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Sunday, 11 January 2015

Eligible Songs

To the best of my knowledge listed below are all of the eligible songs for the top 50 as at February 2015.  Some songs may appear on more than one release, so the ones listed are simply those that fit into the chronology easiest as a guide for anyone hunting down any gaps in their collection.  No excuses for forgetting any now!!!


Suicide Alley (from Suicide Alley)
New Art Riot, Strip it Down, Last Exit on Yesterday, Teenage 20/20 (from New Art Riot)
Motown Junk, Sorrow 16, We Her Majesty's Prisoners (from Motown Junk)
Starlover (from You Love Us (Heavenly))
RP McMurphy, Soul Contamination (from Stay Beautiful)
Democracy Coma (from Repeat/Love's Sweet Exile)
A Vision of Dead Desire, It's So Easy (from You Love Us)
Slash N' Burn, Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds, Born to End, Motorcycle Emptiness, You Love Us, Love's Sweet Exile, Little Baby Nothing, Tennessee, Another Invented Disease, Stay Beautiful, So Dead, Repeat, Spectators of Suicide, Damn Dog, Crucifix Kiss, Methadone Pretty, Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll (from Generation Terrorists)
Ain't Going Down (from Slash N' Burn)
Bored Out of My Mind, Under My Wheels (from Motorcycle Emptiness)
Theme from MASH (Suicide is Painless) (from Theme From MASH)
Never Want Again, Dead Yankee Drawl (from Little Baby Nothing)

Sleepflower, From Despair to Where, La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh), Yourself, Life Becoming a Landslide, Drug Drug Druggy, Roses in the Hospital, Nostalgic Pushead, Symphony of Tourette, Gold Against the Soul (from Gold Against the Soul)
Hibernation (from From Despair to Where)
Patrick Bateman, What's My Name (from La Tristesse Durera)
Us Against You, Donkeys, Wrote for Luck (from Roses in the Hospital)
Comfort Comes, Are Mothers Saints, Charles Windsor (from Life Becoming a Landslide)

Yes, ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart, Of Walking Abortion, She is Suffering, Archives of Pain, Revol, 4st 7lb, Mausoleum, Faster, This is Yesterday, Die in the Summertime, The Intense Humming of Evil, PCP (from The Holy Bible)
Judge Yr'self (from Lipstick Traces)
Sculpture of Man (from Faster/PCP)
Too Cold Here (from Revol)
Love Torn Us Under, Stay With Me, The Drowners (from She is Suffering)
Penny Royal Tea (from Evening Session Priority Tunes)

Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier, A Design for Life, Kevin Carter, Enola/Alone, Everything Must Go, Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky, The Girl Who Wanted to be God, Removables, Australia, Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning), Further Away, No Surface All Feeling (from Everything Must Go)
Mr Carbohydrate, Dead Passive, Dead Trees and Traffic Islands, Bright Eyes (from A Design for Life)
Black Garden, Hanging On, No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me, Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (from Everything Must Go)
Horses Under Starlight, Sepia, First Republic (from Kevin Carter)
Velocity Girl, Take the Skinheads Bowling, Can't Take My Eyes Off You (from Australia)
Dixie, Glory Glory (from Everything Must Go 10th Anniversary)

The Everlasting, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, You Stole the Sun From My Heart, Ready for Drowning, Tsunami, My Little Empire, I'm Not Working, You're Tender and You're Tired, Born a Girl, Be Natural, Black Dog on my Shoulder, Nobody Loved You, SYMM (from This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours)
Prologue to History, Montana Autumn 78 (from If You Tolerate This...)
Black Holes for the Young, Valley Boy (from The Everlasting)
Socialist Serenade, Train in Vain (from You Stole the Sun From My Heart)
Buildings for Dead People (from Tsunami)
The Masses Against the Classes, Close My Eyes, Rock and Roll Music (from The Masses Against the Classes)

Found That Soul, Ocean Spray, Intravenous Agnostic, So Why So Sad, Let Robeson Sing, The Year of Purification, Wattsville Blues, Miss Europa Disco Dancer, Dead Martyrs, His Last Painting, My Guernica, The Convalescent, Royal Correspondent, Epicentre, Baby Elian, Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children, We Are All Bourgeois Now (from Know Your Enemy)
Locust Valley, Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel (from Found That Soul)
Pedestal (from So Why So Sad)
Groundhog Days, Just a Kid, Little Trolls (from Ocean Spray)
Masking Tape, Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, Fear of Motion (from Let Robeson Sing)

