I hate ILoveMusic, it's got too many POLLS - Artist Poll #104 - THE REPLACEMENTS - RESULTS

campreverb i like that process!

i will try that next time maybe

Well the upside is then I have my own curated playlist to throw on my iPod. Partying like it’s 2010 over here let me tell you.

oh and PSA to everyone on this thread who hasn’t read Trouble Boys yet

GO READ THE BOOK YA CLOWNS

it’s very good and sad and all the things

that is all

another thing about "left of the dial": that wasn't a phrase that people used before that song, as far as i know. they invented that. possibly one of their most lasting influences!

― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, October 14, 2020 1:01 AM

I once saw a YouTube comment I can't find anymore that claimed this phrase has a double meaning; that it also refers to the position of a receiver in a phone booth when Westerberg and his girlfriend would call each other on the road. Don't know if that tracks entirely but it's an incredible layer to that song.

My ballot.

Tracks

1. Left of the Dial
2. Alex Chilton
3. Unsatisfied
4. Answering Machine
5. I.O.U.
6. Hold My Life
7. Sixteen Blue
8. Androgynous
9. We’re Comin’ Out
10. Kiss Me On the Bus
11. Kids Don’t Follow
12. Bastards of Young
13. I Will Dare
14. Black Diamond
15. Color Me Impressed
16. Here Comes a Regular
17. Treatment Bound
18. Portland
19. Within Your Reach
20. Run It
21. Achin’ to Be
22. Favorite Thing
23. Go
24. I Don’t Know
25. Take Me Down to the Hospital
26. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
27. Buck Hill
28. Talent Show
29. Can’t Hardly Wait
30. Swingin Party

Albums

1. Let It Be
2. Tim
3. Stink
4. Hootenanny
5. Pleased to Meet Me

Ugh at those comments on your blog, Alfred.

Guys suck.

Pretty much.

Re-listened to “Tim” yesterday and realized “Lay It Down Clown” would have been an excellent DLR-era Van Halen track.

My ballot!

Tracks:
Unsatisfied
Sixteen Blue
I Will Dare
Color Me Impressed
Alex Chilton
Swingin Party
Valentine
Kids Don't Follow
Left of the Dial
Favorite Thing
Little Mascara
Bastards of Young
Another Girl, Another Planet
Androgynous
Can't Hardly Wait
You're Getting Married - Solo Home Demo
Raised In The City
The Ledge
Answering Machine
Takin A Ride
Here Comes A Regular
Kick Your Door Down
Seen Your Video
I.O.U.
Skyway
Darlin' One
Shiftless When Idle
Bad Worker (Demo)
Love You Till Friday
Anywhere's Better Than Here

Albums:
Let It Be
Tim
Pleased To Meet Me
Sorry Ma, I Forgot to Take Out The Trash
Hootenanny

My houseboat ballot:
Left of the Dial
Sixteen Blue
Go
Favorite Thing
Johnny's Gonna Die
Unsatisfied
If Only You Were Lonely
Black Diamond
Color Me Impressed
Seen Your Video
I'm in Trouble
God Damn Job
Kids Don't Follow
Androgynous
Customer
Can't Hardly Wait
Bastards of Young
Within Your Reach
Skyway
Little Mascara
Run It
Take Me Down to the Hospital
Buck Hill
Alex Chilton
The Ledge
Never Mind
Achin' to Be
Talent Show
Merry-Go-Round
Here Comes A Regular
Albums:
Sorry Ma
Stink
Hootenanny
Let It Be
Tim

Thanks for the poll.

1. "Alex Chilton" (40)
2. "Answering Machine" (36)
3. "I Will Dare" (33)
4. "Johnny's Gonna Die" (30)
5. "Color Me Impressed" (28)

6. "Kids Don't Follow" (24)
7. "Left of the Dial" (24)
8. "Unsatisfied" (24)
9. "Can't Hardly Wait" (24)
10. "Favorite Thing" (24)

11. "Within Your Reach" (19)
12. "Go" (19)
13. "Rock 'N' Roll Ghost" (19)
14. "Pool & Dive" (19)
15. "Hayday" (19)

16. "I'll Be You" (14)
17. "Skyway" (14)
18. "Little Mascara" (14)
19. "Bastards of Young" (14)
20. "Seen Your Video" (14)

I think "Pool & Dive" was my only idiosyncratic choice (who else voted for it?). I counted down a Top 100 on college radio in the late '80s and had "I Will Dare" on there; on another one, a different college station, sometime in the 2000s, I went with "Answering Machine"; and then switched to "Alex Chilton" for a Facebook Top 100 in 2015. So I made those my top three.

