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Favorite 31 Songs by US Artists According to a Bunch of Middle-Aged Dummies (3 Viewers)

here are a lot of Bob Dylan songs that sound better by someone else. I also think there are a lot of Bob Dylan songs that sound good with him. He doesn't have a good voice, but it is distinct, and I think it fits well in the genre of storytelling/folk music. It works for me, anyway. Since we are on the subject of bad singers, I don't think Warren Zevon has a good voice, either.

Maybe we can have a bad singer draft after the holidays?
It would make Pip sad since Neil Young isn't on Spotify anymore.
 
Just Win Baby:

In the End (2001), from Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park

I'm not too surprised that I'm the only one who has named a Linkin Park song, since, after all, this is "according to a bunch of middle-aged dummies." :wink:

They are one of my all-time top 5 artists, and I could have chosen many songs to represent them, but this is the one that first caught my attention and turned me on to them. I also included a song by Mike Shinoda, a member of the band. Highly recommend sampling some of their stuff if you aren't familiar.
Unlike Incubus these guys absolutely fit within the nu metal genre, which is the primary reason why I lost track of them. It wasn't until my wife introduced me to Collision Course a decade plus after it was released that I began to listen to them again. 20something MAC never imagined Jay Z remixed with nu metal would work, but this nu metal group was actually talented so it did - such a fun album without a skip in sight. It was that exposure which led me down some completely different rabbit holes. Thank you, algorithm! I accidentally stumbled upon several acoustic and piano renditions of early work and the ones that turned my head were hits I didn't much enjoy as original studio versions - Crawling is the one that stood out, In The End acoustic is beautiful, and several others as well. Chester wasn't just a screamer and Mike wasn't just a rapper - it took me about 15 years to figure it out though.
 
an is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his stuff is great to listen to...

...when somebody else covers it. I'm sorry, as good as he is as a songwriter, he's that bad as a singer. One of the most unlistenable voices ever. It's the one drawback to the Traveling Wilburys - Bob doesn't keep his mouth closed and let other people sing nearly often enough.
There are a lot of Bob Dylan songs that sound better by someone else. I also think there are a lot of Bob Dylan songs that sound good with him. He doesn't have a good voice, but it is distinct, and I think it fits well in the genre of storytelling/folk music. It works for me, anyway. Since we are on the subject of bad singers, I don't think Warren Zevon has a good voice, either.
He doesn't, but while I am quite new to Warren it seemed to gel with the rest of his sound. That's my biggest problem with Dylan's voice - its fit with the music. Like A Rolling Stone's a good example - it's a great song as he's talk-singing along, but when he tries to hit actual notes? Ruins it for me. When it or others of its ilk come on I seem to instinctively hit stop then search for covers like this one instead.
 
My listenable Bob Dylan is one song long...and it was #14 for me in this exercise. I've tried many times before to integrate more from his catalog (i.e. the last month), but every time I try I hit skip before the halfway point. We'll see what happens this afternoon!

You're missing out on one of the richest catalogs in all of music.

Bosley would be rolling over in his grave if he knew any tricks.
Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his stuff is great to listen to...

...when somebody else covers it. I'm sorry, as good as he is as a songwriter, he's that bad as a singer. One of the most unlistenable voices ever. It's the one drawback to the Traveling Wilburys - Bob doesn't keep his mouth closed and let other people sing nearly often enough.

I know some of you will find this sacrilege, and I apologize.
I feel this way about Tom Waits. Superb songwriter whose voice is an instant nope for me.

Yet I love Bob Dylan and Neil Young, who also have voices that annoy some people. The main difference is that they write material that is well-suited to their voices, whereas Waits' songs and arrangements demand a conventionally good vocal that he doesn't provide. And his voice got more extreme and gravelly as his career went on. Which is why I can tolerate Ol' 55 and some of the other stuff on his debut album, but pretty much nothing from the 80s onward.
 
Since we are on the subject of bad singers, I don't think Warren Zevon has a good voice, either.

This is the main problem I've had with the songs of his I've been listening to. Just don't enjoy his voice at all. I can see why this applies to him, Dylan, Petty (don't kill me, folks), Waits, and others. You either like it or don't. It's not like we're talking about Otis or Sam Cooke, where you'd be a fool to say that.
 
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I can count the number of songs left with one hand! Well, technically, I could do that all the way back to the 31s. But still!

#5s
Recognized by title alone: 20
Sounded familiar: 1
Didn't know: 12

Selected Favorites:
I Wish it Would Rain (krista4)
Frankenstein (Val Rannous) - Looks like I didn’t favorite this earlier. So props to Sullie too!
Suspicious Minds (Eephus)
Dancing in the Street (Ilov80s)

Songs I didn't know that I ended up liking:
The Seven Rays (Binky)
Don’t Back Down (Sullie)
I Cover the Waterfront (DrIanMalcolm)
Rock Me On the Water (worrierking)
 
Known-to-me favorites from #5:

Let's Stay Together -- Al Green (Neal Cassady)
Frankenstein -- The Edgar Winter Group (Val Rannous)
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay -- Otis Redding (Rockaction)
One Nation Under a Groove -- Funkadelic (jwb)
Respect -- Aretha Franklin (AAABatteries)
Blowin' in the Wind -- Bob Dylan (Chaz)
Surrender -- Cheap Trick (Simey)
I Wish It Would Rain -- The Temptations (Krista4)
Dancing in the Street -- Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (Ilov80s)
Suspicious Minds -- Elvis Presley (Eephus)
The Tracks of My Tears -- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (Don Quixote)
Here Comes My Girl -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Hov34)
When Doves Cry -- Prince (Marco)
I Got a Name -- Jim Croce (Uruk-Hai)
The Seven Rays -- Utopia (Binky)
 
Pip’s Invitation:

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
(new song)

All the best qualities of folk and blues are fused together in this song. It was a stunning development from someone only considered as a folksinger up to that point, and its success on the charts and in the music press played a major role in the direction rock and pop would take in the next few years.

