THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1): Update

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns.

Time for a quick update on my work-in-progress book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). First things first: the book is NOT done yet, and it does NOT have a publisher yet. See, that was simple. Nonetheless, there has been significant progress behind the curtain. The book proposal is done, and I have a tentative agreement for representation; I will announce that agreement when it's official.

Meanwhile, I've been playing with the Table of Contents. I'll be playing with the Table of Contents right up until the damned thing finally does go to press, and even then I'll probably run right behind the Bookmobile shouting, "WAIT! I need to add Cotton Mather...!" Obsessive behavior in a pop music fan? Unprecedented.  For the moment, here's what's lightly penciled in:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD
DISCLAIMERS AND DECLARATIONS (A User's Guide To The Greatest Record Ever Made!)
OVERTURE: A Fistful Of 45s

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. ELVIS PRESLEY: Heartbreak Hotel
6. PATTI SMITH: Gloria
7. LITTLE RICHARD: The Girl Can't Help It
8. WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour
9. THE HOLLIES: I Can't Let Go
10. THE SHIRELLES: Will You Love Me Tomorrow
11. BUDDY HOLLY: Peggy Sue/Everyday
12. GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia
13. THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal
14. CRAZY ELEPHANT: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
15. THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS: You're Gonna Miss Me
16. STEVIE WONDER: I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
17. THE ROLLING STONES: Happy
18. PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS: Just Like Me
19. ARETHA FRANKLIN: Respect
INTERLUDE: The Monkees Seize The Day
20. THE MONKEES: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)
21. KISS: Shout It Out Loud
22. THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis
23. THE CASTAWAYS: Liar, Liar
24. THE EASYBEATS: Friday On My Mind
25. TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl
26. SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown
27. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Girls In Their Summer Clothes
28. TRANSLATOR: Everywhere That I'm Not
29. LESLEY GORE: You Don't Own Me
30. THE LEFT BANKE: Walk Away, Renee
31. MARVIN GAYE: I Heard It Through The Grapevine
32. NEIL DIAMOND: Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show
33. BOB DYLAN: Like A Rolling Stone
34. SHOES: Tomorrow Night
35. BIG STAR: September Gurls
36. PRINCE: When You Were Mine
37. THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter
38. THE KNICKERBOCKERS: Lies
INTERLUDE: The Tottenham Sound Of...The Beatles?!
39. THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Any Way You Want It
40. JAMES BROWN: Please, Please, Please
41. GRAND FUNK: We're An American Band
INTERLUDE: Old Time Rock & Roll
42. THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?
43. TODD RUNDGREN: Couldn't I Just Tell You
44. SAMMY AMBROSE: This Diamond Ring
45. THE BYRDS: I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
46. THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby
47. THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Summer Breeze
48. JOHNNY NASH: I Can See Clearly Now
49. RUFUS: Tell Me Something Good
50. THE BEATLES: Yesterday
51. THE FLIRTATIONS: Nothing But A Heartache
52. THE SPINNERS: I'll Be Around
53. ALICE COOPER: School's Out
54. BARON DAEMON & THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
55. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Everybody Is A Star
56. THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
INTERLUDE: I Dream Of Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy (and occasionally Marky, Richie, CJ, and/or new recruits)
57. THE RAMONES: I Don't Want To Grow Up
58. LED ZEPPELIN: Communication Breakdown
59. BEN E. KING: Stand By Me
60. OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
61. THE GO-GO'S: We Got The Beat
62. THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: St. Valentine's Day Massacre
63. GENE PITNEY: Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa
64. THE WHO: I Can't Explain
65. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: I'll Be Your Mirror
66. FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS: Do The Freddie
67. THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway
68. SAM & DAVE: Soul Man
69. THE SPONGETONES: (My Girl) Maryanne
70. THE TRAMMPS: Disco Inferno
71. HAROLD MELVIN AND THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way
72. THE JIVE FIVE: What Time Is It?
73. THE RUBINOOS: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
74. THE RASPBERRIES: I Wanna Be With You
75. THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise
76. THE BUZZCOCKS: Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)
77. THE JAM: In The City
78. THE KINKS: You Really Got Me
79. THE KINKS: Waterloo Sunset
80. THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There
81. THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me
82. PAUL COLLINS: Walking Out On Love
83 T. REX: 20th Century Boy
84. THE SMITHEREENS: Behind The Wall Of Sleep
85. THE SUPREMES: You Keep Me Hangin' On 
86. ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
87. THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes
88. THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action
89. MATERIAL ISSUE: Kim The Waitress
90. FREDA PAYNE: Band Of Gold
91. THE EVERLY BROTHERS: Gone, Gone, Gone
92. P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest
93. THE BEACH BOYS: God Only Knows
94. LULU: To Sir, With Love
95. MANNIX: Highway Lines
96. THE SELECTER: On My Radio
97. SOLOMON BURKE: Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
98. THE ANIMALS: It's My Life
99. CHEAP TRICK Surrender
100. DAVID BOWIE: Life On Mars?
101. THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Uncle John's Band
102. THE O'JAYS: Put Your Hands Together
103. EDDIE & THE HOT RODS: Do Anything You Wanna Do
104. EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year
105. THE JAYHAWKS: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
LAST CALL: An Infinite Number
INTERLUDE: Underrating The Beatles
106. THE BEATLES: Rain
CLOSING TIME! THE T-BONES: No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
CODA: Cruisin' Music
AFTERWORD     

