Getcha passports ready - the middle-aged dummies are going to the British Isles! Top 31 song countdown. (2 Viewers)

[falguy]

Spreadsheet now updated to include the weekend + today's picks.

 

[Don Quixote]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Great song, and happy to see show up here. I was listening to Arthur on a plane flight yesterday, as had been awhile for me.

It does not seem mentioned as much as some of their other albums, but holds up great.

 

[zamboni]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Great tune - got some nice recognition a few years back on an episode of How I Met Your Mother.

 

[rockaction]

Great tune - got some nice recognition a few years back on an episode of How I Met Your Mother.

Great clip.

Great song, and happy to see show up here. I was listening to Arthur on a plane flight yesterday, as had been awhile for me.

It does not seem mentioned as much as some of their other albums, but holds up great.

That's cool. By way of explanation for others, the album was supposed to be a concept album produced in conjunction with a television drama about a fictional character based on Ray Davies' brother-in-law. The brother-in-law had married Ray's sister Rose and had emigrated to Australia, which also explains "Rosy, Won't You Please Come Home" off of Face To Face. The songs on Arthur are about a working-class carpet layer and the thoughts and attitudes the carpet layer espouses.

 

[Ilov80s]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

 

[Ilov80s]

I loved to see Tomorrow Never Knows make it. I had that originally as my 2 and made a last minute swap to Eleanor Rigby.

 

[Manster]

I'm not gonna say anything about Levee that hasn't already been said. Its just a ****ing badass song!

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

Waterloo Sunset was my alternate choice if I hadn't gone with You Really Got Me. Had a tough time with that call.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Great song, and happy to see show up here. I was listening to Arthur on a plane flight yesterday, as had been awhile for me.

It does not seem mentioned as much as some of their other albums, but holds up great.

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

Waterloo Sunset was my alternate choice if I hadn't gone with You Really Got Me. Had a tough time with that call.

More reasons why we should do a Kinks song draft at some point.

 

[Ilov80s]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

 

[DrIanMalcolm]

Spreadsheet now updated to include the weekend + today's picks.

And...the 26th to 29th rounds are where we went from "The Beatles only have a slight lead on the Who, this could be interesting" to, "Oh, right, yeah, the best band ever."

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

Waterloo Sunset was my alternate choice if I hadn't gone with You Really Got Me. Had a tough time with that call.

Waterloo Sunset is the better song but YRGM was the first Kinks song I loved and it packs a lot of nostalgia for me.

 

[falguy]

Spreadsheet now updated to include the weekend + today's picks.

added 2 new tabs

Artist Selection Totals - Counts how many times an artist was selected.
Artist Song Totals - counts how many individual songs have been selected for the artist.

of note...
31 different Beatles songs. THIRTY ONE!!


as always if you see any issues please advise. I aim for 100% accuracy but I am short staffed as K4 stole all my QA people. A small discrepancy between song title or artist name can affect these summaries but is usually easy to resolve.

I should have some additional tabs to add at the end

 

[Uruk-Hai]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

The bolded is too simplistic a take. I know what you're trying to say, but you're also unwittingly buying into the false narrative that's been out there for 50 years. I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music.

 

[Don Quixote]

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Great song, and happy to see show up here. I was listening to Arthur on a plane flight yesterday, as had been awhile for me.

It does not seem mentioned as much as some of their other albums, but holds up great.

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

"Victoria" - The Kinks

I picked this because of @Mister CIA telling me during the "This Is Their Best Song" draft that this was one of their best songs. I decided to listen to Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire again and - lo! -- found this to be one of their best tracks. So here it is.

Probably my alternate choice if I didn’t go with Waterloo Sunset.

Waterloo Sunset was my alternate choice if I hadn't gone with You Really Got Me. Had a tough time with that call.

More reasons why we should do a Kinks song draft at some point.

I’d be down for that.

 

[jwb]

Mrs. Eephus:

Talk Talk - Talk Talk
(new song)


ditkaburgers:

Acquiesce (Remastered) – Oasis
(new song)

On this "Beatles / Stones / and more classic rock Gods" day, the Eephus ladies once again brighten things up.

 

[jwb]

Hawks64:

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (Live at Long Beach) – Iron Maiden
(duplicate – third vote)

Definitely happy to see this again.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music

Some take it the wrong way but among many other things they were the greatest boy band ever.

