Turning Seventy. Marking My Generation with Our Greatest Hits.
Twenty years ago, when I was turning fifty, I sent out an e-mail to friends and family that took on a life of its own. I asked them to submit their fifty greatest song hits choices from the last fifty years, and I made a three-disc CD set for all of them of the Last Fifty Years Greatest Hits. Okay, I got to choose who was in it in the end, and the process wasn’t democratic at all, but it was fun for everyone. And what happened next was my first viral experience. People talked about it at work and with their friends, and the next thing I knew, I was getting e-mails from strangers with their choices. More than 300 people weighed in. “Stairway To Heaven” was far and away the favorite for the greatest song, and while I felt disloyal to my love, Barry Manilow, I chose “A Whiter Shade of Pale” as the number one song from the half a century. (It was after all my birthday, my CDs, and my choice in the end.)
Well, friends and larger cyber family, seventy is eight short months away. Yep, short months. And it’s time again to regroup and come up with the seventy greatest hits. There will be seventy greatest hits chosen, and yes, you can participate. I will not be spending hundreds of dollars sending it out on a CD snail mail, but I will post it for the world to see.
Get your thinking caps on. Best Songs. Every choice must be from my generational timeline. (By the way, I still hate the Facebook Timeline). Any song sung since 1953 is fair game. Dock of the Bay. Oh yea. Whiter Shade of Pale? I’ve grown a lot in the last ten years. I swear I have. For example, I heard an interview with Jimmy Webb where he discussed MacArthur Park and Wichita Lineman, and I realize leaving him off the roster was a mistake. and, I heard in an interview with Paul McCartney that he thinks the greatest song of all time is God Only Knows, which God only knows shocked me, but there you have it. Thank God it was on the list. So, be sure and put the reasons why you think the song deserves the kudos. Another rule. One song per writer. While you may think the Beatles deserves to be in there six times, I do not. One song per writer.
You can list your ideas and choices here, in the comments section, or send to me in an email. And while I encourage the male perspective, please know that I will not be bullied into submission. Get it? Submission? Tee hee.
Deadline is December 1, 2022. Let the Seventy Years of Celebrating the Best Of Us begin.
Respect