The 2012 AMF All-Time Songs Poll: Results

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:58 am

Dan wrote:
Moonbeam wrote:I'm totally not above making a fool of myself for the sake of my favorites!
Or:

I'm totally not above convincing others how excellent a song is by ~~making a fool of myself~~ showing some real personality for the sake of my favorites!

Thanks!

I'd definitely be up for a "Sing/Dance/Play one of your favorite songs" topic.

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:00 am

Fred wrote: PS. Is there a gathering somewhere in the world for AM:ers this spring/winter? Los Angeles, New York, Paris or Canary Island? Could be fun if we let Moonbeam lead the troops... now I understand his Prince obsession.

It would be a dream come true to have a big AM meetup. We are a rather close-knit group after all! It's still way far off, but there is a stats conference in Florence in July 2014 that I'm interested in attending. I might see if I can get leave to travel a bit around and would be thrilled to meet up if anyone is free.

Post by **Henrik** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:09 am

Moonbeam wrote:
Fred wrote: PS. Is there a gathering somewhere in the world for AM:ers this spring/winter? Los Angeles, New York, Paris or Canary Island? Could be fun if we let Moonbeam lead the troops... now I understand his Prince obsession.
It would be a dream come true to have a big AM meetup. We are a rather close-knit group after all! It's still way far off, but there is a stats conference in Florence in July 2014 that I'm interested in attending. I might see if I can get leave to travel a bit around and would be thrilled to meet up if anyone is free.

This sounds great to me. I have only been to the Italian Alpes, Verona and Venice and would love to go to Florence, Rome or something.

Post by **Honorio** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:01 pm

So this were our favourite songs from every year:
XIX Century Erik Satie | Gymnopédie n°1
1900s Claude Debussy | Clair de Lune
1910s Igor Stravinsky | Tableau II, Le sacrifice: Section VI, Danse sacrale - L'élue
1920s Louis Armstrong | St. James Infirmary
1930s Billie Holiday | Strange Fruit
1940s Édith Piaf | La vie en rose
1954 Elvis Presley | That's All Right
1955 Little Richard | Tutti Frutti
1956 Johnny Cash | I Walk The Line
1957 Jerry Lee Lewis | Great Balls of Fire
1958 Chuck Berry | Johnny B. Goode
1959 Ray Charles | What'd I Say
1960 Sam Cooke | Wonderful World
1961 Ben E. King | Stand By Me
1962 Dick Dale and His Del-Tones | Miserlou
1963 The Ronettes | Be My Baby
1964 The Animals | House of The Rising Sun
1965 Bob Dylan | Like a Rolling Stone
1966 The Beach Boys | Good Vibrations
1967 The Beatles | A Day In The Life
1968 Otis Redding | (Sittin' on) The Dock of The Bay
1969 The Rolling Stones | Gimme Shelter
1970 Derek and The Dominoes | Layla
1971 Led Zeppelin | Stairway to Heaven
1972 Stevie Wonder | Superstition
1973 Stevie Wonder | Living for The City
1974 Bob Marley and The Wailers | No Woman, No Cry
1975 Bruce Springsteen | Born To Run
1976 Eagles | Hotel California
1977 David Bowie | "Heroes"
1978 The Clash | (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
1979 The Clash | London Calling
1980 Joy Division | Love Will Tear Us Apart
1981 The Human League | Don't You Want Me
1982 Michael Jackson | Billie Jean
1983 U2 | Sunday Bloody Sunday
1984 Prince | When Doves Cry
1985 The Jesus and Mary Chain | Just Like Honey
1986 The Smiths | There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
1987 U2 | With or Without You
1988 Sonic Youth | Teen Age Riot
1989 Pixies | Debaser
1990 Depeche Mode | Enjoy The Silence
1991 Nirvana | Smells Like Teen Spirit
1992 Radiohead | Creep
1993 Beck | Loser
1994 Jeff Buckley | Hallelujah
1995 Pulp | Common People
1996 DJ Shadow | Building Steam With a Grain of Salt
1997 Radiohead | Paranoid Android
1998 Massive Attack | Teardrop
1999 Sigur Rós | Svefn-g-englar
2000 OutKast | B.O.B.
2001 Gorillaz | Clint Eastwood
2002 Johnny Cash | Hurt
2003 OutKast | Hey Ya!
2004 Franz Ferdinand | Take Me Out
2005 Sufjan Stevens | John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
2006 Gnarls Barkley | Crazy
2007 LCD Soundsystem | All My Friends
2008 Fleet Foxes | White Winter Hymnal
2009 Benjamin Biolay | Brandt rhapsodie
2010 Kanye West | Runaway
2011 The Black Keys | Lonely Boy

