Mix Tape Thursday, 9/17/09

WTMD listeners take over the airwaves with three-to-five song sets on Thursday.

7 a.m. Cricket Masson

You need music to keep you awake on the long haul. Criteria for The Essential Road Trip playlist:

1) Fast beat to stay awake.
2) Know the words to sing at top of lungs.
3) Tinted windows so other drivers can’t see driver’s seat dancing and singing.

Picking 4 is hard as that barely gets you out of town but these are a few of my must haves, of which I have WTMD to thank for two and Doug to thank for one of them.

* "Spam," by Save Ferris
* "Kiss Off," by Violent Femmes
* "Brother Lee," by Citizen Cope
* "Wonderful Night," by Fatboy Slim
* "In Your Head," by The Mentionables


11 a.m. Kelly Carneal

Born and raised in Baltimore, I found myself drawn to farms early on and have worked in the agricultural field for several years now. Having lived all over the United States, and having visited many farms and farmers along the way, there tends to be a reoccurring alt-country soundtrack in my head.

These five rise to the top for me, especially on those perfectly brisk days, when I find myself walking a beautiful farm, instead of sitting inside with my nose in my laptop.

* "Gone Wanderin'," by Jackie Greene
* "Tailspin," by The Jayhawks
* "No Bad News," by Patty Griffin
* "Snow Is Gone," by Josh Ritter
* "To Be Young,” by Ryan Adams


5 p.m. Todd Heston
No real theme here, except all of the artists produced some of the best music of their generations.

* "Up on Cripple Creek," by The Band
* "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," by The Rolling Stones
* "Life by the Drop," by Stevie Ray Vaughn
* "Plush," by Stone Temple Pilots
* " Kill," by Jimmy Eat World

What Defines a Great Recording Artist?

It's relatively easy to rattle off a list of great songs or albums, but what defines a great recording artist? Is it record sales? #1 songs? A showcase night on American Idol?

Producer Brian Eno once noted, The Velvet Underground never sold a lot of records, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band.

Ani DiFranco, on the other hand, sells a lot of records. But she does it on her own terms. DiFranco founded Righteous Babe, an independent label, long before the Internet was a series of tubes while reimagining an artists' business model--and redefining the role of the singer-songwriter--for the MySpace generation.

Bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish reinvented their songs and set lists every night, creating a new concert experience for fiercely loyal fans and introducing a series of live albums and bootlegs that, arguably, are just as important as their studio work.

Jeff Buckley is fondly remembered for one amazing album. And, like a lot of artists who died too young, a catalog of posthumous releases (and an assembly line of vocal imitators) has tried to fill the void.

George Clinton receives royalties every time someone samples Parliament-Funkadelic. When does he ever get credit for the originals?

Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are enjoying a renaissance in the twilight of their careers. They never experienced the mass adulation (and scorn) as when Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar, but where would popular music be without Various Positions or Rain Dogs?

Are younger songwriters like Jack White and Ryan Adams so prolific--with so many incarnations--that it's hard to identify a career-defining album?

How many of these artists qualify as the Greatest Artists of All Time?

That's up to you to decide.

Cast your vote for up to 15 artists by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19th, and tune in as we start the countdown of the 897 Greatest Artists of All Time later around Memorial Day.