You know what’s a good way to start a conversation that’s going to last a while? Publish a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. The Times just did that.
First, we polled hundreds of pop stars, critics, historians, industry executives, D.J.s, music supervisors and choreographers. They gave us 700 names. (Look at some of their ballots.) Then, during long and often heated conversations, six Times music writers edged the list down to 30 artists.
And now we need to talk about it! There’s much to discuss. Because, sure, Bob Dylan’s on the list, and Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, too. But Billy Joel didn’t make the cut. Nor did Garth Brooks or Randy Newman. Yes to Stevie Wonder. No to Stevie Nicks. Everyone’s going to have feelings about this. Everyone’s going to cheer for some, bark at others, harrumph in complaint or declare vindication. (I was bummed about Nicks, but the methodology’s sound. Here’s how they did it.)
What I like most about the project is the language behind the critical reasoning, the way enthusiasm can transform into concrete, and convincing, argument.
Take the river of hits Lionel Richie produced from the late 1970s into the mid-80s: “His litany of urgently treacly smashes was the soundtrack of that era,” writes Jon Caramanica. It was both an update of Brill Building songwriting and “a cool and controlled reimagining of the sensual soul music of the late ’60s through the mid-70s.”
Or Lana Del Rey: “Everybody wants to sound like her, but no one else can quite replicate the particular sonic grammar of her writing, which unfurls like an intimate dispatch from the blurry edge of sleep and wakefulness,” writes Lindsay Zoladz.
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