Filling Up the Jukebox

Good List, Dan, and Good Idea on how to revive S2L2A&A with a theme variation.  I will follow suit with my own favorite turn to artist, another not as great as the Beatles or the Floyd, perhaps, but one whom I can truly listen to agin and agin.  As my kids will tell you.

But first, on Zep.  Check out last month's Mojo Magazine, where a top 50 Led Zep list is presented.  Some of their favorites not on your list: Since I've Been Loving You (#6), Achilles Last Stand (#8), Ramble On (#9), Good Times Bad Times (#14), Heartbreaker (#18) and In my Time of Dying (#19).  And their #20, which I might have raised to top 5: Friends.

My turn to artist is Tom Waits, of course.  I first discovered Tom through a literary reference in an Omni Magazine short story in 1977: God Is An Iron, by Spider Robinson.  That was all I knew of Waits for years, but it was enough to add a note of familiarity when I read favorable reviews of Swordfishtrombone in 1983.  I went out and bought this, loved it, and, prompted again by Robinson's specific quotes, sought out Blue Valentines.  I saw Tom in concert in 1984, and since then I've bought every one of his albums.

The songs to listen to again and again:

$29.00 (Thanks Spider)
Frank's Wild Years (best short story song ever)
Picture in a Frame (from my first list)
Step Right Up (best early Waits)
Johnsburg, Illinois (my favorite croon until Picture came along)
Hold On (Springsteenesque)
House Where Nobody Lived (my 2011 resonant song)
Chocolate Jesus (irreverent, but not really)
Somewhere (I sung this drunk on the streets of Galena one night)
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (Tom roleplaying a female hooker will bring a tear to your eye)
Clap Hands (the Rain Dogs kicker)
Get Behind the Mule (the rift line is infectious)
Hell Broke Luce (with a boost from Keith Richards)
Ol' 55 (covered by the Eagles, but Tom's voice makes it cool)
16 Shells from a Thirty Odd Six (from Swordfish, not to be confused with...)
Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun (from Blue Valentine, the best sweet-blue album out there)
Gin Soaked Boy (again from Swordfish, not to be confused with...)
Jockey Full of Bourbon (from Raindogs, to complete one of the best 1-2 albums you'll ever find)
Swordfishtrombone (just the word, to get you started)
In the Neighborhood (one more from Swordfish, now go out and discover him!)