Door to the River (from Forever Delayed)
There By the Grace of God, Automatik Teknicolour, It's All Gone, Unstoppable Salvation, Happy Ending (from There By the Grace of God)
4 Ever Delayed, Been a Son, Out of Time, Last Christmas (from Lipstick Traces)

1985, The Love of Richard Nixon, Empty Souls, A Song for Departure, I Live to Fall Asleep, To Repel Ghosts, Emily, Glasnost, Always - Never, Solitude Sometimes Is, Fragments, Cardiff Afterlife (from Lifeblood)
The Soulmates, Antarctic (from Japanese Lifeblood)
Everyone Knows-Nobody Cares, Everything Will Be, Askew Road, Quarantine (In My Place Of), Voodoo Polaroids (from The Love of Richard Nixon)
All Alone Here, No Jubilees, Litany, Dying Breeds, Failure Bound (from Empty Souls)
A Secret Society, Firefight, Picturesque (from God Save the Manics)
Leviathan (from Help: A Day in the Life)
The Instrumental (from Still Unravished: A Tribute to the June Brides)

Send Away the Tigers, Underdogs, Your Love Alone is Not Enough, Indian Summer, The Second Great Depression, Rendition, Autumnsong, I'm Just a Patsy, Imperial Bodybags, Winterlovers, Working Class Hero (from Send Away the Tigers)
Fearless Punk Ballad, Boxes & Lists, Love Letter to the Future, Welcome to the Dead Zone, Little Girl Lost (from Your Love Alone is Not Enough)
The Vorticists, The Long Goodbye, Morning Comrades, 1404, Red Sleeping Beauty (from Autumnsong)
You Know It's Going to Hurt, Heyday of the Blood, Foggy Eyes, Lady Lazarus, Anorexic Rodin (from Indian Summer)
The Ghost of Christmas (download only)
Umbrella (from NME Awards 2008)

Peeled Apples, Jackie Collins Existential Question Time, Me and Stephen Hawking, This Joke Sport Severed, Journal for Plague Lovers, She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach, Facing Page Top Left, Marlon JD, Doors Closing Slowly, All is Vanity, Pretension - Repulsion, Virginia State Epileptic Colony, William's Last Words, Bag Lady (from Journal For Plague Lovers)
Alien Orders - Invisible Armies, Primitive Painters (from Japanese Journal For Plague Lovers)
Vision Blurred (download only)

(It's Not War) Just the End of Love, Postcards From a Young Man, Some Kind of Nothingness, The Descent (Pages 1 & 2), Hazelton Avenue, Auto Intoxication, Golden Platitudes, I Think I Found It, A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun, All We Make is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever, Don't Be Evil (from Postcards From a Young Man)
I Know the Numbers, I'm Leaving You For Solitude, Distractions, Ostpolitik, Lost Voices (from It's Not War....)
Time Ain't Nothing, Broken Up Again, Red Rubber, Evidence Against Myself, Slow Reflections - Strange Delays (from Some Kind of Nothingness)
The Passing Show, Inky Fingers, Engage With Your Shadow, Kiss My Eyes For Eternity, Midnight Sun (from Postcards From a Young Man)

This is the Day, Rock 'N' Roll Genius, We Were Never Told (from This is the Day)
The Endless Plain of Fortune (from National Treasures The Selected Singles)
Wake Up Alone (from Back to Back to Black)

This Sullen Welsh Heart, Show Me the Wonder, Rewind the Film, Builder of Routines, 4 Lonely Roads, (I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline, Anthem For a Lost Cause, As Holy As the Soil (That Buries Your Skin), 3 Ways To See Despair, Running Out Of Fantasy, Manorbier, 30-Year War (from Rewind the Film)
T.E. Lawrence On a Bike, What Happened to the Blue Generation, Melancholyme (from Show Me the Wonder)
Death Of A Digital Ghost, See It Like Sutherland (from Anthem For a Lost Cause)

