Krista4's Beatles 1-25 List Thread! Count down will start Mon Feb 14 noon ET. Will take new lists til then... (1 Viewer)

[simey]

Thoughts from the crew in terms of including website/magazine stuff? 

When I did the other two Beatles countdowns, I didn't include any rankings from NME, Rolling Stone, whatever, because I don't GAF.  But in both the U2 and LZ countdowns they have included rankings and write-ups.  Would you guys like to have these for comparison and discussion of how wrong they are?

We are ranking our favorites, right?  I honestly don't care what NME, Rolling Stone, etc. consider the best. If others are interested in it that is fine. I can skip over whatever I don't care to read.

 

[Zegras11]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOYq9JiBW3s

Kansas City

 

[simey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOYq9JiBW3s

Kansas City

Are you pulling for the Chiefs tomorrow?

 

[simey]

Turned out she somehow missed all of Magical Mystery Tour (not a huge loss), 

Don't be mean to MMT!

 

[Zegras11]

Are you pulling for the Chiefs tomorrow?

Not really pulling for either team. Think the Bengals are playing slightly better right now. Will be a great game.

 

[simey]

Not really pulling for either team. Think the Bengals are playing slightly better right now. Will be a great game.

I'm pulling for the Bengals since it has been so long since they have been in the playoffs. I do like the Chiefs. I hope it is a close competitive game.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Actually I'm not sure many people have read them in that thread or in U2, based on comments.  But our man Pip reads them and comments, because he's awesome.

I dunno.  We could instead just do a post after our countdown of how we compared to whatever lists are out there?

I really don't care about any of it.  Obviously didn't include in my countdowns for that reason.  Just trying to give the people what they want.

I'd say no.

There are not for ranking purposes. At least my understanding was we are not trying to do what's been done over and over. We're just sharing our favorites. What we love about a particular song isn't relevant to the Countdown exercise, not even tangentially. 

IMO

_______________

I have been so geeked out on all things Beatles the last few months, ever since Get Back came out. Which, for the record, I found boring af (episode 1) the first time through. I've given it two more watch throughs since. It's amazing how much more you notice on rewatches.

I've been "Discovering" releases I never knew existed, watching a half dozen Beatle centric documentaries, actually re-watching both A Hard Day's Night and Help! Listening to the entire original catalogue in order, as it was meant to be presented. Reading my first book on the Beatles and have a couple more in the queue. 

This new hobby of mine is like an everlasting wellspring. 

_______________

Anyway, don't want to spotlight whilst we are still collecting lists, but I'm looking forward to hopping in the discussion. 

 

[Zegras11]

I'd say no.

There are not for ranking purposes. At least my understanding was we are not trying to do what's been done over and over. We're just sharing our favorites. What we love about a particular song isn't relevant to the Countdown exercise, not even tangentially. 

IMO

_______________

I have been so geeked out on all things Beatles the last few months, ever since Get Back came out. Which, for the record, I found boring af (episode 1) the first time through. I've given it two more watch throughs since. It's amazing how much more you notice on rewatches.

I've been "Discovering" releases I never knew existed, watching a half dozen Beatle centric documentaries, actually re-watching both A Hard Day's Night and Help! Listening to the entire original catalogue in order, as it was meant to be presented. Reading my first book on the Beatles and have a couple more in the queue. 

This new hobby of mine is like an everlasting wellspring. 

_______________

Anyway, don't want to spotlight whilst we are still collecting lists, but I'm looking forward to hopping in the discussion. 

First time I watched Get Back, it was on my TV mounted on the wall.

Listing to Part 3 (25mins into it) right now, with head phones on through my computer.    Part 2 was just incredible last night.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

There were 11 songs I had a REALLY hard time leaving off my list. I've saved what they are so I can reference them when the time comes. Too bad the magic number wasn't 36. 

160 songs with a vote so far is pretty amazing. The only song I'm pretty confident won't get any votes is Revolution 9. 

 

[Zegras11]

160 songs with a vote so far is pretty amazing. The only song I'm pretty confident won't get any votes is Revolution 9. 

Don't get too confident on this one. 

 

[krista4]

Probably my short attention span, but the LZ writeups are just way too long for me.  So I auto skip those old list rankings and just read what he writes about which voters ranked it high and that info.

Maybe just post 1-2 of them that you find interesting?

The thing for me doing this is our list will be the most current on the planet, and thus better than any list out there because it will be based on how we fell about all the songs right now.

We will also have two great write ups for almost every song and great listener stories like we had last time.

Seems there's a consensus (sorry Pip) for not including.  Maybe at the very end you could post our rankings as a group compared to...whatever is out there.  

 

[krista4]

I'm pulling for the Bengals since it has been so long since they have been in the playoffs. I do like the Chiefs. I hope it is a close competitive game.

