My oldest sister, who is 16 years older than me, passed down some of her albums, when I was maybe 5 or 6. "The Golden Rock Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis" was one of them. I can not stress enough how much of an influence this thing was on me. The Killer actually went back into the studio and re-recorded these songs. If you compare these versions with his original singles you can hear the difference experience makes. Jerry Lee was at the top of his game - the playing and singing on this album is authoritative and incendiary.
Another album my sister gave me was "Surfing" by The Ventures. There has hardly been a day in the last 45 years that I haven't thought about these songs. I still love this album as much as I did when I was a kid. Highly influential.
I came to Leonard Cohen rather late, but once I did, I felt as if I had known him my whole life. His first album, "Songs of Leonard Cohen" is a must have for anyone who appreciates the art of songwriting. Kurt Cobain sang, "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld, so I can sigh eternally..." Leonard is the man!
I simply adore "Court and Spark." I don't know what else to say about this except that Joni Mitchell is a goddess and we should thank the big good thing for her.
I was a huge R.E.M. fan up until, oh, I don't know, maybe "Out of Time." Huge fan. I picked "Murmur" (their first release, not counting "Chronic Town," which was an EP) for this list because it was original, inventive and mysterious. What more can you ask for? (What was that Stipe guy singing about, anyway?)
I think the reason the Smiths weren't huge in America is because they were just so VERY British. "Louder Than Bombs," a compilation album, is packed with great songs. Moz and the boys had a firm grasp on teenage angst (Limey division).
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