Possibly my favourite cover The Beatles did. I'm sure the other contender will be a lot higher.

Beatles' cover of "Lend Me Your Comb" is just amazing. Alas, not a single. I think I put the Carl Perkins version in my list though.

Fill it up to the brim...


#237.



Webb Pierce - "There Stands the Glass"

Year: 1956

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: 20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection

Ranked Highest By: Falling and Laughing (#13)

1 / 10


#236.



The Beatles - "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I Love You"

Year: 1962

US Chart Position: #1 (LMD) / #10 (PSILY)

UK Chart Position: #17 ('62) / #4 ('82) / #53 ('92)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #16 (year) / #33 (decade) / #1451 (all-time)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: The Beatles 1

Ranked Highest By: Jmmrsn & Scarymuppet (#48)

I wasn't thinking of Antholgy stuff but yeah some other good stuff like 'Leave My Kitten Alone' is up there too.



Which version of LMD is this (not that I'm going to d/load) Single or album?

lol, what do you have a Blackberry or something so you can post from school?

no idea.

album version is 2:22, single 2:24. Main difference is Ringo is one the single version (as found on PM Vol. 1) and isn't on the album version.

Ah ha ha ha
Ay ay oh
Doo bah doo bah doo bah doo bah
Ah ha ha ha


#235.



Huey "Piano" Smith - "High Blood Pressure" / "Don't You Just Know It"

Year: 1958

US Chart Position: #9 Pop / #4 R&B (DYJKI)

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: High Blood Pressure

Ranked Highest By: Bobzilla (#46) or list not posted

The signature doo-wop lyrics as intros help with the recall of some of these songs. Nice, GDB.

Fuck you, Whoopi Goldberg


#234.



Mary Wells - "My Guy" / "Oh Little Boy (What Did You Do to Me?)"

Year: 1964

US Chart Position: #1

UK Chart Position: #5

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #12 (year), #118 (decade), #388 (all-time)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Ultimate Collection

Ranked Highest By: no magnets (#27)

my dad had a cassette in his car when i was little that had "my guy" on it and when i discovered this single many years later, i couldn't believe it was the same singer. "my guy" is a really good single, but "oh little boy" sounds a lot deeper - like it's personal.

Just like Ronnie said...


#233.



Veronica - "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love?"

Year: 1963

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Phil Spector - Back to Mono

Ranked Highest By: Midnite Vulture (#26)

The first top ten hit in one of Motown's most storied careers...


#232.



Marvin Gaye - "Pride and Joy"

Year: 1963

US Chart Position: #10 Pop / #2 R&B

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: The Very Best of Marvin Gaye

Ranked Highest By: Velocity Girl (#25)

^ Best pic yet

This is great

"Do yourself a favor, don't turn around..."


#231.



Lavern Baker - "I Cried a Tear"

Year: 1958

US Chart Position: #6 Pop, #2 R&B

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947 - 1974

Ranked Highest By: Bobzilla (#12)

Only early Beatles song I can stand at all.

By early I hope you mean from the first album as opposed to pre- Rubber Soul or something equally displaying some kind of debliating brain disease.

yeah that's fucking nutty in more ways than I care to count

Nuts for the organ sounds in this one...


#230.



Terry Stafford - "Suspicion"

Year: 1964

US Chart Position: #3

UK Chart Position: #31

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Can Be Most Easily Found On: The Best of Terry Stafford

Ranked Highest By: Jmmrsn (#27)

Nutty organ sounds are awesome, probably the biggest reason why Del Shannon is gonna be on this list a hundred places or so up from here.

OK I think it's the album version (It's 2:20) and I can pick out Starr's tambourine.

Well, I have no need for crappy simplistic pop music and I'm not a teen girl in the 60s, so... yeah pre-Rubber Soul.

But, hey, if you're into shitty music, that's your thing. I don't judge.

LET ME GIVE THIS ONE A THINK

Don't rule out the power of I wa-wa-wa-wa-wonder. That Musitron gives me the willies.



Yeah, what he says.

I will google the history of the actual instrument later (not a theremin), when it comes up.

right...

