Five on Friday: Meat Puppets' Derrick Bostrom

Editors' note: Every Friday, Signal and Noise features a person of interest sharing five songs they treasure and why. Get to know them and maybe discover some new tunes to dig. *Photo courtesy of @musiciansmentorpics.

At its best, rock music is much more than just a product. It can be a vital unfiltered medium for the spread of cultural ideas. When I was growing up, many songs had a strong impact on me, but these five foundational tunes helped shape the musician that I ultimately became.

Banana Splits "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)"

I was taken enough by this Saturday morning show to buy the album. The next thing you know, my mom noticed me playing coffee cans along to it and bought me a kids' drum set for Christmas. Long after my little brother destroyed my drums, the bug stuck with me. The album still holds up as well.

Bob Dylan "Subterranean Homesick Blues"

I actually found this album in my big stepbrother's otherwise unhip collection. One presumes he got off the Dylan train once the electric guitar appeared, since this was the only rock record in his collection. Right there in my conservative suburban home, I discovered that music could be a subversive force.

Todd Rundgren "You Left Me Sore"

Todd was the first "studio genius" I ever encountered. His "Something/Anything" album also introduced me to the impossible brilliance of a room full of studio musicians working off a head arrangement. But more importantly, this song exposed me to the essential concept of "stoopid" in rock music.

Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen"

Imagine my surprise that the Pistols lived up to the hype. This was the record that made me realize that not all hard rock was "lowbrow." It not only kicked ass, but it was also smart (or what passed for it in rock and roll). And it was also a first-rate pop single. After hearing this, I'd have traded all other groups for the Pistols.

Chic "Le Freak"

I was never a disco hater back in the day, but I wasn't that into it. And I'd never even heard any James Brown, let alone George Clinton. That all changed after I heard this record. Once it occurred to me that rock could be disco, could be jazz, could be soul, could be anything, the walls quickly came down and stayed down.