Speaking of which, I think that latter point is related to the question posed earlier of why Jim Croce never got much respect from the Wenners of the world. I think the answer is that more than anything else, Croce was resolutely a folksinger, and the tastemakers of the music press had "moved on" from folk by the time he emerged.
 
I feel this way about Tom Waits. Superb songwriter whose voice is an instant nope for me.

Yet I love Bob Dylan and Neil Young, who also have voices that annoy some people. The main difference is that they write material that is well-suited to their voices, whereas Waits' songs and arrangements demand a conventionally good vocal that he doesn't provide. And his voice got more extreme and gravelly as his career went on. Which is why I can tolerate Ol' 55 and some of the other stuff on his debut album, but pretty much nothing from the 80s onward.
With you on this.

But never felt like Young's voice was bad in any way. It's odd, of a sort, but it fits his music well, and he can hit a note or two, and sing sensitively or in a more muscular manner when warranted.
 
KP is locked out of his account. He tried to come on and it said he didn’t have posting privileges until he verified his email account. Unfortunately the email he has registered here is one he doesn’t use anymore and doesn’t have access to.

weird - same thing that happened to me - but I had access to the email ...but the message would just come back and tell me that account was already taken by another user.

You may want to pass on to KP - to tell the FBG guys it sounds like what happened to Binky. I ended up having to have them allow me to set up a brand new account. Hopefully that won't happen to KP.

ETA: btw ... I didn't get much traction until @krista4 pulled some strings with Joe B. you may not need that - thanks again k4! :hifive:

@Memphis Foundry
 
KP is locked out of his account. He tried to come on and it said he didn’t have posting privileges until he verified his email account. Unfortunately the email he has registered here is one he doesn’t use anymore and doesn’t have access to.

weird - same thing that happened to me - but I had access to the email ...but the message would just come back and tell me that account was already taken by another user.

You may want to pass on to KP - to tell the FBG guys it sounds like what happened to Binky. I ended up having to have them allow me to set up a brand new account. Hopefully that won't happen to KP.

ETA: btw ... I didn't get much traction until @krista4 pulled some strings with Joe B. you may not need that - thanks again k4! :hifive:

@Memphis Foundry

Also @Clayton Gray . When Joe helped with the Binky situation, he had Binky Classic email Clayton to help get New Binky expedited. :) Thanks, everyone!

ETA: We're talking about KarmaPolice here.
 
shuke:

Shelter From The Storm - Bob Dylan
(new song)

I dunno if it was a mistake to include the live version from Hard Rain on the playlist instead of the studio version, but the Hard Rain version is excellent and I think I like it better than the studio version. This is in contrast to the live version on At Budokan, which is awful. Why am I familiar with an album that is essentially Dylan doing a Vegas lounge act? Because a friend from college liked it and played it all the time. He liked its "energy" and thought Dylan's other recordings were "boring". He also smoked a ton of weed.

New Binky the Doormat:

The Seven Rays – Utopia
(new artist)

You could have given me 42 guesses as to the first Todd Rundgren song we'd see from @New Binky the Doormat and I probably would not have come up with this one. So I'd like to hear from him why he likes it so much. I enjoy it but it's certainly not in my top 20 Todd and may not be in my top 42.
Hawks64:

Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey - John Mayer
(new song)

It would be cool if he did this as a medley with One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.

Oliver Humanzee:

The Coo Coo Bird - Clarence Ashley
(new artist)

It goes without saying that I have absolutely no idea what this is.
 
I feel this way about Tom Waits. Superb songwriter whose voice is an instant nope for me.

Yet I love Bob Dylan and Neil Young, who also have voices that annoy some people. The main difference is that they write material that is well-suited to their voices, whereas Waits' songs and arrangements demand a conventionally good vocal that he doesn't provide. And his voice got more extreme and gravelly as his career went on. Which is why I can tolerate Ol' 55 and some of the other stuff on his debut album, but pretty much nothing from the 80s onward.
With you on this.

But never felt like Young's voice was bad in any way. It's odd, of a sort, but it fits his music well, and he can hit a note or two, and sing sensitively or in a more muscular manner when warranted.
Obviously I agree with this. But it has lost a lot of its power in recent years. It sounds strained and weak these days compared to before. Though he didn't completely lose his voice to the same extent as Stephen Stills, who is just painful to listen to now. (Crosby and Nash sound exactly like they always have.)
 