If we compare our list with AM main list there is a coincidence of 22 (out of 61). Comparing it with my own end of year lists there were less coincidences (only 8, the years 1958, 1963, 1965, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1986 and 2005).

Sorry sonofsamiam for not having participated, not time enough to update my lists. But I’ve enjoyed a lot the list and the presentation. Sonofsamiam, you did (again) a great work. If I remember well, you hosted too our very first Songs Poll in 2005. This was our Top 25 then:
01. The Beatles / “A Day in the Life”
02. Bob Dylan / “Like a Rolling Stone”
03. David Bowie / “ ‘Heroes’ ”
04. The Beach Boys / “Good Vibrations”
05. The Beach Boys / “God Only Knows”
06. The Beatles / “Strawberry Fields Forever”
07. Marvin Gaye / “What's Going On”
08. The Smiths / “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”
09. Pixies / “Debaser”
10. The Ronettes / “Be My Baby”
11. Joy Division / “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
12. Bob Dylan / “Tangled Up in Blue”
13. Television / “Marquee Moon”
14. Radiohead / “Paranoid Android”
15. The Kinks / “Waterloo Sunset”
16. The Beatles / “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
17. David Bowie / “Life on Mars?”
18. The Rolling Stones / “Gimme Shelter”
19. Sam Cooke / “A Change Is Gonna Come”
20. Pink Floyd / “Echoes”
21. R.E.M. / “Losing My Religion”
22. The Beatles / “Nowhere Man”
23. Kraftwerk / “Das Modell”
24. Echo and the Bunnymen / “The Killing Moon”
25. The Velvet Underground / “Sunday Morning”
26. Love / “Alone Again Or”
27. The Sex Pistols / “Anarchy in the U.K.”
28. Blur / “Song 2”
29. Spiritualized / “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”
30. The Specials / “Ghost Town”

Not bad, isn’t it? “The Killing Moon”, “Das Modell”, “Echoes”, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”, mmm. And “Debaser”, “Be My Baby” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” in the Top 10, wow! “Stairway to Heaven” was #54 then. And “Gimme Shelter” was already in our list but crouched down at #18 waiting to jump to the #1 in 2012.

Anyway every new edition is probably better than the previous, maybe too much Beatles in the previous one, maybe too much classic rock in this one but as everyone mentioned here the ecclecticism, tolerance and savoir-faire in our beloved Forum is remarkable. Very interesting discussion (as usual) and this time with a lot of sense of humour (thumbs up for Moonbeam’s dancing). It could be great a meeting in Firenze by 2014 but you can still join the new Fab Four in Dublin during the second week of August. Everyone is invited to the party (even the mildly allergic to kids are welcome too, lol).

About classic rock I think that it’s one of the better points to start listening to music I can think of. But after you interiorize the canon maybe it’s wiser to move further and find the music you really like. But of course if classic rock is the music you really like there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. “Stairway to Heaven” is not on my list but you can count me as one of the classic rock lovers too, why not?

