The four hundred and fifty-fifth song: Black Betty - Ram Jam
Probably one of the oddest covers on the list, Black Betty has a white rock band covering a work song - mostly keeping the lyrics, of course, but it's nonetheless interesting. The high speed drive of the song is quite a stand out in how it becomes form over function, a driving rock song over the contets of the lyrics, working to create its own classic.
The four hundred and fifty-sixth song: Born for a Purpose - Dr. Alimantado & The Rebels
There's an odd juxtaposition to this song. I can't say I've credited reggae songs with much meaning or value, but here the sound I started to find obnoxious fade to the background and the lyrics take more of a front stage, which feel like they have more meaning than in previous songs, giving the song more power. It clearly feels like it's intended to be more palatable for a larger audience, who would want to take the message on board, and despite my concerns at the start, this worked out really well.
The four hundred and fifty-seventh song: Zombie - Fela Kuti & Africa 70
I always dread it when a twelve minute song comes it. When it does, I hope for something that has a good reason to be that length and knows how to hold your attention. This being a song that draws on jazz that, of course, isn't guaranteed, and it takes over five minutes for any lyrics to come in, instead starting with a long introduction that manages to fade into the background quite effectively. After the lyrics come in, the song takes on more energy and the driving refrain of "zombie" works well to support the rest of the music. The drawn back instruments make sense as Fela Kuti's lyrics drive through. I only pick up words here and there, but there's something frantic about his delivery, shouting "fallout" and putting on a performance that, if you were involved in the conflict that was happening at the time, would have inspired me.
The four hundred and fifty-eighth song: Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush
Having been reading a lot of gothic novels recently, it feels appropriate that this song comes up during it. Based on a gothic novel itself, Wuthering Heights has its own sense of mystery and the supernatural in it. Kate Bush's ethereal, slightly distant vocals have a lot of power, but also feels ghostlike enough that it's not quite clear what going on and the music supports that as much - it's not quite as timeless as the lyrics, but still helps create that same sense of mystery that the vocals bring in. There's not been something quite like it, and it feels up there with the most experimental artists as almost creating its own new corner of music.
The four hundred and fifty-ninth song: Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna
Here's a new version - reggae with two female vocalists. It creates a slightly different sound the song that feels a bit out of place. Many of the same elements are still there, but it feels like the song is recorded more for fun rather than to tell a story, creating a friendlier vibe. It still feels like it doesn't give me that much more, but at least it feels like a twist on the genre.
The four hundred and sixtieth song: I Feel Love - Donna Summer
Reading up to prep for these songs, I saw that this is where electronic music really starts. Aside from Donna Summer's vocals (and a kick drum) everything is electronic and it just stands out how different this song sounds from everything before it. Sure, Kraftwerk has some of these elements, but here it is obvious and in your face and the sound is different from beginning to end. Donna Summer's vocals work great for the song and fit in smoothly, but they don't stand out as much as the ongoing electronic beat and sounds that you hear throughout, sounds that must have sounded alien at the time. There is so much musically that I can trace back to this idea and again, we see new options in music open up.
The four hundred and sixty-first song: Peg - Steely Dan
And after some genre-breaking works, Peg is a pretty standard soft rock song. There's nothing wrong with that - it works well here anyway - but in a revolutionary year this moves along as it should, a jazzy song that sounds good, has a good beat and gives a bit of a chance to sing along. It's a competent respite and probably does more to solidify the solid rock genre than it does anything more remarkable. Sometimes that's what you need, anyway, and it's a good prep before starting another long one.
The four hundred and sixty-second song: Marquee Moon - Television
Although Television is considered a punk band, Marquee Moon leans more towards the glam rock and art rock end of the scale, a decent but straight forward rock riff combined with lyrics with their own symbolism, but vocals that don't go too complicated. There are no screeching guitars, no loudness for the sake of being loud and subdued drums. There are times in the song where it shines through, but there's a restraint that you don't really here in other punk songs. Instead, it's a well constructed song, building to its moments well and capable of enough variation in its music to keep you interested, but that wears off about seven minutes in - there's just one solo too many in there, which feels like it goes against the way the rest of the song is set up.
The four hundred and sixty-third song: Like a Hurricane - Neil Young
I feel like I've heard most from Neil Young from his collaborations, which led me to be more disappointed by this solo song than I expected. I was hoping for something a bit more lyrics-driven than this is, with the vocals not convincing me while they feel combined here with a fairly standard rock track. It's not necessarily bad, but it doesn't feel as big or fresh as it could be, which is mostly what's disappointing about it. It's a bit uninspiring, in a year where there are so many more standouts.
The four hundred and sixty-fourth song: The Passenger - Iggy Pop
There's this weird side-genre to songs of travel songs. It has a driving beat, like a train racing along or trees passing your car as you race down the motorway. The Passenger is one of these, a rock song with an on going beat and chorus and Iggy Pop's low voice singing about his travels along some road or tracks. David Bowie's backing vocals are one of the things that break up the monotony of the trip. It's well executed as it all fits together, but also creating something that's a bit of an anthem and that feels layered enough to not belabour the metaphor - there is enough variation for that and all of the song works here.