The three hundred and fourty-fifth song: Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone - The Temptations
There are two parts to this song. Thanks to its lengthy musical introduction (two minutes in the single version we listened to, four in the full 12 minute version), the electronic soul music dominates, creating a tension in its music that has its source in the Theme from Shaft from a while ago. Then there are the vocals, subdued for a soul group, more grim than you normally get. It's angry, with a lot of accusations in its tone, something that appears to have been a consequence of the studio atmosphere. There's an edge to this that moves it beyond normal soul, adding an energy that benefits the song immensely.
The three hundred and fourty-sixth song: I’ll Take You There - The Staple Singers
In contrast, this feels like more jubilant soul, but in a way that feels more put together, It get repetitive quickly enough, but there's a rhythm in the early song that catches your attention. It's optimistic about the future, but man... it just keeps coming back to the same thing, and that really starts to grate after a while.
The three hundred and fourty-seventh song: Soul Makossa - Manu Dibangu
This song is described as one of the first disco songs. There is a core of funk in here, the soul roots are obvious, but the echo, the additional use of cymbals and electronic instruments and the saxophone breaks. It's danceable, it's not celebrating, but it's here to be music. Manu Dibangu has rumba influences, some jazz, and it breaks through the repetitiveness that funk falls into, playing with the existing bits, changing them and expanding on them. It's a welcome development that I'm actually looking forward to seeing develop further - not something I'd have expected to say about disco!
The three hundred and fourty-eighth song: Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder must surely be one of the people who got funk out of its... funk. The repetitive nature of it again doesn't return here, maybe because he got Jeff Beck to record the guitar and mixing rock influences in to create a song that stands out and feels elevated. It's someone who, although appearing on the list for the first tiem, ends up at the top of his game and creates a song that's timeless in its own way. A clear sign for the road ahead.
The three hundred and fourty-ninth song: Elected - Alice Cooper
We're moving a step on in rock - even more hard rock, stepping away from psychodelia, and embracing an anarchic attitude that pushes away from the established norms and existing society. Making a big claim about his intentions, there's something cheeky and contrary about him wanting to become president. He's not getting there, he knows he doesn't want to, but it's still a challenge to authority that it feels a lot of people fall behind - or at least that's how the song wants you to think.
The three hundred and fiftieth song: Sam Stone - John Prine
Deep thinking folk is a thing, with (it seems) the new Bob Dylan being announced every few months. I'm not sure whether John Prine is there, but there's a heartfelt anger in the story of Sam Stone, a veteran abandoned after he returned home. It's an ongoing story, but this really drives it home. The metaphors are barely that, just as often being harsh and angry. "There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes" is bleak and clear. It doesn't need to say more than that - but the song continues to emphasize that point.
The three hundred and fifty-first song: Willin’ - Little Feat
In a way a throwback, this rock song draws more on country, a ballad that feels like a truckers' song, something they would play along the way as they move. It's slow, it's not too complex, but it works as a song to drive down the road to.
The three hundred and fifty-second song: It’s a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl - Faust
While elsewhere, rock leaves behind the weirdness of psychedelic rock, it looks like German rock doubled down on it, something that's on full display here. The rhythm of this song is meticulous, hammering and repetitive, interrupted by repetitive lyrics and slight variations until a wind blows in partway through. It feels obvious to draw a line from here to the likes of Kraftwerk, an electronic sound that doesn't sound traditional. There's organization, but it gets disrupted and chaos comes in. Still at well picked places, but it's weird how, in a way, it's neither organized nor disorganized, floating at a weird point in between.
The three hundred and fifty-third song: Sail Away - Randy Newman
This set of songs is filled with surprises and this, a pitch to slaves from American slave traders, becomes a lot darker when you get its meeting. It's messed up when you realise and pay attention, with some cutting lyrics, and while it may not seem to have much immediate relevance, its message still is biting and pointed and an interesting comment on modern propaganda. Worth the shock of a gentle song like this being taken over by this message.