THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (VOLUME 1): updating the blueprint

As always: An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns.

That's the familiar mantra of my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It's been a long road to get this far, and the book is no closer to a publishing plan than it's been in any previous part of its journey. But it is nearing completion, with only nine more entries remaining to be done. Having already finished initial work on my first book--another nonfiction music title with a tentative publication date in late 2022--I'm hoping to complete a draft of GREM! in the near future, maybe even in enough time for me to say I wrote two books in 2021. We'll see.

The book's Table of Contents has changed since its last update. It's a tiny bit shorter now, with the previous intent to spotlight 180 songs (175 entries plus five bonus tracks, labeled Overture, Entr'acte, Encore!, Encore!!, and Coda) slimmed to the current plan of 170 songs (165 plus the same five bonus tracks). Here's what the GREM! Table of Contents looks like today:

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (VOLUME 1) 

Table of Contents

FOREWORD

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

A Fistful Of 45s

OVERTURE THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

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. WILLIE MAE "BIG MAMA" THORNTON: Hound Dog

7. PATTI SMITH: Gloria

8. LITTLE RICHARD: The Girl Can't Help It

9. NEIL DIAMOND: Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show

10. CRAZY ELEPHANT: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' 

11. WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour
12. THE HOLLIES: I Can't Let Go

13. MELANIE WITH THE EDWIN HAWKINS SINGERS: Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)

14. THE ROMANTICS: What I Like About You

15. SAM COOKE: Chain Gang

16. PETULA CLARK: Downtown

17. ARTHUR ALEXANDER: Soldier Of Love

18. TRANSLATOR: Everywhere That I'm Not

19. LESLEY GORE: You Don't Own Me

20. THE SHANGRI-LAS: Leader Of The Pack
21. THE SHIRELLES: Will You Love Me Tomorrow

22. THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

23. AMY RIGBY: Dancing With Joey Ramone

24. PINK FLOYD: Wish You Were Here

25. GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia

26.THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR: I Fought The Law

27. MERLE HAGGARD: Mama Tried

28. THE TEMPTATIONS: Papa Was A Rollin' Stone

29. BUDDY HOLLY: Peggy Sue/Everyday

30. JOHNNY NASH: I Can See Clearly Now

31. SUZI QUATRO: I May Be Too Young

32. ALICE COOPER: School's Out

33. THE RARE BREED/THE OHIO EXPRESS: Beg, Borrow And Steal

34. OTIS REDDING: (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

35. ARETHA FRANKLIN: Respect

INTERLUDE The Monkees Play Their Own Instruments

36. THE MONKEES: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)

37. PRINCE: When You Were Mine

38. THE 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS: You're Gonna Miss Me

39. THE ROLLING STONES: Get Off Of My Cloud

40. PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS: Just Like Me

41. BOB DYLAN: Like A Rolling Stone

42. THE KINGSMEN: Louie, Louie

43. BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist

44. THE MARVELETTES: I'll Keep Holding On

45. THE WHO: I Can't Explain

46. TODD RUNDGREN: Couldn't I Just Tell You

47. SHOES: Tomorrow Night

48. THE FLASHCUBES: No Promise

49. TELEVISION: Elevation

50. DONNA SUMMER: I Feel Love

51. SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown

52. JUDAS PRIEST: Heading Out To The Highway

53. THE DIXIE CUPS: Iko Iko

54. FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS: Do The Freddie

55. THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis

56. MILLIE SMALL: My Boy Lollipop

57. THE EASYBEATS: Friday On My Mind

58. IKE AND TINA TURNER: River Deep Mountain High

59. THE RONETTES: Be My Baby

60. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Girls In Their Summer Clothes

61. KISS: Shout It Out Loud

62. THE LEFT BANKE: Walk Away, Renee

63. THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter

64. THE KNICKERBOCKERS: Lies

65. THE WONDERS: That Thing You Do!

66. THE GO-GO'S: We Got The Beat

INTERLUDE The Tottenham Sound Of...The Beatles?!

67. THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Any Way You Want It

68. JAMES BROWN: Please, Please, Please

69. GRAND FUNK: We're An American Band

70. THE VELVELETTES: He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'

71. THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby

72. THE ISLEY BROTHERS: Summer Breeze

73. THE RUBINOOS: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

*74. THE PANDORAS: It's About Time

75. BIG STAR: September Gurls

76. PAUL COLLINS/THE BREAKAWAYS: Walking Out On Love

77. LINDA RONSTADT: You're No Good

*78. P. P. ARNOLD: The First Cut Is The Deepest

*79. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS: All For Swinging You Around

80. THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET: Take Five

ENTR'ACTE THE BEATLES: Yesterday

81. THE BEATLES: Revolution

82. YOKO ONO: Kiss Kiss Kiss

83. THE MC5: Kick Out The Jams

*84. THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS: Time Has Come Today

85. MARVIN GAYE: I Heard It Through The Grapevine

86. THE MUFFS: Saying Goodbye

87. SAMMY AMBROSE: This Diamond Ring

88. THE MYNAH BIRDS: I Got You (In My Soul)

89. RICK JAMES: Super Freak

90. THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: Shake Some Action

*91. BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: Piece Of My Heart

92. THE DANDY WARHOLS: We Used To Be Friends

93. THE CARPENTERS: Only Yesterday

94. MATERIAL ISSUE: Kim The Waitress

*95. THE 5TH DIMENSION: Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In (The Flesh Failures)

