Top Fives: Combos

One question keeps coming up as people read RECORD COLLECTING FOR GIRLS, follow the handy rules in my Top Fives essay, and attempt to make their own Top Five (read the excerpt on Google Books). That question is:

Can I say ____________ (all projects)?

I think yes you can. I used to have Neil Finn, all projects, on my list. Split Enz, Crowded House, solo work. Because it was all good and ultimately I was factoring in Neil Finn’s entire songwriting career.

So if you’re wondering, can you say Jack White, all projects? I think yes. Eric Clapton, all projects? Okay fine. Paul McCartney, all projects? Wait, why can’t you commit to the Beatles…?

Where I do NOT think you can do this is with Joy Division and New Order. These are not the same band. When a major creative force actually dies, you have to draw a line in the sand. You can’t just mash it all together because Bernard Sumner and Hooky were constants. There is also a huge stylistic difference. I can see how you would like both, I really can, but in good conscience I cannot endorse you pretending these were one band/project. they very distinctly were not.

Also saying Dave Grohl, all projects would be weird. You see what I mean?

Since you asked.

For Finnheads: Neil Finn “She Will Have Her Way”

The best time I’ve ever been set up wasn’t with a boy. It was when Steve Savoca invited Colleen Quill and myself to the Neil & Tim Finn show in Central Park because he thought we’d make good friends (and should discuss our shared obsession with all things Finn so he didn’t have to listen to it for hours, which is smart planning on his part). I instantly fell for her, even though she obsesses on George Michael to an unhealthy level. And if I’d met her outside of the context of this concert I don’t know how things would have gone. But our perfectly orchestrated meeting provided an entry for two people who think very differently about a lot of other things to connect. This all served us well when Colleen got a job as my counterpart at VH1 not too long after and we were like this unbeatable team taking on all comers.

And all of that makes the Finns even more special.

Read Colleen’s blog or listen to her Finnhead playlist on Spotify and you can get an idea of why I think she’s so fantastic.