Salon's best week for music being released

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Article about how a week in December 1969 was the best week for music releases ever

"That's why, for me, Dec. 20, 1969, represents rock's summit:

No. 1, "Abbey Road," the Beatles
No. 2, "Led Zeppelin II," Led Zeppelin
No. 3, "Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas," Tom Jones
No. 4, "Green River," Creedence Clearwater Revival
No. 5, "Let It Bleed," the Rolling Stones
No. 6, "Santana," Santana
No. 7, "Puzzle People," the Temptations
No. 8, "Blood Sweat & Tears," Blood Sweat & Tears
No. 9, "Crosby, Stills & Nash," Crosby, Stills & Nash
No. 10, "Easy Rider" soundtrack (featuring the Byrds, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Steppenwolf)"

Please find a week to disprove it

― Jedmond, Friday, 19 December 2003 04:58 (twenty-one years ago)

what were the chart placings of all those records for that first week though? was the Beatles and the Stones dropping on the same day equivalent to the kind of drama as Jay-Z and the G Unit these days?

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I like how we have to contextualize Beatles + Stones on the same day with Jay-Z + G-Unit... are you joking me?

― ModJ (ModJ), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:10 (twenty-one years ago)

The Salon writer isn't saying that that was the best week of releases, but rather that that week's Billboard Top 10 album chart had the most great albums. I like that this classic rock fan is forced to let Tom Jones crash the party.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I screwed up

a) the article is from Salon at:

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/12/19/rock/index.html

b) it is to do with best chartlisting not release dates - release dates would be easier with the ridiculous amount of music being released these days - it could be argued that every week of 2003 beat that week ir it was releases during that week.

In addition the author submits September 2 1989 as the worse week ever

No. 1 "Repeat Offender," Richard Marx
No. 2. "Hangin' Tough," NKOTB
No. 3. "Batman" soundtrack
No. 4. "Forever Your Girl," Paula Abdul
No. 5. "Girl You Know It's True," Milli Vanilli
No. 6. "Full Moon Fever," Tom Petty
No. 7. "Skid Row" Skid Row.
No. 8. "The Raw and the Cooked," Fine Young Cannibals
No. 9. "Cuts Both Ways" Gloria Estefan
No. 10. "End of Innocence," Don Henley

― Jedmond, Friday, 19 December 2003 05:20 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, ok, I misunderstood, I thought you meant they were all released that week. anyway, my comparison stands: 50 Cent is kind of a John Lennon in reverse.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, any week with Batdance is fine by me.

― ModJ (ModJ), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Dylan just beat me to pointing out my screwup - and I'll second his bemusement at the Tom Jones inclusion - and the critic's overlooking of this.

― Jedmond, Friday, 19 December 2003 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

It's the way he hid the Batman soundtrack - oh it's not a Prince release (which would disprove his list completely) - it's a soundtrack by anonymous

― Jedmond, Friday, 19 December 2003 05:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I like a lot of Tom Jones's '60s records, though I've never heard that "Live in Vegas" one. I generally like Tom Jones more than I like Blood, Sweat & Tears or Santana. I haven't heard that Temptations record either.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I see that "Puzzle People" Has "I Can't Get Next to You" on it, which is great.

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"The nation's collective ears must have been stuffed with wax that week (or year). You almost feel sorry for Petty, Henley and the Fine Young Cannibals, trapped forever with this rogues' gallery of career offenders. (Milli Vanilli??)"

This would make Prince a "career offender," wouldn't it?

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I second the appreciation for the "Batman" stk -- couple great tunes on there -- and hasten to add the the Holy Modal Rounders are also on the "Easy Rider" stk.

― yetimike (McGonigal), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Marx and the New Kids totally sucked, and they fact that they are 1-2 is the most striking thing about the list. But beyond that, I still own and like the Prince, Abdul and Petty albums, and enjoy plenty of the tunes by Skid Row, Milli Vanilli and FYC. Oh, and even though I'm an Eagles fan, Henley solo does nothing for me. Anyway, looks like a typical week, like any other week out there on the badlands we call the pop charts.