 

[Manster]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

Love Eleanor Rigby picked here. Easily could've been my Beatles song.

 

[Manster]

I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music

Some take it the wrong way but among many other things they were the greatest boy band ever.

Early Beatles was most definitely a blueprint for boy bands

 

[Pip's Invitation]

New-to-me favorites from #4:

A Certain Romance -- Arctic Monkeys (Eephus). I like this one best of their songs that have been picked so far. Rockin' and bumpin'.
For Tomorrow -- Blur (Titusbramble). There's definitely some things they picked up from The Jam in here, so credit for that, though it's not as fluid a song as most of Weller's, nor is the vocal as good.
Make This Go On Forever -- Snow Patrol (MAC 32). Another one that reminds me of the Coldplay deep tracks that have been selected. My Lost Years in the early '00s were very American-centric, I wasn't paying too much attention to what the Brits were doing for the most part.

 

[timschochet]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

The bolded is too simplistic a take. I know what you're trying to say, but you're also unwittingly buying into the false narrative that's been out there for 50 years. I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music.

You’re destroying my Jann Wenner approved mythology of rock history and I resent it.

 

[Ilov80s]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

The bolded is too simplistic a take. I know what you're trying to say, but you're also unwittingly buying into the false narrative that's been out there for 50 years. I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music.

I’ll leave Krista to comment there if she wants.

 

[AAABatteries]

Currently I have 6 of the 7 non big 3 artists. Not much time left but either way it's safe to say I underestimated The Who and overestimated Radiohead.

 

[rockaction]

I had "Tomorrow Never Knows" as my Beatles song and switched it out last minute. Pretty revolutionary in what they were doing. "Rain" is also one of my favorite Beatles tracks, too. Listening to "Rain" now and just digging it.

 

[simey]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

It is used in college also. I've mentioned in the past we studied this song in my English Composition class my freshman year. I think it had to do with metaphors. There was another one of their songs too that we studied, and I think that one was the use of similes. Their music has great examples of figurative language.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music

Some take it the wrong way but among many other things they were the greatest boy band ever.

Early Beatles was most definitely a blueprint for boy bands

how are you guys defining "boy bands"?

the term boy bands came around in the 80s - and applied to the manufactured, choreographed dancing groups that didn't play instruments or write their own material (New Kids, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, etc)

in addition to changing the culture, the Beatles changed the entire approach that musicians were "allowed" to take to their music. Prior to them, popular music was primarily a singer with backing musicians that typically didn't write most their songs. Or there were the male vocal groups - doo ***, etc.

The Beatles were the first to write their own music, play their own instruments, were seen as equals as opposed to "the star" and misc. back-up musicians, and had significant control over their music - they weren't manufactured by the record company.

if want to define "boy band" as cute guys in a group that made girls scream after each song - and use that to call the Beatles a boy band - that would be a naive, short-sighted perspective.

 

[AAABatteries]

I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music

Some take it the wrong way but among many other things they were the greatest boy band ever.

Early Beatles was most definitely a blueprint for boy bands

how are you guys defining "boy bands"?

the term boy bands came around in the 80s - and applied to the manufactured, choreographed dancing groups that didn't play instruments or write their own material (New Kids, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, etc)

in addition to changing the culture, the Beatles changed the entire approach that musicians were "allowed" to take to their music. Prior to them, popular music was primarily a singer with backing musicians that typically didn't write most their songs. Or there were the male vocal groups - doo ***, etc.

The Beatles were the first to write their own music, play their own instruments, were seen as equals as opposed to "the star" and misc. back-up musicians, and had significant control over their music - they weren't manufactured by the record company.

if want to define "boy band" as cute guys in a group that made girls scream after each song - and use that to call the Beatles a boy band - that would be a naive, short-sighted perspective.

Wiki - A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation.[1] Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women.

Ignoring any biases folks may have on whether boy bands are good, bad or the worst thing since Hitler, it's pretty undeniable (IMO), that The Beatles are the greatest boy band of all-time.

 

[AAABatteries]

Maybe folks think some are saying they are "only" a boy band - that's not what most are saying I don't think. The are also the greatest rock band of all-time, the greatest pop band of all-time and just the all-around greatest band of all time (IMO).

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Dr. Octopus:

Loving Cup - The Rolling Stones
(duplicate – second vote)

IIRC Doc Oc ranked this #1 in his Stones countdown. So either he has a new Stones #1 or he ranked songs by two other acts ahead of the Stones.

