Prepping The Book: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE

I'm slowly moving forward with a goal of turning my series The Greatest Record Ever Made into book form. I've organized the individual entries into a tentative sequence that I think works, and added placeholders for entries I may want to add but haven't written yet. Of the 33 entries published to date, I've so far decided to skip "Hey Jude," and change the joke entry about Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll" into a between-chapters interlude. 

The current word count is a little bit over 48,000. I don't want it to be too long, but I want it to be long enough. 45 entries seemed like an appropriate target, matching the revolutions per minute of a perfect pop single, though I'm going with 50 for now. I could decrease that number if it feels unwieldy. Definitely (for now) want at least 35 entries. A Top 40's nice, too. So yeah, this is all subject to change, and that's putting it mildly; it's useful as a guide for the moment. As I write the new ones, they will probably not be posted publicly (though I may share some of  them as private posts for my paid patrons), keeping them out of the public eye for the time being. Of the 31 GREM entries already published here, I've taken all but nine of them off the blog; I've also left the "Hey Jude" and "Old Time Rock & Roll" pieces up, leaving a total of eleven GREMs still here for public consumption. I've also taken down a couple of the interludes, and left a few more standing.

I'll start searching for a prospective publisher as the manuscript gets a little closer to a final state. Here's the current grid; with unfinished/unwritten entries marked mit und *.

FOREWORD
DISCLAIMERS AND DECLARATIONS (A User's Guide To The Greatest Record Ever Made)

1. BADFINGER: Baby Blue

2. CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land
3. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: I Only Want To Be With You
4. THE SEX PISTOLS: God Save The Queen
5. PATTI SMITH: Gloria
6. WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour
7. LESLEY GORE: You Don't Own Me 
8. THE SHIRELLES: Will You Love Me Tomorrow
9. MATERIAL ISSUE: Kim The Waitress
10. GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia
11. THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal
12. CRAZY ELEPHANT: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
13. ARETHA FRANKLIN: Respect 
INTERLUDE: A Girl I Knew Somewhere
14. THE MONKEES: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)
15. KISS: Shout It Out Loud
16. SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown
17. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Girls In Their Summer Clothes
18. THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Uncle John's Band
*19. TRANSLATOR: Everywhere That I'm Not
20. THE LEFT BANKE: Walk Away, Renee
21. BIG STAR: September Gurls
22. THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter
23. THE KNICKERBOCKERS: Lies
INTERLUDE: The Tottenham Sound Of...The Beatles?!
24. THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Any Way You Want It
25. JAMES BROWN: Please, Please, Please
26. GRAND FUNK: We're An American Band
INTERLUDE: Old Time Rock & Roll
27. THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?
*28. THE JIVE FIVE: What Time Is It?
29. THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby
30. THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Summer Breeze
INTERLUDE: The Baron And His Buddies
31. BARON DAEMON & THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
*32. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Everybody Is A Star
INTERLUDE: I Dream Of Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy (and occasionally Marky, Richie, CJ, and/or new recruits)
33. THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
*34. LED ZEPPELIN: Communication Breakdown
35. THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action
36. THE GO-GO'S: We Got The Beat
INTERLUDE: God Save The Kinks
37. THE KINKS: You Really Got Me
38. THE WHO: I Can't Explain
39. FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS: Do The Freddie
40. THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway
INTERLUDE: Meet The Flashcubes
*41. THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise
42. BUDDY HOLLY: Peggy Sue/Everyday
*43. MANNIX: Highway Lines
44. THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes
INTERLUDE: BRIAN WILSON, HERMAN'S HERMITS, AND THE PET SOUNDS OF THE SOUL
*45. THE BEACH BOYS: God Only Knows
*46. P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest 
47. THE SELECTER: On My Radio
48. EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year
49. THE JAYHAWKS: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
LAST CALL: An Infinite Number
INTERLUDE: Underrating The Beatles
50. THE BEATLES: Rain
CLOSING TIME! THE VENTURES: Walk--Don't Run
AFTERWORD     

That's the way it looks today. It's not intended to be a definitive list of candidates for the GREM title; as always, an infinite number of records can be THE Greatest Record Ever Made, as long as they take turns. Even if and when this book is done, there will still be turns waiting for Sam & Dave, The 13th Floor Elevators, Arthur Alexander, Cheap Trick, Solomon Burke, The Vogues, The Records, The Hollies, The Jam, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Lulu, The Rolling Stones, Shoes, and many others. An infinite number of others. One spin at a time, and one book at a time. I think you'll dig this. It might not wind up as The Greatest Book Ever Made, but it's MY greatest hit. And the hits just keep on coming.

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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.