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Thread: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here! (Read 66403 times) |
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #80: 31.12.06 at 12:27 » |
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Last chance to vote, MV's: Midnight Voices have until, well, midnight to voice their opinions. Last time's winner seems to have fallen at Beecher's Brook but you never know.
Ian C
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=80#80  |
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S J Birkill
MV Administrator
just a sensible reserve
Posts: 884
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #81: 31.12.06 at 12:47 » |
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As remarked on by most, this is a near-impossible task. Do I list what I'm enjoying now, what I liked best at the time, what I keep coming back to, or what I recognise as great even though I might seldom listen? How to account for the fact that some songs, or their recordings, have meant an awful lot when the remainder of the same artist's output has left me cold? And how to shortlist ten, let along put them in any meaningful order -- perhaps I should be chronological even though it runs counter to the instructions? Do I cheat by mentioning similar artists/musicians that just missed, the better to give an impression of my (ahem) tastes rather than simply count in the poll? Heck, I don't know -- maybe a bit of all that.
The Beatles - showed me that pop could (at the start anyway) rise above that fake showbiz glitz or the fake street-punk cred that hung on in British pop since the teddy-boy era, despite the influence of Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Elvis and Motown; could mix R&B with R&R, sad and joyful melody, subtle vocal harmony and crisp timing, and could excite all over again. Post-Beatles it'd be George, Paul and John, in that order. Honourable mentions here also for The Hollies, Searchers and (later) Bee Gees.
Fairport Convention - Sandy Denny and Ian Matthews first, then the duelling strings of Thompson and Swarbrick, then Sandy again, and again. Related artists would include early Steeleye Span, plus other 'folk-rock' excursions by Hutchings and Carthy. Nic Jones for pure folk voice and guitar, Swan Arcade for perfect acapella singing in the folk style, with Yorkshire humour. Nice to see some of our members remember Mr Fox too. I should also find space to mention Rab Noakes, Gerry Rafferty, and The Incredible String Band!
Jackson Browne - for me the greatest of the West Coast singer/songwriters, but the list should go on, even pulling in a few easterners and some Canucks: Joni Mitchell, Paul Williams, Carole King, James Taylor, Neil Young, Judy Collins, Judee Sill, Todd Rundgren, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Simon & Garfunkel, and that Dylan fellow. And The Band.
Beach Boys - Lovely sunshine harmony. Don't forget near-misses Mamas and Papas, Lovin' Spoonful, Carpenters, Bread, Eagles, Poco and more. I guess I should include Abba as a contender here too, and perhaps the original (UK) Nirvana. Before all that, the Four Seasons.
Yes - their first four albums, before delicate dynamics and novel layerings gave way to pompous bluster and stadium domination. Runners-up Cream, Renaissance, Queen, ELO, Traffic, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Caravan.
Steely Dan - in a class of their own. Probably the closest I'll get to understanding something that's nearly jazz.
Al Stewart - his historical themes work for me. But other great British pop songwriters aren't far behind: Elton John, David Bowie, Terry Reid, Pete Townshend, Jack Bruce, Roy Harper. Plus, mainly for their voices, Colin Blunstone and Gary Brooker, their work with Alan Parsons as well as solo and with Zombies/Argent/Procol Harum.
Barenaked Ladies - After the punk revolution destroyed the distinction between commercial/novelty pop and serious/musicianly rock I closed my ears to the music and went underground like some tragic Brian Wilson figure. All the artists and bands which surfaced from the mid-70s, right through the 80s and 90s, including many in other MVs' top 10s, are just names to me, if that. Which might explain why the above-named artists are all of a certain vintage. But during the last 10 years Pete has encouraged me to listen to some new things, for which I'm truly grateful. Among them this Canadian band, who write and perform (very well) real songs with thoughtful lyrics and humour too. Not far behind are their countrymen Moxy Früvous.
Trisha Yearwood - Another Atkin introduction. Fabulous interpreter of country-style songs, though Shawn Colvin (Atkin again) is also a contender. I liked Emmylou too, back in the '70s.
