Acclaimed Music Forums

stevejazz

Here are my top songs from #1001 through #2000. While my Top 1,000 list consisted of 1,000 songs, here I’ve left some blank spaces after #1000 and after #1500, allowing room for new songs (since I won’t add 2021 songs until next year) and other selections that I later move up. In another week or so ...

stevejazz

Thanks very much for the kind comments. I've tentatively completed my Top 6,000 list. Based on the assumption that there is no deadline for extended lists that go beyond a thousand, I will continue working on that, probably taking it to 7,000 or 7,500 songs, and post that about a month from now. By ...

stevejazz

Here's my Top 1,000 list. It covers 1890 through 2020. I'll add 2021 when I update the list next year. A bit later, I'll post my #1,001 through 6000 or so on the extended thread. 1.BORN TO RUN (SEPT. 13, 1975) - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 2.WEST END BLUES (JUNE 28, 1928) - LOUIS ARMSTRONG 3.JOHNNY B. GOODE (...

stevejazz

I will be submitting my updated top 1,000 (plus) list, but won't have a chance to complete my revisions until next month. So I appreciate having until the end of that month to do it.

stevejazz

Here are six more pages from my book "Classic Pop, Vol. 1," with a country music orientation. Pages 282-283 feature July 27 to August 1, 1927 recordings in Bristol by Uncle Eck Dunford, Alfred G. Karnes, B.F. Shelton, and the Carter Family. Pages 338-339 feature May 1928 performances by t...

stevejazz

Yes, there are a number of songs from the "coon song" genre in the book. So is the Earl Fuller recording of "Slippery Hank." Although Fuller's band is not well regarded by modern jazz critics, it is noteworthy for making some of the first jazz recordings after the Original Dixiel...

stevejazz

A cool looking 78, indeed. Here are my personal top 100 song recordings from 1890 through 1919, all of which are in my book. (I’ll post my 1920s list separately later on.) 1.Casey Jones (March 11, 1910) - Billy Murray & American Quartet 2.Some of These Days (Feb. 24, 1911) - Sophie Tucker 3.Alex...

stevejazz

Thanks, Hymie. 100 great song performances that deserve to be remembered.

stevejazz

Anyone who wishes to order my book "Classic Pop, Vol. 1 (1890-1929)" via Paypal may now do so, as the account has been activated. The 508-page book with entries on more than 1,800 song recordings from the pre-1930 era is priced at $110.00 plus shipping. (The shipping price depends on where...

stevejazz

Hymie posted the Digital Dream Door List of the 100 most popular songs of the 1920s. Remarkably enough, my new book includes 99 of them. And the one exception--Louis Armstrong's "Heebie Jeebies"--was excluded only because I had thoroughly covered it in Volume 3 of my song encyclopedia.

stevejazz

Here is the list of songs in "Classic Pop, Vol. 1" from January to October 1928. A very busy period with around 110 song performances, including a lot of Louis Armstrong, Carter Family, and Paul Whiteman, among many others.

stevejazz

A followup on the previous comment, from page 37 of my book: January 1902: New technology was introduced enabling mass production of duplicate wax cylinders from one original permanent master record, a process initially referred to as Gold Moulded. This was a crucial change from the previous practic...

stevejazz

Following up on Bonnielaurel's comment, here is a pertinent quote from my book: In a fascinating article for the January 1930 Phonograph Monthly Review, “Reminiscences of the Columbia Cylinder Records,” Frank Dorian, who had joined the Columbia Phonograph Company just months after it began in 1889, ...

stevejazz

Here are a few more sample pages in the book: pages 110 and 111 (featuring Scott Joplin, Billy Murray, and George Gershwin in 1916), and pages 378-379 (with Annette Hanshaw, the Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, Fats Waller, and Louis Armstrong in 1929).

stevejazz

Gaskin has several songs in the book, and Johnson has the unavoidable "Laughing Song." Bonnielaurel is quite right about the laborious process of recording the same song hundreds of times up until around 1894-1895, when a rudimentary process was developed to allow more copies of the same r...

stevejazz

I've posted the front and back covers of "Classic Pop, Vol. 1." (Thanks to Hendrik for the assistance.) Now here are the general contents, and two sample pages from 1907.

stevejazz

stevejazz

Rob, although the primary focus in "Classic Pop, Vol. 1" is certainly on American record releases, there are dozens of international performances. For example, there are entries on several songs each by Ukrainian violinist Pawlo Humeniuk and Greek violinist Alexis Zoumbas, who both perform...

