Best band ever. Nominations thread.

Feel like I'm pushing my luck here but here goes.

What I thought, if we keep this thread going from now until 1st January and then create a poll with the 20 most popular bands and the=, I.E. if Bucks Fizz, Nu Shooz and Red box are all equal 19th, they all go through to the poll section.

So, if you can just put your nominations, without saying why, I'll add up the votes and we can make our cases and explain our reasons in the Poll on Jan 2nd.

The Fall.

good luck with this

if we count Parliament-Funkadelic as one band then them

Funkadelic
Kyuss
Parliament

damn you shakey

New Order

aaaaaargh

parliament-funkadelic

Thank you. I have way too much spare time on my hands.

I will definitely count Parliament and Funkadelic as one act and they would absolutely be in my top 10.

New Order

Joy Division.

Funkadelic
Kyuss
Parliament

― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 17 December 2008 23:36 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Is that a vote for Parliament/Funkadelic?

Also: Earl Brutus.

The Fall
The Bee Gees
Buck Owens and the Buckeroos

NB: that was me casting a second vote for New Order. Shoulda made that clearer.

Also: yeh, The Fall.

New Order

Joy Division.

― grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 17 December 2008 23:40 (23 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Is that a vote for New Order or Joy Division (because there is no way I can link those two)?

I consider it two bands (the parliament singers arent in Funkadelic) but if you are going to have them as just one band that's fair enough.

And if grimly is nominating earl brutus then im saying Spacemen 3

The Beatles <<< seriously

1 band only or I'll have to discount your vote.

Sly And The Family Stone?

Wait, can we only nominate one band?
If so, the Fall

Earl Brutus are fucking amazing.

This will annoy a lot of people but fuck them The Stone Roses

x-post

eh? it didnt say at the top 1 band only

Sorry, should have explained that.

Gonna have to nominate a band nobody else will want to go near - Earl Brutus

are these votes or nominations?

if former, then The Fall
if latter, then The Clean

oh f@!# it all to hell: just put me down for the Clean plz.

For a band to really qualify as the "best ever", it can't be limited by any one style. So Parliament/Funkadelic, cool as they were, don't deserve the nomination. I mean, they only knew how to play one style, funk, which was James Brown's territory anyway. And we can't nominate James Brown, because he was just one guy. Bands that can perform effectively across a broad range of styles are more deserving (such as, say, The Beatles or Ween). But we're never gonna be able to nail down the best of the best, because there are so many types of music available. Nevertheless, I think John McLaughlin might be capable of this.

That is, http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/BS.jpg

Just one? GAH. Joy Division is taken, so...

X

shakey you deal with that

Strapping Field Hands

X is a great pick!

I wanna lobby for The Stooges and The Slits!

Real answer = Africa 70, or maybe whatever band it was did the Dark Magus. Except, no, it's Funkadelic after all.

what are the nominations so far?

if you're going to be counting nominations then they're not nominations but votes: ain't that right?

Or Queen. Can I change it to Queen? Is it too late for that? I don't actually want to change to Queen yet, but I want to make sure. Also very fond of quartet w/ Garrison, Jones, Tyner and that other guy, I forget his name. Does jazz count as bands? Plus Suicide, only two guys, but they sounded like at least three.

I mean, they only knew how to play one style, funk

this is a joke, right?

where is Geir lolz

this is a joke, right?

"(such as, say, The Beatles or Ween)"

Definite nominations so far:

The Fall
Parliament/Funkadelic
New Order
Earl Brutus
Spacemen 3
Stone Roses
The Beatles
Sly and the Family Stone
The Clean
X
Strapping hand fields

CREEDENCE MUTHAEFFIN CLEARWATER REVIVAL

Kraftwerk

"(such as, say, The Beatles or Ween)"

haha seriously I thought you had c-and-p'd a geir post

The Go-Betweens

I am serious about CAN. Real nom (nom nom).

