To begin the countdown of my Top 10 of 20 [favourite] Bands:
10. Grandaddy [UPDATE: moved to number 4.]
Grandaddy was/is a remarkable band that has yet to reach stardom…and they probably prefer[ed] it that way. They were/are the ultimate ‘DIY’ band. They often wrote powerpop songs about the struggle between technology and nature in the modern world. Their child-like keyboard lines and Jason Lytle’s high-pitched singing voice make them one of the most unassuming acts you could ever hear, but truly they ought to be regarded as excellent songwriters. And yes, I prefer them ever-so-slightly to The Beatles. Their 2000 release The Sophtware Slump is featured on my Top 50 Albums list.
‘Summer Here Kids’ from 1997’s Under the Western Freeway:
‘The Crystal Lake’ from The Sophtware Slump:
+++++
9. The Clash
The Clash is a very interesting case. Essentially they ‘sold out’, as is expressed in the 1979 Crass song ‘Punk is Dead’: CBS promote The Clash, Ain’t for revolution, it’s just for cash… Essentially the eloquent sage Steve Ignorant is right, but that never seemed to keep Clash patches off of the denim jackets of the gutter punks. The anarchopunks could pump their fists to ‘London’s Burning’ while—on the way to pick up her son from football practise—the white suburban mother could shake her hips to ‘Rock the Casbah’. It doesn’t matter – everyone loves The Clash. The Clash (1977) can be found on my Top 50 Albums list.
‘I Fought the Law’ from The Clash:
‘The Magnificent Seven’ from 1980’s Sandinista, live on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder in 1981:
+++++
Lost in the Cloud 
I’m surprised that The Clash aren’t higher on your list, Elijah, if for nothing more than their association with Eli Cash…that and Straight To Hell.
Sorry to let you down, Sean. I’d write more, but I gotta go pick something up…
There’s something about that “sell-out” factor that interests me. It seems that Mick Jones may have leaned in that direction for The Clash, just as McCartney did for The Beatles. When that factor is combined with an iconoclastic figure (Strummer, Lennon), it can be a positive element to a band–keeping things accessible, occasionally light, bringing greater attention to the band’s message–but when it becomes the dominant factor, you get…Wings.
Yeah, great point, my wise brother. I totally see that. The fact stands that Lennon > McCartney and Strummer > Jones. Also, Harrison > Lennon.
Does that mean that Simonon > Strummer? Sugar it’s Eli.
I will say that ‘Guns of Brixton’ is one of their finest and leave it at that.
By the way, I feel like I have a lot to say about The Clash, but something is telling me that the less I say, the better…man, I do love them though…they are such an anomaly…
Indeed.