 

[Manster]

Maybe folks think some are saying they are "only" a boy band - that's not what most are saying I don't think. The are also the greatest rock band of all-time, the greatest pop band of all-time and just the all-around greatest band of all time (IMO).

Yea I said they are the "blueprint for boy bands." I wouldn't say they were so much and actual boy band, other than they had the crazy female following.....and they were boys

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Sullie:

Another Tricky Day - The Who
(new song)

IMO the second-greatest post-Moon song the Who did, after Eminence Front. It was a great update of their power chord-centric approach.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Maybe folks think some are saying they are "only" a boy band - that's not what most are saying I don't think. The are also the greatest rock band of all-time, the greatest pop band of all-time and just the all-around greatest band of all time (IMO).

Yea I said they are the "blueprint for boy bands." I wouldn't say they were so much and actual boy band, other than they had the crazy female following.....and they were boys

Reaction.

 

[krista4]

My friend [xx], selected it. My guys don’t count in the official tallies.

Just ctrl-V this every day.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Maybe folks think some are saying they are "only" a boy band - that's not what most are saying I don't think. The are also the greatest rock band of all-time, the greatest pop band of all-time and just the all-around greatest band of all time (IMO).

Yea I said they are the "blueprint for boy bands." I wouldn't say they were so much and actual boy band, other than they had the crazy female following.....and they were boys

yeah Manster, I don't get the "blueprint" aspect of it - the major aspects of a boy band is lack of writing and control of their music, choreography, pieced together for their diversity by some svengali and they don't play instruments

what the Beatles are a blueprint for is all of these groups we've been talking about - individual bands writing and performing their own material. Organically created, writing their own songs and playing their own instruments. Who knows if the music scene would have developed anywhere close to what we have enjoyed for so long without the Beatles.

I'm not mad ...I'm just disappointed. lol

 

[Dr. Octopus]

So who owns Heroes?

:tapsfoot:

Whoever explains first why they like it. Go!

It’s got a good beat and I can dance to it.

 

[krista4]

Currently I have 6 of the 7 non big 3 artists. Not much time left but either way it's safe to say I underestimated The Who and overestimated Radiohead.

No one got all seven.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

So who owns Heroes?

:tapsfoot:

Whoever explains first why they like it. Go!

It’s got a good beat and I can dance to it.

you own it girl

:spinsplits:

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Dr. Octopus:

Loving Cup - The Rolling Stones
(duplicate – second vote)

IIRC Doc Oc ranked this #1 in his Stones countdown. So either he has a new Stones #1 or he ranked songs by two other acts ahead of the Stones.

Let me just make clear that if the latter were to happen, I wouldn’t be ranking two acts ahead of the Stones, it would just be two songs that are better than Loving Cup.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Sullie:

Another Tricky Day - The Who
(new song)

IMO the second-greatest post-Moon song the Who did, after Eminence Front. It was a great update of their power chord-centric approach.

I love this song and this selection.

Not their greatest album but Face Dances was one of the first of my Columbia House cassette purchases and therefore the first Who album I ever bought. It was worth every penny.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

This live version of Rime of the Ancient Mariner is nutso. In a good way. Here is where the slow spoken part makes more sense, because I don't think they (or anyone) could keep up for 13 consecutive minutes what they did in the first 5 minutes.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Maybe folks think some are saying they are "only" a boy band - that's not what most are saying I don't think. The are also the greatest rock band of all-time, the greatest pop band of all-time and just the all-around greatest band of all time (IMO).

I heard they can’t even play their own instruments.

 

[AAABatteries]

the major aspects of a boy band is lack of writing and control of their music, choreography, pieced together for their diversity by some svengali and they don't play instruments

What are you basing this on? I’ve never heard boy band defined in such strict terms.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Sullie:

Another Tricky Day - The Who
(new song)

IMO the second-greatest post-Moon song the Who did, after Eminence Front. It was a great update of their power chord-centric approach.

I love this song and this selection.

Not their greatest album but Face Dances was one of the first of my Columbia House cassette purchases and therefore the first Who album I ever bought. It was worth every penny.

It would be considered a great album of its era if it was from a band that had no ties to the late '60s and was not associated with Tommy, Who's Next, Quadrophenia, etc.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

the major aspects of a boy band is lack of writing and control of their music, choreography, pieced together for their diversity by some svengali and they don't play instruments

What are you basing this on? I’ve never heard boy band defined in such strict terms.