Anyway, Beatles early songs are horribly flat, emotionally. Actually, the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" isn't bad, but generally, I can't stand them. I find zero appeal in them and have never enjoyed listening to them. No doubt they vastly, vastly improved (probably more than any band ever), but earlier stuff just bores the hell out of me.

I think "Diana" appeals to me so much because it's the perfect representation of the corny teenage love that never really existed, but everyone is nogistalic (sp?) for.

That was Rupert's joke from King of Comedy.

Emotionally flat? Dude, Lennon's ripping his vocals on "Twist & Shout," "Money," etc. and their rockers cut to shreds anything else that was coming out in 1963 and 1964, and Paul does a pretty awesome Little Richard imitation on "I'm Down" (not to mention the covers of "Long Tall Sally" and "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey").

I'm surprised the one song you favor is "Love Me Do." Melodic, but pretty tame.

I don't wanna play god with this man's musical tastes, but rating a Vegasy teen idol over a working, sweating rock & roll band is highly suspect to me. That's like saying: "Little Richard's early rockers were infantile and simple, but gee, that Pat Boone sure was a talented musician!" But that's just my view.

I was amazed that vanilla pop, incl. "Diana," "Mr. Sandman," and others I can't remember, was so well-represented on the lists (considering how little respect it gets). Not judgin', not defendin', just sayin'.

Yeah, but most of these songs you mention are covers that were done better the first time. "Love Me Do" is probably just because I'm a sucker for harmonica.

already corrected myself it was a custom built instrument http://www.delshannon.com/runaway.htm



Exhibits A-K

There's A Place (Throat tearing vocals, thrilling decloration of independence in the lyrics. Best track on the debut.)
From Me To You (A massive octave leap that is the very opposite of flat.)
She Loves You (Possible the first and greatest twist on the simple love song via a simple tweak of a few pronouns. In what world is 'Diana' as thrilling as that drum intro and YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH?)
It Won't Be Long (Great world play in "It won't be long till I belong to you"
All My Loving (The first really good PMacca walking bassline, Harrsions Carl Perkins solo= superfantistich)
I Want To You Hold You Hand (Maybe the most important single ever released? Made a generation, let go and allow themselves to feel good.)
A Hard Day's Night (G eleventh suspended forth > almost anything)
I'll Be Back (Downbeat lyrics perfectly match the song)
Things We Said Today (Really dark mood, has a real urgent feel to the guitar part and pretty sober lyrics.)
Every Little Thing She Does (Not in the slightess bit chauvanistic and actually quite touching.)
No Reply (If only for the final sad chord when we discover that there's never going to be a reply)

I could go on, If you mean up to Rubber Soul are dismissing songs like Ticket To Ride, Yes It Is, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, Tell Me What You See, Help!, I've Just Seen A Face, I'm Down and Yesterday.

Most of these songs you're talking about bore the hell out of me and could have been written by a 12 year old. They may have brought some of the more raucous rock to the mainstream, but they did it in a pretty poor fashion. If the Beatles career had ended pre-Rubber Soul, they would be though of about on the level of... say... Paul Anka.

Don't get me wrong: because of their later work, I would agree with most people that they're likely the most important rock band ever. But not much innovation in the early stuff that wouldn't have happened without them.

Where as Diana was written by a 12 year old.



I don't see how you can dismiss all of 'A Hard Day's Night' 'Help!' and 'With The Beatles' as being somehow irrelavent



That's hardly an argument for dismising them is it.

And it's much better than all those early Beatles songs. How embarassing for them...

Culturally irrelevant, I suppose not, but for the same reason the New Kids on the Block are not. Both were listened to by loads of teenagers around the world, both influenced several bands to come after them, but music from both was largely mediocre to poor.

Yeah, but the fact that it sucked is.

Mention of NKOTB, argument loses any credibilty it had.

Yeah, that's good logic. You've defeated me. I am defeated. [/sarcasm]

Whereas comparing a band that even if they stopped recording in mid 1965 were obviously hundreds of times better than NKOtB is logically.

Feel free to add to either of these lists though

Influenced by New Kids On The Block;
Boyz II Men
Take That
Britney Spears
Color Me Badd
Rick Astley
Bros
Charles & Eddie

Influenced by Pre-Rubber Soul Beatles
Brian Wilson
Bob Dylan
Roger McGuinn
Pete Townshend
Jagger/Richards
Ray Davies
Peter Buck
Johnny Marr

Not really compareable.

