Well that was a `rum` blog, but without further ado here are the results in ascending order, (votes in brackets):
Receiving one vote each: Marc Almond, Ian Anderson, Burt Bacharach, Syd Barrett, Irving Berlin, Buck/Berry/Mills/Stipe, Sammy Kahn & Jerome Kern, Charli XCX, Kurt Cobain, Sam Cooke, Cathal Coughlan, John Darnielle, Difford & Tillbrook, Nick drake, Richard Drummie, Stephen Duffy, Greg Dulli, Stephen Foster, Gamble & Huff, George & Ira Gershwin, The Gibb Brothers, Gilbert & Sullivan, Martin Gore, Peter Green, Greenwich/Barry/Spector, Kristin Hersh, Nick Heyward, Noddy Holder & Jim Lea, Howard Jones, Paul Kelly, Carole King, Mark King, Leadbelly, John Lennon, Jerry Lieber/Mike Stoller, Mark Linkous, Little Richard, Frank Loesser, Ian Mackaye, John Martin, Paddy McAloon, Mogg & Way, Morrissey, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Roland Orzabal, Andy Partridge, Prince, Smokey Robinson, Tom Rowlands & Ed Simons, Tom Russel, Mike Scott, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Strauss, Joe Strummer & Mick Jones, Tennant & Lowe, Harry Vanda & George Young, Clifford T Ward, Diane Warren, Roger Waters, Jimmy Webb, Kurt Weill, Stevie Wonder.
19th (2): Becker/Fagan, Black Francis, Nigel Blackwell, Nick Cave, Duke Ellington, Noel Gallagher, George Gershwin, Buddy Holly, Jackie Leven, Shane McGowan, Morrissey/Marr, Lou Reed, The RZA, Richard Thompson, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young.
14th (3): Bacharach & David, Chuck Berry, Tom Waits, Paul Weller, Hank Williams.
10th (4): David Bowie, Goffin/King, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson.
6th (5): Elvis Costello, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Paul McCartney, Cole Porter.
4th (6) Leonard Cohen, Ray Davies.
3rd (7) Paul Simon
2nd (13) Bob Dylan
1st (14) Lennon/McCartney.
It ended up being a two horse race between Dylan and Lennon/McCartney which was probably expected or was it? I thought Dylan would win easily, wrong again.
I could have made this a better blog by being a bit more clear in my original post but thanks to those who took part.
seanioio says
Ah, gutted I missed the original vote on this one.
FWIIW I would have plumped for
1. Shane MacGowan
2. Nick Cave
3. Neil Hannon
4. Benny Anderson
5. Neil Tenant / Chris Lowe
Baron Counterpane says
What an overwhelmingly male list. No Gretchen Peters? No Mary Gauthier? No Maria McKee? No Kate Bush FFS!
Baron Harkonnen says
Why didn`t you vote for them?
Bingo Little says
Because he’s a MASSIVE misogynist.
Sitheref2409 says
Wait. Springsteen loses out to McCartney solo?
I don’t think I like this club any more Mum, they’re all SCHTOOPID.
Baron Harkonnen says
It`s OK old bean I still love the guy.
Billybob Dylan says
I missed the vote, too. Still, first place is right, though, isn’t it? Second place is probably right, too. I’m surprised to see Paul Simon as high up the list as he is, but I think it’s deserved. He’s written some great stuff over the years. Personally, I’d have liked to have seen Difford & Tilbrook and Andy Partridge higher up the list. But I didn’t vote, so it’s my own fault.
Black Celebration says
People who I thought would be there, but aren’t:
Carly Simon
James Taylor
Neil Diamond
Pete Townshend
and yes, Kate Bush
Maybe we don’t like them enough…
Tiggerlion says
You didn’t take my vote for Elvis Presley seriously, did you?
Baron Harkonnen says
You never placed a solid vote Tigger, you just named a load of songs you said he may have wrote/co-wrote. I did look at your post a couple of times and I thought if I include Elvis as a vote I would get a post stating the opposite to what you`ve just said. I`m not saying you`re pedantic mind.
Tiggerlion says
Don’t worry. You were quite right not to take me seriously. I was being facetious ?
spider-mans arch enemy says
Am l just pissed (which l think l am) or is there no Jagger/Richards?
I shall now go and flog my manservant with a wet cabbage, while singing along lustfully to ‘Gimme Shelter’ (or as he would no doubt wish, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’.
Toodle pip.
Baron Harkonnen says
Not one measly vote spider even a BIG Stones fan like @junior-wells didn`t vote for Nanker/Phelge.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Afterword Poll Reveals Beatles Crush Still Strong.
Mousey says
Randy Newman. Yep that was my vote.
Black Celebration says
Next time we get a bit testy about a Rolling Stone top 100 of incredibly important artists which fails to mention Richard Thompson, I think we should reflect on our own glaring omissions.
Tiggerlion says
But Richard Thompson is there, at number 19, with Bruce Springsteen.
Oh. You are talking about the list being almost exclusively white and male, not Richard Thompson per se.
Black Celebration says
You’re right – I wasn’t picking on Richard Thomspon in particular. And to be fair I wasn’t intentionally making a point about white males either. Just that even when *we* put a list together – we miss a few that really should be there.
Baron Harkonnen says
Who should be there BC? Don`t get me wrong I`m not picking an argument, far from it. People will vote for those who they prefer/merit a place. Surely this is right rather than being right on.
Black Celebration says
That’s OK Baron, I think it’s interesting because I think it might be a drawback of the process somehow. Each time a music magazine does something like this, there is always at least one glaring omission that undermines the whole thing. In our case, we have said, together, that Richard Drummie from Go West is a better songwriter than Kate Bush or Neil Diamond. If we were Rolling Stone Magazine, that’s exactly how it would be interpreted.
Baron Harkonnen says
Not really @black-celebration, if a few hundred AW`s had voted and we had the same results then you would have a valid point. I don`t think the results are representative of all of us and would have differed greatly had many more taken part.
My selections were maybe predictable – is Leonard Cohen (in my 5) a better song writer than Kate Bush (whom I rate very highly but not in my 5) is open to consideration. But to me my other selections (Macca/Lennon, Dylan, Jackie Leven, Brian Wilson) would be the same in ten years. I love the work of several other left-field musicians (too many to mention) but I doubt if any of them will have the same impact on me as those I have named.
Black Celebration says
I think this sample size is similar to the number of writers that would be at, say, Mojo – who may contribute to some sort of definitive list that appears in the magazine.
All I am saying is that this kind of process seems to deliver strange results.
Baron Harkonnen says
I can`t disagree with your last statement (strange results) @black-celebration.