Random thoughts on some of the known-to-me songs from #5:
Todd as a solo artist probably doesn't become a thing if not for We Gotta Get You a Woman. When he left Nazz, his goal was to be a producer, and he achieved that quickly after getting in with the people who ran Ampex/Bearsville. The Runt album was a thing he did in between production and engineering gigs, with no expectation of it catching on. But when We Gotta Get You a Woman became a hit, all of the sudden that created a demand for him as a performer, and from then on he did both production and performing. (In fact, he said he felt free to experiment as much as he wanted to with his own material, because there was no risk to him if it flopped commercially, as he was making a lot of money from producing.) Regardless of how you interpret its message (I never thought it was about hookers until OH's comments), it's a great pop tune and set the stage for his achievements in songcraft.
I am with OH on The Joke -- I love the vocal but not the arrangement.
Don't Stand So Close to Me is definitely not the kind of subject matter you'd expect from a massive hit, but the melody is great.
I included The Musical Box in my 1971 countdown. What I said there:
72. The Musical Box -- Genesis (from Nursery Cryme)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4going_cOo
Nursery Cryme was the first Genesis album to feature Phil Collins and Steve Hackett, and they both make their presence felt on its opening and best track. The dynamics shift all over the place on this one, treating us to sections of pensive folk, raging rock and many things in between. This was also the song that inspired Peter Gabriel to start wearing costumes onstage -- he would change into them during the instrumental breaks.
Which prompted this response from Wikkid, where we learned it was his favorite song from 1971:
my #1. not then, but NOW..NOW..NOW.NOW..NOW!!!!!.
when my baby sister visits, she & me 96yo Da request that i not sing along to the "NOW" song during prime viewing hours, cuz i apparently cant hold back. masterpiece - top 5 thing i've seen live (was at their first American concert, Brandeis College, early '72?)
Lola was my first pick in the "Rolling Stone Garbage List" draft. I took it because I love it, but also because it was in a grouping that I thought was weak. Strategery!
1.04 Lola -- The Kinks (#386, bloc 376-400)
My "strategy" is that I went through each bloc and identified songs that I would have no hesitation about drafting. Then I counted up how many "no hesitation" songs are in each bloc. I will target the blocs with the fewest "no hesitation" songs first.
Bloc 376-400 was the weakest for me, with just 10 out of 25 songs in the "no hesitation" category. And there aren't many of those 10 that I feel really strongly about, so going with one that I did made sense.
Lola is one of Ray Davies' best songs and its subject matter, about a guy who unwittingly picks up a transvestite, was revolutionary for 1970. Eephus will approve because it's from one of their non-Arista records.
La Villa Strangiato is probably in my top 5 Rush. It's one of the greatest prog instrumentals. It's got beastly performances from all three members and, in a development positive for some (many?), no vocals.
Don't Take Me Alive is one of my favorite Steely Dan songs. Its music is some of the most straightforward and hardest-rocking they ever did, but its lyrics are completely bonkers.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered is joyous. And yes, very Stax-like by Motown standards.
You Enjoy Myself is one of Phish's greatest concert jam vehicles, and as with Tweezer, the studio version doesn't really do it justice (but at least never gets boring, unlike the studio Tweezer at times). Trey Anastasio studied under a jazz composer named Ernie Stires, and YEM is one of many of his early compositions that reflect that.
The version that they played at my first show in 1993 was insane.
Heaven Beside You is anguished in the best way.
I don't care what Vanilla Ice did to it, the bass line of Under Pressure is an all-timer.
Times Like These came out during the peak of my Lost Years and still makes me emotional.
LI-LA-LI! SMACK (from Hal Blaine)!
Spirit in the Night was an early showcase of why Springsteen was a unique talent, but also of why he could be annoying.
Crazy on You has a great riff and an undeniable vocal. I remember CBS using it as bumper music a lot during the Madden-Summerall NFL telecasts in the '80s.
Amoreena just hooks you in slowly.
And Phish covered it once!
I know I've heard All St. Day, Dreaming of 4000 and Miss Misery before but I don't remember what they sound like.