In my constant quest to figure out why certain people are drawn to certain documentaries I realised that I’m not as familiar with music documentaries as I’d like to be. So I have set out to try and watch as many as I can and to end up with an list of the best made so far.

Most people I’ve spoken to so far, especially those who don’t really watch documentaries, all had a favourite music doc and so there seems to be an established audience for them. This year alone Anvil and It Might Get Loud have been very successful commercially and I’m really intrigued by the different methods and styles filmmakers use to make music documentaries.

Out of the 30 I have managed to get my hands on I’ve seen 14 and so there are 16 (in bold) left to watch.

1. Sign O’ the Times
2. Stones in the Park
3. The Jazzman from the Gulag
4. Nico Icon
5. Monterey Pop
6. New York Doll
7. Gimme Shelter
8. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
9. My Louis Armstrong Years
10. The Last Waltz
11. Only the Strong Survive
12. I am Trying to Break Your Heart
13. Standing in the Shadows of Motown
14. Kurt and Courtney
15. Dave Chapelle’s Block Party
16. Anvil
17. The Devil & Daniel Johnston
18. Scratch
19. Fearless Freaks
20. DiG
21. Screamers
22. Golden Days
23. Hated
24. End of the Century
25. Don’t Look Back
26. Buena Vista Social Club
27. The Filth and the Fury
28. Stop Making Sense
29. American Hardcore
30. Moog

If I have missed any (which I undoubtedly will have) please let me know in the comments.