Otis Westinghouse wrote:I'd class National Ransom as pretty shocking! Would be way down my list for that album. Maybe round 150! Heard No Action being played on the radio earlier, on vinyl, no less, and thought 'how come it wasn't top 20?' God it sounded good. I loved your description, e.g. of P Thomas being so fired up at the end that he couldn't stop himself.
Wondering which song will be missing. As long as it ain't Sleep of the Just, or Hoover Factory, or So Like Candy, or ...
Otis Westinghouse wrote:I'd class National Ransom as pretty shocking! Would be way down my list for that album. Maybe round 150! Heard No Action being played on the radio earlier, on vinyl, no less, and thought 'how come it wasn't top 20?' God it sounded good. I loved your description, e.g. of P Thomas being so fired up at the end that he couldn't stop himself.
Wondering which song will be missing. As long as it ain't Sleep of the Just, or Hoover Factory, or So Like Candy, or ...
My money is on Pump It Up ( shock horror !!)
Otis, Heats, and everybody else, keep the guesses coming. We are getting real close now, with four more songs now on the site (#32-29.) This is an interesting batch; Judy Garland and Brian Wilson are involved, as is a singer not quite as well-known as those two who nonetheless gets a stirring tribute from E.C. Check out the link.
Great job, countdownkid!!
Some of my favourite songs in the last batch - Jack Of All Parades and I Hope You're Happy Now.
Hope to see Sleep Of The Just and Suffering Face in the Top 10.
If you don't know what is wrong with me
Then you don't know what you've missed
For me Pump It Up would be c. 55 (I always think of it live as the ideal song for a toilet trip as really, do you need to hear it yet another time, and what else can you bear to miss?), but to leave it out could be a tad sacrilegious.
Maybe Alison got dismissed as too sentimental!?
Will My Dark Life be in there, I wonder?
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
For me Pump It Up would be c. 55 (I always think of it live as the ideal song for a toilet trip as really, do you need to hear it yet another time, and what else can you bear to miss?), but to leave it out could be a tad sacrilegious.
Maybe Alison got dismissed as too sentimental!?
Will My Dark Life be in there, I wonder?
The Judy Garland reference comes from "Jack Of All Parades." ("Once I knew a girl who looked so much like Judy Garland...") Leaving "Alison" out of an Elvis Costello countdown would be ballsy, wouldn't it? You'll have to wait and see. I know it's not in the batch of four (#28-25) I just completed. You'll have to check the link for that quartet, which includes some of Elvis' most passionate and pointed songs ever. Can't wait to see the reaction.
Gosh, how off of me! Thought I knew that lyric backwards and had totally forgotten the Judy G middle 8.
Loved today's 4! Interesting connection of sorts with this board in that re political persuasion, you can more or less put money on 99% Costello fans being non-Conservative (here), non-Republican types, so to come out and say 'I love TTDD because it reminds me of being a student in the 80s and how much I despised everything Thatcher stood for' would be pretty much par for the course. There was one exception of a guy of a very different stripe who loved Costello, but also seemed to adore Dubya and his ilk. There was a certain amount of no Hiding Place-style flaming happening as a result. There have been some people who overdid there and in other threads.
4 great songs and 4 excellent write-ups. Interesting point re TTDD and Masters of War. All four are high up there for me. Riot Act made me think what else is coming from GH!!? King Horse? Would be in mine. Human hands I share your passion for too.
Doubt Elvis is following the list, but loved the idea that Bruce was.
Anyone for an 'alternative 100' thread once this list is complete? there used to be a lot of listology back in the day.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
Well, E.C. fans, we're down to the Top 20 after today's batch of four currently on the site (#24-21.) The tentative schedule for next week is to post three a day so that, by the end of the week, we're down to the Top 5. Then we'll do one a day 'til we wrap it up. I look forward to your comments. Check it out in the link.
Intriguing selection. All good, but none of them as high for me.
Call me sad, but I'm enjoying this listing so much, and find the ordering intriguing and the writing always enjoyable, I've decided to get a bit geegy and build the various lists on my iPod. I can do all the Costello, I think (unless there's anything so obscure there), and most of the Dylan. Springsteen will be patchy (list of 212 songs, bonkers!), and Beatles very patchy, as I have a fair few on vinyl (original German pressings of several of most of their early albums) but not digitally. All good fun, and a good way to then enjoy the notes. Good criticism + fun list/chart element = perfect way to revisit and reappreciate. Especially keen on the Dylan given that I went through a phase of amassing and listening to lots of his stuff a few years back, and then have heard a few more years of only occasionally listening. Am now keen to revisit and get more fully educated in the Dylanverse. Am currently enjoying Hard Rain a lot, on Kevin Davis' expectation, and yes, the arrangement of Shelter From The Storm, still only a freshly-hatched song at the time, is wonderful. And who could find fault in an album that follows that song with the trio of masterpieces of You're a Big Girl Now, I Threw It All Away and Idiot Wind?
