1001 songs
Encyclopedia
1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them is a compendium
of notable popular recording
s collected by Australia
n rock
journalist
and critic
Toby Creswell
. The book was initially published in 2005 by Hardie Grant Books (Prahran, Victoria
) and subsequently published in the United States by Thunder's Mouth Press (an imprint of the Avalon Publishing Group) in 2006. It is a very personal collection with quite an Australian bias, and some of the choices and comments are probably quite controversial. It is not a collection of songs, but of the stories behind what Creswell considers are the great songs of all time – from George Gershwin
to Missy Elliott
, from Bob Dylan
to Alicia Keys
, from Frank Sinatra
to Offspring, from Leonard Cohen
to Pulp
. The book also features over 400 photographs and album covers.
1001 Songs is used extensively by Brian Nankervis
, creator, producer and adjudicator
, of SBS program RocKwiz
as a source of information for questions on the show. In the foreword to the book Creswell states the main research source was All Music Guide, which was consulted for release dates, songwriting credits and album listings, together with the website, Rock's Backpages.
Creswell wrote his first article on rock & roll for Nation Review in 1972. He subsequently wrote articles about all aspects of popular culture and music for RAM, Billboard
, Roadrunner and a range of national and international magazines and newspapers. He has worked for MTV
and a variety of television programs as a writer and presenter. In 1985 he became editor of the Australian edition of Rolling Stone
and two years later was in a partnership which took over the franchise. He continued to edit Rolling Stone until September 1992. He was a founding editor of Juice.
Compendium
A compendium is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. A compendium may summarize a larger work. In most cases the body of knowledge will concern some delimited field of human interest or endeavour , while a "universal" encyclopedia can be referred to as a compendium of...
of notable popular recording
Recording
Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
s collected by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of Rolling Stone and a founding editor of Juice. In 1986 he co-wrote, with Martin Fabinyi, his first book Too Much Ain't Enough a biography of pub rocker and former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes...
. The book was initially published in 2005 by Hardie Grant Books (Prahran, Victoria
Prahran, Victoria
Prahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
) and subsequently published in the United States by Thunder's Mouth Press (an imprint of the Avalon Publishing Group) in 2006. It is a very personal collection with quite an Australian bias, and some of the choices and comments are probably quite controversial. It is not a collection of songs, but of the stories behind what Creswell considers are the great songs of all time – from George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
to Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
, from Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
to Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
, from Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
to Offspring, from Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
to Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
. The book also features over 400 photographs and album covers.
1001 Songs is used extensively by Brian Nankervis
Brian Nankervis
Brian Nankervis is an Australian comedian. He was originally best known for his character of Raymond J. Bartholomeuz, an eccentric beat poet. The character was popular during the 1980s and 1990s in regular appearances on Hey Hey It's Saturday...
, creator, producer and adjudicator
Adjudicator
An adjudicator is someone who presides, judges and arbitrates during a formal dispute. The term adjudicator essentially means a judge, without invoking the legal term. An ombudsman is a type of adjudicator in local government in the United Kingdom....
, of SBS program RocKwiz
RocKwiz
RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on SBS One. It premiered in 2005.-Summary:The forty minute program airs on Saturday at 9:20 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly...
as a source of information for questions on the show. In the foreword to the book Creswell states the main research source was All Music Guide, which was consulted for release dates, songwriting credits and album listings, together with the website, Rock's Backpages.
Creswell wrote his first article on rock & roll for Nation Review in 1972. He subsequently wrote articles about all aspects of popular culture and music for RAM, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Roadrunner and a range of national and international magazines and newspapers. He has worked for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and a variety of television programs as a writer and presenter. In 1985 he became editor of the Australian edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone Australia
Rolling Stone Australia is an Australian-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published monthly, it is the Australian edition of the United States' Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone was initially released in Melbourne in May 1970 as a supplement in Revolution, an...
and two years later was in a partnership which took over the franchise. He continued to edit Rolling Stone until September 1992. He was a founding editor of Juice.