Speaking of the mid-80s, I don't think I've thought of Private Dancer since then. I kind of like it, but it also felt like it was written by a dude trying to give a stripper's perspective (i.e., not Tina), so I looked it up and was shocked to see it was a Mark Knopfler song.
Knopfler originally wrote the music and lyrics to "Private Dancer" as the second half of the title track to the Dire Straits album Love Over Gold. You can hear where “Private Dancer” was meant to pick up, building up gradually between 2:05 and 3:20.

During the sessions for Love Over Gold, Dire Straits laid down the “Love Over Gold/Private Dancer” music as originally written. Mark Knopfler went to record the vocals, but then got self-conscious about them – he decided those vocals should be sung by a woman. Rather than add a guest vocalist to the track, Knopfler shelved the “Private Dancer” section and reworked the second half of “Love Over Gold”.

A few years later, Knopfler had a chance to pitch “Private Dancer” to Tina Turner. She was looking for material for a comeback album, and her manager and Knopfler’s manager were friends. A meeting was arranged, and Knopfler played a personal demo copy** of “Private Dancer” for Turner, apologizing in advance that his vocals weren’t suited to the lyrics. His rendition led to mutual laughter and quick agreement from Turner that, yes, it should be a woman’s song to sing.

Here's a guitarist aiming to replicate Knopfler's playing style, pedals, etc. doing a version of "Private Dancer" as Knopfler would play it. Interesting listen.

This YouTuber took the two finished recordings of "Love Over Gold" and "Private Dancer" and stitched them together. In this version, "Private Dancer" kicks in fairly late, at about 5:24, after a nice bit of soloing by Knopfler.

** Knopfler's demo copy of "Private Dancer" -- with his vocals -- is like the Holy Grail for the most ardent of Dire Straits fans. Only a few people are even known to have ever heard it: Knopfler himself, of course. And Tina Turner. Probably their respective managers. Whoever may have been working with Knopfler on the demo -- bandmates, studio engineers, production staff. Knopfler himself has said he suspects there's a tape of his "Private Dancer" vocals out there somewhere, but he hopes it never sees the light of day. He has refused to give the recording an official release.
 
shuke:

Shelter From The Storm - Bob Dylan
(new song)

I dunno if it was a mistake to include the live version from Hard Rain on the playlist instead of the studio version, but the Hard Rain version is excellent and I think I like it better than the studio version. This is in contrast to the live version on At Budokan, which is awful. Why am I familiar with an album that is essentially Dylan doing a Vegas lounge act? Because a friend from college liked it and played it all the time. He liked its "energy" and thought Dylan's other recordings were "boring". He also smoked a ton of weed.
This was on purpose. Definitely had to be this version.
 
Speaking of the mid-80s, I don't think I've thought of Private Dancer since then. I kind of like it, but it also felt like it was written by a dude trying to give a stripper's perspective (i.e., not Tina), so I looked it up and was shocked to see it was a Mark Knopfler song.
Knopfler originally wrote the music and lyrics to "Private Dancer" as the second half of the title track to the Dire Straits album Love Over Gold. You can hear where “Private Dancer” was meant to pick up, building up gradually between 2:05 and 3:20.

During the sessions for Love Over Gold, Dire Straits laid down the “Love Over Gold/Private Dancer” music as originally written. Mark Knopfler went to record the vocals, but then got self-conscious about them – he decided those vocals should be sung by a woman. Rather than add a guest vocalist to the track, Knopfler shelved the “Private Dancer” section and reworked the second half of “Love Over Gold”.

A few years later, Knopfler had a chance to pitch “Private Dancer” to Tina Turner. She was looking for material for a comeback album, and her manager and Knopfler’s manager were friends. A meeting was arranged, and Knopfler played a personal demo copy** of “Private Dancer” for Turner, apologizing in advance that his vocals weren’t suited to the lyrics. His rendition led to mutual laughter and quick agreement from Turner that, yes, it should be a woman’s song to sing.

Here's a guitarist aiming to replicate Knopfler's playing style, pedals, etc. doing a version of "Private Dancer" as Knopfler would play it. Interesting listen.

This YouTuber took the two finished recordings of "Love Over Gold" and "Private Dancer" and stitched them together. In this version, "Private Dancer" kicks in fairly late, at about 5:24, after a nice bit of soloing by Knopfler.

** Knopfler's demo copy of "Private Dancer" -- with his vocals -- is like the Holy Grail for the most ardent of Dire Straits fans. Only a few people are even known to have ever heard it: Knopfler himself, of course. And Tina Turner. Probably their respective managers. Whoever may have been working with Knopfler on the demo -- bandmates, studio engineers, production staff. Knopfler himself has said he suspects there's a tape of his "Private Dancer" vocals out there somewhere, but he hopes it never sees the light of day. He has refused to give the recording an official release.
Some good stuff right here (y)

Although I think my story is better. :brush:
 
I feel this way about Tom Waits. Superb songwriter whose voice is an instant nope for me.

Yet I love Bob Dylan and Neil Young, who also have voices that annoy some people. The main difference is that they write material that is well-suited to their voices, whereas Waits' songs and arrangements demand a conventionally good vocal that he doesn't provide. And his voice got more extreme and gravelly as his career went on. Which is why I can tolerate Ol' 55 and some of the other stuff on his debut album, but pretty much nothing from the 80s onward.
With you on this.

