Nick Mason is the longest running member of Pink Floyd, from the Barrett era to the times of the dehydrated Floyd (i.e. without Roger Waters). In his time with Pink Floyd he rarely ventured out of his comfort zone of percussive instruments, taking failed violin lessons and providing special effects and sounds. But how did the band acquire him as a drummer? According to Mark Blake, author of “Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd,” Nick Mason was looked well upon as a drummer because he could provide the funds and transport to buy instruments and get them to gigs. Despite this oversight by the band, Mason proved to be an effective drummer, and contributed to the composition of such songs as Time, Echoes, and Speak to Me (solely credited to him). His voice is also featured on the track One of These Days.

Associated with two similar quotes, the song Any Colour You Like from Dark Side of the Moon seems to reference Henry Ford’s quote: “You can have it any color you like, as long as it’s black.” While the title’s concept does concern the lack of choice in the modern world, the origin of the title does not come from Henry Ford’s quote, it comes from an observation Roger Waters made while living in Cambridge. As the inspiration for this list this excerpt was and can be found in an essay titled “Which One’s Pink?” by musicologist Phil Rose.

“In Cambridge where I lived, people would come from London in a van – a truck – open the back and stand on the tailboard of the truck, and the truck’s full of stuff that they’re trying to sell. And they have a very quick and slick patter, and they’re selling things like crockery, china, sets of knives and forks. All kinds of different things, and they sell it very cheap with a patter. They tell you what it is, and they say ‘It’s ten plates, lady, and it’s this, that, and the other, and eight cups and saucers, and for the lot I’m asking NOT ten pounds, NOT five pounds, NOT three pounds . . . fifty bob to you!’, and they get rid of this stuff like this. If they had sets of china, and they were all the same color, they would say, ‘You can ‘ave ‘em, ten bob to you, love. Any color you like, they’re all blue.’ And that was just part of that patter. So, metaphorically, ‘Any Colour You Like’ is interesting, in that sense, because it denotes offering a choice where there is none. And it’s also interesting that in the phrase, ‘Any color you like, they’re all blue,’ I don’t know why, but in my mind it’s always ‘they’re all blue,’ which, if you think about it, relates very much to the light and dark, sun and moon, good and evil. You make your choice but it’s always blue.”

In addition to the title of the song, the work in progress had various names, such as Scat or Scat Section, and has also been known as Breathe (2nd Reprise) due to its similar beat and chord sequence.

Staying on the topic of what is considered to be Pink Floyd’s magnum opus, Dark Side of the Moon makes use of voices throughout the album. These voices were generated by questions Roger Waters had written up on cue cards and were subsequently asked to roadies, doormen, members of the band Wings, and anyone available at Abbey Road. The approximately twenty questions ranged from “When was the last time you were violent and were you in the right?” to “What does the phrase ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ mean to you?” The laughter that can be heard on Speak to Me and Brain Damage is that of Peter Watts, a road manager for Pink Floyd. In addition to the voices, at the end of the album, faint music can be heard, which is presumed to be an instrumental version of Ticket to Ride by the Beatles in the background. It has been proposed that while recording doorman Jerry Driscoll’s response (“there is no dark side of the moon really, as a matter of fact it’s all dark”) that somewhere in Abbey Road, Ticket to Ride was playing and was picked up by the microphones.

Pioneering the Pink Floyd’s sound, Barrett has widely been viewed as a musical genius for his contributions to the 1960s’ underground psychedelic scene. Little seems to focus on the man behind the music aside from his mental meltdown that ultimately led to the band abandoning him while on the way to a gig in 1968. Slowly, he reverted from Syd Barrett to his given name of Roger Barrett as he slipped into ever-increasing obscurity after departing the band. He would continue to release two solo albums with the help of David Gilmour, but eventually succumbed to a private life in Cambridge. Media outlets and fans sought him out in the later years of the Floyd, a concept that Barrett did not understand; he lived firmly in the present and did not take advantage of his past. Becoming more aware of the materialism that surrounded his artistic creations as he tried to live as privately as possible, he began to practice a form of self-destruction on his artwork.

Barrett himself had studied and practiced with paint, ink and pencil while in the band’s oldest incarnations. He would continue this throughout his time with Pink Floyd and after his era as front-man. With a strong disinterest in materialism and utter disbelief behind why people sought him out, he continued painting and creating works of art with a new-found method to deal with the clamor. He took on a ritual of photographing his completed works and then destroying the canvas, sometimes by burning his own work. As the metaphor that it unintentionally is for the development of the band, Barrett has managed to encapsulate the aspect of how he deals with the pressure of attention and demand in the industry (and earlier in time, the presence of drugs) with this damaging and brash act. [Source] http://www.sydbarrett.com/biography.htm

Pink Floyd’s album art is as legendary as the band itself, addressing the themes in their music with visuals as impressive as the content itself. Gerald Scarfe and Storm Thurgeson, two artists often associated with Pink Floyd, are behind much of the 1970s era Floyd artwork. Scarfe drew content for The Wall album and Thurgeson designed the album artwork behind The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. On the DSOTM’s iconic sleeve is a prism that represents the band’s stage lighting, the record’s lyrical themes, and keyboardist Rick Wright’s request for a simple and bold design. Of the seven designs presented to the band, the prism was unanimously chosen. As the band could afford to be pickier however, things became more complicated.

Wish You Were Here’s cover image consists of two businessmen meeting in the street, greeting each other with an empty handshake, one man on fire. The image was inspired by the idea that people tend to conceal their true feelings, for fear of “getting burned.” This was a common phrase in the music industry, used often by artists denied royalty payments. In the image, two stuntmen were used, one dressed in a fire-retardant suit covered by a business suit. His head was protected by a hood, underneath a wig. The photograph was taken at the Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles. Initially the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, and the flames were forced into the stuntman’s face, burning his mustache. This was easily remedied, however, with the two stuntmen changing positions. The photograph was later reversed.

For the Animals’ cover image, they were careful with how they planned to orchestrate a pig on the wing. After commissioning a German company Ballon Fabrik (who had previously constructed Zeppelin airships) and Australian artist to build a porcine balloon, known as Algie, the balloon was inflated with helium and maneuvered into position with a trained marksman ready to fire if it escaped. Unfortunately, inclement weather delayed work, and the band’s manager neglected to book the marksman for a second day. The balloon, obviously testing Murphy’s law, broke free of its moorings and disappeared from view. It landed in Kent and was recovered by a local farmer, who was furious that it had “scared his cows.” The balloon was recovered and filming continued for a third day, but as the early photographs of the power station were considered better, the image of the pig was later superimposed onto one of those.

This is a short summary of a greater and much more in-depth analysis of the album The Wall and its many moving parts, courtesy of Bret Urick. While the album itself is full of symbolism, literary devices, themes and other items of significance – hammers, bricks, walls, worms – the song Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 is full of oxymoronic and contradictory statements throughout despite its unifying stance against the way institutions stifle creativity in today’s classrooms. As Waters, Wright, and Gilmour sing a choir of restless schoolchildren to rebel against the harsh and cynical treatment of their teachers, there is a certain antithesis in the air that is apparent in the lyrics.

While fighting for individuality, the lyrics of Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 ironically are saturated with references to conformity. There is no ‘I’, or singular driven character as with the rest of the album, there is a ‘we.’ This plurality is identity-robbing, as evidenced by the kids’ actions while under the teacher’s rules and while ransacking the school in the film based on the album. The children in the second verse sing lyrics of personal revolution, yet it is accompanied with their symmetrical lockstep rhythm, both musically and physically. Notwithstanding their rebellious tendencies, they have become as comparable as when they were clones of one another. Moreover, one could delve into the effects of mass psychology and the pressure from amongst peers to contribute to the violence and chaos that is the literal tearing-down-of-the-school-walls. It is a momentary victory for Pink in his struggle against his figurative wall, which explains the expressive guitar solo amidst the rigid disco structure of the song.

Most agree or are of the opinion that Syd Barrett had a breakdown in early 1968 due to the increasing notoriety of the band and his drug use. Rob Chapman, author of “Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head,” however, argues that Syd’s madness was a misunderstanding of his artistic intent. He claims the motive behind the other band members abandoning Syd is that when the band was on the verge of becoming financially successful, Barrett wanted to turn to a different form of sonic experimentation. He attributes Barrett’s actions (such as playing one untuned string during a whole performance) as acts of defiance against the band members who disagreed with him.

Chapman takes it even further by analyzing Syd’s Pink Floyd songs and work from his solo years. He reasons that had Syd had a mental breakdown, that his writing would have suffered as much as he had. Like in his years with Pink Floyd, Chapman finds references and quotes spread throughout, from Huff the Talbot and our Cat Tib (Mother Goose rhyme), Thomas Nashe’s Summer’s Last Will and Testament (an Elizabethan masque play), Shakespeare’s King Henry VI Pt. 1, Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows, poems from: Anonymous (Mr Nobody), John Clare (Fairy Things), Sir Henry Newbolt (Rilloby-Rill) and William Howitt (The Wind in a Frolic) – all in the song Octopus from the album The Madcap Laughs. How near or how far into this we delve, his music remains influential.

In 1972, Pink Floyd released a live performance album recorded from the amphitheater of Pompeii and a studio in France. While the location of Pompeii’s amphitheater without an audience served as an excellent statement against the live recordings of the time in which bands were shown alongside their adoring fans, it most importantly was symbolic of the history of Pompeii.

The initial idea behind Live at Pompeii wasn’t Pompeii at all, but was, as conceptualized by the director, combining the Floyd’s music with contemporary art. In a meeting with David Gilmour and the band’s manager the band declined this idea, agreeing to talk about it at a later date. Adrien Maben, the director, went on holiday to Italy in early summer 1971. It was in Pompeii that Adrien Maben lost his passport, and retracing his steps, was surprisingly let back into the ancient city. There is no better way to sum up the spirit of the Live At Pompeii recordings than what Maben described seeing in the empty amphitheater:

“I returned alone, retracing my steps along the empty streets of Pompeii, back to the amphitheater of stone walls and seats.

“It was strange. A huge deserted amphitheater filled with echoing insect sounds, flying bats and the disappearing light which meant that I could hardly see the opposite side of this huge structure built more than two thousand years ago.

“I knew by instinct that this was the place for the film. It had to be here. It somehow all came together that evening in the ancient city. Film the empty amphitheater, resurrect the spirit of Pompeii with sound and color, imagine that ghosts of the past could somehow return.”

It is a complete myth that Italian authorities would only let Pink Floyd play in Pompeii as long as there wasn’t an audience; the Soprintendenza of Naples (the official board that controls the site of Pompeii) was skeptical of a rock group playing at a site of cultural value, but the idea that there would be no audience was not imposed by the Soprintendenza.

The Publius Enigma is a mystery surrounding the Division Bell album, and is suspected of being both an early example of a viral marketing campaign and a puzzle that was eventually abandoned by its creators. Whether or not the enigma is an officially solvable puzzle still remains unclear but has been confirmed by Mason in his book “Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd” as being a marketing ploy of EMI and that ‘Publius’ was not a fictitious spokesperson for the band, but rather, an actual person coordinating an orchestration of events geared to stir and stimulate Floyd fans for the Division Bell Tour.

Publius promised an unspecified reward for solving the riddle and further claimed that there was an enigma hidden within the artwork, music and lyrics of the album. Outcries from skeptics soon followed, only to be shushed when Publius affirmed his appearance at a live venue: “Monday, July 18, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Approximately 10:30pm. Flashing white lights. There is an enigma.” Sticking to his promise, the words ENIGMA and PUBLIUS appeared in bold white lights during the song Keep Talking. Further authenticating Publius’s existence during the televised and recorded concert at Earl’s Court, London, the word ENIGMA was projected onto the backdrop during the song Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2. On the P•U•L•S•E DVD of that concert, extra markings were also added with the clue L = mc², only to be quickly overlaid with E = mc².

Adding to the validity and perpetuation of the Publius Enigma are further clues from Pink Floyd paraphernalia: “Publius Enigma” can be heard spoken just before the song One of These Days on the 2003 DVD release of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii. Page 13 of the The Division Bell’s CD booklet contains an anagram of the word “enigma,” hidden in the third column from the right of the lyrics to Wearing the Inside Out. The following are wild and often irrational associations to other significant events, but keep in mind this was EMI’s brainchild.

“The page numbers of The Division Bell’s CD booklet are written in various languages and printed on silhouettes of the head statues shown on the cover of the album. Page 11 shows two head silhouettes. Printed on either one is the German word for eleven, ‘elf,’ resulting in ‘elf elf,’ or, ‘eleven eleven.’ The trailer for the 2009 film 11:11 features the song High Hopes. High Hopes is the 11th track on The Division Bell. The release date of David Gilmour’s On An Island, March 6, 2006, is exactly eleven months and eleven years after the U.S. release date of The Division Bell, April 5, 1994.

On June 11, 1994, Publius made his first enigma post to the Pink Floyd newsgroup. Eleven years later, on June 11, 2005, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright agreed to reunite as Pink Floyd for Live 8. During the broadcast (and as seen on the Live 8 DVD), the band took the stage just shortly after 11:00 p.m., and by 11:11, Pink Floyd were playing together as a four-man lineup for the first time in twenty four years.”

Dark Side of the Rainbow, or the Dark Side of Oz, is an alleged purposeful synchronization (though sometimes claimed as an unintentional collaboration of creative souls) of the album The Dark Side of the Moon with the film The Wizard of Oz. The rumors surfaced around 1994 that the album was a soundtrack for the movie, with connections being made between actions by the characters and lyrics on the album. For instance, Dorothy balances on a tight-rope fence during the line “balanced on the biggest wave” in the song Breathe and she begins to jog when the words “no one told you when to run” are sung during Time. Tracks also transition when scenes change, and songs such as The Great Gig in the Sky play for the entirety of Dorothy’s house caught in the Kansas twister. The culmination of the lion’s second roar concludes with a heartbeat, a tin man, and the previously mentioned faint music, making for quite a convincing argument for those who are compelled to believe that this is a stroke of Floyd genius. The members of the band deny the claims however and the producers recall no mention of the movie during recording of the album.

