The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Every year, radio JJJ in Australia has it's Top 100 poll, which is apparently the world's largest puplic music survey. This is traditionally counted down on Australia Day (26 Jan). For anyone interested - it gives a pretty good snap-shot of what is popular in this part of the world.

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/events/h1 ... nglist.htm

An interesting (and disturbing) trend I've noticed over the last few years is that these JJJ lists are starting to become more and more similar to the regular commercial charts. I fear the world is heading back towards a period of musical blandness that we have not seen since the mid to late eighties.

The history of these lists is here:
http://abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/hi ... efault.htm

Wow. I counted two good songs on there.

That's what happens when you let the public vote; apparently it is true of the puplic also. (Things go to the dogs?)

Hey, that wasn't that bad. It had "Twenty Years" by Placebo. It had Jeff Buckley. Some Dresden Dolls. Not too bad. Rammstein and Jet are almost unforgivable sins but there was some good stuff.

It had Amerika and Walk Idiot Walk. And then it had other songs.

I dig 1, 12, 18, 24, 29, 46, 48, 50, 55, 53, 71, 94.

Things are much worse in america.

A lot of those artist are totally unfamiliar to me.

Uh... GO AUSTRALIA!

I think about 40% of it is Australian stuff you may not have heard of. Things like Missy Higgins, Powderfinger, John Butler, Grinspoon, Eskimo Joe and Little Birdy are all quite respectable acts - but they are veering towards middle-of-the-road. That Top 10 is hardly 'cutting edge' stuff. (although I do agree that FF's Take Me Out was the song of the year - it's a cracker)

Compare that list with the Top 100's of the early 90's - there you'll see stuff like Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Severed Heads,.. whatever, in the Top 10.
I despair for todays youth.

I just despair for today.


(also: the missus and I saw Franz Ferdinand when they were in town recently, and that show was, pardon my french, a motherfucking humdinger.)

Phil. Redmon. wrote:I dig 1, 12, 18, 24, 29, 46, 48, 50, 55, 53, 71, 94.

Things are much worse in america.

A lot of those artist are totally unfamiliar to me.

Uh... GO AUSTRALIA!

If you ever get the chance, check out No. 75 - The Spazzys - they bear a distinct sonic resemblence to an outfit I've heard here called "The Hell Yeahs".

bzl wrote:That's what happens when you let the public vote; apparently it is true of the puplic also. (Things go to the dogs?)

You really are annoyingly observant aren't you BZL.

No one has commented yet on Big Willie Shatner's appearance on the countdown....

was that the song he did with Hank Garfield?

cover of Pulp's Common People, with Ben Folds
- novelty songs - don't ya love em

You guys are all bitter old fogeys. I saw a lot there I liked. I'd argue that a simple list of 100 songs with no explanatory notes doesn't serve much of a purpose other than for people like us to compare and contrast taste, but you know.

Caravan Ray wrote: Compare that list with the Top 100's of the early 90's - there you'll see stuff like Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Severed Heads,.. whatever, in the Top 10.

Severed Heads was in the Top 10? I realize they're Australian, but that's awesome anyway. What song? "Dead Eyes Opened"?
I didn't know much in the top list. I guess I'm out of touch with today's Australian culture.
-bill

Generic wrote:You guys are all bitter old fogeys. I saw a lot there I liked. I'd argue that a simple list of 100 songs with no explanatory notes doesn't serve much of a purpose other than for people like us to compare and contrast taste, but you know.

I like a lot there too. But as you said, I'm an old fogey - that's the problem - a lot of this is 'old fogey music'.

I want the youth of today to shock me so much that I'll start to write letters to the Prime Minister demanding he re-introduce conscription so those young teenage thugs will learn how to pull their pants up properly and wear their hats around the right way, and how back in my day, songs had proper tunes you could sing along to and you could get fifteen gramaphone records for a sixpence, and swearing wasn't all over the wireless, but in the home where it belonged, and....

HeuristicsInc wrote:

Caravan Ray wrote: Compare that list with the Top 100's of the early 90's - there you'll see stuff like Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Severed Heads,.. whatever, in the Top 10.

Severed Heads was in the Top 10? I realize they're Australian, but that's awesome anyway. What song? "Dead Eyes Opened"?
I didn't know much in the top list. I guess I'm out of touch with today's Australian culture.
-bill

Dead Eyes Opened - No 10. 1994

I also saw lots that I like plenny on that list. Though it's a little discouraging that several of the songs are covers of songs that are already popular, perhaps best expressed with this bit of trivia: Scissor Sisters appear four times on the list, Franz Ferdinand appears three times, and Scissor Sisters' cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out," itself on the list at #1, appears at #44.

