National Recording Registry Adds Works By Talking Heads, David Bowie & More

The latest list of 25 titles entering the National Recording Registry of the Library Of Congress has been revealed. Among the works selected are albums by Talking Heads, David Bowie and many others.

The 1980 album Remain In Light and Bowie’s 1972 LP The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars were chosen by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB). Additional works include recordings by Eagles, Wilson Pickett, N.W.A., Marty Robbins, Wes Montgomery, Judy Garland, Sonny Rollins, Big Mama Thornton and others.

Comedian Richard Pryor’s Wanted: Live in Concert from 1978 was also selected as was NPR’s first broadcast of All Songs Considered from May 3, 1971 and sports broadcaster Vin Scully’s play-by-play call of the game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds on September 8, 1957.

Established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, each year the Librarian of Congress designates 25 “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” recordings that are at least 10 years old to be added to the registry. With the latest additions the total number of titles in the National Recording Registry sits at 475.

2016 National Recording Registry (Titles In Chronological Order)

1. The 1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud (1888)
2. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (singles), Manhattan Harmony Four (1923); Melba Moore and Friends (1990)
3. “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (single), Harry Richman (1929)
4. “Over the Rainbow” (single), Judy Garland (1939)
5. “I’ll Fly Away” (single), The Chuck Wagon Gang (1948)
6. “Hound Dog” (single), Big Mama Thornton (1953)
7. Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins (1956)
8. The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, announced by Vin Scully (September 8, 1957)
9. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, Marty Robbins (1959)
10. The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Wes Montgomery (1960)
11. “People” (single), Barbra Streisand (1964)
12. “In the Midnight Hour” (single), Wilson Pickett (1965)
13. “Amazing Grace” (single), Judy Collins (1970)
14. “American Pie” (single), Don McLean (1971)
15. All Things Considered, first broadcast (May 3, 1971)
16. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie (1972)
17. The Wiz, original cast album (1975)
18. Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), Eagles (1976)
19. “Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha,” Gunter Schuller, arr. (1976)
20. Wanted: Live in Concert, Richard Pryor (1978)
21. “We Are Family” (single), Sister Sledge (1979)
22. Remain in Light, Talking Heads (1980)
23. Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A (1988)
24. Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil), Robert Shaw Festival Singers (1990)
25. Signatures, Renée Fleming (1997)