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Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time

Emh said:
I'm thrilled that Paul Simon is in the top ten.

I'm also surprised Roger Waters didn't make the list (and Taylor Swift DID?!). I'm less surprised David Gilmour wasn't listed either but he definitely should've been included.

TayLaLaLa said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift

Yep Taylor doesn't deserve to be on there. :lol:
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If we're going to drag in arbitrary means of gauging the quality of songwriting, then I have to point out how Dark Side of the Moon was on Billboards album chart for 741 consecutive weeks.
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Get a grip. She is #97. She has been on the rise for years now, listing her accolades isn't arbitrary.

Many singer-songwriters reach the point where they have too many great tunes to fit into a live show. Taylor Swift reached that peak before she turned 21. And then she just kept going. She might be the youngest artist on this list — as you may have heard, she was born in 1989, the year Green Day released their first record. But she's already written two or three careers' worth of keepers.
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TayLaLaLa said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift

Yep Taylor doesn't deserve to be on there. :lol:
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I'm not saying she doesn't "deserve" to be on the list, just that there are others who deserve to be there more. As I wrote in my original post, these lists are usually about two things; quality, and longevity. While the quality of her songs is clearly in the ear of the listener, longevity, at least compared to nearly all of the other artists on the list, is not subjective.

Despite her plethora of awards and accolades, 10, 20 years from now we may all be saying "Taylor who?". On the other hand, she may prove to have great staying power, but we don't know that yet. She hasn't been around long enough.

She may yet belong on the list of 100 best songwriters of the rock era, but not on a list compiled in 2015.
 
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Also they didn't include songwriters who weren't performers. The people who write all the songs that the big pop and country songs perform. Just like some of the greatest guitarists of all time are the session musicians who played on all the big hits. The band on The Voice is better than most of the singers.

A lot of the successful bands before 1965 weren't songwriters and the ones that were pretty much made it on.

Also, forgive me if my memory lapses, but wasn't Kurt Cobain the only grunge representative? No Billy Corgan? And then what about Morrissey?

You don't think Taylor Swift is a token inclusion? I think they were just having trouble thinking of a current pop star who ever wrote any of their own songs.
 
JirinPanthosa said:
Also they didn't include songwriters who weren't performers. The people who write all the songs that the big pop and country songs perform.
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Are we talking about the same list? The one with Whitfield & Strong, Gamble & Huff, Max Martin, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Dan Penn, Bert Berns, Pomus & Shulman, Leiber & Stoller, Mann & Weill, Greenwich & Barry, Bacharach & David etc.?

And then what about Morrissey?
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#67.
 
Eh, I don't get the dislike for Swift at all but including her on this sort of list does seem rather premature at this stage of her career. Then again it's just a list compiled for a largely irrelevant magazine, not some infallible / definitive list of greatness or...anything at all, really.

Having said that, I'm pretty stoked that Stevie Nicks made it, particularly given the disdain with which the aforementioned irrelevant magazine has regarded her for much of her career. And even Buckingham's monstrous ego must have taken a bit of a hit, which is even better.

The list is an interesting and rather amusing read, if nothing else.
 
No Peter Gabriel? :(

No Diane Warren, the queen of 80's power ballads? :mad:

No Desmond Child, the king of 80's music in general? :brickwall:
(I mean, come on, if you don't spontaneously develop a mullet and pump your fist in the air every time you hear "You Give Love A Bad Name", you are NOT human.)


Any list that does not include any of these people, but DOES include EMINEM :guffaw: ... forget it.
 
Eminem has sold somewhere around 170 million albums and has been one of the most influential figures in hip hop for the past fifteen years.
 
Timby said:
Eminem has sold somewhere around 170 million albums and has been one of the most influential figures in hip hop for the past fifteen years.
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Exactly.

I'm not a fan, but there's no questioning his talent or his impact.
 
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