best song on the 20th century poll

o superman, obv

― iatee, Saturday, 4 December 2010 02:54 (9 hours ago)

gimme shelter

I heard you like polls so we polled your poll so you can poll while you poll

My Ears Are Alight

xpost: Is this a poll about the original poll, or a poll about yesterday's worst poll that was a poll about the original poll? I need to know before I cast my vote.

poll

In that case, I have to go with "Roadrunner" over "Family Affair" and "Teen Age Riot."

love will tear us apart

kind of impossible to choose between all these, but "Superstition" was the highest on my ballot, so that

Feel honour-bound to vote for my #1, Sister Ray.

weird fishes/arpeggi

otis narrowly over flamingos

3 Donna Summer - I Feel Love
5 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
7 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
11 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
22 Prince and The Revolution - When Doves Cry
25 Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking
41 Prince - Little Red Corvette

^^contenders for me...think it's between i feel love/uptown top ranking/little red corvette

'Running Up That Hill', just over 'Wichita Lineman'.

'Gimme Shelter'

jesus this is impossible

otis narrowly over flamingos

heh flamingos just over otis for me. just over the message.

good vibrations

Running Up That Hill & I Feel Love > the rest

I Want You Back is probably my favorite song of all time, so that.

I Feel That Wichita Lineman

i only have eyes for you, definitely

the fact that television, new order, smiths and all that stuff made it in, and blue skies, rhapsody in blue, and dozens of other mind-blowingly great towering human achievements didn't is mind-boggling. i know it was discussed a bunch in the results thread about how younger people are gonna vote for songs that have more emotional resonance for them or whatever...but, i mean how many ppl voting were teenagers when say, good vibrations came out?? so why no georgia on my mind or blue skies or our day will come or blue velvet. it's just weird that cultural memory is truncated like that. i mean fuck i love new order but i don't know if they even have any business being in the top 125.

so i look forward to the fifties pool, or the top half of the century one, and i'll shut up now, 'cause i know this was complained about already all over the results thread.

but anyhow, aaaaarghh.

voted 'o superman' to annoy people but would have voted for 'surfin' bird' over all of these songs

o superman winning this thread would still be less annoying than having to actually listen to it

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haha

1. Wichita Lineman
2. Waterloon Sunset
3. I Only Have Eyes for You

next group: Strange Fruit, Heroes, Superstition, Ghost Town, Strawberry Fields, September Gurls, I Want You Back, Family Affair

Waterloo, not Waterloon

Ok, so I just listened to Marquee Moon for the first time and you know who I'm surprised as shit hasn't covered this? Fucking Phish.

As it was my #1, I'm going with "Be My Baby," which is a perfect piece of work and features what might be my favorite vocal in the history of pop music. Was tempted to go with "Strange Fruit," just as a show of support for the pre-rock canon, but it's not in my top tier of favorite Billie Holiday recordings, and it probably wouldn't even be among the top half of this list of songs if I were to rank them.

1 teenage riot
2 be my baby
3 marquee moon
4 uptown top ranking

Like a Rolling Stone tbh

30 The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back

"Gimme Shelter"

Like A Rolling Stone

Rule: Will always vote for Marquee Moon in a poll. Of "Best" obv nur.

1. Flamingos
2. O Superman
3. God Only Knows

O superman

Flamingos, obv

I Want You Back is probably my favorite song of all time, so that.

Seconded.

Top three might be:
Sister Ray
I Want You Back
A Change Is Gonna Come

voted "uptown top ranking"

"Temptation"

25 Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking

weird, I think this is the only song on the list I have literally never heard of. Reggae in the US vs. in the UK sometimes has some odd differences.

voted Maggot Brain

wait I've never heard of this Flamingos song either

1. september gurls
2. heroes
3. maggot brain

Listen to the Flamingos song, Shakey. tbh, I'd heard it a couple hundred times w/o ever really listening, but it's quite brilliant.

"Sister Ray"

Sometimes I get into it so much that I almost see the sailor getting shot.

what about the ding dong

oh I know. all things considered, that's one messed up carpet.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Gimme Shelter.

"uptown top ranking" over "i only have eyes for you" and "superstition"

My Pal Foot Foot

aside from that, September Gurls.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lol

yessssssssssssssss

registering 13 sockpuppets finally paid off

perfect.

lol these results are terrible

hahaha

We should do a poll of the top 10 from here. That would sort this out once and for all.

AWESOME

WTF

same deal as the 'worst song' poll

lol

i've been meaning to get around to hearing "o superman" for the past 10 years, maybe now i will actually do it

Totally fuck with these results.

LEX GO LISTEN TO "O SUPERMAN" NOW.

i almost don't want to, because so much of what i've read about it goes on about how WEIRD it is, and my experience of that is generally underwhelming and very much not weird

44 Pulp - Common People 0

^^^^v happy about this

it's not weird, it's lyrical and moving and quite beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd7XnOnSkkA

I guess it doesn't sound that weird today, considering that some of its odder aspects were later popularized in electronic music, but I assume it must've been pretty damn weird to hear it on radio in 1982.

