> All right, I made an effort at compiling the opposite, more indulgent
> sort of list: my own 100 "personal faves" among British artists. Much
> easier to do, because it doesn't require having any perspective on the
> surrounding culture.
>
> I don't know what's funniest. Either...
>
> a) Raja protesting me having no "balls" to give a personal opinion, when
> in fact the preceding list *was* a personal opinion (a personal opinion
> on the overall stature of British artists). Especially given that his
> own typical post has no "balls" whatsoever, and is simply a pasting of
> some outside list which someone else worked on (either that, or a mere
> counting-on-his-fingers tally *based* on some outside list).
>
> or...
>
> b) That after pressing me for a personal opinion, Raja will now go
> through this list and take shallow shots at acts because "no one else
> knows them," "they aren't as overall-important as these other bands,"
> etc. Suddenly, he will reverse his focus and emphasize the Big Picture
> again.
>
> or...
>
> c) That I recurrently get criticized both for being too absorbed in my
> own insular self-righteousness *and* for paying too much attention to
> what others think.
>
> In any case, below is what I came up with. I would need to take several
> passes through the list to feel confident about the order, and I just
> don't have the time or patience. Especially since I know the list will
> draw no more serious contemplation than the previous one did. Anyway,
> there are fundamental problems with comparing the catalogs of different
> artists. Who do I like more, George Harrison with his one fantastic
> album amidst a huge pile of tripe, or some other act which has a stack
> of consistently good albums -- but none of them are as great as All
> Things Must Pass? Issues like that. And I wearily included Queen based
> on individual, cherrypicked songs, even though they don't have one full
> album which I can comfortably sit through. Blah.
>
> I must attach a bit of a disclaimer: The jury is still somewhat out on
> the Jam and Damned for me. I need to hear a few more albums by these
> groups to be fully sure how much I enjoy them.
>
> I dropped a few honorable-mention acts at the end, so if someone is
> compelled to indignantly declare any of these artists "ineligible," they
> can just append one of the extra names.
>
> 1. The Beatles
> 2. The Who
> 3. Elvis Costello
> 4. The Rolling Stones
> 5. David Bowie
> 6. Led Zeppelin
> 7. The Kinks
> 8. Genesis
> 9. Pink Floyd
> 10.   Peter Gabriel
> 11.   Roxy Music
> 12.   Brian Eno
> 13.   XTC
> 14.   King Crimson
> 15.   Robyn Hitchcock
> 16.   John Lennon
> 17.   Wire
> 18.   The Clash
> 19.   Yes
> 20.   Richard Thompson
> 21.   Public Image Limited
> 22.   The Sex Pistols
> 23.   Syd Barrett
> 24.   Kate Bush
> 25.   P J Harvey
> 26.   Jethro Tull
> 27.   Traffic
> 28.   The Soft Boys
> 29.   Spiritualized
> 30.   The Move
> 31.   The Zombies
> 32.   Gang of Four
> 33.   Nick Drake
> 34.   Ed Harcourt
> 35.   Squeeze
> 36.   The Buzzcocks
> 37.   Fairport Convention
> 38.   Phil Manzanera/801
> 39.   Blur
> 40.   The Rutles
> 41.   Supergrass
> 42.   The Wedding Present
> 43.   This Mortal Coil
> 44.   Magazine
> 45.   Paul McCartney
> 46.   Billy Bragg
> 47.   Emerson, Lake & Palmer
> 48.   The Moody Blues
> 49.   The Yardbirds
> 50.   Richard & Linda Thompson
> 51.   Kirsty Maccoll
> 52.   Queen
> 53.   Robert Wyatt
> 54.   Marianne Faithfull
> 55.   Beth Orton
> 56.   The Jazz Butcher
> 57.   The Woodentops
> 58.   The Jam
> 59.   The Fall
> 60.   Colin Newman
> 61.   Fripp & Eno
> 62.   The Sundays
> 63.   Cat Stevens
> 64.   Love and Rockets
> 65.   Henry Cow
> 66.   Graham Parker
> 67.   Mott the Hoople
> 68.   Cream
> 69.   Robert Fripp
> 70.   Pale Saints
> 71.   Arctic Monkeys
> 72.   George Harrison
> 73.   Oasis
> 74.   Tricky
> 75.   Art Brut
> 76.   The Pretty Things
> 77.   The Futureheads
> 78.   Procol Harum
> 79.   Laika
> 80.   Portishead
> 81.   Lush
> 82.   Black Box Recorder
> 83.   Andy Summers & Robert Fripp
> 84.   The High Llamas
> 85.   The Damned
> 86.   David Sylvian & Robert Fripp
> 87.   The Animals
> 88.   Bryan Ferry
> 89.   Tyrannosaurus Rex/T. Rex
> 90.   David Sylvian
> 91.   Maximo Park
> 92.   Penguin Cafe Orchestra
> 93.   Cinerama
> 94.   Roy Wood
> 95.   Joe Cocker
> 96.   Tones on Tail
> 97.   Swervedriver
> 98.   Blind Faith
> 99.   Thunderclap Newman
> 100.  Th¹ Faith Healers
>
> HM: Swell Maps, Kitchens of Distinction, Badly Drawn Boy