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

Obviously Singles wasn't 2002. Grrrr.

Westerberg felt properly famous in my neck of the woods at this point. I'd probably heard maybe two Replacements songs by then but I doubt this song made further exploration seem an urgent necessity.

I really like both his tracks from Singles soundtrack even though they are v corny

but also: i first heard them when i was 16 and didnt know who Paul Westerberg even was

https://images2.imgbox.com/1e/f8/d9xtPHPt_o.jpg

#16
GRANDPABOY - Let’s Not Belong Together
from Mono (2002)
Score: 69
Votes: 3 (0)
Youtube: audio track

XP: It's possible my juvenile perceptions of "properly famous" are skewed. Might just mean "on high rotation on JJJ and RRR for [what I misremember as] a full year." :)

I cannot STAND Westerberg's Singles singles. At the time the mythos around him had swelled such that by the time I heard it and "Dyslexic Heart" I couldn't believe he was supposed to be this Master Songwriter.

Okay, I shall stop for now. I'll hopefully post the remainder of this bit at a similar time tomorrow.

I sense that folks are keen to get to the Replacements proper. I'll a make slow start on that on the weekend, but I suspect that will mostly be next week. I don't think I've even seen the final numbers there yet. No idea what ultimately made it the lowest placings in the top 50. (Top 60?)

Great rollout and graphics Nag! Excited for the rest.

* extracts Replacements numbers and selfishly considers whether there are enough personal favourites between #50 to #60 to warrant a longer rollout, lol *

That is totally the polltaker's prerogative. Go to 70 if you want!

Alfred, I agree about "Dyslexic Heart," which is a not very good song with a terrible core metaphor. But I like "Waiting for Somebody," it's catchy and breezy despite the angst.

Also, I like "Let's Not Belong Together," glad two other voters did too!

I'll drop a couple of tracks now and return for the thrilling conclusion about 7 hours from now.

https://images2.imgbox.com/9b/54/pD9u9ADR_o.jpg

#15
PAUL WESTERBERG - Baby Learns to Crawl
from Stereo (2002)
Score: 76
Votes: 3 (0)
Youtube: audio track

https://images2.imgbox.com/0b/91/XoE35SOM_o.jpg

#14
GRANDPABOY - AAA
from Mono (2002)
Score: 76
Votes: 3 (1)
Youtube: audio track

Meanwhile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdaXTSseXHc

Short, amusing thread of mostly haters. Contains the lyrics to "Left of the Dial" some of which I never could decipher. jON r U viewing the CA-REER TrAjEcToRy of THE REPLACEMENTS within proper CONTEXT?

"I headed up north"? I always thought it was "Cadillac Walk," in a nod to Mink DeVille.

Just noticed this, DeRo and Craig Finn's lists are heavy on the Sorry Ma.
https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2016/07/04/the-replacements-best-songs-according-to-those-who-knew-them-critics-the-current-staff-an

Wow, that thread. I love a “boring“ record as much as I love anything in this big dumb, chintz-worshipping world, evidently. “You’re all wrong and I’m right” ‘til the day I die.

shoot, i glanced at that list and wish i wouldn't have. i don't really have a good idea of what the consensus Replacements fan fave songs are. some of them i can guess (the big PTMM songs, anthems like Bastards of Young that were played on SNL and radio and such), but i always enjoy the element of surprise

xxp
Interesting. Thinking that Paul’s songwriting chops were there from the beginning, he didn’t get better, he just widened his subject matter, became more “sensitive,” presumably learned a couple of chords, etc. Compare, say, The Go-Betweens.

*ducks* maybe

AAA was my #1. Absolutely beautiful song, three perfect minutes for rolling end credits over. Dreamy washy echoey reverb. Whiny harmonies with himself in those soaring "all I know" background vocals. Even has a clattery noise breakdown and one of those one-note style guitar solos that's actually a couple of notes but feels like one. It rules! Cannot write a blurb of anything less than corny effusive praise for it. Only three votes? Ain't got anything to say to anyone anymore.

