Name: Keno
E-Mail: keno@fairpoint.net
Subject: Poll Post for the week starting Monday, June 7
Date: Sunday, June 06, 2021
Time: 10:56:24 PM
Remote Address: 8.41.160.9
Message ID: 320944
Parent ID: 0
Thread ID: 320944

Poll Post for the week starting Monday, June 7

So, it’s that time of this new week where I talk about the 4 weekly polls that we all vote in each week here, and as usual I’ll start off talking about the Stones Poll, which enters week 1,140, and yes, we’re rating songs at this poll. For this week’s question, I’ll ask this: Rate the Rolling Stones release of the song “Turd On The Run”, from zero (lowest) to 10 (highest)

A “Turd On The Run”. Song from Exile on Main Street

For this week's poll I'll just continue on the path I started last week in having you voters and Stones fans vote on the songs from each era that I rated the lowest Stones song from, and see if you agree or disagree. Of course, there were only 3 such eras in Stones history, and considering that covers close to 60 years’ time, just 3 eras of time in that long a time period isn’t bad at all (some might argue that I'm missing an era, when Bill Wyman left and they became a 4 piece band, but for the most part, I'll just stick to them being a band of 3 eras, as the later years are still the Ron Wood years).

So this week we have the Mick Taylor era and one hardnosed fan might say, "there wasn't a single bad song recorded during this short time span”. Well, if we considered songs that were never completed and released, of course there were a few, but we don't look at such songs either, and with that noted, the lowest rated song of this timeframe, was a song that was never meant to be released and wasn't, not until the Exile on Main Street double LP was remastered and their lowest rated song that I rated from the MT period was released, that being "So Divine (Aladdin Story)", which I only gave a 5.2 rating to. Of course, that number was never meant to be released and never should have been, since it was a total rip-off of their great 1960s song "Paint it Black" (music wise anyway from the first note/sound we hear), and it's clear the band was just playing around in the studio with this one with no intention to create a new song. But I guess somebody felt one more song that most fans never knew about, was needed for the LP's redo, so the recorded instrumental, titled “Aladdin Story”, which Mick Jagger wasn’t on, had lyrics written for it by Jagger, and it was an instrumental no more, and retitled “So Divine”, when Jagger added in the vocals in 2009. It was then released in the following year. But 2010 wasn't the MT era, either, and although one day in the very distance future when we have 99% of their songs already rated, I guess we will have to rate this one too, but not until then will I waste a poll on this throwaway.

So instead, for this week's poll fans will rate my lowest rated song of the true MT days, a song that got a higher rating then “So Divine”, that being "Turd On The Run", which I rated a 5.6, but yet another song that also shouldn't had been released on Exile on Main St. (and we’ve talked about this at the old Gax3 often enough). So yes, I know that some hardnosed fans like/love this throwaway song that lives up to its title for sure. It's a turd of a song, IMO. Now just like my lowest rated Stones song of the '60s, I don't blame the band for this one, as the music is okay. It's Mick Jagger once again singing like he had somewhere else to be when he opened up his month to sing this one, sounding like he was bored to death. But again, many Stones fans love this one, and I got a feeling, unlike last week's vote where many fans agreed with me on the low rating I gave last week’s song (see below), my guess is that won't be the case this week. While I'm sure, some fans will agree that this one is a true turd, more won't. But until everybody votes, we won't know for sure. Plus, with the Exile Mafia still out there somewhere, you can bet their votes alone (once they learn of this week's poll question) will pull this one up and over the top (and perhaps they will also issue a new hit job on me?). Anyway, it’s time for you to vote on this number. To do so, just click on the following link: Stones Weekly Poll. Plus, always remember, the video that is linked to the song at the voting page is there only so you can hear the song before you vote, but it should have no bearing on how you rate the tune, as the song itself is all that should matter when you rate the songs for this poll.

Last week at the Stones poll we answered this question: Rate the Rolling Stones release of the song “The Singer Not The Song”, from zero (lowest) to 10 (highest)

“The Singer Not The Song”, was a B side single in the UK

“The Singer Not The Song”, overall didn’t do too good at all, so most agreed with me, but not all, as many still like the song and 5 voters gave it a 10!? But the top vote was under the Mendoza line at a “4”, with 29% of the vote. To check out the full results from this poll, just click here: Stones Weekly Poll - week 1,139. Or, to check out the Stones’ songs updated rating standings for this ongoing series, and where on the list this song is landed (did it land in the bottom 5?), that can be viewed at the Stones List Page 5, which you can get to clicking here: Stones Top Picks - Page 3, List Page 5.

Let’s now take a looksee at this week’s Classic Rock Poll, where enter week 780 of voting, and for this one, we always vote in 2 different Rock Polls in the one week. This week’s first question asks: Who was the most underrated member of the band, The Cars?

The Cars

This week at the first Rock poll we continue with the "most underrated band member poll", and we will take a look at The Cars, one of my favorite Rock bands of the late 1970s and '80s.