But never felt like Young's voice was bad in any way. It's odd, of a sort, but it fits his music well, and he can hit a note or two, and sing sensitively or in a more muscular manner when warranted.
Obviously I agree with this. But it has lost a lot of its power in recent years. It sounds strained and weak these days compared to before. Though he didn't completely lose his voice to the same extent as Stephen Stills, who is just painful to listen to now. (Crosby and Nash sound exactly like they always have.)
And that tends to happen, sure. It's just that others are right that Dylan was talk-singing very early on, whereas Young could sing for a long time.
 
I can count the number of songs left with one hand! Well, technically, I could do that all the way back to the 31s. But still!

#5s
Recognized by title alone: 20
Sounded familiar: 1
Didn't know: 12

Selected Favorites:
I Wish it Would Rain (krista4)
Frankenstein (Val Rannous) - Looks like I didn’t favorite this earlier. So props to Sullie too!
Suspicious Minds (Eephus)
Dancing in the Street (Ilov80s)

Songs I didn't know that I ended up liking:
The Seven Rays (Binky)
Don’t Back Down (Sullie)
I Cover the Waterfront (DrIanMalcolm)
Rock Me On the Water (worrierking)

Don't Back Down official music video is really good and it made me laugh because it's kinda funny and well done but what made me laugh was all of the "insert your favorite 80's solo artist here" music videos from the 80's where there would be a video for a song, you'd hear the entire band playing, yet you'd only see the "insert your favorite 80's solo artist here" in the music video. That always cracked me up but the difference here is that Wolfie did play every part of that song, drums, guitars, bass, lead singer and I'm sure he had help but I think he mixed it himself/produced it and I loved that he didn't try to sound like his Dad or Van Halen, he's his own person, with his own sound, I love that about him. He's an extremely talented young man.
 
New Binky the Doormat:

The Seven Rays – Utopia
(new artist)

You could have given me 42 guesses as to the first Todd Rundgren song we'd see from @New Binky the Doormat and I probably would not have come up with this one. So I'd like to hear from him why he likes it so much. I enjoy it but it's certainly not in my top 20 Todd and may not be in my top 42.



no doubt. Going through these ranking drafts over the years I have often thought about how I would rank his songs and have even started a couple of different times. But everytime I start I don't get far - they change all the time and there are too many categories - no way to compare them. If I'm in the mood for one style or timeframe, I want those songs.

And since like a lot of us in here - I grew up listening to entire albums, over and over. And since so little of albums get airplay, most of what I really liked are songs that didn't get much exposure, though this song was in the live rotation for years - and looks to remain there.

Mostly because I wanted to pick a song that most (not you - lol) would not have heard - you mean that's the "Hello It's Me" guy?, and would represent a certain time in music that was important to me and what he was doing then. And it's a bit of a jam.
 
New-to-me favorites from #5:

I Cover the Waterfront -- John Lee Hooker (DrIanMalcolm). Badassery delivered with gravitas.
Heart Cooks Brain -- Modest Mouse (Manster). OK, so there are now two Modest Mouse songs that I like.
Rosa Parks -- OutKast (MAC 32). Touching tribute that never loses the groove.
Don't Back Down -- Mammoth WVH (Sullie). This is the second song I've heard from Wolfie's band, and both sound more like Foo Fighters than his dad's band. He's got a great sense of how to get the sound he wants.
Lost Verses -- Sun Kil Moon (KarmaPolice). Lovely. Could fit in on either of my two favorite mellow Beck albums, Sea Change and Morning Phase.
 
You could have given me 42 guesses as to the first Todd Rundgren song we'd see from @New Binky the Doormat and I probably would not have come up with this one. So I'd like to hear from him why he likes it so much. I enjoy it but it's certainly not in my top 20 Todd and may not be in my top 42.



no doubt. Going through these ranking drafts over the years I have often thought about how I would rank his songs and have even started a couple of different times. But everytime I start I don't get far - they change all the time and there are too many categories - no way to compare them. If I'm in the mood for one style or timeframe, I want those songs.

And since like a lot of us in here - I grew up listening to entire albums, over and over. And since so little of albums get airplay, most of what I really liked are songs that didn't get much exposure, though this song was in the live rotation for years - and looks to remain there.

Mostly because I wanted to pick a song that most (not you - lol) would not have heard - you mean that's the "Hello It's Me" guy?, and would represent a certain time in music that was important to me and what he was doing then. And it's a bit of a jam.

Is there a studio version of the song?

It looks like Spotify has five different live versions.
 
Since we are on the subject of bad singers, I don't think Warren Zevon has a good voice, either.

This is the main problem I've had with the songs of his I've been listening to. Just don't enjoy his voice at all. I can see why this applies to him, Dylan, Petty (don't kill me, folks), Waits, and others. You either like it or don't. It's not like we're talking about Otis or Sam Cooke, where you'd be a fool to say that.
He really doesn't sing well. Still like him, but oh dear.
 
shuke:

Shelter From The Storm - Bob Dylan
(new song)

I dunno if it was a mistake to include the live version from Hard Rain on the playlist instead of the studio version, but the Hard Rain version is excellent and I think I like it better than the studio version. This is in contrast to the live version on At Budokan, which is awful. Why am I familiar with an album that is essentially Dylan doing a Vegas lounge act? Because a friend from college liked it and played it all the time. He liked its "energy" and thought Dylan's other recordings were "boring". He also smoked a ton of weed.
This was on purpose. Definitely had to be this version.
Glad I picked the correct one!
 