Another interesting synchronicity (a phenomenon in which coincidental events “seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality,” as explained by Carl Jung) is 2011: a Pink Floyd Odyssey. The final segment, Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, is of a similar length of Pink Floyd’s song Echoes. Stanley Kubrick originally offered Pink Floyd a part producing the music behind the film, but Waters would decline as he was trying to distance the band from the space-rock genre. The theory from fans is that after seeing Kubrick’s masterpiece, they (or Waters individually) regretted missing out on the offer and set out to create a piece of music that would fit the movie. While there are parallels to Dark Side of the Rainbow, such as scenes changing with the music, it is ultimately a lesser journey in coincidence.

Unlike in my last list, not all of the musicals these scenes are from were successful or memorable, but the scenes themselves are classic, innovative or showcase great talent. I’ve been confident enough to go into far more detail this time around, though I’ve also tried to make certain not to repeat anything that was already visited in the last list. I can assure you that my misguided enthusiasm for musicals is sufficient to fill two lists. Perhaps three. Hmmm.

A perennial classic, Singin’ in the Rain produced a star in 19-year-old Debbie Reynolds, while further cementing the brilliance of Gene Kelly. It also produced his co-star Donald O’ Connor’s most memorable and popular dance sequence, “Make ‘Em Laugh,” where he showcased his strenuous, acrobatic dancing abilities. The scene has been recreated many times since, on shows like Glee (regrettably), and the Oscars.

But the scene that is most famous is undoubtedly the title song, because of the unforgettable image it conveys of Gene Kelly, umbrella in hand, dancing in the rain. It’s hard to pick what will become an instant classic, but since its inception, this scene has been recreated, honored, referenced and spoofed more times than perhaps any other scene in cinema. It was also remixed quite recently in a remarkable Volkswagen advertisement.

One of the most captivating things about this scene is how polished and strictly choreographed it seems, while behind the scenes it was anything but. Many people are aware of the story of Gene Kelly being extremely ill while shooting this scene. Refusing to leave the set until he could run through the scene at least once, the legend is that it was shot in one take, with very limited blocking. The notion of such a classic piece of cinema being created in one cursory take is very romantic and has captured the imaginations of actors and audiences alike since.

The rain itself was made of water and milk in order to make it thicker and more visible on screen. The tapping of Gene’s shoes was also dubbed later, and this was also done to much of Debbie Reynolds’ tapping in the film. Despite these clunky technical details, the viewer would never know what effort had been made to make the scene work. The song, paired with Gene Kelly’s undeniable talent, created a classic scene in cinema, and one of the greatest in dancing history.

While not a particularly great example of either Marilyn Monroe or Jane Russell’s best singing or dancing, this song was the opening scene in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the film that launched Marilyn Monroe to stardom. Marilyn had appeared in a few successful movies before this production, such as Monkey Business (1952) and Niagara (1953), but it wasn’t until Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that she garnered widespread attention. At this time, she was still considered a less famous actress than Jane Russell, and her name is therefore billed below Jane’s in the opening credits.

By the time Gentlemen was filmed, she had modeled a persona of smoldering sex appeal, wrapped in an almost naive, wide-eyed innocence. Marilyn was reputedly told during the filming of Gentlemen that she needed to tone down this sexual magnetism, which could sometimes become a little too intense for the sweet, likable (though slightly conniving) role that she was playing (Jane Russell was reputedly told to tone it up). However, she was just beginning to strike a chord with the movie-going public with this calculating sexuality, and it remained a popular aspect of her acting.

In this famous scene we are introduced to Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe’s characters in dazzling Technicolor. It was only the second time the audience had heard Marilyn sing, (the first was in a 1948 B movie called Ladies of the Chorus) and one of the early glimpses of her with the platinum blonde locks that were to become her signature (before Monkey Business, she’d tried several different shades of blonde; in Don’t Bother To Knock (1952) her hair is more a yellowy, golden shade than the white-blonde we’re familiar with).

It must have been clear to moviegoers, when they saw this blonde bombshell explode onto the stage in her flashy red sequins, that they were watching a true star, a woman of unfathomable beauty, and sadly underrated talent. She easily keeps up with her more experienced co-star, and flaunts the breathy, dreamy singing voice that was to become one of her famous trademarks.

Throughout her quite short career, Marilyn was usually typecast as beautiful but idiotic sexpots. Despite this on-screen persona, she had a deep interest in psychoanalysis, very liberal beliefs (especially about equal rights), and was said by third husband (and writer of the play The Crucible), Arthur Miller, to be a devoted buyer of books. There is a recurring rumor that she had an IQ of over 160, which, if true, would make her much more than averagely intelligent. Certainly much more intelligent than a certain American president she’s rumored to have romanced on the sly. But the ‘IQ rumor’ is just one of many that continued to surface in the years after Marilyn’s death, some more controversial than others. Her often very shrewd remarks suggest that she was far from unintelligent, once quipping: “Speaking of Oscars, I would win overwhelmingly if the Academy gave an Oscar for faking orgasms. I have done some of my best acting convincing my partners I was in the throes of ecstasy.”

However, she could never quite fight the frequent typecasting, though she managed to deviate from her blonde ditz role in a few of her movies, like Niagara, Bus Stop (1956), and The Misfits (1961). Despite her success, Marilyn’s life was also very troubled. Towards the end of her life she was very ill, and suffered two miscarriages. Throughout her life, she suffered from depression and spells of wild self-destruction. She would turn up to filming late, dazed, addled by pills, and sometimes wouldn’t turn up at all. She was widely blasted as being a nightmare to work with, because of her unprofessional behavior and problems with alcohol and drugs.

One of these instants was on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) where esteemed actor Laurence Olivier frequently attacked Marilyn for her tardiness and for forgetting her lines. Marilyn felt she was made to feel inadequate and undesirable by the English great (though after her death he would express his distaste for how she was ruthlessly exploited by the industry). But she also recounted, more light-heartedly, of how she had appeased him when, one day, he had “given her hell” about “screwing up”: “I soothed him by telling him I thought his Hamlet (1948) was one of the greatest films ever made. You know he won an Oscar for it.”

This scene, from the movie The Band Wagon, is a small slice from the movie’s climax. The movie centers on languishing Hollywood actor Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire), who feels his star is waning and that his fame is drying up. He’s persuaded into starring in a light-hearted musical that his two writer friends have created. They misguidedly employ Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), an actor and director with numerous shows running simultaneously on Broadway, to help in the production.

Melodramatic, and slightly pretentious, Cordova immediately turns the quaint musical into a stormy drama, complete with complex mechanical sets that eventually malfunction and ruin the premiere of the show. He also employs the statuesque ballet dancer Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) to star beside Tony. The two initially clash, but come together in the end to make the show a success.

After Cordova’s production collapses, Tony convinces him to revert back to his friends’ original songs. These include a montage titled “Girl Hunt,” which is a spoof of crime fiction and the “hardboiled” detectives that often appear in it. In this scene, Fred Astaire’s character plays a gruff detective on the hunt for the tormenters of a delicate blonde, played by Cyd Charisse’s character Gabrielle. Gabrielle also plays a sultry, “dangerous” brunette, who attempts to seduce the detective.

Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire were both extraordinary dancers, as this scene undoubtedly shows. Cyd Charisse was, literally, bred to be a dancer and held it in esteem over even acting. Her legs were insured for $5 million, and she is one of the few women to have danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, others include Rita Hayworth, Debbie Reynolds, and Judy Garland.

Fred Astaire was known for his incredible grace, his perfectionism and lightness of foot. Gene Kelly was often noted for his vigor and strength, while Fred Astaire was more precise, and sometimes considered more coordinated. However, even Cyd Charisse herself stayed very diplomatic on the matter, commenting in her autobiography: “It’s like comparing apples and oranges. They’re both delicious.”

To jump forward some sixteen years, Sweet Charity was not lucky enough to be born in the 1950s, where questionable plots and sweet-to-a-fault heroines were generally forgiven if the musical numbers successfully atoned for it. Sweet Charity starred dancer, singer and actor Shirley MacLaine, who took one of the film’s songs “If My Friends Could See Me Now” as her trademark.

The film also carries another perennial favorite, “Hey, Big Spender.” The film itself follows the misadventures of Charity Hope Valentine (I told you she was sweet), a naive dancer-for-hire, aka prostitute. Despite being constantly taken advantage of in life and falling on hard times, she remains hopeful. Her dreams seem to have come true when she leaves the seedy dance hall she works in, and meets Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin), who seems to be understanding of her ex-profession, though he later struggles with the idea.

Made in the late ’60s, this musical could dare to tackle issues that earlier musicals couldn’t. Prostitution was often hinted at in movies in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, as was sexual promiscuity (Bette Davis’s Jezebel (1938), and Joan Crawford’s The Damned Don’t Cry (1950) spring to mind), but the morally dubious women was usually ultimately punished by humiliation or heartbreak, or were killed off (Bette Davis’s 1931 Waterloo Bridge is an example of the latter).

Sometimes sexuality was hinted at wordlessly to avoid the wrath of the censor. Cyd Charisse and Marilyn Monroe were often “victims of the censor,” meaning that they were watched closely to make sure that no inappropriate amounts of skin were shown or that they overstepped the mark when it came to their sex appeal. Cyd Charisse expressed her amusement at this attention, saying: “The censors were always there when I was on the set. When I was held up, in a lift, they were up on ladders to see if I was properly covered.”

However, in Sweet Charity Charity all but states that she sleeps with men for money, but is never shamed, or killed for her actions. How to handle this issue made even the filming of the movie quite contentious. Ross Hunter (producer of the 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie) was originally set to be producer but dropped out due to disagreements with director Bob Fosse on how to handle the delicate matter of prostitution. Ross Hunter wasn’t known for his liking of gritty realism, so it’s possible that he didn’t wish for Charity’s profession to be mentioned at all.

Storms in teacups aside, “Rich Man’s Frug” is an exceptionally well-choreographed and jaunty scene, in which Charity accompanies a celebrity to an exclusive club, and watches the floorshow. The music number also seems to satirize the nature of celebrity and the well-to-do, creating a scene that is quite bizarre and outlandish, complete with cheetahs in cages and elaborate marble statues. The scene also practically drips with the sixties, remaining very faithful to the style and look of the time, and for that reason alone is very memorable and enjoyable to watch. You almost expect Austin Powers to walk out at any moment.

To jump forward another nine years, Grease again pushed the envelope when it came to taboo subjects. In this film, teenage sex, drinking and smoking feature strongly in the storyline (though the lyricist makes certain to mention that Sandy and Danny are “eighteen,” and therefore at least the age of consent). Rather than shy away from the facts, the musical number “Summer Nights” paints a realistic picture of a high school: the boys are almost all fascinated with sex, the girls can be petty and two-faced. There is an obvious rivalry between Sandy and Rizzo, who doesn’t share the other girls’ interest in Sandy’s summer romance with Danny, while Danny’s friends are more interested in “how far” Danny got with Sandy than anything else.

This well-loved musical was adopted from the stage and altered to fit around the fact that Olivia Newton-John was Australian (perhaps she couldn’t do a convincing American accent?), making Sandy not an all-American girl, but an Australian exchange student. Depending on the production, performances of this musical since have opted to either retain this change or not, (the production in my high school chose to keep Sandy’s Australian heritage, unsurprisingly).

The censors still sunk their teeth into the film’s many sexual references, making certain that some of the more crude references were cut. Perhaps for fear of unnecessarily baiting the censors, the producers decided against casting Harry Reems as Coach Calhoun, due to his overturned conviction for “conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines”, and his ties to adult movies. Stockyard Channing, who played the promiscuous Rizzo, claimed in an interview that the hickeys on her neck in one of the scenes were real, and that Jeff Conaway “insisted on applying them himself.” Though personally I think that claim more exemplifies Stockyard’s acidic wit than any unusual acting methods used.

The “Summer Nights” scene occurs early in the movie, and is arguably the best-known and best-loved of all the Grease scenes. “You’re The One That I Love” and “Greased Lightning” are also recurring and lasting favorites, but “Summer Nights” is the only song to appear in an insect repellent commercial so it clearly tops the list. It provided, in one quite brief number, a great insight into the 1950s school atmosphere that the film wanted to create. It introduced and distinguished the characters of shallow Marty, prickly Rizzo and sweet, bubbly Frenchy, and those of Danny’s womanizing “T-Bird” friends.

Olivia Newton-John showcased her strong singing voice, if not strong acting skills, while John Travolta followed up his popular role in Saturday Night Fever (1977) with an equally acclaimed role, and began a very long and successful career in film.

I am one of those soulless people who prefer the terrible 2005 remake of The Producers than the classic, groundbreaking original. I feel unclean for admitting it, but there it is. It’s Nathan Lane, and he’s fabulous, and I’m weak. But, confessions aside, this musical number is perhaps one of the most hilarious, most beautifully satirical numbers ever made. It is dripping with Mel Brooks’ rambunctious wit.

Mel Brooks felt that the best revenge we could take on Adolf Hitler, for inflicting such hatred and misery on the world, was to mock him, mercilessly, and he does. In the 1983 remake of To Be or Not To Be he appears as the fuehrer himself, asking: “What do they want from me!? I’m good-natured! I’m good-hearted! I’m good-looking!” when he discovers what the foreign newspapers are calling him, and goes on to sing that he doesn’t want war, he wants peace! A little piece of every country in Europe.

The Producers was one of his most successful and loved comedies, teaming Gene Wilder with Zero Mostel, and creating one of the funniest, most offensive numbers in musical history. Brooks later adapted the film for the stage, turning it into a musical. Nathan Lane appeared as Max Bialystock in the stage production, earning his second Tony award. His experience on the stage is perhaps why he fared better than Mathew Broderick in the remake, and is so funny as the sleazy Max Bialystock.

