List Your Top Twenty Favorite Artists

Ron Pratt

Driving back from having blood drawn this morning I was listening to a playlist I created years ago by the name of “Whining Is the Offspring of Futility“. I created a Spotify playlist for it a year ago and since my friend Ron Pratt is not on Spotify I found the songs he sang that I have on cassette and added versions sang by other artists. Now I am not a Barry Manilow fan but his 1980 song “I Made It Through The Rain” was a track Ron included on a couple of the tapes he made for me. He really liked the lyrics to the song so I included it on that playlist I made.

When I was listening to the track today it reminded me how sad I still am that Ron passed away in 2005. I miss my best friend and I miss hearing him sing. I’m glad I got to experience that numerous times when I worked at Organ Stop Pizza my sophomore and junior years in high school. He made me three tapes, all of which I was able to have CDs made of and today, all those CDs are now mp3s on my computer so I can listen to Ron sing anytime.

I love a lot of music and like most people have my go-to artists. I also love making lists. When I was in 8th grade I can remember scribbling the artists I listened to all over one of my notebooks. This really cool book I bought several years ago entitled Music Listography by Lisa Nola is perfect for a list-maker like me. It is a journal and every page has a different topic with the rest of the page blank so you can write whatever you want.

The first journal entry was “List Your Top Twenty Favorite Bands” and after listening to that song this morning I was reminded that Ron Pratt remains my favorite artist, even if he never had a record deal. Once I started working when I got home I happened to look at my bookshelf, saw the book and knew I had a new theme for this blog. So without further adieu, here is the list of my Top Twenty Favorite Artists, not necessarily in order (after the first three). This list continues to change every year so this Top Twenty is as of today. Enjoy!

• Ron Pratt
• Elbow
• Echo and the Bunnymen
• The Chameleons
• Mercury Machine
• Agent Orange
• Gang of Four
• Frightened Rabbit
• Dead Can Dance
• Swervedriver
• Helmet
• The Jam
• Kitchens of Distinction
• Moaning
• Mighty Lemon Drops
• U2
• The Ramones
• R.E.M.
• New Order
• The Smithereens

I encourage you to add your own list, either by commenting on this post or on whatever social media platform you read this post on. That’s how I find new music, what all of you tell me to check out. Cheers!