Futurology, Walk Me to the Bridge, Let's Go To War, The Next Jet To Leave Moscow, Europa Geht Durch Mich, Divine Youth, Sex, Power, Love and Money, Dreaming a City (Hughesovka), Black Square, Between the Clock and the Bed, Misguided Missile, The View From Stow Hill, Mayakovsky, Blistered Mirrors, Empty Motorcade, The Last Time I Saw Paris (from Futurology)
The Sound of Detachment, Caldey (from Walk Me to the Bridge)
Antisocialmanifesto, Kodawari (from Futurology)
Start Me Up (from Sounds of the 80s)

Saturday, 10 January 2015

Top 50 Summer 2013 Full Chart

The chart below was compiled from 62 different top 50s  submitted by Manic Street Preachers fans during July and August 2013.  Points were awarded based on 50 for number one, 49 for number 2 etc, down to 1 point for number 50, and the final tally for each song is shown after the name of each one.  Where songs tied on points in the overall chart, the number of entries in the charts were used first to determine placing, followed by highest placing in an individual chart.  Any that still tied are shown with an "=" sign.  Thank you to all people who took part in, followed or promoted these charts, it has been great fun!!!

See also the sub-charts tab with all manner of Manics-related lists that came out of these selections!!

Manics Fans' Final Full Chart (All Songs)
1. Faster 2525
2. Motorcycle Emptiness 2436
3. A Design for Life 2076
4. Yes 1959
5. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 1796
6. Motown Junk 1677
7. Little Baby Nothing 1512
8. Stay Beautiful 1506
9. From Despair to Where 1472
10. You Love Us 1358
11. PCP 1291
12. Roses in the Hospital 1179
13. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 1175
14. No Surface All Feeling 1134
15. Your Love Alone is not Enough 1081
16. The Masses Against the Classes 1006
17. This is Yesterday 1004
18. Sleepflower 974
19. 4st 7lb 943
20. Life Becoming a Landslide 910
21. Judge Yr'self 900
22. Small Black Flowers that Grow in the Sky 899
23. Revol 873
24. Everything Must Go 835
25. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time 800
26. Slash N' Burn 796
27. Some Kind of Nothingness 792
28. The Everlasting 737
29. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart 727
30. Autumnsong 725
31. Found that Soul 712
32. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love 699
33. Suicide is Painless (Theme from MASH) 695
34. Peeled Apples 676
35. Kevin Carter 667
36. You Stole the Sun from my Heart 664
37. Archives of Pain 653
38. Australia 645
39. Prologue to History 641
40. Enola/Alone 630
41. Solitude Sometimes Is 627
42. Send Away the Tigers 615
43. Die in the Summertime 615
44. Of Walking Abortion 610
45. This Joke Sport Severed 600
46. Ocean Spray 594
47. Ready for Drowning 583
48. Marlon JD 578
49. William's Last Words 566
50. She is Suffering 564
51. Love's Sweet Exile 563
52. Empty Souls 558
53. Golden Platitudes 551
54. All is Vanity 535
55. Tsunami 522
56. The Girl Who Wanted to be God 501
57. Postcards from a Young Man 497
58. 1985 497
59. Mausoleum 490
60. Further Away 485
61. Let Robeson Sing 475
62. Me and Stephen Hawking 441
63. Underdogs 433
64. My Little Empire 427
65. Donkeys 424
66. Facing Page: Top Left 424
67. Spectators of Suicide 419
68. Nobody Loved You 405
69. Sepia 388
70. Intravenous Agnostic 377
71. Rewind the Film 374
72. 4 Ever Delayed 371
73. The Love of Richard Nixon 351
74. Black Dog on my Shoulder 347
75. Indian Summer 346
76. Comfort Comes 345
77. Another Invented Disease 332
78. A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun 322
79. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier 319
80. Glasnost 310
81. Yourself 304
82. Patrick Bateman 299
83. Baby Elian 293
84. Pretension/Repulsion 287
85. Born to End 286
86. Repeat 285
87. Journal for Plague Lovers 275
88. Born a Girl 270
89. A Song for Departure 270
90. This is the Day 265
91. Hibernation 263
92. Virginia State Epileptic Colony 252
93. Bag Lady 249
94. Cardiff Afterlife 240
95. Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll 235
96. Sorrow 16 232
97. All We Make is Entertainment 231
98. Miss Europa Disco Dancer 230
99. She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach 228
100. I Live to Fall Asleep 228
101. Drug Drug Druggy 224
102. Imperial Bodybags 217
103. The Second Great Depression 216
104. Removables 210