The 2005 remake is actually more a faithful remake of the stage musical, than the original movie, which didn’t have any of the musical numbers later written for the stage (“We Can Do It,” “Keep It Gay,” “You Never Say Good Luck On Opening Night,” “Betrayed,” etc), and differing characters to the remake. For example, in the 2005 remake Hitler is depicted as being very effeminate, while in the original he is depicted more as being a drug-addled pothead.

The film and musical both centre on Max Bialystock (incidentally, ‘Bialystock’ is also the Polish town Brooks’ ancestors lived in, and which was devastated by the Nazis during WWII), who teams up with the mousy accountant Leo Bloom to make the greatest flop in history, in the hope that the money they raise for the production will be far more than what is needed. They choose “Springtime For Hitler,” a play certain to offend people everywhere, and employ a kitschy director, the insane, Nazi-sympathizing playwright and inept actors to make sure the musical has the shortest run on Broadway in history.

Turning Nazi Germany into a stage musical is just about the most offensive thing anyone could attempt, but, with its outlandish, over-the-top insanity, “Springtime for Hitler” is nothing but brilliant in its intentional tastelessness. Both the 1968 and 2005 versions of the “Springtime for Hitler” scene strongly encompass Brook’s satirical humor, but the original has the advantage of being, well, the original. And of having Brooks dub one of the dancers’ lines (“Don’t be stupid, be a smarty. Come and join the Nazi Party!”), but in the 2005 version we watch as scantily dressed soldier women take the pins off invisible grenades with their teeth, while a blonde John Barrowman (Torchwood) dons a German uniform. It’s a tough one.

Though not necessarily a particularly memorable movie in itself, RENT did produce one truly excellent scene and that was accompanied by the song “La Vie Boheme.” Based on the stage production of the same name, RENT centers on the lives of impoverished bohemians living in New York. Among them is a filmmaker, a musician, a drug-addicted exotic dancer, a transsexual and a philosophy professor (both of whom have AIDS), and a bisexual performance artist.

It seems like a crowded and slightly bewildering premise for a musical, but RENT is not about light-hearted comedy or romance. It tackles numerous controversial issues, and centers particularly on the AIDS panic of the late 1980s and 1990s. It is also based on the Puccini opera La Boheme, which has a similar story of struggling artists and musicians.

The film is more or less a series of gritty, hard-hitting numbers, concerning numerous issues, like sexuality, and heroin addiction. The stage production fared far better than the film, winning the Tony for Best Musical, while the film suffered from that “staginess” that so often alienates audiences from musicals. Its (sometimes overwhelmingly) grim material is not enough to make up for the fact that there is very little dialogue, and some of the numbers seem awkward and unrealistic off the stage. Some of the scenes of the disheveled bohemians suddenly breaking into song are very clunky.

But, flaws aside, “La Vie Boheme” is one of the lighter, funnier numbers, providing much needed relief from the sober drama. Rather than focusing on the difficulties of the bohemians, “La Vie Boheme” embraces their various differences and takes a strong stand against convention, conservatism and prejudice. The number is jaunty and witty, taking particular aim at the bohemians’ ex-roommate Benny Coffin III (Taye Diggs), who they feel has betrayed and deserted them. Benny takes a more realistic approach to their situation, pointing out that they are starving and living in a dangerous, filthy neighborhood, but seems ruffled by the displays of sexuality and defiance.

The song also references The Wizard of Oz in the line: “Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow to blow off Auntie Em. La Vie Boheme!”

In 2001, after a limited release in the United States, Moulin Rouge embarked on a slow, but sure domination of box offices worldwide. Baz Luhrmann, with his erratic, gaudy trademark, created a film of tremendous power and appeal, and took the notion of “jukebox musicals” to greater extents than any other movie had before. It referenced a huge selection of artists and music, most notably in the song “Elephant Love Melody” where a majority of the song is created out of single lyrics from famous love songs from artists like The Beatles, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Elton John, and U2.

“El Tango De Roxanne” (based on the song “Roxanne” by The Police) takes place towards the end of the film. Christian and Satine are lovers, but the duke is aggressively pursuing Satine and makes no secret of what will occur if he discovers that Satine is being unfaithful to him. As the number begins, Satine has been coerced into spending the night with the Duke, and Christian is intensely jealous. Sitting in broody silence with the other residents of the Moulin Rouge, he takes out his rage on one of the other prostitutes, prompting her lover, the unconscious Argentinean (Jacek Koman), to retaliate against Christian, accusing him of bringing it on himself for falling in love with a woman who sells herself: “When love is for the highest bidder there can be no trust. Without trust, there is no love.”

The number is almost a throwback to ‘Golden Age’ cinema, in the way that it centers largely on traditional, partnered dancing. This was common in older musicals: “Pick Yourself Up” from Swing Time (1936),”You Were Meant for Me” from Singin’ In the Rain, “Girl Hunt” from The Band Wagon (1953) are examples, among countless others. But it seemed to lose popularity as time wore on, and became increasingly rare, perhaps because it was increasingly difficult to convince the younger, more cynical audiences of a realistic situation when a couple would sporadically burst into dance together. Contrastingly, chaotic, improvised dancing, like that in “La Vie Boheme,” is far easier to integrate.

But in Moulin Rouge, the image of the rows of couples dancing in “El Tango De Roxanne” worked spectacularly, despite the difficult task of sewing this together with the secondary plot of Satine and the Duke. It is an example of flawless musical cinema. There is no seam between the spoken dialogue and the music, it melts together perfectly.

Laced between the tango of the men and women of the Moulin Rouge, we see scenes of the Duke and Satine dining together. The Duke believes that Satine is smitten with him, and is lavishing gifts on her, but his mood soon sours when he realizes that it isn’t him that Satine is in love with.

Incidentally, the principal dancer in this scene (“Roxanne”) is played by Caroline O’ Connor, a celebrated Australian actress, best known for her role as Velma Kelly in the stage production of Chicago.

I read recently that one critic, on reviewing Chicago, had believed that “Cell Block Tango” had played out in the movie much like it had on the stage, and I can tell you that nobody who has seen both the movie and the stage production could make such a claim. The stage production is centered strongly on minimalism, and the acts are staged much like the acts of a vaudeville show, the type of show that Renee Zellweger’s character Roxie Hart desperately wants to star in.

The Ziegfeld Follies are often described as a “higher class” of the vaudeville variety shows that ran from the late 1880s to the 1930s. Vaudeville shows were made up of a wide range of acts, everything from ‘freak shows’ to song and dance. It usually had the archetypal beautiful, costume-clad chorus girls present as well. To keep with this vaudeville flavor, Chicago’s stage production presents both classic dance numbers, like “All That Jazz” and “I Can’t do it Alone,” and other performances, like the “Hungarian Disappearing Act.”

The film also kept the vaudeville flavor of some of the numbers, but was obviously able to create much more intricate, complex scenes that the stage production. Much like “El Tango De Roxanne,” where cutaway scenes of Satine and the Duke are shown, “Cell Block Tango” uses cutaway scenes of Roxy in prison to create two plots, one that is occurring in Roxy’s mind and the second that is the reality. There are other examples of this. Particularly notable is the scene when one of the imprisoned women is hanged. The hanging scene is laced between shots of a “magic act” called the “Famous Hungarian Disappearing Act”. The scene is less effective on stage, because the focus of the audience is split between watching the “disappearing act,” and the actual hanging.

The critic is correct in that, arguably, the movie’s take on the “Cell Block Tango” could have been translated to the stage, as no CGI effects were used in the scene. But it would have to be a production of Phantom of the Opera sized proportions to achieve such a feat.

Despite the added advantages of cutaway scenes (and a huge budget), the film’s take on the “Cell Block Tango” is otherwise quite simple. It is, in essence, an extremely sleek, large-scale vaudeville act. The concept involves each murderess in Cook County Jail recounting the murder she committed, using a red scarf to emulate “where the blood would have been”.

The stage production on which the movie is based is itself actually based on a movie (actually, two movies), which are in turn based on the two very public trials of two murderesses in 1920s Chicago. The story has been taken to the screen twice before, once in a silent 1927 film of the same name, and again in Roxie Hart (1942), in which Ginger Rogers (Fred Astaire’s partner of choice) appears as Roxie.

I decided to add this as a sort of extra, because it does have obvious differences to the other scenes. Most obvious is that it contains no dancing. But an oversight would certainly be made if this classic scene was omitted (yay for agent less sentences). The Wizard of Oz launched a 17 year-old Judy Garland into stardom. Before this film, she had appeared in several small, unremarkable films and it wasn’t until she performed “You Made Me Love You” at the birthday party of Clark Gable that her company MGM seemed to realize her potential.

The Wizard of Oz turned Judy into a household name, and she afterwards appeared in several successful musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), beside Fred Astaire in Easter Parade (1948), and beside Gene Kelly in The Pirate (1948). At age three, her daughter, Liza Minnelli, also appeared beside her in The Good Old Summertime (1949).

Much like Marilyn, Judy’s life was extremely troubled, and checkered by five marriages, and numerous affairs (some of her alleged lovers included Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner, and Orson Welles), as well as several attempted suicides. She often accused MGM of making her feel inadequate about her looks and treating her badly. Like many movie figures of her time, she suffered from an alcohol problem, and a prescription drug addiction, and this may have led to her overdose and death in 1969, at age 47.

Judy is still one of the most widely recognized and celebrated actresses of all time. This status is aided by The Wizard of Oz’ enduring popularity, and the song “Over The Rainbow,” which made her a star and brought her contralto singing voice widespread admiration. The song snagged #1 on The American Film Institute’s list of the “Greatest Songs” over the past 100 years. The song’s wistful sadness is strongly associated with Judy and her ultimately tragic life.

Judy was often very open about the troubles in her life, and her words often hinted at deep unhappiness. She was quoted in the biography Judy (1999) as saying: “I wanted to believe and I tried my damnedest to believe in the rainbow that I tried to get over and couldn’t. So what? Lots of people can’t…”

Less a film than a series of individual music acts, Ziegfeld Follies boasts a slew of stars: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Lucille Ball, Lena Horne, and one of the original Ziegfeld Follies girls, Fanny Brice.

The Ziegfeld Follies were lavish theatrical shows that ran from 1907 to 1937, and mostly showcased women singing, dancing, or just showing off their looks and figures. The Ziegfeld Follies were known for their extravagance. The creator, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., conceived the idea of taking the popular vaudeville premise of unrelated musical acts and then surrounding them with grand sets and costumes. He also had scenes where beautiful women would simply pose in different ways, and called these “living pictures.”

The history of the Ziegfeld Follies is extremely interesting, and controversial, but far too long to discuss here. It provides, nonetheless, any extremely rich canvas for any film. Unfortunately, Ziegfeld Follies’ premise is fairly weak, and consists of Florenz Ziegfeld sitting in heaven and mentally conjuring up the scenes that follow. Despite this flimsy storyline, “The Babbitt and the Bromide” is truly remarkable. Side by side are two legendary dancers: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. It would be the only time the two would dance together in their careers, except for That’s Entertainment Part II (1976), 31 years later.

The act itself consists of a “Babbitt” and a “bromide” meeting on the street and embarking on a pointless and shallow discussion. A “Babbitt” is a, fairly obscure, word for a complacent, narrow-minded middle-class man, and a “bromide” is a word for an unoriginal or insincere figure of speech, suggesting that Fred Astaire’s character is also both of these characteristics (assuming that Astaire’s character was the bromide, I don’t think that was ever addressed). Fred Astaire’s grace and precision, Gene Kelly’s physical strength and remarkable choreography skills make for a classic, unforgettable scene.

It is also memorable because it is seen as the meeting of two geniuses, especially as the two men play themselves and not characters. They tease each other at the beginning of the scene, Gene making a reference to Fred’s frequent dance partner Ginger Rogers, and Fred doing the same to Gene’s dance partner Rita Hayworth in the 1944 movie Cover Girl.

Please note that this is a list of reggae singers, so this list does not include reggae deejays, deejays who also happen to sing, instrumentalists or producers.

The poised and refined Ellis was a trailblazer in the Jamaican music scene, his soulful voice warming the ears of many listeners with his pioneering forays into rocksteady and his unique covers of R&B classics. Alton Nehemiah Ellis was born in 1938, in Kingston’s Trenchtown, to a family that encouraged his artistic pursuits. Ellis took piano lessons at a young age, and won several dance competitions before focusing on a singing career. Teaming up with Eddy Perkins, the young Alton began recording R&B songs for Coxsonne Dodd. With six Jamaican hits under their belts, the duo seemed destined for greater success. Perkins, however, moved to the United States after winning a talent contest. Alton briefly worked with John Holt, before forming his own group, the Flames. As ska began to glorify the often violent rude boy subculture, Ellis grew more and more frustrated – recording several songs directed at the rude boys and denouncing artists who glorified the rude boys. Two of these anti-rudie tunes, “Cry Tough” and “Dance Crasher” became large hits.

“Girl I’ve Got a Date” and “Get Ready, Rock Steady” were also big hits for Ellis, with the latter being the first song in the new genre of rocksteady (emerging from a session with the great keyboardist, Jackie Mittoo). Ellis continued to dominate this new form of music. In the early Seventies, Ellis covers of “Willow Tree,” “Sitting in the Park,” and “I’m Just a Guy” became big Jamaican hits. Two of Ellis’ original songs, the more rootsy “Back to Africa” and “Lord Deliver Us” also struck Jamaican gold. Unfortunately, all of Alton’s success was not translating financially for the artist. Ellis moved briefly to the United States and Canada before settling in the UK and setting up his own label, Alltone. He had mild success with his new label, but was one of the many reggae singers overshadowed by Marley’s great success. Ellis received the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican government, in 2004, for his musical achievements. Four years later, Ellis died of cancer, leaving behind numerous children and a beloved catalogue of ska, rocksteady and reggae classics.