Zorg wrote:[332] Bob Dylan | Visions of Johanna (I think it was Guy (come back!) who made an incredibly informed and interesting post about this, I've never listened to it the same again. Same with Spanish Bombs and Honorio, In Dreams with otisredding etc etc)

PS#1: many thanks for your kind words, Zorg

PS#2: Awesome job, sonofsamiam, congratulations, many thanks and sorry again for not having participated

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:48 pm

Fred wrote:sonofsamiam, I have a request! A list with songs with two votes among the top 200 in any individual list. Top 1000 songs excluded. I did those songs yesterday.

Nassim · Post by **Nassim** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:13 pm

sonofsamiam wrote: 2 Songs in individual Top 200s, not in Final 1000

Beastie Boys | B-Boy Bouillabaisse

Make it 2.1, I voted for Year and a Day which is part of this medley. I guess in a much lesser extent it is the same issue as the Abbey Road medley where some will vote for the entire medley and some for one of its parts.

Listyguy · Post by **Listyguy** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:37 pm

sonofsamiam wrote: 3 Songs in individual Top 200s, not in Final 1000

Blondie | Hanging on the Telephone

Three of us couldn't even get this one through? Who were the other two? Moonbeam seems like a candidate.
Surprisingly only two songs in my top 100 made the list ("Gallows Pole" at 77 and "Stone Free" at 85), but I had at least ten more in my top 200.

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:39 pm

Listyguy wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: 3 Songs in individual Top 200s, not in Final 1000

Blondie | Hanging on the Telephone
Three of us couldn't even get this one through? Who were the other two? Moonbeam seems like a candidate.
Surprisingly only two songs in my top 100 made the list ("Gallows Pole" at 77 and "Stone Free" at 85), but I had at least ten more in my top 200.

Indeed - I had it at 176. Love, love, love it!

Henry · Post by **Henry** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:27 am

Moonbeam wrote:
Listyguy wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: 3 Songs in individual Top 200s, not in Final 1000

Blondie | Hanging on the Telephone
Three of us couldn't even get this one through? Who were the other two? Moonbeam seems like a candidate.
Surprisingly only two songs in my top 100 made the list ("Gallows Pole" at 77 and "Stone Free" at 85), but I had at least ten more in my top 200.
Indeed - I had it at 176. Love, love, love it!

As far as I can tell, Michel was the 3rd (at 148).

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:11 am

sonofsamiam wrote: Air | La Femme d'Argent
Amon Tobin | Nightlife
Beach Boys | 'Til I Die
Boards of Canada | Happy Cycling
Fall | The Classical
Hüsker Dü | Pink Turns To Blue
Hüsker Dü | Turn On The News
Kinks | Picture Book
Len | Steal My Sunshine
Moondog | Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie)
My Bloody Valentine | Sometimes
Nick Drake | Things Behind The Sun
Primal Scream | Higher Than The Sun
Primal Scream | Swastika Eyes
Richard Hell and The Voidoids | Blank Generation
Yes | Starship Trooper

These were the ones I voted for T200. Sonofsamiam joined me on a several of them (Air, Amon Tobin, Beach Boys, Moondog), not sure who my friend was on some of the others. I also voted for several outside of my top 200 (TV on the Radio, Cannibal Ox), making it even more surprising they didn't get through.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:20 am

Jackson wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: not sure who my friend was on some of the others.

I'll share the blame for the Husker Du duo, MBV and Blank Generation (very surprised that both this and Chinese Rocks only got 2 votes, but that's the way it rolls...).

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:55 am

Nassim wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: 2 Songs in individual Top 200s, not in Final 1000

Beastie Boys | B-Boy Bouillabaisse

Make it 2.1, I voted for Year and a Day which is part of this medley. I guess in a much lesser extent it is the same issue as the Abbey Road medley where some will vote for the entire medley and some for one of its parts.

Actually, I counted Year and a Day with B-Boy Bouillabaisse, so you were 1 of the 2.