Now no, thanks once again to some fools editing things at Wikipedia (where I first recall reading this BS), this group was never a New Wave band. I guess just because they came out when most new bands were New Wave, and some of their songs contained Synth-rock music (which of course was started by arty Classic rock bands in the early ’70s and not new wavers), that's why sone folks claim they were in that terrible genre. But if you ever listened to this band, well unlike 99.9% of all New Wave bands, not only did the Cars members actually know how to play their instruments, they were excellent players who clearly didn't play or embrace the kind of noise made by New Wave bands, nor did they have the short hair look that all New Wave groups embraced (the new wavers were just copying the Punks’ looks, since new wavers weren’t original in anything they did). The Cars basically played good old fashion Rock music that sounded like music from the mid-to late 60s and early '70s, with just a bit of '50s Rockabilly songs thrown in (but played with a more '60s feel to it), too. But no, they were not a New Wave band at all!

Unlike most Rock bands, this group, like the Beatles, had two main lead singers, including the man who wrote all the songs (or 99% of them), and who was also the band's leader, Ric Ocasek, along with their bassist and the dude who sang almost all of their (many) hit songs, Benjamin Orr. On all of their LPs (other than the last one, when the band tried a reunion album which was recorded in 2010, long after Orr's passing from pancreatic cancer in 2000), Ocasek would sing on average one more song on each LP than Orr sang. Yet Ocasek gave his best written songs to Orr to sing, and Orr made all of them into big hits with his singing style, one after another it seemed. One of them, "Drive", would turn out to be the band's highest charting single and a worldwide hit.

Now I don't mean to not mention the rest of the band, as all 5 of them, IMO, were underrated in the role they played in the band. Let's face it, Ocasek was totally underrated as a songwriter, while many who didn't pay attention, never realized that all the hit songs were sung by Orr, as many thought it was Ocasek singing these songs, perhaps since he was the band leader and only songwriter in the group. Many also didn't know that Orr could play most string instruments, keys, and the drums. But since the other members of the band were such excellent players in what they played, there was no need for anybody else in the band to play other instruments, other than the band's main keyboardists, Greg Hawkes, who also could play pretty much most instruments out there and unlike the others, he would let Ocasek or Orr play the keys on some songs while he would tackle guitar, or maybe bass, or saxophone (often on the early LPs), or whatever extra or unusual instrument the group was looking for on any one song.

Elliot Easton was the band's excellent lead guitar player and he never played anything else, while he would also sing backing vocals. He was happy enough in that one and very important role as the lead guitar player, as was their drummer, David Robinson, happy as just being the band's only drummer, and he would also sing backing vocals (the entire band sang backups), and it was Robinson who named the band, and who also designed all of the band's album covers. So all 5 members were very important in the roles that they played within the band.

The Cars broke up in 1988 and then had their one album reunion in 2010, which sold well enough, but still wasn't well received either by many and produced no real hit singles, so they broke up again for good after its release. They did reunite to perform 4 songs when the band was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, and sadly Ocasek died a year later in '19 from coronary artery heart disease.

There was a short-lived band called "The New Cars", from late 2006 to early ’09, which was considered a separate band from the Cars, and had Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes in the group, along with Todd Rundgren being the lead singer. That band put out one double LP and toured for 2 plus years playing both Cars and Utopia songs (Rundgren's old band) live. But no, it wasn’t the Cars and we won’t be looking at that offshoot band when we vote.

To vote in this week’s first Rock poll, just click on here: Classic Rock Poll, and when you get to this page, choose “Poll 1” to vote in this poll.

For our second Rock Poll this week, we will ask this VS question: Joe Cocker's cover of The Beatles “With a Little Help from My Friends” VS his cover of The Fabs “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”. Which Lennon/McCartney song did he sing/cover better?

Joe Cocker in 1970

Nobody covered the Beatles' songs better than Joe Cocker did, period. He would take songs that the Beatles already made hits out of, and Joe made them even bigger hit songs on his own. Two of his best Fab covers is what we will look at this week, "With a Little Help from My Friends", and "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window". Note: I realize that some might say that this question could or should have been run at the Beatles poll instead of here. But do understand that I only ask Beatle questions at the Beatles poll that are about the Beatles only, and these two songs are only covers of Beatle songs by a non-Beatle, which isn't the same thing.