Salivating over the prospect of 3 a day and then one a day for the top 5.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
So, 12 hours later, I've built the c. 75 of the 212 Springsteen songs I have (and am puzzled over the lack of notes on Springsteen 101-212 on the site), c. 150 of the Dylan 200 and all of Costello 100-21. Hope I don't get RSI!
So now with a full assessment of the Costello list, I'm posting my personal top 20 with what's left in my proposed order of magnificence, though songs such as Chelsea (a measly 73 from CK) would be top 10. And then the other songs I would include in a top 50/100:
1. Sleep of the Just
2. I Want You
3. Man Out of Time
4. Alison
5. Brilliant Mistake
6. So Like Candy
7. Shipbuilding
8. New Amsterdam
9. Hoover Factory
10. King Horse
11. Oliver's Army
12. Watching The Detectives
13. New Lace Sleeves
14. The Other End of the Telescope
15. Clubland
16. Radio Radio
17. My Dark Life
18. After The Fall
19. Country Darkness
20. Bullets for the New Born King
I realise I've omitted Pump It Up! For me the above are all better, but it would be somewhere in the top 50. Other songs I would fight for and not in CK's 100-21, in no order (but grouped vaguely by album):
Rocking Horse Road
Still
Suit of Lights
Jimmie Standing in the Rain
Stations of the Cross
One Bell Ringing
45
All Grown Up
Veronica
Satellite
Big Tears
Shabby Doll
Kid About It
High Fidelity
Temptation
Opportunity
Possession
Secondary Modern
Party Girl
Poor Fractured Atlas
Alibi
Less Than Zero
Mystery Dance
V happy to see any of those included, and somewhat perplexed if anything in the final top 20 isn't above! Although I know there are some true gems not here, so let's see if you surprise me, CK! A top 200 would be easier to list when it comes to Elvis.
Here's hoping for more top 20s from the cognoscenti here (or on the CK site as a permanent record there, or on both in my case!).
Can't remember when I had so much fun with song lists.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
countdownkid wrote:The tentative schedule for next week is to post three a day so that, by the end of the week, we're down to the Top 5. Then we'll do one a day 'til we wrap it up. I look forward to your comments.
So does 'next week' mean Mon-Fri, or did you forget to hit 'publish' yesterday? (As I've seen you write on the other lists a couple of times!)
I checked about 8 times throughout the day, woke up at 7.45 this Sunday morning and ran downstairs to find no change. Never mind.
We now know that only 12 of my proposed make the final cut, so it will get interesting. It did occur to me trying to compile those even, how do you decide? For example, two songs listed in the 'Vote for' thread I started that I omitted from both my 20 and the also rans were Dr Watson, I Presume and I'll Wear It Proudly, either of which would grace a top 20 list. Can't believe I omitted the latter.
I think could only do it properly through a spreadsheet and an elaborate points system.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
The countdown begins a new week by kicking off the Top 20 (#20-18.) And it's an interesting trio, with two of Elvis' most beloved songs and one that may be a bit of a surprise. Check it out in the link below.
By the way, I've been following the Top 20's you all have been submitting in the other thread. The diversity of the selections is great, and it's further testament to the breadth and scope of Costello's amazing body of work. Great stuff!
Three more songs have been posted on the countdown (#17-15.) Get Happy!! nabs two of the three spots, with a MacManus-McCartney composition sandwiched in between. Check it out in the first link. And you'll be happy to know that my bosses at American Songwriter have picked up the countdown with the Top 20 on their website, giving a little more exposure to this celebration of Elvis' amazing body of work. That's in the second link.
My 6, 8 and 10! Well it's good to see these three beauties in there, even if not as high as I would have them.
This is where it starts to get very personal. Songs you've lived with and loved for decades, in many cases, and which have had a palpable improvement on the quality of your life. Even, as Morrissey sings on Rubber Ring 'the songs that saved your life'. Songs that summon up incredibly strong memories. New Amsterdam, for example, was utterly vital to me aged 15/16, and it's never left me. So Like Candy, driving round Spain in 1991 in the early months of a love affair that's led to a 20 year marriage and 3 children, and so on and so forth.
Bring on the next 3!
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
I'm delighted to say that all my choices have been way off the mark, but Countdown has produced a meisterwork here.Like Otis, I'm seriously tempted to make a couple of compilations to include the full top hundred regardless of the tracks I may feel have been neglected ( no Dr Luther's Assisstant!). Truly a massive piece of incredibly well thought out and articulated critique, thanks so much for this
This is wonderful work Countdown Kid. There are a few on there I must admit I cant even remember from the extra discs on the Rhino reissues that I must have listened to and they did not grab my attention.