I'm chuckling at Alfred calling out Westerberg's sentimentalism by making his #2 song a Rodgers/Hammerstein classic.

Great poll/rollout, Nag3! "Unsatisfied" was my #1. I used to play drums along to Let It Be all the time not long after it came out. My drum teacher at the time had me to do a transcription of a song's drum part, and play along to that song, for each week's lesson. He was really into drummers like Jeff Porcaro and, for reasons that remain unclear to me, Bill Gibson (from Huey Lewis & The News). When I brought in "Unsatisfied," his reaction to the song was, "This is just a simple beat; there's nothing challenging about it." My argument is, it's like being Bob Dylan's drummer: you have to help tell this story, the dynamics and phrasing have to complement and bolster the story's meaning, you can't get in the way of it, and you also have to swing. But me being 12 or 13 at the time, I wasn't articulate enough to say any of that to my drum teacher in "Unsatisfied"'s defense. For the next lesson, he made me learn, play, and transcribe a song that he considered far superior: Chicago's "Stay The Night."

My list:

TOP REPLACEMENTS TRACKS
1.Fuck School
2.Dope Smoking Moron

TOP SOLO / SIDE-PROJECT TRACKS
Chris Mars "Popular Creeps"
That time Tommy was in a P Diddy video

TOP ALBUMS
1. Stink

Songs
Taking a ride (20)
If only u were lonely (18)
Kids don’t follow (21)
F**k School (22)
Color me impressed (8)
Within your reach (27)
Buck Hill (28)
I will dare (4)
Favorite thing (10)
Tommy gets his tonsils out (17)
Androgynous (14)
Unsatisfied (11)
Gary’s got a Boner (23)
Sixteen Blue (29)
Answering machine (9)
Hold my life (7)
I’ll buy (26)
Kiss me on the bus (12)
Waitress in the sky (5)
Swinging party (15)
Bastards of young (3)
Left of the dial (16)
I.O.U. (6)
Alex Chilton (1)
Skyway (2)
Can’t hardly wait (25)
Talent Show (13)
I’ll Be You (18)
Achin’ To Be (24)
Darling one (30)

Albums
Tim
Let it be
Don’t Tell A Soul (Dead Man’s Pop version)
Pleased to meet me
Hootenanny

I’ve been thinking that why isn’t the ability to create an emotional connection with the listener considered a category in which a musician can be virtuosic or not virtuosic? I’ve always been left cold by “chops are what matters” types.

Think it comes back around at the top level: people like Lester Young saying learn the words, listen to singers and their phrasing, etc. But some journey rock guitar (or drum) teacher on the other hand...

I swear one of these days I'll take part in a poll where my votes aren't super-vanilla (part of the problem is you guys did so many polls before I was aware of 'em):

Trax only:

01 I Will Dare
02 Takin’ a Ride
03 Alex Chilton
04 Color Me Impressed
05 Bastards of Young
06 Skyway
07 Run It
08 Valentine
09 Sixteen Blue
10 Answering Machine
11 Fuck School
12 Careless
13 Within Your Reach
14 Androgynous
15 Shiftless When Idle
16 Hold My Life
17 The Ledge
18 Never Mind
19 All Shook Down
20 Little Mascara
21 Customer
22 Happy Town
23 Swingin Party
24 Take Me Down to the Hospital
25 Unsatisfied

I think Paul is a virtuoso songwriter, or was

but chops vs feeling is a false binary that overall I reject

Same. There was an article on the Big Thief singer where the writer placed the two in opposition, like as though AL’s emphasis on emotional connection was independent of virtuosity. Then that post above about the drum teacher (LOL).

yeah music teacher/guitar mag dudes are kind of have their own worldview haha

big thief is a great example though of a band that really touches people in a very intimate way and their chops are subtle enough that they maybe aren't noticed or remarked upon enough - but yeah that whole band kills and she is a very unique and cool player (as is the other guitarist)

I just listened to Let It Be for the first time in a long time & what is it with the years but I really get it now, for the first time.

