ALBUMS TOP TEN
This is the first time in many years that half my Top Ten has consisted of British artists, or had so many folk-oriented albums. Number ten is controversial in that it’s only been out a week, but I’m confident of its longtime appeal. Last year Long Live The Duke & The King by The Duke & The King was a late entry, and in fact it was my most played album of 2011, so could be number one, but to be strict it was 2010. Kate Bush’s 50 Words For Snow is disadvantaged because I’ve had it two weeks but only played it once.
Long time Band fans may be surprised that Levon Helm’s Ramble at The Ryman didn’t make the cut. It just missed, but basically it was a live album of mainly stuff I’ve heard before in similar arrangements. Great playing. Lots of fun. Nothing new, so the recent Unthanks grabbed its previous tenth place.
This Top Ten is all stuff I bought. I gaze at the Top Fifty off 2011 in music magazines, and say, ‘Well, I only ever heard half a dozen of your selection, so I don’t know.”
1) LAST – The Unthanks
2) AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS – The Waterboys
3) THE KING IS DEAD – The Decemberists
4) HOW TO BECOME CLAIRVOYANT – Robbie Robertson
5) SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT – Paul Simon
6) ROCK ‘N’ ROLL JOE- Chip Taylor, John Platania & Kendel Carson
7) SAVAGES – The Webb Sisters
8) LIVE FROM A LONELY PLACE – Simon Felice (vinyl only)
9) LAST NIGHT ON EARTH – Noah & The Whale
10) DIVERSIONS VOL 1- THE SONGS OF ROBERT WYATT & ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – The Unthanks
2011 SONGS TOP TWENTY
This is relatively easy to do, using iTunes most played list for advice, allowing the time I’ve had stuff. It doesn’t line up exactly with the album list, nor should it,. Different criteria. Sugarland is slightly unexpected, but we’ve played the video so often on YouTube and shown it to so many people that it deserves a place, though more than half the plays would be YouTube.
1 When The Night Was Young – Robbie Robertson
2 June Hymn – The Decemberists
3 Stuck Like Glue – Sugarland
4 Monica – Chip Taylor, John Platania, Kendal Carson
5 L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. – Noah & The Whale
6 Queen of Hearts – The Unthanks
7 Dazzling Blue – Paul Simon
8 The Devil & The Opera House – John Wetton
9 Sweet Dancer – The Waterboys
10 One More American Song – Simon Felice
11 Tar Barrel in Dale (live) – The Unthanks (download)
12 The Union Song – Chip Taylor, John Platania, Kendal Carson
13 Looking For A Girl – Teddy Thompson
14 Calling This A Life – The Webb Sisters
15 Whaddya Mean By That – John Cale
16 January Hymn – The Decemberists
17 I Buried A Bone – Blind Pilot
18 Politics – The Waterboys
19 This Is Where I Get Off – Robbie Robertson
20 Rewrite – Paul Simon
2011 MOST PLAYED OLDIES LIST …
This takes ANY song from any year which is not in the list above. Courtesy of iTunes.
1) Shooh-Rah Shooh-Rah – Betty Wright
2) Fareweel Regality – The Unthanks
3) Shaky – The Duke & The King
4) Union Street – The Duke & The King
5) Angel of The Morning – Merilee Rush
2011 BEST THEATRE
Three Shakespeare, but he was pretty good. Number one is clear, After that the order isn’t crucial.
1) Jerusalem (Royal Court production, Apollo Theatre)
2) The Syndicate (Bath, Theatre Royal)
3) Cardenio (RSC, Stratford, Swan Theatre)
4) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Headlong, Salisbury Playhouse)
5) Richard III (Kevin Spacey, Old Vic)
2011 BEST CONCERTS
1) The Unthanks, Eastleigh & Exeter
I’ll leave it at four, because the gap after that is large.
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