105. Mr Carbohydrate 207
106. Umbrella 206
107. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever 203
108. There by the Grace of God 200
109. Suicide Alley 198
110. The Intense Humming of Evil 192
111. New Art Riot 186
112. Freedom of Speech Won't Feed my Children 184
113. Door to the River 180
114. Doors Closing Slowly 179
115. I'm Just a Patsy 177
116. You're Tender and youre tired 177
117. To Repel Ghosts 176
118. Bored Out of my Mind 175
119. I Think I Found It 171
120. Crucifix Kiss 169
121. Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds 168
122. His Last Painting 161
123. My Guernica 159
124. Close my Eyes 156
125. We Are All Bourgeois Now 155
126. So Why So Sad 153
127. Hazelton Avenue 153
128. Damn Dog 152
129. Epicentre 152
130. Firefight 150
131. I'm Not Working 149
132. Dead Martyrs 148
133. Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) 145
134. Democracy Coma 138
135. The Year of Purification 134
136. Too Cold Here 132
137. Nostalgic Pushead 128
138. Dead Trees and Traffic Islands 126
139. The Convalescent 125
140. Wattsville Blues 123
141. Be Natural 115
142. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head 113
143. Emily 113
144. Rendition 110
145. RP McMurphy 108
146. Cant Take My Eyes Off You 105
147. Methadone Pretty 105
148. Gold Against the Soul 102
149. Always/Never 101
150. Tennessee 98
151. Just a Kid 98
152. Show Me the Wonder 97
153. Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel 88
154. Starlover 87
155. Valley Boy 82
156. Symphony of Tourette 80
157. So Dead 79
158. Automatik Teknicolour 79
159. Don't be Evil 78
160. Sculpture of Man 78
161. Auto-Intoxication 72
162. Fragments 71
163. Anorexic Rodin 71
164. The Drowners 70
165. Royal Correspondent 69
166. Soul Contamination 69
167. We Were Never Told 66
168. Socialist Serenade 66
169. Winterlovers 65
170. Velocity Girl 65
171. No One Knows What It's Like to be Me 64
172. Last Exit on Yesterday 62
173. Red Rubber 61
174. Everything Will Be 61
175. It's So Easy 56
176. A Secret Society 55
177. Hanging On 54
178. Ain't Going Down 54
179. First Republic 52
180. Love Torn us Under 52
181. A Vision of Dead Desire 51
182. Take the Skinheads Bowling 50
183. Working Class Hero 50
184. The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) 49
185. Never Want Again 47
186. Teenage 20/20 45
187. You Know it's Going to Hurt 42
188. Leviathan 41
189. I Know the Numbers 39
190. Vision Blurred 39
191. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel 38
192. Bright Eyes 37
193. Dead Passive 37
194. Strip it Down 35
195. Boxes & Lists 35
196. Are Mothers Saints 33
197. Out of Time 30
198. Us Against You 30
199. Evidence Against Myself 30
= The Instrumental 30
201. Dead Yankee Drawl 29
202. Masking Tape 29
= UK Channel Boredom 29
204. Unstoppable Salvation 27
= Welcome to the Dead zone 27
206. Last Christmas 26
207. S.Y.M.M. 26
= What's My Name 26
209. Montana/Autumn/78 25
210. Little Girl Lost 25
211. Groundhog Days 22
212. Love Letter to the Future 21
213. Black Garden 20
214. Ostpolitik 18
215. Broken Up Again 18
= Lady Lazarus 18
= The Vorticists 18
218. Locust Valley 17
219. Fearless Punk Ballad 13
220. Heyday of the Blood 13
221. All Alone Here 12
222. 1404 11
= It's All Gone 11
224. Been a Son 9
225. Black Holes for the Young 9
= Midnight Sun 9
227. Rock and Roll Music 8
228. We Her Majesty's Prisoners 7
229. Distractions 7
= The Endless Plain of Fortune 7
231. Red Sleeping Beauty 6
232. I'm Leaving You for Solitude 5
233. Morning Comrades 4
234. Buildings for Dead People 2
235. Alien Orders/Invisible Armies 0
= Antarctic 0
= Askew Road 0
= Charles Windsor 0
= Dixie 0
= Dying Breeds 0
= Engage with your Shadow 0
= Everyone Knows/Nobody Cares 0
= Failure Bound 0
= Fear of Motion 0
= Foggy Eyes 0
= Glory Glory 0
= Happy Ending 0
= Horses Under Starlight 0
= Inky Fingers 0
= Kiss my Eyes for Eternity 0
= Litany  0
= Little Trolls 0
= Lost Voices 0
= No Jubilees 0
= Pedestal 0
= Penny Royal Tea 0
= Picturesque 0
= Primitive Painters 0
= Quarantine (In My Place of) 0
= Rock 'N' Roll Genius 0
= Slow Reflections/Strange Delays 0
= Stay With Me 0
= The Ghost of Christmas 0
= The Long Goodbye 0
= The Passing Show 0
= The Soulmates 0
= Time Ain't Nothing 0
= Train in Vain 0
= Under My Wheels 0
= Voodoo Polaroids 0
= Wake Up Alone 0
=Wrote for Luck 0

