Well, I have favorite songwriters that I listen to a lot but you’ll never hear them played on the wasteland that is radio.
Mary Gauthier
Robbie Fulks
Walter Salas Humara
Victoria Williams
Bill Mallonee
Howe Gelb
To name a few.
Among my favourites is the Genesis era is from 1972 to 1974, when they made Foxtrot, Selling England By the Pound, and Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Wind and Wuthering, And Then There Were Three, and Genesis (1983) were also decent albums, but the aforementioned ones were the much superior to anything else they made.
Almost anything by The Tubes.
L
“Louie Louie”
A lot of stuff by Rush, especially Tom Sawyer.
Jethro Tull, Living In The Past or Skating Away.
L
Robbie Fulks is the best songwriter around IMO
Back in the driveway
The end of the workday
How fast that world disappears
A fresh lawn, a pine tree
A neighbor just like me
Who’s worked all his life to get here
A man climbs as high as he can
But his heart belongs where it began
I can see in my mind’s eye
A shack on a hllside
A mean billy-goat on a chain
And Dad doing battle
With dirt hard as gravel
And summers the crops never came
We’d shoot down a pheasant in flight
And sing songs about Jesus all night
That’s where I’m from
Where time passes slower
That’s where I’m from
Where it’s yes ma’am and no sir
You can’t tell I’m country
Just you look closer
It’s deep in my blood
Two cars, a picket fence
That’s where I’ve come
Dirt roads and double-wides
That’s where I’m from
Night school on a fast track
And no cause to look back
That place put a scar on my soul
And I swore my young ones
Would never know hunger
The good life is all they can know
Well, I’ve watched them grow, now I see
One thing separates them from me
Far out, man...
Jon and Vangelis “Friends of Mr. Cairo” was one of my FM favourites back in 1981. Very good album as well.
Czeslaw Niemen - Enigmatic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew0cF2t_bD8
One of the greatest albums ever made, in any language
Lou Reed’s album “Berlin”.
Plus several works from his wife now widow; Lori Anderson.
With a little Canadian content here, SAGA also has some very decent tunes like “Scratching the Surface”, “Wind Him Up”, “On The Loose”, and others.
“Supper’s Ready” by Genesis.
Will I get Zotted if I suggest
‘The MacArthur Park’ Suite?
Written by Jimmy Webb.
Both versions were good in their own way, one by Richard Harris, the other by Donna Summer.
Eight Miles High by Leo Kottke.
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Album) by Traffic.
The Lunatic is On The Grass, Pink Floyd
Locomotive Breath - Tull. ;-)
-——intellectual rock-—
oxymoron
XTC is my favorite band, the whole album “Nonsuch” is fantastic, I remember I was a bit disappointed in it when it first came out, but it had IMHO some of Andy’s best writing, and has now become my favorite XTC album.
Ah, ELP. So much talent, such incredible showmanship, yet they produced only 4 or 5 albums worthy of their skills. Still my favorite band, though.
All three members were in bands before ELP: “E” in The Nice, “L” in King Crimson, and “P” in Atomic Rooster & The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Those bands deserve mention in this post, too.