That The Current article is fascinating. The lack of hardly any consensual, plus the fact that last night I was regretting not placing “Gary’s got a boner” in my Top 5 when not a single of the panelists or fans even placed it on their list. And again, that thread of haters? Just as a student of the diversity in the way people hear and interpret music, it’s providing endless fascination to me.

*consensus

Lists are serious business man! You can't go around putting "Gary's Got a Boner" on them all willy-nilly like that. You will lose the respect of the community.

i included boner in my top 30. i didn't even really want to, to be honest, but i just figured i should do it

That’s understandable. Rock’n’roll is best when reverent and respectable. Bawdy vulgarity in rock is just the worst.

the Boner is gone but he's not forgotten.

https://i.imgur.com/8NmuPDK.jpg

i grew up on boner. the character boner, but also a baseball trivia book that included a full-page feature dedicated to Merkle's Boner

related: by the time i got to middle school, these were still my main 2 thoughts regarding "boners", and I was publicly humiliated on the last day of 8th grade by asking the band instructor what a boner was in front of 80+ of my peers

and she wouldn't even tell me

Wow, that thread. I love a “boring“ record as much as I love anything in this big dumb, chintz-worshipping world, evidently. “You’re all wrong and I’m right” ‘til the day I die.

I'll just say Tim Ellison was flat-out wrong about the 'Mats. May he rest in peace. Godspeed Tim.

He has risen again

Ha, messed that up a little. Roll Away the Stone

I tried a new approach to ballot generation, wonder if I will keep it for the next POLL.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/arts/music/texas-is-the-reason-punk-photos.html

Ha, messed that up a little. Roll Away the Stone

LOL

https://images2.imgbox.com/b6/3f/3GbgLwpM_o.jpg

#13
PAUL WESTERBERG - Got You Down
from Stereo (2002)
Score: 76
Votes: 4 (0)
Youtube: audio track

By the way, here's an optional side-game: guess which track that has already been rolled out is actually significantly more popular that originally credited and will soon appear again!

You got me.

You had me at "Hello, this is the Minneapolis Police."

https://images2.imgbox.com/8e/0b/63EkaDkO_o.jpg

#12
GRANDPABOY - Eyes Like Sparks
from Mono (2002)
Score: 77
Votes: 4 (0)
Youtube: audio track

The newly corrected entry is a little later on, to be clear. I did the "two separate entries for the one track in my spreadsheet" trick. This side-poll is the only time where I've not worked from complete reference list at the outset to avoid such a thing. Oh well.

Anyway, that there Stereo/Mono is pretty popular, hey!

https://images2.imgbox.com/a7/8f/DI9RM4UW_o.jpg

#11
BASH & POP ‎– First Steps
from Friday Night Is Killing Me (1993)
Score: 83
Votes: 3 (1)
Youtube: audio track

Only three votes?

To fair, that's pretty respectable here. Modest pool of voters, *very* wide range of tracks to choose from (much, much broader than the 100-and-something in the main poll) etc, etc....

The vaguely contentious one. Voters were mostly happy to treat it as one integrated suite, so...

https://images2.imgbox.com/4a/bb/L241FHgG_o.jpg

#10
PAUL WESTERBERG - 49:00
from 49:00 (2008)
Score: 83
Votes: 4 (0)
Soundcloud: complete audio

https://images2.imgbox.com/f6/74/twzfxX2u_o.jpg

#9
PAUL WESTERBERG - First Glimmer
from 14 Songs (1993)
Score: 85
Votes: 3 (1)
Youtube: audio track

Respectful silence during the recital or no one in the pews? LOL.

I quite like the last few. "First Glimmer" has grown on me in the past couple of weeks. Seemed a bit tepid once.

I’m still pretty mystified about what’s going to make it - with a small voter pool and non-canonical artists, anything is possible.

I voted for a 49:00 track, but it makes more sense as a piece.