96. THE JACKSON FIVE: I'll Be There

97. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: Everybody Is A Star

*98. THE BANGLES: Live

99. THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes

100. THE FLIRTATIONS: Nothing But A Heartache

101. THE SPINNERS: I'll Be Around

102. TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: American Girl
103. THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY: I Woke Up In Love This Morning

104. LED ZEPPELIN: Communication Breakdown

105. THE BANDWAGON: Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache

*106. DON HENLEY: The Boys Of Summer

107. THE CLASH: Train In Vain (Stand By Me)

108. BEN E. KING: Stand By Me

109. GENE PITNEY: Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa

110. RUFUS: Tell Me Something Good  

111. THE SPONGETONES: (My Girl) Maryanne

112. THE TRAMMPS: Disco Inferno

113. HAROLD MELVIN AND THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way

114. GRANDMASTER AND MELLE MEL: White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

115. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: I'll Be Your Mirror

116. DEL SHANNON: Runaway

117. THE EVERLY BROTHERS: Gone, Gone, Gone

118. THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: St. Valentine's Day Massacre

119. SAM AND DAVE: Soul Man

120. T. REX: 20th Century Boy

121. HEART: Kick It Out

122. THE RUNAWAYS: Cherry Bomb

123. AMERICA: Sister Golden Hair

124. THE KINKS: Waterloo Sunset

125. THE KINKS: You Really Got Me

126. HOLLY GOLIGHTLY: Time Will Tell

127. THE SMITHEREENS: Behind The Wall Of Sleep

*128. THE COWSILLS: She Said To Me

129. ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

130. THE FOUR TOPS: Reach Out I'll Be There

INTERLUDE Old Time Rock 'n' Roll

131. THE BOB SEGER SYSTEM: 2 + 2 = ?
132. THE JIVE FIVE: What Time Is It?

133. LULU: To Sir, With Love [Museum Outings Montage]
134. FREDA PAYNE: Band Of Gold

135. THE CONTOURS: Do You Love Me

*136. EARTH, WIND AND FIRE WITH THE EMOTIONS: Boogie Wonderland 

137. WHAM!: Freedom

138. THE SUPREMES: You Keep Me Hangin' On 

139. THE BEACH BOYS: God Only Knows

140. JOAN ARMATRADING: Me Myself I

141. THE SELECTER: On My Radio

142. TRACEY ULLMAN: They Don't Know

143. MANNIX: Highway Lines

144. THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway

145. FIRST AID KIT: America

146. THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS: O-o-h Child

147. SOLOMON BURKE: Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

148. THE JAM: That's Entertainment

149. THE COASTERS: Yakety Yak

150. CHEAP TRICK: Surrender

151. TEGAN AND SARA: Walking With A Ghost

152. DAVID BOWIE: Life On Mars?

153. THE O'JAYS: Put Your Hands Together

154. THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Uncle John's Band

155. EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS: Do Anything You Wanna Do

156. JOAN JETT: Bad Reputation

157. STEVIE WONDER: I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)

158. MARYKATE O'NEIL: I'm Ready For My Luck To Turn Around

159. EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year

160. THE JAYHAWKS: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me

An Infinite Number

INTERLUDE Underrating The Beatles

ENCORE! THE BEATLES: Rain

ENCORE!! THE T-BONES: No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)

Cruisin' Music

CODA THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop

AFTERWORD

IMPORTANT NOTE: These selections are not ranked in any way, and this is most definitely NOT intended as an inclusive list of the all-time best songs. There are an infinite number of worthy prospects; these are the one I choose to write about in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Voume 1).

The asterisks designate chapters still in need of a completed draft. Although a number of previously-announced songs have been removed from the book (and some others added), this does retain most of the songs played in This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's Greatest Record Ever Made! special this past August. And what I wrote for that show's playlist still applies to the book project itself:

"A few years back, I decided [this] would be a great premise for a series of essays. Yeah, The Greatest Record Ever Made! Some friends (including intrepid TIRnRR listener Dave Murray and invincible TIRnRR co-host Dana Bonn) urged me to start writing already, so the GREM! celebrations began on my blog with a spotlight on Badfinger's 'Baby Blue,' posted October 27th, 2016. Many more GREM! pieces would follow, part of an ongoing but finite glimpse at the infinite.

"Seemed like a good idea for a book, too. I've written for magazines for decades, I've written for other people's books, but I've never had a book with my name on the front cover. In late 2018, I started putting together The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) as a book. In 2019, I secured an agent, wrote a formal book proposal, and things seemed to snapping into place for my GREM! book.

"Until, y'know, they weren't snappin' anymore.

"I went over some of the circumstances of the book's (perhaps permanent) pause here...But I have not given up on my baby. I haven't given up on The Greatest Record Ever Made!...

"...Each song is great. Each song is the greatest, in its own infinite turn. There oughtta be a book about that. Maybe there will be."

Nine chapters to go. Ten if I decide to add Headgirl's "Please Don't Touch." About 142,000 words written in the completed chapters, with a goal of keeping the final total under 155,000 words. This book's gonna get done. 

Will it get published? I think it will. I hope so, anyway. That, my friends, would be the greatest.

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

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