if only Robin had gotten our message about holding on a little longer eh
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:54 (twelve years ago) link
I'm happy to extend the deadline if people are gonna like actually vote and stuff
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:55 (twelve years ago) link
wd do
― nerds being macho (remy bean), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:56 (twelve years ago) link
So would I but there's like 40 years of stuff there! So my contribution would be spotty at best.
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:58 (twelve years ago) link
okay, DEADLINE OFFICIALLY EXTENDED TO JUNE 8th
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:03 (twelve years ago) link
yay thanks Shakey! <3
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:28 (twelve years ago) link
Will do this I swear
― buzza, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
I have an obligation to drum up support for this.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 21:16 (twelve years ago) link
thanks - I had this week slated for boning up on Fleetwood Mac's obscurities for next week's poll (and maybe ABBA for this week's), and didn't wan't to rely on the mostly-familiar material I already know - and their discography is huge.
But this has the hallmarks of a great tracks poll - a long, storied career, lots of great stuff throughout, several distinct phases, and no consensus whatsoever as to which is the best.
― Lee971 (Lee626), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 07:46 (twelve years ago) link
I kind of love all their periods, hard to say which one I like the most
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 16:14 (twelve years ago) link
I've been digging into To Whom It May Concern and Life In a Tin Can of late -- their immediately pre-disco era. A lot of great songs on those.
Great solo and ensemble vocals on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH0oaeKLKu8
Really good trade-off vocals:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFQi2d1z3Oc
I find myself really drawn to this super ethereal Maurice song -- I'm trying to decide who it sounds like:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA0gXxwwxfg
Not sure if any of these will make my ballot -- but it just goes to show how unbelievably deep these guys' catalog is.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link
You Know It's For You is great - I wanna say there's something almost country-by-way-of-Neil Young about it?
I don't have Life in a Tin Can anymore, don't recall anything particularly standing out on that one.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link
"Method to My Madness" is on LiaTC -- also, "Come Home Johnny Bride" is a good country-ish Barry tune.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
their flirtations with country are kinda scattered across a bunch of albums (starting with Odessa) - would probably make a pretty solid album if you compiled 'em all together
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 19:35 (twelve years ago) link
I'll just say with three ballots in (including my own) so far, there is definitely a consensus forming lol
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 21:42 (twelve years ago) link
Lol
Re. Life in a Tin Can, "My Life Has Been a Song" is really good -- awesome refrain from Barry. One thing I like about this era is the preponderance of sludgy, mid-tempo ballads that feature little more than Maurice's piano. It kind of affirms for me how much these guys got by purely on melody and emotion -- something I think they returned to in the later stages of their career, as they began writing for other folks.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:11 (twelve years ago) link
It's weird to me that this was their lowest point commercially. None of the material is particularly out of step with the times - lush, mellow "easily listening" ballads were huge, and they obviously had their ear to the ground re: R&B and funk stuff too - and it's not like their melodic or compositional gifts lagged at all. I suppose the breaking up/not breaking up shenanigans didn't help matters... Even so, for some reason 2 Years On and LiaTC were the two from that period that I didn't unreservedly love at first blush. I wonder if anyone will be voting for anything off "A Kick In the Head is Worth Eight in the Pants" lol
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:19 (twelve years ago) link
I love how Robin basically sounds like a Moog synth on the bridge around 1:50) on this onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bcd-zmB4vk
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:22 (twelve years ago) link
such a great song - smooth and mellow at the outset, weirdo ethereal bridge in the middle, then shifts into gospel funk overdrive at the end
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:24 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah that whole album is great
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Thursday, 31 May 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I love how "Throw a Penny" blows right into "Down the Road."
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 31 May 2012 15:20 (twelve years ago) link
feel like some of their best moments are their most morbid and self-pityinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh1NNAsuF4M
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 18:09 (twelve years ago) link
very Spector-esque
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
2 ballots are so lonely
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 31 May 2012 22:39 (twelve years ago) link
voted!