I looked at my list and it's dominated by people who are not good singers. My top 4 songs are all by artists with unquestionably sub-par singers. I think Sam and Dave, Robert Cray and Alex Chilton are the only really good singers on my list with a few other decent singers.

Edit: I started working on my British list and I now see it too is dominated by bad singers. This is a trend.
 
I know I haven't posted much on this of late, so apologies.

But it was very hard for me to not put John Lee's "I Cover the Waterfront" first.

It's that slow intro with the horns. And while he's known as a blues guy, more for his "talking blues" or "Texas blues" style that often meandered off into the yonder, I'm blown away by how tight this is, and just how it's more like a melancholy dirge more than anything else, to be honest. It's more of a lament, or a yearning, than it is a blues song (there's no repetition, for instance), and that longing is something that really comes through in this song. And then that late outro - where the trumpet comes in as kind of a call-and-response - it's just sublime.
 
Speaking of the mid-80s, I don't think I've thought of Private Dancer since then. I kind of like it, but it also felt like it was written by a dude trying to give a stripper's perspective (i.e., not Tina), so I looked it up and was shocked to see it was a Mark Knopfler song.
Knopfler originally wrote the music and lyrics to "Private Dancer" as the second half of the title track to the Dire Straits album Love Over Gold. You can hear where “Private Dancer” was meant to pick up, building up gradually between 2:05 and 3:20.

During the sessions for Love Over Gold, Dire Straits laid down the “Love Over Gold/Private Dancer” music as originally written. Mark Knopfler went to record the vocals, but then got self-conscious about them – he decided those vocals should be sung by a woman. Rather than add a guest vocalist to the track, Knopfler shelved the “Private Dancer” section and reworked the second half of “Love Over Gold”.

A few years later, Knopfler had a chance to pitch “Private Dancer” to Tina Turner. She was looking for material for a comeback album, and her manager and Knopfler’s manager were friends. A meeting was arranged, and Knopfler played a personal demo copy** of “Private Dancer” for Turner, apologizing in advance that his vocals weren’t suited to the lyrics. His rendition led to mutual laughter and quick agreement from Turner that, yes, it should be a woman’s song to sing.

Here's a guitarist aiming to replicate Knopfler's playing style, pedals, etc. doing a version of "Private Dancer" as Knopfler would play it. Interesting listen.

This YouTuber took the two finished recordings of "Love Over Gold" and "Private Dancer" and stitched them together. In this version, "Private Dancer" kicks in fairly late, at about 5:24, after a nice bit of soloing by Knopfler.

** Knopfler's demo copy of "Private Dancer" -- with his vocals -- is like the Holy Grail for the most ardent of Dire Straits fans. Only a few people are even known to have ever heard it: Knopfler himself, of course. And Tina Turner. Probably their respective managers. Whoever may have been working with Knopfler on the demo -- bandmates, studio engineers, production staff. Knopfler himself has said he suspects there's a tape of his "Private Dancer" vocals out there somewhere, but he hopes it never sees the light of day. He has refused to give the recording an official release.
This story is incredible. And of course it makes perfect sense.
 
I looked at my list and it's dominated by people who are not good singers. My top 4 songs are all by artists with unquestionably sub-par singers. I think Sam and Dave, Robert Cray and Alex Chilton are the only really good singers on my list with a few other decent singers.

Edit: I started working on my British list and I now see it too is dominated by bad singers. This is a trend.

I find this interesting. I made a comment during one of the music threads that I don't listen as closely to lyrics as most apparently do. If you go basic with a song and say it's made up of lyrics, instrumentals and singing, I rank the order of those 3 as singing > instrumentals > lyrics. For example, that Mack the Knife rendition by Ella - I didn't care that the lyrics were goofy and all over the place - for some it made it charming but even if I didn't for me, I probably wouldn't care. That's not why I personally listen to music most of the time. However, having said that - most of my favorite songs have the combination of all 3. I think that is why I love Simon and Garfunkel so much. I find the singing and instrumentals fantastic and then the lyrics are smart and thought provoking. There's several examples in this thread of folks I don't care for, like Dylan, because I can't get past the signing.
 
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You could have given me 42 guesses as to the first Todd Rundgren song we'd see from @New Binky the Doormat and I probably would not have come up with this one. So I'd like to hear from him why he likes it so much. I enjoy it but it's certainly not in my top 20 Todd and may not be in my top 42.



no doubt. Going through these ranking drafts over the years I have often thought about how I would rank his songs and have even started a couple of different times. But everytime I start I don't get far - they change all the time and there are too many categories - no way to compare them. If I'm in the mood for one style or timeframe, I want those songs.

And since like a lot of us in here - I grew up listening to entire albums, over and over. And since so little of albums get airplay, most of what I really liked are songs that didn't get much exposure, though this song was in the live rotation for years - and looks to remain there.

