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McNiff's Riffs: 'Essential' songs and Tim's list

Well played, '89.3 The Current', and hats-off to the listeners whose votes produced radio programming that had me listening for more than a week in the car, in the garage, in my office, and finally (to hear the top-10 essential songs) in my family room with the rest of my family gathered around the radio like it was 1945.
Credit: Matt Cardy
Tim McNiff's a big music guy, and loves compiling lists, but he's never come close to the one 'The Current' recently came up with: A tribute to great songs 893 cuts long.

If you ever watch public TV or listen to public radio you know that you’re NEVER going to engage for any great length of time before they’re going to ask you for money.

As a member of the media this can be a touchy subject.

If you’ve had an opportunity to visit the MPR studios in St. Paul it looks like they’re doing just fine when it comes to funding, and while I’m not bothered by how they get their money (and how much the government is or is not involved) for some people this evokes strong feelings.

READ: More McNiff's Riffs

However you feel about it, the “pledge drive” is a necessary evil when it comes to public broadcasting, and in the case of 89.3 ‘The Current’, their recently concluded spring membership drive was one for the books.

As a way to get and keep their listeners engaged through their relentless series of funding asks 89.3 ‘The Current’ had a countdown of what they called “893 Essential Songs”. They accumulated this list by tabulating the results of essential song lists submitted by their listeners, then compiled a play list to count down from 893 to 1.

Well played, ’89.3 The Current’, and hats-off to the listeners whose votes produced radio programming that had me listening for more than a week in the car, in the garage, in my office, and finally (to hear the top-10 essential songs) in my family room with the rest of my family gathered around the radio like it was 1945.

A confession: I heard one of the DJ’s say that last line and he gave credit to a listener so I will too... but for me it was 100% true, and was simply too good a line to pass up!

The 893 song promotion worked for me on several levels. First, as a kid growing up in the Twin Cities in the 1970’s I fondly remember WDGY holding “Song Wars”, where two songs would be played back-to-back then listeners were urged to call in and vote for their favorite of the two. The winner would advance to face another song until, after a given period of time, there would be one ultimate winner.

That system, while entertaining, had its flaws. I vividly remember listening to the songs, then waiting for the prompt by the DJ to call in and vote. Which I would do... repeatedly... voting for unlikely contenders to pull-off upsets and corrupt the competition. Case in point: Calling in, voting, hanging-up and calling back to vote again and again for Allen Sherman’s ‘Camp Grenada’, a parody song from 1963 that complains about life at a fictional summer camp. It's set to the tune of Ponchiell’s classical tune ‘Dance of the Hours”.

Thanks to degenerates like me, Camp Granada was played over and over, knocking-off heavyweights of the era like ‘War Pigs’ by Black Sabbath and ‘Don’t Pull Your Love’ by Hamilton, Joe, Frank and Reynolds.

Later, when I was a teenager, it was commonplace for KQRS or KDWB to do a countdown on Memorial and Labor Day weekends so their people could take some time-off. Their Memorial Day 500 didn’t require the listener to call in and vote, and the only drama was whether it would be ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin or ‘Freebird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd as the grand champion, as those two songs always seemed to trade-off the title. (What’s happened to Skynyrd people? They’re not one of Rock & Roll’s greatest bands of all-time? Ya’ll need to go back and listen!)

The compilation by 89.3 ‘The Current’ had no such nonsense. As a matter of fact I gladly tip my cap to the listeners who produced a wonderful, eclectic mix of music, much of which I would say really did qualify as “essential” to me... even if the final song was both provincial and predictable.

So, with no further ado, here are the final 11 songs of ‘The Current’s’ 893 “Essential Songs”, counting down from 11 to 1, followed by my own submission… Which is a little longer…

And if you’re still interested in making a contribution to ‘The Current’, I’m sure they’ll still take your money at the MPR website.

ENJOY!

The top eleven 89.3 ‘The Current’ Essential Songs

  • 11. Under Pressure – David Bowie
  • 10. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin (40-years later, some things never change)
  • 9. Tangled Up in Blue – Bob Dylan
  • 8. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
  • 7. Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
  • 6. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
  • 5. A Day in The Life – The Beatles (They dominated the chart)
  • 4. Imagine- John Lennon
  • 3. Heroes – David Bowie
  • 2. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (I did NOT see that coming, but I like it!)
  • 1. Purple Rain – Prince (Show of hands, who did NOT see that coming?)

Some Essential Songs from Tim McNiff (I could never pick just 11!)

  • Let’s Stay Together – Al Green (They don’t get any better than this)
  • Fill in The Blank – Car Seat Headrest (Listen to it as loud as possible, first thing in the morning)
  • Just the Same Way/Anytime/Feeling That Way – Journey (There’s a reason why they still tour)
  • Be Near Me – ABC (Love the drams and English production value)
  • Bye Bye Love/You’re All I’ve Got Tonight – The Cars (They’re worth revisiting)
  • Call It Dreaming – Iron & Wine (They Have so many more)
  • Call the Police – LCD Soundsystem (The live performance on SNL gave me chills)
  • Everything Now - Arcade Fire (Wasn’t a big fan until this song, last year)
  • What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye (Timeless Classic)
  • Every Time I Think of You/Isn’t it Time – The Baby’s (These songs have it all)
  • Sugar Kisses – Echo & The Bunny Men (Great vocals, more English production value!)
  • Spring Came – The Suburbs (My favorite Twin Cities Band of All-Time)
  • Where the Streets Have no Name/I still Can’t Find What I’m Looking For – U2 (All of Joshua Tree?)
  • Sabotage – The Beastie Boys (I really should have more rap on this list)
  • Train in Vain – The Clash (So brief, such an impact)
  • Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough – The Jacksons
  • Take Me with You/Let’s Pretend We’re Married/Baby I’m A Star – Prince
  • They Call Me the Breeze – Lynyrd Skynyrd (They made MY list!)
  • Shoot to Thrill – AC/DC (If you could only pick one, this is the one)
  • Monkey Wrench – Foo Fighters (So many options)
  • Before They Make Me Run/Far Away Eyes/Dead Roses – The Rolling Stones (So many options II)
  • She’s Leaving/Save It for Later – English Beat (Brilliant catalog)
  • Seven Bridges Row – The Eagles (They didn’t write it but this is the song that made me love them)
  • Four Strong Winds/After the Goldrush – Neil Young (Either you love him or you don’t, and I do)
  • Make You Feel My Love – Adele (Bob Dylan makes the list, but only as songwriter!)
  • It’s Only Make Believe – Robert Gordon (This cover of the Conway Twitty Classic is epic)
  • Mr. Blue Sky – ELO (Their whole catalog is outstanding)

What songs do you consider “essential”/ Hit me back with your list, I’d love to see them and give them a listen!

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