Thor said:

LOL! "Stairway to Heaven"? Damn, it seems the people who diss Bob are the ones who know absolutely nothing about him. "Stairway to Heaven" is a Led Zeppelin song, dude.

P.S. Tell the truth, you only know "Hurricane" 'cos it was in the Denzel Washington film, right?
[Edited 6/23/08 6:09am]

Obvious omissions from the list are Sting, Morrissey and the Gibb brothers. If George Michael had been more prolific you could make a case for him too, but his body of good work is too slight to merit inclusion. Although they did include Michael Jackson, so.....

midnightmover said:[quote]

Thor said:

LOL! "Stairway to Heaven"? Damn, it seems the people who diss Bob are the ones who know absolutely nothing about him. "Stairway to Heaven" is a Led Zeppelin song, dude.


My bad...Knocking on Heavens Door was the song I should have posted, not the Zepplin classic. Actually I have a copy of Desire that I bought just for the song Hurricane back in 1989. My brother was playing that tune and I loved it as it is a great story, song and arangement.My step father, also a recording musician, met Bob Dylan back in the 60's in London when he wasn't signing with his bizzare nasaly inflection. Bob contracted a cold while in London,had to play his set and the rest is history with the nasal tone invented by Bob.

But back to the discussion at hand and I think Prince probably deserves the number 1 spot based on how many great songs he has written over the course of his career. Springsteen is also up there as he is still writing great original material. Admittiedly some of Prince's latest efforts have not been up to his standards, but he has written over 1000 songs and not all can be fantastic!

I don't get the support for the Bee Gees / Gibb brothers here.

I am sure they could write some pleasant pop-ditties (in the late sixties) or some catchy disco-pop (in the seventies, with Saturday Night Live), but they aren't artists with something 'extra': a certain kind of edge and originality, that lifted them above 'poppieness'.
Their material from the eighties and afterwards shows that IMO: way too polished, mainstream 'pap' that is more irritating then enjoyable.

The same feeling I have about Abba: a great 'pop-machine' according to some, a band who was waving very complicated aspects in their 'bubble gum' music, according to others.
But IMO it was in the first place a band who was approaching music on a 'rational' level: mix this and this, with that, and we score a hit with it. The real spark, the real 'gut' they never had.
In that sense i rather go for the three chords of Neil Young, with some lyric that is right on spot, then the ultra thought-out camp Abba was delivering.

I think dolly parton should be on this... she writes great songs

Neil Young belongs where he is.

Although I prefer Prince, he wrote the bulk of his best material in one decade. Neil Young has been writing consistantly decent material his entire career.

Check out 2002's Living With War...

I could care less about the order, just as long as Prince got some props!!! To me, Prince has always been a top 10 songwriter. Although, Sting should have been listed also. Sting is most def a top ten songwriter.

Riverpoet31 said:

I can totally understand what you're saying, and I'm definitely with you on Abba, but I'd give the same advice to you about the Bee Gees as I'd give to the Dylan bashers. Don't make a rash judgement before you've actually checked out their best work. Songs like "Message To You", "To Love Somebody", "New York Mining Disaster 1941", "Guilty", "Islands in the Stream" all demonstrate that they are writers of substance, however commercial they were. They're easy to underestimate, but don't fall into that trap. There's a double album of theirs called Their Greatest Hits: The Record which gives a great overview of their work. Check that out, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Just noticed another scandalous omission. Joan Armatrading.

without knowing the criteria for how people were rated, I lennon-mccartney
should be no. 1

I agree on the number 1, there;s really no question about that. Stevie Wonder, John Lennon and Lou Reed should be in the top10 instead of Bruce Springsteen.
My top 10:

1) Bob Dylan

2) John Lennon
3) Jim Morrisson
4) Stevie Wonder
5) Prince
6) Thom Yorke
7) David Bowie
8) Leonard Cohen
9) Neill Young
10)Lou Reed
[Edited 7/9/08 11:41am]