I started my Top 500 over a year ago when Brock announced he was working on his. It went through a lot of changes and initially I had a true favorite songs list but there were so many deep album cuts never released as singles and being I wanted it to be a “Countdown” with chart positions I decided it would be a “Pop” 500 and eventually decided all songs had to hit one of the 4 major charts (Billboard, Cashbox, Record World, and Radio and Records). As I was going along, I found several songs on my list that just bubbled under, but they did chart (courtesy of the “Comparison Book” by Joel Whitburn). These were included because they did chart.
Once that was decided on, I compiled my list which had well over 1,000 songs and I began making my choices. As this went along some songs which had made the cut were dropped and others that hadn’t moved up. How I did this was a whole lot of listening to the songs which I had downloaded into my car. As I went along, I found myself wanting to skip some songs, so they fell off the Top 500 list. As I was going along, I did the research and put in the peak positions, and I included the KHJ Boss Radio Top 30 positions (Southern California) and in doing this I discovered there we a fair number of songs that bombed nationally that were bigger hits locally.
There were times I remember thinking this is just too hard and I like too many songs but eventually I was comfortable with my Top 500 as it is and found most of the songs I had liked since they first came out but there were ones I discovered later that left such an impression on me I felt they had become among my favorite all-time song
Really looking forward to your top 500! It will be quite relatable since I started listening to the radio and buying records around the same time as you. As you present your results, it will be interesting to see how much living in Southern California plays a role. Perhaps you could also mention a few songs you really liked that didn't make your list because they didn't chart? Thanks in advance for sharing, and all you do with the blog!
ReplyDeleteI can mention a few songs that I like that didn't chart and I also have a list of songs that were under consideration I will post. Hope you like it and hoping others comment on any of the songs they like or even if they do not like them.
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