Winston Rodney was born in 1948, in the same locale as Bob Marley, and it was a meeting with Marley, in 1969, that began Rodney’s journey to success. Rodney asked for Marley’s advice on entering the music business, and Bob advised him to look up Clement “Coxsonne” Dodd. Performing in a duo with his friend, Rupert Willington, the two caught Dodd’s ear. Inspired by Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s Mau Mau leader, Rodney chose the name “Burning Spear” for the group. The group was joined by Delroy Hinds who helped Willington back up Winston’s unmistakable chanting vocals. Their first successful single was “Joe Frazier (He Prayed),” which was a runaway Jamaican hit. Right from the start, the groups’ singles focused on conscious themes of deep Rastafarian spirituality and cultural awareness, releasing a string of singles and two albums. Unable to match their early hit, the group left Dodd, in 1975, for Jack Ruby, and their first two singles “Marcus Garvey” and “Slavery Days” quickly lit up the charts. Backed by the Black Disciples (which included bassist Robbie Shakespeare and guitarist Earl “Chinna Smith), their first album with Ruby, Marcus Garvey, is considered essential listening for any roots fan. Island quickly took notice of the group and signed them. Burning Spear was alienated almost immediately, however, when the record label re-released the Marcus Garvey album for international consumption by remixing the entire thing.

In reaction, Rodney set up his own label and Burning Spear released a well-received follow-up, 1976’s Marcus Gavey, Man in the Hills, as well as a dub album. At this point both Willington and Hinds left the group and Rodney severed Ruby’s production. Rodney kept the name Burning Spear and began to self-produce, still backed by the Black Disciples and still on the Island label. By the time 1977’s Dry and Heavy was released, Burning Spear was well-known in the UK. After performing with the UK reggae band, Aswad, Spear retained some of its musicians alongside the Black Disciples for his next album, 1978’s Social Living. Spear was invited to the inaugural Reggae Sunsplash in 1980, and has appeared at almost every single subsequent Sunsplash festival since. 1980 also saw the release of Hail H.I.M., produced at Tuff Gong studio with the Black Disciples and Aston “Family Man” Barrett as co-producers. Throughout the Eighties, Spear toured and released albums, receiving a Grammy nomination in ’85 and re-forming his backing band twice. In the mid-Nineties, Spear moved to Queens where he continues to record. Spear received a Grammy nomination in ’95 for Rasta Business, finally winning in 2000 with Calling Rastafari and in 2009 with Jah is Real.

Well-known as the lead singer of Black Uhuru, Michael Rose has emerged as a talented singer in his own right. Born on July 11th, 1957, in the violent Waterhouse District of Kingston, Rose nevertheless had a stable home. As a teenager, Rose was drawn to Rastafarianism and began growing his dreadlocks. Dreads were viewed with abhorrence by most of polite society at this time, and Rastafarians were considered to be a dirty, drug-addled group of troublemakers and lowlifes. Rose’s parents, unhappy with his hairstyle choice, demanded that he have his locks shorn or face the streets. Rose refused, and was thrust into the streets to fend for himself. He managed to stay out of trouble, but lost many friends along the way. In his early teens, Rose competed in local talent contests and performed in Hotels along Jamaica’s northern coast. At the age of 15, Rose’s recorded his first single, and soon followed this with a number of other singles under the production of Winston “Niney” Holness. Few of his songs registered, but Rose was encouraged by his childhood friend, the drummer Sly Dunbar, and continued to pursue his singing career. Through Dunbar, Rose met Ducky Simpson, a singer who was hoping to reestablish his vocal trio, Uhuru. With the addition of Rose and Errol Nelson, Black Sounds Uhuru was born. They recorded one album “Love Crisis” before Errol Nelson left and was replaced by an American woman, Puma Jones.

From this point on, Black Uhuru were produced by Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, who also provided the distinctive drum and bass instrumentation. Along with “General Penitentiary” the re-recorded “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “Shine Eye Gal” were all well-received hits. More hits followed, and the group was signed to Island, in 1980. Their first Island album was Sinsemilla, and this was quickly followed, in 1981, with Red, which reached number 28 on the UK albums Chart. Rolling Stone rated the album 23rd in their ’89 list of the 100 greatest albums of the Eighties. When the Grammys created the Reggae category, in 1984, Black Uhuru were the first reggae act to take it, with their Anthem album. Unfortunately, Rose and Simpson were coming into increasing conflict, leading Michael to leave the group. Although still meeting some success, the group was not the same after Rose’s departure. Rose began a coffee farm in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, a non-profit project he still runs and which employs local youth. Rose remained quiet for several years following his departure from Black Uhuru, until emerging on the reggae scene again, in 1989. He has been consistently putting out well-received albums and singles since, mostly under what he insists is the Ethiopian spelling of his name, Mykal Rose. Rose’s distinctive voice and scatting style have inspired many reggae vocalists. Rose has begun to occasionally rejoin Black Uhuru while still pursuing his own music, often collaborating with dancehall artists. His most recent number one hit, 2007’s “Shoot Out” was recorded with Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley.

With a career spanning over thirty years, Brown was a prolific artist with a powerful voice and an amiable personality. Dennis Emmanual Brown was born in 1957, in the midst of Kingston’s burgeoning music industry, on Orange Street. Surrounded by the sounds of ska, rocksteady and reggae throughout his youth, the young Brown was enthralled with music. Influenced by this environment and the work of American artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sam Cooke and Nat King Cole, Brown began singing earnestly at the age of nine. He was soon discovered by local producers, and his first hit came under Clement Dodd at the tender age of twelve with “No Man is an Island.” Brown worked as a backup singer for the reggae great, Alton Ellis, who convinced him to learn to play the guitar. Releasing a slew of songs under various producers while still completing his schooling, Brown’s musical acumen grew. In the early Seventies, Brown began recording on the Observer label under the guidance of his producer and friend, Winston “Niney” Holness. Brown’s musical success grew with “Money in My Pocket” receiving heavy rotation in UK reggae clubs and “Westbound Train” a number one hit in Jamaica. A stream of hits followed, as Brown moved from love songs to more cultural themes reflecting his Rastafarian beliefs.

Bob Marley took notice of the young Brown, and enthused that he was the greatest reggae singer in the world. More hit singles and albums followed, and Brown reached number 12 on the UK charts with the disco mix version of “Money in my Pocket.” It was not until 1981, following Marley’s death, that a major label took an interest in Brown. Brown, acknowledging Marley as the king of reggae, took the title of the Crown Prince of Reggae. Dennis Brown signed with A&M and produced two albums with Joe Gibbs. The albums did not do well, as reggae aficionados detected too much pop music for their liking. Brown’s deal with A&M fizzled, but now he and other singers were facing the challenge of the new digital era of reggae and the rise of the swift-chatting deejays. Singers like Brown and Isaacs responded by flooding the market with songs, believing that a lack of fresh material had led to the rise of these upstart deejays. Unfortunately, the quality of their material suffered as a result. Still, a number of great albums and collaborations resulted, with duets and collaborations with artists such as Gregory Isaacs, Mutabaruka and Beres Hammond. In the early Nineties, Brown continued to record roots tracks and collaborations with dancehall and roots artists. Regrettably, Brown had begun to use cocaine and his already fragile respiratory system was weakened by the new addiction. Brown caught pneumonia while touring in Brazil, and returned to Jamaica where he was rushed to the hospital after a cardiac arrest. His weakened lung, its poor condition exacerbated by cocaine abuse, collapsed and Brown died, on July 1st, 1999. Brown left behind numerous classic reggae songs, and the world had lost one of reggae’s greatest stars.

Although raised in Kingston, Desmond Dacres was born in St. Andrew Jamaica. As a youth, Dacres was sent to Alpha Boys School, a strict Catholic school that is, nevertheless, famous for producing some of Jamaica’s greatest talents through its brass band. Not only did the school produce a number of well-known Jamaican musicians, but it was also home to four out of the ten founding members of the Skatalites. As a teenager, Dacres moved about Jamaica, until the death of both of his parents led him to return to Kingston. Encouraged to sing by his coworkers (including one Robert Marley) at his welding job, Desmond auditioned unsuccessfully for both Clement Dodd and Duke Reid. Finally he was signed by Leslie Kong after an audition in front of the ska legend, Derrick Morgan. Desmond Dacres became Desmond Dekker and released his first hit, “Honour Your Father and Mother,” followed by three others. His “King of Ska,” where he was backed by the Maytals, cemented him as one of Jamaica’s most popular singers. After this hit, Dekker formed a backing band, the Four Aces, made up of brothers Barry, Carl, Clive and Patrick Howard.

Desmond Dekker and the Aces created a string of hits, initially trading off a squeaky clean image, before his songs began to cater to the rebellious rude boys. On tour in the UK, Dekker was astounded to find that he had been adopted by the mod subculture. With every Jamaican hit echoed among the mods, Desmond Dekker had over twenty number one hits in Jamaica including “Rudie Got Soul,” “Pretty Africa” and “007 (Shanty Town).” Finally, in 1968, Dekker was at his peak when he released his most well-known song, “Israelites.” “Israelites” reached the top ten on the American Charts and the top of the UK Singles Chart. Dekker had mild success in his UK tours of the seventies, and his recording of his previous hits in a punk-ska fusion called 2-Tone. In the Eighties, the 2-Tone movement fizzled out, and Dekker was forced to declare bankruptcy, in 1984. He collaborated extensively afterwards, and was much sought-after for his popular live shows. He died in May of 2006, at the age of 64 of a heart attack. His most well-known single “Israelites” had become a hit three times over and had paved the way for future reggae successes in the United States and the UK.

Gregory Isaacs, in the words of the New York Times’ Milo Miles, “is the most exquisite vocalist in reggae, his pliable baritone equally at ease with silken ballads and slinky dance grooves.” Isaacs was born and raised in the west Kingston neighborhood of Fletcher’s Land, where he participated in many singing competitions as a teenager. It was his frequent participation in these talent shows that eventually made him catch the ear of producer Byron Lee in 1968. Alongside Winston Sinclair, he recorded a duet, “Another Hearbreak,” an unsuccessful single. Inspired by the success of other vocal trios, Isaacs formed the Concords and worked with a number of producers, including Prince Buster. The Concords were also unsuccessful in recording a hit and soon disbanded. Isaacs, despite his lack of success, doggedly pursued his musical dream. Gregory Isaacs tried to self-produce his own songs and still failed to record a hit. Finally, he set up his own record store and label, partnering with the successful singer, Errol Dunkley. Soon afterwards, Isaacs produced and released what is considered to be the very first lovers rock song, “My Only Lover.”

Finally Isaacs had a hit, and it was as if the dam had burst with a flood of successful singles. The Cool Ruler, as he is known, churned out a prolific amount of songs, garnering numerous hits spread over nearly sixty albums (not including compilations). After signing to Island Records in 1982, he released his greatest studio album, Night Nurse. Backed by the Roots Radics on the titular track, the hit received heavy radio and club play, although the album only reached #32 in the UK. In spite of his success, not all was well with Isaacs. He served a six month sentence that same year for possessing unlicensed firearms and had become addicted to crack cocaine. He continued to release albums as he struggled with his addiction, but his voice had lost some of its smooth crooning quality. Still, he managed to kick his addiction, and continues to collaborate and create strong albums.

This 6’4 unicycle-riding Rastafarian who played a guitar shaped like an M-16 rifle was certainly a unique figure in reggae music. It is often said that if Bob Marley was Martin Luther King, the brooding Peter Tosh was Malcolm X. Born in the countryside of Westmoreland, Jamaica, Winston Hubert McIntosh was raised by an aunt in the absence of his parents. His aunt died when Tosh was only fifteen, and Tosh moved in with an uncle in Trench Town, Kingston’s notoriously poor and violent housing project. These experiences served to shape him into a fiercely independent individual who became known for both his stubbornness and tenacity. Tosh was a self-taught guitarist, learning to play on his cheap acoustic guitar through observation and practice. It was him, in fact, who had taught Bob Marley how to play. Peter Tosh had met the young Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer through their vocal coach, Joe Higgs. The three formed the Wailing Wailers, and produced a string of ska and rocksteady hits. After converting to Rastafari, they teamed up with the great Lee Perry to create a number of hits. Marley convinced Perry’s house band, the Upsetters, who had just been ripped off by Perry, to join the Wailers. At first Perry was furious, but Marley managed to smooth talk him into acting as producer.

Aided by Perry’s production genius and now possessing the musical skills of the Upsetters’ Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass and Carlton Barrett on drums, the Wailers caught the interest of Chris Blackwell and were promptly signed to his label. Tosh remained with the group for the first two albums, “Catch a Fire” and “Burnin’,” but left because of the rigorous tour schedule and his personal dislike of Chris Blackwell – or, as he preferred to call him, Chris White-worst. In 1973, Peter Tosh had been involved in a car accident that had killed his girlfriend and fractured his skull. Many of those around him said that he was even more difficult to deal with after this experience. Although he had previously dabbled with singles under his own label, Tosh finally embarked on a solo career in earnest, releasing his first solo project, “Legalize It” in 1976. It was this anthem calling for the legalization of marijuana, his frequent ganja smoking, his cantankerous personality, and his refusal to censor his speech that led to several severe beatings at the hands of the police force. One of the attacks, in 1978, was nearly fatal. Tosh soon came to the attention of the Rolling Stones, but he had little success on their label. He returned to his own label and released two great albums, “Wanted: Dread or Alive” and “Mama Africa.” On September 11th, 1987, Peter Tosh was gunned down in his home by a man he had given money to and bought a bed for. Along with three other men, the man had entered Tosh’s estate with a gun, looking for more money. Tosh, never one to be intimidated, had simply stated that he had none to give, and was promptly shot. However, no money was taken from Tosh’s house, prompting some to question the official story.

