bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:26:07 GMT -5
"When The Credits Roll" certainly proved to be an absolute juggernaut of a contender here, with nearly everybody putting it in their top 25! The two lowest ranks, however, were substantially lower than the majority, which was just enough to keep it from being the top 5 contender that it very easily could have been with a slightly different quantity or configuration of participants.
Although this did manage to be the #1 in the 2010s rankdown despite being George Strait Junkie 's LAST place there, so it's already gotten its roses in this series! I'm content with this making it this high. Honestly, choosing a #1 in a rankdown this strong is kind of a crapshoot! This just happened to be mine, but I could have easily given that honor to just about anything in my top 10!
I can't help but wonder what if this one had been the lead single instead of "Give It All We Got Tonight". That one is pretty good, but also kinda average topically. Imagine a song with the subject matter of "Credits" being the one to go along with the 60-for-60 campaign!!?! I bet it would have hit #1 a lot more organically!
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:29:40 GMT -5
Considering that George sang and included "When the Credits Roll" for the first time the other night on his first stop on his tour in Arizona, I do often wonder if someone in George's camp is paying attention to Pulse .
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:30:41 GMT -5
6. "Hollywood Squares"
Album: Beyond The Blue Neon Decade: '80s Original Placement: #1
Total: 234 Average: 26.00 Std Dev: 20.80
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:34:51 GMT -5
Our victor from the '80s rankdown bows out next, the final song to miss out on the top 5! "80 Proof Bottle Of Tear Stopper", which it somehow managed to hold off in the '80s series, still remains this time
This is easily one of George's most cheesy-clever hooks. "I've got so many exes and owe so much, I oughta be on Hollywood Squares" is just so iconic! Sure it's a dated reference now, but that doesn't make it any less great. Definitely always been one that I consider a hit that got away from his '80s phase.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:36:30 GMT -5
The top 5!!!
80 Proof Bottle Of Tear Stopper Designated Drinker Murder On Music Row That’s What Breaking Hearts Do Where The Sidewalk Ends
Any predictions for how this will play out?!! (Also, will gardyfan manage to get another perfect ranking with his #4 that he pretended wasn't still in?!!!)
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:36:56 GMT -5
Not entirely surprised to see "Hollywood Squares" do well here as it also received enough unsolicited airplay back in 1989/1990 that it even made an appearance on the country charts (this was definitely a rare case back then!). There's no doubt in my mind that this should've been a single over "Overnight Success" as it likely would've for sure been a top 5 hit if not a #1 hit. That being said, I've listened to this one so much over the years that I probably kind of got slightly burned out on it hence my lower ranking compared to the rest of the group.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:37:22 GMT -5
I think it's really cool that all four decades of George's career are represented in this top 5 There are not very many artists who manage to be so consistently high-quality across so many different decades, or have their newer stuff manage to be equally competitive alongside their early stuff!
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:40:14 GMT -5
Any predictions for how this will play out?!! No friggin' clue lol! Honestly, up until the top 10 there really hasn't been much rhyme or reason for how this rankdown has played out. I know what I'd like to see win, but I'm not going to hold my breath as I'm sure it'll be something random.
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:42:15 GMT -5
Also, I'm really hoping that "Designated Drinker" isn't going to be the one to come out on top here as it just wouldn't seem right. I know it's a Pulse favorite (and one of mine!), but I'd really like to see one of George's standalone tracks win.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:44:00 GMT -5
5. "80 Proof Bottle Of Tear Stopper"
Album: Right Or Wrong Decade: '80s Original Placement: #2
Total: 213 Average: 23.67 Std Dev: 24.37
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:47:27 GMT -5
I honestly just as easily could've ranked "80 Proof Bottle Of Tear Stopper" about anywhere as it's been a go-to of mine from probably the first time I ever heard it. Much like "Hollywood Squares", it's one of those album tracks I've grown up with since I was a young boy making it that much harder for me to rank against everything else here.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:49:15 GMT -5
If you could put a sample of a song next to the word "catchy" in a dictionary, "80 Proof Bottle of Tear Stopper" would be the sample that you would find there! George has had plenty of catchy melodies throughout his career, but this is definitely the one that always comes to mind most immediately as being pure unabashed catchiness. It's so catchy that I could see some finding it to be too campy, which undoubtedly must be what happened to nathanalbright since most of these were first-listens for him. But catchy nonetheless, and one I am very happy to see in the top 5! I'm still a little bitter it didn't win the '80s rankdown, although beating "Hollywood Squares" into the top 5 here does feel like a bit of a redemption arc.
With that, the '80s is the first decade to be eliminated!!
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:51:23 GMT -5
Let's take a gamble and guess "That's What Breaking Hearts Do" leaves next...
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:52:49 GMT -5
4. "That's What Breaking Hearts Do"
Album: Love Is Everything Decade: '10s Original Placement: #2
Total: 207 Average: 23.00 Std Dev: 12.10 (3rd smallest!)
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:54:53 GMT -5
"That's What Breaking Hearts Do" is definitely one of the biggest hits that got away on the Love Is Everything album. George even performed this live instead of "I Believe" the entire time that that was his current single Make it make sense!!!
And now the '10s are the second decade to be eliminated!
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 22:57:26 GMT -5
I'm still scratching my head at the fact that they never even tried to release "That's What Breaking Hearts Do" to radio as it had hit written all over it. I suppose it just goes back to MCA likely using up whatever capital they had at country radio on getting "Give It All We Got Tonight" to the top of the charts. That said, the dynamics of country radio had changed quite a bit for George during this time as bro-country was all the craze, so it's possible radio just wasn't apt to give much of anything else from this project the time of day.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:58:05 GMT -5
3. "Where The Sidewalk Ends"
Album: Pure Country Decade: '90s Original Placement: #1
Total: 190 Average: 21.11 Std Dev: 21.81
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 22:59:07 GMT -5
LBTrocks girl we're gonna add some asterisks to your stan card after this rankdown!
