No songwriting thread is complete without Bob..

He was even booed for going electric before dropping one of the greatest songs ever written..

 

Last edited: Apr 23, 2021

Patti Smith - People Have The Power

Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up

Peter Murphy - Deep Ocean Vast Sea (1989)

Pink Turns Blue - Michelle (1990)

Pink Turns Blue - Your Master Is Calling

Press Gang Metropol - Empty Playground

Lee Clayton - Naked Child - 1979

Lee Clayton - The Dream Goes On

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

kevin gilbert

 

so why you hijacked the title of the thread?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 30, 2021

Lennon-McCartney (way too many to list) - seeing it is about singer-songwriiters

 

Der schenste Baum is der Vogelbeerbaum,
Vogelbeerbaum is der schenste Baum.
Der schenste Baum is der Vogelbeerbaum,
Vogelbeerbaum bei der Nacht.

 

At least twice now you've credited artists with the composition of cover versions. This and Roxy Music Jealous Guy.

 

This thread doesn't live up to its title. (edit: no longer true after title was changed )

Firstly, if we want to explore greatest songwriters, the idea that these people must be 'singer-songwriters' is just weird.
Many really great songwriters just wrote hundreds of great songs and didn't sing (or even record) any of them themself.
They published the songs and got talented artistes to record them instead.
That's been true for at least a hundred years and is still alive and well in today's music scene.

Secondly, this thread seems more like...
"Here's the stuff that turned me on when I was a teenie, isn't it wonderful, isn't my taste in music wonderful, please like me"
Which is OK (I guess), but it's just not about 'greatest songwriters'.

Anyone that really wants to explore 'great' songwriters, should surely consider exploring outside of their own favourite genres

https://www.songhall.org/
The Songwriters Hall of Fame’s ongoing mission is to celebrate and honor the contributions and legacies of songwriters of all genres of music... while developing and nurturing the next generation of songwriters through Master Sessions, songwriting craft forums, scholarships and digital initiatives.

They've been operating since 1970 but they include 'great' songwriters from at least the past 100 years.
This includes people who wrote in genres we might not like but if we really want to explore the craft of songwriting we have to broaden our outlook. For example, I doubt if anyone here would rave about Irving Berlin, but he wrote at least 1200 songs, and a significant number of them are real classics. Example: 'White Christmas' - a song I personally cringe at but I still recognise it's a classic and I acknowledge the craft that produced it. I once spent an hour learning how to play it, even when I don't like it, simply because it is obviously a very well crafted song. There's something to admire there.

I suggest rename the thread to "My favourite songs" or "My favourite singer-songwriters" (and that's OK)
or get real and talk about how great songwriting covers all genres.

---

Edit: all of the above was posted while the thread title was (previously) "The Greatest Songwriters of All Time".
The OP has since done the decent thing and changed the title to something that matches his aims - well done OP.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2021

Fast Car and Like A Rolling Stone are two significant songs in the songwriting world. If I wanted to post my favourite songs, I wouldn't be including any of these.

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2021

Singer - Songwriter as a genre is different to somebody who composes a song and sings it. A lead singer who writes music for a band does not fit the criteria. It seems that since I started writing this the thread title has changed. So, now it's greatest songwriters? Singer songwriter is a discussion I would have enjoyed, but if this is going to be "my favourite songs" I'm out because who's going to give me a "like" for Rogers and Hammersteins "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"

 

No argument - I simply stuck to the OP's criteria - If they said composer or songwriter, that's a wider ballpark. The title and criteria does seem to have changed a little since the thread started.

 

I think that's what triggered my mini rant. The title and the OP's opening criteria are almost a mismatch.

But I'm not suggesting people haven't identified some great songs, and some great songwriters,
and some great singer-songwriters. There are many nice examples here.

Also (sarcastic personal opinion only ) your Lennon and McCartney suggestion is almost a bullet-proof cheat
because their contributions are going to end up in the 'great' basket under almost any criteria.

 

He asked for the greatest singer-songwriters and they were the first who came to mind

 

Thanks for the Information about the " Cover Versions " - i delete it.

 

Clock DVA - Voice Recognition Test (1993)

Clock DVA - Blue Tone (1981)

 

New Order - Blue Monday (1983)

New Order - True Faith (1987)

 

And Also The Trees - Shantell (1983)

And Also The Trees - The Secret Sea (1984)

 

Abba - SOS (1975)

Abba - Money, Money, Money (1976)

ABBA - The Winner Takes It All (1980)

 

Camel - Stationary Traveller (1984)

Camel - Pressure Points (1984)