10) Brother Can You Spare a Dime (Many many artists) : Very popular during the Great Depression (and has been seeing a revival lately for obvious reasons). This is Tom Waits version.
9) Get By (Talib Kweli) : Likely the most respected hip-hop artist you've never heard of. "Get By" was his breakthrough single and still my favorite of his songs.
8) Drink Before the War (Sinead O'Connor): An amazing artist that was crucified because she spoke out about the Pope allowing priests to molest little kids. Only a few years later people realized how right she was. Her entire The Lion and the Cobra album is a classic but her recent album Faith and Courage I think is even better. "Drink Before the War" is a classic anti-war song.
7) True Colors (Eva Cassidy): Eva Cassidy died in 1996 from cancer and at the time was virtually unknown. In 2000 she was suddenly discovered and has been a chart topper ever since. In 2005 Amazon released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in 5th position! When I first heard True Colors by Cassidy I was working in NYC. At lunch I went to Best Buy and purchased 3 of her albums. (The original Cindy Lauper hit ain't bad either.)
6) St. James Infirmary (Many many artists) : A jazz standard. I love this version by Arlo Guthrie (a Jew). This version by Eric Clapton and Dr. John is excellent too.
5) Sweetheart Like You (Bob Dylan): Bob Dylan's Infidels album is commercially his most underrated. Most serious Dylan fans I've spoken to though agree that it may be one of his top 3 (especially if you include Blind Willie McTell which was foolishly cut from the album) The album also features one of my favorite musicians Mark Knopfler. One of my favorites Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight is also on the album as well.
4) Knocking at Your Backdoor (Deep Purple): Simply awesome. At one point in time Deep Purple was compared with Led Zeppelin but something went askew somewhere. Deep Purple has unfourtanetly fallen off the charts with only a few songs like Smoke on the Water still famous. Deep Purple did a bunch of sold out concerts in Israel recently which is also cool.
3) You Give Me Something (Jamiroquai) : An artist with a rare fresh sound. He has hit stardom with "Virtual Insanity" and "Canned Heat" (featured in Napolean Dynamite).
2) She Doesn't Get It (The Format) : An indie band that unfourtanetly already broke up. They only released a couple albums but they are both golden. They will only get more popular with time.
1) I'de Rather Go Blind (Etta James) : This is a super popular song but since a few people I mentioned it to recently didn't know it I've decided to include it. It's simply a classic and really shouldn't need any introduction.
Another song that I haven't heard in awhile but somehow crept up onto my playlist is Mandy by Barry Manilow. Say what you will about the guy, but this song is near perfect.
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