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:57 am

Jackson wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: Air | La Femme d'Argent
Amon Tobin | Nightlife
Beach Boys | 'Til I Die
Boards of Canada | Happy Cycling
Fall | The Classical
Hüsker Dü | Pink Turns To Blue
Hüsker Dü | Turn On The News
Kinks | Picture Book
Len | Steal My Sunshine
Moondog | Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie)
My Bloody Valentine | Sometimes
Nick Drake | Things Behind The Sun
Primal Scream | Higher Than The Sun
Primal Scream | Swastika Eyes
Richard Hell and The Voidoids | Blank Generation
Yes | Starship Trooper
These were the ones I voted for T200. Sonofsamiam joined me on a several of them (Air, Amon Tobin, Beach Boys, Moondog), not sure who my friend was on some of the others. I also voted for several outside of my top 200 (TV on the Radio, Cannibal Ox), making it even more surprising they didn't get through.

Yep, those are some of the breaks with the weighted voting system.

Henry · Post by **Henry** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:59 am

sonofsamiam wrote:
Jackson wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: Yes | Starship Trooper
These were the ones I voted for T200. Sonofsamiam joined me on a several of them (Air, Amon Tobin, Beach Boys, Moondog), not sure who my friend was on some of the others. I also voted for several outside of my top 200 (TV on the Radio, Cannibal Ox), making it even more surprising they didn't get through.
Yep, those are some of the breaks with the weighted voting system.

Mea culpa on Starship Trooper

Merlo · Post by **Merlo** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:25 am

Great poll and results. I'm still puzzled by the winner though, and I voted for it.

I had a look at the formula used and wondered if 500*(1+50)/([place]+50) rather than 500*(1+75)/([place]+75) might make a difference? That would still put a lot of points with the top 30 choices on each list, though start to flatten the difference in the tail. How sensitive are the results I wonder?

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:14 pm

Merlo wrote:Great poll and results. I'm still puzzled by the winner though, and I voted for it.

I had a look at the formula used and wondered if 500*(1+50)/([place]+50) rather than 500*(1+75)/([place]+75) might make a difference? That would still put a lot of points with the top 30 choices on each list, though start to flatten the difference in the tail. How sensitive are the results I wonder?

Stephan · Post by **Stephan** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:03 pm

The formula we used last time was: score = 100*(1+20)/(position+20)

Post by **Henrik** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:26 pm

Stephan wrote:The formula we used last time was: score = 100*(1+20)/(position+20)

It looks like 50 was the number Jackson used.
http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/ ... 3&cmd=show

20 is what we have used for the decade polls, where we've only had 100 albums/songs to vote for.

Stephan · Post by **Stephan** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:34 pm

Oh right, I looked at the one before that even.

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:45 pm

It's very interesting how little difference using 75 vs. 50 makes at the top of the list. Using 75 as a factor helps songs lower in the list that had more voters as opposed to higher ranks, which I think is appropriate given the incredible amount of songs out there to choose from, and that we're shooting for some sort of snapshot of the forum's overall opinion. So I'm happy with the choice!

Merlo · Post by **Merlo** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:14 pm

That's great work on the formula and I'm glad to see it actually helps the long tail where there are so many interesting songs. I really love the diversity and openness of the lists, it's a great way to end 2012.

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:13 pm

Henrik wrote:
Stephan wrote:The formula we used last time was: score = 100*(1+20)/(position+20)
It looks like 50 was the number Jackson used.
http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/ ... 3&cmd=show

20 is what we have used for the decade polls, where we've only had 100 albums/songs to vote for.

Yup, I used 50. But I support the formula choice this time around--it's not like it made that much of a difference anyway.

Post by **Henrik** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:29 pm

It also makes sense with a higher value because we were 37 voters instead of 46.

Sonofsamiam and Jackson, what position did a song with a single #1 vote get in your polls?