Let the old guy have his fantasies.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Sullie:

Another Tricky Day - The Who
(new song)

IMO the second-greatest post-Moon song the Who did, after Eminence Front. It was a great update of their power chord-centric approach.

I love this song and this selection.

Not their greatest album but Face Dances was one of the first of my Columbia House cassette purchases and therefore the first Who album I ever bought. It was worth every penny.

It would be considered a great album of its era if it was from a band that had no ties to the late '60s and was not associated with Tommy, Who's Next, Quadrophenia, etc.

I’ve always liked it a lot. It was more 80s sounding but still The Who.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

And I think Eleanor Rigby is nearly as influential and ground shifting as Tomorrow Never Knows.A rock band with no rock instruments. A band known for love songs for teens delivering a haunting look at loneliness and desolation among the aged. All while being a catchy hit single.

The bolded is too simplistic a take. I know what you're trying to say, but you're also unwittingly buying into the false narrative that's been out there for 50 years. I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music.

I’ll leave Krista to comment there if she wants.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying "Eleanor.." or "Tomorrow..." aren't fantastic pieces of music. Just that I think the earlier Beatles songs tend to get dismissed as teeny-bopper stuff when they were extraordinary musical feats in their own rights.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Known-to-me favorites from #3, not including my own pick or Child in Time, which is known to be on my list:

While My Guitar Gently Weeps -- The Beatles (Doug B)
Here Comes the Sun -- The Beatles (Don Quixote)
Rain -- The Beatles (OH)
A Day in the Life -- The Beatles (Falguy and Simey)
Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones (Chaos34 and Cosjobs)
When the Levee Breaks -- Led Zeppelin (Manster)
Baba O'Riley -- The Who (Andy)
Immigrant Song -- Led Zeppelin (Yankee23Fan)
Sheep -- Pink Floyd (Higgins)
You Really Got Me -- The Kinks (Marco)
Sway -- The Rolling Stones (KarmaPolice)
Wish You Were Here -- Pink Floyd (Just Win Baby)
Tin Soldier -- Small Faces (Landryshat) -- I admit it, I first knew of this through the Todd Rundgren cover.
Paranoid -- Black Sabbath (jwb)
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? -- Elvis Costello (Westerberg)
Gallows Pole -- Page and Plant (Val Rannous) -- Almost equal to the Zep version, which I ranked #16.
Beware of Darkness -- George Harrison (Krista4)
Sweet Thing -- Van Morrison (Mister CIA)
Victoria -- The Kinks (Rockaction)
Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (Mrs. Rannous)
Heroes -- David Bowie (DrIanMalcolm, Eephus and Hov34)
Hey Bulldog -- The Beatles (Zegras11)
Talk Talk -- Talk Talk (Mrs. Eephus)
Another Tricky Day -- The Who (Sullie)
Where to Now St. Peter? -- Elton John (Binky)

Phew. It was an epic day, as I expect the last two to be as well.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

the major aspects of a boy band is lack of writing and control of their music, choreography, pieced together for their diversity by some svengali and they don't play instruments

What are you basing this on? I’ve never heard boy band defined in such strict terms.

what are you talking about? just google the many variations of "boy band" definition, history, etc

or you could just apply those points to the typical 80s "boy band" groups the most that come to mind

here's one from NPR

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'd argue that the Beatles early stuff is a bigger break from what else was going on than any of their middle/late period music

Some take it the wrong way but among many other things they were the greatest boy band ever.

Early Beatles was most definitely a blueprint for boy bands

how are you guys defining "boy bands"?

the term boy bands came around in the 80s - and applied to the manufactured, choreographed dancing groups that didn't play instruments or write their own material (New Kids, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, etc)

in addition to changing the culture, the Beatles changed the entire approach that musicians were "allowed" to take to their music. Prior to them, popular music was primarily a singer with backing musicians that typically didn't write most their songs. Or there were the male vocal groups - doo ***, etc.

The Beatles were the first to write their own music, play their own instruments, were seen as equals as opposed to "the star" and misc. back-up musicians, and had significant control over their music - they weren't manufactured by the record company.

if want to define "boy band" as cute guys in a group that made girls scream after each song - and use that to call the Beatles a boy band - that would be a naive, short-sighted perspective.

They can be the template for Boy Bands without actually being one.