THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: The Countdown!

An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. That's the central conceit of my proposed book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), a collection of 100+ essays about 100+ of those infinite songs, each of 'em The Greatest Record Ever Made!  The most recent update on that labor of love can be seen here.

So what's with this GREM! countdown? You can't qualify an absolute. If each one of these songs is touted as The Greatest Record Ever Made!, it would be a contradiction in terms to rank them in order of greatness. That's not what I want to do.

BUT! Of the 36 GREM! essays that have been published on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do!), some posts were more popular than others. We're not going to rank the songs themselves, not now, not ever. But we are going to do a countdown of the ten most popular GREM! posts, with popularity determined solely by the post's accumulated clicks. 

The countdown will run next week. I have determined a Top 10 at this time, but I will revise the figures if any ranking changes before I publish the countdown; that should be Friday or Saturday. So yeah, if you want to weigh in behalf of your favorite Greatest Record Ever Made!, you're welcome to do so. In no particular order, here are the GREM! posts published to date:

BADFINGER: Baby Blue
CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: I Only Want To Be With You
PATTI SMITH: Gloria
WILSON PICKETT: In The Midnight Hour
BUDDY HOLLY: Peggy Sue/Everyday
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Midnight Train To Georgia
THE RARE BREED: Beg, Borrow And Steal
CRAZY ELEPHANT: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
THE BEATLES: Hey Jude
THE VENTURES: Walk--Don't Run
THE MONKEES: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)
KISS: Shout It Out Loud
SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES: The Tears Of A Clown
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Girls In Their Summer Clothes
LESLEY GORE: You Don't Own Me
THE LEFT BANKE: Walk Away, Renee
BIG STAR: September Gurls
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Rock And Roll Love Letter
THE KNICKERBOCKERS: Lies
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE: Any Way You Want It
GRAND FUNK: We're An American Band
THE FIRST CLASS: Beach Baby
BARON DAEMON & THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
THE WHO: I Can't Explain
FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS: Do The Freddie
THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway
THE KINKS: You Really Got Me
THE SMITHEREENS: Behind The Wall Of Sleep
THE SEARCHERS: Hearts In Her Eyes
MATERIAL ISSUE: Kim The Waitress
THE GRATEFUL DEAD: Uncle John's Band
EYTAN MIRSKY: This Year's Gonna Be Our Year
THE JAYHAWKS: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
THE BEATLES: Rain

Is this clickbait? Duh. But it's also a chance to catch up on all of the GREM! candidates posted publicly so far, including two ("Hey Jude" and "Walk--Don't Run") which will not be in the book. Of course, there are many other GREM! essays that will be in the book, but which haven't yet been seen by the public. This thing today? This is just a popularity contest. The only way to vote (if you will) is by clicking the links. No salesmen will call. No other songs are eligible except the ones listed above. No prizes. No glory. And honestly, probably not much chance that the ranking I have now will change an awful lot. But I'm curious. And I'll publish the results by the end of next week.

VOTE!




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Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1)

Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes, Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.