Well, Bo Diddley is nowhere to be found on this list and the ratio of women who rock as opposed to males is disappointing. In spite of Matt and his station’s “alt-rock” posturing, this list is pretty much what you’d find regurgitated by similarly polled “alt-rock” fans in the Midwest, South, and other parts of the U.S.
Which doesn’t mean there isn’t some incredible music included in this list of 1019 songs.
I wonder if there’s a thesis for the album (double album actually) London Calling as a brief though incomplete history of Rock and Roll with its direct musical quotations from rockabilly (“Brand New Cadillac”), Bo Diddley (“Rudie Can’t Fail), and even pre-rock and roll proto American gangsta iconography (the “Stagger Lee” intro – coped from Lloyd Price – that precedes “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”). The tracks also include nods to dub and other Jamaican musical forms – the whole aural travelogue ultimately filtered through the eyes and ears of four British music freaks. Michael Veal and Dick Hebdige have both written eloquently about England, rock and roll, and Caribbean music and culture. Dub and Cut n Mix are both great books that rock fans should check out.
Not to mention Lomax’s Land Where The Blues Began.