Top 50 Summer 2013 Sub-Charts

In this section you will find all manner of sub-charts breaking down the Manics Fans' Chart in various ways, these include:
  • Album Chart (by scores)
  • Album Chart (by average score per song, so no cheating 'Generation Terrorists'!)
  • Number Ones (from the individual charts)
  • Chart for each Album (Songs ordered by scores)
  • B-Sides Top 20
  • Covers Top 20
  • National Treasures Chart (see how those big songs got on at a glance)
  • Highest Scorers by Album/Era (which person gave most points to each album/era?)
  • Producers Chart

So did you have an idea what would come out on top of the favourite album chart?  I certainly wasn't surprised by the first chart where it shows which album purely scored the most.  But in the second chart, where those total scores are divided by the number of eligible songs on the album I was very surprised at what came in at number two!!  Not in as much as my personal preferences, but just general expectations!!  It certainly looks like those albums with more songs (GT and KYE) are dragged down by those songs featured which aren't as popular.

Album Chart By Scores
1. The Holy Bible 12446
2. Generation Terrorists 10499
3. Everything Must Go 8546
4. Gold Against the Soul 7169
5. Journal for Plague Lovers 6090
6. This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 5597
7. Know Your Enemy 4244
8. Send Away the Tigers 4035
9. Postcards From a Young Man 3818
10. Lifeblood 3542

Album Chart by Average Score per Song
1. The Holy Bible 957
2. Gold Against the Soul 717
3. Everything Must Go 712
4. Generation Terrorists 618
5. Journal for Plague Lovers 435
6. This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 431
7. Send Away the Tigers 367
8. Postcards From a Young Man 318
9. Lifeblood 295
10. Know Your Enemy 250

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So, out of 62 charts, we had 28 different number ones!!!  That's a lot of variation, although we still had some recurring favourites, as you can see below.  Also, 10 of the number one selections didn't even make the final top 50!!  So, look at your chart and feel content with the fact that other people also like your number one choice as much as you do, or that you are unique!!

Number Ones
1. Motorcycle Emptiness 11
2. Faster 8
3. Yes 7
4. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 5
5. Motown Junk 4
6. A Design for Life 3
7. Stay Beautiful 3
8. 1985 1
= Another Invented Disease 1
= Archives of Pain 1
= Autumnsong 1
= Cardiff Afterlife 1
= Journal for Plague Lovers 1
= Little Baby Nothing 1
= Love's Sweet Exile 1
= No Surface All Feeling 1
= Nostalgic Pushead 1
= Ocean Spray 1
= PCP 1
= Postcards From a Young Man 1
= Ready for Drowning 1
= Small Black Flowers that Grow in the Sky 1
= Solitude Sometimes Is 1
= This Joke Sport Severed 1
= To Repel Ghosts 1
= Tsunami 1
= Underdogs 1
= Your Love Alone is not Enough 1

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So, you may have your favourite on all the albums, but do others agree with you?  Personally, there weren't many placings in these charts that surprised me, one or two here and there, but nothing major.  Hands up whose eyes are going straight to the bottom of the list just as much as the top?!!  I find JFPL an interesting chart because there isn't a massive variation between the songs, maybe due to there being no official singles taken from it.  Other albums have their big hitters and the less-liked tracks which even themselves out to a degree.  Still amazed that all of the album tracks got at least one vote!!

