"What is it, that it is, this theory of mine?"
-Anne Elk

All groups worthy of permanent recognition in the annals of pop music must have, in their Golden Period, at least three albums where the casual fan will like every song on the album (yes, I will call them albums, because this theory - which is mine and nobody else's - is mine"). I don't mean the casual listener, mind you, but the casual fan. Someone who is inclined to like the music this artist/band is inclined to perform.

This what separates The Cowsills from Creedence. What divides Bowie from Badfinger. Queen from Quatro. It does not mean that there aren't important bands that left a mark with only a hit album or song. Sometimes those guys were important because they were one hit wonders. They had a unique sound that grabbed listeners (Falco, Men Without Hats) but that were unsustainable or created dance crazes (1910 Fruitgum Company, the Archies) and even genres (bubblegum pop), but they did not have the constant sustainable talent in songwriting, production, performance and also had luck in timing and radio play.

The greatest artists moved the medium because of a special talent in either the combination they made as a band (The Beatles, Rolling Stones  - note the different sounds with different guitarists), or the unique contributions in songwriting or interpretation they could perform as solo artists (although always those with excellent back up bands), such as Billy Joel, Cat Stevens or Elton John.

Some one hit (or two or three) wonders  might have made it if not for tragedy or business reasons (Badfinger, for example), but it was not to be, so they did not have the impact that these paragons of Rock had. some just made it into the Golden Three camp, like Stevie Ray Vaughn. In my age of music discovery, most of these groups reside in the 60's and 70's, but I'm sure the formula works for all decades.

Some artists might have more than three, of course. You can take a Bowie fan like myself and go all the way back to Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans and finish with Station to Station. An excellent live album was in there as well. Same with Jethro Tull, where there were at  least three phases of three excellent albums.

Here's some examples:


David Bowie:
Hunky Dory
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Aladdin Sane

Creedence Clearwater Revival:
Green River
Willie and the Poorboys
Cosmos Factory

The Beatles are tough because British releases and American releases were so convoluted. Here's a US sampling:
Meet the Beatles
The Beatles second album
A Hard days Night
or
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Who:
Sell Out
Tommy
Who's Next (followed by)
Quadrophenia (if you did not like all of Sell Out).
Note that two of those are double albums.

Elton John:
Honky Chateau
Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player
Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road (another double album)

The Rolling Stones (just to pick one three album run):
Let It Bleed
Exile on Main street
Sticky Fingers

Jethro Tull (just to pick one three album run):
War Child
Minstrel in the Gallery
Too Old to Rock and Roll

Cat Stevens:
Tea for the Tillerman
Teaser and the Firecat
Catch Bull at Four

Queen:
Sheer Heart Attack
A Night at the Opera
A Day at the Races

Peter, Paul and Mary:
Peter, Paul and Mary
Moving
In The wind

Simon and Garfunkel:
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (or Sounds of Silence, I think)
Bookends
Bridge Over Troubled Water

some more obscure, but deserving no less -
Mott the Hoople:
All the Young Dudes
Mott
The Hoople

throw post Mott Ian Hunter solo and with Mick Ronson together:
Ian Hunter
All American Alien Boy
Your Never Alone with a Schizophrenic
(Overnight Angels was not released in the US officially)

Fred Eaglesmith (Canadian singer-songwriter):
There Ain't No Easy Road
Things Is Changin'
(Paradise Motel - unofficial live)
Drive in Movie

And many other I am sure I could be reminded of....

Posted by: topmaker at 07:43 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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