#17 -- Sarah McLachlan

Organizing A Mystery

It's easy to remember Sarah McLachlan as the female musician who famously became annoyed at radio stations refusing to play back-to-back female artists, and did something about it.  The Lilith Fair festival of the late 1990s was the result, showcasing women musicians who toured as a unit.

No voice, however, sounds quite as satisfying to my ear, so though she's sold only about half the number of albums of artists like The Doors or Tom Petty, I'm predicting quite the historical afterglow.

Perhaps if you build it, they really will come.  And this being music, those who do come for the show might not even realize their minds have changed.  And that, of course, was the dream of rock 'n roll in its 1960s heyday--that a revolutionary geometry heard by millions of ears would in itself change minds.  Gradually and mysteriously we proceed.

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)  
  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

7/9/7/8 = 31 out of a perfect 40

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 Hey, what do you know:  Four of this list's top 20 acts are Canadian, or mainly so, including McLachlan.