Top 40 Singles Of 2006 Poll #5: May

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Well predictably Rihanna was beaten off in the end by crazy old Gnarls Barkley and his three more ticks. 'Crazy' got more ticks (27) than any other Top 40 single this year and 87.1% vote share, making it the most popular chart hit of the year among Poptimist members. Who says we're not in touch with Joe Still-Buys-CDs / £50 Mang?

And so now to cast your minds back...way back...to those heady days of May 2006...


[Poll #742857]

(188 comments)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The recent Now polls have been total blockbusters in terms of comments - and lots of votes too. This runs us up against the technical limits of LJ, i.e. that an over-50 comments thread is a chore to read, and a 2-page one requires particular dedication even beyond that. Not much we can do about that, other than pass the thematic ball forward more often (i.e. start new threads).

So why's it happening? Well Poptimists is bigger now, and this is a period we all remember, and a lot of us were online then and fighting various crucial ideological pop battles (ahem) and so there's an urge to either defend territory hard-won - or complicate history by asking questions which Pop Fervour made us less likely to pose at the time.

It's interesting* that there's a definite hard kernel of a 00s Pop Canon there - after poll after poll with winning scores in the 70s, Britney, Kylie, S Club, Destiny's all post scores of 90%-ish, and I can think of a few more tracks that are likely to do similar. (Obviously a lot of this is a quirk of demographics - we've set up a community where ppl who like that sort of thing can wander in.)

*especially cos of the relative lack of majority-votes and high-scorers for the current month polls stevem runs - has pop got worse, or just more diverse?

Poptimists Demographics

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

HI DERE POPTIMISTS AND LURKERS

Could you fill this in please? I've made it viewable-to-none in case some of you don't want to give yr age. If you can't think of 3 years in the second question, give 2 or 1, but do answer it if you can as it might provide VITAL SCIENCE EVIDENCE about when people's interest in pop hits/peaks/recurs etc.

EDIT: Sorry, can you give calendar years in question two?

[Poll #742894]

View from the other side

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

(re-posted from byebyepride, apols if you see this twice!)

Interview with Sasha Frere-Jones on the New Yorker site. Interesting to see what an outsider makes of the British pop scene at the moment, but I'm not sure he's got it all right -- what do you reckon? The bum notes for me were struck with the supposed British love for the Mavericks (really?); the suggestion that British bands dress better than Americans (really?); and overlooking the small fact that the Rachel Stevens album flunked out (don't believe everything Mr PJ tells you!).

The Rough Guide to having too much time on your hands

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Spent a little time the other day tidying up the gargantuan Rough Guide index I compiled from three ILM threads in which people submit compilations of whatever nature they felt like doing or were necessary.

It's a (potentially) great portal and I only wish it could take you straight to the tunes themselves - but then again part of the fun is 'catching them all'. Truth be told I still haven't sat down and assembled any of these myself, not even the ones I contributed (about 30 or so), but like I say, the potential remains.

The guide continues to be updated and modified. Some sort of wikipedia style open-contribution system for it would be cool (but then all too easily abused perhaps).

x-factor "update" (ie i never mentioned it before now but will now do so more)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

my friend didn't get past the first layer of audition :(

since i had to get up to 5.30 this mornin to be in wembley on time to be supportive, i am too tired to blog my various observations (except to say i. she was not nuts to want to try in terms of her voice and ability to wow a room ii. everyone who wants to be on a programme like this is nevertheless nuts)