At Delegate, our passion is serving our clients but there are so many other dimensions to each of our team members. We feel these interests are just as compelling and important to share as they compose the fabric of Delegate’s unique culture. Every so often, we highlight the interests and accomplishments that define our team, both inside and outside the office. This time we’re highlighting Delegate’s Director of Investment Research and Chief Compliance Officer and music aficionado Jim Powers and his top 100 favorite albums of all time and a playlist of songs from each.
As a music geek, one of my favorite pastimes is to think about (and mentally list) my favorite albums of all time. I’ve known for about 25 years what’s at the top of that list, but until recently only had a general idea of what else would be on it and how they would rank.
After about a month of COVID quarantine in April of 2020, I realized I needed some sort of project to keep me sane. I decided to actually make my favorite albums list, number 1 to number 100, and make one Facebook post per day naming the album and writing a little blurb about each one. My goal was to start with number 100 and post one per day until I was done. It turned into my morning ritual – I would wake up before the rest of my family, make some coffee, drink that coffee, make some more coffee, and sit down to make my daily post. Sometimes I would have three or four blurbs “in the can” and it would take a minute, but sometimes I would have to start from scratch. I never missed a day, though, and made it through to number 1.
There were two interesting things about my project. The first was how much the list changed as I made my posts. I made an initial list and kept a spreadsheet (geek, like I said), and moved un-posted albums around pretty constantly right up until the end until their placement felt “right.” The second was the response. When I started, the project was very much for myself – I didn’t expect anyone to really pay attention – but as it went on, I had so many friends post, call, message, and text me thanking me for providing a little bit of daily entertainment and for recommending albums that they may have never heard. I even had friends I’ve known for decades reach out to tell me we had the same taste and I never knew it! It was just really nice.
One big caveat before listing the albums: this is a list of my favorite albums – 100% subjective. It’s definitely not a list of what I think are the best, most influential, etc. That would be a very different list. The blurbs I wrote won’t be shared, but instead I put together a Spotify playlist of 100 songs, one from each album. Not much thought on these – the criteria for each song’s selection is that it has to be on the particular album and is good. It’s here.
Without further ado, here are Jim’s 100 Favorite Albums of All Time:
- OK Computer by Radiohead
- Abbey Road by the Beatles
- The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
- Aqualung by Jethro Tull
- Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space by Spiritualized
- The Idler Wheel by Fiona Apple
- Perfect from Now On by Built to Spill
- Kid A by Radiohead
- Mezzanine by Massive Attack
- You & Me by the Walkmen
- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
- Turn On the Bright Lights by Interpol
- The Bends by Radiohead
- The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse
- The Queen is Dead by the Smiths
- Revolver by the Beatles
- …And Out Come the Wolves by Rancid
- Sung Tongs by Animal Collective
- When the Pawn by Fiona Apple
- Remain in Light by Talking Heads
- Entertainment by Gang of Four
- 13 by Blur
- The Futureheads by the Futureheads
- Urban Hymns by the Verve
- Animals by Pink Floyd
- Definitely, Maybe by Oasis
- Nirvana Unplugged in New York
- Is This It by the Strokes
- London Calling by the Clash
- New Adventures in Hi-Fi by REM
- Internal Wrangler by Clinic
- Village Green Preservation Society by the Kinks
- Crooked Rain Crooked Rain by Pavement
- Vs. by Pearl Jam
- Chairs Missing by Wire
- Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
- (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? By Oasis
- Meddle by Pink Floyd
- The Soft Bulletin by the Flaming Lips
- Mutations by Beck
- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
- Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
- Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me by the Cure
- Chutes too Narrow by the Shins
- Mclusky Do Dallas by Mclusky
- Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 by Guns n’ Roses
- Room on Fire by the Strokes
- Sound Affects by the Jam
- Silent Shout by the Knife
- Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones
- Tonight by Franz Ferdinand
- Veni Vidi Vicious by the Hives
- Louder than Bombs by the Smiths
- Ram by Paul and Linda Mccartney
- Something Else by the Kinks
- Ege Bamyasi by Can
- Closer by Joy Division
- Funeral by the Arcade Fire
- Lateralus by Tool
- Bee Thousand by Guided by Voices
- Bang Bang Rock and Roll by Art Brut
- Keep it Like a Secret by Built to Spill
- Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
- Aquemeni by Outkast
- Up the Bracket by the Libertines
- Slanted & Enchanted by Pavement
- They Threw Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top by Liars
- A Certain Trigger by Maximo Park
- Doolittle by the Pixies
- Hunky Dory by David Bowie
- Wounded Rhymes by Lykke Li
- Kill the Moonlight by Spoon
- Silent Alarm/EP by Bloc Party
- Forever Changes by Love
- Vauxhall and I by Morrissey
- Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk
- Led Zeppelin I by Led Zeppelin
- Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
- Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
- Nine Times that Same Song by Love Is All
- Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
- Appetite for Destruction by Guns n’ Roses
- The Stone Roses by the Stone Roses
- Without You I’m Nothing by Placebo
- James Blake by James Blake
- Gran Turismo by the Cardigans
- Deserter’s Songs by Mercury Rev
- Up by REM
- Burn Your Fire for No Witness by Angel Olsen
- Rio by Duran Duran
- The King of Limbs by Radiohead
- Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys
- Achtung Baby by U2
- Pinkerton by Weezer
- A Grand Don’t Come for Free by the Streets
- Nevermind by Nirvana
- White Blood Cells by the White Stripes
- Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies
- Hard Times for Dreamers by Brothers in Law
- Marquee Moon by Television