'It's perfect madness' - Tom Waits' top 20

In the first of an occasional series in which the greatest recording artists reveal their favourite records, Tom Waits writes about his 20 most cherished albums of all time. So for the lowdown on Zappa and Bill Hicks, step right up...

1 In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra (Capitol) 1955
2 Solo Monk by Thelonious Monk (Columbia) 1964
3 Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (Straight) 1969
4 Exile On Main St. by Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones Records) 1972
5 The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars (Point Music) 1975
6 The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan (Columbia) 1975
7 Lounge Lizards by Lounge Lizards (EG) 1980
8 Rum Sodomy and the Lash by The Pogues (Stiff) 1985
9 I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen (Columbia) 1988
10 The Specialty Sessions by Little Richard (Specialty Records) 1989
11 Startime by James Brown (Polydor) 1991
12 Bohemian-Moravian Bands by Texas-Czech (Folk Lyric) 1993
13 The Yellow Shark by Frank Zappa (Barking Pumpkin) 1993
14 Passion for Opera Aria (EMI Classics) 1994
15 Rant in E Minor by Bill Hicks (Rykodisc) 1997
16 Prison Songs: Murderous Home Alan Lomax Collection (Rounder Select) 1997
17 Cubanos Postizos by Marc Ribot (Atlantic) 1998
18 Houndog by Houndog (Sony) 1999
19 Purple Onion by Les Claypool (Prawn Song) 2002
20 The Delivery Man by Elvis Costello (Mercury) 2004

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