Favorite 31 Songs by US Artists According to a Bunch of Middle-Aged Dummies (1 Viewer)

[krista4]

I thought we had covered this one, but it doesn't appear we did: all Mountain releases other than Twin Peaks are not eligible due to Canadian-born drummer, Corky Laing.

 

[krista4]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

 

[AAABatteries]

Am I supposed to rank these as well?

If only there was some way to find out.



Yes.

Thanks. I swear I read the first post. Didn't see it but ranking them feels impossible. It took me a month to narrow it down to 31 songs.

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[AAABatteries]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

This ended up being a tiebreaker of sorts for me. If a song is known or popular by multiple artists then it elevated it in my rankings. I think I have at least 4-5 songs that fit this and not all are from the most well-known version.

 

[Val Rannous]

Am I supposed to rank these as well?

If only there was some way to find out.



Yes.

Thanks. I swear I read the first post. Didn't see it but ranking them feels impossible. It took me a month to narrow it down to 31 songs.

I felt the same way when I tried to rank mine - it was kinda "Dammit, I really REALLY like everything on this list, what the hell do I do now?" If you're really stumped, let me pass along Val's patented ranking cheat method - which is let America help. I pulled the Billboard Hot 100 top appearance for each song on my list, sorted by that number, broke any ties when songs had the same number, listed the songs that hadn't ranked at the end, and finally checked to see if anything egregious popped up and just looked wrong. Worked for me on this one.

 

[Val Rannous]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

This doesn't surprise me - I had a couple of songs on my list that I really had to decide to take the original or cover version. And I have a pretty good guess on which song Krista is talking about that was an influential hit for 2 different artists.

 

[Eephus]

If you'd narrowed it down to 31, there's an online tool that helps with ranking by breaking things down to a series of A vs. B questions. You'll need to create a login and the ranking process will require around 85 binary decisions.

Ranking Engine

www.pubmeeple.com

@ditkaburgers endorses this

 

[krista4]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

This doesn't surprise me - I had a couple of songs on my list that I really had to decide to take the original or cover version. And I have a pretty good guess on which song Krista is talking about that was an influential hit for 2 different artists.

You might very well be right (I actually don't know which song you're referring to), but we had quite a few covers on various lists, so it might not be obvious.

If you'd narrowed it down to 31, there's an online tool that helps with ranking by breaking things down to a series of A vs. B questions. You'll need to create a login and the ranking process will require around 85 binary decisions.

Ranking Engine

www.pubmeeple.com

@ditkaburgers endorses this

Thirded. I used that for my U2 lists and also to try to narrow down my last 38 or so here, though I'm still fiddling with the bottom (Binky: alpha) of my list here. It at least gives you some idea that you can then eyeball for anything that stands out as "wrong."

 

[Tau837]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

I might have guessed this could be All Along the Watchtower, original version by US artist Dylan. The issue is, all of the covers I really like are by Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dave Matthews Band, and U2, none of which are eligible for this countdown.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

my head just exploded ...

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Who other than Chap would pick an Art Garfunkel solo song for this?

It happened.

:SPOILER ALERT:

guilty.

it's a cover version of MacArthur Park in spoken form

...haunting really

 

[krista4]

28 lists in, and unless something dramatic happens, the "favorite artist" competition seems to be down to three contenders.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Am I supposed to rank these as well?

I...I just...

It's as if no one reads your posts.

 

[Val Rannous]

28 lists in, and unless something dramatic happens, the "favorite artist" competition seems to be down to three contenders.

Let's see, one is Fire, Inc...

 

[Ilov80s]

I do appreciate people being tolerant of my repeated ignorance

 

[krista4]

I hope this won't be a big spoiler, but I am ecstatic that the last group of lists has put Chuck Berry ahead of The Captain & Tennille. No, really.

 

[krista4]

Artists!

Once again, an increase of five lists has led to an artist shake-up at the top. Our #1 and #2 have switched places, while #3 has remained the same. #4 is an artist that took a big leap up from #10 in the prior rankings.

And there, hanging still at #5, is the artist I've been talking about all along that has not had any duplicate songs listed. And guess what? Yet again, this artist increased its tally, going from 12 to 14 songs now with no duplications. Amazing!

Mover and shaker! This group of five lists caused one artist to go from a paltry seven points all the way to 80 points. Never give up!

From the ladies' tees, we also had a couple of big surges, including our leader that went up to 89 points. it's a miniscule number compared to the overall leaders, but might set this artist up for a Favorite Female Artist victory - the two closest competitors currently have 60 points each.

Omgomgomg, guys?

After first logging 15(!!!!!!) different songs with no duplicates, our artist in question has finally hit their first-ever duplication.

