People love lists. Magazines, broadcasters, and websites are always publishing them. The ones that seem to get the most attention are those that rank a specific thing from worst to best.
And let’s be honest: most of these lists are designed to court controversy, to create arguments, and to get people talking about how things got ordered and why or why not someone or something should be at number one. I get it.
But not all lists are created equal. Some are just supposed to keep track of something: what to buy at the grocery store, errands that need to be done, things you need to pack for a trip.
Then there’s middle ground. Lists that keep track of something while attempting to slot them in some order of importance, influence, or impact.
Such lists will still result in arguments and debate over how things were ranked—which is fine—but the primary purpose of such a list is an attempt to remember what happened.
We’re already 25% of the way through the 21st century. And with the pace of life, it’s harder and harder to keep up with what happened this week let alone over the last quarter-century.
That’s why everything once in a while it’s important to stop, take a breath, look around, and try to remember what happened. And once we account for that, we can get a better idea of why we’ve ended up where we are: the advances we’ve seen, the mistakes we’ve made, and the happy (and unhappy accidents) that have occurred—and maybe, just maybe, figure out where we’re going.
This is chapter five of The 100 Greatest Rock Moments of the Millennium—So Far.”
Songs heard on this episode:
- Cruisebox, On a Podcast
- White Stripes, Seven Nation Army
- Black Keys, Lonely Boy
- Metallica, Seek and Destroy (Live in Antarctica)
- Green Day, American Idiot
- Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name
- Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Haunted Graffiti
- Foo Fighters, Times Like These (Live)
- Nirvana, Polly
Eric Wilhite has the playlist.
The Ongoing History Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
- 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
Don’t forget about my other podcast, Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. If you love true crime with your music, you’ll love this. Get Uncharted wherever you get your podcasts.
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