stevejazz

Hmmm...that doesn't appear on my screen. There are icons for "edit post," "report this post," and "reply with quote." Then there are "topic tools" with four options, and the search option at the top of the page. "I don't see an icon for "Normal."...

stevejazz

Hymie indicated that it's possible to post images here. How do I do that? I have photos of the book's front and back cover on my computer desktop, and ideally I'd like to post those as attachments, but the icons on the group's screen don't seem to offer that option.

stevejazz

Excellent list! 15 out of the 24 songs on your 1900-1919 list are in the book, and 20 out of the 24 songs from the 1920s. That includes a couple versions of a song by a different artist than you named. For example, the book includes four versions of "Turkey In the Straw," but not Gid Tanne...

stevejazz

Hello to the folks in Acclaimed Music. Some of you may recall my previous books, the Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, volumes 1-4. Among many other sources, I drew upon the Acclaimed Music rankings to assist with the selection of the 2,750 songs featured in those books. My new book has...

stevejazz

I've got a strictly preliminary, strictly personal list of 2020 song favorites. Based on previous experience, the lists I compile before December undergo a lot of changes, because in December I use other year-end lists (Rolling Stone, Pop Matters, Paste, Entertainment Weekly, American Songwriter, NP...

stevejazz

Listed below are the overall leaders in Billboard's hard-rock digital song charts from the first one in January 2010 through December 2018. I'm missing some charts from 2017, and several weeks each from 2014 and early 2015. The biggest difference from the rock charts is that these include more pre-2...

stevejazz

A few weeks ago I posted the leaders in Billboard's jazz and blues digital song charts from January 2010 (when the charts began) through December 2018. Now I'm posting the leaders in the rock digital song charts for the same period. Whereas the jazz and blues leaders were comprehensive, there are so...

stevejazz

I've researched the history of Billboard' top-selling jazz digital songs from the first chart in January 2010 through December 2018. Like the history of the top blues digital songs that I posted earlier, this has value and can help strengthen one of Acclaimed Music's weak areas First off, i must ack...

stevejazz

While Billboard magazine is not what it once was, the best thing the magazine has done in the last decade was its January 2010 introduction of the top digital songs for various genres. A few of these charts--such as pop and country--are not particularly interesting, since they largely just repeat th...

stevejazz

Sounds good! Incidentally, recently I've been writing up songs from 2014 to 2017 that will appear in the next volume of the encyclopedia. 2017 has been a very good year so far, with at least six or seven songs that will definitely be in the book, plus some other strong candidates. (By year's end I'm...

stevejazz

Thanks, Henrik. As per my private email, you (or a designated Acclaimed reviewer) can request a review copy of the books through Rowman.

stevejazz

StevieFan, here are the three requested song entries. By the way, regarding the chart data, remember that my cutoff point was June 2016; "Hamilton" at that point had a #12 peak position in Billboard, but it later reached #3. Follow Your Arrow (2013) - Kacey Musgraves (written by Kacey Musg...

stevejazz

And here is the concluding Playlist/Chapter 12 in Volume 4 of the Encyclopedia, covering great performances from 2010 into June 2016. The Weary Kind (Feb. 6, 2010) - Ryan Bingham The House That Built Me (March 6, 2010) - Miranda Lambert 1070 (I’m Your Dirty Mexican) (May 11, 2010) - The Krayolas Tig...

stevejazz

Here are the two requested song entries, plus another from this chapter that may be of interest: A Thousand Miles (2002) - Vanessa Carlton A&M 497676 Chart debut March 2, 2002 (reached #5, 41 total weeks), #6 in England; from the album Be Not Nobody (#5 peak) One of pop music’s most promising ne...

stevejazz

And now we move into the new century. Here's the song list for Playlist/Chapter 11 in Volume 4 of the Encyclopedia, covering 2000 through 2009: Michaelangelo (Sept. 30, 2000) - Emmylou Harris Beautiful Day (Oct. 7, 2000) - U2 Stan (October 7, 2000) - Eminem featuring Dido Ms. Jackson (Nov. 11, 2000)...

stevejazz

StevieFan13, here are the two song entries you requested. Definitely two of my personal favorites of the '90s: The Downeaster "Alexa" (1990) - Billy Joel Columbia 73333 Chart debut May 5, 1990 (reached #57); from the album Storm Front (chart debut Nov. 4, 1989; 1 week at #1, sold 4 million...

