Singles chart

[ffudnebbuh]

Sorry I posted this on the wrong page...

First of all, I wanted to say that I really enjoy this website, mostly because everyone is so passionate about music. When I talk to kids in the teens and 20s and try to get an idea of where they are in terms of music, they say that music is just not part of their lives the way it was when I was a kid. I worry that the music biz is imploding and will not be around in 15 or 20 years.

So, I was wondering if anyone has proposed a top singles chart. Generally, I better appreciate the evolution of popular/rock music in more multidimensional way when I follow the arc of singles(pop/rock/r&b/blues/country) from 1949, when the first single (Eddie Arnold's "texarkana baby") was made to the late 1990s than by only rating albums. I suspect that the members of this website have little interest in R/B/pop/rock as singles and I am think that most of the member are probably not into 45s, however, I would be very interested in a top 45 chart. I still have thousands of singles that I play on my 1954 RCA 45 player. I experienced pop music on singles until 1965 and then I bought both albums and singles.

Some singles like for instance, "Paperback Writer" or "Paint it black" sound much better to me on a mono single, than on a stereo CD. In Geoff Emerick's book, he said that Paul McCartney said that you have to listen to the early Beatles songs on a 45 because the singles were actually pressed in a certain way that would, for instance, make the bass in "Paperback Writer" pop in the way that Paul wanted. Singles were the only constant in popular music as albums didn't really start becoming the dominant format until the mid 60s...As you know, the Beatles released many of the most famous songs as singles only because they felt that the format was so important and unique in presenting their music to the public.

Anyway, so it was just a thought. is this outside the boundaries of Bestever albums>

[RFNAPLES]

Singles have been replaced by MP3 songs but it is the same concept. While adding songs/tracks/singles charts would be nice, it would probably necessitate a change in the site name and more bandwidth/storage.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES

[albummaster]

A top-rated tracks chart is planned, but we are still gathering data for this.

At the moment, for anybody interested, the top 40 member-rated tracks on this site are:

Sometimes - My Bloody Valentine (from Loveless)
The End - The Doors (from The Doors)
Tumbling Dice - The Rolling Stones (from Exile on Main St.)
Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) - Talking Heads (from Remain in Light)
Marquee Moon - Television (from Marquee Moon)
Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine (from Loveless)
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
The Way Young Lovers Do - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
When You Sleep - My Bloody Valentine (from Loveless)
Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth (from Daydream Nation)
1979 - The Smashing Pumpkins (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
You Set The Scene - Love (from Forever Changes)
There there. - Radiohead (from Hail To The Thief)
God Save The Queen - The Sex Pistols (from Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols)
Anarchy In The U.K. - The Sex Pistols (from Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols)
Tonight, Tonight - The Smashing Pumpkins (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
Cyprus Avenue - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
Ballerina - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys (from Pet Sounds)
A Day In The Life - The Beatles (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
The Queen Is Dead/Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty (Medly) - The Smiths (from The Queen Is Dead)
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (from What's Going On)
Madame George - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
Masters of War - Bob Dylan (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye (from What's Going On)
Loomer - My Bloody Valentine (from Loveless)
Live Forever - Oasis (from Definitely Maybe)
I Am the Walrus - The Beatles (from Magical Mystery Tour)
Sweet Thing - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (from A Night At The Opera)
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin (from Led Zeppelin II)
Common People - Pulp (from Different Class)
Pyramid song - Radiohead (from Amnesiac)
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones (from Let It Bleed)
This Charming Man - The Smiths (from The Smiths)
I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses (from The Stone Roses)
Waterfall - The Stone Roses (from The Stone Roses)
This Is The One - The Stone Roses (from The Stone Roses)
Beside You - Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks)

(To qualify for this chart, a track must have had at least 5 member ratings).

[telefunker]

i'm 24 and never listened to an album from start to finish in one 'sitting' until i was just edging in on my 22nd birthday.. so i'm still a big fan of the single!

i agree with phil spector that most albums are 1 or 2 hits and 10 peices of crap and its existence and perpetuation of its existence is chiefly due to the cynical exploitation propogated by the record industry.. i.e foisting a hefty price on a product that is usually just a half-hearted augmentation of 1 or 2 key selling points (songs)

however, i've come to realise how a great album can amount to something greater than the sum of its parts and stand on its own as a comprehensive artistic statement/reflection on its themes and subjects.. for example, 'nightswimming' by rem is a beautiful song in its own right, but as part of 'automatic for the people' it becomes even more poignant as part of a wider tappestry

but yo, i digress

singles are great. there's no excuse for a shit one though..
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no fat chicks

[ffudnebbuh]

I completely agree.

[badfaith]

That's actually been the main criteria when picking my albums... can I put the album on and not skip a single track, and love each song by itself as well as the work as a consistent whole.
There are many albums that have lots of great tunes on, but are let down by a couple of dismal tracks.

As far as singles are concerned, I'm still pissed about swapping a rare copy of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band's Woman is the Nigger of the world/ With Elephants Memory (no offence intended to anyone unfamiliar with it- it's just the title), for an original An American Prayer album with a mate... thought I'd the better end of the deal, till I discovered he sold it for 200 quid!

[ffudnebbuh]

I remember when I was working in record retail, I pulled out the box a copy of "after the goldrush" and the letters that were normally gold were red/maroon in color...one of the record company reps took it immediately and bought it...

[badfaith]

you should have wrested it from him!... fisticuffs if neccesary. You could always have found another job.

[badfaith]

I still have a box of demonstration copies, and promo singles in the loft which my uncle once liberated on the London label... Stuff like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and others. some are not in the best shape, but some people still pay well for the simple rarity of the singles.
But I have grown rather attached to them... I may even buy a new record deck, so I can play them again.

[badfaith]

You've got me reminiscing about the old record shop down the road now... spending hours on Saturday's thumbing through boxes of cheap Lps, while admiring the rare stuff on the walls. And the guy who owned it (weird Hobbit like Prog rock refugee type), who would get a stack of them on the counter upon my arrival, and say: "have you ever heard this?" and put on something by Gong or some such, or Jazz.

Wow, that was an education you couldn't buy!