SETH ROGOVOY's BEST OF EVERYTHING

by Seth Rogovoy

Top 20 Musical Artists of All Time

1. Bob Dylan
2. Lou Reed/Velvet Underground
3. The Clash
4. The Band
5. Elvis Costello
6. The Beatles
7. Joni Mitchell
8. Talking Heads/David Byrne
9. Brian Eno (incl. U2, David Bowie)
10. Randy Newman
11. Bruce Springsteen
12. Steely Dan
13. Leonard Cohen
14. Sting/The Police
15. Stevie Wonder
16. The Replacements
17. Neil Young
18. Peter Gabriel
19. Roy Orbison
20. The Beastie Boys

Up and Coming Artists/Bands to Keep an Eye On:

The Nields
Soul Coughing
Brooks Williams
Peter Mulvey
Ratsy
Barbara Kessler

Top 20 Albums of All Time

1. Elvis Costello, ``Imperial Bedroom''
2. Bob Dylan, ``Blood On the Tracks''
3. Joni Mitchell, ``Court and Spark''
4. The Beatles, ``Revolver''
5. The Clash, ``London Calling''
6. The Band, ``Music From Big Pink''
7. Stevie Wonder, ``Innervisions''
8. Lou Reed, ``Transformer''
9. David Bowie, ``Low''
10. Bruce Springsteen, ``Born to Run''
11. Bob Dylan, ``Blonde On Blonde''
12. Talking Heads, ``Talking Heads '77''
13. Randy Newman, ``Little Criminals'
14. Iggy Pop, ``Lust for Life''
15. R.E.M., ``Out of Time''
16. Toots and the Maytals, ``Toots In Memphis''
17. U2, ``Achtung Baby''
18. Leonard Cohen, ``The Future''
19. Cat Stevens, ``Teaser and the Firecat''
20. Scruffy the Cat, ``Moons of Jupiter''

Top 20 Songs of All Time

1. Bob Dylan, ``Like a Rolling Stone''
2. Bruce Springsteen, ``Born To Run''
3. The Clash, ``1977''
4. The Pretenders, ``Talk of the Town''
5. Stevie Wonder, ``Superstition''
6. Roy Orbison, ``Only the Lonely''
7. Prince, ``1999''
8. The Beatles, ``I'll Be Back''
9. The Replacements, ``Alex Chilton''
10. Jr. Walker and the All-Stars, ``Shotgun''
11. The Police, ``Synchronicity II''
12. Randy Newman, ``Davy the Fat Boy''
13. Sex Pistols, ``God Save the Queen''
14. Elvis Costello, ``(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes''
15. David Bowie, ``Look Back In Anger''
16. Peter Gabriel, ``Solsbury Hill''
17. Led Zeppelin, ``Kashmir''
18. Talking Heads, ``Once In a Lifetime''
19. Velvet Underground, ``Rock and Roll''
20. Velvet Underground, ``All Tomorrow's Parties''

Best Guitarists of All Time

1. Robbie Robertson
2. Keith Richards

Best Drummer:

Best Bassist:

Best Producers:

1. Brian Eno
2. Daniel Lanois
3. Mitchell Froom
4. Malcolm Burn
5. Jeff Lynne
6. Don Was
7. Robbie Robertson
8. Tom Wilson
9. Jim Dickinson
10. George Martin

Guilty Pleasures (Admittedly hard-to-defend favorites):

Peter Himmelman
Cat Stevens
Warren Zevon
Dire Straits
Crash Test Dummies
Electric Light Orchestra/ELO
David Byrne's ``The Forest''
Sade
Sting
Elvis Costello's ``Spike''
George Harrison
Paul McCartney
Wings
The Bee Gees, especially ``Nights On Broadway''
The Brains (``Money Changes Everything,'' ``Girl In a Magazine'' etc.)
Genesis (Peter Gabriel-era and first two albums after he left)

I Just Don't Get It (And Never Will)

The Grateful Dead
Yes
Phish
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Spin Doctors
Blues Traveller
Black Sabbath
Kansas
Foreigner
Alanis Morrisette
Long guitar solos
Indigo Girls
Aerosmith

Top 10 Movies of All Time

1. The Godfather
2. Stroszek -- dir. by Werner Herzog
3. The Godfather Pt. II
4. Renaldo and Clara -- dir by Bob Dylan
5. The Deer Hunter -- dir. by Michael Cimino
6. Apocalypse Now
7. The Missouri Breaks -- dir. by Arthur Penn, with Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson
8. Annie Hall
9. The French Connection
10. Taxi Driver

Best Actors of All Time

1. Al Pacino
2. Marlon Brando
3. Robert DeNiro
4. Dustin Hoffman
5. Jack Nicholson
6. Harvey Keitel
7. Gene Hackman
8. Harrison Ford
9. Alan Arkin
10. Christopher Walken

Top 10 Film Directors

1. Roman Polanski
2. Werner Herzog
3. Jim Jarmusch
4. Woody Allen
5. John Cassavettes
6. Martin Scorsese
7. Albert Brooks
8. Arthur Penn
9. Stacy Cochran
10. Quentin Tarantino

Top 10 Contemporary Fiction Writers

1. Martin Amis
2. Philip Roth
3. Richard Ford
4. Paul Auster
5. Mark Helprin
6. Saul Bellow
7. Thomas McGuane
8. Russell Banks
9. Mary Gaitskill
10. Jerzy Kosinski

Greatest Books of All Time

1. The Last Temptation of Christ - Nikos Kazantzakis
2. Existentialism and Human Emotions - Jean Paul Sartre
3. L'Etranger - Albert Camus
4. Zorba the Greek - Nikos Kazantzakis
5. The Godfather - Mario Puzo
6. The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music - ed. by Donald Clarke
7. Across the Great Divide: The Band and America - Barney Hoskyns
8. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
9. Civilization and Its Discontents - Sigmund Freud
10. The Elements of Style - E.B. White
11. How to Do Everything Right - Rust Hills
12. Sweet Soul Music - Peter Guralnick

Worst Books of All Time

1. Anything by Mark Leyner
2. The Rise and Fall of Popular Music - Donald Clarke
3. Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel
4. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
5. Bridges Over Madison County - Robert James Waller
6. The New York Public Library Desk Reference
7. Time-Life Complete Fix-It-Yourself Manual
8. The Greens Cookbook

Best Bookstores in the World

1. The Strand, New York City
2. Shakespeare and Company, New York City
3. Waterstone's, Boston
4. Northshire Books, Manchester, Vt.
5. Green River Books, Williamstown
6. The Bookstore, Lenox
7. Either/Or Bookstore, Lenox
8. Water St. Books, Williamstown

Best Record Store in the World

Toonerville Trolley Records, Williamstown

Best Food Stores in the World:

1. Zabar's, New York City
2. Fairway, New York City
3. Manny's Sturgeon Shop, New York City
4. H & H Bagels, New York City
5. Guido's Marketplace, Lenox
6. Store at Five Corners, Williamstown (note: you can get H & H Bagels here)

Best Bagels in the World:

H & H Bagels, New York City

(Don't even bother TALKING about any other bagels -- these are the Platonic idea of bagelhood)

Best Magazine in the World:

Former Best Magazine in the World:

Best Everyday Bourbon:

Best Major-Label Beer:

Best Liquor/Package Store:

Best Bread:

Best Sourdough Bread:

Best Policy:

Best Sneakers:

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