Instantly recognizable from his clear, high vocals, Jimmy Cliff emerged as a popular reggae symbol in the late Sixties and early Seventies. James Chambers was born to Pentecostal parents in the village of Adelphi Land in St. James, Jamaica. He found opportunities to use his unique voice in primary school and at his parent’s church. He was forbidden to actively seek out secular music, so he surreptitiously listened to the local sound system and snuck off to the local fairgrounds to absorb the latest Latin music and RnB. Chambers moved to Kingston in ’62 to attend a vocational high school. He took the opportunity to compete for the ear of local producers, eventually coming to the attention of producer Leslie Kong. Jimmy Cliff took his name from the cliffs surrounding his childhood village and began recording. After two failures, he recorded his first ska hit, “Hurricane Hattie” at the age of 14. This was followed by a string of top hits under Kong’s guidance. Leslie Kong’s death by a heart attack hit Cliff hard, as he had loyally stuck with the producer for his entire career. Jimmy Cliff was eventually signed by Chris Blackwell, the influential Jamaican/British producer and businessman. His first full length album, “Hard Road to Travel,” was released in 1968, with mild success.

His ’69 album, “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” had far more success with the titular song reaching the top 25 in the United States and peaking at number 6 in the United Kingdom. Bob Dylan has claimed that this album’s “Vietnam” was the best protest song he had ever heard. In ’72, Cliff was asked to star in the Jamaican movie, “The Harder They Come.” He accepted, recorded the majority of the movie’s soundtrack, and the movie became an underground cult classic. Reggae became much more well-known because of the movie and its soundtrack, and until he was overshadowed by Marley, Cliff was the face of Jamaican reggae. Unhappy with Chris Blackwell’s direction, he quit the Island label and forged ahead on his own, determined to pursue his own path. Cliff has always been socially active, and continues to tour and record at the age of 61. He was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hibbert’s energetic and funky delivery and gruff, soulful vocals are unmistakable. Hailing from the small town of May Pen, Jamaica, Frederick “Toots” Hibbert has had a profound effect on the growth and development of ska and reggae. This diminutive and unique singer grew up as the youngest member of a large Pentecostal family. As a youth he sang gospel music in the church choir, an influence that can still be heard in his music. While still a teenager, he moved to Kingston and formed a vocal group, the Maytals, with Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Jerry Matthias. Backed by the Skatalites and produced by Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, the trio eventually had chart success. The infectious rhythms and energy of the group easily outshone the efforts of another young trio, the Wailers. Toots and the Maytals went on to work with top Jamaican producers including Byron Lee, Prince Buster, and Leslie Kong, and had 39 number one hits in Jamaica. Hibbert is often credited with penning the first song to use the word reggae in 1968’s “Do the Reggay.” Rolling Stone ranked Toots Hibbert #71 in their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time (Marley was number 19). He never reached the popularity of Marley.

This, in spite of his European and American tours, the renewed interest in the Maytals emerging from the ska revival, and the subsequent covers of Hibbert’s work by the Clash and the Specials. Despite being a Rastafarian, he has forgone the growth of dreadlocks, preferring to internalize his over standing of Rastafari. This may also have something to do with Hibbert’s former occupation as a barber. Hibbert is still touring, collaborating extensively, and releasing albums at the age of 64.

The name of Bob Marley has become synonymous with reggae, and he remains the most well-known musician in the genre. Born in Nine Mile, St. Ann Jamaica to Cedella Booker, Marley grew up without knowing his white father, Norval Marley. Although Norval provided financial support, he was absent from Marley’s life and died when Bob was only ten. Marley’s mixed heritage caused him to be teased as a youth, but the young Marley knew how to defend himself, if need be, with his fists. His surprising strength and toughness earned him the nickname Tuff Gong. Along with his childhood friend and stepbrother, Neville O’Riley Livingston (Bunny Wailer), Marley was fascinated by the Jamaican music scene and the rude boy culture. The young Marley and Livingstone dropped out of school to pursue musical careers under the tutelage of the Rastafarian vocal coach Joe Higgs. It was here that they met Peter McIntosh with whom they formed the core of the band that became known as the Wailers. The Wailers were signed by Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, recording a number of minor hits. After a brief hiatus in Delaware, Marley returned to Jamaica and became a Rastafarian. After a dispute, the Wailers left Dodd to join the great Lee “Scratch” Perry and his Upsetters band. Taking the Barrett brothers along with them, the Wailers signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island label, releasing two albums in 1973, Catch a Fire and Burnin’. Both albums sold well, but it was not until Eric Clapton recorded a cover of “I Shot the Sheriff” that Marley became truly visible on the international music scene. Both Tosh and Bunny left the band at this point, unhappy with the rigorous tour schedule and intent on pursuing solo careers. Despite the loss of two of the original members of the Wailers, Marley retained the band’s name adding a percussionist, three backing vocalists and two lead guitarists to his band. In 1974, Marley released Natty Dread, which included his well-received hit, “No Woman, No Cry.”

Although he was becoming noticed in the United States, Marley’s American breakthrough finally arrived with 1976’s Rastaman Vibration, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard 200 charts. That same year, Marley agreed to participate what was supposed to be a free non-partisan event, the Smile Jamaica concert organized by Prime Minister Michael Manley. Politics were a deadly game in Jamaica, with supporters of the Jamaican Labour Party and the People’s National Party often warring violently. Perhaps this was why Marley, his wife, and his manager were all wounded by unidentified gunmen in a night-time raid. Marley had minor wounds to the chest and arm, but refused to bow to the pressure and played the concert anyways. Marley left Jamaica soon afterwards and recorded his Exodus and Kaya albums, both of which had massive international success. Exodus went on to be named the best album of the 20th century by Time Magazine while Rolling Stone placed it at 169 in the 500 greatest albums of all time. Marley’s following albums, Survival and Uprising, were more political in their scope and sold 3x and 5x platinum respectively. Unbeknownst to his fans, Marley had contracted a malignant form of cancer sustained from a wound from a rusty cleat while playing soccer. Despite his cancer and deteriorating health from ’76 onwards, Marley continued to tour and record. When he finally sought treatment it was too late, and he succumbed to the cancer on February 6, 1981. Eight of Marley’s children are currently involved in music, with three of them (Ziggy, Stephen, and Damian) having received multiple Grammys for their efforts. Marley’s songs continue to inspire the oppressed everywhere, and his music remains widely loved throughout the world.

Honorable Mentions: Laurel Aitken, Max Romeo, John Holt, Sugar Minott, David Hinds (Steel Pulse), Barrington Levy, Lucky Dube, Bunny Wailer, Jacob Miller, Beres Hammond, Luciano.

Although it may be best remembered for the terrible screech saxophone solo, this 1973 single has a great piano. Just try to get that main hook out of your head. As if that weren’t enough, the opening is nothing short of rockin’. Ian Hunter is paying tribute to rock piano greats like Little Richard with his playing here.

Just listen to the bounce of that jazzy piano. This song has a aura to it like none other, mainly due to the piano, flute and Morrison’s haunting vocals. Jeff Labes’ freestyle piano solo on this is simply beautiful.

There is absolutely nothing bad you can say about this song. Everything from Doug Gray’s vocals, to the gorgeous flute is perfect. Then, there’s Paul Hornsby’s piano solo. It doesn’t deviate much from the melody of the song, but it’s so perfect. The feeling he puts into every note of it is simply incredible.

It would be a crime to talk about piano in rock without mentioning the Professor, Roy Bittan. Bittan has been playing with Bruce Springsteen since 1975, and he has a prowess at the keyboard like few others in history. I think that this song, more than any other, showcases that. Just listen to the build-up in the opening. He starts with some tender chords, but as he goes on, the piano climaxes to the perfect level of power to match Bruce’s vocals. And that’s saying something.

I guarantee you that this is one of the eeriest songs you will ever hear. That’s only appropriate though, because it was based on “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” a similarly eerie song. Jim Morrison’s vocals sound like something creeping up on you, getting closer with every line. Ray Manzarek’s Fender Rhodes playing sounds like rain falling on the darkest night of the year. His solo takes you to another place, a place you probably don’t want to be for too long, but it’s okay for the few minutes you are there.

Like I said at the beginning, you could make a whole list of Billy Joel’s best piano performances. However, this one tops them all. That 56 second opening is one of the most glorious things you will ever hear. His timing is absolutely perfect, and the soul he pours over the piano is amazing. That’s not to under-value the rest of the song; the whole thing is incredible. The piano leads the song, accompanied by some strings and later that swirling sax solo. Joel was going for a whole Ray Charles vibe her, and man was it a success.

This is a unique selection, because the song goes for almost four minutes before the piano kicks in. The song starts as a slow, acoustic number, until it builds into stinging mid-tempo rock, led by Chris Robinson’s gruff vocals. He sings about angels, devils and letting your love light shine. Then, the guitar fades out, and is replaced by a gospel piano. Every single note is perfect. Robinson’s vocals soon re-enter, even more soulful than before, and are soon followed by a female gospel choir. The song eventually re-builds to where it was before and the piano goes away, but the few moments it is there is just what this song needs to bump it up from very good to incredible.

This song would probably be number one if it weren’t for the fact that the piano solo is really an entirely different song. The first half of “Layla” is hard rock, propelled by the guitars of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Then, it turns into a gorgeous piano piece, written by and performed by drummer Jim Gordon, and later accompanied by Allman and Clapton on guitar. The piano movement is so beautiful, but since there is not a prominent piano in the first half of “Layla,” I can’t really make it number one.

Best known for their 1998 hit song “The Way,” Fastball classic rock sounds never fail. In 2000, they followed up their hit album “All the Pain Money Can Buy” with “The Harsh Light of Day” and this was the lead single. Just listen to that piano, from the sweep at the beginning, to the bouncy chords throughout. The mere eighteen second introduction is pure perfection. Oh, and did you know who that is on the piano? Although he’s not in the video, that’s guest musician Billy Preston. Yes, the Billy Preston who played with the Beatles on Let it Be.

Somehow, Billy Powell never even comes close to topping lists of greatest pianists in rock. It’s just not right. Take almost any Skynyrd song: “Call Me the Breeze,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” etc., and just listen to the way he plays. He can solo like none other. The beauty of “Tuesday’s Gone” is that it winds, but never once drones. The whole song sounds like a train pulling away from a station, leaving everything behind. The piano solo is like that one memory that is gently trickling away as you move onto a new life.

It wouldn’t have made it onto this list were it not for the comment Gelinek made, when asked if he thought he could beat Beethoven in a piano duel. “I’ll make mincemeat of him!”

Well, it was the other way around. Gelinek turned out not to be all that formidable an opponent, although his nerves may have gotten the best of him. After the first round, in which both played their own best, and most difficult works, Gelinek looked a little paler to the audience, probably because Beethoven chose his Sonata 19 in G minor, Op. 49.

Once the improvisations began, Gelinek couldn’t seem to get his head in the game, and Beethoven walked all over him. Gelinek simply left the room when Beethoven began the third round.

This one never actually took place. But it would have, had Scriabin not strained several of the tendons of his right hand while preparing for the duel. He was practicing Liszt’s Reminiscences de Don Juan, after Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and also Islamey, by Mili Balakirev. Either of these works has a fair claim to the title of most difficult piano piece ever composed.

Lhevinne, however, went down in history as one of the finest pianists ever, having made several recordings of piano rolls, which have left other great pianists, Josef Hofmann and Vladimir Horowitz among them, in awe. You can find some of these on YouTube.

It’s for the best that Scriabin hurt himself, because he wrote his F minor Sonata as a sort of elegy for his right hand. His right hand did however make a full recovery, but he never challenged Lhevinne again.

Is Beethoven less than 31 years old? Then he can still hear himself play. Don’t challenge him. If only Steibelt’s foresight had been as clear as our hindsight. He is referred to as “a most unvirtuous virtuoso,” well-known during his day for spreading false rumors, cheating, stealing money from concert receipts, sleeping with married women, and, among other things, telling everyone he met, even announcing before and after his concert recitals, that Beethoven was a hack performer and scared of him.

Beethoven, for his part, really didn’t care what Steibelt had to say, until Steibelt finally worked up the nerve to challenge him to a duel. This happened in May 1800, when Steibelt traveled to Vienna for the sole purpose of beating Beethoven at his own game. The question most often asked in history class is, “What the hell was he thinking?!”

They met at the house of the Count von Fries, who was a patron and fan of the arts, especially music, and liked Beethoven’s irascible nature. He therefore favored him over Steibelt, but rooted for both fairly as did the rest of the audience, about 100 people, mostly the Count’s entourage.

The duel took place according to traditional conventions: the first round was whatever piece the performer wanted to play, by anyone, and thus the performers chose the most technically difficult piece they knew. Beethoven played a sonata by Mozart. Steibelt played one by Haydn.

The second round was a two-piano contest of alternating improvisations on themes each performer would give the other, making the themes up on the spot. Beethoven soundly won this round.

The third and final round was the most important for testing the true genius of a performer. Each performer would sight-read a new piece written by the other performer. Steibelt went first, playing Beethoven’s brand new Piano Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 22. He did well enough, garnering a good amount of applause after his improvisations. The Count claims to have seen Beethoven roll his eyes at the applause.

Then Steinbelt tried to trip Beethoven up by giving him a new cello sonata, for cello and piano. This is a breach of the rules, technically, but Beethoven wasn’t about to win on a technicality. He took the score, turned it upside-down on the music rack, and sight-read it backward, then improvised on one of its themes for about 30 minutes.

Steibelt was thoroughly destroyed, and didn’t wait for Beethoven to finish. He walked out and never met with Beethoven again.

This story has been recounted by most of Bach’s biographers, and told and retold with more and more embellishments. The most authoritative biography of him is by Phillip Spitta, who tells the story as follows.

In September 1717, Bach had become well known throughout Europe as the greatest keyboard performer in Germany. He was not well-known or admired for his compositions, as the Baroque movement was going the way of the Dodo and Bach wrote in an extremely heavy, robust, meat-and-potatoes Baroque style.

