Rolling Stone’s List of the Top 100 Greatest Singers

For those of you who haven’t read it, but Rolling Stone recent ran an article on the Top 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.  It was voted on by a wide variety of folks from within the music industry.  Each voter was asked to list their top 20 favorite singers and ultimate put through a measurement methodology by the Ernst & Young accounting firm.  In the end here’s the top 10 singers:

1. Aretha Franklin
2. Ray Charles
3. Elvis Presley
4. Sam Cooke
5. John Lennon
6. Marvin Gaye
7. Bob Dylan
8. Otis Redding
9. Stevie Wonder
10. James Brown

So, obviously the list goes on a lot further, like 90 more people.  The only top 10 surprise that I had was Bob Dylan. 

Now, let me start by saying that Bob Dylan is one of the most brillant song writers alive, and has done a great deal to capture the voice of countless numbers.  With that being said, he is not one of the top 10 greatest singers of all time.  I probably wouldn’t even ballpark him in the top 50.   If we’re talking song writers, hey top 10 every time, but really, singer…

There were a couple of other surprises on the list as well.  Freddie Mercury (18), David Bowie (23), and Prince (30) were all above Whitney Houston (34).  Don’t get me wrong, all of those previous three are fantastic singers.  The range and expression of Whitney Houston, crazy or not, is amazing.  Heck, even Bob Marley (19) was higher.

There does seem to be some justice in the fact that Kurt Cobain (45) and Lou Reed (62) are higher on the list than Axl Rose (64), but all three are higher than the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis (67).  I do suppose to it all comes down to personal preference and the impact, either real or perceived, these singers have made on music.

Personally, I really struggle on what the top 10 should be.  So, if you have your own ideas of who they should be leave it in the comments.

The Sleep Study (or how I learn how not to sleep…)

So, the other night I had a sleep study done.  The thing that struck me as ironic was the name.  By no means are you meant to sleep during it.  After you’ve read up on the earlier link, let me start you at the beginning to make sense of it.

I got to start and continue the day with no caffeine, which was hard to do.  I mean, not sleeping is why I got this study done to start with, and time me not to drink caffeine is like telling me to go to sleep.  Caffeine has probably been the one thing that has continued to fuel me.  I mean the reason I’m having this test to start with is the fact that I can’t sleep, or at least not when I need to.  Hey, you put me in an afternoon meeting, I could be down in two seconds flat.

I arrived at the center at 8:30 p.m. and having the security guard wish me a good nights sleep.  Upon reflection, I think that it was his own little joke from watching streams of people coming in and leave with little or no sleep.  Once I get in, I’m shown my room, which looks like a hotel room.  So, that was awesome.  I’m not complaining because at least it has a mint and a bottle of water in the room.  I mean, hey, if you have to go through it at least there is a little perk.

I get in and through the bevy of paperwork.  The tech helping me to get set up was laid back, which I appreciate.  Trust, when I get nervous, I start asking questions and laid back works well for me.  So, after 45 minutes, I’m taken back into the room and transformed in to a crappy version of Robocop.  I started to complain after two belts were put around my midsection, but after it was all done, those were the least of my troubles.

I can’t even start to tell you how much junk was taped to my face.  It was like a fell asleep in a fraternity house and was the butt of a joke.  I had something taped near my eyes, two things shoved into each nostril, and had five electrodes all over my body.  None of this takes into account all of the cords and other lines.

Needless to say it sucked, and only got worse.  Personally, I like to sleep on my stomach, which by the way is the one way you can’t sleep.  So, I could lay on my back or side, but not too far on my side.  So, when I got into bed, the tech started talking to me over a mic, and ran me through the ringer of checking the settings.  “Can you close your eyes?”  “Can you point your toes down?”  “Ccan you look to the left and right side?”  “Oops, I didn’t say Simon says….”

After all of that, I could go to sleep.  Which was a challenge, because it’s hard to roll over when you’re hardwired into the Matrix.  Still, I magically fell asleep.  I only remember once the tech coming in to do something, but I’m not gonna lie, I was out of it.

About 4:30 a.m., the mic kicks back on, and I hear “We’re done.”  So, I get my self together, get unplugged, and dragged home.  I can proudly say that I even went to work the next day.  However, I’m not saying I got a lot of work done.

I’ll write in another post of what the outcome of the test was, but it lead to another interesting story.