50 Bands, 50 States - Part 1

The cover story in this week's Boston Phoenix is their guide to the best band, best solo artist and best new band for each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. I took on a similar project a couple of years ago when LimeyG became a citizen: building a party playlist featuring music from all 50 states.

I will now compare my choices with theirs. In the interest of not giving a crap about new bands, I will only focus on the best band and solo artist choices. Unlike their lame alphabetical ordering system, I will go by order of entry into the union, which is how the playlist was organized.

Delaware
Phoenix:Television, George Thorogood
El's Playlist: George Thorogood
When you name your band the Delaware Destroyers, you make things pretty easy. Television is a much better band, but I always thought of them as a New York band.

Pennsylvania
Phoenix:The Roots, Trent Reznor
El's Playlist: Fred Waring
My other choices included Gene Kelly, Mario Lanza and Poison. Not a great selection. Trent Reznor would have been fine, but you have to go with the man with the eponymous blender.

New Jersey
Phoenix:Four Seasons/Misfits, Bruce Springsteen
El: Fountains of Wayne
The Phoenix couldn't decide between Frankie Vallie and Danzig, so they encouraged the readers to choose. Pretty dumb, since writing Bright Future in Sales and Hackensack make Fountains of Wayne a much better choice. That and I didn't feel like spending $0.99 on a Bon Jovi track.

Georgia
Phoenix: R.E.M., Ray Charles
El: James Brown
Methodology is a factor here as the Phoenix only counts solo artist by where they were born, not were they established themselves. You can't go wrong with any of the three really, plus Little Richard is also an option if going by birthplace.

Connecticut
Phoenix: The Carpenters, Liz Phair
El: Moby
What are the chances that the state with the highest GDP per capita in the nation would also have some of the crummiest music? Some of the other choices included John Mayer and Michael Bolton. So I used that one song from that one ad or something.

Massachusetts
Phoenix: Pixies, Jonathan Richman
El: Modern Lovers (Jonathan Richman's band)
This was a pretty easy one since both the Pixies and the first Modern Lover's album are pretty awesome. I chose Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers because driving around 128 with the RADIO ON seemed more representative.

Maryland
Phoenix: The Orioles, John Fahey
El: The Orioles
Frank Zappa and Billie Holiday were also choices, so I don't quite understand the John Fahey thing. Anyway, Crying in the Chapel is one of the greatest doo-wop songs ever.

South Carolina
Phoenix: Iron and Wine, James Brown
El: Eartha Kitt
By using James Brown in Georgia I was left with Eartha Kitt and Hootie. Yes, Hootie.

New Hampshire
Phoenix: Aerosmith, Jon Spencer/Ronnie James Dio
El: The Shaggs
Frankly, I feel much better knowing that Aerosmith hails from the cultural backwater that is New Hampshire. You can also vote on the Spencer/Dio decision, but that's dumb since only one of them could credibly appear in the Tenacious D movie. But seriously, what could serve as a better symbol of the Live Free and Die state that the amusingly incompetent Shaggs.

Virginia
Phoenix: The Neptunes, Patsy Cline
El: Ella Fitzgerald
Virginia is surprisingly thin in music, given their size, although Ella, Patsy, Roy Clark and Pharell Williams are all pretty influential. I think the Phoenix just ignored jazz altogether.

New York
Phoenix: Velvet Underground, Mary J. Blige
El: The Ramones
I respect the Velvet Underground as much as any other aging hipster should, but the Ramones are more suitable for a party playlist. Public Enemy and Sammy Davis, Jr also merit mention. The Goo Goo Dolls and Ethel Merman do not.

North Carolina
Phoenix: Superchunk, George Clinton
El: Mojo Nixon
I think I considered Clinton and the whole P-Funk group under Michigan. Excluding him made Mojo a silly choice on my part over a whole bunch of legendary figures (Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Thelonious Monk) and Ben Folds.