Louis Marchand was equally well-known throughout Europe as an outstanding French organist and keyboard performer, and when he heard the tales about Bach’s virtuosity, he traveled to Germany with the express purpose of meeting and defeating Bach.

Bach worked in Weimar at the time, and when they met, Frederick II, the King of Prussia, who was a huge fan of Bach’s music, organized a little harpsichord playoff. Bach arrived first, early in the morning before anyone else, to warm up and stretch his fingers. Marchand walked into the palace, heard these warm-up exercises, turned right around and walked out, got in his carriage and returned to France. He never went to Germany again.

On Christmas Eve, 1781, Clementi and Mozart met at the court of Franz Joseph II. They were amiable at that time, not bitter rivals, and Clementi’s skill at the keyboard was such that he was able to hold his own with Mozart, all the way to the end. The Emperor called it a draw. They were both required to improvise variations on a theme the Emperor devised on the spot, and Clementi managed to draw equal amounts of applause. They both improvised fugues, waltzes, variations in minor and major.

Mozart and Clementi both agreed afterward that Mozart had won, but these were dubious statements, since Clementi was just being polite, as was his nature, and Mozart did not like Italians, in general. He considered them terrible at music. He wrote to his father, “Clementi plays well, as far as execution with the right hand goes. His greatest strength lies in his passages in thirds. Apart from that, he doesn’t have a kreuzer’s worth of taste or feeling. In short, he is a mere mechanics [robot].” Mozart wrote later, “Clementi is a charlatan, like all Italians. He marks a piece presto but ‘plays’ only ‘allegro.’”

Clementi, for his part, had this to say about Mozart, “Until then I had never heard anyone play with such spirit and grace. I was particularly overwhelmed by an ‘adagio’ and by several of his extempore variations for which the Emperor had chosen the theme, and which we were to devise alternately.”

Beethoven had a bad habit of being good at what he did. That made him a bigger target for other performers trying to carve reputations out of his hide. Wolfl and Beethoven were friends at one time, both having dedicated various works to each other. But Wolfl apparently became malcontent with his status as second in pianistic greatness behind Beethoven, and thus challenged Beethoven to a piano duel, in 1799, at the home of Count Wetzlar, one of Beethoven’s admirers and patrons, and a patron of artists in general.

By the time the duel took place, Wolfl had made a point of playing many recitals and concerts all over Europe, especially in Germany and Austria, where Beethoven would catch wind of his rise, for the sole purpose of building the hype. It worked. Beethoven was informed by his friend, Aton Schindler, that he was no longer without performance competitors. Wolfl was about 6 feet tall and had gigantic hands that could stretch a thirteenth on the piano. Beethoven was only 5’3 and 3/4” and could just manage a tenth. He countered this as all good pianists must by using the pedal to sustain the first note and then quickly hitting the second note, if two notes of a tenth or more have to be spanned. Good pedaling technique renders the results nearly indistinguishable.

But the duel played out in much the same fashion as that of the next year, versus Steibelt. Beethoven and Wolfl were evenly matched after the first round, but in the second and third, Beethoven wiped the floor with Wolfl. When it came to improvisation and sight-reading, Beethoven had no equal during his life. Wolfl was much less spoken of in Austria after this encounter.

The rivalry between Liszt and Thalberg lasted from 1836 to 1842, during which time Thalberg made as many concert tours of Europe as Liszt, playing in the same venues, immediately before or after Liszt, in order to show the musical world that he was the greatest pianist in the world.

The fact that their contest lasted as long as it did is a testament to Thalberg’s virtuosity, since every classical pianist of the 20th Century has agreed that none of them, not even Vladimir Horowitz, could hold a candle to Liszt.

Liszt and Thalberg did not follow the traditional duel format as described earlier. Instead they first tried to trounce each other’s popularity throughout Europe with their concert tours. Both were very well admired, and finally they agreed to meet and settle the score. It all came to a head on March 31, 1837. They had both prepared a new composition each, of the most extreme technical demands, neither knowing that the other was preparing a piece of music expressly for their showdown.

When they met and discovered this, they laughed and readied themselves for a heck of a fight. They were watched by about two-dozen close friends and admirers in the Paris salon of Princess Cristina Belgiojoso. They first played a few pieces each that they had played many times in concerts. Liszt played his Grand Galop Chromatique, which Thalberg countered with his fantasy variations on Bellini’s “Norma.”

They then played their grand finales, the new pieces. Thalberg’s was “Fantasy,” Op. 33, on melodies from Rossini’s “Moise.” Liszt’s was “Reminscences de Robert le Diable,” from Meyerbeer. Both pieces are still played today, although Liszt’s is more well-known, but the result of the duel was reported as a toss-up. Both received standing ovations, but, whereas Thalberg had for years been after Liszt’s crown of the greatest pianist in the world, he never again challenged Liszt to a face-to-face duel. They continued to perform throughout Europe enjoying success, but Liszt’s lasted longer.

Insane Clown Posse is a hip hop duo consisting of professional wrestlers, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, AKA Joseph Bruce and Joseph Ustler. Their sound is best described as horrorcore (a sub genre of hip hop with ultra violent, horror themed lyrics), with a later influence of rock. While original, the band appears in countless ‘Worst Ever’ lists, most notably Blenders 50 Worst Artists in Music, in which they took out the number one spot.

During a performance of their song Juggla in 1994, Violent J referred to the audience as Juggalos. The response garnered by the seemingly trivial term was positive enough that the name caught on with the ICP’s fans and fans of other artists on the bands record label, Psychopathic Records. Characteristically, Juggalos wear clown-like face paint that imitates ICP’s.

Why is it divisive? There have been numerous reports of Juggalo related violence. This includes one 18 year-old man who claimed to be “hunting for gays” after attacking one man with a hatchet and shooting a firearm at several more at a gay bar. In 2011, Juggalos were included in the FBI’s national gang threat assessment. The band and record label have strongly and publicly discouraged the fans from committing any acts of violence.

A hardcore punk 5-piece from Washington DC, Minor Threat were highly influential in the ’80s and ’90s American punk scene, despite only releasing a handful of material. They were known for their short, high tempo songs, and their stance against drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which was documented in their song Straight Edge. This song later inspired a social movement of sobriety referred to as the straight edge movement. People who are straight edge refrain from all forms of drugs, including alcohol. Occasionally it extends beyond sobriety, and can broaden to vegetarianism and avoidance of promiscuity. The universal symbol for straight edge is the letter ‘X’, usually written on the back of the hands.

Why is it divisive? The emergence of straight edge divided the punk movement, which was, in general, a pro-drug scene. Punk Rock shows were known for their advocacy of the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle; the stereotypical early punk rocker is a glue sniffing unemployed nihilist. This caused altercations during the early years of the straight edge movement, leading to violence amongst concert-goers, particular involving people who chose to drink at straight edge shows.

Another band from the DC hardcore scene, Rites of Spring formed in 1984. During their short career span they released just one full length LP, and performed live only 15 times. Despite this, they are considered highly significant, and are recognized retrospectively as the first emo band.

Tracing the ancestry of emo is particularly difficult, and those who are familiar with Rites of Spring may dispute that they were ever emo at all. But at the risk of trivializing a genre which, despite varying opinions on quality, has a complex history, Rites of Spring influenced bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, who influenced bands like the Get Up Kids, who in turn influenced bands like Fall Out Boy.

Why is it divisive? Emo is divisive partly because there is no cut and dry definition of what emo is. Is it a musical genre? A subculture of eyeliner-wearing teens? Or, as is becoming increasingly common, a general term for all art that explores the darker sides of human emotion. It should also be noted that members for many ‘emo’ bands reject the label, including Rites of Spring and the Get Up Kids.

Where to begin with Skrewdriver, the punk rock group fronted by Ian Stuart Donaldson. Originally your stereotypical blue collar British punk band with a reputation for violence, they adopted the skinhead aesthetic soon after their formation in 1976.Though they, at first, denied rumors of their Nazi-esque political ideologies, Donaldson eventually openly admitted his stance as a British national socialist.

Nazi Punk is really a subculture of a subculture; an offshoot of the original skinhead movement, which consisted of working class British youths and was generally apolitical. The term ‘skinhead’ has since been since strongly associated with neo-Nazism.

Why is it divisive? I’m sure this question requires no answer, but for the sake of consistency, Nazi Punk is divisive for its “white-is-right” philosophy and its encouragement of violence towards non-Christians and non-Caucasians. Note that the clip above contains scenes that some my find disturbing.

You might consider this item a bit of a cheat, but it refers to the popularization of the gangsta lifestyle as opposed to the genre of music. Short for “Niggas With Attitudes,” NWA were one of the pioneers of the gangsta rap genre, and stirred up much controversy with their seminal debut album “Straight Outta Compton” and subsequent releases. They brought gangsta culture to the mainstream where certain aspects were embraced by many who were previously unfamiliar with the lifestyle. This then resulted in a new direction of mainstream fashion and vocabulary.

Why is it divisive? Aside from the obvious glorification of drugs, prostitution and violence, conflict is created when people who have had not had genuine experiences of this existence adopt the gangsta image. This pressure to be legitimate has lead rappers and fans to commit real-life crimes to authenticate their music or aesthetic.

One of the more specific inclusions, ‘Deadheads’ is a term given to fans of the Grateful Dead, a psychedelic rock band, fronted by legendary guitarist Jerry Garcia. Formed in 1965, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the ’Dead were known for their extensive touring, which consisted of many free concerts, and their improvisational approach to performance. Hardcore Deadheads would often follow the band on tour for months at a time, living a nomadic lifestyle and selling t-shirts, food or drugs to support themselves.

Why is it divisive? The only real division stems from the love-it-or-hate-it nature of the Grateful Dead’s music. It seems you are either a committed detractor or a diehard fan; I’m yet to hear of a casual Grateful Dead fan.

A contentious addition to this list, not only because the origins of punk are ambiguous, but because of the diverse styles and philosophies of the punk subculture, in general. The Ramones were the first band to fit the traditional punk rock stereotype we recognize today; the simple, fast paced songs and the snotty attitude. They toured virtually nonstop throughout their career and have had a clear influence on music today. Although they never achieved huge commercial success, they opened doors for British punk bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash to achieve popularity in America.

While punks are diverse in terms of culture, the stereotypical ’70s punk has spiked hair, tattoos and piercing, which at the time served to enforce their non conformist ideologies.

Why is it divisive? Punks are divisive mainly because of their stance against authority and their anarchist viewpoint. These are common trends amongst all punk subcultures. Other points of controversy include recreational drug use, particularly solvent abuse, as noted in the Ramones song ‘Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue’ and the popular punk zine ‘Sniffin Glue.’

For anyone who hasn’t seen The Great Mouse Detective, it really is worth seeing, particularly for the performance of Vincent Price as Ratigan. The movie is a clever spoof on the stories of Sherlock Holmes, but is often forgotten among all the Disney classics. The whole “not a rat” thing in this song is hilarious, and I mean really – it’s Vincent Price, need I say more?

It seems like everyone and their mother sings on this one – apparently people watching is the number one hobby in this French town. That being said, this is one great song. It really lightens the tone from the dark prelude and gets you in the mood for the movie. The melody is one of Disney’s best, and the song also sets up the story line very nicely. People always remember “Be Our Guest” and the title song, while this song is regrettably thrown by the wayside.

This may be the least known song on the least, because it wasn’t really even in Peter Pan. An instrumental version was played when the crocodile appeared, but the lyrics were left out. They were probably excluded because it would have slowed down the story line, which is understandable. I just wish there was some way they could have included it; it’s such a fun little song.

What’s cool about this one is that this piece of music was used in the ballet for Sleeping Beauty, and Disney songwriters added the lyrics. Many times when lyrics are added to a song that has been only instrumental for a long time, it sounds awkward and forced, but this works. The melody remains gorgeous, and the lyrics fit the already dream-like feel of the song perfectly.

Ah, Disney’s first full-length movie. Three of the songs from Snow White have been immortalized in the Disney song book: “Heigh Ho,” “Whistle While You Work,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” For whatever reason, this silly little yodeling number has been forgotten. It is incredibly catchy (more so than the songs just named), and it is one of the most fun moments in any Disney movie.

I’m not sure if underrated is even the right word for this song, because it is very well-known. However, many seem to know it for the assumption that it is racist, instead of for its merit as a song. First of all, anyone who sees this as racist is reading way too far into it and not understanding it in the context of the movie. Anyway, the whole Dixieland feel to the song is great, and the part where Baloo (Phil Harris) and King Louie (Louis Prima) are making things up is hilarious, as well as very catchy.

Before the comments roll in, yes, I am aware that this song was not written for a Disney movie. It was around before Disney ever made movies, but would anybody know this song today if it weren’t for Disney? Honestly, I’m not sure how many people know it to begin with, but they should. This was featured in two Disney sing-alongs, at least one CD/cassette tape and was parodied in a certain Eddie Murphy Disney film that most of us would like to forget. It’s got such a pleasant tune, especially that chorus, that you just have to sing along with it.

Yes, there are two Disney songs that feature both Phil Harris and a Dixieland breakdown. This one comes from, possibly Disney’s most underrated movie, “Robin Hood” and man is it a good one. Just listen to these lyrics and try not to laugh, and if you don’t laugh from the lyrics, you will from watching the video. Walt Disney was sadly gone by the time this movie was made, but he would have been proud.

Some of the songs on this list are Disney songs I have liked since I was very young; others I have grown to like. This one falls into both categories in a way. I have always thought this was a great song, because I’ve always loved a catchy tune, but now that I’m older, I laugh at the subtle shots this song takes at actors. This mocks their lavish lifestyles in the same way Joe Walsh would do 40 years later with “Life’s Been Good” – this song was way ahead of its time. Anyway, one with the most underrated Disney songs ever.

