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Post by suedehead on Jan 1, 2016 15:58:24 GMT 1
Thanks for a very interesting countdown over the last couple months. If I ever embarked on a similar project, a lot of your top 100 would also appear in mine. A matching act of self-indulgence on my part would also include the number one from the day I was born - Apache by The Shadows. Had I been born on time, rather than a week early, I would have had to debate whether to include Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 16:03:12 GMT 1
Thanks for a very interesting countdown over the last couple months. If I ever embarked on a similar project, a lot of your top 100 would also appear in mine. A matching act of self-indulgence on my part would also include the number one from the day I was born - Apache by The Shadows. Had I been born on time, rather than a week early, I would have had to debate whether to include Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her. The Shadows' "Wonderful Land" was actually in my short-list of 160 before I pruned it. Ricky Valance however wasn't.
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Post by o on Jan 1, 2016 17:04:43 GMT 1
It's been great fun reading it, not sure your #1 would be in my top 100, if it was, it would be low down, overplayed for me.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Jan 1, 2016 17:24:34 GMT 1
Never saw that number one coming doubt it would be in my top 1000, overplayed isn't even the word spoiled by terrible office parties and mobile djs , I really have to leave the room if it is played when I am out
Nice list otherwise although glam ain't by thing at all
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 1, 2016 18:55:52 GMT 1
Thanks for a very interesting countdown over the last couple months. If I ever embarked on a similar project, a lot of your top 100 would also appear in mine. A matching act of self-indulgence on my part would also include the number one from the day I was born - Apache by The Shadows. Had I been born on time, rather than a week early, I would have had to debate whether to include Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her. Amen to that. The majority of the top 30 has been superb (although re: Phil's #1 I much prefer Geno to COE). I've only added comments to Phil's superb efforts when I felt I could pick holes in add something to the conversation. I've previously thought about doing a worst 100 UK #1 countdown before, but decided against it as Westlife would dominate that bottom list even more than The Beatles would dominate a top 100 countdown (Hey Jude would be my #1)! No chance of my #1 song when I was born making my Top 100 list as I can't stand it's easy listening corniness, as it lacks a lyrical storytelling charm their 1973 UK chart topper possessed:
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 1, 2016 19:05:40 GMT 1
Never saw that number one coming doubt it would be in my top 1000, overplayed isn't even the word spoiled by terrible office parties and mobile djs , I really have to leave the room if it is played when I am out The three songs that do that to me are Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer; Bryan Adams' Summer Of 69; & the new overplayed to death at Disco/Parties by mobile DJ's anthem .... Kings Of Leon' Sex On Fire.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Jan 1, 2016 19:19:25 GMT 1
the worst by far is 'Built Me Up Buttercup' I tear my own eyes out if they play that
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 19:29:31 GMT 1
Not bad list, because only some songs from your favourites did my worst list.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 19:58:44 GMT 1
raliverpool - "I've previously thought about doing a worst 100 UK #1 countdown"
Funnily enough I was thinking about doing this as the next thread. But I can see three problems:-
1) I would have to sift through (again) all the number ones of the last 15 years.
2) What criteria would I use? If it's just quality of song then no problem, but it might get complicated if I start to factor in expectations of a particular song. For example "I just called to say I love you" is terrible, let's say #60 on the list, but if you factor in the details of who the singer was, the musical savvy that they possessed, and the expectations of the song, then it would probably be more like #20. Whereas of course all the Westlife songs are expected to be total cack anyway so they might be further down the list. Then of course there's the chart-toppers from the 50's. I didn't have any in this thread, but that's simply because none of them really excite me, not because they're bad songs.
3) A thread like that would probably annoy people a lot more, who may well take offence.
I might mull it over.
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Post by suedehead on Jan 1, 2016 20:53:11 GMT 1
I think the big problem with a worst number ones thread is that it could be filled with dross such as Mr Blobby. That wouldn't generate many comments other than "Yes, I agree that record's crap". It would only generate discussion if all "novelty" songs were disqualified.
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 1, 2016 20:58:58 GMT 1
I think the big problem with a worst number ones thread is that it could be filled with dross such as Mr Blobby. That wouldn't generate many comments other than "Yes, I agree that record's crap". It would only generate discussion if all "novelty" songs were disqualified. I won't hear a word said against Mr Blobby. For starters, one of the reasons for its success was because it was as a result of a successful anti campaign against this, which is arguably a much worse record: See also circa 5 years later when South Park's Chef narrowly failed to stop the Spice Girls grabbing an Xmas #1, and nearly a decade later when Bob The Builder triumphed against Westlife.....
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 1, 2016 21:05:01 GMT 1
raliverpool - "I've previously thought about doing a worst 100 UK #1 countdown"
Funnily enough I was thinking about doing this as the next thread. But I can see three problems:-
1) I would have to sift through (again) all the number ones of the last 15 years.
