The Saxy Rankdown (Deadline: TBD)

[Unhinged]

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a rankdown with all of our favorite songs featuring one of our favorite woodwind instruments, the Saxophone! I’ve got 75 songs so far...list coming soon!

[Deleted]

"Careless Whisper" for the top 10, please 😍

[Deleted]

Please have Epic Sax Guy in it!!!!

[bboat11]

Omg you’d better not pay dust to the king of all saxophones, the Bari Sax!!! Something like the Mingus Band’s “Moanin’” would be EPIC!!! ♥️ And Harry Carney has some fantastic work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, such as “Sophisticated Lady” and “Rhapsody In Blue”.

Or is this rankdown focused more on saxophones in pop culture rather than big band stuff?

[Unhinged]

Mar 22, 2020 19:33:25 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Omg you’d better not pay dust to the king of all saxophones, the Bari Sax!!! Something like the Mingus Band’s “Moanin’” would be EPIC!!! ♥️ And Harry Carney has some fantastic work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, such as “Sophisticated Lady” and “Rhapsody In Blue”.

Or is this rankdown focused more on saxophones in pop culture rather than big band stuff?

I’m fully open to suggestions! I’m at 121 songs now to choose from and mostly all are more pop culture but I’d like a wide variety. List should come tomorrow.

[bboat11]

Mar 22, 2020 20:08:06 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Mar 22, 2020 19:33:25 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Omg you’d better not pay dust to the king of all saxophones, the Bari Sax!!! Something like the Mingus Band’s “Moanin’” would be EPIC!!! ♥️ And Harry Carney has some fantastic work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, such as “Sophisticated Lady” and “Rhapsody In Blue”.

Or is this rankdown focused more on saxophones in pop culture rather than big band stuff?

I’m fully open to suggestions! I’m at 121 songs now to choose from and mostly all are more pop culture but I’d like a wide variety. List should come tomorrow.

Yeah, you can ignore most of the big band stuff probably, because it won't do well anyway against the pop culture stuff. But out of all of them, the Mingus Band's "Moanin" would probably be a song that might be a fun discovery for people!

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

You must feature the original Sexy Sax Man himself Tim Cappello known for his work with Tina Turner.

[Deleted]

Will definitely do this. This will be so hard. I do not know how the public here feels about Epic Sax Guy but it better do well! I have no idea what I'm even going to have top 10 or bottom 10 as of right now. But 80s will definitely be way higher than 2010s songs for me.

[Juanca]

Great list!!
A couple other songs I love that I’m missing here are Kenny G’s Havana (the remix is a jam and my favorite KG song) and Herb Alpert’s Fandango (he and Kenny may be the most successful saxophonist in the hot 100, so he’s certainly missed).

[jenglisbe]

“Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson?!?!

“In Your Eyes” off the new Weeknd album if you want something new.

[Deleted]

Is it a crime
By Sade is saxfull
Hahaha


Anyway... I only know some 20 songs so I will pass

[born]

at a Eurovision song making it.

[Unhinged]

Mar 23, 2020 16:00:54 GMT -5 born said:

at a Eurovision song making it.

It ain’t an official list yet. =p

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

Lots of great songs in this one. I must do it.

[#LisaRinna]

This sounds like a cute idea!

[Deleted]

I really want to do this. Saxophone solos in songs give me life, nearly as much as guitar solos (ok... not quite, but when done well they come very close).

Question: are we supposed to be ranking the songs based on the quality of the saxophone bits + how they complement the song, or based on the overall quality of the song?

[singingrulebritannia]

ok well I'm not sending if the list stays as big as it is. I can do maybe 50 at most. But however you narrow it down, PLEEEEEEEEASE keep "Moanin" and "Take Five". Classic jazz is so rare in rankdowns

[bboat11]

Mar 27, 2020 16:24:44 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

ok well I'm not sending if the list stays as big as it is. I can do maybe 50 at most. But however you narrow it down, PLEEEEEEEEASE keep "Moanin" and "Take Five". Classic jazz is so rare in rankdowns

Oop, we love to see this taste!!!!!!