If I can nominate others, I also want: Miles Davis' mid 70s crew + Stooges + Queen + Sabbath + Funkadelic + Africa 70 + Coltrane quartet + Boadrums + Sonic Youths + AC/DC + Iron Maiden to be on there somewhere, plus whatever else I think of.

If not, just CAN is okay.

The Minutemen

Good one! I want them, too. They were in High Fidelity.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra

if we're lucky, Geir picks Yes
if we're unlucky, Geir picks Genesis

i'm gonna start finding threads for all my favourite bands & lobby for them all tonite!

Leave them Sven, they ain't worth it. One more vote for The Rolling Stones.

The Rolling Stones

Pah. A poor man's Earl Brutus.

Lest there be any doubt here, by the way: I am totally fucking serious about this. Earl Brutus were the best band in the world, ever. The more I consider this, the more I believe I shall one day be proved right.

Louis: it's not too late to change your vote, you know.

People, your nominations will not be counted as the official poll has already begun.

Best Band Ever. Official Poll

Has anyone mentioned the vines yet

Beastie Boys

The biggest problem with this board nowadays, and I've been posting on here since pretty much the beginning, are the levels of arrogance and smug coziness which have always been in evidence but are now endemic. It's the reason why so many of the most insightful posters no longer visit here. When I log into this site, I feel like I am about to be confronted by the same puerile, smug, cunts that have made previous jobs so unbearable.

What is it with you people?

I used to visit here to read intelligent argument and insightful prose and, occasionally, contribute something myself but, like many others, I rarely bother nowadays.

ilm tends to rise to the occasion and people still appear to make intelligent arguments and provide insightful prose - the recent round of polls that pitted stooges/sabbath/vu vs every other band in the world were entertaining and worthwhile.

now I appreciate you being all scientific with your approach but when you yield a list like the one below, well, I agree that it's kind of depressing and underwhelming... but blaming snarkers seems like some mislaid sour grapes, especially since most of ilx's "rabid dogs" have been sent to the cornfield by this point. I hope you feel better after blowing off some steam, though.

The Fall(4)
Parliament/Funkadelic (4)
New Order (4)
Earl Brutus (2)
Spacemen 3 (2)
Beatles (2)
The Clean (2)
X (2)
Joy Division (2)
Can (3)
Kraftwerk (3)
Minutemen (3)
The Who (3)
Fleetwood Mac (2)
Cardiacs (3)
Smiths (2)
Nirvana (2)
Velvet Underground (2)
Steely Dan (2)

The Clash

(If held to one nom, and disregarding those that are already on the list)

People, your nominations will not be counted as the official poll has already begun.

Best Band Ever. Official Poll

― Official Best Band Ever Poll Moderator (Noodle Vague), Monday, December 22, 2008 7:54 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I, too, have gone rogue on this matter, and with no prior knowledge of Mr. Vague's commendable gesture. When two events occur simultaneously, pertaining to the same object of inquiry, it can mean only one of two things: (A) a cataclysmic non-event has occurred; or (B) a paradigm shift as occurred

but when you yield a list like the one below, well, I agree that it's kind of depressing and underwhelming

Of course the outcome was a given from vote 1. This is ILM: the orthodoxies, high priests and sacred cows are well established. But it's not Sven's approach that's yielding the all-too-predictable list, it's the board. I'm really not sure where all the negativity is coming from.

When I log into this site, I feel like I am about to be confronted by the same puerile, smug, cunts unfortunate lack of math skills that has made previous jobs so unbearable.

I don't know if my mention of it earlier counted, but since number of nominations counts, definitely put me down for Nirvana, either way.

Not Fushitsusha?

Loyalties die hard...

Has anyone nominated the Vines yet?

i dont think so. perhaps you should

This is easy: Led Zeppelin

has genesis been nominated yet, because I retract nirvana and vote genesis

Fugazi
Sunny Day Real Estate
Motorpsycho

Maybe if this poll didn't have such stupid rules, it would have been more successful. How many ILM users did you really think were going to nominate a band? Let's be super generous and say 100. But to have a list of top 20 bands, you would need at least 20+19+18+17+16+15+14+13+12+11+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 210 ILX voters. Otherwise you would have ties that would exceed the maximum poll options # (as you currently have since 59! bands have received only 1 vote). Also, those 210 non-existent voters would have to vote perfectly. Otherwise you would need more than 210 voters to establish your top 20.

