Heart of Rock and Soul Poll: the 1001 Greatest Singles Part 1: 976-1001

"50 is a bit much"

"Rock Your Baby" all the way.

Worst: Bonzo Goes to Washington.

Matos OTM

"It's Over."

I'm surprised "Criticize" made it so far.

ha! was just perusing my copy yesterday and was reading from back to front. i don't feel like i know enough of these to vote fairly though

Alfred is right - it's got to be Roy. One of my favorite Orbison performances.

Thin Lizzy in second.

In the age of LastFM and Youtube I feel I can finally get to know all these songs.

I've done my share of Marsh-bashing over the years, but I've still got a few of his books (not to mention the complete run of CREEM magazine) and this one's my favourite, mostly because he's usually more sensible writing about music he likes than complaining about stuff he's too curmudgeonly to understand.

I vote for the electro-disco-metal concoction of perfection that is "Every 1's a Winner"

Thin Lizzy, with several (Labelle, McCrae, BOC, Regents, Fleetwoods, etc etc) close behind.

Cute to see both of these protest-sample novelties (both of which got a ton of press at the time, and neither of which almost anybody has mentioned, much less listened to, for 25 years) on the list:

992 1984 Bonzo goes to Washington- Five Minutes (c-c-c-club mix)
994 1983 Malcolm X (& Keith LeBlanc)- No sell out

And I'm pretty sure "Shot By Both Sides" is the artiest punk record in the whole book.

Yeah, Marsh never much cared for those art-punks (tho he gave Metal Box five stars and called it "the hottest mastered record in history")

I think the Bonzo record has had a minor flurry of attention, mostly negative, after appearing on the Arthur Russell Sleeping Bag compilation that came out in spring.

My, um, displeasure with this book is quite well-known by now. But I really love the writing in the Joyce Harris entry (and the song). My vote goes to Gene Pitney's mad "Every Breath I Take" which I hope Sting thought long and hard about. Such a great, country-like turn to the lyrics too. George Jones, please cover.

Thin Lizzy over Gene Pitney, because the former's such a terrific Easter song. I didn't realize "Every Breath I Take" is a Goffin/King write; it's hard to note the lyric too carefully when the vocal is so gonzo.

My, um, displeasure with this book is quite well-known by now

KJB, i can has link(s) to relevent thread(s)? I'm usually intrigued by your opinions, even when I disagree with 'em

1. "ABCs of Love" (even better than "Why Do Fools..."), 2. BOC, 3. Reparata, 4. Byrds.

Oops, missed the Regents--put them third, behind BOC.

xxpost

Thanx MVB. But I meant well-known outside of ILM, i.e. in my MA thesis (on John Leland and Spin) and at various conferences. If you want a copy of the thesis, shoot me your email.

How could it be anything else than "Lady Marmalade"? Kinda shocking it's so low on the list though.

hahaha I've never particularly liked "Lady Marmalade"

I'm even more intrigued, KJB, but I'll have to pass, thanks. Sadly, academia didn't agree with me - I was too busy playing euchre and hitting the bong and (until Leland left and it went to hell) reading Spin magazine to get much work done. I'll stick with my comfortable nobrow regimen!

Can't believe everyone is ignoring one of Gene Clark's very best singles with the Byrds. Feel a Whole Lot Better all the way.

I like a few of these, but "Lady Marmalade" is so freaking awesome!

"It's Over". Also love "Shot By Both Sides" and "Feel a Whole Lot Better", but they don't quite match Roy Orbisons best ever moment besides "Crying".

Feel A Whole Lot Better.

I'm giving Reparata her only vote. I'm a sucker for her delivery on that one. (And for the fact that she was later 1/3 of Lady Flash, Barry Manilow's backing vocalists.)

Great idea to do this thread. I mentioned on poll thread no. 2 (which I saw before this one) that this Marsh book was huge for me.

xpost to MVB, no prob (although academia works well with a couple of Tums before bed).

1. George McCrae- Rock Your Baby (the 12" version is the best thing ever, so no contest)
2. William Bell- I Forgot to be Your Lover
3. Roy Orbison- It's Over
4. Fleetwoods- Come softly to me
5. Byrds- Feel a Whole Lot Better

I really like "Lady Marmalade" (especially that bass drum) but it doesn't quite make the top 5 here.

this is fun.

marsh book was also huge for me. a lot of the '80s tracks he lists are kind of dated now, though.

er...i think i voted for "Shot by Both Sides" (thanks, Dave), but now wish i had gone with "Rock Your Baby" instead (curse you, Matos).

went for 'its over' but shoulda voted for 'misty blue' as probably no-one else will.

Some good strong Soul singles here: Dorothy Moore, Teddy P., Alexander O'Neal and the one I voted for George McCrae. Co-written by Harry "Wayne" Casey.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

George McRae, followed closely (almost said 'softly') by the Fleetwoods, very similar sort of records now that I think about it.

both sort of ethereal

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

lol @ Bonzo getting a vote

the silent rockist majority strikes again!

Looks like "More than a Feeling" is going to win the Part 2 poll.