krista4
Footballguy
OK, let's do this thing! Please join me in pulling out your worst puns and dad jokes while the middle-aged dummies cover a lot of new ground!
What to do: send me a list of your top 31 cover songs by the end of the day on January 26.* I'll start the countdown the following week. Unlike the prior countdowns, I might or might not post a new entry every day - we'll see how the timing shakes out in terms of everyone's ability to listen to the playlists. Of course, because of the duplication in our lists, these playlists don't take quite as long to get through.
There is no limit to the number of songs you can take from any single artist - either as the coverer or the coveree - and no limit to how many times you can select covers of the same song.
At first I thought this countdown, unlike the PITA requirements of the prior ones, wouldn't require any vetting. Then I realized that, while it will be easier, some vetting will still be necessary. What is a cover, exactly? I've thought through the following questions and done a lot of research, but there is no set definition of "cover" so I'm making some calls on these issues. Let's work all that out before we get started:
Q: Is a cover based on who recorded a song or who wrote it?
A: Generally speaking what is an "original" is based on who recorded it first, and for ease of use I am going to say it's not only who recorded it but who released it first. I'm not going to have time to get into details of "so-and-so recorded it in their basement but didn't put it out until a day later than this other so-and-so." An original for our purposes will be the first released recording of a song, and a cover is everything thereafter.
Q: So you're saying, Ms. 4, that if a song was written by the world's greatest band in 1963 and given to their paste-eating brother band to record, and then WGB later released the same song after PEBB did, then we'll consider the PEBB version the original and the WGB version a cover of the song they actually wrote.
A: Yes.
Q: Are you sure? Shouldn't we care about the songwriters?
A: Stop it.
Q: Is a reworking of a song by the same artist a cover? In other words, can an artist cover its own song?
A: My answer for these purposes will be no. An exception, however, will be made for the same artist merely appearing in a later version. For instance, if Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" is later covered by Billy's new band, the Uruk-Hais, then you can draft the Uruk-Hais' version as a cover, and vice versa. I'm not going to get into band lineup changes and will be basing this purely on artist name. If it's different, then it's eligible.
Q: What about artists who change their own names without line-up changes, like Cat Stevens or Prince or whatever the hell John Lennon and Paul McCartney were doing in the 70s?
A: Screw those guys.
Q: Hey, I'm a big fan of spirituals and hymns and other old-timey stuff (and frankly don't appreciate your language in the prior answer). What are we going to do about those?
A: Assume the recordings are all covers unless evidence clearly shows otherwise after minimal research by me.
Q: I have other questions. What should I do?
A: PM @shuke , of course.
Before we get started PLEASE (Re-)READ this requirement regarding formatting, which I have cleverly copied from my own prior post. We can call this a "cover version" of that post! "Lesson learned from last time: have entries formatted somewhat similarly so that I don't spend hours upon hours reformatting every entry. Please send your list with the song name first, then the artist name, and please put your top choice (31 points) at the top of your list. If you want my undying loyalty, you will also send links (either Spotify or YouTube is fine) - preferably hyperlinks within the song title - but they are not required. The requested formatting is required, however, and I'll return any entries that aren't in that format. Also, a couple of people sent them last time with the artist name as if in an alphabetical list - such as "Spinners, The" or "Wonder, Stevie." Please don't do this. Just type out the artist name as it exists."
EDITEDIT: For submissions, please use this format: Song title - Song cover artist (original artist)
*Negotiable based on group preference.
What to do: send me a list of your top 31 cover songs by the end of the day on January 26.* I'll start the countdown the following week. Unlike the prior countdowns, I might or might not post a new entry every day - we'll see how the timing shakes out in terms of everyone's ability to listen to the playlists. Of course, because of the duplication in our lists, these playlists don't take quite as long to get through.
There is no limit to the number of songs you can take from any single artist - either as the coverer or the coveree - and no limit to how many times you can select covers of the same song.
At first I thought this countdown, unlike the PITA requirements of the prior ones, wouldn't require any vetting. Then I realized that, while it will be easier, some vetting will still be necessary. What is a cover, exactly? I've thought through the following questions and done a lot of research, but there is no set definition of "cover" so I'm making some calls on these issues. Let's work all that out before we get started:
Q: Is a cover based on who recorded a song or who wrote it?
A: Generally speaking what is an "original" is based on who recorded it first, and for ease of use I am going to say it's not only who recorded it but who released it first. I'm not going to have time to get into details of "so-and-so recorded it in their basement but didn't put it out until a day later than this other so-and-so." An original for our purposes will be the first released recording of a song, and a cover is everything thereafter.
Q: So you're saying, Ms. 4, that if a song was written by the world's greatest band in 1963 and given to their paste-eating brother band to record, and then WGB later released the same song after PEBB did, then we'll consider the PEBB version the original and the WGB version a cover of the song they actually wrote.
A: Yes.
Q: Are you sure? Shouldn't we care about the songwriters?
A: Stop it.
Q: Is a reworking of a song by the same artist a cover? In other words, can an artist cover its own song?
A: My answer for these purposes will be no. An exception, however, will be made for the same artist merely appearing in a later version. For instance, if Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" is later covered by Billy's new band, the Uruk-Hais, then you can draft the Uruk-Hais' version as a cover, and vice versa. I'm not going to get into band lineup changes and will be basing this purely on artist name. If it's different, then it's eligible.
Q: What about artists who change their own names without line-up changes, like Cat Stevens or Prince or whatever the hell John Lennon and Paul McCartney were doing in the 70s?
A: Screw those guys.
Q: Hey, I'm a big fan of spirituals and hymns and other old-timey stuff (and frankly don't appreciate your language in the prior answer). What are we going to do about those?
A: Assume the recordings are all covers unless evidence clearly shows otherwise after minimal research by me.
Q: I have other questions. What should I do?
A: PM @shuke , of course.
Before we get started PLEASE (Re-)READ this requirement regarding formatting, which I have cleverly copied from my own prior post. We can call this a "cover version" of that post! "Lesson learned from last time: have entries formatted somewhat similarly so that I don't spend hours upon hours reformatting every entry. Please send your list with the song name first, then the artist name, and please put your top choice (31 points) at the top of your list. If you want my undying loyalty, you will also send links (either Spotify or YouTube is fine) - preferably hyperlinks within the song title - but they are not required. The requested formatting is required, however, and I'll return any entries that aren't in that format. Also, a couple of people sent them last time with the artist name as if in an alphabetical list - such as "Spinners, The" or "Wonder, Stevie." Please don't do this. Just type out the artist name as it exists."
EDITEDIT: For submissions, please use this format: Song title - Song cover artist (original artist)
*Negotiable based on group preference.
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