You wait until coolrock and the rest read your nonsense.

You said it.

The Beatles influence would be through their writing, while the New Kids influence is business-only. It's as though Bros only picked up mics because of Donnie et al. Don't blame NKOTB for those acts, because that's just da bidneth.

Besides, the comparison is utterly illogical. If New Kids songs came out at the start of the 60s, and Beatles in the 80s, you'd be saying the complete opposite.

Just imagine if The Zim had been influenced by 'Hangin' Tough'...

You're ignoring the fact that without the New Kids on the Block we never would have had "Toxic."

Well that song is supernice but I could sleep easy at night if I was told I could never listen to it again.

"Paul Anka vs. The Beatles"

Whoa, talk about the battle of the century!
How could anything from those misguided mop-top motherfuckers possibly compete with the sheer brilliance of a C-Am-F-G chord progression (a.k.a. The Shittiest, Most Trite, Chord Progression in Pop Music), a stiff-as-starch vocal delivery, and inventive, thought-provoking lines like:

" Thrills I get when you hold me close

Oh, my darling---you're the most."

Mein gott.
Being a busy man, I must stoop to culling up my previous post re: " Diana":


1/24/06

"Wasn't so great " is an understatement. Not only is " Diana" a fetid piece of horseshit, it epitomizes, to me, the worst of the Fifties. It's like this, kids:
when the " rock and roll craze" hit ( and record co's, dj's, etc. realized there was gold in that there teen angst), everybody wanted in on the bandwagon. Some artists, especially blues, r&b, and rockabilly/Western swing, were already equipped to handle the job; others were just opportunistic schmucks who were easy listening/ Rosemary Clooney/Sinatra types a few minutes earlier. More simply put: over here, ya got Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis. Over there, ya got Fabian, Dody Goodman, Pat Boone, and PAUL FUCKING ANKA.

I'll cut Anka a little slack cuz he wrote, in addition to the blatant Sinatra-sucking of " My Way" ( "This one's for you, Frank, so please don't put a horse's head in my bed."), the theme for " The Tonight Show", which is a classic TV theme. Otherwise, it's been schlock like " Puppy Love", and the always-camp paen to the impregnated woman, " You're Havin' My Baby" ( Although I prefer the King Solomon version, " You're Halving My Baby").


I guess this makes me officially retarded also.
Cool.
Now I can be President.

_________________________________________________



Well, then. So I pulled up " Diana" and listened to it, just to make sure it was as shitty as I remember. Christ, it was even worse. Even the horns are out of tune, and the (alleged) "arrangement" feels like it went down in one of the men's room stalls at the Brill Building.
Anka gives a vocal delivery so rigid, punctuated, and soul-less that it sounds like the producers are giving him mild electric shocks every time he veers into something that might remotely resemble emotional conveyance. This record is so fucking white, it makes Eddie Haskell look like The Godfather of Soul.
The Beatles can't touch this? Chrissake, even that god-awful " Til There Was You" smokes this piece o' shit.


Two questions, mupp:

1. What the hell are you on?



2. Where can I get some?

I'm on a little drug called Paul Anka's "Diana." The last thing you can call the delivery on "Diana" is emotionless. It's fucking melodramatic. He's pratically crying. Perhaps you're listening to "She Love You." Now there's a song where they're just letting the lyrics roll out with little fanare. Seriously. Nice constant volume and tone there, Beatles. And questioning the autheticness of teen angst in the song is fairly silly too, as it was written by a damn teen. It's not as if the lyrics are particularly outrageous for a teen to feel. I think it's a perfect slice of teen melodrama.

And I never said "the Beatles can touch" the song. Most songs on Sgt. Pepper trump this song big time. But this totally kills early Beatles. Then again, I would apparently also say that about "The Blob" by The Five Blobs.

P.S. If you want something out of tune, how about the singing on "She Loves You."

And now I must get blotto, as it is Friday.

^^^^^^^

See? Give 'em enough rope, they'll hang themselves.