2 less lonely ballots in the world etc
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 May 2012 22:54 (twelve years ago) link
Honestly, my ballot has been changing on a daily basis. I keep discovering new songs that are bumping the more obvious ones.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 00:41 (twelve years ago) link
I'll be out of town this weekend, but I'll assemble and cast my ballot early next week!
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 1 June 2012 02:03 (twelve years ago) link
4 ballots
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 16:19 (twelve years ago) link
And so the rush begins...
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 17:08 (twelve years ago) link
gonna rep for some deep-60s cuts here
one of their most blatantly Macca/Ray Davies cuts but christ what a melody, just irresistable:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sudd9Sv2Bgg
the song that sold my wife on the bros:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFnvk8x0-f8
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
The first of may came up on my iPod this morning, so gorgeous
― buzza, Friday, 1 June 2012 19:19 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4gU-I3w2Uo
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 20:36 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29mGd-0-lfE
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 20:38 (twelve years ago) link
I continue to be utterly stunned at how deep their catalog is. Does anyone else even come close?
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 1 June 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
George Clinton
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 21:23 (twelve years ago) link
or the Beach Boys maybe...? I dunno.
yeah there aren't any real analogues with comparable multi-decade strings of hits
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 June 2012 21:24 (twelve years ago) link
great opening post
You People Haven't Lived Until You've Blasted The Bee Gees' "Nights On Broadway"
― buzza, Saturday, 2 June 2012 07:02 (twelve years ago) link
I must have listened to Nights On Broadway 10 times the day Robin died. Such a killer song. One of my alltime top 5 ever.
(added bonus that it was SNL Barry Gibb Talk Show theme)
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 2 June 2012 07:05 (twelve years ago) link
how many ballots? double digits or bust
― buzza, Monday, 4 June 2012 05:54 (twelve years ago) link
we're at a whopping 6 ballots, including my own
:(
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 June 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
Mine is still forthcoming.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 June 2012 16:36 (twelve years ago) link
I've just submitted an undersized ballot - I figure anything is better than nothing given the poor response so far
― Pacific Trash Vortex (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Monday, 4 June 2012 17:28 (twelve years ago) link
4 days to go, get them ballots in
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 June 2012 18:09 (twelve years ago) link
Poor Shakey Mo is going to get an avalanche of 50 ballots on Friday.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 June 2012 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
Bee Gee Polling Disaster 2012
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 June 2012 19:40 (twelve years ago) link
Don't make poor Robin (in heaven) cry ILX!
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 4 June 2012 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
apropos of nothing ... 2 Years On is better than I remember it, but it does seem to lack any real standout tracks
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 June 2012 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
Well, other than "Lonely Days" (which, fwiw, won't make my ballot).
I like the title track -- particularly the "Only you/Can see me" part. I also came to "The 1st Mistake I Made" via a cover version by Phil Seymour of The Dwight Twilley Band for some tribute. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what album it was from because Seymour's version was called "The First Mistake I Ever Made." But I think that's one of Barry's better country ballads.
Weekend listening to the 60s stuff made me fall for this great little pop song of Robin's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfDBdn9Frgc
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 4 June 2012 20:56 (twelve years ago) link
yeah the harmonies on Indian Gin are great
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 4 June 2012 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
I'm trying to cram as much listening in before I submit my ballot. Was hoping to unearth some great obscurities but don't have time to check out 1000 songs now so will stick mostly to their own releases and a few well-known songs performed by others (didn't realize there were so many).
This will probably be my #20, because I have a soft spot for wildly misleading first singles that don't even hint at the musical direction the band later takes. This doesn't sound even remotely like the late-60s balladeers that first became popular (at least outside of Australia), much less the '70s disco superstars they would later become...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TdqIyRd51k
― Lee626, Tuesday, 5 June 2012 14:28 (twelve years ago) link