stevejazz

To Steviefan13 -- I posted the song lists for Volumes 1 and 2 in 2014. So I assume they can be found in the Forums. Now, it's on to Playlist/Chapter 10 in the new volumes, covering the songs of 1990-1999. No Myth (Jan. 6, 1990) - Michael Penn Rescue Mission (Jan. 30, 1990) - Luka Bloom Ode to Life (...

stevejazz

OK, it's time for Playlist/Chapter 9 of the new books, covering 1980-1989. The chapter tells the stories behind these song performances: Another Brick In the Wall (Jan. 19, 1980) - Pink Floyd Refugee (Jan. 26, 1980) - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Brass In Pocket (I’m Special) (Feb. 16, 1980) - ...

stevejazz

Rowman & Littlefield is offering all four volumes of the Encyclopedia at a 30 percent discount. While still not exactly qualifying as a casual purchase, for anyone who's really a serious music lover and student of pop cultural history (and certainly a lot of folks in this group fit that descript...

stevejazz

Before proceeding into the 1980s, I need to go back to the first chapter in the new books, covering 1890-1919. I had originally posted this list elsewhere in the forums, so for the sake of consistency, it should be here, so that anyone can find the entire song list in one place. The Thunderer (1890)...

stevejazz

Panam, here is "the '70s part." Playlist/Chapter 8 covers 1970-1979. These were important years in my musical education. I had started listening to pop radio in 1964, and this grew a little more each year. In January 1970, I began compiling weekly Top 40 song lists, based on my personal pr...

stevejazz

Volume 3 of the Encyclopedia concluded with the 1960-1964 chapter. Volume 4 begins with Playlist/Chapter 7, covering 1965-1969. This is when I began listening to pop music (I bought my first albums as a kid in late 1965), so of course it's one of my favorite time periods. Here are the 1965-69 songs ...

stevejazz

Thanks for the very nice comments, they're much appreciated. I finally received my copies of Volumes 3 and 4 yesterday, and I've gotta say, they look fabulous. Rowman & Littlefield is known for producing books that are not only high quality inside, but beautifully designed (often large-format ha...

stevejazz

The 1950s chapter (Playlist 5, covering 1950-59) is the longest one in Volumes 3 and 4 of the Encyclopedia. The 1960s would have been even longer, but I split that decade into two chapters in order to make the two volumes a little more equal. I consider the 1955-1960 period as the third "Golden...

stevejazz

My capsule trip through the new Volumes 3 and 4 of the Encyclopedia has now reached Playlist/Chapter 4, the 1940s. The decade began in a blaze of glory with the heart of the Swing Era, with great records being released almost weekly. The devastating musician union's strike that hit in August 1942 br...

stevejazz

Now we come to Playlist/Chapter 3 of the new volumes, covering 1930-1939. After the incredible 1926-1929--one of the greatest four-year periods in the history of pop music recording (PBS's "American Epic" helps illustrate why), things slowed down quite a bit in the early 1930s, with the De...

stevejazz

Picking up where I left off, here are the classic song performances of the 1920s in my new Volumes 3 and 4 of the Encyclopedia. As noted, all of these songs rank between #1,000 and #2,750 all-time for me. If anyone has a question or comment on a particular song, or wants to see the actual entry on a...

stevejazz

I appreciate the group's slight dilemma regarding "The Entertainer." In my original volumes, I included the first commercial recording of the Joplin composition, from 1928, by Nap Hayes (guitar) and Matthew Prater (mandolin), really a magical performance that symbolizes some of the wonderf...

stevejazz

Greetings to members of the Acclaimed Music forums. My name is Steve Sullivan. Some may recall that I wrote the books "The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volumes 1 and 2." I've been absent from the forums since then, but I'm glad to be back. My new books--Volumes 3 and 4 of...

stevejazz

I'm happy to report that Joel Whitburn's new edition of "Pop Memories: The History of American Popular Music, 1900-1940" is now available. I just received my copies, and I think it's fantastic. Having spent three years working on the original edition which was published in 1986, I was very...

stevejazz

Billboard began publishing its Top Digital Songs charts in January 2010, and one of the most fascinating to follow is the Blues Digital Songs charts. Although the vast majority of its hit songs date from the 1980s to today (basically from Stevie Ray Vaughan onward), there are enough earlier classics...

stevejazz

I had a blast earlier this week in New York taping rock critic Dave Marsh's Sirius-XM show "Kick Out the Jams." Dave loves my book "The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings," and that enthusiasm comes across in the interview. The initial airing is Sunday morning on Chann...

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