Generation Terrorists
1. Motorcycle Emptiness 2436
2. Little Baby Nothing 1512
3. Stay Beautiful 1506
4. You Love Us 1358
5. Slash N' Burn 796
6. Love's Sweet Exile 563
7. Spectators of Suicide 419
8. Another Invented Disease 332
9. Born to End 286
10. Repeat 285
11. Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll 235
12. Crucifix Kiss 169
13. Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds 168
14. Damn Dog 152
15. Methadone Pretty 105
16. Tennessee 98
17. So Dead 79

Gold Against the Soul
1. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 1796
2. From Despair to Where 1472
3. Roses in the Hospital 1179
4. Sleepflower 974
5. Life Becoming a Landslide 910
6. Yourself 304
7. Drug Drug Druggy 224
8. Nostalgic Pushead 128
9. Gold Against the Soul 102
10. Symphony of Tourette 80

The Holy Bible
1. Faster 2525
2. Yes 1959
3. PCP 1291
4. This is Yesterday 1004
5. 4st 7lb 943
6. Revol 873
7. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart 727
8. Archives of Pain 653
9. Die in the Summertime 615
10. Of Walking Abortion 610
11. She is Suffering 564
12. Mausoleum 490
13. The Intense Humming of Evil 192

Everything Must Go
1. A Design for Life 2076
2. No Surface All Feeling 1134
3. Small Black Flowers that Grow in the Sky 899
4. Everything Must Go 835
5. Kevin Carter 667
6. Australia 645
7. Enola/Alone 630
8. The Girl Who Wanted to be God 501
9. Further Away 485
10. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier 319
11. Removables 210
12. Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) 145

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
1. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 1175
2. The Everlasting 737
3. You Stole the Sun from my Heart 664
4. Ready for Drowning 583
5. Tsunami 522
6. My Little Empire 427
7. Nobody Loved You 405
8. Black Dog on my Shoulder 347
9. Born a Girl 270
10. You're Tender and you're Tired 177
11. I'm Not Working 149
12. Be Natural 115
13. S.Y.M.M. 26

Know Your Enemy
1. Found that Soul 712
2. Ocean Spray 594
3. Let Robeson Sing 475
4. Intravenous Agnostic 377
5. Baby Elian 293
6. Miss Europa Disco Dancer 230
7. Freedom of Speech Won't Feed my Children 184
8. His Last Painting 161
9. My Guernica 159
10. We Are All Bourgeois Now 155
11. So Why So Sad 153
12. Epicentre 152
13. Dead Martyrs 148
14. The Year of Purification 134
15. The Convalescent 125
16. Wattsville Blues 123
17. Royal Correspondent 69

Lifeblood
1. Solitude Sometimes Is 627
2. Empty Souls 558
3. 1985 497
4. The Love of Richard Nixon 351
5. Glasnost 310
6. A Song for Departure 270
7. Cardiff Afterlife 240
8. I Live to Fall Asleep 228
9. To Repel Ghosts 176
10. Emily 113
11. Always/Never 101
12. Fragments 71

Send Away the Tigers
1. Your Love Alone is Not Enough 1081
2. Autumnsong 725
3. Send Away the Tigers 615
4. Underdogs 433
5. Indian Summer 346
6. Imperial Bodybags 217
7. The Second Great Depression 216
8. I'm Just a Patsy 177
9. Rendition 110
10. Winterlovers 65
11. Working Class Hero 50

Journal for Plague Lovers
1. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time 800
2. Peeled Apples 676
3. This Joke Sport Severed 600
4. Marlon JD 578
5. William's Last Words 566
6. All is Vanity 535
7. Me and Stephen Hawking 441
8. Facing Page: Top Left 424
9. Pretension/Repulsion 287
10. Journal for Plague Lovers 275
11. Virginia State Epileptic Colony 252
12. Bag Lady 249
13. She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach 228
14. Doors Closing Slowly 179

Postcards From a Young Man
1. Some Kind of Nothingness 792
2. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love 699
3. Golden Platitudes 551
4. Postcards From a Young Man 497
5. A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun 322
6. All We Make is Entertainment 231
7. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever 203
8. I Think I Found It 171
9. Hazelton Avenue 153
10. Don't be Evil 78
11. Auto-Intoxication 72
12. The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) 49

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I must admit I've been intrigued by the battle to be top B-side, but in the end a late rush saw only one real contender and also the only B-side to make the final top 50.  The majority of the entries can be found on 'Lipstick Traces', which may have helped them on their way a bit, and there are a distinct lack of entries for later B-sides, 'Lifeblood' doing particularly badly in this respect with eight zero vote songs from a choice of ten B-sides.