I've a hard time deciding whom to root for. All four of these teams are likable, and I'm happy to see them in the conference championships.  I grew up with the Bengals - Ickey Shuffle, and I even had a cat named Ickey!  But Mahomes is super-likable.  In LA vs. SF I might root for SF just so I can see most-handsome-QB-ever in his post-game interviews, but I don't know.

 

[krista4]

I'd say no.

There are not for ranking purposes. At least my understanding was we are not trying to do what's been done over and over. We're just sharing our favorites. What we love about a particular song isn't relevant to the Countdown exercise, not even tangentially. 

IMO

  Love it.

 

[krista4]

There were 11 songs I had a REALLY hard time leaving off my list. I've saved what they are so I can reference them when the time comes. Too bad the magic number wasn't 36. 

160 songs with a vote so far is pretty amazing. The only song I'm pretty confident won't get any votes is Revolution 9. 

I'm gonna wanna know these.

 

[krista4]

Don't get too confident on this one. 

I know we've had some weird ones, but let's not spotlight about anything at all, please.

 

[krista4]

160 songs with a vote so far is pretty amazing. The only song I'm pretty confident won't get any votes is Revolution 9. 

Actually, as to this, I'd be more confident in "Wild Honey Pie" or "Taste of Honey," my #204 and #202.  There's nothing about Wild Honey Pie that seems like it would charm anyone, and Taste of Honey is just a ####### dreadful cover.  But Revolution 9, while kinda awful, is at least an attempt at a different sound and genre, albeit failed.

 

[Zegras11]

There were 11 songs I had a REALLY hard time leaving off my list.

It's the write ups on this type of thing along with why and why not someone put a song somewhere that make these threads so awesome.  Only topped by the personal stories the voter or their family had back in the day.

 

[simey]

But Revolution 9, while kinda awful, is at least an attempt at a different sound and genre, albeit failed.

Revolution 9 is a song I think is played in hell.  number 9 number 9 number 9   

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Actually, as to this, I'd be more confident in "Wild Honey Pie" or "Taste of Honey," my #204 and #202.  There's nothing about Wild Honey Pie that seems like it would charm anyone, and Taste of Honey is just a ####### dreadful cover.  But Revolution 9, while kinda awful, is at least an attempt at a different sound and genre, albeit failed.

The only songs I did not give much consideration to were the "filler" songs of the early albums, the covers that they had been doing since the Hamburg days.

The White Album is an easy target for superfluous material, but at least there was an aim for originality and unique sound in the recordings.  

 

[Uruk-Hai]

The only songs I did not give much consideration to were the "filler" songs of the early albums, the covers that they had been doing since the Hamburg days.

I think I only included one cover on my list, but several more were in the mix.

I'd submit that, without those covers, the Beatles' Moment may not have happened the way it did. They provided a Transatlantic link to potential fans, even if those fans may or may not have remembered the originals. Not that the Beatles needed much help (pun intended), but the covers tethered them to America in a way that the originals couldn't. Sure, some weren't great. But some were! "Twist And Shout", "Money", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Kansas City", "Act Naturally" were all fantastic performances.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I was gonna include Dave Marsh's writeups from his The Heart Of Rock & Soul where he lists the 1,001 greatest singles of all time. There are several Beatles records in there, but obviously not all of them. I think the half-dozen or so he includes will rank fairly high in our composites, though.

By the way, if you haven't read that book: run - don't walk - and get yourself a copy. It's the best book about music I've ever read. Marsh is a self-important, narcissistic blowhard who thinks he's sharper than he is (kinda like me), but he gets it with this book. I know @zamboni has read at least some of it and I'm pretty sure @timschochet has referenced it before in between some of his 4 billion timeouts. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Seems there's a consensus (sorry Pip) for not including.  Maybe at the very end you could post our rankings as a group compared to...whatever is out there.  

If I have time I can come up with something like that.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I'm gonna wanna know these.

One of them, I gave you a lot of grief about ranking so low in your other thread!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I was gonna include Dave Marsh's writeups from his The Heart Of Rock & Soul where he lists the 1,001 greatest singles of all time. There are several Beatles records in there, but obviously not all of them. I think the half-dozen or so he includes will rank fairly high in our composites, though.

By the way, if you haven't read that book: run - don't walk - and get yourself a copy. It's the best book about music I've ever read. Marsh is a self-important, narcissistic blowhard who thinks he's sharper than he is (kinda like me), but he gets it with this book. I know @zamboni has read at least some of it and I'm pretty sure @timschochet has referenced it before in between some of his 4 billion timeouts. 