So for making me re investigate these thank you very much.
I know I have mentioned this on here before Mrs Sheep is not an Elvis fan but Shoes Without Heels is one of only two Elvis songs/recordings then when they are playing in the house. She will say what a great song that is.
The other is 'That's How You Got Killed Before'. (I know its a cover)
Thanks to everyone again for saying such kind things about the countdown and my writing. I really can't express how nice it is to hear, especially from such knowledgeable fans. That's why I enjoy doing these countdowns and don't really worry too much about the time they consume or the research that needs to be done. The end result is always worth it.
With that in mind, the next three songs are on the site (#14-12.) There's not much to say about these three songs except they are all pretty much perfection and I can't believe there are 11 songs better than them, and I did the ranking! I might have to start an argument with myself. Check them out in the link.
Three superb songs, but at this point you just can't expect anything less.
I've been wondering how your Top 100 selection splits between the albums. Will have to do manual counting at the end but I would say This Year's Model and Get Happy are at the top of the list, with Blood & Chocolate close behind.
There seem to be quite a lot of songs from Mighty Like A Rose as well. Is this a personal fave of yours?
I would include more songs from King Of America, though I still hope to see a few in Top 11, especially Sleep Of The Just and I'll Wear It Proudly.
Again, can't praise your reviews enough. Excellent stuff.
If you don't know what is wrong with me
Then you don't know what you've missed
Good cue for a quick list! Easily done as I have them as an iPod playlist, so a quick sort by album reveals:
1. Brutal Youth: 7
=2. Imperial Bedroom: 6
=2. Spike: 6
=2. This Year's Model: 6
=5. Blood and Chocolate: 5
=5. Get Happy!!: 5
=5. Mighty Like a Rose: 5
=5. Momofuku: 5
=9. All This Beauty: 4
=9. All This Beauty: Bonus 4*
=9. My Aim Is True: 4
=9. My Aim Is True Bonus: 4*
=9. Painted From Memory: 4
=14. Armed Forces: 3
=14. The Juliet Letters: 3
=14. King of America: 3
=17. The Delivery Man: 2
=17. King of America Bonus: 2*
=17. National Ransom: 2
=17. Punch The Clock: 2
=17. Trust: 2
=17. When I Was Cruel: 2
=23. Armed Forces Bonus: 1*
=23. Get Happy!! Bonus: 1*
=23. Goodbye Cruel World: 1
=23. North: 1
=23. Secret Profane and Sugarcane: 1
*Songs listed as per how they are on my iPod, so for example Tiny Steps is listed as Armed Forces Bonus though you may well think of it as being the B-side of Radio, Radio, or from Taking Liberties or one of the comps. The Comedians is listed as ATUB Bonus as the notes made clear this was the preferred version. No disputes there.
Interesting to see BY is tops, and how much higher Momofuku is than KofA!
Last edited by Otis Westinghouse on Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
So, we know 12 of my top 20 were in CK's. Of the 12 now posted from 20-12, I had 6 of them, leaving 6 from the remaining 14 still to come. I predict these will be:
2. I Want You
3. Man Out of Time
7. Shipbuilding
12. Watching The Detectives
13. New Lace Sleeves
15. Clubland
Omitting:
1. Sleep of the Just
9. Hoover Factory
14. The Other End of the Telescope
16. Radio Radio
17. My Dark Life
18. After The Fall
19. Country Darkness
20. Bullets for the New Born King
Radio, Radio omitted as the choice for perennial Costello-fan fave we're expecting to be shocked about. Doesn't seem humanly possible that any of the others could (but is there a rule that the music must have been part-written by the artist to qualify, thereby disqualifying Shipbuilding?
Can it be there's no Sleep of the Just?
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
I am sure Top 11 will include the following: I Want You
Man Out Of Time
Shipbuilding
New Lace Sleeves
which were all in my Top 20 ....
... and these:
Watching The Detectives
Clubland
which were not in my Top 20 (but I would sure put them in Top 100).
This leaves us with 5 spots which I would love to be taken with some of these (in fact I can't imagine the first two not being there):
Sleep Of The Just
I’ll Wear It Proudly
Still
Veronica
My Dark Life
London's Brilliant Parade
This Sad Burlesque
Georgie And Her Rival
Worthless Thing
Man Called Uncle
At the same time this also means that some of these songs will not even make Top 100, which I just refuse to accept.
Can’t wait for today’s batch of songs.
If you don't know what is wrong with me
Then you don't know what you've missed