Mostly because I wanted to pick a song that most (not you - lol) would not have heard - you mean that's the "Hello It's Me" guy?, and would represent a certain time in music that was important to me and what he was doing then. And it's a bit of a jam.

Is there a studio version of the song?

It looks like Spotify has five different live versions.
There is not, that I know of. It originally appeared on Another Live (1975).
 
I looked at my list and it's dominated by people who are not good singers. My top 4 songs are all by artists with unquestionably sub-par singers. I think Sam and Dave, Robert Cray and Alex Chilton are the only really good singers on my list with a few other decent singers.

Edit: I started working on my British list and I now see it too is dominated by bad singers. This is a trend.

I find this interesting. I made a comment during one of the music threads that I don't listen as closely to lyrics as most apparently do. If you go basic with a song and say it's made up of lyrics, instrumentals and singing, I rank the order of those 3 as singing > instrumentals > lyrics. For example, that Mack the Knife rendition by Ella - I didn't care that the lyrics were goofy and all over the place - for some it made it charming but even if I didn't for me, I probably wouldn't care. That's not why I personally listen to music most of the time. However, having said that - most of my favorite songs have the combination of all 3. I think that is why I love Simon and Garfunkel so much. I find the singing and instrumentals fantastic and then the lyrics are smart and thought provoking. There's several examples in this thread of folks I don't care for, like Dylan, because I can't get past the signing.

My list is almost entirely songs with great lyrics and bad singers!
 
My last 4 are all similar. I know all the lyrics and sing along to each of them every time. 3 of the 4 all crescendo at the end of the song. The other is silly but makes me feel like I"m on a beach. Only one has any votes (1 vote many, many days ago). You're all going to love dislike them!

@MAC_32 may want to put the playlist on Random :wink:
 
As I did with Doc Oc's gang of idiots, I am ranking everybody's rankings (except mine) -- I have a list of every song revealed so far (minus the ones on my list) in the order of how much I like them. I'll do this every time we hit a number that ends in 0 or 5. It provides a glimpse of who might have the most similar tastes to me so far.

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 10 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 6
Neal Cassady: 5
AAABatteries: 4
Simey: 3
DrIanMalcolm: 2
Hov34: 2
jwb: 2
Marco: 2
OH: 2
Shuke: 2
Chaz: 1
Ditkaburgers: 1
Don Quixote: 1
JustWinBaby: 1
Landryshat: 1
MAC 32: 1
Rockaction: 1
Simsarge: 1
Sullie: 1
Val Rannous: 1
Worrierking: 1
Zegras11: 1

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 25 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 7
AAABatteries: 6
Neal Cassady: 6
jwb: 5
Binky: 3
DrIanMalcolm: 3
Hov34: 3
MAC 32: 3
Marco: 3
Shuke: 3
Simey: 3
JustWinBaby: 2
OH: 2
Rockaction: 2
Sullie: 2
Val Rannous: 2
Zegras11: 2
Chaz: 1
Ditkaburgers: 1
Doc Oc: 1
Don Quixote: 1
Falguy: 1
Ilov80s: 1
Landryshat: 1
Manster: 1
Simsarge: 1
Worrierking: 1
Yankee23Fan: 1

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 50 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 8
Neal Cassady: 8
AAABatteries: 7
jwb: 7
Binky: 5
JustWinBaby: 5
Simey: 5
DrIanMalcolm: 4
Hov34: 4
Marco: 4
Shuke: 4
Sullie: 4
Val Rannous: 4
Don Quixote: 3
Landryshat: 3
MAC 32: 3
Manster: 3
Rockaction: 3
Worrierking: 3
Chaz: 2
Falguy: 2
Ilov80s: 2
OH: 2
Simsarge: 2
Zegras11: 2
Ditkaburgers: 1
Doc Oc: 1
Eephus: 1
KarmaPolice: 1
Yankee23Fan: 1

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 75 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 11
AAABatteries: 10
jwb: 8
Neal Cassady: 8
Binky: 7
Hov34: 7
Don Quixote: 6
DrIanMalcolm: 6
Shuke: 6
Simey: 6
JustWinBaby: 5
Landryshat: 5
MAC 32: 5
Marco: 5
Rockaction: 5
Sullie: 5
Val Rannous: 5
Chaz: 4
Worrierking: 4
Eephus: 3
Manster: 3
OH: 3
Uruk-Hai: 3
Falguy: 2
Ilov80s: 2
Simsarge: 2
Zegras11: 2
Ditkaburgers: 1
Doc Oc: 1
KarmaPolice: 1
Mrs. Rannous: 1
Yankee23Fan: 1

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 100 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 11
AAABatteries: 10
Binky: 10
jwb: 10
Neal Cassady: 10
Shuke: 10
Hov34: 9
Don Quixote: 7
DrIanMalcolm: 7
MAC 32: 6
Simey: 6
Worrierking: 6
Chaz: 5
JustWinBaby: 5
Landryshat: 5
Marco: 5
Rockaction: 5
Sullie: 5
Uruk-Hai: 5
Val Rannous: 5
Eephus: 4
OH: 4
Zegras11: 4
Falguy: 3
Manster: 3
Ilov80s: 2
Simsarge: 2
Ditkaburgers: 1
Doc Oc: 1
Doug B: 1
KarmaPolice: 1
Mrs. Rannous: 1
Scorchy: 1
Yankee23Fan: 1

