ILM POLLS THE 20TH CENTURY'S BEST TRACKS ››› YOUR RESULTS THREAD ‹‹‹

xp - I'd suggest "Once in a Lifetime" might be a US version of "Ghost Town" in that its importance is in part associated with the massive effect it had on people at the time, but I could be completely wrong . For me it's definitely a good song but it lacks some of the properties that make the great Talking Heads songs great, and I wouldn't vote for it on a poll like this.

Was that track a mostly UK voter thing? I don't think I've ever even heard this before.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, December 3, 2010 6:37 PM (39 seconds ago)

Yeah it was a huge number one hit here. The Specials were massive for about three years.

It's so great some people will discover songs like Ghost Town for the first time, this makes the list seem like a huge success.

i go out on friday night and i come home on saturday morning

Wikipedia: The song spent three weeks at number one and ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart overall.

I'm having trouble believing this is a world beating track in the UK but if you say so...

Around the time of riots in England unless my 10 yr old self is remembering wrongly.

Was that track a mostly UK voter thing? I don't think I've ever even heard this before.

I'm assuming so - it was a #1 single and no-one ever seems to have anything bad so say about it. Not my personal favourite Specials song but yeah, it's great.

xp - I'd suggest "Once in a Lifetime" might be a US version of "Ghost Town" in that its importance is in part associated with the massive effect it had on people at the time, but I could be completely wrong . For me it's definitely a good song but it lacks some of the properties that make the great Talking Heads songs great, and I wouldn't vote for it on a poll like this.

Eh, I'm not sure; I think if you were looking for the US Talking Heads impact song, it would be "Life During Wartime" or "Take Me To The River"

haven't heard song in ages and forgot how good the 'do you remember....' bit is

14. THE KINKS "Waterloo Sunset" (1967) [2,350 points, 21 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpL4xbfmXlQ

(and "Burning Down The House" was their real mainstream breakthrough)

i go out on friday night and i come home on saturday morning

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, December 3, 2010 6:42 PM (41 seconds ago)

I possibly like that one even more than Ghost Town, when people ask me about my favourite lyrics in songs (they never really do) I would always say that song.

OK yeah, fine with this too.

Eh, I'm not sure; I think if you were looking for the US Talking Heads impact song, it would be "Life During Wartime" or "Take Me To The River"

Ok. I thought there was something about the video for Once in a Lifetime being huge on early MTV.

if you were looking for the US Talking Heads impact song, it would be "Life During Wartime" or "Take Me To The River"

Really? I think "Once in a Lifetime" had more impact than those, but I could be wrong. "Psycho Killer" is pretty well-known too, I would think, but people who might otherwise not know their music.

Yeah, I guess Burning Down the House, too.

Yeah, my own first exposure to Talking Heads was the Once in a Lifetime video on MTV. They played it about once an hour, even in 1983/84.

Ok. I thought there was something about the video for Once in a Lifetime being huge on early MTV.

oh that is possible; I never had MTV in its heyday so I am fuzzy on the history there. I was going off of what I heard on the radio at the time and Wikipedia info on single performance

beautiful track, voted for this one. sincere and cheeky at the same time.

I remember (fondly) my Kinks immersion period ca. 1995. I bought everything by them I could get my hands on, to the point of not being able to concentrate on any one album in particular...except Something Else. "Waterloo Sunset" and "David Watts" are absolutely terrific.

MN rock radio played "Life During Wartime" and "Take Me To The River" to DEATH in the early/mid 80s; I didn't know anything about "Once In A Lifetime" until Stop Making Sense came out (but I did know "I Zimbra", lol)

This is turning out way better and surprising than I expected. Happy to see The Specials and Althea and Donna so high.

I'll give a meh for 'once in a lifetime' 'waterloo sunset' and 'this charming man'. All of them are songs I like but wouldn't consider them as the best of each band's respective output, let alone the best of the century.

in my experience you can hear Burning Down the House, Once in a Lifetime, and Psycho Killer in generally equal proportions on rock radio but not much past that.

this poll is reminding me to go get all of those old Talking Heads albums since I don't live with my brother anymore

Add "And She Was," I remember that being unavoidable on the dial when it came out. xp

Waterloo Sunset is my favourite Kinks song, but I'm not really a fan.

13. STEVIE WONDER "Superstition" (1972) [2,358 points, 22 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE

hell yeah

two hours of meetings, have fun everybody

The Sesame Street performance of this is one of my favourite live clips ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE

The Sesame Street performance of this is one of my favourite live clips ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE

Shit, sorry!

oh fuck yea, that song is for all time

A childhood favorite, still a favorite now.

Superstition is my least favourite track of the list so far. It bores me to tears.

OUT

hope Santa brings you a heart for christmas

Why are you even on a board called I LOVE MUSIC?

I prefer this performance to the sesame street one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjsVWSHw5fQ

daavid is obv. some kind of cartoon villain that the Care Bears usually take 'care' of.

Glad 'O Superman' made it, but wish it had been higher. Also, as many people have pointed out, it was NUMBER 2 IN THE CHARTS, so not sure where the dig about actually popular comes from.

Wasn't thinking about "O Superman" or anything else in particular, tbh. Wasn't trying to put in a dig. Yes, I'm North American and no, I'd never heard 'O Superman' before. I think you could go to pretty much any point on the globe and play the intro to "Strawberry Fields" and people would know it, so... anyhow, I stand behind my statement, without meaning to step on the heads of other contenders. ("Once in a Lifetime" is pretty fucking forward-thinking, too, and "When Doves Cry", and "Superstition", and... )

i voted for 2 other stevie songs but this is also cool

"forward-thinking" is a bit nebulous and pointless but so is "all the world knows a Beatles"

Can't believe Stevie's only 60 years old.

12. DAVID BOWIE "Heroes" (1977) [2,444 points, 23 votes, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgcc5V9Hu3g

waterloo sunset has had too much said about it but for the guy who YAWNed at YRGM, i love that song.

So, staggerlee, would you say the Beatles were the most omnipresent music ever, except maybe behind Christmas music? Because if so, I know a thread for you...

This is one of the trademark Bowie songs that's never done a damn thing for me. Where's Golden Years?

One of my favorites, and one of the 3 Bowie tracks I voted for.

nice. i voted heroes at #13, so i can't complain with where it placed at all. obviously just a fantastic song.