Here is a perfectly intelligent way you could have fixed this: Allow each ILX voter to nominate 5-10 bands. Possibly give them X amount of points to distribute among as many nominations as they'd like. Maybe every voter gets 10 points. You can give all 10 to Fleetwood Mac, or give 1 point to 10 different bands. Then count up the points and create your list from that.

As it is now, though, it is the worst possible way to run this sort of poll. Is it really surprising that people aren't interested in playing along?

CREEDENCE

All you need for a top 20 (or, be be reasonable, a top 15-25) are a few clear front-runners and a double handfull of also-rans. Which is what we've got now. Hell, according to Sven's last count, there are 19 bands with more than one vote, which is exactly what he seems to have been shooting for. So what's the problem? Complaining that this is about bad math is horseshit.

The problem is that he wanted a list of top 20, with ties being listed. If ties were listed now, there would only be 3 ranks (and a bunch of ties).

If ties were listed now, there would only be 3 ranks...

I think it extends from the math. I know that I thought 1 nomination per person was pretty shitty. And since the thing seemed like bullshit from the beginning, I didn't take it seriously. When everyone nominated the Vines (obv. a joke pick, but so what?) and Sven began to censor the votes, I think it just inspired more hostility. If he had addressed the reason no one was taking it seriously, instead of going OMGZ THE INTERNET IS SERIOUS BIZNESS, then he might have been able to avoid some of the hostility.

Also, comments like For god's sake. I've explained this 4 times already...it really couldn't be any simpler! Or 1 band only or I'll have to discount your vote. is a bit Sven Hassel Obnoxious.

Well the whole position of "this exercise has value although I can't say what that value is" is patently retarded; we're not a board that specializes in one type of music so everyone defaults to stuff like The Fall, P-Funk, Can, and the result is going to be some canonical freshman-in-college-discovering-slsk band winning. What value does that add? Are we proving that music dorks like Can?

a bit Sven Hassel Obnoxious.

Well, for me it was, "puerile, smug, cunts that have made previous jobs so unbearable." But, yeah, no argument. Still, I can see as how our man Sven felt driven to the wall by all the not-serious-takingness and Vinesness and so forth.

and the result is going to be some canonical freshman-in-college-discovering-slsk band winning. What value does that add? Are we proving that music dorks like Can?

Seriously, who gives a shit if ILX votes The Vines as best band ever?

xpost man these are the things I stay up at night thinking about.

xpost: I guess it only matters if you want to know what ILX honest-and-for-truly most likes. It's okay to wonder what people really like (as opposed to what they say they like in order to amuse themselves), but I guess I agree that it's poor form to try and FORCE the world to cough up its "real answer" for you.

So, yeah, Vines.

I know that polls like this can come across all lowest common denominator and I'm also aware that all I would be doing was collecting a list of bands to put into a poll some time in the new year. I saw it as an excercise, not in voting but in discussing a selection of bands from right across the musical canon that might not otherwise get compared before coming to consensus of a kind, albeit in the broadest sense.

In many ways it has been pretty successful. Plenty of votes, a wide range of bands and a few clear front runners. I decided to run the poll in the way I did on the basis of the idea, perhaps misguided, that it would bring about interesting discussion. I suppose it has, but not in the way I envisaged.

I worked the maths side of things out with an expectation of getting about 200 votes. In hindsight, I should maybe have gone with 3 band or, as suggested upthread, 5, but this seemed a good way of polarising opinion. It will definitely work.

As for the accusations of over-seriousness, Looking back over some of my earlier responses, I can see how I might have handled this better, and therefore avoided my little temper tantrum yesterday, but some of the abuse was over the top.

But the fucking Vines...

I'm really not that serious. some of my responses to other threads bear this out I hope.