Songs by participant that are on my list or in the top 150 of songs not on my list:

Krista4: 16
AAABatteries: 13
Hov34: 12
jwb: 12
Neal Cassady: 12
Shuke: 12
Binky: 11
Don Quixote: 11
DrIanMalcolm: 11
Landryshat: 10
Simey: 8
JustWinBaby: 7
MAC 32: 7
Marco: 7
Uruk-Hai: 7
Val Rannous: 7
Worrierking: 7
Doc Oc: 6
Eephus: 6
Falguy: 6
Zegras11: 6
Chaz: 5
Ilov80s: 5
OH: 5
Rockaction: 5
Sullie: 5
Manster: 4
Doug B: 3
Scorchy: 2
Simsarge: 2
Ditkaburgers: 1
KarmaPolice: 1
Mrs. Rannous: 1
Yankee23Fan: 1

There are 28 instances of someone picking something that is on my list. Three are Use Me. Three are What's Going On. Two are Everlong. One is Good Vibrations. One is I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. One is Race for the Prize. 17 have not yet been revealed. My #1 has 5 people who have taken it so far, my #2 has 5, my #3 has 3 and my #4 has 4.
 
My #1 has 5 people who have taken it so far, my #2 has 5, my #3 has 3 and my #4 has 4
I want to calculate a stat at the end to show this type of thing but so far can't due to the way I organized the spreadsheet. I think I can add a column to track this but haven't had the time to experiment. I thought my list would be somewhat chalky but turns out I'll be at the other end of the spectrum.
 
Well, tomorrow will be much different from today. We're starting to focus on fewer and fewer artists - tomorrow we have only ONE new artist. :shock: In addition, we have four double-ups and a triple-up! Plus, the one-hit wonder competition gets more heated. :popcorn:

I was wrong! As I'm going through to put the post together, I realized one artist has a quadruple-up today. First time we've seen that! Post coming soon. :popcorn:
 
Number 4:


krista4:


Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – third vote)


Just Win Baby:

Friend of a Friend (2005), from In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
(new song)


simey:

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Ray Charles (simey note: My favorite version is this one of him singing solo)
(new song)


scorchy:

Sign O’ The Times – Prince
(new song)


neal cassady:

So What - Miles Davis (feat. John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans)
(duplicate – second vote)

(@falguy , when this came up before, it was attributed only to Davis and Coltrane, but it appears we should give an "artist credit" to Adderley and Evans as well for the two votes for this song)

Uruk-Hai:

Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles
(duplicate – third vote)


Yankee23Fan:

Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp
(duplicate – second vote)


Manster:

Troubled Times - Screaming Trees
(new song)


shuke:

The Funeral - Band of Horses
(new song)


rockaction:

Hip Hop - Mos Def
(new artist)


Mrs. Rannous:

Keep Me In Your Heart - Warren Zevon
(duplicate – second vote)


New Binky the Doormat:

Fury - Prince
(new song)


Pip’s Invitation:

Let's Stay Together - Al Green
(duplicate – fifth vote)


Dr. Octopus:

Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
(duplicate – second vote)


Val Rannous:

Annie's Song - John Denver
(duplicate – second vote)


Chaz McNulty:

Don’t Stop Believin' - Journey
(new song)


Don Quixote:

Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – second vote)


Sullie:

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
(new song)


jwb:

Box of Rain – Grateful Dead
(new song)


DrIanMalcolm:

Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival
(duplicate – fifth vote)


Hawks64:

Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 - John Mayer
(new song)


MAC_32:

Where Did You Sleep Last Night – Nirvana
(new song)


falguy:

The Last Resort – Eagles
(new song)


simsarge:

Cool Jerk – The Go-Go's
(new song)


worrierking:

Decoration Day - Drive-by Truckers
(new song)


Eephus:

Creep – TLC
(new song)


Hov34:

Knocks Me Off My Feet - Stevie Wonder
(new song)


ditkaburgers:

We're the Same - Matthew Sweet
(new song)


AAABatteries:

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
(duplicate – third vote)


landryshat:

Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – second vote)


Zegras11:

I'll Be Around – The Spinners
(new song)


Ilov80s:

Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys
(new song)


Oliver Humanzee:

Lungs - Townes Van Zandt
(new song)


The Dreaded Marco:

Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
(duplicate – second vote)


Doug B:

Drive - The Cars
(duplicate – second vote)


KarmaPolice:

Legend Has It - Run the Jewels
(new song)
 
Al Green steals the "one-hit wonder" title, for now, from Cheap Trick!


We had the following artist double- and quadruple-ups:

Stevie Wonder x4:

Living for the City

Sir Duke

Higher Ground

Knocks Me Off My Feet (new song!)


Foo Fighters x2 (both new songs!):

Friend of a Friend

Monkey Wrench


Ray Charles x2:

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (new song!)

Georgia on My Mind


Prince x2 (both new songs!):

Sign O’ the Times

Fury


Beach Boys x2:

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Don’t Worry Baby (new song!)