I’ve heard of that book but I’ve never read it because Marsh. He’s intolerable to me not only because of the reasons you listed, but because he hates Neil.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I’ve heard of that book but I’ve never read it because Marsh. He’s intolerable to me not only because of the reasons you listed, but because he hates Neil.

I'm not sure that's the case, but he does call out Neil in the book.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I'm not sure that's the case, but he does call out Neil in the book.

I wasn’t meaning literal hate, but everything I’ve read from Marsh indicates he doesn’t care for or respect Neil’s music.

 

[jwb]

I think I only included one cover on my list, but several more were in the mix.

I'd submit that, without those covers, the Beatles' Moment may not have happened the way it did. They provided a Transatlantic link to potential fans, even if those fans may or may not have remembered the originals. Not that the Beatles needed much help (pun intended), but the covers tethered them to America in a way that the originals couldn't. Sure, some weren't great. But some were! "Twist And Shout", "Money", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Kansas City", "Act Naturally" were all fantastic performances.

I have a cover or two in my (still working on it) list. I like Money in particular. Part of me wanted to cut them for an original, but like you said, I feel they are important. 

 

[prosopis]

I was gonna include Dave Marsh's writeups from his The Heart Of Rock & Soul where he lists the 1,001 greatest singles of all time. There are several Beatles records in there, but obviously not all of them. I think the half-dozen or so he includes will rank fairly high in our composites, though.

By the way, if you haven't read that book: run - don't walk - and get yourself a copy. It's the best book about music I've ever read. Marsh is a self-important, narcissistic blowhard who thinks he's sharper than he is (kinda like me), but he gets it with this book. I know @zamboni has read at least some of it and I'm pretty sure @timschochet has referenced it before in between some of his 4 billion timeouts. 

I just added this book to my wish list. Sounds interesting.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I wasn’t meaning literal hate, but everything I’ve read from Marsh indicates he doesn’t care for or respect Neil’s music.

Marsh had a point with the book, which was that you could tell the story of R&R through singles instead of albums. There are no Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Neil Young, or Deep Purple songs in his countdown. However, I have since heard him mention many of those artists on his radio show (back when I listened to it - it's been moved around so much on SXM, I got tired of chasing it down) in glowing terms. 

 

[AAABatteries]

I have a cover or two in my (still working on it) list. I like Money in particular. Part of me wanted to cut them for an original, but like you said, I feel they are important. 

I love some of the Beatles covers but decided none of them were essential and I decided to leave them out.  Twist and Shout in particular was one I wanted to keep.

 

[krista4]

I have a cover or two in my (still working on it) list. I like Money in particular. Part of me wanted to cut them for an original, but like you said, I feel they are important. 

I love some of the Beatles covers but decided none of them were essential and I decided to leave them out.  Twist and Shout in particular was one I wanted to keep.

I think these two are the consensus best covers.  

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Marsh had a point with the book, which was that you could tell the story of R&R through singles instead of albums. There are no Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Neil Young, or Deep Purple songs in his countdown. However, I have since heard him mention many of those artists on his radio show (back when I listened to it - it's been moved around so much on SXM, I got tired of chasing it down) in glowing terms. 

ridiculous to take a stand that none of the those people/groups had a "top 1,000 single".

NOT IN THE TOP 1,000????

Took a look at his list ...

BEYOND AWFUL (only saw the first 500 ...that was plenty)

I grew up with Creem magazine ...but it certainly wasn't because of the "insightful" and socially redeemable articles - it was a fan trash picture book.  

 

[krista4]

On this date in 1969, well duh.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

ridiculous to take a stand that none of the those people/groups had a "top 1,000 single".

NOT IN THE TOP 1,000????

Took a look at his list ...

BEYOND AWFUL (only saw the first 500 ...that was plenty)

I grew up with Creem magazine ...but it certainly wasn't because of the "insightful" and socially redeemable articles - it was a fan trash picture book.  

He was a troll before the internet defined what that was. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Marsh had a point with the book, which was that you could tell the story of R&R through singles instead of albums. 

I completely disagree with that premise. It was true until about 1967, but not after that. Though I always got the sense that he thought most things other than Springsteen sucked after 1967. 

 

[Eephus]

I completely disagree with that premise. It was true until about 1967, but not after that. Though I always got the sense that he thought most things other than Springsteen sucked after 1967. 

It's a good bathroom book

 

[Dr. Octopus]

The patient was in the military at the same time as Elvis and this is how that meeting happened.

So was my dad - at the same base.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I think these two are the consensus best covers.  

Money was done better   

 

[heckmanm]

Finally got around to watching part 3 of Get Back over the weekend.  The whole time I kept thinking "Is this in my top 25? This is a really cool song. I should probably have it in my top 25"

Probably not even going to go check as I don't want the aggravation 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I completely disagree with that premise. It was true until about 1967, but not after that. Though I always got the sense that he thought most things other than Springsteen sucked after 1967. 