There have been about 130 votes up till now, give or take. I could knock this on the head but I'd quite like to carry on and create a poll after the new year and if others agree, please keep voting. I still think this could be worthwhile although what it will ulitimately prove is debatable.

Maybe we could have a seperate discussion thread about that.

xpost: I guess it only matters if you want to know what ILX honest-and-for-truly most likes. It's okay to wonder what people really like (as opposed to what they say they like in order to amuse themselves), but I guess I agree that it's poor form to try and FORCE the world to cough up its "real answer" for you.

― Bored American Aerospace Defense Command (BORAD) (contenderizer), Tuesday, 23 December 2008 20:31 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Definitely agree with this. It was a poor way of doing things.

Obviously New Order are the best band ever, as has already been proved scientifically elsewhere.

So I nominate Led Zeppelin.

but in discussing a selection of bands from right across the musical canon that might not otherwise get compared

Dude this is where you lose me. Maybe there is valued discussion to be had from comparing the relative merits of Immortal, the Flatlanders, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Pere Ubu but I can't really get my head around it. To gank the supermarket metaphor someone use above, I may have a bag of haricotes vertes, a jar of organic, unsalted, chunky peanut butter, a flank steak, and a six-pack of Asahi in my house, but the question of which of those is best is never gonna come up. They are for different things.

But, see, in defense of this Sven, if you were to poll hairycoats vs. OUCPB vs. flank steak vs. Asahi FITE! no one would snark or sneer. They'd just log their damn vote for peanut butter or nominate Fakin Bacon or whatever, and then move on.

The question isn't whether Funkadelic are actually better than fucking New Order, but how the chips are gonna fall. Or not.

That is OTM--early on it was just really hard to tell if this was a thread to fuck around on or if it was like a grand experiment to prove something, which is kinda of how we got here.

Dude this is where you lose me. Maybe there is valued discussion to be had from comparing the relative merits of Immortal, the Flatlanders, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Pere Ubu but I can't really get my head around it. To gank the supermarket metaphor someone use above, I may have a bag of haricotes vertes, a jar of organic, unsalted, chunky peanut butter, a flank steak, and a six-pack of Asahi in my house, but the question of which of those is best is never gonna come up. They are for different things.

― the ref (ed hochuli ha ha) (call all destroyer), Tuesday, 23 December 2008 21:11 (31 minutes ago) Bookmark

This is, admittedly, where I sort of got it wrong from the start. I saw this as mainly a thread for nominations and the poll as being the place where the discussion will take place, ie when the list was down to 20. I like polls (although I can understand why some don't) I enjoy the discussion and the comparison aspect and I always knew that it wouldn't prove who was the best band or anything like that but that it might show where a few people's heads were at.

The question isn't whether Funkadelic are actually better than fucking New Order, but how the chips are gonna fall. Or not.

― Bored American Aerospace Defense Command (BORAD) (contenderizer), Tuesday, 23 December 2008 21:17 (25 minutes ago) Bookmark

OTM! but in 1 line instead of my 5.

That is OTM--early on it was just really hard to tell if this was a thread to fuck around on or if it was like a grand experiment to prove something, which is kinda of how we got here.

― the ref (ed hochuli ha ha) (call all destroyer), Tuesday, 23 December 2008 21:22 (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

Perhaps my attitude allowed things to get muddled in this regard. I think it will prove something, but I guess that's another debate again.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, 18. joulukuuta 2008 2:16 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Okay, if Prince isn't allowed, I'm gonna second Timi Yuro's nomination. So another for The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

"another vote"

Damn, thanks, I was having a hard time figuring out what you meant.

I've just discovered that ILX users can simply eliminate polls from their view via the "preferences" tab. This site has become far more welcoming.

surprised no one has mentioned the vines!

They really don't get enough love on ILM.

the Funk Brothers, ya asinine chumps!

did anyone nominate the vines?

ah, classic sockpuppets we have loved

http://ring.cdandlp.com/gmsi/photo_grande/113940528.jpg

The Shaggs would win this no contest.

They've baconed, dog.