And our ONLY new artist today: Mos Def
 
My #1 has 5 people who have taken it so far, my #2 has 5, my #3 has 3 and my #4 has 4
I want to calculate a stat at the end to show this type of thing but so far can't due to the way I organized the spreadsheet. I think I can add a column to track this but haven't had the time to experiment. I thought my list would be somewhat chalky but turns out I'll be at the other end of the spectrum.

I have all data shown a thousand different ways. Whatever you want, I should be able to pull pretty easily.
 
Number 4:


krista4:


Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – third vote)


Just Win Baby:

Friend of a Friend (2005), from In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
(new song)


simey:

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Ray Charles (simey note: My favorite version is this one of him singing solo)
(new song)


scorchy:

Sign O’ The Times – Prince
(new song)


neal cassady:

So What - Miles Davis (feat. John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans)
(duplicate – second vote)

(@falguy , when this came up before, it was attributed only to Davis and Coltrane, but it appears we should give an "artist credit" to Adderley and Evans as well for the two votes for this song)

Uruk-Hai:

Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles
(duplicate – third vote)


Yankee23Fan:

Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp
(duplicate – second vote)


Manster:

Troubled Times - Screaming Trees
(new song)


shuke:

The Funeral - Band of Horses
(new song)


rockaction:

Hip Hop - Mos Def
(new artist)


Mrs. Rannous:

Keep Me In Your Heart - Warren Zevon
(duplicate – second vote)


New Binky the Doormat:

Fury - Prince
(new song)


Pip’s Invitation:

Let's Stay Together - Al Green
(duplicate – fifth vote)


Dr. Octopus:

Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
(duplicate – second vote)


Val Rannous:

Annie's Song - John Denver
(duplicate – second vote)


Chaz McNulty:

Don’t Stop Believin' - Journey
(new song)


Don Quixote:

Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – second vote)


Sullie:

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
(new song)


jwb:

Box of Rain – Grateful Dead
(new song)


DrIanMalcolm:

Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival
(duplicate – fifth vote)


Hawks64:

Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 - John Mayer
(new song)


MAC_32:

Where Did You Sleep Last Night – Nirvana
(new song)


falguy:

The Last Resort – Eagles
(new song)


simsarge:

Cool Jerk – The Go-Go's
(new song)


worrierking:

Decoration Day - Drive-by Truckers
(new song)


Eephus:

Creep – TLC
(new song)


Hov34:

Knocks Me Off My Feet - Stevie Wonder
(new song)


ditkaburgers:

We're the Same - Matthew Sweet
(new song)


AAABatteries:

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
(duplicate – third vote)


landryshat:

Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
(duplicate – second vote)


Zegras11:

I'll Be Around – The Spinners
(new song)


Ilov80s:

Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys
(new song)


Oliver Humanzee:

Lungs - Townes Van Zandt
(new song)


The Dreaded Marco:

Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
(duplicate – second vote)


Doug B:

Drive - The Cars
(duplicate – second vote)


KarmaPolice:

Legend Has It - Run the Jewels
(new song)
Well I happened to not be busy like I thought I was going to be so here's #4
 
I was thinking a list of each FBG and how many of their 31 were also picked by someone else. Would also be neat to list the FBG who did pick it (I don't think it matters when, just if they picked it.

Potentially something to even show how may 2 given FBG have in common. (to show similar interests)
For example
you and Pip probably share a number of songs on your lists . so show
K4
.....Pip 6
----OH 3
....Doc O 2
...
...
... falguy 0. (just kidding, would just list the ones that have at least 1 in common)

I think this would be fairly difficult but maybe you have it in one of your piles of notes.

Edit: something to do at the end, probably not needed until we finish
 
I was thinking a list of each FBG and how many of their 31 were also picked by someone else. Would also be neat to list the FBG who did pick it (I don't think it matters when, just if they picked it.

Potentially something to even show how may 2 given FBG have in common. (to show similar interests)
For example
you and Pip probably share a number of songs on your lists . so show
K4
.....Pip 6
----OH 3
....Doc O 2
...
...
... falguy 0. (just kidding, would just list the ones that have at least 1 in common)

I think this would be fairly difficult but maybe you have it in one of your piles of notes.

Edit: something to do at the end, probably not needed until we finish

Yeah, "matchmaking" was what I planned to do on Sunday until I got sick.

The first part - seeing how many times another song was picked - is very easy, as I have a document with the number of times each song has been selected and in which round. Matching them up to the people who took them will take a little more time. I did intend to do this after we're done.
 
I was thinking a list of each FBG and how many of their 31 were also picked by someone else. Would also be neat to list the FBG who did pick it (I don't think it matters when, just if they picked it.

Potentially something to even show how may 2 given FBG have in common. (to show similar interests)
For example
you and Pip probably share a number of songs on your lists . so show
K4
.....Pip 6
----OH 3
....Doc O 2
...
...
... falguy 0. (just kidding, would just list the ones that have at least 1 in common)

I think this would be fairly difficult but maybe you have it in one of your piles of notes.

Edit: something to do at the end, probably not needed until we finish

Yeah, "matchmaking" was what I planned to do on Sunday until I got sick.

The first part - seeing how many times another song was picked - is very easy, as I have a document with the number of times each song has been selected and in which round. Matching them up to the people who took them will take a little more time. I did intend to do this after we're done.
Awesome. I'll step back into the shadows. 👍
 

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