Skip to content
News

The Library of Congress Just Got Into the Ramones, Pink Floyd

the ramones, library of congress

Pink Floyd, the Ramones, Janis Joplin, and more have moved onto the great gig in the sky: Some of their most notable works have been selected for preservation by the Library of Congress.

The Dark Side of the Moon, the Ramones’ landmark self-titled 1976 debut, and Joplin’s second album, 1968’s Cheap Thrills, are among the 25 newest recordings to receive this highly esteemed honor. Thanks to the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 — you know, the same legislation that is bringing the 8-track back — the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, is responsible every year for choosing 25 “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” recordings to be added to the National Recording Registry for long-term preservation.

The Librarian also takes guidance from a formal preservation board and suggestions from the public. We always thought “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was as much of a revelation as anything President Dwight D. Eisenhower had to say; now we know the U.S. government thinks so, too.

Other fresh honorees include Simon and Garfunkel’s 1966 album, Sounds of Silence; “The Twist” by Chubby Checker; the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever (which, by the way, is one of 40 Movie Soundtracks That Changed Alternative Music); and a pre-recorded message from Eisenhower that was carried on the first-ever communications satellite launched on a U.S. rocket. To date, the National Recording Registry contains 375 recordings.

Scroll down for the full list of this year’s inductees, and head over to the National Recording Preservation Board’s website to nominate recordings for next year’s registry.

National Recording Registry 2012 honorees:

“After You’ve Gone,” Marion Harris (1918)
“Bacon, Beans and Limousines,” Will Rogers (Oct. 18, 1931)
“Begin the Beguine,” Artie Shaw (1938)
“You Are My Sunshine,” Jimmie Davis (1940)
D-Day Radio Broadcast, George Hicks (June 5-6, 1944)
“Just Because,” Frank Yankovic & His Yanks (1947)
South Pacific, Original Cast Album (1949)
Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature, Cachao Y Su Ritmo Caliente (1957)
Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1,” Van Cliburn (April 11, 1958)
President’s Message Relayed from Atlas Satellite, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Dec. 19, 1958)
“A Program of Song,” Leontyne Price (1959)
The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman (1959)
“Crossing Chilly Jordan,” The Blackwood Brothers (1960)
“The Twist,” Chubby Checker (1960)
“Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s,” Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, et al. (1960-1962)
Hoodoo Man Blues, Junior Wells (1965)
Sounds of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel (1966)
Cheap Thrills, Big Brother and the Holding Company (1968)
The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd (1973)
Music Time in Africa, Leo Sarkisian, host (July 29, 1973)
Wild Tchoupitoulas, The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976)
Ramones, The Ramones (1976)
Saturday Night Fever, The Bee Gees, et al (1977)
“Einstein on the Beach,” Philip Glass and Robert Wilson (1979)
The Audience with Betty Carter, Betty Carter (1980)