I get caught by Westerberg's sentimentality, I fall for it, I've always been in love, but Bob Stinson's playing is what sticks this time. You all have taught me how to listen to music in other ways & I'll always be grateful for that.

I'd heard Sixteen Blue countless times but in relistening to it now really heard Bob's solo channel the sense of youthful confusion.

It's a shame Bob couldn't be in the band through Pleased to Meet Me (and obv it's known he wasn't super engaged during the Tim sessions) they aren't the Mats as much without him, something special went out of it

That story where he gets sober for a little while and Paul tells him "drink or get off my stage" is one of the saddest, cruelest things I've ever heard

I almost went to reread that last night but couldn't

is "Sixteen Blue" also a reference to football? ("Blue 16!" sounds like something a quarterback would yell, just before saying "HUT!")

Just looked at the Sorry, Ma liner notes here. Forgot that Paul played the second lead on "Johnny's Gonna Die." It's good.

(Alway's feel a little weird posting after the POLL is over)

Thank you Nag3 for your hard work, tabulation and excellent art selections! This thread brought me a lot of joy. My ballot:

Category 'A'

I Will Dare
Bastards Of Young
Alex Chilton
Left Of The Dial
Takin' A Ride
Color Me Impressed
Can't Hardly Wait
Take Me Down To The Hospital
Unsatisfied
The Ledge
Answering Machine
Favorite Thing
Hold My Life
Valentine
Never Mind
We're Comin' Out
Sixteen Blue
Here Comes A Regular
I'll Be You
Kiss Me On The Bus
Achin' To Be
We'll Inherit The Earth
Talent Show
Little Mascara
Portland
Merry Go Round
Sadly Beautiful
Shiftless When Idle
Within Your Reach
Anywhere's Better Than Here

Category 'B'

World Class Fad
Not A Moment Too Soon
Never Aim To Please
High Time
Friday Night Is Killing Me
Lookin' Out Forever
Turn It Up
Best Thing That Never Happened
Love Untold
We May Be The Ones
Got You Down
Silent Film Star
Without A View
No Place For You
Tiny Pieces
Waiting For Somebody
Nothing
MamaDaddyDid
Not This Time
Dsylexic Heart

Category C (Hootenany in 'E')

Let It Be
Hootenany
Tim
Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash
Pleased To Meet Me

Paul = Pete
Tommy = Roger
Chris = John
Bob = Keith

I have just been thinking about the last line the past few days! How I love the playing but the fun-loving antics are ultimately tiresome and depressing.

First one works too. Talented guys, a bit full of themselves. Second one too, dudes who were born to rock. And then Chris/John works as talented guys in the background behind the other showboats.

paul = gene
tommy = paul
chris = um, criss
bob = ace

(i have not fact-checked this)

paul = jimmy
tommy = robert
chris = JPJ
bob = bonzo

(i have not fact-checked this)

― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, October 14, 2020 3:01 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

post very much out of character!

lol

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ahem

Although now I think I probably would switch Chris and Tommy.

Paul = Axl
Tommy = Tommy

sorry thats as far as my joke goes i’ll see myself out

tommy: charismatic showman; Chris, weirdo introvert, eccentric songsmith in the shadow of celebrated big shot; only way Tommy = John is if Tommy is the best musician in the band as that is conventionally understood, which I guess is right…

Yes to the latter.

Is there any argument with that?

Remember when Spin gave a handful of staffers plane tickets to random places in search of the "soul of rock and roll" or something? First, man, remember when they could just do that, give random plane tickets to people to go random places, let alone have the budget to do so? But second, they came to the conclusion that Paul Westerberg was it and sure, it's a silly, meaningless distinction that he probably made fun of in the cover story, but if it was going to be anyone ...
https://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz4tiv1QMW1qeetdyo1_1280.jpg

Just a couple months before Nevermind...

I hope it's not the chalet
Just a waste of time

Never knew what the lyric was, still don't

#colorMeObsessed because I finally figured out that the problem I have with “Valentine” (and to a lesser extent the other mediocre trax on PTMM) comes down to the following elements:
1. PTMM was recorded digitally when the converters were crappier than they are now. Had it been recorded to tape the drums would not have that brittleness which is working to the album’s detriment throughout.
2. There’s a BOB STINSON-sized hole where a personality-forward guitar part should be.
Because, he’ll, I was just singing the lyric to “Valentine” just now while doing the dishes. Sound and personality matter, big time, imho of course.