I have been very remiss in doing Audience Participation posts of late. I could give a half dozen excuses as to why, none of which would interest you. But I am going to try to make up for that today, with what I found to be a very interesting exercise.
First off, I want to point out that I have revamped my list of Top 25 TMBG songs. It has been almost a year since I posted my original one and things have changed. I've discovered new songs I love. I've gotten disenchanted with others. And the order of the songs has changed around a lot. I have also now listed it in favorite order from 1-25 rather than by degree to which I could live without the songs as I did originally. And I have given the list it's own permanent home over in the side bar. I figure, I reference my Top 25 list often enough in blog posts that I should have it available for readers to view. And that way I can easily update it and edit it over time as necessary. You can take a look at it here: My Top 25 TMBG Songs (For Now).
I mention this because it is relevant to today's exercise. It's no secret that I prefer Linnell's song writing to Flansburgh's. I think most of us tend towards one John or the other. But just lately, I've been kind of on a kick of listening to Flansburgh songs, and it got me thinking. What would my Top 25 list look like if it consisted entirely of Flansburgh songs? It would be a completely different list for me. My old 25 list only had 2 Flans songs on it; the new one only has five. That's 20 more slots instantly opened up. Discovering what filled those 20 slots was a pretty eye opening experience for me. Especially as my first pass at the list didn't even turn up 25 songs.
So here is your challenge: compile a list of your Top 25 songs by your non-favorite John. Linnellians do Flansburgh tunes, Flans fans do Linnell songs. The results may surprise you. For my list, I eliminated anything they both sing lead on, as author unknown, and went with the theory that if they sing it, it's their song (even though I know there are some cases of swapped vocals). However, I did include covers, on the assumption that the singer did the arrangement.
This is what I came up with. I am very curious to see your lists. Feel free to post your true Top 25 list as well, for reference, especially if you didn't post one on the original Top 25 discussion (which can be found here if you need to go back and see what you said then: 25 TMBG Songs You Can't Live Without.)
25. I Enjoy Being A Boy
24. Roy G. Biv
23. Alienation's For the Rich
22. Lie Still, Little Bottle
21. Ant
20. Boss of Me
19. Careful What You Pack
18. Hot Dog!
17. Out of Jail
16. Lucky Ball and Chain
15. Fibber Island
14. XTC vs. Adam Ant
13. Drink!
12. AKA Driver
11. With the Dark
10. Working Undercover for the Man
9. Take Out The Trash
8. New York City
7. Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head
6. Narrow Your Eyes
5. We Live In A Dump
4. Road Movie To Berlin
3. The Guitar
2. See The Constellation
1. Damn Good Times
Yup, looking at that, that is a really weird list. Point of interest, the songs that didn't quite make the cut included Sleeping in the Flowers, Truth in Your Words, Another First Kiss, Heart of the Band and I Can Add. Which would have made the list even weirder. I have admittedly strange taste.
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Hey -- I can manage a list like this! I've never even tried to come up with a top 25 TMBG list. Or even a top 50. I think I could _maybe_ manage an unordered top 100, but really, that just seems like a silly exercise. But with all of Linnell's songs excluded, I was able to somewhat decisively come up with a top 25.
ReplyDeleteNote 1: I purposely excluded the Venue Songs, as I've always thought of them as more collaborative efforts (not sure if this is true, but they were obviously written quickly and it made it easier for me to reduce my selections by excluding them!).
Note 2: I didn't attempt to put these songs in a strict top 25 order, but I've tried to generally list them from lesser to top favorites. Hope I didn't miss any!
25. If I Wasn't Shy
24. Idlewild
23. Pet Name
22. Happy Doesn't Have to Have an Ending
21. When It Rains It Snows
20. Sketchy Galore
19. Lucky Ball and Chain
18. AKA Driver
17. Racist Friend
16. Clap Your Hands
15. Prevenge
14. Roy G. Biv
13. Cloisonné
12. Hide Away Folk Family
11. Science Is Real
10. Shadow Government
9. We Live in a Dump
8. Narrow Your Eyes
7. Puppet Head
6. Memo to Human Resources
5. Drink!
4. Old Pine Box
3. Another First Kiss
2. Careful What You Pack
1. With the Dark
Ah, a list of Flans songs, eh? This should be interesting:
ReplyDelete25. Youth Culture Killed My Dog
24. Hall of Heads
23. Alienation's For the Rich
22. My Evil Twin
21. Dirt Bike
20. How Can I Sing Like a Girl?
19. I Can't Hide From My Mind
18. I Enjoy Being a Boy
17. Twisting
16. Cowtown
15. Hide Away Folk Family
14. Prevenge
13. Shadow Government
12. Ant
11. Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head
10. Take Out the Trash
9. New York City
8. AKA Driver
7. See the Constellation
6. Road Movie to Berlin
5. Narrow Your Eyes
4. Drink!
3. We Live in a Dump
2. Damn Good Times
1. With the Dark
I had a tough time ordering some of these, but the top ten is pretty accurate, at least.
I followed Rebecca's rules above, and have a top 25 where almost any of the songs could move up or down the list six or seven slots on any given day. Here are my 25 Linnell songs:
ReplyDelete25. Which Describes How You're Feeling
24. Spiralling Shape
23. Experimental Film
22. Triops Has Three Eyes
21. Bangs
20. Mesopotamians
19. My Brother The Ape
18. No One Knows My Plan
17. Withered Hope
16. Why Must I Be Sad
15. Metal Detector
14. Dr. Worm
13. Till My Head Falls Off
12. Figure Eight
11. A Self Called Nowhere
10. One Everything
9. Am I Awake
8. SenSurround
7. They'll Need A Crane
6. Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal
5. The Statue Got Me High
4. Put It To The Test
3. Thunderbird
2. Don't Let's Start
1. The Cap'm
Man, Linnell sure as hell writes a bunch of great songs.
Hmmm...not sure I can do this, even with just Flansburgh stuff. I haven't done a favorites list since I heard so much more of the music, and since I had fifty on my top twenty five list even back then, I'm not sure how I'll be able to choose now.
ReplyDeleteEven so, these lists were very interesting to read. I find it kind of funny that nobody's number one would be even close to my number one, no matter the John. I like the songs, they just aren't favorites.
Also, for some reason I'm a little surprised that your favorite John is Flansburgh, John. I don't really know why this surprises me, as it was probably mentioned before. I just remember some chat discussion that made me think maybe it was Linnell or that you didn't have a favorite John. Nonetheless, Flansburgh-favoritism seems to suit you, and I'm glad that he's a favorite amongst some of this blog's followers. :)
Rebecca, I'd like to see your top 100, if you ever have the time or inclination to create such a list. :)
And Kelly, I'm glad you have strange taste. :)