Those of you who know me know I’m a musician and a huge music fan, as is my wife. As a big fan, I have often been asked to name my favourite piece of music of all time. As a big fan, this is probably one of the hardest questions I’ve ever been asked. I’ve never been able to supply an adequate answer because there is so much good music in the world, narrowing it down to a single album has proved to be impossible. I’ve stood in front of our substantial collection many times but could never give a definitive answer. But recently, I bit the bullet and named the album.
The reason I committed to a single choice is due to a television show here in Australia called Spicks and Specks. The show is named after a big hit by the Bee Gees and is a music trivia game show featuring two teams. The show is an absolute must see for Toni and me as not only is it funny and fun but we enjoy testing ourselves. Sometimes we do really well and other times we fail miserably. But we always have a good time watching the show.
Anyway, recently the host, the brilliant Adam Hills (a very popular comedian here in Australia) has been mentioning a survey the network has been running about trying to find the most popular albums of all time. The results are to be aired in a show at the end of this year. I decided I wanted to contribute which meant I had to decide on a single album, dammit.
I thought about it. I thought about it for weeks. I stood in front of our not too inconsiderable collection and thought about it. I narrowed it down to a manageable list then I narrowed it down to a handful of albums. Some of the albums to feature on this list are classic rock albums in any self-respecting music aficionado’s list. Albums by greats like Bowie, Marley, Hendrix and The Beatles feature on this list as well as albums by Beck, Sublime, Jeff Buckley, The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Gomez, Gorillaz and Pavement. My criterion for deciding which made it to the list was pretty simple: if I lost my collection, which albums would I replace first.
The winner was ‘London Calling’ by The Clash. I didn’t want to be obvious but this is such a classic, diverse and still-relevant album. Of all the bands spawned by the punk movement, The Clash stuck out because not only could they play their instruments, they wrote passionate lyrics and believed their music could change the world. I don’t know if it did but I’m sure the world would be a poorer place without their wonderful songs.
There you have it, JU, my choice. Shoot me down or pat my back, either way I’ve finally made a choice and I’m feeling really happy about it. Now JU, I’m going to ask the same of you. What is your favourite album of all time?