 

[MAC_32]

It's entirely possible my decision changes amidst a couple glasses of something brown tonight, but I'm opting out of the first 5 out. After pondering last night I don't have a first 5 out - I had a pile of 20-30some songs in which I plucked a last 5 in to finish the list of 31. So when I am a broken record throughout saying 'I almost put them in' that's why.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Here's one for you, @Uruk-Hai . We have several songs that have received votes for different versions by different artists. One such song has two versions that have been listed. Both versions are by artists that at one point had an early lead for consensus "favorite song," but in each case, for a different song than this one.

I might have guessed this could be All Along the Watchtower, original version by US artist Dylan. The issue is, all of the covers I really like are by Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dave Matthews Band, and U2, none of which are eligible for this countdown.

The tricky thing is the way Krista worded her clue. "Early lead" could mean after the first two lists were submitted. She also (conveniently?) omitted that one version of the two was the original - both could be covers.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Artists!

Once again, an increase of five lists has led to an artist shake-up at the top. Our #1 and #2 have switched places, while #3 has remained the same. #4 is an artist that took a big leap up from #10 in the prior rankings.

And there, hanging still at #5, is the artist I've been talking about all along that has not had any duplicate songs listed. And guess what? Yet again, this artist increased its tally, going from 12 to 14 songs now with no duplications. Amazing!

Mover and shaker! This group of five lists caused one artist to go from a paltry seven points all the way to 80 points. Never give up!

From the ladies' tees, we also had a couple of big surges, including our leader that went up to 89 points. it's a miniscule number compared to the overall leaders, but might set this artist up for a Favorite Female Artist victory - the two closest competitors currently have 60 points each.

Omgomgomg, guys?

After first logging 15(!!!!!!) different songs with no duplicates, our artist in question has finally hit their first-ever duplication.

I can only think of two artists that this could be, given this group's demographics. There are others who "deserve" it, but I don't see it happening with our bunch.

So, of course I'm probably completely wrong

Also makes me wonder:

In theory, the truly great artists with really deep catalogues probably get "penalized" in the points ranking for best song because their love gets spread out over so many of them. Again in theory, a one-hit wonder with a magnificent record could win this just as easily (or MORE easily) than a long-timer.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Again in theory, a one-hit wonder with a magnificent record could win this just as easily (or MORE easily) than a long-timer.

Since this is about the "song", I don't have an issue with this - but the overall point is valid.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Again in theory, a one-hit wonder with a magnificent record could win this just as easily (or MORE easily) than a long-timer.

Since this is about the "song", I don't have an issue with this - but the overall point is valid.

I don't have an issue with it, either, because (to me) that's a fun side-attraction of doing this - of course, I'm burning more brain power than I can afford to figure out the clues so I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. The main thing for me is to see where all of our hearts are. I mean, these records are sort of like a biography for each of us, right?

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Realized this morning I forgot 5 songs that I should have put on my list. Not last 5 or but like, I love these songs how did I forget them.

Then I remembered I'm old and forget things now.

 

[falguy]

I feel like I will not know 20% of the songs on this completed list. Heck, I keep hearing of artists I've never heard of. This will be enlightening.

 

[Ilov80s]

I appreciate everyone’s patience with me lol

 

[shuke]

We really should have limited this to one song per artist per person.

 

[landrys hat]

My list is in

60s - 5
70s - 14
80s - 2
90s - 4
00s - 4
10s - 2

 

[Tau837]

We really should have limited this to one song per artist per person.

I expect a lot of lists to adhere to that even though it wasn't required. IMO doing that actually simplifies the process of building the ranked list. 4 of my top 5 favorite artists qualify for this countdown, and I would have a harder time figuring out a collective top 31 from those 4 artists than I did making the list with just 1 song from each.

 

[krista4]

We really should have limited this to one song per artist per person.

Let’s start over!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Again in theory, a one-hit wonder with a magnificent record could win this just as easily (or MORE easily) than a long-timer.

Since this is about the "song", I don't have an issue with this - but the overall point is valid.

I don't have an issue with it, either, because (to me) that's a fun side-attraction of doing this - of course, I'm burning more brain power than I can afford to figure out the clues so I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. The main thing for me is to see where all of our hearts are. I mean, these records are sort of like a biography for each of us, right?

Mine says -- your tastes aren't very coherent and you must have stopped listening to music in the early '00s.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I feel like I will not know 20% of the songs on this completed list. Heck, I keep hearing of artists I've never heard of. This will be enlightening.

95% of OH's list (assuming you've heard of Steve Albini and his various bands)

5-10% of everyone else's list.

 

[falguy]

assuming you've heard of Steve Albini

 

[AAABatteries]

We really should have limited this to one song per artist per person.