Caravan Ray wrote:I want the youth of today to shock me so much that I'll start to write letters to the Prime Minister demanding he re-introduce conscription so those young teenage thugs will learn how to pull their pants up properly and wear their hats around the right way, and how back in my day, songs had proper tunes you could sing along to and you could get fifteen gramaphone records for a sixpence, and swearing wasn't all over the wireless, but in the home where it belonged, and....

Like it was in your day? Nothing much has changed. In a surfeit of bands, it takes longer for the crap to sink, and the quality to rise ...

We Remember: Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks We Choose not to Remember: The Vibrators, The Normals, The Cortinas

We Choose Not to Remember: the Eighties.

We Remember: Nirvana, Mudhoney We Choose not to Remember: Just about any other Grunge Band ever.

We Remember: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays We Choose not to Remember: Northside, The Inspiral Carpets

We Remember: Blur, Oasis We Choose Not to Remember: Sleeper, Echobelly

Also, what you're talking about here is not an age thing, really; it's just that deep down the majority of people don't like way out, weird stuff. Which is a shame, in my opinion, but there's nothing wrong per se with preferring Coldplay, say, to Throbbing Gristle.

Ya. That about covers what i'm trying to say.

j$

There's a Ben Folds song on there (Adelaide) that I've never heard.
Guess he gave up the suburbs, and decided to Rock the Outback instead.
He lives in AU, doesn't he?
Also, I saw a handful of songs that I would tolerate if they came on the radio. I don't own any of it, I don't think.

j$ wrote:

Caravan Ray wrote:I want the youth of today to shock me so much that I'll start to write letters to the Prime Minister demanding he re-introduce conscription so those young teenage thugs will learn how to pull their pants up properly and wear their hats around the right way, and how back in my day, songs had proper tunes you could sing along to and you could get fifteen gramaphone records for a sixpence, and swearing wasn't all over the wireless, but in the home where it belonged, and....

Like it was in your day? Nothing much has changed. In a surfeit of bands, it takes longer for the crap to sink, and the quality to rise ...

We Remember: Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks We Choose not to Remember: The Vibrators, The Normals, The Cortinas

We Choose Not to Remember: the Eighties.

We Remember: Nirvana, Mudhoney We Choose not to Remember: Just about any other Grunge Band ever.

We Remember: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays We Choose not to Remember: Northside, The Inspiral Carpets

We Remember: Blur, Oasis We Choose Not to Remember: Sleeper, Echobelly

Also, what you're talking about here is not an age thing, really; it's just that deep down the majority of people don't like way out, weird stuff. Which is a shame, in my opinion, but there's nothing wrong per se with preferring Coldplay, say, to Throbbing Gristle.

Ya. That about covers what i'm trying to say.

j$

Yes. I agree with all that completely (except I choose to forget the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses as well).

I guess the point I've been trying to make (badly) is more regarding the oscillating nature of the relationship between what is 'mainstream' and what is 'alternative' (although I really despise the term 'alternative')

TripleJ is considered 'alternative' radio - although it is a national network, part of the ABC. If you were to place this years list against the Top 100 of a commercial radio station - there would be a significant overlap, maybe 30% - 40%. Do the same to, say the 1994 list, then the overlap would be much less.

This either means that a) 'alternative' music is becoming more mainstream, or b) mainstream music is becoming more interesting. If we could plot the 'alternative/mainstream overlap', I think we would get a sinusoidal curve with a peaks in the late sixties, the late eighties and now.

I don't know what any of this means, but I suspect the Lizard People are behind it.

Caravan Ray wrote:I guess the point I've been trying to make (badly) is more regarding the oscillating nature of the relationship between what is 'mainstream' and what is 'alternative' (although I really despise the term 'alternative')

TripleJ is considered 'alternative' radio - although it is a national network, part of the ABC. If you were to place this years list against the Top 100 of a commercial radio station - there would be a significant overlap, maybe 30% - 40%. Do the same to, say the 1994 list, then the overlap would be much less.

This either means that a) 'alternative' music is becoming more mainstream, or b) mainstream music is becoming more interesting. If we could plot the 'alternative/mainstream overlap', I think we would get a sinusoidal curve with a peaks in the late sixties, the late eighties and now.

Well, alternative music, when it's good, has always been assimilated into the mainstream. R.E.M., Talking Heads, Devo, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Velvet Underground, all of these bands found limited success and then they became popular by virtue of not being like everyone else. maybe it just happens more quickly now.