Jirin · Post by **Jirin** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:33 pm

Henrik wrote:
Jackson wrote:[100] Eminem feat. Dido | Stan: I used to like this song but can't stand it anymore; I think it's good musically but can't take how arrogant the lyrics are.
Because he wrote a story that includes himself he is arrogant?

It's not because he wrote it about himself, it's the way he ends it.

He makes himself the tragic hero who tried to help Stan but, alas, didn't manage to reply in time. Without that last verse it would be a lot more interesting, if he just left himself as the celebrity who doesn't have time to pay personal attention to fans, and some of the more obsessive fans act insane because of that.

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:48 pm

Henrik wrote:It also makes sense with a higher value because we were 37 voters instead of 46.

Sonofsamiam and Jackson, what position did a song with a single #1 vote get in your polls?

1013 (4 were tied). If I had used 50 instead of 75, it would have been a tie for 800.

Fred · Post by **Fred** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:34 am

sonofsamiam wrote:
Fred wrote:sonofsamiam, I have a request! A list with songs with two votes among the top 200 in any individual list. Top 1000 songs excluded.
Fred, you asked and shall therefore receive. Some interesting stuff here.

Thanks! Neil Young might have said these were the "ditch" driving songs. A whole lot more innaresting.

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:25 am

Jackson wrote:
sonofsamiam wrote: Air | La Femme d'Argent
Amon Tobin | Nightlife
Beach Boys | 'Til I Die
Boards of Canada | Happy Cycling
Fall | The Classical
Hüsker Dü | Pink Turns To Blue
Hüsker Dü | Turn On The News
Kinks | Picture Book
Len | Steal My Sunshine
Moondog | Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie)
My Bloody Valentine | Sometimes
Nick Drake | Things Behind The Sun
Primal Scream | Higher Than The Sun
Primal Scream | Swastika Eyes
Richard Hell and The Voidoids | Blank Generation
Yes | Starship Trooper
These were the ones I voted for T200. Sonofsamiam joined me on a several of them (Air, Amon Tobin, Beach Boys, Moondog), not sure who my friend was on some of the others. I also voted for several outside of my top 200 (TV on the Radio, Cannibal Ox), making it even more surprising they didn't get through.

Not very surprisingly (seeing my post icon), you can count me as your friend for Happy Cycling. That one was in my top 50.

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:30 am

I think that in my case, the Stairway to Heaven split wasn't very appropiate. I had it in my list, but not in the top 100. It was also one of just two Led Zeppelin picks in my top 500 and is was the lowest of the two picks. Moreover, my list contains a lot of electronic music and some jazz as well. I also didn't vote for many other canonical classic rock songs.

Just saying this to put the split into perspective, although it was nice to see the results of the split.

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:32 am

By the way, this song list has really whetted my appetite for an album list!

sonofsamiam · Post by **sonofsamiam** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:32 pm

Gillingham wrote:I think that in my case, the Stairway to Heaven split wasn't very appropiate. I had it in my list, but not in the top 100. It was also one of just two Led Zeppelin picks in my top 500 and is was the lowest of the two picks. Moreover, my list contains a lot of electronic music and some jazz as well. I also didn't vote for many other canonical classic rock songs.

Just saying this to put the split into perspective, although it was nice to see the results of the split.

Yeah, that's a fair point -- you and nicolas were in the StH group, and outliers when compared to the usual profile of the 2 groups. But to start moving people wouldn't have been right ... it was just for fun.

nicolas · Post by **nicolas** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:06 pm

yeah I guess I was the only one with "Hotel California" and "The Creator Has A Masterplan" or "Theme de Yo-Yo" in the same list

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:11 pm

nicolas wrote:yeah I guess I was the only one with "Hotel California" and "The Creator Has A Masterplan" or "Theme de Yo-Yo" in the same list

And one more! I also had "Hotel California" and "Theme de Yo-Yo" on my list. (Although I didn't have "Creator," though I do enjoy its soothing atmosphere.)

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