Lists!!: 5 Best/Worst Saxophone Solos

Here at WERS, there’s nothing more that we enjoy than listing the things that we love. Whether it’s our top 30 albums of the week, album of the month, or our top songs/albums of the year, we try to find as many ways to create order in the music world. With this in mind, we have decided to expand our lists to more unconventional topics, creating a “list blitz.” And what better way to start than with some awesome and awful saxophone solos!

So here are the 5 Best Saxophone Solos that Rock:

5. X-Ray Spex: Oh Bondage Up Yours!

Now, under many classical standards some would disagree with this choice, but there’s no doubt that the solos by Lora Logic only enhance that cacophonous onslaught of sound that X-Ray Spex bring to the table. If this were a screaming contest, we’d have to count this one in there as well.

4. David Bowie: Modern Love

Bowie Deserves some serious credit. Not only is he making the 80s turn itself upside-down with this track, he’s also doing it well into his 40s. Not to mention the fact that he’s the one with the saxophone credit on this track. As far as I’m concerned David Bowie is immortal, and he will continue to reinvent himself and change music until he decides that it’s time to put the world to rest.

3. Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the Dark

It would be a crime not to include The Boss in this list. The intensity of the moment could not happen with out those blaring tones. The magic of that sax is so strong that it was even able to start Courtney Cox’s career.

2. Roxy Music: Re-Make/Re-Model

Man, Roxy Music really knows how to do it all in style. Whether dressed in drag or brightly colored outfits, the British Art-Rockers never cease to have a good time. The intensity brought by sax player Andy Mackay brings an element of soul that is vital to this nonstop party.
Note: No effects were added to this video, that the pure shimmer of the Roxy Music’s magic.

1. The Rolling Stones: Brown Sugar

The Stones take the cake with this one. Mick Jagger’s dance and that solo are a match made in heaven.

The 5 Worst Saxophone Solos (Mostly from the 80s):

5. The Beach Boys: Kokomo

As influential as the Beach Boys are, few can deny that Kokomo was not a shining moment for Mike Love and the Boys. I’ll let the video speak for itself on this one.

4. Madness: It Must Be Love

Playing any instrument underwater is fundamentally a terrible idea.

3. Billy Ocean: Get Outta My Dreams (Get Into My Car)

Billy Ocean is a visionary. Were it not for his white suit and animated entourage, Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat would never have seen the light of day. The song is pure cheese from the first words uttered, but that sax riff at the climax of the track really sends it over the top.

2. Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street

Oh Baker Street, a place where gut-wrenching heartbreak happens, and no one can ever figure out its name. This is the Citizen Kane of bad saxophone solos, bar none.

1. Kenny G: Song Bird

Could this have been more clear? This one could have been left blank and it still would have been implied. There are key figures in the art world that change the world’s perspective on the boundaries of an art form. Ones that secure their place in history as a landmark, leaving those behind them as pre-artist and those after as post-artist. The post either try to embody the artist’s style or spitefully reject it in pursuit of other styles. In this case, Kenny G serves this role for bad saxophone solos. And we must be grateful that music has unanimously chosen to reject this from ever happening again.