― Broheems (diamond), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

He doesn't say who's on the Batman soundtrack but he DOES list who's on the Easy Rider soundtrack!

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 19 December 2003 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"The nation's collective ears must have been stuffed with wax that week (or year)."

I just remember listening to Love and Rockets, Disintegration and Technique a lot.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:14 (twenty-one years ago)

KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL.

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:19 (twenty-one years ago)

ALSO MAIM

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:31 (twenty-one years ago)

CSN, BST, and Abbey Road* all fucking suck.

*OK, Abbey Road is OK. but "masterpiece"? give us all a royal fucking break right this minute, please.

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Matos you don't like Blood Sweat and Tears!?

do you hate fun?

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:35 (twenty-one years ago)

If Blood Sweat and Tears are fun then I am giving out lessons in fuckallogy

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait, didn't 3rd Bass lend BST some hipster cred?

― dylan (dylan), Friday, 19 December 2003 07:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Even as a recent Beatles convert I can't trust anybody who loves Abbey Road.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 09:54 (twenty-one years ago)

That Batman 'sountrack' was Prince only. There was an actual sountrack that was music from the film. Unless it was that one...

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 19 December 2003 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

It had to be the Prince soundrack - I find it difficult to believe that any score soundtrack could go that high on the charts - although I was young (9 years old) when it came out.

Prince's Batman has atleast five killer tracks: The Future, Electric Chair, Partyman, Trust, and Batdance.

I'll take that over Abbey Road, Led Zeppelin 2, and maybe even Let It Bleed.

― Jedmond, Friday, 19 December 2003 12:34 (twenty-one years ago)

There's GOT to be a week from either 1965 or 1966 that's better than Salon's list.
Tom Jones, Blood Sweat & Tears, CSNY? C'mon!

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Friday, 19 December 2003 13:39 (twenty-one years ago)

It sure puts Boehlert's articles on Clear Channel in perspective, doesn't it?

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Are they kidding? The 1969 list is awful except for the Temptations. The fucking current chart beats that.

― Enrique (Enrique), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

In my life I've owned four the albums in the 1989 list (though one, the NKOTB album, I gave to my sister THE VERY SAME DAY it was given to me) and one of the 1969 list. And I really want to buy the Skid Row album more than any of the 1969 albums I don't have.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Would the beatles be Jay-Z? or G-unit? How many times was John Lennon shot?

― Jole (Jole), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

[insert Cranberries lyrics here]

― cis (cis), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Are you guys high? Abbey Road is uber-classic.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait, didn't 3rd Bass lend BST some hipster cred?

Sort of, but they did it in a Beastie Boys dis track so it was sort of cancelled out.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

O. Nate it's wonderful in places but in others it's just HORRID. All those bluesy affectations - ugh ugh ugh, Ian McD was never more OTM than in pointing out how awful the beatles were at doing 'heavy'.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Which bluesy affectations are you referring to? "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"? That's the only one I can think of at the moment. It's so over-the-top though that it's no longer even blues to my ears. It's in the same category of bizarre Beatles hard rockers as "Helter Skelter" (which is also obv. great).

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I was thinking of "Oh Darlin" too - those two songs really fuck up the first side for me and "Octopus Garden" is a pretty poor go at writing a kids song, too ("Maxwell's" I don't like either). The second half is good though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I like "Oh Darlin" and "Octopus's Garden" - but "Maxwell's" is a little bit annoying, though it's so silly that it's hard to really hate it. I'll agree that the 2nd side is better.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

the greatest week in chart history would have to be the one where like 5 CCR singles were in the top 10 no?

i'm with the "eh" reactions to abbey road and the majority of those albums are hardly uncontested masterpieces.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

its weird ive been "meh" on abbey road even when i was a 9 year old beatles fanatic

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Abbey Road has probably the 2nd best cover of any Beatles album (after Sgt. Pepper's).

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

the greatest week in chart history would have to be the one where like 5 CCR singles were in the top 10 no?

Did this actually happen, or did classic rock radio just lead us to assume it should've?

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

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