This has got to be the most forgotten Disney song of all time. There are a lot of songs in “Mary Poppins” and somehow the other ones are always brought to mind first: “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Feed the Birds,” “Chim Chim Chiree,” the list goes on. Regardless of Dick Van Dyke’s fake accent, this is probably the best part of the whole movie. I really like to think that early 20th century chimney sweeps danced from roof to roof and just started parading through houses with their all-too-catchy musical numbers. The best part of this song has to be when Mrs. Banks comes in with her “Votes for Women” sash and the chimney sweeps incorporate it into their song. It is one of Disney’s great mysteries as to why this is not rated among their best songs.

Memorable Lines: I’m an individual, yeah, but I’m part of a movement / My movement told me be a consumer and I consumed it / They told me to just do it / I listened to what that swoosh said.

Macklemore’s masterpiece, using Nike’s multimillion dollar branding campaign, famed logo and slogan as an example to convey his message, is about consumerism and dreams and how companies pretty up their products and sell nothing more than a brand nowadays for prices that are thinly veiled as ridiculous. Ultimately, the brands you choose over another are still just things and mean nothing in the end; there is no need to attach more value to them if you paid more for them.

Memorable Lines: Now the grown up Goliath nation / Holdin’ open auditions for the part of David, can you feel?

Uncle Sam Goddamn puts on a show of criticizing the United States, as Brother Ali points out how its current and past racist actions, greed, patriotism tunnel vision, propaganda and government corruption still continue to taint the country. If you put up with the hypocritical constitutional rhetoric in everyday America, this song is a much needed consolation that others are just as fed up as you, if not more.

Memorable Lines: But I don’t want to go home yet, so I’m gonna talk to my cigarette and that television set / It doesn’t matter what brand or station, anything to take away from the current situation.

Commenting on the struggles of day to day life, making ends meet and the emotional overload of reality, Atmosphere directly addresses his audience with the state of his life an end ends with: the only guarantee in life / is a life worth dying for. There are many interpretations to this lyric, as he could possibly be referring to his son, who is mentioned earlier in the song, or it could be a general statement about how life is worth the suffering of death.

Memorable Lines: Now I’ve seen the way that you count your blessings / Like hatch marks on the wall / And I’ve seen you coming out of Sunday confession / With a numbered list and all / Now I don’t bow my head for supper / I never do kneel besides my bed / But it looks like your afterlife is covered / I hope on Earth you’re careful kid.

Dessa reaches out to a friend (or relative) in this song, singing to a half-innocent woman who is either covering for a criminal man or assisting a fugitive man, telling a story of a conflict between friends now torn apart by a felonious third party. She advises of the man’s future actions and intentions and offers the woman a place to sleep, which, by the tone of the song, we can assume the woman refrains from accepting the offer.

Memorable Lines: I can only build if I tear the walls down / even if it breaks me I won’t let it make me frown / I’m falling but no matter how hard I hit the ground / I’ll still smile.

Eyedea & Abilities’ (the former has passed on) last release revealed to us this beautiful composition on compassion. The lyrics are teeming with examples of people lacking and showing compassion for others and the chorus sums it up sufficiently. To put the chorus into perspective, the walls Eyedea refers to are not physical walls, but figuratively speaking, the walls we all have between each other.

Memorable Lines: Mom was a religion and happiness was a fact / It’s a shame how the time goes past / Movin’ so fast / Its like I’m movin’ at light speed / Slow down.

As a recollection of memories and how they seemed to pass by so fast, Grieves explains the importance of taking your time in life to see the beauty in things. Admittedly, it is a concept that has been done, but is explained succinctly in this song and taken to a length unseen before. You don’t need to go at such a pace all the time.

Memorable Lines: Don’t listen when they tell you that these are your best years / Don’t let anyone protect your ears / It’s best that you hear what they don’t want you to hear / It’s better to have pressure from peers than not have peers.

A lyrical memoir, The Best of Times is another hit out of the ballpark by Sage Francis. Dealing with his childhood and molehills overcome and the memorable experiences he reflects on, he sends a message in the last few lines that promises the next generation that it only gets better from here as you get older and to not give in and give up.

Memorable Lines: I figure when I make it to the heavenly gates / they’ll be working on my car and playing 78s.

Buck 65 takes us to a life on the road in this song, going nowhere, everywhere and anywhere in this random amalgam of imagery, wordplay and rhyme. He seamlessly combines the folk genre with the hip-hop flare as the banjo plays over his ramblings. There really is not too much to dig for in this song, he is straightforward and honest as he cruises along.

Memorable Lines: Hush / let em try to find the beauty in your face / something more than a song / they hatin’? Aw come on / dust / let em try to find the beauty in the baseline.

The perception that outer physical beauty tarnishes peoples perceptions of others is the topic covered in P.O.S’s song, Purexed. No matter how righteous we all claim to be, everyone has been guilty of thinking thoughts about perceived visually differences and elevated social statuses because of it. P.O.S addresses the fact that skin and bone is the least important part of who you are.

Memorable Lines: Lionel Terray said it the truest, I set it to music / We’re all “Conquistadores of the Useless.”

Astronautalis weaves a tale of a deceiving duo who feign being disabled to prey upon the generous souls of one city before moving on to the next. Although a highly unlikely scenario and an unsuccessful scheme as the way it is portrayed in the video, the concept is beautifully written and conveyed to the audience.

Memorable Lines: Here let me sign your poster strike a poser / Sleeping in my armor while you’re sleeping on your holster.

Not any one artist, but rather any of the Doomtree Collective, a record label which boasts several artists and two already included on this list. This song is their take on a mainstream bombast.

Taylor seems hardly the junky type, but his unmistakable mellowness does seem to fit the substance. His folky acoustic strumming and tranquil voice are a fantastic accompaniment to any drug-induce coma. And new meaning is given to songs like “Mexico,” where he may have gone to acquire such goods.

Cobain apparently took heroin to combat stomach pains. Most people just go with Tums. With Courtney Love to share a tormented rock romance like Sid and Nancy before them, the two fed each other’s addictions and miserable contemplations. Cobain had overdosed several times, some apparently indicating early attempts at suicide. When Kurt succeeded with a shotgun, Love somehow carried on, even if she did turn into a real dumpster-case – same went for her work with her band, the grossly named Hole (though it sounds like a fitting name for someone compelled to shove drugs where happiness doesn’t exist naturally).

Here is a man who just won’t die. Sixx was declared legally dead for two minutes before he received two adrenaline shots to the heart (inspiration for the song “Kickstart to the Heart”). Shortly thereafter, he shot up again. Apparently his stubbornness came with no fatal consequences, which is rarely the case for heroin-addicted bassists in metal bands (and there have been many). Sixx played bass for the most hedonistic of ’80s hair metal bands, Motley Crue, with behavior to match songs titles like “Dr. Feelgood,” and “Piece of your Action,” not to mention “Bitter Pill.” He goes into graphic detail about his addiction in his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries, and the various ways in which he introduced foreign sludges to his bloodstream.

Jazz music and heroin go together like, well, the blues and heroin. Miles Davis, trumpet player and transcendent jazz innovator, was one of many hooked on the junk. However, while he was he put out some of his, arguably, best material, his so-called “Cool Jazz,” and thereafter he kicked the stuff cold turkey on his father’s farm. Jazz might have suffered from his decision, but his health sure didn’t.

Admittedly heavily influenced by Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground, Casablancas was apparently influenced by his drug habits as well. The Strokes frontman, who offers a detached brand of coolness via his sedate vocals, channels the substance in his every under-sung lyric – just like Reed before him, as if he isn’t very interested in the task, even while tonality and emotion aren’t nearly as removed as he is. When he works up a howl, it provides a sharp contrast to his typically slouching posture, as if he suddenly woke up mid-song (listen to “Fear of Sleep” from First Impressions of Earth). You get the sense he only really did the drug for its “stylishness,” not so much as nihilistically as other, now dead, musicians we have seen.

Not the first member, or even guitarist, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to shoot up, but currently the last; his addiction is the reason Anthony Kiedis, Flea and the gang booted him from the band and went on to make an album with another guitarist. The first RHCP guitarist actually died from the stuff, and while the remaining members learned a valuable lesson from the experience, Frusciante sure didn’t, even while he may have let his substances guide him through the proliferation of great emotional guitar work. The new RHCP album, however, is a great testament to the fact that powerful rock doesn’t require powerful drugs.

This man has had more chemicals in his body than a Rug Doctor, and one of the vast many was none other than heroin. His addiction and attempts to quit have interfered with recording sessions, such as that of Exile on Main Street, during which he would often find his way to the studio very late – when he did show – for trying to sleep off an addiction.

The poster child of a nihilistic generation, this poor excuse for a bassist played for the punk band Sex Pistols, that is when he wasn’t shooting up with girlfriend Nancy Spungen, former stripper and band groupie. They had an extremely volatile relationship, based on sex, drugs and rock and roll; love mostly synthesized. One needle-filled night things got especially out-of-hand when Vicious allegedly stabbed Spungen, an allegation Vicious couldn’t deny with certainty. Following her death, apparently unable to cope with guilt amongst all else, Vicious took a lethal dose of heroine – his last.

He wrote a song for the stuff (“Heroin”) in which he sings, “It makes me feel like a man/ When I put a spike into my vein/ And I’ll tell ya, things aren’t quite the same/ When I’m rushing on my run/ And I feel just like Jesus’ son.” Reed wasn’t very secretive of his drug habits. The song itself, through shimmering strings, builds up like a soothing body high until it climaxes and concludes rather drowsily. The song sounds like it was crafted by someone familiar with the effects of the drug.

King of the Hedonists, Jim Morrison took virtually every substance known to man, and perhaps some not known. He was, after all, incredibly preoccupied with “the great unknown,” trying to achieve it with every mind-altering substance he could absorb. If excessive drugs consumption allowed him to lean in just past the threshold of a living reality, he got his wish to fully step through the doorway when he overdosed in a Parisian bathtub at the age of 27.

Those which are converted to movies are so often completely unable to carry the weight of a stage musical, or to translate the melodrama into something audiences can relate to. This has led to many failures: The Producers (2004), The Phantom of the Opera (2005) and RENT (2005) to name perhaps the most well-known ones. I enjoyed all three of these movies, but more due to an ingrained bias, than because they were good examples of what a musical should or could be.

Therefore, they do not appear on this list. What will be here are examples of movie musicals that have brought new life to an old form of entertainment, or have simply been some of the best examples of musical theater ever brought to the screen. They have been praised by both critics and audiences, some even attracting Oscar buzz (and some carrying out the Oscar itself), and will last and still be remembered ten, twenty, even fifty years from now. Don’t forget to hold your applause until the end.

Released in 1952, amidst what is often dubbed the “Golden Age of Musicals”, Singin’ in the Rain has been one of the most lasting examples of musical cinema. Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’ Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen and a short, but extraordinary, cameo by Cyd Charisse, this musical showcases some of the greatest dancing of its time. Not only this, but it boasts perhaps one of the most recognizable scenes in cinema to date. It was nominated for two Oscars, including a Best Actress in a Supporting Role nomination for Jean Hagen’s performance as the shrewish Lena Lamont.

It tells the story of the birth of ‘talkies’ (or talking pictures) in America. The year is 1927, and The Jazz Singer has become a wild success as the first movie to ever showcase its actors singing and talking. Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is the star of Monumental Pictures, and has been churning out the hits with his horrible co-star Lena Lamont since his discovery by the studio, when he was just a humble stuntman. Making a talkie wouldn’t be such a difficult task if it wasn’t for Lena’s total lack of talent or grace on screen, now that the unforgiving addition of sound has revealed her worst quality.

Memorable Scene: While Gene Kelly’s dance in the rain is fantastic, there are many other brilliant performances. It’s impossible to overlook Cyd Charisse in the role of an unnamed dancer in the “Broadway Melody” montage. She seduces Gene Kelly’s character before breaking his heart, and the audience are undeniably certain of this, even though no lines are spoken. Her jaunty, seductive dance number in an emerald green dress is almost risqué.

This musical was hugely successful at the box office after its release in 1953, but fifty-eight years later Marilyn’s smoldering performance as Lorelei Lee, a gold-digging showgirl, is still widely popular and famous. Mostly thanks to the scene in which she sings “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” while wearing her iconic pink dress. The musical also boasts another, though less well-known sex symbol, Jane Russell, who passed away earlier this year.

The movie is practically overflowing with the two women’s sex appeal, and the spectacular costumes and musical numbers. It has been widely celebrated, not just for these reasons, but because it cemented Marilyn’s status as a star. Before Gentlemen Prefer Blondes she was considered a fairly small-time actress, who wasn’t on par with other sex symbols such as Jane Russell and Betty Grable. Afterwards, however, she rocketed to worldwide fame.

Memorable Scene: Undoubtedly Marilyn singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” She has rarely been so beautiful or seemed so in control during a performance. Despite not being a dancer or singer she radiates grace (and practically overflows with sex appeal) and showcases a surprisingly good voice. The costume and set are dazzlingly bright, but the director is careful to ensure that nothing and no one outshines Marilyn in her most iconic performance, most obvious by his choice to cover the female dancers’ faces with black netting.

The King and I practically exemplifies the sweeping, grandiose stage musical that movie audiences hate, but despite this, it was one of the few of its kind to not only translate extremely well to screen, but achieve both high takings at the box office and positive reactions from audiences and critics. Based in the nineteenth century, it tells the story of Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr), an English schoolteacher employed to teach and care for the King of Siam’s (Yul Brynner) children. Despite sometimes showcasing the frequently accepted racial stereotypes of its time, The King and I also showcases many songs which are still well-loved and widely recognized: “Getting To Know You,” “Shall We Dance?” and “I Whistle A Happy Tune” to name a few.

The King and I was nominated for a total of nine Oscars (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress), and won 5 of the categories in which it was nominated, including a Best Actor award for Yul Brynner’s performance.