J S Bach - I seldom listen to classical music these days, but I used to love JSB's density of texture and counterpoint, and mathematical precision. It'd be Mahler for choral, Elgar for English romance, Stravinsky for orchestral and Puccini for opera. Operetta, yes, must admit a weakness for Gilbert & Sullivan, and even operetta's bastard child the stage/screen musical: Les Misérables hit my spot (especially the Manchester production), as did (100 years earlier) West Side Story and The Sound of Music!
There! That was just ten, wasn't it? Did I forget anyone?
SJB
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=81#81 |
Stephen J Birkill
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Secret Drinker
MV Fixture
Paul Gunningham, MoM
Posts: 207
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #82: 31.12.06 at 13:37 » |
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on 31.12.06 at 12:47, S J Birkill wrote:| As remarked on by most, this is a near-impossible task. Do I list what I'm enjoying now, what I liked best at the time, what I keep coming back to, or what I recognise as great even though I might seldom listen? |
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I think we all had (or maybe in some last-minute cases, are still having!) a similar problem in deciding what to include, or more to the point, leave out.
But as the original brief from David was "You can take eleven musicians’ complete recorded works to a desert island. One musician will of course be Pete Atkin, but who are the other ten?", I decided to exclude artists in Steve's last category, on the grounds that I would want stuff I enjoy listening to now. I think the results might have been different otherwise. I wonder whether everyone else has done the same though?
I admit the sheer volume of output of some artists also helped pick my "desert island" selection, although I can honestly say that was never the main criterion, and they would have to be a contender anyway, based on my perception of their quality as an artist (otherwise if quantity was the most important thing I could have just plumped for, say, Cliff Richard - oops, apologies to anyone who may have included Sir Cliff  ) . I would like to have plenty of choice during those long, lonely evenings under the palm trees with nothing but grass skirted dusky maidens and shipwrecked casks of malt whisky to keep me company... hmmm, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all... 
Wishing all MVs and their loved ones a very happy and healthy 2007.
Cheers
Paul
Still able to communicate from a very wet Westmorland 
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| « Last Edit: 31.12.06 at 14:05 by Secret Drinker » |
https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=82#82 |
Staving off the pressure... by drinking real ale
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Carole
MV Fixture
Posts: 133
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #83: 31.12.06 at 13:40 » |
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Atkin/James
1. Here We Stay (rock version)
2. Sunlight Gate
3. You Better Face It Boy
4. Standards Of Today
5. Tenderfoot
6. The Rider To The World's End
7. Dancing Master
8. History & Geography
9. Faded Mansion On The Hill
10. Screen Freak
Other Artists
1. Barenaked Ladies
2. Swan Arcade
3. Neil Young
4. Jackson Browne
5. Eagles
6. Johnny Cash
7. Buddy Holly
8. Mozart
9. 10cc
10. ELO
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=83#83 |
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Richard Bleksley
MV Fixture
My time has come to find a better way
Posts: 164
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #84: 31.12.06 at 13:42 » |
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on 31.12.06 at 12:47, S J Birkill wrote:As remarked on by most, this is a near-impossible task. Do I list what I'm enjoying now, what I liked best at the time, what I keep coming back to, or what I recognise as great even though I might seldom listen? How to account for the fact that some songs, or their recordings, have meant an awful lot when the remainder of the same artist's output has left me cold? And how to shortlist ten, let along put them in any meaningful order
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What a masterly summing-up of the problems of this poll by our noble webmaster! Every one of those thoughts went through my head when I was compiling my own list.
Now, Steve, when are we going to see your Atkin top ten?
