Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens ...
Which are your favourite listy things?
Thanks for helping to mark this column's birthday in impressively maudlin style. Apologies to anyone who would rather not start their weekend by contemplating the passing of the years. At least we're all spring chickens compared to the guy who wrote to the paper last week to suggest that our "limited view of rock and pop music" could be rectified by listening to Bob Dylan playing the Staple Singers.
I actually think this column's readers have the least limited horizons imaginable. We've featured songs dating from 1924 to 2006, in pretty much every genre. There is more great music out there than even the sainted Bob (or Dave Leggett of Todmorden) knows - some of it has even come out this century, Dave - and the job of this column and blog is to introduce people to it.
Enormous thanks to all the regulars, some of whom have barely missed a week since the column began. You make this job a pleasure rather than a chore. Fourfoot has gamely supplied me with a list of who recommended which songs first. It favours early risers, insomniacs, North Americans and those who post very long lists but it's interesting nonetheless.
Here's the top 10, with the number of songs they've successfully recommended. (His research also reveals that the most fruitful years so far have been 1968, 1970, 1967, 1999, 2001, 1971, 1980, 1977, 2005 and 2004. What this tells us I'm not exactly sure.)
1. Jason Parkes (25) 2. Loumo (16) 3. Paula (16) 4. Kelley (15) 5. Gordonimmel/Linsel/Tarxien (10) 6. TheletterO (9) 7. Fourfoot/Just Tim/Raindog3 (8) 8. Dr Maybe/lukethedrifter/Squeeko (7) 9. Dwad/Johnspithead/TonNL/Mark68 (6) 10. Alexito/Bob/Fred/Georgethe23rd/Ton Bukkems/frogprincess (5)
Right. This week's theme is extra listy: a list of lists. Some list songs are blatant: Madonna's Vogue or A House's Endless Art. Others are more subtle. All kinds of lyrical litany are allowed: people, places, events, favourite things... For inspiration, and some good jokes about obsessive music buffs, try the lyrics of the LCD Soundsystem song in this week's playlist.
Deadline for recommendations is midnight Sunday. The archive of previous columns is accessible here, and you can also see an A-Z of every single song that has appeared in the weekly playlists.
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