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The Songfactors' Choice: Best Debut Single


Lucky

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Ok, we've got ourselves a list, and here it is .... a bit of a surprise to me, see what you think:

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten: Best Debut Single

1. Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits

2. Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix

3. American Pie - Don McLean

4. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

5. Alive - Pearl Jam

6. Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum

7. Take It Easy - Eagles

8. My Sharona - The Knack

9. Break On Through (To the Other Side) - The Doors

10. More than a Feeling - Boston

Please, talk amongst yourselves. ;)

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And the full list ... I know you're wondering. ;)

1. Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits 77

2. Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix 76

3. American Pie - Don McLean 71

4. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison 67

5. Alive - Pearl Jam 63

6. Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum 61

7. Take It Easy - Eagles 52

8. My Sharona - The Knack 51

9. Break On Through (To the Other Side) - The Doors 50 (10)

10. More than a Feeling - Boston 50 (8)

Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones 50 (7)

Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin 49

Hush - Deep Purple 47

Breakdown - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 44

Piano Man - Billy Joel 43

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield 32

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel 30 (6)

Vision of Love - Mariah Carey 30 (4)

Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine 28 (7)

Supersonic - Oasis 28 (3)

She's Not There - Zombies 24 (6)

Runaway - Del Shannon 24 (3)

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman 22 (9)

Fallin' - Alicia Keys 22 (4)

Anarchy in the U.K. - Sex Pistols 20 (4)

Tribute - Tenacious D 20 (3)

Question 67 & 68 - Chicago 19

Last Train To Clarksville - Monkees 17 (4)

West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 17 (3)

Hand In Glove - The Smiths 14

When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge 13

Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Joe Jackson 12 (3)

Our Lips are Sealed - The Go-Gos 12 (3)

Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd 10

Can't Get Enough - Bad Company 9

Human Behaviour - Björk 5

I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore - The Young Rascals 2

I find the full list more surprising than the final ten. How about you?

Edited by Guest
Points, along with the tiebreaking # of voters
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220px-thumb.jpgMN0072624.gif

A transitional period for Van, fronting Them and then signing a solo artist contract with Bang Records and producer / arranger Bert Berns (in the style of the Brill Building of the earlier 1960's.)

It showcases Morrison's early songwriting potential that would later be prevalent in albums Astral Weeks and Moondance.

An auspicious debut. :bow:

:cool:

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Ack ... sorry. brb. :tongue:

Okay, the list is complete with the points (as well as the tiebreaking # of voters in parenthesis). A huge number of ties. A close list, to be sure.

Thanks Lucky.

When people make comments on the main page, I'm going to double-check the songs they list as "should've been included" because I think that most of those will actually not be the debut singles.

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Dire Straits at #1 is a bit of a surprise!, but the rest of it is predictable. Solid list however.

I find it very logic... "Sultans Of Swing" was a revolution in Europe.

Besides, I'm glad a nom of mine made it to #1... I think it's the econd time it happens in any sort of lists :laughing:

A very good Top, by the way... :thumbsup:

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I didn't say there was anything bad about it, but it caught me off-guard.

I should have voted for Blitzkrieg Bop :doh:, that song was revolutionary and influential, even more so than a lot of the ones that made the 10.

Also, then I wouldn't have to write a paragraph out for #10 :D

Edited by Guest
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"Sultans Of Swing"

Dire Straits

It was written by Mark Knoppfler and recorded as a demo that became very succesful at Radio London. Its local fame lead to a contract with Vertigo, a label distributed by Phonogram and it was released in May 1978, then in January 1979, reaching #4 in the Billboard charts and #8 in the UK. The single was released again in 1988.

Mark Knoppfler's guitar and nasal voice contribued to the successs of the song, being mistaken often with Bob Dylan.

The original demo was included in their first LP.

I wrote this as I thought we had to write some comment about the songs... :P was I right?

Edited by Guest
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I can't say how happy I am with the Dire Straits on #1 :)

Sultans of swing is such a subtle song, it has many different layers which combine themselves very well in the song about a lost bar band. This was made by a band of younglings, but boy could they play that music right, brilliant!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We decided to go without a big description for each song this time, since they mostly would break down to "This great song was released in xyz - it was to be the first hit in a long and fruitful career" ;)

Unless anyone has something explicitly against it?

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