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=84#84 |
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cjrt
MV Fresher
No dice
Posts: 6
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #85: 31.12.06 at 14:08 » |
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on 31.12.06 at 11:08, Rob_White wrote: My bottom three songs (ignoring the whole of Live Libel, which was a bit of fun but not - IMHO - to be taken seriously), are:-
1 National steel
2 Cold bitches
3 Our Lady Lowness
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Interesting issue- because those would (while not in my top 20) certainly all be in my top 50% (and the worst of A/J's top 50% I'd regard as pretty good, and better than most other artists) -and I actually rather like most of 'live libel'! I guess that the music on LL is very different to Pete's usual work, since it's mostly musically pastiching the styles at the same time as the lyrics satirise their exponents. But the lyrics are still both funny and intelligent- CJ did, after all, make his new career as a master of (fairly) gentle satire- there are still several lyrics from LL that stick in my mind, along with the many from other albums.
I think I would argue that A/J didn't really do ANY bad songs- just ones that appeal to different tastes. Further- I think that their 'best' songs are probably the ones that almost everyone loves (even though they may not be in everyone's top ten), while the weaker ones appeal only to those whose musical tastes they suit. Identifying which is which though - that would be tricky. Probably you'd have to get everyone to rate all the songs they know, then do some complicated statistical wrangling with the result. (I'm getting serious Deja Vu here, so apologies if I've said all this before on the old mailing list...)
Perhaps we could enter all the songs with only 0-2 votes in this poll in a 'weakest link' shoot out- people could list all the ones from the list that they're not that keen on, then the ones with the largest number of demerits are classed as having more limited appeal? Rather depends if anyone's got the time & inclination to work it out though...
Chris
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=85#85 |
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #86: 31.12.06 at 14:29 » |
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Chris wrote:
<<Perhaps we could enter all the songs with only 0-2 votes in this poll in a 'weakest link' shoot out- people could list all the ones from the list that they're not that keen on, then the ones with the largest number of demerits are classed as having more limited appeal? Rather depends if anyone's got the time & inclination to work it out though... >>
Easy peasy: directly below are the ones that got one or two votes while further below are the ones that got no votes at all (I've wiped out all the stuff from Live Libel which I've taken as being non-representative while leaving in Star Of Tomorrow so as not to upset Paw Gunningham. Westmorland?!)
One or Two votes
Nothing Left To Say
The Beautiful Changes
Little Sammy Speedball
Frangipanni Was Her Flower
Search And Destroy
Star Of Tomorrow
All I Ever Did
No Votes as yet
Have You Got A Biro I Can Borrow?
Luck Of The Draw
Where Have They All Gone?
Apparition In Las Vegas
The Man Who Walked Towards The Music
Our Lady Lowness
Time And Time Again
Little Sammy Speedball
The Magic Wasn't There
Sudden Arrivals
Let's Try The Whole Thing Again
With Her It Goes Deeper
More In Anger Than In Sorrow
Early Days
So Loud I Couldn't Hear It
Daughter Of The Sun
Fat Cat
This would still make a bloody good CD IMHO.
Ian C
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cjrt
MV Fresher
No dice
Posts: 6
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #87: 31.12.06 at 14:43 » |
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on 31.12.06 at 14:29, Ian Chippett wrote:
This would still make a bloody good CD IMHO.
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Mine too- there's a few in there I'd skip on the cd player, and a few more I'd have to listen to again to comment on- but also several that nearly made my top ten.
Perhaps we should start a new thread on this once the results are in from the poll? - so as not to bury the poll results in a load more posts.
Chris
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=87#87 |
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sjm
MV Friend
Weighing more but shining less
Posts: 19
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #88: 31.12.06 at 17:53 » |
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ok, I can't resist.........
TOP 10 “PETE SOLO” SONGS
I have to learn
Thief in the night
Between us there is nothing
Perfect moments
Senior citizens
History & geography
Canoe
Laughing boy
No dice
Errant knight
TOP 10 “NOT PETE SOLO” ARTISTS
The Shrinks
Terry Hall (for his solo albums)
Peter Bellamy
David Bowie
Rodney Crowell (for The Houston Kid)
Jake Thackray
Nick Lowe
Elvis Costello
The Kinks
Johnny Coppin
NEARLY MEN: Leonard Cohen, Loudon Wainwright III
Gasworks, ELO, The Beautiful South, Donovan
Kirsty MacColl, The Proclaimers, Sam Apple Pie
While I'm on, I would just like to also recommend and congratulate London Daily Photo. Great work Ham, and may it long continue!