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 23:01:28 GMT -5
Sigh, I was really hoping this wasn't going to come down to "Murder on Music Row" and "Designated Drinker" which just makes for a less than grand finale. Given that they're both duets, I'll lay claim to the fact that "Where the Sidewalk Ends" was the highest-ranking standalone album track and therefore is the rightful winner .
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 23:02:43 GMT -5
LBTrocks girl we're gonna add some asterisks to your stan card after this rankdown! Yea, seriously. If he's solely responsible for "Where the Sidewalk Ends" not winning, than his George Strait stan card is revoked ;).
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 23:04:26 GMT -5
"Where The Sidewalk Ends" is the hit that got away from the Pure Country album! This song is so prominently placed in the movie, and has such an engaging melody, that it definitely feels like one of the hits from that phase of George's career. (Although I've said the same thing for "Overnight Male" and "The King Of Broken Hearts", so I guess we can just say that Pure Country didn't get nearly enough singles!!!)
This was definitely a contender to win this thing, aside from LBTrocks somehow trying to single-handedly give this more points than literally everybody else combined...
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 23:06:22 GMT -5
3. "Where The Sidewalk Ends"
Sometimes I think he does this on purpose just to troll me
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 23:09:51 GMT -5
In the words of gardyfan , this rankdown is...
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 23:11:49 GMT -5
2. "Designated Drinker" - Alan Jackson ft. George
Album: Drive (Alan Jackson Album) Decade: '00s Original Placement: #2
Total: 159 Average: 17.67 Std Dev: 13.43 (5th smallest)
1. "Murder On Music Row" - ft. Alan Jackson
Album: Latest Greatest Straitest Hits Decade: '00s Original Placement: #5
Total: 148 Average: 16.44 Std Dev: 22.73
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Post by castleoblivion26 on May 20, 2023 23:12:12 GMT -5
I do think "Designated Drinker" is way overrated but "Murder On Music Row" definitely belongs here.
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 23:14:12 GMT -5
LBTrocks girl we're gonna add some asterisks to your stan card after this rankdown! Yea, seriously. If he's solely responsible for "Where the Sidewalk Ends" not winning, than his George Strait stan card is revoked . I can confirm that, while Flops was absolutely responsible for allowing "Sidewalk" to miss the top 2, "Murder On Music Row" was pretty much always the song to beat! So I think he can keep his card....but we'll treat it more like a permit than a license ;)
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 23:15:00 GMT -5
I do think "Designated Drinker" is way overrated but "Murder On Music Row" definitely belongs here. "WAY overrated" is a bit of a strong description for a song that barely missed your own top 10
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Post by castleoblivion26 on May 20, 2023 23:20:49 GMT -5
I do think "Designated Drinker" is way overrated but "Murder On Music Row" definitely belongs here. "WAY overrated" is a bit of a strong description for a song that barely missed your own top 10 maybe lol, I'm just shocked to see it top 2 is all. It deserves to be high but Top 2 over "When The Credits Roll", "That's What Breaking Hearts Do", "House Of Cash", "Honk If You Honky Tonk", and "The Nerve" just to name a couple that should have been higher than it imo makes it overrated, maybe the WAY part is not needed though lol
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Post by tim on May 20, 2023 23:21:16 GMT -5
Definitely not my preferred top two here, but I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised given that both of these duets have been Pulse favorites all along. Why "Designated Drinker" was never given the green light for a single release is beyond me, but alas I'm sure there are reasons for why it never came to fruition. I'd wager that it would've been a multi-week #1 hit had they done so as I swear I still hear this almost on a weekly basis on any given country station around Texas. "Murder On Music Row" is great and a deserving winner for sure, but it still isn't a song that I'd rank ahead amongst many of the other album tracks that it was pit up against. However, the song is held in pretty high regard which I think is a reason for some of the high rankings. Thanks bboat11 as always for the hosting duties and tackling what is almost a near impossible task of ranking George's album tracks!
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Post by bboat11 on May 20, 2023 23:26:51 GMT -5
The battle for the best Alan Jackson/George Strait duet has been a heated one! The two songs are almost always neck-and-neck! In the '00s rankdown, "Drinker" made it to #2 while "Murder" got held to #5. But then they had a rematch in the Extras rankdown, where "Murder" finished at #3 and held "Drinker" to #4. So I guess this time around we can give "Murder On Music Row" best 2 out of 3 and say that it is the favorite??!
In terms of George's entire career, there are just SOOOOO many songs that could have been huge hits. Many of which are a lot better than either of these, in my opinion. But in terms of what is literally a missed hit opportunity, there is no arguing that both of these songs belong towards the top of that conversation, even if you like other songs more! "Murder On Music Row" made the top 40 based on unsolicited airplay alone, and was undoubtedly one of the most "viral" moments of George's career (even though those didn't exist at the time in the same sense as they do now in the internet era, lol). "Designated Drinker" never had a viral moment as far as I know, but it still nearly made the top 40 in its own right. So there is no doubt that radio wanted to play both of these songs! The statistics are definitely there to support these being the biggest missed hits of George's career....although I do like other songs more.
So anyway, thank you all so much for participating in this final installment of George's career, and in all the other ones that came before it!! I'm so sorry that it kinda hit a lull there for awhile as life got busy, so thanks again for your patience! With that, this is officially a wrap for the George Strait album series!!!!!
That is....until he releases another new album.... Hopefully I'll see you all back here then!!!
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