Memorable Scene: The most visually and musically splendid scene must undoubtedly be the scene in which the King and Anna waltz (well, do the polka) to the song “Shall We Dance?” It practically oozes with sexual tension. It is the obvious attraction and friendship between the King and Anna that helps make the movie so enthralling, as it clearly would have been widely condemned for the two to be romantically involved in the time the movie is set (or even during the time it was released) and it makes the movie powerful, as well as visually stunning.

My Fair Lady’s beginnings were controversial. Julie Andrews, who had played Eliza Doolittle in the stage production, was first considered for the film role before being almost immediately disregarded. The reasons are speculative; the producers’ explanation was that they thought that casting a stage actress in a multi-million dollar production was too risky. However, it is probable that she just wasn’t considered to possess enough star power for a huge Hollywood musical. Audrey Hepburn was widely considered a beauty, and was already an established actress after her performances in other classics such as Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) and Paris When It Sizzles (1964).

Other controversies followed, mostly centering on the choice to dub 90% of Audrey Hepburn’s singing parts with Marni Nixon’s voice. A choice that upset Audrey, and is thought to be one of the reasons she was snubbed for an Oscar nomination.

However, despite these hiccups the release of My Fair Lady raked in $72,000,000 at the box office, and was nominated for twelve Oscars (including Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress). It won a staggering eight of those nominations. These wins included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and a Best Actor award for Rex Harrison’s performance as Henry Higgins, the arrogant professor of phonetics who makes a bet on his being able to transform a Cockney flower girl into a “proper lady.”

Memorable Scene: My Fair Lady brilliantly satirizes class difference, but never more perfectly than in the “race course scene,” where Eliza’s true nature is unfortunately revealed through her inability to hold small talk, instead embarking on a story of how her aunt was “done in” over a straw hat, and then completely losing her head when the race starts.

Despite what many could say was a fairly cold act on the behalf of the producers of My Fair Lady, Julie Andrews went on to star in a very popular and successful musical of her own, in the same year My Fair Lady was released. Mary Poppins really needs no introduction, because I’m almost certain that most people would know this story. If not, it’s about a family in Edwardian England who are visited by what can only be described as a ‘magic nanny.’

As a Disney production, Mary Poppins was almost guaranteed a warm response at box offices, but I doubt anyone could have realized just how lasting the movie would be. The music is excellent, and why wouldn’t it be with a voice like Julie Andrews’ in the title role? It’s doubtful that the musical would have had the same sparkle without Julie Andrews in it. Her beautiful voice is timeless, and effortlessly carries every song. One can also forgive Dick Van Dyke’s horrifically bad Cockney accent and, instead, focus on the warmth and humor he brought to the character of Bert.

It’s impossible to tell whether a musical will be embraced like this one has been, but I think its ability to entertain both children and adults is one of its many selling points. The intricate sets help create the atmosphere of stuffy Edwardian London, and the enthusiastic and committed performances from its entire cast, even the two children Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Mathew Garber), make what could have been a very forgettable musical into something lasting and beloved by many people.

It bested My Fair Lady for Oscar nominations, securing a huge thirteen nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, but only managed to win five. However it was, and still is, the most Oscars ever won by a Disney movie. Julie Andrews took the award for Best Actress, somewhat ironically, given that Audrey Hepburn hadn’t even received a nomination for her role in My Fair Lady.

Memorable Scene: So many to choose from. The horse racing scene where Mary, Bert and the two children magically jump into one of Bert’s drawings is lovely, and has two of its many well-loved musical numbers: “Jolly Holiday” and, of course, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (yes, I copied and pasted that). But I think another stand-out is “Step In Time” when they escape across the roofs of London and meet Bert’s grimy chimney sweeper friends. It’s a great dance sequence. I’m beginning to realize that if you haven’t seen this movie it may be starting to sound like someone’s drug-fueled fantasy, but I assure you it’s a very charming and funny little film, and quite child-friendly.

Alright, I lied. Not all of the movies on this list did well when they were first released in cinemas. Rocky Horror, for example, did very badly. In fact it was a complete flop. However, it very soon atoned for this in earnest. In the late 1970s, it began to be shown at the infamous midnight screenings and quickly gathered a huge cult following worldwide. Since then, it has become the longest running film in theater history, and is still being shown today in cinemas around the world every week.

It is though, no doubt, a strange formula for a musical: two “ordinary, healthy kids” (in reality an engaged couple) who find themselves embroiled in a bizarre cat and mouse game with the eccentric scientist Doctor Frank-N-Furter, played by Tim Curry. But no doubt the longevity of this musical has been cemented through this complete disregard for reality or conventional cinema. It satirizes a range of other movies, such as B-Movies, Science Fiction, Horror movies, and even other musicals, while also creating brilliantly catchy songs of its own.

The clean-cut, no-nonsense main characters Janet (Susan Sarandon) and Brad (Barry Bostwick) are mercilessly mocked as they are thrown into a situation that is increasingly uncomfortable and bizarre. Tim Curry is perfect as the promiscuous and completely deranged Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

Memorable Scene: The “Sweet Transvestite” scene. What else? Tim Curry explodes onto screen wearing very little, completely horrifying the two newcomers, Brad and Janet. There’s something to be said about a man who looks good in nylon. And who can carry a tune that well while wearing heels that high. I’ll also give honorable mentions to “The Time Warp,” which remains a favorite at school formals everywhere, and “Hot Patootie,” which stars Meat Loaf as a disgruntled ex-delivery boy.

Undoubtedly the highest grossing musical in the 1970s, Grease is another movie musical that has been well-loved for decades. This could be due, in part, to its star power. With Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta at the helm as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsen, it has been blessed with longevity, as many other musical stars can slide into obscurity.

But besides this, it also brought the stage musical on which it was based to the screen with enthusiasm and boldness, not shying away from depicting some of the more controversial topics such as teen drinking and smoking, and the character Rizzo’s suspected unplanned pregnancy. It also had a score of well-loved music to rely on, songs like “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightning” and “You’re The One That I Want.” In fact, “Summer Nights” and “You’re The One That I Want” were both number 1 hits in the UK, and the title song, “Grease” by Frankie Valli, was a number 1 hit in the USA and was specially written for the movie.

Memorable Scene: Again, there are so many in this film. It’s undoubtedly one of the best recognized by audiences for its iconic ’50s setting, and the many classic songs it produced. The scene at the prom is a stand-out however, not only because it brings to life the music and atmosphere of the 1950s, but because of the mixture of drama and humor. The commotion of Sandy being usurped by Cha-Cha is soon dampened when a few of the more boisterous youths decide to give new meaning to the song “Blue Moon.”

This musical is a bit different, not only because it’s obviously an animation, but because it is the only film on the list that was originally a film and later was adapted for the stage. The stage production is magnificent, showcasing not only brilliance in acting and singing, but intricate costumes that bring to life the African plains. The musical has won awards both on the stage and the screen, including two Oscars.

Often cited as one of Disney’s best creations to date, it focuses on the young lion, Simba, who is thrown into conflict after his evil uncle Scar secures his father’s death. It is based on Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The film boasts a wide range of talents: Mathew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Rowan Atkinson and Whoopi Goldberg, to name a few, and the makers were clearly dedicated to being as realistic and loyal in their depiction of Africa as possible.

The story is also noteworthy for its tragedy and realism. Death is never far on the African plains Simba roams, and there are some truly evil and destructive characters who wish the young prince harm. Its Shakespearean roots help found a truly moving and dramatic storyline, while the music is simply beautiful. It doesn’t feel like it was added as an afterthought, as it can in many other animated films, but instead feels deeply rooted into the storyline.

Memorable Scene: I think it’s necessary to mention both a musical and non-musical moment. I particularly think that the “Be Prepared” song is a brilliantly effective and visually rich scene, which also serves to make the intentions of Scar very clear to the audience. A non-musical scene that has frequently captured audiences’ imaginations is one shortly after Simba’s misadventure with the hyenas, where his father Mufasa describe the stars to Simba as “past kings” and teaches Simba about his future as king.

Moulin Rouge is another exception on this list. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, a stage musical, but it is certainly a musical worth noting. Starring Nicole Kidman and Ewen McGregor, this musical breaks the mold of the traditional musical, instead injecting modern music to create what is known as a “jukebox musical.” Though these musicals are often criticized for relying too heavily on already established music, or simply dumping music into the mix, Moulin Rouge skillfully used the modern music to both enhance the storyline and create the vivid, colorful surroundings of the Parisian brothel, the Moulin Rouge.

The story centers on Christian, the archetypal “penniless writer” who believes in truth, beauty, freedom and most of all love. He falls hard for Satine, a beautiful courtesan working in the Moulin Rouge, but he is not her only admirer. One of the most refreshing aspects of this musical is that all of the singing is done by the actors themselves. Nicole and Ewan’s vocals are surprisingly good, and they carry the songs extremely well. In Baz Luhrmann’s trademark style, the musical numbers are sweeping and dramatic, and the scenery is so vivid and splendid that it’s almost claustrophobic. There is so much to look at that it almost becomes overwhelming, but this perfectly embodies the atmosphere of what the Paris nightlife must have been like in 1900.

It was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Cinematography, and also won a slew of other awards, including three Golden Globes and a BAFTA for Jim Broadbent’s performance.

Memorable Scene: The finale is noteworthy for its sweeping music, and stunning visuals, as well as its dramatic and tragic crescendo. Christian’s introduction to the underworld of Paris is also a brilliant scene, both for the color and magnificence of it and also for Ewen McGregor’s appropriately “rabbit in the headlights” reaction to his first view of Satine. Nicole Kidman pays homage to Marilyn Monroe, singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” but taking a jauntier, more modern approach to the classic.

The only musical since 1968 to win Best Picture, Chicago renewed audiences’ interest in musicals and followed Moulin Rouge’s example of making musicals grittier, sexier and, therefore, more appealing to modern movie-goers. At the helm were Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, who not only did all their own singing, but also underwent training so they could do all of their own dancing. I would even go so far as to say that this was better than the stage production. It has a grittiness to it and a large scale that seems a bit quaint and squashed on the stage.

The story itself tells of two murderesses, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) who are sent to Cook County Jail for murder. Velma is a nightclub dancer who is arrested for shooting her husband and sister after finding them in bed together, and Roxie is a wannabe star who shoots her boyfriend to death after he fails to make good on his promise to make her famous. Under the watchful eye of Matron “Mama” Morton (Queen Latifah), they both hatch plans to slip out of the law’s clutches, with the help of the lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere).

This musical was almost certainly successful because of its wise use of musical numbers. Many people dislike the use of “sang dialogue” outside of a theater, and like the other musicals on this list, Chicago used music to color the environment and provide entertainment rather than just to advance the storyline, which can often be dull and slow moving. Its numbers are jaunty and provocative and extremely catchy.

Notable numbers are: “Funny Honey,” where Roxy sings about how she can always rely on her slow-witted husband to take the blame for her, “All That Jazz,” an introduction to the risqué© antics of Velma Kelly at her night club, “Cell Block Tango,” a montage of all the ladies of murder row and their various violent crimes, and “Hot Honey Rag,” Velma and Roxy’s finale. But almost all of the numbers are catchy and visually interesting; there isn’t a sense of any particular song being a “boring number.” Perhaps because there is very little sentimentality in this film, and even less reliance on using the music purely to advance the story.

As I said before, this film carried out the Best Picture in 2002. Something that has annoyed a lot of people since, which is a good example of the reception most musicals are greeted with. They are often thrown into the same basket as comedies when it comes to the Academy Awards, and have certainly not been popular with the Academy since the late 1960s.

Memorable Scene: I find it difficult to choose one, but I think Cell Block Tango is excellent. It’s got the right amount of sex appeal and shock factor, and the dancing is brilliant. The entire cast are extremely talented.

If I was forced to choose a favorite musical of these, I would probably choose Sweeney Todd. I stress that “probably.” This is another example of the “musicals for people who hate musicals” genre that Chicago and Moulin Rouge belong to. But instead of sex, it uses blood to woo its audiences. Lots and lots of blood. Although, admittedly, this is probably more a result of its having Tim Burton as director, who has never been shy when it comes to gruesome violence.

Either way, Sweeney Todd translated extremely well from its origins on the stage, in which Angela Lansbury (the teapot in “Beauty and the Beast” for those of you who don’t avidly follow the never-ending reruns of “Murder, She Wrote”) played Mrs Lovett. The movie has an absolutely superb cast of its own, showcasing some great young English talent, as well as some well-established talent: Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter at the helm, with Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen (yes, the guy who played Borat) as equally excellent co-stars.

The story is set in Victorian London and Tim Burton has lovingly crafted the grimiest, grittiest, most grim world he could imagine. Sweeney Todd has returned from Australia after serving fifteen years for an unnamed crime he did not commit. He was wrongfully convicted by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who is an extremely rich and powerful sexual deviant, who had his eye on Sweeney’s wife. Sweeney returns to London just wanting to find his wife again, but he returns to find his house empty, his wife dead and his daughter in the clutches of the man who destroyed his life. Sweeney flies into a rage and begins to make plans to slaughter the judge, and anyone else unfortunate enough to get in his way.

It is extremely dark. Unlike many other musicals it doesn’t shy away from blood, violence and extremely dark themes. But despite its grimness, there is a lot that is visually splendid about this movie. It might seem odd to claim that, because the scenery does appear to be quite drab and washed out, but Sweeney’s bloody vengeance on every man who has the misfortune to come to him for a shave is almost artistic in its violence and bloodiness.

Memorable Scene: The montage of Sweeney slitting his customers’ throats while singing about his pain at losing his wife and daughter is haunting but also quite funny, but “A Little Priest” is a brilliant example of Johnny Depp’s ability to lose himself almost completely in his character. In this scene he and Mrs Lovett devise a plan to rid themselves of the bodies that could start piling up if they don’t find a suitable manner of disposing of them. Luckily, Mrs Lovett has a delectable plan.