B-Sides
1. Prologue to History 641
2. Donkeys 424
3. Sepia 388
4. Comfort Comes 345
5. Patrick Bateman 299
6. Hibernation 263
7. Sorrow 16 232
8. Mr Carbohydrate 207
9. Bored Out of my Mind 175
10. Close my Eyes 156
11. Democracy Coma 138
12. Too Cold Here 132
13. Dead Trees and Traffic Islands 126
14. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head 113
15. RP McMurphy 108
16. Cant Take My Eyes Off You 105
17. Just a Kid 98
18. Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel 88
19. Starlover 87
20. Valley Boy 82

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As you can see from the chart below, cover versions seemed to be relatively unpopular in terms of votes.  'Faster' and 'Motorcycle Emptiness' both got more votes each than all of the covers put together!! Maybe it's because a lot of them are tucked away, hidden from view and memory as B-sides/hidden tracks etc. or maybe they just don't stand up as well when you put them next to the originals.  Whichever it is, another interesting fact is that over a quarter of the no-vote songs were actually covers.  No surprises with the chart topper here, the only cover to make the final 50.

Covers

1. Suicide is Painless (Theme from MASH) 695
2. This is the Day 265
3. Umbrella 206
4. We Are All Bourgeois Now 155
5. Damn Dog 152
6. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head 113
7. Can't Take My Eyes Off You 105
8. The Drowners 70
9. Velocity Girl 65
10. It's So Easy 56
11. Take the Skinheads Bowling 50
12. Working Class Hero 50
13. Vision Blurred 39
14. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel 38
15. Bright Eyes 37
16. Out of Time 30
17. The Instrumental 30
18. Last Christmas 26
19. What's My Name 26
20. Been a Son 9

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With 38 songs on it, you would expect all of the 'National Treasures' songs to get in the top 50 wouldn't you?  Not at all, competition for places was fierce and ten of them ended up missing out, leaving plenty of places for your favourite album tracks.  14 out of the final top 20 were singles though, so they did provide many of the high scorers.

National Treasures
1. Faster 2525
2. Motorcycle Emptiness 2436
3. A Design for Life 2076
5. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 1796
6. Motown Junk 1677
7. Little Baby Nothing 1512
8. Stay Beautiful 1506
9. From Despair to Where 1472
10. You Love Us 1358
12. Roses in the Hospital 1179
13. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 1175
15. Your Love Alone is not Enough 1081
16. The Masses Against the Classes 1006
20. Life Becoming a Landslide 910
23. Revol 873
24. Everything Must Go 835
26. Slash N' Burn 796
27. Some Kind of Nothingness 792
28. The Everlasting 737
30. Autumnsong 725
31. Found that Soul 712
32. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love 699
33. Suicide is Painless (Theme from MASH) 695
35. Kevin Carter 667
36. You Stole the Sun from my Heart 664
38. Australia 645
46. Ocean Spray 594
50. She is Suffering 564
51. Love's Sweet Exile 563
52. Empty Souls 558
55. Tsunami 522
58. Postcards From a Young Man 497
61. Let Robeson Sing 475
73. The Love of Richard Nixon 351
75. Indian Summer 346
90. This is the Day 265
108. There by the Grace of God 200
126. So Why So Sad 153

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We all have our favourite album, but which person gave the most points to songs from each album/era?  As expected some people highly favoured 'Generation Terrorists' and 'The Holy Bible', while 'Lifeblood' never managed to break through the 200 points mark from anyone.

Highest Scorers by Album/Era
Generation Terrorists @BenMyers1 576
Gold Against the Soul @DominikDiamond 318
The Holy Bible @RorsDM 506
Everything Must Go @heather1917 315
This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours @sglaithwaite 264
Know Your Enemy @wade_fletch 203
Lifeblood @KB2X 193
Send Away the Tigers @lonelyaesthetic 201
Journal for Plague Lovers @JackyBhoy 263
Postcards From a Young Man @clarahopscotch 201
Others @pluralistbaby 286

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The Producers Chart (compiled by JamGaw)