Steve M.
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=88#88 |
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S J Birkill
MV Administrator
just a sensible reserve
Posts: 884
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #89: 31.12.06 at 18:57 » |
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(Deep breath)
1. Canoe
2. History and Geography
3. No Dice
4. Tenderfoot
5. Femme Fatale
6. The Double Agent
7. You Alone will be my Last Adventure
8. Tongue-Tied
9. Payday Evening
10. The Rider to the World's End
(Reserves: Eye of the Universe, All I Ever Did, Faded Mansion, Last Hill, The Road of Silk, The Trophies of my Lovers Gone, The Beautiful changes, My Dreams are Troubled, Lady of a Day, Between Us there is Nothing)
Steve
PS: A Happy 2007 to all!
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=89#89 |
Stephen J Birkill
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David Morgan
MV Feature
Posts: 54
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Re: Agonies of choice for the desert island
« Reply #90: 31.12.06 at 19:27 » |
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on 31.12.06 at 13:37, Secret Drinker wrote:
I think we all had (or maybe in some last-minute cases, are still having!) a similar problem in deciding what to include, or more to the point, leave out.
But as the original brief from David was "You can take eleven musicians’ complete recorded works to a desert island. One musician will of course be Pete Atkin, but who are the other ten?", I decided to exclude artists in Steve's last category, on the grounds that I would want stuff I enjoy listening to now. I think the results might have been different otherwise. I wonder whether everyone else has done the same though?
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Thanks, Paul - your comment above about Steve's problems in picking his desert island musicians was spot on: it's all about whose music you most want to have with you, bearing in mind that you'll have just ten others (including Pete, of course) to listen to for quite some time! Like you, I hope this is what most people have done - based on Steve's comments against his choices, it looks like he has.
David M
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| « Last Edit: 31.12.06 at 19:39 by David Morgan » |
https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=90#90 |
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Bogus Trumper
MV Fellow
You alone will be my last adventure
Posts: 284
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #91: 31.12.06 at 19:49 » |
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The desert island aspect certainly changed my selection - there are artists I do not listen to all the time, but would be essential in long term isolation! Of course, if we all stranded on the same desert island at the same time, and could borrow each other's choices every now and again......
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=91#91 |
And so goodbye, my lady of a night
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David Morgan
MV Feature
Posts: 54
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #92: 31.12.06 at 19:53 » |
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Wow, Bogus - if the famously variegated MVs all got stranded together we'd have practically the entire musical output of the known universe on tap! Good wheeze.
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=92#92 |
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David Morgan
MV Feature
Posts: 54
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Alert to Ian C!
« Reply #93: 31.12.06 at 20:05 » |
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Ian
I have a couple of votes to send to you, but your IM inbox is full. Clearance time, I think!
Thanks, D.
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=93#93 |
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JtJ
MV Feature
Allow me to present myself....
Posts: 93
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #94: 31.12.06 at 20:43 » |
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Hi there!
Happy New Year to all. Everything you wish yourselves.
Here's my top ten:
A Hill Of Little Shoes
An Empty Table
Be Careful When They Offer You The Moon
Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger
Daughter Of The Sun
Driving Through Mythical America
Errant Knight
Flowers And The Wine
Girl On The Train
History And Geography
Master Of The Revels
Practical Man
Star Of Tomorrow
Sunlight Gate
Thief In The Night
Touch Has A Memory
Yes, I know....but they're ALL so good!
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=94#94 |
....Julian Mount
Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Entertainer.
http://www.circusunlimited.com/julianmount.htm
https://soundcloud.com/JulianMount
https://tiny.cc/JulianMountMusic
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #95: 01.01.07 at 01:36 » |
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Richard Whiting wrote:
<<Please make it a top 20 next time...and in no particular order too. >>
1 A King At Nightfall
2 I See the Joker
3 Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger
4 The Faded Mansion On The Hill
5 Laughing Boy
6 Lady Of A Day
7 All I Ever Did
8 Luck Of The Draw
10 Payday Evening
Right you are, mate but are you sure you can count that high? You managed to miss out on number nine... 
