showard@udenva.UUCP (showard) (10/29/85)
Here are the results of the bad album survey. The original posting asked for
people to send the three worst albums they personally owned, ranked in order of
badness. I modified the rules slightly: I accepted more or less than three
albums, I accepted albums which people used to own but no longer do, and in one
case, I accepted an entire group as a "worst album." The results range from
albums on the top 78 list from a few weeks ago to albums few people have ever
heard of. Only one album received more than one vote, so the albums are in
alphabetical order by "artist" (and in this context I use the term loosely.)
Without further ado, I proudly present the Usenet Bottom 40:
Blondie -- Autoamerican (the only album with 2 votes)
Kate Bush -- The Dreaming
John Denver -- John Denver's Greatest Hits, part 2
Al DiMeola -- *[Ss]pain*
DiMeola/McLaughlin/DeLucia -- Friday Night in San Francisco
Bob Dylan -- Street Legal
The Eagles -- the Long Run
Fleetwood Mac -- Rumours
Dan Fogelberg/Tim Weisberg -- Twin Sons of Different Mothers
Genesis -- Abacab
Genesis -- Trick of the Tail
Gentle Giant -- Power and the Glory
Andy Gibb -- Shadow Dancing
Grand Funk Railroad -- Live Album
The Grateful Dead -- Go to Heaven
'Bald' Bill Hagan and his Trocaderons -- Beer Drinkin' Sing Alongs/Music to
Strip By
Steve Hillage -- Motivation Radio
Jean-Michel Jarre -- Magnetic Fields
Jay and the Americans -- Sunday and Me
Lenny Kaye -- I've Got a Right
Kraftwerk -- Autobahn
John Lennon and Yoko Ono -- Double Fantasy (Ono portions only)
Henry Mancini -- The Pink Panther
Montana -- I Love Music
Nazareth -- Hair of the Dog
Olivia Newton-John -- Totally Hot
Pink Floyd -- Dark Side of the Moon
Lou Reed -- Metal Machine Music
Return to Forever -- Romantic Warrior
Spyrogyra -- (everything)
Stars on -- Stars on Long Play
Ray Stevens -- The Feeling's Not Right Again
Thin Lizzy -- Johnny the Fox
various -- Flashdance (soundtrack)
various -- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (soundtrack)
various -- The Songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney Performed by the
World's Greatest Rock Artists (aka All This and World War II)
Helmut Walcha -- Helmut Walcha Plays Bach
Bob Welch -- French Kiss
Wilding/Bonus -- Pleasure Signals
Yes -- 90125
Well, there you have it. As promised, all entries are anonymous, but I have
been asked to announce that Doug Alan did NOT submit Kate Bush's the Dreaming
to the list.
--Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die
--aka Steve Howard, ...udenva!showardcds@duke.UUCP (Craig D. Singer) (10/31/85)
With regards to the "bad" music survey which appeared on the net: C'mon, now, this "survey" placed an album on the worst list if it received a single vote for badness??? Why post such a limited poll at all? Everybody has their own best and worst, but unless a poll of such albums is taken from hundreds of people (or more), it isn't going to provide any kind of information whatsoever. Certainly some people dislike Fleetwood Mac's Rumors LP (and/or Fleetwood Mac in general), but I don't think it qualifies for badness in a popular vote; after all, over 16 million copies of that album were sold in the first two years of its release alone. Many of the other albums on this list are platinum sellers, and while I don't claim popularity makes an album artistically good, it certainly supports the belief that the album in question is popular; i.e., considered good by many people. I would love to see what the folks on the net really think are the worst albums around (i.e., considered bad by most of the people polled), but unless a reasonable sample can be obtained, why not refrain from airing the opinions of the few in this format? Individuals can certainly express themselves as individuals; presumably they don't have to be another statistic. -- Craig D. Singer, Dept. of Computer Science, Duke University Durham, NC 27706-2591. Phone (919) 684-5110 (ext.20) CSNET: cds@duke UUCP: ...!decvax!duke!cds ARPA: cds%duke@csnet-relay
rll9466@wucec2.UUCP (Richard L. Lantz) (11/02/85)
The more I think about it, and as I see some good music on the bad music list, the more I think this is a bad idea... We are now going to find net.music inundated with arguments about what should/ should not have been on this list. I guess I'll just unsubscribe for a week or two.