The Manifest:
  • Each producer is allocated the points awarded to ‘their’ songs in accordance with the Final Unofficial Top 50 Results.  This includes all 234 tracks that were voted for.
  • Where there are multiple producers behind a song, the points have been shared equally between them.
  • Where there have been multiple versions of a song, the points have been shared equally between the producers behind each version.
  • Where there is no producer credit attached to a song, it is deemed a self produced track (e.g. much of The Holy Bible, early b-sides).
  • Further to 4, engineers have not been included as substitute producer figures. Even though they are technical and arguably more important.*
  • Where various sources indicate different producers, the earliest release has been deemed correct.
  • No live tracks have been included.
  • The final score for each producer is weighted, to account for the total tracks they may have recorded.  For example, if producer A has been involved with 20 tracks, and producer B has only 1 to his name, his score will be multiplied by a factor of 20 to ‘balance the books’.
*there may be a Top Engineers Chart at some point**
** for sanity’s sake, stop this Chartageddon!


The Results
(in brackets: no. of individual productions / no. of joint productions in full chart / points)

10/ Greg Haver (23 / 2 / 11,793):
Major album – Lifeblood
Influential on - Send Away the Tigers
Played percussion live. Helped to shape Lifeblood and of course, Little Trolls. Worked with Melanie C. Small chance of Lifeblood II.

9/   Steve Osborne: (2 / 0 / 16,318):
Significant recordings – 4 Ever Delayed & Unstoppable Salvation
They didn’t even make the Top 50, but the weighting gross up rule placed him.  Next producer credit on Charlie “Busted” Simpson’s upcoming album.  Manics not even listed on his Wikipedia page.

8/   Dave Eringa: (67 / 15 / 23,050):
Major albums - Gold Against the Soul / Know Your Enemy
Influential on – This is My Truth Tell Me Yours / Send Away the Tigers / Postcards From a Young Man
Singles – The Masses Against the Classes / Judge Yr’Self
Plus too many b-sides to list! (inc Patrick Bateman / Socialist Serenade)
Also behind the new live legendary O2 gig recordings.  Nuff said!

7/   Manic Street Preachers: (36 / 21 / 23,628):
Major album – The Holy Bible
Influential on – Postcards From a Young Man
Singles – Suicide Alley and Suicide is Painless
Early b-sides
Always with a hand in production duties themselves lately, with their own Faster studios in Cardiff. But Suicide Alley was self produced, and UK Channel Boredom a mere £25 to record! They’ve literally been there from the start.

6/   Tony Visconti: (3 / 0 / 26,787):
Significant recordings: 3 tracks from Lifeblood tracks (Solitude Sometimes Is, Emily and Cardiff Afterlife)
Has history on his side it seems.  Bowie, Bolan, forget Kaiser Chiefs, Thin Lizzy. A shoe in for when MSP arrive in their 60s.

5/   Howard Gray: (2 / 0 / 27,306):
Significant recordings: 2 b-sides – Prologue to History & Montana/Autumn/78
Who? Australian born, Liverpool raised. 80s saw him work with UB40 & The Cure.  He co-founded dance rock troupe Apollo 440.

4/   Steve Albini: (9 / 0 / 37,684):
Major album: Journal for Plague Lovers
Recording genius, some would say. Plugs in and listens. He brought most of Richey’s words to your ears nearly 15 years after they were written; Edwards would have approved you feel: Nirvana, Pixies, Harvey.

3/   Mike Hedges: (26 / 3 / 38,459):
Major albums: Everything Must Go / This is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Brought strings and Raindrops. Probable mythical rumour that he was approached to produce Holy Bible.  Actually worked on a Harry Potter soundtrack.

2/   Robin Evans: (6 / 0 / 39,517):
Significant recordings: The Early Singles - Motown Junk & Heavenly
Saw and understood the raw and flawed manifesto bleeding tight jean spray painted Manics.

1/   Steve Brown: (19/ 0 / 44,377):
Major album: Generation Terrorists
Started out as Elton John’s road manager and went on to work on Mansun’s unfinished album.  Plenty of GT in the Top 50 so perhaps not surprising his work has adoration.


Unbelievably no placing for Loz Williams, co producer of many a recent b-side, Postcards and the just arrived Rewind the Film; nor Alex Silva, who only has a few b-sides to his name (covers aside, Sepia and First Republic), but was technically behind The Holy Bible, as engineer for that album.

And so the "Steve Brown Campaign for Manics’ Album No. 13” starts here!