But you also can't have the reverse (which is what most orthodox rock histories lean on): that the story is only told through albums. It conveniently marginalizes artists of color, women, and those with a backwoods upbringing - because those artists didn't have control over their content and weren't allowed to make albums to support their visions for many years after Boomer white rockers were. That's what Marsh was trying to say.

I'll agree that he swung the pendulum too far the other way, but Jann Wenner and his ilk had put the pendulum in the wrong place from the get-go.

Marsh also has many songs in the book (written in the late '80s) from the '70s & '80s. His update in the late '90s doesn't change the list, but it has a list of of songs in the new preface from that decade he'd include (I think it was like 100 or so, including many that the demographic on this board would agree with).

I'm not defending him in any way except to say that what we were told was important for several decades leaves out a ton of music because it wasn't made from 1967 to 1979 by guitar bands who had a freedom of expression other artists didn't have. That doesn't make the music those ignored artists made any less vital to the story. 

How do girl groups and Brill Building records, in Rolling Stones' R&R History (and every other tome they #### out), get less word count than the ####### Airplane when that music influenced everyone from the Beatles to the Ramones to Springsteen to Prince to Madonna? Marvin Gaye gets one paragraph (along with the rest of the Motown artists outside of Stevie Wonder, who got tokened in with a page or so full of backhanded compliments) when the Doors get pages? Johnny Cash gets barely a mention for his time at Sun in the '50s (& none afterwards) and Willie Nelson scrapes a paragraph (only for his concerts and ignoring his recorded output, because: Woodstock!) while the (mostly awful) Haight bands get an entire article to themselves. 

I get that Marsh is a jerk and tries to provoke - trust me, I've read more of his crap than is healthy for anyone with a working mind and I know his game. That doesn't mean he's wrong, though, just because you think he doesn't like Neil Young (I've heard him wax poetic over Bowie on his radio show, who he trashes in this book way more than he does Young). 

If I were doing this ranking, I'd have in some of the artists he leaves out. Off the top of my head, I'd have one Floyd, a couple of Young's, two Purples, maybe a half dozen classic prog songs, and 2 or 3 Bowies. I'd boot the Roxy Music songs he included, though, because they do nothing for me. I don't think he had any Santana, which I would also include.

 

[krista4]

On this date in 1967, John found this 1843 poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal in an antique store.  The poster became the inspiration for "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite."

Also on this date, in 1969, Paul sent this postcard to Ringo.  Reason unknown.   

 

[simey]

If I were doing this ranking, I'd have in some of the artists he leaves out. Off the top of my head, I'd have one Floyd, a couple of Young's, two Purples, maybe a half dozen classic prog songs, and 2 or 3 Bowies. I'd boot the Roxy Music songs he included, though, because they do nothing for me. I don't think he had any Santana, which I would also include.

What Pink Floyd song would it be? I would easily put "Comfortably Numb" as one of the greatest 1,001 singles off all time.  I heard the song before it was released as a single, because I had the album, but I remember the first time I heard it on the album, and I thought it was one of the best songs I had ever heard. It was like a tranquilizer injected through the ear. I still love the song. I don't hear it often, so it is always great when I do.  

 

[otb_lifer]

What Pink Floyd song would it be? 

"See Emily Play"

 

[simey]

"See Emily Play"

Nice! I didn't know that song was a single.  

 

[Uruk-Hai]

What Pink Floyd song would it be? I would easily put "Comfortably Numb" as one of the greatest 1,001 singles off all time.  I heard the song before it was released as a single, because I had the album, but I remember the first time I heard it on the album, and I thought it was one of the best songs I had ever heard. It was like a tranquilizer injected through the ear. I still love the song. I don't hear it often, so it is always great when I do.  

Yeah, it would have been "Comfortably Numb". Though I think "Wish You Were Here" is miles better, except I don't think it was ever released as a single.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Also on this date, in 1969, Paul sent this postcard to Ringo.  Reason unknown.   

This is hilarious. And so sweet.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I'd boot the Roxy Music songs he included, though,

reaction.

ETA: because I feel like a playlist without Roxy Music makes me sad.

 

[Tom Hagen]

On this date in 1967, John found this 1843 poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal in an antique store.  The poster became the inspiration for "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite."

Also on this date, in 1969, Paul sent this postcard to Ringo.  Reason unknown.   

Credit the British postal service for delivering to an address that looks like random words. 

 

[BobbyLayne]

Credit the British postal service for delivering to an address that looks like random words. 

Ringo probably would have sufficed.



Reminds me of reading about Gordie Howe getting mail sent to “Mr Hockey, Detroit MI”

 

[BobbyLayne]

John’s mic is ####!