My Top 40

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the May 07 issue of Rolling Stone has a list of the 40 songs which - in their opinion - changed the world. In a manner of speaking , since music like most art is ultimately subjective, we all have our own Top 40 tunes, the music that stands out in the stages of your life.

The first song that caught my attention was "Twist Twist Senora" by Gary US Bonds, the bouncy, vibrant rthymn standing out in the WABC (New York) AM mix that I was addicted to with my tinny transistor and plastic earphone. Bonds' voice was closer to a hoarse shout than a melodic voice, but the beat and the vocal made me move, in contrast to Chubby Checker and Joey Dee, so much so that I went out and bought the record. Bonds' music has some Caribbean flavor, the song lyrics vaguely reminiscent of gonzo calypso.

Then there was the Contours "Do You Love Me?", the driving, early Motown beat combined with the classic "spoken" intro before the song simply breaks out into the "call and respond" format. The interaction between the shouted lead and the melodic chorus gave it a rough but high energy edge, sort of like doo wop on meth.

The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" was one of my very few 45s, which I played over and over on my two tone monaural until the words were embedded in my brain. The music was so straightforward and simplistic that even I could carry the tune. I never realized how much potential the song had until Van Halen ripped it open 20 years later.

The real mystery is "Psychotic Reaction" by the Count Five. This was my first big driving song although it hinted of psychedelia, a harbinger of the extended guitar solos to come, but it's like the song never existed. I haven't heard it since I was 17, but I associate it with great moments like cranking my mother's station wagon up to 100 + and singing at the top of my lungs: "Well I feel this way - can't get satisfaction - feels just like a PSYCHOTIC REACTION."

Stay tuned for more of my own personal "charts".