The sharp-eyed among you will note that the book has apparently expanded to 106 songs rather than a mere 100. Yeah, we'll see. I expanded it to 112 yesterday when a spin of Holly Golightly's "Time Will Tell" convinced me it needed to be in the book, needed, I say! As great as that track is, its addition didn't survive the cut. I still think 106 songs is too many, so I'll probably try to shrink it back to a Hot 100.

Looking way ahead, I've come up with a cool idea to promote the book here in Syracuse, whenever the project finally sees the light of day. But the work continues. I just added six more chapters to my work load. This beat goes on.



THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1)

Our path is finite. Its soundtrack is not.

As pop music fans, we may have one all-time favorite song that stands out for us as the greatest record ever made. But in another moment, we may shift our allegiance to a different song, and then to another. We’re not fickle. We’re enthusiastic, and we’re sincere. We love our music. We lose ourselves in the music we love.

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Acclaimed pop journalist Carl Cafarelli (Goldmine, This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio) brings his own passion and enthusiasm to The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), a collection of 100 essays about 100 great songs, celebrating both the immortality and the in-the-moment immediacy of the rockin' pop music we cherish. The subjects include Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers like The Beatles, Chuck Berry, The Sex Pistols, Aretha Franklin, The Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Prince, and many more.

But The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) encompasses more than just those enshrined in a Hall of Fame. It includes hit acts like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes,  Sammy Ambrose’s forgotten original of “This Diamond Ring,” cult acts like The 13th Floor Elevators and Big Star, teen idols like The Bay City Rollers, and relative unknowns like Baron Daemon and the Vampires: rock, soul, R & B, pop, punk, bubblegum, ska, power pop, girl groups, and disco. This is not a definitive list of the 100 best songs ever recorded. Rather, it's a 100-record block party of great tracks, each one the greatest in its own infinite turn. It's a celebration, exhaustively and enthusiastically crafted by a pop journalist who loves each of these records without reservation.

Why did The Monkees go from the top of the pops in 1967 to seeming has-been status in 1968? How did James Brown respond to the British Invasion? What minefields of racism, sexism, homophobia, ambition, frustration, depression, or loss were navigated by Little Richard, Dusty Springfield, The Go-Go's, Elvis, Sly and the Family Stone, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, and Material Issue's Jim Ellison? Were The Ramones as much a bubblegum band as they were a punk band? When does a group succeed or fail in its quixotic quest to be the next Beatles? 

Our favorite records don't live in isolation. Each one has a story. The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) mixes history lessons, artist appreciation, and the ways in which the records we love can deeply affect our personal lives. Part personal memoir and part rockin’ pop record hop, The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is the book for anyone who’s ever yelled “Turn It Up!”

Or, better yet: “Play that again!” Your infinite turn awaits. Welcome to the world of The Greatest Record Ever Made!



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