Gotta love the sub-title of this thread, GDB. Any Charlie Feathers reference is a good Charlie Feathers reference.

I'm also quite pleased that Percy Mayfield made the list. Too bad he's so far back in the pack, but it's a start. Gotta be one of the most lyricists ever. When Dylan calls a guy one of the all time great rock 'n' roll poets, he's gotta be good!

If you haven't heard it, seek out "Please Send Me Someone To Love" (#244).

As Cynthia Robinson of Sly & the Family Stone once sang:

ALL THE SQUARES, GET OUT!!!



Dude, this is a whiteboy vanilla pop tune!!! Why the fuck are we supposed to be impressed?? Huh? We're supposed to elect him to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame based on THAT? All the dapper doo-woppers, savage rockabilly cats, honkin' sax giants, R&B shouters, surf bands, and here you are peeing in your drawers over "Diana"? What next, Frankie Avalon was the King Of The Delta Blues? You prefer Connie Francis to LaVerne Baker? And now you're trying to tell us that the Beatles were unimportant until they recorded Sgt. Pepper (or whatever the hell that was you said)? Rock & roll probably isn't your forte - maybe the pussy folk sounds of Peter, Paul & Mary are more your speed.



Frankie Lymon was maybe a LITTLE younger than Anka and accomplished the same thing in "Why Do Fools Fall In Love." Only BETTER. The direct R&B-oriented sound of Lymon DUMPS all over Anka's suck-dick pop ballads.

What next, Bobby Vinton "trumps" the early Stones???

Sorry, SM, I probably shouldn't have brought out the "Diana" thing--I knew it was a cheap shot, and I do like the song OK, but I really just didn't see how you could dismiss early The Beatles as being silly, incosequential pop songs while championing this one that I find far sillier and far more inconsequential.

That said I very much respect your willingness to put such a crass and obviously cred-less song on top of your list and I don't really subscribe to the "early Beatles are better 'coz they wrote the songs and influenced indie people and so forth" philosophy that most people are trotting out here. They just wrote a shitload of great songs that totally leave "Diana," nifty though it may be, in the dust. In my opinion.

I also like Norton's quote that Percy Mayfield has "gotta be one of the most lyricists ever". Probably just a typo but I think it's brilliant anwyay.

I figured that this was at least as resonible thing to do as say



I've said which songs I think are very worthy in this period on the last page, I would be the first to admit how bad the likes of "Till There Was You" and "It's Only Love" are but to causually wave away those early years like people do with say, Pablo Honey, is rather an short sited gesture.

Also practically everyone who picked up a Rickenbacker in 1964 is a bit more of an influence then your indie people comment.

Anyways, at least the American Pie debate has a little while before it resurfaces.

I'm not arguing that the Beatles' influence wasn't vast and hugely important, I'm just saying that that doesn't have shit to do with whether the Beatles wrote good songs or not.

pre-Rubber Soul Beatles >>>> post-Rubber Soul Beatles...

Rubber Soul >>>>> pre Rubber Soul Beatles


scarymuppet is just nuts, I say, just nuts.

I couldn't give a crap about their influence. They just put out an insane number of amazing songs. They were great writers, singers, players and knew how to put the songs together perfectly. I don't even see the point in arguing it, sm's so off on this one. To each his own, but I just don't see his point.

Like wishing on the stars above
and being so in love


#229.



The Ronettes - "Walking in the Rain"

Year: 1964

US Chart Position: #23

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #45 (year), #475 (decade), #2311 (all-time)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Phil Spector - Back to Mine

Ranked Highest By: The Good Dr. Bill (#5)

Obviously. They just happen to have the edge over NKOtB in both those areas.



I can see the argument for the second one if it read post Revolver as there was a drop off in the level of consistency but the first one is almost as daft as what SM said.

Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Past Masters Vol1

over

Revolver
Sgt. Pepper
Magical Mystery Tour 2EP
The Beatles
Yellow Subamrine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
Past Masters Vol2

I'm not buying that, I'm not saying that all of the right hand side is better than everything on the left as some might say but the reverse is way off the mark too. Ignoring Rubber Soul you'd honestly take twenty songs from pre 1965 over 20 post 1965.