One of the greatest radio stations -- ever 


Philadelphia's 88.5 WXPN may be one of the greatest radio stations ever. 

WXPN is a public radio station that truly defines the "adult album alternative" (AAA) format. In the summer of 2004, they solicited their listeners to submit ten songs that would eventually be compiled, on a weighted basis, (i.e., 10 points for each number 1 vote, and so on down the line) to give a "point" system and eventually play the 885 greatest songs of all time.

Because of the weighting, many listeners put songs higher up on their list than they probably normally would have, because they wanted to hear them more. After considerable soul searching, here were the ten songs I voted for. All ten of these songs can be played on this page.

1. "Fallen Icons", by Delerium. I put this at number 1 because I felt it needed the most points from my vote.
2. "Idol," by Amanda Ghost. Just an amazing song.
3. "Wicked Little Town," from the off-broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
4. "Chimes of Freedom," by Bob Dylan. A masterpiece from one of his more underrated albums.
5. "Sniper," by Harry Chapin. Not my favorite song by him, but one of his greatest.
6. "My Mistake," by Marvin Gaye. Another underrated masterpiece.
7. "Swan Swan H," by R.E.M. As I was compiling my list, I realized that there wasn't any room for a song by John Lennon. Since this song has the same guitar riff as John's "Working Class Hero," and since this song comes from my favorite R.E.M. album, I considered this a "twofer."
8. "I Don't Like Mondays," by the Boomtown Rats. One of the best non-protest songs ever ripped from the newspaper headlines. Beats Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," (on the same topic) hands down.
9. "Caught a Lite Sneeze," by Tori Amos. Like "Sniper," it's not my fave song of hers, but it's way up there.
10. "Hard to Handle," by Otis Redding. I wish this song got the kind of airplay that his "Dock of the Bay" usually gets.

In the end, none of the songs I voted for made the final list. I was actually somewhat surprised by that, although I didn't expect all of them to make it. The radio station literally suspended their normal programming for a week to play the countdown.

Fast forward to this summer, and they solicited their listeners again, this time for the greatest albums of all time, with a similar weighting system.

Here are the albums I voted for:

1. Emmet Swimming -- Wake. I was originally planning on voting for Big Night Without You, by this band, until I mentioned my plans on XPN's web boards. I apparently wasn't the only ES fan out there. He had one album, I had a different one, so we joined forces and voted for a third,
2. Poe -- Haunted. Her second album is focussed, well planned, and came in at number 635 on the final list.
3. Harry Chapin -- Danceband on the Titanic. This is my favorite HC album. Period.
4. Phil Ochs -- In Concert. "There's been a drastic change in American foreign policy in recent months. Take the Dominican Republic. Which we did."
5. Delerium -- Poem. Shortly after the voting ended, I received a form e-mail from the program director, asking why we chose to vote for one particular album. I chose this album and explained the moment of peace and clarity I had when I had this album in my car CD player on my 29th birthday. Note that this album contained the song I put at number 1 on last year's list.
6. Beth Orton -- Trailer Park. Beth Orton is a staple of XPN's playlist, and it's an amazing album. I was truly surprised that this album didn't make the final cut.
7. Tori Amos -- Under the Pink. I consider this the best album of the 1990's. It placed at number 371 on the final list. Beautifully and masterfully orchestrated.
8. Nine Inch Nails -- The Downward Spiral. I consider this the second best album of the 90's. Raw, aggressive, vulgar, and, ultimately beautiful. It placed at number 310 on the final list.
9. John Lennon -- Plastic Ono Band. John was the first former Beatle to release a solo album. Technically, this was his fourth album, behind two avant-garde albums and a concert album. But as far as studio albums are concerned, this was his first. It contains the song "Working Class Hero," which I cited but did not vote for in the greatest songs countdown. This album placed at number 369 on the final list.
10. R.E.M. -- Lifes rich pageanT. This album contains the song "Swan Swan H," mentioned above. It placed at number 107 on the final list.

For the countdown of the greatest albums, XPN played two songs from albums 885 to 501, three songs from 500 through 26, and the top 25 albums in their entirety. They suspended their normal programming for three weeks to do the countdown. (And it was funny; when they played Plastic Ono Band, the DJ said he wanted to play the song "Working Class Hero," but then he remembered that he wanted to keep his job. That song may be the first rock song to drop an F-bomb in the lyrics.)

Here is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that contains the final listings of both the greatest songs and albums, as the final voting turned out. They definitely had some interesting combinations of consecutive songs and albums there. (NWA between Dar Williams and John Hiatt on the albums list; Sugarcubes and Merle Haggard on the songs list...)

885atga.xls

Hopefully, next year, it'll be the greatest artists. The only givens on my list next year will be Harry Chapin, Phil Ochs, and Tori Amos. 

Posted: Sat - October 22, 2005 at 09:48 AM          

©