My Favourites

This will be a very silly list which couldn't be as far from any idea of making considered judgements. These are my favourite people in music, and I've ranked them just to make it even sillier. I don't know any of these people, not even the tiniest bit, I don't know if they're nice or nasty, but I think,  if we consider ourselves serious music fans, sometimes we underplay the extent to which we sympathize with the people making the music. We think they seem nice or funny, they represent something, they have a story to tell. Bear in mind that, usually, to me nice means dryly humorous and self-aware, rather than "nice".

I like the music by most of these folk, though not all of them, I doubt they're all delightful. Dylan and Bowie have probably, for example, been sly, ruthless devils down the years, but, not only do I love their music, I love the way they present themselves, the searing intelligence, the way they've had people interested in what they're doing for 40/50 years without seeming to seek it, the ideas, all of it.

There are all kinds of things in play in this - it might just be an interview I once read where I thought "Oh, he seems decent" or it might be a recognition of their greater place in the world. Sometimes there is something genuinely heroic about people. It's such a daft list, but also, I hope, quite fun.

You'll note I don't like my rock'n'roll stars too rock'n'roll. Liam Gallagher, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Pete Doherty, Axl Rose, heroes to some but they never meant shit to me. Nor Elvis... I did once read an interview with the Wu-Tang Clan where the ODB seemed the most grounded and witty, but, well, i think i got that one wrong.

 I'm not passing judgement on people's characters. I expect Bono really is a lovely chap - the reality of what people are like is somehow not key to this. It's just an honest look at the people who I've warmed to.

1.       Gruff Rhys

2.       Joe Strummer

3.       Debbie Harry

4.       Paul Robeson

5.       Emmylou Harris

6.       James Dean Bradfield

7.       Martha Reeves

8.       Bob Dylan

9.       Bill Withers

10.    Joan Baez

11.    Roots Manuva

12.    David Bowie

13.    Robbie Robertson

14.    Chuck D

15.    Mark Morriss

16.    Tom Waits

17.    Beyonce

18.    Bruce Springsteen

19.    Bill Drummond

20.    Jeff Tweedy

21.    Billy Bragg

22.    Jenny Lewis

23.    Paul McCartney

24.    Liam Clancy

25.    Johnny Cash

26.    Nick Drake

27.    Tim Wheeler

28.    Odetta

29.    Otis Redding

30.    Labi Siffre

31.    Warren Ellis

32.    Jason Orange

33.    Mavis Staples

34.    Dolly Parton

35.    Joni Mitchell

36.    Smokey Robinson

37.    George Michael

38.    Dusty Springfield

39.    Hamilton Leithauser

40.    Nick Cave

41.    Johnny Marr

42.    Paul Westerberg

43.    Janelle Monae

44.    Karen Carpenter

45.    Stevie Wonder

46.    Roni Spector

47.    Kevin Rowland

48.    Ghostface Killah

49.    Jimmy Cliff

50.    Stuart Murdoch

51.    Steve Winwood

52.    Badly Drawn Boy

53.    Leonard Cohen

54.    Damon Albarn

55.    Linda Thompson 

56.    Glenn Campbell

57.    Bernard Butler

58.    Nick Mason

59.    Jazzy Jeff

60.    Martha Wainwright

61.    Mos Def

62.    Darius Danesh

63.    Dionne Warwick

64.    Suggs

65.    David McAlmont

66.    Robyn

67.    Gil Scott-Heron

68.    Emeli Sande

69.    Pete Seeger

70.    Roy Orbison

71.    Bob Marley

72.    St Vincent

73.    Chrissie Hynde

74.    Lamont Dozier

75.    Pink

76.    Missy Elliott

77.    Neko Case

78.    Ella Fitzgerald

79.    Roddy Frame

80.    Tegan and Sara

81.    Carole King

82.    Steve Van  Zandt

83.    Edwyn Collins

84.    John Paul Jones

85.    Kate Bush

86.    MIA

87.    Alex Turner

88.    Nile Rodgers

89.    Art Garfunkel

90.    Laura Marling

91.    Solomon Burke

92.    Glenn Tilbrook

93.    King Creosote

94.    Loudon Wainwright III

95.    Vince Clarke

96.    Ian Stewart

97.    Carleen Anderson

98.    Sam Beam

99.    Eddy Grant

100.Josh Homme