeles”
  6. “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”
  7. Gang of Four, “Entertainment!”
  8. The Velvet Underground & Nico
  9. Richard Hell and the Voidoids, “Blank Generation”
  10. Television, “Marquee Moon”
  11. R.E.M., “Murmur”
  12. Wire, “Pink Flag”
  13. The Heartbreakers, “L.A.M.F.”
  14. The Dead Boys, “Young, Loud & Snotty”
  15. The Specials
  16. Elvis Costello, “My Aim Is True”
  17. Aretha Franklin, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way That I Love You)”
  18. Pretenders
  19. fIREHOSE, “Ragin’, Full-On”
  20. The Stooges
  21. The Cars
  22. Dire Straits
  23. Led Zeppelin
  24. Jimi Hendrix, “Are You Experienced?”
  25. Guns ‘n Roses, “Appetite for Destruction”
  26. Pearl Jam, “Ten”
  27. Violent Femmes
  28. The English Beat, “I Just Can’t Stop It”
  29. Jane’s Addiction
  30. Naked Raygun, “Throb Throb”

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Comments

I think I'd include Uncle Tupelo's "No Depression" as well as Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville".

G$

Posted by: gary at July 11, 2006 6:40 AM

Yeah, "No Depression" is a forehead-slapper, both because I like it and because it started a whole movement. I was even realizing again last week that I don't actually have that album.

"Exile" is a legit pick, but it doesn't make me slap my forehead.

But YOU, Gary Saunders, win the first gumball! Cherry, grape, or bubble-gum?

Posted by: pk at July 11, 2006 7:45 AM

and happy birthday, Phil! Kind of surreal thinking we're 40.

Posted by: gary at July 11, 2006 7:47 AM

Thanks, dude. Yes, 40 and a father, and still obsessed with minutiae like this. It'll keep us young.

Posted by: pk at July 11, 2006 8:57 AM