[Unhinged]

Mar 27, 2020 12:39:04 GMT -5 @aprettyoddmusicbox said:

I really want to do this. Saxophone solos in songs give me life, nearly as much as guitar solos (ok... not quite, but when done well they come very close).

Question: are we supposed to be ranking the songs based on the quality of the saxophone bits + how they complement the song, or based on the overall quality of the song?

I think all of the criteria you mention would be a good place to start: quality of the saxophone parts + how those parts compliment the song + overall song quality.

Nothing set in stone of course, participants can rank which ever way they wish, the above is more for guidance.

[Unhinged]

Mar 27, 2020 16:24:44 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

ok well I'm not sending if the list stays as big as it is. I can do maybe 50 at most. But however you narrow it down, PLEEEEEEEEASE keep "Moanin" and "Take Five". Classic jazz is so rare in rankdowns

Those two will make the final cut. I still plan on finalizing the official list sometime this weekend but it’s gonna be torture deciding which songs to use. The list might be closer to 75 songs, maximum 100. =p

[Deleted]

We could also split this rankdown into 2 parts. Sax pre 90s, Sax post 90s, just a suggestion as well. That way we could have way more songs included.

[Unhinged]

Aright so I've dwindled the list down to 100.

I got rid of some songs from artists with multiple entries and others I decided didn't contain enough elements of saxophone to be considered. In regard to "Moanin'" I used the Art Blakey original from 1959. I kept just one Kenny G song and didn't include any Herb Alpert as he was primarily a trumpeter. I'm sure I missed some classics but I'm gonna go w/this list.

Official first tag coming soon...

Baby, I Love Your Way - Big Mountain
Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
The Best - Tina Turner
Birmingham - Amanda Marshall
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
Brass Monkey - Beastie Boys
Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
Candy - Cameo
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones
Careless Whisper - George Michael
Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) - Billy Ocean
Comanche - Revels

Crabbuckit - K-OS
Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung
Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart
Deacon Blues - Steely Dan
Do You Believe In Love - Huey Lewis & The News
The Edge Of Glory - Lady Gaga
Endless Summer Nights - Richard Marx
Englishman In New York - Sting
Foolish Beat - Debbie Gibson
Freeway Of Love - Aretha Franklin
Get Right - Jennifer Lopez
The Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
Going Back To Cali - LL Cool J
The Gunners Dream - Pink Floyd
Hair - Lady Gaga
Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
The Heart Of Rock & Roll - Huey Lewis & The News
Heart To Heart - Kenny Loggins
The Heat Is On - Glenn Frey
Hungry Eyes - Eric Carmen
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) - Hall & Oates
If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark
If You’re Too Shy (To Let Me Know) - The 1975
I Know What Boys Like - The Waitresses

I Love Your Smile - Shanice
I'm Goin' Down - Bruce Springsteen
In Your Eyes - The Weeknd
It's Still Rock & Roll To Me - Billy Joel
(I've Had) The Time Of My Life - Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis & The News
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
Just The Two Of Us - Grover Washington ft. Bill Withers
Just The Way You Are - Billy Joel
Kokomo - The Beach Boys
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry
The Logical Song - Supertramp
Maneater - Hall & Oates
Midnight City - M83
Moanin' - Mingus Big Band
Modern Love - David Bowie
Money - Pink Floyd
Mr. Saxobeat - Alexandra Stan
Never Tear Us Apart - INXS

Never Surrender - Corey Hart
Old Time Rock & Roll - Bod Segar
One More Night - Phil Collins
One Step Beyond - Madness
Only The Lonely - The Motels
On The Dark Side - John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band
Overkill - Men At Work

Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs
Problem - Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea
Rio - Duran Duran
Roll With It - Steve Winwood
Rump Shaker - Wreckx-N-Effect
Run Away With Me - Carly Rae Jepsen
Same Old Song And Dance - Aerosmith
Saving All My Love For You - Whitney Houston
Seasons Change - Exposé
She Works Hard For The Money - Donna Summer
Smooth Operator - Sade
Some Guys Have All The Luck - Rod Stewart 
Songbird - Kenny G
Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
Stir It Up - Patti LaBelle
Super Freak - Rick James
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money
Tequila - The Champs
Thorn In My Side - Eurythmics
Touch Me - The Doors
True - Spandau Ballet
Turn The Page - Bob Segar
Urgent - Foreigner
Us And Them - Pink Floyd
Waiting On A Friend - The Rolling Stones
Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
Want You In My Room - Carly Rae Jepsen
We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) - Tina Turner
What You Need - INXS
Where Did Your Heart Go? - Wham!
Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work
You Belong To The City - Glenn Frey
Young Americans - David Bowie
You're A Friend Of Mine - Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne
Your Latest Trick - Dire Straits

[Deleted]

Aw Epic Sax Guy was removed, oh well. Still a strong list though. Rump Shaker was missed as well, that epic sax at the start of the song is iconic, it's alright though.

[Unhinged]

Mar 31, 2020 11:28:40 GMT -5 @slipperyslope said:

Aw Epic Sax Guy was removed, oh well. Still a strong list though. Rump Shaker was missed as well, that epic sax at the start of the song is iconic, it's alright though.

I think I will actually include "Rump Shaker" at the expense of "Danger Zone" so that there's a bit more content from the 90's.

[Unhinged]

Sort of recently forgot about this but I do plan on doing it still. I’ve been quietly adjusting the song list and think I’ve settled on a final list but then I’ll hear a song I forgot about and want to include it. More to come soon.

[bboat11]

Mar 31, 2020 11:25:35 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Aright so I've dwindled the list down to 100.

I got rid of some songs from artists with multiple entries and others I decided didn't contain enough elements of saxophone to be considered. In regard to "Moanin'" I used the Art Blakey original from 1959. I kept just one Kenny G song and didn't include any Herb Alpert as he was primarily a trumpeter. I'm sure I missed some classics but I'm gonna go w/this list.

I just listened to this Art Blakey "Moanin'", and it is definitely not the same song... Lol. This one is basically a simple mid-tempo jazz head followed by 9 minutes of everyone in the band taking a solo. And I feel like the vast majority of participants will find it to be quite boring... Lol

The Mingus band's "Moanin'" is an uptempo, exciting mess of a song that is probably the coolest bari sax feature in all of jazz music!

Is there any chance you could switch back to the Mingus "Moanin'", since it's a different song?  Not to mention the bari sax tends to be hella underrated even in the saxophone world... I feel like this rankdown will gain a lot with a prominent bari feature!

[Unhinged]

Jun 11, 2020 16:31:35 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Mar 31, 2020 11:25:35 GMT -5 Unhinged said:

Aright so I've dwindled the list down to 100.

I got rid of some songs from artists with multiple entries and others I decided didn't contain enough elements of saxophone to be considered. In regard to "Moanin'" I used the Art Blakey original from 1959. I kept just one Kenny G song and didn't include any Herb Alpert as he was primarily a trumpeter. I'm sure I missed some classics but I'm gonna go w/this list.

I just listened to this Art Blakey "Moanin'", and it is definitely not the same song... Lol. This one is basically a simple mid-tempo jazz head followed by 9 minutes of everyone in the band taking a solo. And I feel like the vast majority of participants will find it to be quite boring... Lol

The Mingus band's "Moanin'" is an uptempo, exciting mess of a song that is probably the coolest bari sax feature in all of jazz music!

Is there any chance you could switch back to the Mingus "Moanin'", since it's a different song?  Not to mention the bari sax tends to be hella underrated even in the saxophone world... I feel like this rankdown will gain a lot with a prominent bari feature!

To be honest I thought the same thing when I listened to Art Blakey’s “Moanin” lol. My goal with including that instead of the Mingus Big Band’s “Moanin’” was to use a song from an older era so I had a broad spectrum of songs but I’m fine with using the Mingus Big Band’s “Moanin’” instead.