I did this intentionally - as others have said my list may have been even more boring if it consisted of 5 artists. Also, I wanted to pay homage to all of what I consider to be the best/most influential artists. My list is really AAA’s favorite song from AAA’s top 31 American artists.

 

[Zegras11]

these records are sort of like a biography for each of us, right?

Kinda turned out that way for me. Did a lot of heavy lifting last night on my list. Decided to rank songs on how I liked them at that time in my life more than how I like them now.

I'm down to 51 songs from about 43 artists. The cutdown will be soon. So afraid I left an artist off because I've been swamped last few weeks.

 

[krista4]

Most people limited themselves to one song per artist. A few (including me) mostly did that but doubled up a couple of times. Without looking back at the lists, I recall a couple of people who were very heavy on a few of their favorite artists.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

My list is in

60s - 5
70s - 14
80s - 2
90s - 4
00s - 4
10s - 2

Oh, God

 

[Zegras11]

I'm not sure if any of my American songs here would make my all-time Top 20

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'm not sure if any of my American songs here would make my all-time Top 20

I might have 3 or 4 non-American songs in mine if I held to one-artist-one-song. Not a patriotic thing - OR IS IT?

 

[krista4]

My list is in

60s - 5
70s - 14
80s - 2
90s - 4
00s - 4
10s - 2

Oh, God

Think of it this way: I now have in hand a 1-31 list of his all-time favorite songs by US artists.

Hey, anyone wanna do a draft, maybe of songs by US artists?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Spoiler Alert!

There is something wrong with me. I woke up with this in my head. I haven't watched that show in over 40 years and have no idea why the theme song pinged my brain today. I'm sure the show was written by a bunch of 60-ish Jewish guys, but it played like it was on acid.

Watch it get the most points in the Krista Scoring System

 

[AAABatteries]

I'm not sure if any of my American songs here would make my all-time Top 20

Between Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks among others it would only be a couple for me most likely. Definitely my top-2 would.

 

[krista4]

Spoiler Alert!

There is something wrong with me. I woke up with this in my head. I haven't watched that show in over 40 years and have no idea why the theme song pinged my brain today. I'm sure the show was written by a bunch of 60-ish Jewish guys, but it played like it was on acid.

Watch it get the most points in the Krista Scoring System

Ineligible! Eva Gabor born in Hungary.

 

[Zegras11]

Spoiler Alert!

There is something wrong with me. I woke up with this in my head. I haven't watched that show in over 40 years and have no idea why the theme song pinged my brain today. I'm sure the show was written by a bunch of 60-ish Jewish guys, but it played like it was on acid.

Watch it get the most points in the Krista Scoring System

****. Now that song will be in my head the next week.


That reminds me when we did the first Beatles countdown 3.75 years ago and I had a left knee issue and was on opioids. My mood was literally swinging back and forth every two minutes and I went from being stupid angry at something to singing this.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Spoiler Alert!

There is something wrong with me. I woke up with this in my head. I haven't watched that show in over 40 years and have no idea why the theme song pinged my brain today. I'm sure the show was written by a bunch of 60-ish Jewish guys, but it played like it was on acid.

Watch it get the most points in the Krista Scoring System

Zsa Zsa is ineligible.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Spoiler Alert!

There is something wrong with me. I woke up with this in my head. I haven't watched that show in over 40 years and have no idea why the theme song pinged my brain today. I'm sure the show was written by a bunch of 60-ish Jewish guys, but it played like it was on acid.

Watch it get the most points in the Krista Scoring System

Zsa Zsa is ineligible.

It was Eva

 

[Zegras11]

List coming soon. 8 songs with female lead singer.
ETA: The List Nazi struck and I replaced a 1960's with a 1970's, who was male.

1960	6
1970	15
1980	6
1990	1
2000	1
2010	2

 

[Don Quixote]

My decades breakdown a bit more spread out than I thought. And 9 female lead vocalists.

1920s - 1
1940s - 1
1950s - 8
1960s - 9
1970s - 4
1980s - 2
1990s - 1
2000s - 4
2020s - 1

 

[krista4]

List coming soon. 9 songs with female lead singer.

1960	7
1970	14
1980	6
1990	1
2000	1
2010	2

Not necessarily.

 

[Ilov80s]

Song ranking is happening! I am doing it.

 

[Tau837]

I'm not sure if any of my American songs here would make my all-time Top 20

I might have 3 or 4 non-American songs in mine if I held to one-artist-one-song. Not a patriotic thing - OR IS IT?

Limiting myself to one song per artist, I'm sure these would make my top 20, in no particular order: Led Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, Beatles, Kinks, Living Colour, Van Halen, Dave Matthews Band, Guns 'N' Roses. That is just off the cuff, so I suspect more than half, maybe up to 15 songs in my top 20 would be different than in this exercise. But that is what makes it as interesting as it is!