Nobody in America knew who Joe Cocker was when he took the stage at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Even one of the two promoters of Woodstock, Artie Kornfeld, had no clue who he really was, having only heard his singing on record, and being so impressed by what he heard, hired him to play Woodstock, thinking he was a black soul singer, and was surprised when he met Joe backstage and saw that he was a white dude. But Joe's cover of the Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends", which was sang by Ringo, was made into a monster song by Joe on the stage that day. In the studio take of the song, future Led Zep guitarist Jimmy Page played a riff worth remembering, to go with Joe's great singing. The full studio lineup for this one was: Joe Cocker – Lead Vocals; Jimmy Page – Lead and Rhythm Guitars; Chris Stainton – Bass; Tommy Eyre – Organ; B.J. Wilson – Drums; and on Backing Vocals: Madeline Bell, Rosetta Hightower, Patrice Holloway, and Sunny Wheetman. For the song "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window", some felt that Cocker topped himself in covering the Beatles on this one. The lineup for this cover was: Joe Cocker – Lead Vocals; Chris Stainton – Keyboards; Leon Russell, Henry McCullough – Guitars; Alan Spenner – Bass; Bruce Rowland – Drums; Merry Clayton, Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge - Backing Vocals. So which Beatle cover song do you feel Joe sung better?... To vote in this week’s Rock VS poll, just click on this link: Classic Rock VS Poll, and when you get to this page, choose “Poll 2” to vote on this question.

Last week in the first Rock Poll we asked this question Who was the most underrated member of the band, Blind Faith?

Blind Faith July 1969…Top: Steve Winwood & Ginger Baker; Bottom: Eric Clapton & Rick Grech

Well, it wasn’t close when it came to looking for this group’s most underrated member, as Ric Grech, who played Bass, Violin, Guitar, and also sang some Vocals in the group, won in a landslide against his bandmates, taking in 79% of the votes (the second highest percentage vote total ever seen for this poll question). The only other member who got several votes was Ginger Baker with 21% of the vote. Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton somehow saw a total of 4 votes cast by 4 voters who I guess read the question wrong, or perhaps just cast their vote for them by mistake?

To see the poll’s final results in numbers instead of in percentages, well you can click on the following link and see the results in both: Classic Rock Poll, week 778, Poll 1. Or, to see “The most underrated member of each rock band” list, and who’s on there from the other bands that we answered this question for already, click on: Top 10 List Page, Page 16, and you will see this listing at the very top of the page.

Last week in the Rock VS polls, we asked: “The Rain The Park and Other Things” by The Cowsills vs “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family. Which song by a family band (one real, one fake) was the better song?

VS

“The Rain The Park and Other Things” by The Cowsills” VS “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family

In somewhat close voting, The Cowsills’ song won with 50.1% of the vote. I wasn’t expecting such a close vote to be honest, as I expected the Cowsills would will by a larger margin then they did. You can check the results by clicking on the following link: Classic Rock Poll, week 779, VS Poll. Or, to see the results on the VS list page, just go here: Rock VS Page 3, List Page 15, and head on down to the bottom of the page.

Now let’s look at this week’s Beatles Poll, where we enter week 531 of voting, and we’ll vote on this question: Which is the most underrated song on the Beatles’ Beatles For Sale UK album?

Beatles For Sale CD Cover

Beatles For Sale, was the fourth studio UK album by the Beatles, released on December 4, 1964. However, it was not officially available in the U.S. until 1987 when it was released on CD.

This one has several songs that could be looked at as underrated, even if most Beatle songs are believed to be highly rated. Truth is many only got good to fair ratings, including several on this LP. Overall, the album sold great and went to #1 in the UK and a few other countries where it was released.

Song wise, out of the 14 songs on the album, 3 were written by John Lennon, another 3 written by Paul McCartney, 2 were written together by Lennon/McCartney, and another 6 were covers. The album’s lineup was: John Lennon – Lead, Harmony and Backing Vocals; Acoustic and Rhythm Guitars; Harmonica; Tambourine… Paul McCartney – Lead, Harmony and Backing Vocals; Bass; Acoustic Guitar; Piano, Organ… George Harrison – Harmony and Backing Vocals; Lead 6 and 12-string Guitars and Acoustic Guitars; African Drum; Lead Vocal on "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"… Ringo Starr – Drums, Tambourine, Maracas, Timpani, Cowbell, Bongos; Lead Vocals on "Honey Don't"…with… George Martin – Electric Piano on “Rock And Roll Music”, Organ on “Mr Moonlight”, plus he was the album’s Producer.

To make your choice for the most underrated song on this LP, just click on the following link: Beatles Weekly Poll.

Looking back at last week’s Beatles poll, we voted on this question: Which is the most underrated song on the Beatles Help! UK album?

Help! LP Cover

“You're Going to Lose That Girl” took first place (nice pick!) with 10% of the votes in very very close voting for 10 of the 14 songs on the album. Second place saw a 3-way tie between “Act Naturally” “I Need You” and “The Night Before”, with all 3 taking in 9.9% of the votes each. To see the poll’s full, final results, click on: Beatles Weekly Poll – week 530. Or you can look at this list page at my Lennon site for the results there: The Beatles' Albums Page , where all of the top picks chosen for this series are listed (its list is located around the middle of the page).

So with that, another Poll Post comes to an end. I hope everybody reading this has a great upcoming week!

Keno

• Poll Post for the week starting Monday, June 7 by Keno on 6/6/2021 10:56:24 PM <-- You Are Here
• RE: Poll Post for the week starting Monday, June 7 by devilsadvocate on 6/13/2021 6:45:08 PM

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