It can't really seem that weird after, like, Kate Bush's "Waking The Witch", lex.

oh my god it sounds like "easy lee"!!!!!

and the "hi, i'm not home right now" answerphone message made me think it was going to go into jade's "don't walk away", lol

it also sounds really really familiar - the melody - what's sampled it?

this is great, anyway, how were people hating on it in the other thread?

People are fucked up.

There was a M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade remix of it a few years ago that I used to hear played out a lot, maybe you heard that inadvertently a few times?

Also obv stuff like Imogen Heap's "Hide & Seek" owes a huge debt.

Lex did you ever get into Jane Siberry at all??

i think "get out of my house" is def freakier than "waking the witch" - the latter doesn't really pretend to be a proper song at any stage, whereas the former does, then suddenly HEE-HAW HEE-HAW

There was a M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade remix of it a few years ago that I used to hear played out a lot, maybe you heard that inadvertently a few times?

yes that was it, i think!

i've loved jane siberry longtime, though have only heard a few of her albums - bound by the beauty/when i was a boy/maria/some sort of "best of" comp that i've sadly lost. WIWAB is an amazing album.

it also sounds really really familiar - the melody - what's sampled it?

The melody is borrowed from an opera by Jules Massenet, that's why the full title of the tune is "O Superman (For Massenet)".

"Get Out Of My House" is freakier, yes. Much freakier than "O Superman" as well - but I think the issues "people" have with the latter is that it doesn't really pretend to be a proper etc.

i've loved jane siberry longtime, though have only heard a few of her albums - bound by the beauty/when i was a boy/maria/some sort of "best of" comp that i've sadly lost. WIWAB is an amazing album.

OMG you have never heard The Walking. If I revive a thread you must promise to watch the youtube link(s) therein.

i've heard the title track and "red high heels" - i loved them! they are on my missing best-of comp! never heard the whole album though. i might have to REACQUIRE.

Here's Jose Carreras singing the aria it's based on, "Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fv5_MXJWM&feature=related

As you can see, Anderson took the "o judge, o mom and dad" bit from the original, though funnily enough she changed "souverain" (sovereign) to "Superman".

I think the issues "people" have with the latter is that it doesn't really pretend to be a proper etc.

there's nothing wrong with not being a "proper song" - what, do the people hating on it only like 3-minute trite beatles singles then?

(xx-post)

Thanks for that youtube, Tuomas, I'll have to show Amber and Alice that one.

am i crazy to be thinking that "o superman" would sound amazing if covered by someone like ciara, in the style of "promise" or "ciara to the stage"? the combination of prettiness and yearning in the melody seems made for it.

it's also pretty #BASED

omg the final melody entering in the last minute

this song is brilliant, can't believe it literally took me a decade to get around to it

it's also pretty #BASED

ha ha I would never have stumbled upon this realisation myself but it's so true.

Frustratingly the SIberry Walking tracks I wanted to play you aren't on youtube. Just track down the album, it's worth it!

i'm glad lex likes O Superman. It was one of the first songs I ever heard and got familiar with, my Dad owning the single in the early eighties. It never struck me as a weird song at the time as I was an unprejudiced listener. Still something about the amniotic warmth of the track makes me feel very very comfortable. Think that maybe it has had a more profound effect on my tastes than I might think.

It never struck me as a weird song at the time as I was an unprejudiced listener. Still something about the amniotic warmth of the track makes me feel very very comfortable. Think that maybe it has had a more profound effect on my tastes than I might think.

― What are you doing here? (dog latin), Wednesday, December 8, 2010 3:09 AM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark

think i went on about its oddity in the results thread, and it did strike me as strange (more like otherworldly) when i was young, but i loved it anyway. "amniotic warmth" OTM. it's an important touchstone for my tastes, too, but in a subtle way. i mean, i haven't spent many of the intervening years seeking out eerie yet soothing artmusic.

people who like it should check out "big science", title track from the album "o superman" appears on. not quite as successful as a pop tune, perhaps, but gorgeous and even more amniotically soothing (warning: fan video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Y7830_WWk

also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhAqhhmonC8

let x=x is probably my fav from that album tbh

I suspected this would be the result. Glad to be vindicated.

Also, I'm not entirely convinced that the lex *does* like 'O Superman', seeing as he wants to alter it in horribly similar ways to the deformations suggested by Tuomas to 'those singers who can't sing'.

yes you're right, i actually hate "o superman" and just lied my way through about five enthusiastic posts there o_0

Looooool. I just don't get why, if you are so enthusiastic about it, the first reaction you'd have to listening to a song is to try to completely change it into something it was never ever meant to be just to shift it closer to your tastes.