Rhode Island
Phoenix: Talking Heads, Tanya Donelly
El: Talking Heads
Well, that one was easy.

Vermont
Phoenix: Phish, Rudy Vallee
El: Rudy Vallee
The Phoenix informs us that Rudy Vallee was the first megaphone crooner or as they called them back then, megaphone crooners. I would have had to spend weeks cleaning lice off the iPod had I loaded Phish on there.

Kentucky
Phoenix: Slint, Will Oldham
El: Bill Monroe
You can tell the Phoenix just ignores country if at all possible, since they passed on the Father of Bluegrass and on Loretta Lynn as well.

Tennessee
Phoenix: Big Star, Aretha Franklin
El: Aretha Franklin
When you can choose between Aretha, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner or Lester Flatt, it was difficult to justify choosing four Memphis guys trying to sound like a British Invasion group. Even if they were the greatest American power pop band.

Ohio
Phoenix: Pere Ubu, Screamin' Jay Hawkins
El: Dead Boys
The Dead Boys and Pere Ubu were both descended from Rocket from the Tombs and featured guys named Crocus Behemoth, Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero. Sonic Reducer by the Dead Boys is the best song from that scene, so I went with the Dead Boys. Ohio also has Devo and the Cramps, not to mention Dean Martin and Doris Day. That still doesn't justify having the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

Louisiana
Phoenix: The Meters, Jerry Lee Lewis
El: Fats Domino
You could spend weeks listing further options from this state: Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Prima, Allen Toussaint, Lee Dorsey. Fats seemed pretty representative, but the Phoenix choices are also excellent.

Indiana
Phoenix: Jackson 5, Michael Jackson
El: Jackson 5
Ironically, the Jackson 5 had a young black kid who sounded exactly like Michael Jackson. True story. Honorable mention to Cole Porter. Semi-honorable mention to John Cougar Mellencamp. Dishonorable mention to Axl Rose.

Mississippi
Phoenix: The Mississippi Sheiks, Robert Johnson
El: Muddy Waters
Some of the other choices include Bo Diddley, B.B. King and, you know, Elvis. I have no memory of why I didn't choose Elvis.

Illinois
Phoenix: Big Black, Miles Davis
El: Quincy Jones
In my defense this was just an excuse to use the theme to Sanford & Son in the playlist. Yes, you probably have it running through your head right now. That meant I passed up Wilco (no matter that the Phoenix claims they are from Missouri), Kanye and Cheap Trick.

Alabama
Phoenix: The Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams
El: Big Mama Thornton
Boy, nothing gets a party going like Hank Williams classics like I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. Fun stuff.

Maine
Phoenix: Rustic Overtones, Juliana Hatfield
El: The Killing Moon
I apologize for referring to New Hampshire as a cultural backwater because finding one goddamn band from Maine took a lot of Google work. All I know about The Killing Moon is that they are from Maine and they have a cover of You Oughta Know available on iTunes. I'm not even sure if they know of Echo or the Bunnymen.

Missouri
Phoenix: Uncle Tupelo, Chuck Berry
El: Chuck Berry
It's very difficult not to choose Chuck Berry here, even if he now has competition from Nelly and Chingy.

Arkansas
Phoenix: Black Oak Arkansas, Johnny Cash
El: Louis Jordan
On Marshall Crenshaw's book Hollywood Rock the author states that "Louis Jordan is such a god of American culture that his face should be on the $50 bill." That is not hyperbole either. I love Johnny Cash as much as the next guy, but he never recorded anything as fun as Caldonia.

Michigan
Phoenix: The Stooges, Stevie Wonder
El: The Stooges
With apologies to John Lee Hooker, the MC5 and Eminem, these were pretty easy choices. While I could have used any number of Stevie Wonder tracks, somehow hearing Iggy Pop (born Ignatius Popovski to immigrant parents) howling seemed more representative of the current situation of Michigan.