Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Reaction To The Lists

>>>We ALL love lists ... any type of rankings, especially when it comes to music.  And if there's anything we love more than reading these lists, it's DISAGREEING with these lists!!!  (kk)   

And disagree you did!  Read on ...  

Dear Kent:
The "Ultimate Pop Stardom List" is hopelessly pathetic. I know 10 year olds who'd see right through it. The King, deep in the batting order ... The Beach Boys, omitted.
Give me whatever the writer was drinking; I wanna get loaded, too.
Chet Coppock
Author: Chet Coppock: Laying it on the Line  


Ludicris? 50 cent? Kanye West?  Sorry, but I could not tell you ONE song that any of them have done! Is it me, or is anybody else sick of this hip hop crap? Nobody even speaks proper English anymore! Just sayin'!
Marlene    

The all time pop artist list is a joke.  It does not reflect album sales which greatly interfered with the Beatles 45s sales. Led Zeppelin sold tons of albums with little singles success. A better way would be to somehow add up the all time airplay of each artist which might be impossible. Even Whitburn, who would also give ridiculous numbers of points to One Sweet Day and more recent stay on the charts hits, would not rank all these current artists so high.
Mark
Establishing the criteria is the hard part ... and how to equally weigh all songs from all eras as buying habits changed.  YouTube hits now count as part of a record's chart performance ... take a look ... some of these songs have over 30 Million Views!  Back in the day, kids were lucky to see Elvis Presley perform ONCE on The Ed Sullivan Show and then hope that maybe they'd get the chance to see it again on a summer rerun.  How is that comparing "apples to apples"?
If they switched to airplay only, Journey, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac and John Mellencamp would be the top artists of all-time based on today's repetitive radio programming.  Coming up with a fair ... and EQUAL way of judging is the key.  So yes, "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men spent 16 weeks at #1 ... The Beatles spent nine weeks at #1 with "Hey Jude" ... but Debbie Boone also  topped the charts for TEN weeks with "You Light Up My Life", a song radio wouldn't even TOUCH today!  (They won't even play it as an oldie.)  Of those three, which one do YOU think had the greatest impact ... the greatest longevity ... the greatest mass recognition by a world full of listeners reflecting back today?  Unfortunately, you can't always reflect reality with a point system.  (kk)       

>>>Just heard this on Scott Shannon Show.  They took a survey ... 1500 people.  If you were going on a Road Trip and could only listen to one song, which song would that be?  # 4 = Happy  (Frank B)  
>>>Is "Happy" the current Pharrell Williams song?  I can't imagine it's the Stones track!  (kk)  
Hey Kent - 
Was Frank B. referring to that great forgotten 'sunshine pop' hit by The Blades Of Grass? 
Just askin'. 
Clive

 
Ummm .... probably not.  (kk)     

>>>I'm listening to Sweet Sue O'Neill, weekend DJ on WCBS- FM.  She says "I'm about to play the  longest song to make #1 on the charts ... "American Pie" by Don McLean.   (Frank B)
Kent ...
Check Question & Answer #126.
Frank B.
I think the reason for this is the fact that "American Pie" was split in half, covering BOTH sides of the single when it was first released and went to #1.  Now granted, MOST radio stations played the full, uncut album version ... but that's not the way you could buy it in the store.  (Nor could you play it that way at home without a short pause to flip the record over to play the other side!)
That being said, I still don't understand where they're getting their information in order to publish an answer like this.  According to Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual, "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" clocked in at 5:13 ... that's two full minutes shorter than "Hey Jude" by The Beatles from 1968.  And, to prove an earlier point about unfair comparisons (and records staying on the charts considerably longer these days due to lack of competition), by 1993 when the Meatloaf single topped the charts, only TEN records made it to #1 that year.  That was the fewest number of #1 Hits since 1957.  (For comparison's sake ... and just because I knew SOMEBODY would ask, 1974 and 1975 each had 35 different #1 Records or 3 1/2 times as many!)  For the record, 2002 was the fewest ... just seven records reached the summit ... and three of those spent ten weeks or better on top of the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.  (kk)  

Truth is, we'll NEVER find a chart that will please everybody ... Maybe our buddy Hil's got the best solution of all ...
This won't help, but I learned years and years ago that genuine happiness comes from not giving a shit about lists, awards and halls of fame.
Hil