But I should be glad to have another compadre in the war against the haters, I guess, and leave it at that.

ur gonna be great fun tomorrow arentcha ;)

where am i trying to change it

saying "a version of it like this would be amazing" is not the same as "i'm dissatisfied with the original"

have to agree, i wouldn't want to hear O.S. any other way. Even that house remix from a few years back didn't really work for me, and I wanted it to.

i like o superman, and a couple of the other songs on the list

i would have voted for glen campbell's wichita lineman, if i had voted

'god only knows' for real

saying "a version of it like this would be amazing" is not the same as "i'm dissatisfied with the original"

I read the 'amazing' bit as saying it would be better. If that wasn't your intent, then that's cool.

A house remix exists? I bet that's horrible.

love the beach boys but that wouldn't make my personal top 40 BB songs

i didnt know that - about oh superman - that it was based on an opera. will listen later

the house remix isn't horrible, its sort of not really particularly different iirc

yeah, it's just the same but with a minimal backbeat and some of the more interesting bits edited out from what i can recall.

and Melle Mel rapping "Oh MUM and Daaaad uh huh huh huh"

the hell would melle mel say "mum"

surprised prince didn't get a vote

That's because none of his best songs (When You Were Mine, Controversy, Let's Pretend We're Married, Kiss, Sometimes It Snows in April, Sign “☮” the Times, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Alphabet St., Cream. Sexy MF, P Control, Soul Sacntuary, Prettyman) were included in the top 50.

i think the fact that both lex and i love "o superman," while apparently disagreeing about everything else in the musical world, is pretty indicative of how amazing it is. the whole "big science" album is fantastic.

I still lament not having the good sense to nominate "Pop Life" xp

Tuomas is pretty OTM with that list of Prince songs (I'd add "Housequake", "Mountains" and "Letitgo" as well)

i think "get out of my house" is def freakier than "waking the witch" - the latter doesn't really pretend to be a proper song at any stage, whereas the former does, then suddenly HEE-HAW HEE-HAW

At a friend's party over Thanksgiving he mentioned discovering The Dreaming; we both automatically went, "HEE-HAW HEE-HAW"

Tuomas is pretty OTM with that list of Prince songs (I'd add "Housequake", "Mountains" and "Letitgo" as well).

And I'd have no problem with those additions. All these would make a pretty nifty "Best Of" comp for Prince.

"O superman" is not the greatest song of the 20th century, whereas "I only have eyes for you" is, so the results were close.

otm

I love Wichita Lineman but it's top 10 placement surprised me. when did it get such cross-over appeal? was it in some movie? did Campbell's Beach Boys connections help him? the fact that Jimmy Webb is also behind MacArthur Park (covered by another ilm aristocrat Donna Summer)?

it got more votes than any other song in the poll (28)

for a personal comparison, Del Shannon's mind/heart/world-stopping Runaway got 12

not complaining but I am intrigued

pretty sure I voted for runaway...def expected it to place

lol these results are brilliant in light of the 'worst song' poll. I'll admit I got mad at the results on the other thread and even tho I wasn't planning on voting in this poll I gave it to O Superman out of angst from the other thread.

It'd be hilarious if either 'o superman' or 'god only knows' win the 'least melodic song' poll.

Yes, now we need to poll these resutlts and then poll those results and then on and on until we arrive at the I am sitting in a room of ILM polls.

i always thought that flamingos tune was an obscure long lost doo-wop jam with a creepy youtube never knew so many ppl loved it

one of my favourite ilm posts

I know nothing about doo wop, but every once in a while I like to comment on what a weird and wonderful record is "I Only Have Eyes For You" by The Flamingos. There is something otherworldly about that song, like a half-remembered dream. It actually scares me a little. Is anyone else haunted by this record?

― Mark, Tuesday, 14 August 2001 00:00 (9 years ago) Bookmark

1st remember being aware of it via Bronx Tale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmkXo-fZeiU

Fugees sampled it iirc.

I love Wichita Lineman but it's top 10 placement surprised me. when did it get such cross-over appeal?

In college, not long after I started downloading dozens of mp3s at a time, I rediscovered it from my youth and I've only grown more and more fond of it in the past 10 years or so. Crossover appeal never occurred to me.. it's just a really well-made piece of music. Also around that time, I recall Dean Ween writing something about how he considered it one of the greatest songs ever which shed new light on it as well.

Is there any way the results can be compared with their standings on previous ILM countdowns?

for a personal comparison, Del Shannon's mind/heart/world-stopping Runaway got 12

― gospodin simmel, Wednesday, December 8, 2010 5:55 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

pretty sure I voted for runaway...def expected it to place

― iatee, Wednesday, December 8, 2010 6:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

yeah, same here. i love it the way others seem to love "wichita lineman" and "god only knows".

exactly

I first became aware of "I Only Have Eyes For You" during the movie Twins. But the Flamingos version is awesome and I would hope not obscure. Also, I think The Field sampled it for one of the tracks on From Here We Go Sublime.