Ian C
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=95#95 |
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #96: 01.01.07 at 01:58 » |
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And the definitive PA Top Ten (until next time) is :
Faded Mansion on the Hill
Canoe
Thirty Year Man
Beware of the Beautiful Stranger
Between Us There is Nothing
Perfect Moments
Payday Evening
Thief in the Night
Senior Citizens
A Hill Of Little Shoes
The next Ten are pretty good too:
History And Geography
Tenderfoot
Flowers And The Wine
I See The Joker
Sunlight Gate
Hypertension Kid
Girl On The Train
The Double Agent
Carnations On The Roof
Last Hill That Shows You All The Valley
It's interesting that GOTT is at Number 17 when it was the winner last time.
The Bottom Ten are:
My Brother's Keeper
Luck Of The Draw
Nothing Left To Say
The Beautiful Changes
Little Sammy Speedball
Lonesome Levis Lane
Frangipanni Was Her Flower
Search And Destroy
Star Of Tomorrow
Ballad of an upstairs window
but I haven't included the songs that got no votes at all which are:
Have You Got A Biro I Can Borrow?
Where Have They All Gone?
Apparition In Las Vegas
The Man Who Walked Towards The Music
Our Lady Lowness
Time And Time Again
Little Sammy Speedball
The Magic Wasn't There
Sudden Arrivals
Let's Try The Whole Thing Again
With Her It Goes Deeper
More In Anger Than In Sorrow
Early Days
So Loud I Couldn't Hear It
Fat Cat
Now I'm definitely going to bed: Happy New Year or at least what's left of it.
Ian C
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=96#96 |
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #97: 01.01.07 at 10:39 » |
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Songs with the most voters : Faded Mansion On The Hill and Thirty Year Man (18)
No less than 25 different songs were somebody's Number One. Three people put A King At Nightfall as their favourite but only one other person voted for it at all. You either love it or hate it, it seems. Nobody put Thirty Year Man as Number One though it got more votes than any other except Faded Mansion.
Only 1 album (Secret Drinker) doesn't have a song in the Top Ten. The highest-placed was Tenderfoot (12)
Album with most songs in the Top Ten : Road Of Silk (3)
Biggest surprises (for me anyway): only one person voted for Touch Has A Memory, My Egoist (me), two for Secret Drinker and Nothing Left To Say while Tonight Your Love Is Over which got into the Top Ten last time thanks to statistical manipulation got nowhere this time. Similarly, Girl On The Train, the winner last time, came 17th.
Thanks for spoiling us, Pete!
Ian C
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=97#97 |
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Secret Drinker
MV Fixture
Paul Gunningham, MoM
Posts: 207
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #98: 01.01.07 at 15:58 » |
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Thanks to Ian for doing all the work in collating the responses. And of course to David (although I haven't seen the results from the 'other artists' poll yet).
I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the 'artists' poll - but if it's not too late, could I ask if Pete could come up with his? I'm sure it would be of great interest to all of us!
Hope your hangovers aren't too bad today. 
Cheers
Paul
Still recovering in wet Westmorland
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https://peteatkin.com/forum?board=Music&action=display&num=1164823599&start=98#98 |
Staving off the pressure... by drinking real ale
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Ian Chippett
MV Fellow
In the clear at over fifty-five
Posts: 332
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Re: The Top Ten Polls 2006 - Vote Here!
« Reply #99: 01.01.07 at 17:14 » |
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Paw wrote
<<I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the 'artists' poll - but if it's not too late, could I ask if Pete could come up with his? I'm sure it would be of great interest to all of us!>>
He already has, mate or at least half of it. Clickez ici:
http://www.peteatkin.com/topfive.htm
IC
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