Daily Dirt: That ‘Stairway to Heaven’ helped 1971 climb to No. 1

Today’s three thoughts represent Vol. 100 of the Daily Dirt. Let’s celebrate with one of our favorite subjects: Music. Sit down, relax and have a Mountain Dew (with ice, of course):

1. I stumbled across an incredibly interesting piece of literature on the pretty-eight-machine.com website that ranked each year by the quality of pop music it produced, ranging from the early 1950s (and the dawn of the rock-and-roll era) through 2019. 

And yes, there was some methodology to the madness.Even though the article was written in first person, no individual writing credit was given, so I have no idea who the author may have been. I just know he put in a lot of calculation time, using both top 100 album and singles lists and allocating points based on an album or song’s position in a variety of major weekly rankings.

So this is more mathematical than personal.The following were the top years, based on that obviously time-consuming formula. I’ve also included some personal comments for reach of the years:

1. 1971: What a monstrous year for monstrous sounds. The No. 1 headliner was Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, featuring “Stairway to Heaven” and “Black Dog.” But that wasn’t all. Also chiming in were The Who (“Who’s Next”), Marvin Gaye (“What’s Going On”), Carole King (“Tapestry”), Rolling Stones (“Sticky Fingers”), John Lennon (“Imagine”) and Paul McCartney (“Ram”).

2. 1967: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors all released two albums this year. The biggest exclamation point belonged to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

3. 1977: The initial wave of the punk artists (The Clash, Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello), the dinosaurs (Pink Floyd) and mainstream (Fleetwood Mac) clashed for domination at the cash register — and all sold a ton of records.

4. 1991: Nirvana, REM, Peal Jam and Guns ‘N Roses all had major chart-toppers … but U2’s “Achtung Baby” arguably stole the overall show.

5. 1969: The Beatles’ legendary “Abbey Road,” coupled with the first two Led Zeppelin discs owned much of the listeners’ attention.

6. 1966: “Revolver” from the Beatles and “Blonde on Blonde” via Bob Dylan collected most of the record buyers’ money.

7. 1975: We’ll be forever grateful to this year for providing us Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”

8. 1997: Bjork, Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Foo Fighters all spent considerable time at or near the top of the charts.

9. 1994: Post-grunge was in full swing … Weezer, Oasis, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden ring any bells?

10. 1968: Ahhh … flower power! Not to mention the Kinks, Simon and Garfunkel and more Hendrix.

2. In the latest installment of “If Steve Had His Way”:

He would demand all high school music courses offer at least one extensive study (nine weeks maybe?) on pop music of the mid-to-late 1960s. That’s when the corner was turned in the rock era.

Students would not be permitted to graduate without knowing how to tie a tie. Boys and girls both.

Students would also not be permitted to graduate without knowing how to keep score in a baseball game. Boys and girls both.

All supermarkets would be open 24 hours — again.

Bell-bottom pants would make a comeback.

3. Today’s best from “Found on Facebook”:

“I don’t always help my wife with vacuuming, but when I do, I lift my feet.”

“To be frank, I would have to change my name.”

“I learned today if you turn a canoe over you can wear it as a hat — because it’s cap-sized.”

I always carry a pebble with me to throw at people who sing Christmas songs in October. I call it my jingle bell rock.”

“I shot a man with a paintball gun just to watch him dye.”

Steve Fact O’ The Day Steve once covered a college football game in Slippery Rock, Pa.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He never wears a bow tie anymore.