2) What criteria would I use? If it's just quality of song then no problem, but it might get complicated if I start to factor in expectations of a particular song. For example "I just called to say I love you" is terrible, let's say #60 on the list, but if you factor in the details of who the singer was, the musical savvy that they possessed, and the expectations of the song, then it would probably be more like #20. Whereas of course all the Westlife songs are expected to be total cack anyway so they might be further down the list. Then of course there's the chart-toppers from the 50's. I didn't have any in this thread, but that's simply because none of them really excite me, not because they're bad songs.
3) A thread like that would probably annoy people a lot more, who may well take offence.
I might mull it over.
To be fair you've come up with/against the three reasons which made me can the idea. But maybe you should do a thread along the lines of dreadful songs by great/good artists. (AKA The "My Ding A Ling" syndrome.) ?
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Post by suedehead on Jan 1, 2016 21:05:28 GMT 1
I think the big problem with a worst number ones thread is that it could be filled with dross such as Mr Blobby. That wouldn't generate many comments other than "Yes, I agree that record's crap". It would only generate discussion if all "novelty" songs were disqualified. I won't hear a word said against Mr Blobby. For starters, one of the reasons for its success was because it was as a result of a successful anti campaign against this, which is arguably a much worse record: See also circa 5 years later when South Park's Chef narrowly failed to stop the Spice Girls grabbing an Xmas #1, and nearly a decade later when Bob The Builder triumphed against Westlife..... By that logic, you'd have to praise Whigfield on the grounds that she knocked Love Is All Around off the top.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 21:13:48 GMT 1
I probably wouldn't need to disqualify novelty songs, because in the main there's nothing wrong with them anyway. Many novelty chart-toppers are unpretentious and don't try to be something that they're not.
It kind of goes with point #2 in my last post. I personally think "I Just Called To Say I Love You" is a far worse chart topper than "Mr Blobby", because the former song is a far more serious effort, and therefore deserves to be criticised more.
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Post by suedehead on Jan 1, 2016 22:33:53 GMT 1
I Just Called To Say I Love You would have been awful if it had been by some unknown artist. I agree that the fact that it was recorded by the man who recorded Sir Duke, Isn't She Lovely and Superstition, among others, makes it far worse.
The suggested ranking method raises some other interesting questions. Does, for example, Shaddap Your Face count as being worse than it already is because it kept Vienna off the top for three weeks (after it had already been blocked for a week by John Lennon's Woman)? Uptown Girl might have been OK if it had been recorded by someone else (although, obviously, not Westlife), but I've always felt it was one of Billy Joel's worst singles.
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jan 2, 2016 10:03:19 GMT 1
Really enjoyed this thread, thanks! Several times it challenged me to rethink the quality of a track I had never considered any good but you make a good argument for.
In particular I always felt the quality of pop music took a huge nosedive at the end of the sixties and never really recovered until about 1977. Your apparent love of Glam Rock is making me wonder if I've missed something...
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jan 2, 2016 11:37:19 GMT 1
Glam rock is long overdue a critical re-evaluation. Perhaps because it reached its apogee in the Midlands. The media have long had a downer on Birmingham and the Black Country. There are people who even think Shakespeare was a London toff, they cannot countenance a grammar school kid from Stratford was the greatest writer in English ever. I think the big problem with a worst number ones thread is that it could be filled with dross such as Mr Blobby. That wouldn't generate many comments other than "Yes, I agree that record's crap". It would only generate discussion if all "novelty" songs were disqualified. I won't hear a word said against Mr Blobby. For starters, one of the reasons for its success was because it was as a result of a successful anti campaign against this, which is arguably a much worse record: I don't think there's an arguably about it. "Babe" is beyond hideous. Like the entire Take T**t oeuvre. Looking at the Blobby record with a cold analysis, it is tremendously ambitious. Starts off as a 2001: A Space Odyssey take-off, the instantly into a bouncy kids' TV theme, the sort of thing the Prodigy would have sampled to death. And then a SAWmill parody backing of a children's choir, deconstructing the entire nature of making a blatant appeal for a number 1 hit by putting it in a novelty rather than an emotional blackmail attempt. And then the chorus which Bo Rhaps the whole thing into a different direction before it is back to the main theme. And then kicked down a temp for a ska-lite closing coda. It is, on its own terms, a masterpiece; and as a singalong bit of fun there is nothing wrong with it. Wouldn't have put "Come On Eileen" above "Geno". But it is still a terrific single...
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Jan 2, 2016 17:31:04 GMT 1
Ace of Spades have a good chance to replace my current #1 in the worst list from all #1 songs in UK. Surely 'Bring your daughter to the slaughter' will be forever be the worst metal number one
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2016 17:43:53 GMT 1
Ace of Spades have a good chance to replace my current #1 in the worst list from all #1 songs in UK. Surely 'Bring your daughter to the slaughter' will be forever be the worst metal number one Killing in the Name was much worse.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2016 18:29:00 GMT 1
Surely 'Bring your daughter to the slaughter' will be forever be the worst metal number one Killing in the Name was much worse. "Ace Of Spades" is a classic - let's hope it reaches #1
Nothing wrong with "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter" - I bought one or two of their albums back in the day
"Killing In The Name Of" is pretty terrible, despite the impact that it made on the charts.
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